God, religion and a falafel

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The holy land....Where oh where do I start?! First of all, when they say come visit in the winter, there is good reason for this advice. I've been in 48 degree heat while packing a 40 pound backpack around and to say I've been a tad sweaty is putting it mildly! I now understand why Arabs wear full head to toe coverings. So much cooler when your skin isn't getting fried to a crisp in this desert heat!

So enough of the weather, let me talk about Israel! Easiest country to get into. Really! Not any problem, and they just give you a slip of paper automatically (rather than stamp your passport). Normally I'm such a keener for more stamps in my passport, but in this case, I'm ok with no proof because the fewer feathers that get ruffled the better. Yes, easiest country to enter and the MOST difficult one to exit! I am sitting during a ten hour layover in Istanbul writing this and I just went through the wringer to exit Israel. I guess considering I've been in 23 different airports in the past 9 months (yes, I've been keeping track), this was the first and hopefully the last time my bag gets torn apart and I get grilled like a cheese sandwich...bad joke, I know. I have an interesting observation about why I was harassed but you'll have to read further 😊 Another note of advice I have to give aside from coming in the winter is to come with a tour group! I am all for backpacking and doing it on my own. Normally it's a fraction of the cost, and that way you see just as many things, if not more by traveling on a shoestring. This is only the case if the country is backpacker friendly. Israel would be a completely different experience within the comfort of an air conditioned van with someone explaining every old rock and olive tree branch to you. I thought Myanmar was tough to navigate but the past two weeks have been exhausting! Probably the most difficult part is navigating around. Its not a large country, but the public buses were a challenge! A large majority of the people who take the bus are people serving in the army. So a 20 year old kid gets on the bus with a massive gun just casually swung around his shoulder. Side note, if someone takes or steals his gun, he gets 3 to 7 years in prison for negligence. That's a heavy responsibly to add to someone who I imagine already feels heavy pressure by essentially holding the power of life or death in their hands every day. So needless to say, the feelings on the buses aren't always the most lighthearted. It is going to be difficult to write this without my own person experience of israelis effecting my political opinion of why Israel is at odds with other countries. So no offense to anyone because two weeks here just gave me a tiny taste of understand why the Jews are butting heads with the Muslims (or vicevera). Probably the most unfriendly, hard group of people I have experienced in my travels has been in Israel, sad to say. Now I am not blaming them, because if I put myself in their shoes, I get it! Nor does this statement apply to ALL the people I met, just as a general observation (I have met some really lovely Israelis). Imagine just graduating high school and you MUST give 2 years (3 if you are a male) of your life to the army. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the serving in any army is not a walk in the park. So for the past 50 some odd years, people have been trained to become hard, gruff, and basically have an asshole attitude. Next, the threat of being called back to serve is always hanging over your head. Not a pleasant feeling. Also, there are constant reminders of war. Every Jewish community or neighborhood is surrounded by a massive fence. Like a prison security fence! Every where you look is a constant reminder of conflict. Sooo this is a heavy topic. Onto lighter ones for a moment...let me talk about religion (note the sarcasm)! Whoa! Does this country ever have it in spades! Not even sure what that phrase means (who even uses a spade anymore?) but this area is the birthplace of Christianity and Islam so there is bound to be a lot of radical believers. Strolling through the old city of Jerusalem is something I can never forget. The amount of energy in that city is so strong it almost makes the air buzz! It actually affects people and is coined the "Jerusalem syndrome". I think people who aren't used to feeling Gods presence or anything spiritual, come there and are physically blown away at feeling something other than their own self centered-ness that they go a little kookoo! One of the best moments and partially why Lindsay and I came to Israel was to get baptized in the Jordan river. Mind you, the river is damned now and controlled upstream, so it looks completely different than it used to, but it was still such an incredible moment getting baptized in the generally same area where John baptized Jesus! I felt so cleaned (even though the water is actually kinda dirty) and what a moment to