Day 10--Tel Aviv and Final Post

After suffering through an eternally long border crossing from Jordan to Israel, this time with the temperature in the hundreds, we drive to Tel Aviv.  This is our last day in Israel, and, I think, appropriately focused on modern Israel and the future.  We are back with Jonathan again.  He is amazing, we missed him the last few days in Jordan.

Jonathan lives in Tel Aviv, and as a secular Jew, Tel Aviv really reflects who he is, not Jerusalem.  We could sense the passion in his voice as he introduced and explained Israel to us since declaring its independence on May 14, 1948.  This is the best link I found describing Israel's struggles in the 19th-21st century.

Most profound was our visit to Tel Aviv Museum, now called Independence Hall.  After a short film, we were ushered into the Hall itself where the independence document was announced and signed.  We all reflected back on our own Independence Hall in 1776.  Interesting that we shared the hall with a 'birthright' group of Jewish teenagers from around the world.  Let me explain.  Due to wealthy Jewish donors and the State of Isreal, any Jewish high schooler living in any part of the world can visit Israel for free.  The 10-day visit is proctored by government and military sponsors to introduce the kids to their 'homeland'.  It is not without controversy but to share the experience in Independence Hall with this group was unique.

1948

Today, the 'birthright' group.

Love this.  Here is a professional dog walker.  Eight dogs, all behaving well.

This is the Rothschild Kiosk.  Important for two reasons.  One, this is the first
Kiosk in Tel Aviv, built around 1900, and two, it is where Jonathan met Prince William
for his tour a few weeks ago!

Great story here.  Jonathan ran into this guy, on the right, while we were going through the
big open market in Tel Aviv.  Turns out he was on a birthright tour that Jonathan guided years
ago.  He has now immigrated to Israel and is soon to marry a gal that Jonathan introduced
him to.  They are great friends!

So, some final thoughts.  First, as a tourist destination, I do highly recommend Israel and Jordan.  I don't think there is or will be a better or worse time to go politically.  It is what it is.  Israel is quite confident, and with support of most of the world, that their acquisition of their ancestral homeland is both moral and legal.

However, the surrounding Arab countries feel that it is both immoral and illegal.  And, there it has stood, stands, and will continue.  As wars or interactions continue to occur, there will be lots of reasons and rhetoric, but all who are closely involved, realize that Israel is not leaving and Palestine, or Jordan, or Syrian or Iran will have to live with it.

They all know that it will never get 'better', only worse or stay the same.  Indeed, while we had our final dinner at the Tel Aviv waterfront with hundreds of other diners, huge military helicopters flew over every 15 minutes.

All involved have not 'agreed to disagree' but 'disagreed to agree to disagree'.  It is a truce in an undeclared war.  People are pawns, politicians are propagandists.  This has been the way of life in the Middle East for millennia, and will most likely continue.........

As I said before, Shalom, world, Shalom.

Day 9--Wadi Rum, or Being on Mars

Wadi Rum, (Sand Valley in Arabic),  is the second most popular tourist destination in Jordan after Petra, was added on the itinerary at the last minute, but not really.  Initially, it was part of our 10 days, then it was canceled, then re-added.  The reason?  King Hussein was scheduled to be there at the same time as us, so they were going to close that part of the country. He changed his mind, and we were back on.

Lucky for us, since it is an extraordinary part of the world!  That is the reason they film movies like "The Martian" and Star Wars there.  As well as "Lawrence of Arabia", which was filmed there and took place there!

Our 'tent-resort'

We arrived early evening, had a great Zarb, a nomadic sand-barbeque, then off to bed each couple with a tent-cabin.  Come morning, a Toyota truck ride past all the amazing rock formations and tea at the location where the real Lawrence of Arabia took his meetings.

After the sand, the blankets and lid are removed

The rack is three layers

Meat on top, vegetables on the middle layer and rice below.  I am
checking online to see how to build a home size Zarb!

Our view from the back of the Toyota pickup

Unfortunately, pictures do not do the scenery justice.

Nabataean petroglyphs

We climbed on the 'bridge', we would be very small in this picture

Day 8 Petra--A.M.A.Z.I.N.G

The Number One tourist attraction in the Kingdom of Jordan is Petra.  Built by the Nabataeans over 2000 years ago.  Until recently, it was thought that their claim to fame was primarily in trade.  A new surge of inquiry has now revealed their high interest in and understanding of astronomy!  My source for such a daring assumption is none other than Mamoun Nawafleh, professor, academic, author of 'National Treasures of Jordan', a archeoastronomist, and OUR guide!

