Blogs from Israel, Middle East - page 190

Geo: 31.7857, 35.2007It's certainly been a long time since I was in Israel, the first of my exciting travelling experiences, but I shall never forget it. I believe this country touches everyone who visits it, no matter their religion and culture. For me, a Christian, all the Bible stories I had grown up with came alive, and given a concrete context and setting. I remember sitting on the shores of The Sea of Galilee waiting for the sunrise and just being able to picture so vividly Jesus and the disciples out fishing. I gained a whole new appreciation of my religion. At the same time, Israel also homed in on the importance of diversity. That different religions have so much in common and can co-exist very happily. In Jerusalem we started at The Wailing Wall (most ... read more

After 4 months of independent travel we weren’t sure if we would like being on an organized tour…it was a golden opportunity. An opportunity to cover more ground in a shorter time, to learn more history from our guide and to meet wonderful fellow travelers we now call friends. WARNING…WARNING … THIS IS THE LONGEST TRAVELBLOG WE HAVE WRITTEN! We have seen so much in the last 10 days that we can’t do it justice in words. This is our attempt… but our advice is to try to see Israel for yourself. The pilgrim tour offers the opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River. Twelve of our group decided to take part in the touching ceremony. "j" wanted to be re-baptized since she was so young the first time. She felt that she would always ... read more

This is a quote from our Jewish tour guide. The struggle for the promised land makes life difficult for the people of Israel. An air of danger and insecurity is part of daily life. You need not look far to see checkpoints, barbwire, armed guards and security fences. Yet the people are willing to fight to the death to stay in the land they hold dear. On a deeper examination his quote can hold another meaning. Jesus also lived and died for Israel. After 4 months of travel this is the first escorted tour we have taken. We chose the Pilgrim tour company because we wanted to do more than sightsee. We wanted to see the bible come to life. We are being lead by “Mickey” (his nickname) a Christian Jew. His family immigrated from Russia ... read more

Its Tuesday morning, I just finished my morning run, sitting in the amazing house I'm going to live in for the next 10 years. I feel lucky, I feel at home. I brought my self to the situation where I couldn't ever hope to be. And I'm feeling ready and fit to stand the challenges that are yet to come and I know I will enjoy them no matter where they will take me. I've got so much to write about the last few days. I'm living in Nazareth, I met tons of new people, I'm founding the Israel Trail Association, My "to do list" is as long as this blog, and I'm feeling standing in a flood of energy, ideas and creativity. I don't have much time now but I must write about the idea ... read more

It's Monday evening, and we are on the "wait". Last Saturday I met Odette, the owner once more and discussed our plans and how we see Nazareth and the relations between us. I had the feeling like by renovating and bringing back life into Fauzi Azar building we will fulfill one of her dreams. The meeting went well and in one stage Odette said that I look like one of the family… I guess it can't get any better. At Saturday S jumped her first solo sky dive, and catched another dream… Since then I wasn't doing so much but tomorrow I'm going on a 3 day hike with guys from www.hike.co.il forum. We will hike in the Negev, part on the INT, so I'll take my GPS so I'll have another section on my Data ... read more