be able to be baptized again, and this time for the right reasons. Another thing I don't think I will take for granted is the freedom of religion and speech in Canada. Speaking to most Israelis, the topic of religion comes up and saying that Jesus is actually the true messiah, they don't have to keep the 650 rules to be saved and yes, there is a 2nd half of the bible, made for an interesting few weeks! I would see so many extreme orthodox Jews who are still wearing the crazy outfits brought back from Europeans which makes no sense to me! I don't think God ever said to wear thick black suits, felt hats, and grow the hair just fromthe area of your temples into foot long ringlet of hair. It is like the rules and practices have become their god. If anyone has actually read the old testament, yes, there was a lot of rules, which I think modern day believers should not fully disregard (such as resting on the sabbath aka taking a day off!). The Jews take it to a whole deeper level though, because they aren't even allowed to flip on a light switch because that is considered work, therefore you are sinning. The Jews gave Jesus and his disciples heck for 'working' on the sabbath and I see that attitude has continued just as strong 2000 years later. I do have a lot of respect for their stamina and unwavering faith though!
So back to why I was detained at the airport... Who knew a simple scarf could hold so much power?! Lindsay and I did a three day detour into Jordan to see Petra, one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. Incredible place! I need to learn some new adjectives to describe all of the places I've seen 😊. Anyhow, it was so interesting because the moment we crossed the border from Israel into Jordan, it felt like I could breath again. A heavy weight was lifted off both of us. This was literally 10 ft from the border, with Arabs harassing and offering us to come be their wives, yet we both felt so much more at ease. This is something to ponder... Anyhow, you know the pictures of men wearing long cloth/scarves on their head with a rope on the top to keep it in place? Well, different colors represent different countries. For example, red and white pattern (has to be the correct pattern) means you are from Jordan, and black and white is from Palestine.
So, I bought a black and white one.... More of a fashion thing cause the hipster in me likes black, but I knew I would be making a statement with that. Even wearing it in Amman which has thousands of Palestinian refugees, people would say or yell out their car as they drove by "are you palestinian?!" I hadn't quite figured it out if that was a bad thing, because I asked when I bought it, and the jordanian guy said "No they are our brothers so it is good!".
Anyhow, I never forsaw my bag in Israel being picked apart, and let me tell you, that scarf and what it represents certainly caused a ton of questions "who gave you this? Why where you there? Do you have any friends from Israel? Any from Jordan? Who are they? What are their names?" Holy moly! I see both sides and I find it so fascinating. I spoke with a couple Jewish guys yesterday saying how amazing Turkish people were and they absolutely could not wrap their head around that most Muslims are the most kind, generous people in the world. I really could write forever on this topic, but like I mentioned it is just my brief observations from spending 2 weeks there. I absolutely loved seeing this part of the world with God as my guide! Everyday, Lindsay and I would pray for Gods protection and for Him to show us each place through His eyes. Met incredible people, and it was the same experience as we had in Turkey, we met only locals. In the past 6 weeks, I really have spent about 8 hours in total talking to westerners. The heart and soul of any country is in its people. Oh on a completely side note, coolest feeling is swimming in the dead sea! You can just sit cross legged in the water and bob up and down without even getting your hands/arms wet. It is like a slippery pillow constantly pushing you up! So rad! But if you swallow the water, you have to be taken to receive medical care... I ignored the rules and tried a taste... gag! Makes sea water taste sweet compared to how bitter and strong it tastes. Overall I'll say amazing hummus, falafel's, surreal experience to see biblical spots and kneel in front of the Rock where Jesus was crucified, see Petra, meet so many muslims and Jews. My heart aches for peace in this land. I think I will still wear my Palestinian scarf (actually you bet I will! I didnt go through a nightmare of customs for nothing!) but with a star of David on it 😊 Really mixing the oil and water with that one. At the end of the day, it should be about the love of humans, regardless of your belief, religion or nationality. Call me a cynic but I think only the One True God and a miracle can bring lasting peace here, but also call me naive and crazy, but He can do it!

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