5-27

18 pictures
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5-26!

18 pictures
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5-25

16 pictures
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5-25

16 pictures
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5-23!

25 pictures
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5-24

25 pictures
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2012-05-22

19 pictures
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2012-05-21

25 pictures
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traveling nightmare

So our traveling turned into a nightmare.  We got up at 5:30am, got to the airport 3 hours before flight, got on plane only to have mechanical difficulties and sit there for 2 hours, 12 hour flight, missed our connection at JFK, so hung out for 3 hours in airport while they tried to figure out what to do with us, got shuttled to a hotel near La Guardia for the night, got dinner from the bar at 9pm.  By the time we went to bed, we had been up for 24 hours straight other than some catnaps on the plane.  Our group ended up divided the next day on to 3 different flights from La Guardia to KCI.  We ended up on the latest one at 3:45pm, arriving home at 6:30pm on Tuesday.  I can't begin to explain how exhausting all of this was.  But we are home and unpacked and clean :)

Boy Fun!

I'm a little late with this, but jet lag is my excuse.  Sunday was a boy day if we ever had one.  We visited an underground bullet factory, a tank museum and a whole underground cave system of homes.  I just kept thinking how much my boys would have loved all that.  We had an excellent farewell dinner at a restaurant in Telaviv.  We all shared what our favorite moment was.  Obviously we had a hard time choosing.  Someone would mention an event and everyone would be like, Oh, yeah, I forgot about that!  It was lots of fun reminiscing.

Saturday

We only went one place this morning! What a change. We walked to the port city of Jaffa otherwise known as Joppa. Think Jonah! We had the afternoon off to do whatever. We ate a leisurely lunch outside by the port. The restaurant brought 20 salads to the table. All in little bowls. Don't worry I got a picture! Mom and I ate some sea bass caught this morning. Yummy! Then we went and swam in the Mediterranean! I have never seen a beach so crowded. Seriously, you could hardly walk down the beach. It was insane. Mom is napping as I write this. We have dinner and then a walk to independence hall where Ben-Gurion declared Israel's independence! Should be amazing. Tomorrows another full day and then Monday is lots of flying! We are all afraid of the long flight because we leave at 10:30am and so we're thinking we won't be sleepy. Say a pursuer for us if you think about it on Monday!

Fridays fun

We spent a lot of time on the bus yesterday driving down towards Tel aviv. But first we went to Capernaum! We saw Peter's mother in laws house and Jairus house plus the synagogue. We also went down by the sea where Peter's fishing business would have been located. Did you know history says he owned 30 boats. It was not a small business. We also visited a hillside where the sermon on the mount most likely took place. I really had no idea that we knew where so many of these places where. It's just incredible to see. This country is so beautiful! We stopped at a town called Korazim and saw the ruins of a synagogue where Jesus taught. It's sort of become a joke about how all our pictures will look like piles of rock in the desert :) lots of ruins! I just hope the true story comes through in my pictures when I can share them. We stopped briefly at a place where Solomon had a palace. It was actually closed because it was the beginning of Sabbath but we could still see some of it. We had the evening off so several of us after dinner went for a walk along the boardwalk here in Tel aviv. We are in our final hotel. It's 5 star right by the beach. You can look at its website if you want to see. It's called the Dan Panorama. The dinner buffet was by far the biggest spread I have ever seen. It's funny though between all the hotels the food is basically the same sorts of things... And it's all kosher. I can't wait to eat cheese with my meat again!! :) I have enjoyed the falafel and hummus. Going to have to find me a place in KC!

Thursday

I forgot to mention yesterday we went to the top of Mt Carmel where Elijah went up against the prophets of Baal and won!! It's a monastery now with an incredible view! Today we visited another Kubbitz. This one very different from the last one. It's in the very northern tip of Israel. In other words, steps from Lebanon. One of the members spoke to us about the conflicts that have happened right around there and how they have to be prepared to defend themselves. They have a huge fence and then a few feet farther was the border fence. The kids have drills to practice going in the bomb shelters. It is really amazing what these people tolerate and how warped our media portrays it!! We also visited Ceasarea Philippi. There is a spring there that people used to sacrifice young girls to the gods. If you remember when Jesus visited there, he talked about the gates of hades. Well, that's what they used to call the spring. Makes more sense now, doesnt it? We saw more ruins of the north, specifically the tribe of Dan. Saw a gate that Abraham actually walked through and ruins of a castle where Ahab and his son were. We ended the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Wow. The owner of the boat is a worship leader so st one point we stopped and just sang in the middle of the sea! So cool! I bought his CD because it's in English and Hebrew. It will be fun to learn! Look out Clay! :)

Moving on

Ah, Internet in bed. Most of the hotels so far have only had Internet in the lobby so I've had to stay up late and do my blogging or talk to the family. Did I mention we are in our 5th hotel of the trip. But this one has a view! We are right on the Sea of Galilee. In fact, we swam in it tonight. It was a little chilly, but I'm proud to say I was the first one in :) As for the rest of the day, we saw the Jordan River pretty close to where it dumps in the Dead Sea so it's got lots of pesticides and stuff in it. I did stick a toe in though. It also can hardly be called a river! Way to small. I can't remember the name of it right now, but we also visited the springs where Gideon had the men drink to narrow down the number. At both these places the Rabbi did a teaching. It's so surreal to be sitting somewhere and then reading about it in the Bible. The Rabbi has crammed as much as he can into this trip. He warned us it was a study trip not a sightseeing and he was right. It feels more like boot camp or maybe Survivor! We stop at many other places in the day but I'm just trying to hit the big stuff. Pretty much the whole time we are driving in the bus the Rabbi or the tour guide are talking/teaching. I wish I could say I'm absorbing it all but there's no way. I wish I'd brought one of those little recording devices so i could go back and listen. Several people have them. My mom has been furiously taking notes and I'm the photographer. Only 4 days left!