http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Israel , West Bank en-us Thu, 23 May 2013 23:19:23 +0000 Thu, 23 May 2013 23:19:23 +0000 Bus 21 sieht um einiges abgewrackter aus als die grnen IntercityBusse von Egged. Die Klappen der Lftungsschlitze sind kaputt und eisig kalte Luft blst mir in den Nacken. Zu dumm dass ich mein neues Palstinensertuch erst ein paar Stunden spter kaufen werde. Um mich herum sitzen braun gebrannte Mnner mit Silberketten um den Hals und Frauen in langen Gewndern und Kopftuch. Die Schild http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/blog-751452.html The young man39s eyes were trained desperately on the two of us. He needed help. Not sure if we could trust him I kept my mouth shut and let my friend handle it. My friend knew many people in the camp but this one was unknown. He begged us for help just five minutes he said. Please come. Why not So we followed him around the corner to his home and entered.Do you know Mohannad The boy who http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/Dheisheh-Camp-/blog-735931.html The Holy Land Said to be the most fought over real estate in history just hearing the name of the Holy Land brings spiritual and exotic thoughts to the minds of people all around the world. It serves as the holiest place for all of the three Abrahamic religions hence the name The Holy Land and has been fought over this for this reason and political reasons for thousands of years. As a Chris http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/Beit-Sahour/blog-735617.html Half Day in The Holy City The city was bustling with all types of people. Such a mixing pot as Americans like to say when describing the U.S. But this city really was. There were all different types of dress. All different cultures. There39s muslims Christians Jews foreign tourists and then there39s denominations of all religions Egyptian Coptics and Greek Orthodox Sunnis and Shias http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/East-Jerusalem/blog-734427.html After Jerusalem we hopped on the bus and went headed to the West Bank We were met by and enthusiastic tour guide Khalid who in my opinion was the best of the 3 we had so far. After we past the checkpoint which I was totally unaware of since I was asleep we headed to the Church of the Nativity where Jesus was born. We parked in a parking structure and it was probably a quarter mile wa http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/blog-730996.html Day off of class in Jerusalem Unfortunately...it39s the Sabbath which means that almost everything this closed until nightfall. The first day we were in the country one of our professors Dr. Dallaire introduced us to Aroma. Aroma is this absurdly good coffee shop just outside the Jaffa gate and its small chain of stores around Israel is the reason why Starbucks is nowhere to be found. Thou http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Nablus/blog-719231.html It was about time to ramp up a travel blog for this excursion Over a week and a half after starting out in NYC I at first had made peace with the notion that I would not blog this trip. But we are simply learning and experiencing too much to not share the wealth with whomever might be interested. So I39ll start with the current day and perhaps fill in the gaps later...Yesterday the 21st a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/blog-718340.html 22 March 1430 local Note I am transcribing a paper and pen entry written in Jericho I am sitting now under some palm trees next to the ruins of the ancient city of Jericho and the foot of the tram to the mount of temptation. Today has been a very good day woke up on time and met my guide. We picked up six other people and went to the mount of Olives. This was a wonderful experience. The old http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Jericho/blog-702539.html It seems that everywhere I go in the world I find myself adopted by older gentlemen. Something about me I wish I knew what draws them to me like flies to fly paper. They want to drive me around and show me things they want to sit and eat papaya. Most of all they want to talk and Im more than happy to listen. I consider myself lucky to be so oft in the presence of wisdom that surpasses http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Jericho/blog-684050.html In Israel there are two important walls situated a mere five kilometers from each other one an ancient reminder of the Jewish struggle against those who would seek to destroy them the other its modern manifestation a veritable monument to a problem. Confronted by either wall you feel small. Next to the first the presence of God humbles you. At the base of the second the weight of the human http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/blog-681482.html Individuals occasionally take pay day loans for low income people. They will be surprised to know that people owned by any age sex occupation and levels may take the benefits of these financing options. There are various advantages of getting loans on the web instead of in person.This is because of the reason that they are able to supply the cash without numerous problems and formalities. The pe http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Nablus/blog-677134.html Spending a month in Ramallah was a great idea. The small citytownwith its bars wellpaid jobs expensive restaurants and international NGO officesis a bubble sheltered from many of Palestines problems. But through its numerous bus and taxi services I had access to towns and villages all over the West Bank. Day trips to the WB would have been more difficult if I had been living in Jeru http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/blog-675105.html Yes its Christmas Eve and Im posting a blog while sitting in my room in Ramallah. But I have fairly good reasons for why Im not doing anything more exciting It just makes sense to blog about BethlehemJesus birthplacetonight. Nablus is my favorite city in the occupied West Bank so it gets special Christmas Eve attention. I was too tired and didnt make it the Bethlehem ce http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/blog-674207.html Hebron is the most vivid reminder of the Israeli occupation. I dont understand how Palestinians living in Hebrons Old City have the energy to stay in the face of routine settler violence.Over 500000 illegal Israeli settlers live across the West Bank. But Hebrons case is unique because settlers live right in the middle of the Palestinian cityrather than maintaining a degree of isolat http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Hebron/blog-671757.html The Israeli separation barrier made of a combination of fence and concrete wall can be spotted from nearly everywhere in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Its ominous contours are unavoidable. Begun in 2002 the wall is set to extend some 470 miles upon completion several times the length of the Berlin wall which was 96 miles long.Theres nothing nice about the wallcalled the Apartheid Wall by its http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/blog-667164.html Crossing at Hussein BridgeFrom the Amman airport we travelled by car to the border of the West Bank. Or if you prefer Palestine or maybe the occupied Territories. The trip took about an hour and we travelled by the northern edge of the Dead Sea and through the lowest place on earth well below sea level.We were all a bit stressed about the border but in the end it was more tedious than a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Ramallah/blog-661237.html On the next day the group of us from the hostel headed out to the West Bank. There were two Brits and two Americans. We took a sherut to the Bethlehem checkpoint and as usual it was unclear what to do in crossing into the West Bank at the checkpoint. After we crossed through we were accosted by Palestinian drivers wanting to show us around the West Bank. We began to walk away and finally http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Hebron/blog-633959.html Dear allYes... I39m away on my travels againFirst I have taken the liberty of adding new email addresses to my subscribers if anyone new or old would like to be unsubscribed from my updates and you39re not able to do this yourselves please contact me and I can remove your emails from the list. Don39t worry I wont be offended.... I know that my blogs can be lengthy at times and http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/blog-630586.html So today I went to Bethlehem and visited the Holy Land Trust. First I just want to say that I really love Bethlehem. Its an awesome city and I love the atmosphere. The people are so nice and friendly. The history behind the city is amazing. I wish that I didnt live so far away so I could visit more often. It was awesome to see so much of the group again too. The guys from Ramallah we http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Bethlehem/blog-626448.html Sunday March 62011I got up early to get a picture of the sun rising over the mountains in Jordan. We are heading out to Masada this morning.We just finished a two hour tour of Masada. We took a cable ride to the top of the mountain. We learned and saw the structures that were built. King Herod built two palaces to winter at. He constructed large water cisterns and collection systems. He also had http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Israel/West-Bank/Jericho/blog-583901.html