I won't go into details here, check the links if you wish, but we thought Petra was incredible before, now you wonder how much DID they know about tracking the sun and stars, the tilt of the earth, (23 1/2 degrees), marine travel and the development of the compass, and on and on.  The Treasury above is just one of numerous huge carved facades or buildings in this area.  Really hard to wrap your mind around.  If you are unfamiliar with the history of Petra, but recognize the above picture, you saw it Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom (1989).

The canyon leading into the 'city'

On both sides of the narrow canyon, are 'canals' for water to
be brought into the city's cisterns.

"Condos" for visiting traders.

This was an amphitheater built for 3000.  Recently, they brought in musicians for a concert
and realized that the natural acoustics were better than the electronic application.  The
rectangular areas in the back are not box seats but specially built chambers to help
amplify the sound.  

The carved areas were practically endless, AND over 2000 years old.

Day 7--Finding Nebo, Mt. Nebo

A Bedouin tent, they are scattered everywhere in the desert.  No water, just sheep and goats.
BTW, for your Bibliophiles.  Middle-Eastern sheep and goats look alike, it takes
the shepherd who really knows his flock to separate them.   

Border crossing from Israel to Jordan.  Simply put, not easy.  Lots of passport inspections, AK-47's, board but attentive border agents and Muslims moving across the border.  Two standouts memories.

The first of several border crossings, no more pictures after this one.

First, a 100-yard bus ride from one border to the other.  We had to put our luggage in the big compartment below where we sat, then pile in with everyone else, they drove us 100 yards, then we had to reverse the process.  And the border guard who inspected our passports was very, very drunk.  And, it was around 10AM!

This man sells tomatoes....from is truck

Once we finished with all of that, our two drivers met us. Mohammed and Mohammed.  Young Jordanians, just starting in the guiding trade.  These were drivers, not guides.  Nice men but not alot of knowledge concerning their country.  So off to Mt. Nebo.  This is where Moses went to die.  He hiked up there and never came back.  There is a church up there now.

On Mt. Nebo.  For men, head covered, for women, shoulders covered.

Thousands of these greenhouse frames everywhere.  Busy time winter/spring for growing

Real Time Note:  At a desert camp tonight, pretty spotty, weak WiFi.  Sleeping in tents, they are just about ready to pull the cooked sheep out of a pit!  We went to Petra today, unbelievable!!  Will write and upload when we get back to 'civilization'!

Day 6--Whaaat? We are on a Muslim Disco Party Boat?

ALTERNATIVE TITLE:  One of the best 'sermons' and most beautiful churches I have ever been in but did Father Kelly have to ask for a TripAdvisor review when we were leaving??

Now that I've got your attention, we will discuss where Jesus spent most of his three years of ministry and finish with the crazy boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

Another busy day.  We leave Jerusalem in the morning and head north to Galilee.  Although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, close to Jerusalem, he grew up in and did his healing and teaching around the Sea of Galilee which is about 80 miles north of Jerusalem or a 3-5 day walk in those days.

To commemorate his ministry around the Sea of Galilee and to emphasize a small synagogue that ALL historians conclude he taught in, the Franciscans have curated and developed the Magdala Synagogue.  Indeed, a Prayer Stone was discovered recently which the rabbi would read the Torah.  Really an amazing piece of history to see.

Also, they built an amazing church next to the Magdala Synagogue right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

A beautiful two level Catholic Church, a few pictures.

Father Kelly, an Irish Priest, greeted us and actually gave us a little homily as we sat
in the church looking out over the Sea of Galilee.  Very inspiring.

The pulpit was in the form of a boat.  It sat on green marble, with an infinity
pool on the outside, beautiful.

In addition to the sanctuary, it had four smaller chapels.  This one is Jairus' daughter
being raised from the dead by Jesus.  Father Kelly could obviously see that Lacey
was pregnant so he had Lacey, Deb and Nick mimic the mosaic on the wall....
For a photo and a blessing!

On the lower floor was an incredible painting showing the moment the sickly women touched Jesus' hem of his
garment and was healed.  Very lifelike rendering.  In addition, the flooring was taken from a 1st century road in Magdala.

