Holy Land and Egypt

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.Today we said goodbye to the Sea of Galilee and the Royal plaza Hotel as we boarded the bus with Jerusalem as our ultimate goal. Because this was Sunday many places were closed. We tried to stop at the church where Jesus performed his first miracle in Cana. If you remember this is where he turned the water into wine. Sadly it was closed so we drove by and headed on to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation. This church is built over and around the house/cave in which Mary lived when the angel appeared to tell her she was chosen to become the mother of Jesus. You could go in and walk right by her home. The church also had beautiful depictions of the Virgin Mary from many different countries.

Today was a lot of driving through various towns as our guide, Deeb, read scripture and told us the places where that scripture occurred. Tel Dothan was first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis It is where Josephs brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites. The well he was kept in still exists today. It was interesting that as Deeb was telling us this we drove by a large flock of sheep. If you remember Joseph and his brothers were sheep herders.

As we traveled we were driving through beautiful agricultural lands n the Jezreel Valley near the town of Jenin. Farmers were out selling their produce and we saw all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We also saw bakers making their bread on hot stones and selling right on the street. Streets were very busy with foot traffic and automobiles. It was interesting to watch all the people. We also drove by a huge stone quarry that cut limestone which is often called Jerusalem Stone as it is what is used to build in Israel.

We had a delightful lunch in a ancient town atop a hill called Sebastia. We took a winding road that was very narrow up a steep hill. There were roman columns lining the road and on top of the hill. The restaurant was family owned and the food was outstanding. My favorite part was the main dish which consisted of rice and cauliflower cooked in a big pot When the owner turned the mixture out of the pot it held together much like turning out a pineapple upside down cake. It was served with chick and everything was delicious. Attached was a souvenir-gift shop. They had all kinds of stuff but what most of the people were interested in was the jewelry. They had Roman glass which dates back to the 1t century and was found when excavating archaeological digs. It is beautiful! As we were boarding the bus a bus of students pulled in next to us. On the bus were two of the female students we met in Bethlehem when we went to a private home for dinner. I ran over to the bus and asked for Rachael and Natasha. They ran off the bus and jugged us. They were so glad to see us again..it is truly a small, small world. I didn't think I would go all the way to Israel to meet some students from Virginia only to run into them again out in the middle of nowhere in the West Bank.

Following lunch we headed to Jacobs Well. Now this is the place where Jesus met the woman at the well and ask for water. This well still exists and as is the case for many historic sites, a church is built over it. The church is fairly new though it looked like it had been there for centuries. We were able to go down to the well and have a drink or water. When we came back to the main part of the church a group of Asian tourists had come in to go to the well and started singing. While I couldn't understand the words, I sure knew the music....it was one of my mom's favorite songs...."Fill My Cup Lord" many of us joined the in singing. It was awesome!

Our next stop was the ancient ruins of Mt. Gerizim. This was the site where Abraham was goin to sacrifice Issac and God provided a sheep instead. The Samaritans that live on the way up the mountain keep this tradition alive very year at Passover. They gather and sacrifice 50 sheep and have done so for the past 3600 years. They have an area in their modern day community where they regularly sacrifice sheep. I have learned so much on this trip!

Once we left the West Bank we headed on to Jerusalem. We checked in to the Olive Tree Hotel where we will stay for the next 4 days and nights. Tomorrow we head to the Dead Sea, Jericho, and Qumran.

I'm having trouble loading all the photos so I will try again tomorrow.

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