After the bus ride from Acre, we had to rush to Nazareth. When we got to Nazareth, the Church of the Annunciation, where Mary and Joseph had lived, had actually been closed for the day already. Fortunately for us, Shimon, our tourguide, knew the guard and he let us in through the exit. Personally, I have no words for the Church of the Annunciation, all I could do when I was there was sit on one the church benches and bow my head and pray. It's hard to describe everything. They say a picture paints a thousand words, I'll have a few pictures up, that should satisfy for a few thousand words ;)). Till next time! Conor :))... read more

The next day we woke up super early and headed to a destination we were readily anticipating, the Golan Heights and the UNDOF base. Our tour of the UNDOF base was led by Major Alexander Uttenwegger from Austria. Entering the base, we had a chance to see some of the other soldiers that were stationed at the base, from countries including the Philippines, Japan, and India. We went through a little briefing on their (UNDOF's) job in the Golan Heights and the Demilitarized Zone by Major Uttenwegger and we had a chance to take some pictures. We also saw the Israel-Syria Border. We later headed to an old Israeli bunker which overlooked the Israel-Syria border and the Israel-Lebanon border. We took some pictures in the old bunker which was used in the Six-Day War. It was ... read more

At about 9 AM on the 3rd of July we boarded a bus headed north. Most of us didn't know where we were headed, and seeing as we all woke up pretty early, we probably didn't care too much and we just wanted to sleep on the bus. Our destination? Caesarea, Israel. We started our journey by heading to a beach in Caesarea, where we first saw the Roman aquaducts led by our friendly tour guide Shimon. It was amazing to see so much history in one structure, but we'd be shocked to find out that wasn't all. We headed to the ruins of what used to be a port build by King Herod for his master, Augustus Caesar. There we were given presentations on how the area was being restored, how it used to look ... read more

A few nights ago it was White Night in Tel Aviv. For all of you that don't know, White Night is a cultural night led by the city where the entire city of Tel Aviv stays awake all night till 5AM or later that day, with a bunch of stores, stalls staying open, concerts running all night, and so on. So in true fashion of White Night, a group of us went out to the city and see the sights. First we went to Rabin Square, where ex-Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin was assasinated in Tel Aviv and I acutually had walked there before and I didn't even know the historical significance of the square. After headed there a few of us broke off and went to the boardwalk where we ended up at a bar called ... read more

I've had the opportunity to associate with beaches all my life. I was born in a "beach city" in California, had the chance to live in Santa Barbara for the past year, and been to beaches in Malaysia all the time. The past few days I've had a chance to go to a beach/sea I've never been to before, the Mediterranean Sea. For the first time, I stepped on warm sand, or maybe I've just been spoilt with the beautiful Santa Barbara scene and amazing beaches. The sand in the Med is hot, the water is warm and clear, and the company with some great friendship is simply amazing. I don't know what I've done to deserve so much privilege in my life, but I'm definitely not complaining!... read more