And yes, Father Kelly had an incredible sense of humor.  He thanked us for our visit, had me take a picture of his business card and insisted that we give him a thumbs up review on TripAdvisor, we will!



Now, back to the Muslim Disco Party Boat.  We arrived in Magdala at the appointed time for a leisurely, focused cruise of the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus was on or next to this lake for most of his ministry and spoke about it many times.

But, alas, the captain was Jewish, or so the story goes and had canceled our reservation.   But, there was an evening cruise and we thought this would be better in that it would be cooler.  After the incredible time we had at the Catholic Church with Father Kelly, this would be the 'cherry-on-top'.

Well,  first it was a huge boat, not just the eight of us, as promised for the morning cruise.  And, we quickly discovered that 98% of those on board wear Muslim!  I calculated the eight of us comprised the 2%.  Do the math.  So, as we situated ourselves on the vast, open deck on plastic lawn chairs, the music started and we saw the DJ in the bow.  This was party time!  The best way to describe Middle Eastern disco music is LOUD.  And the dancing and clapping began.

Mostly women, but as the bass started throbbing the guys joined in.  Line dancing, circle dancing, big dances, small dances, just about everyone was moving but us!  We also discovered that not all Muslim women wear a hijab, (head veil).  Some veils are black and cover a lot, others are smaller, dare I say sexy, and other women didn't wear the hijab at all.  Our eyes wear opening!

Note the DJ in the top center

Anyway, they were having the time of their live's while we kinda sat there, thinking we should really be listening to Christian Praise Music!  Anyway, turns out that Jonathan didn't read the fine print on the booking and it turned out that this was a charter cruise booked by a small Muslim town close to the lake.  Guess we should be glad they let us stay and enjoy watching them have a great time!

Girls just wanna have fun....in any culture.

Day 5--Mass Murder to Shabbat

We drove from Jerusalem to Masada.  A location you may have heard of, but probably not sure in what context.  Briefly.  King Herod, in 30BC, built a luxurious palace, (and refuge), on this impregnable plateau overlooking the Dead Sea, ala Saddam Hussien excess.

However, in 66AD just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, a group of Jewish Sicarii, an extreme splinter group of the Jewish Zealots, took the palace by force and continued to hold out there until 72AD.  Over 30,000 Romans surrounded the plateau in order to take it from the 960 rebels, (including their families).

Knowing they needed to breach the wall surrounding the Sacarii, the Romans spent 4 months building a ramp to pull a battering ramp up to the wall to enter the city.  The ramp still exists today, it is made of thousands of tons of stone and sand.

You can see what the palace looked like in Herod's day.  Three levels.  The middle
level, in ruins is above this photo

Once the ram was in place, the wall did collapse, but to the surprise of the invading Romans, almost all inside the walls were dead.  Prior to the breach, 952 rebels drew lots to kill each other, since suicide is forbidden by Jewish Law.  2 women and 5 children, hidden from the Sicarii, survived and tell this story.  The Romans were so impressed by the 'bravery' of their foes, they turned, walked away and abandoned this area completely.

The sweeping ridge to the wall is what remains of the Roman siege ramp.

Although current research suggests some of this story is more legend than fact, it is a great story worth retelling.

On to the Dead Sea.  A few statistics, it is the lowest point on the Planet Earth.430 feet below sea level.  It is the seventh saltiest point on earth. (number one is in Antarctica (!).  Presently it is 33% salt, (the ocean is 3.5%).  It is loosing 4 feet a year in evaporation because of the 5-year draught Isreal is going through, and this time of year, it is one of the most miserable places on earth.

Very hot, both air and water, although you float like a styrofoam cork, the saltiness of the water is both unbelievably nauseating and toxic.  Maybe spring or fall is better, we spent a half hour rubbing mud on ourselves, rinsed and headed back to the air-conditioned bus!

No floaties for Gloria.  Hard to right yourself, you float too 'high'.

Finally, after a long day, it is back to Jerusalem and we are told we will experience a real treat.  It is going to the Western Wall at the beginning of Shabbat when Shabbat is a special holiday.  We weren't sure of what that special holiday was, but there were hundreds of Orthodox Jews at the wall, praying, singing, dancing, having a great time.

And, because this is Israel, any large group of people will be surrounded by 

armed IDF, I have never seen so many AK-47's shouldered by both men

and women. (They don't like their pictures taken)