Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 147

So I'm writing this entry nearly six months later, but I wanted to start the blog by cataloging past travels before I embark on new ones, so these first few back-dated entries will just provide the "set-up" so to speak. In this entry, I will rewrite/edit what I wrote in the journal that I kept for all 10 days. So bear with the potential randomness. 30 December It's been a long trip, but I'm finally in Israel! It was a surprisingly good flight, despite the fact that I was in the MIDDLE seat of the MIDDLE section. But I liked my flight neighbors. It seems so surreal - being able to see Greece from the window was amazing. Alas, I am really tired from all of the traveling. But I have to pack a bag for ... read more

I really have not understood the meaning of borders until I came here. For this piece of land the size of New Jersey, borders mean everything. And I dont mean toll booths. Fences. Serious Fences. Barbed Wire. And sometimes walls. And this is not far away. This is right over there. I could walk to it. We spent a week up North- Haifa, Daliat Ha karmel (druze village), Tel Hai, Ramlah, Rehovot, Rosh Pina. Driving on the highway... theres a fence right next to us. That's the west bank. Those buildings, Hebron. Another village. There's settlers. Its written on the fence in black graffiti, l'at l'at, habibi. Slowly slowly, dear. In Tel Hai, we stayed in a hostel. There were lights beyond a mountain. Lebenon. So close I could touch it. In Ramleh, we heard a ... read more

Dutch Version: Shalom, shalom. Ja, en toen stond ik zomaar in Israel na een jaar Zuid Amerika. Na de te verwachten extra scherpe controles in zowel Schiphol als Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv stond Michal me op te wachten om direct naar Jerusalem door te gaan. Haar moeder heette me de volgende ochtend van harte welkom en was bijzonder gastvrij. Zoals trouwens iedereen die ik heb ontmoet, familie, vrienden etc. Overal moest gegeten en gedronken worden. En vooral eten kunnen ze daar, oh man, i love it.... vooral de falafel, kebab, gumus, tahina, shoarma en weet ik wat al niet meer. De eerste dagen heb ik in Jerusalem rondgekeken. En dan vooral de oude binnenstad omringd door de oude vestingsmuren. Heel apart, vooral door de religieuze invloeden. Hier leven de christenen, moslims en de joden dus echt ... read more

hello all, today was a fun day of tramping all over Jerusalem. Ryan, Liz, and I went through the city and saw some recent archaelogical proof of first temple era. After that we went to the pools of Bethesda and saw the Damascus gate. Ryan left us to go to school and we tried to do the ViaDoloroza, which is the walk of Christ carrying his cross. They actually have groups that carry crosses and sing songs as they walk. It was interesting because the mosque started their prayers right before one of the cross walks started. Both groups were singing and it sounded like a competetion. Anyways, there are 14 stations of his walk that the churches celebrate. We saw the final five at the Church of the Holy Sepluchre earlier this week. Unfortunately we ... read more

Today was a interesting day. We woke up this morning and enjoyed watching some Christmas cartoons with the boys. From there we started our list of sites to see in Jerusalem. First, at a small plaza, we got a great overview of the city and the sights we would see. We spent the morning on the Mount of Olives seeing such sites as the garden of Gethsemane, Mary's supposed tomb, the grotto where Jesus left his disciples before praying, and a church where Jesus supposedly wept looking over Jerusalem. From there, we explored Ryan's school while he took a quiz. The afternoon was spent around Jerusalem in the old city and at a souk, openmarket. I had written here a long lame vent about annoyances I had today and the emotions that sparked them. I'll save ... read more