Nazareth and Jerusalem: Take Two

Okay, so there aren't as many pictures as I thought from my friend, so this will be a bit shorter...and I added a couple of mine to the end.

My friend's second host family in Nazareth welcomed us warmly and we spent a few hours with them. This is the father, and the daughter. They have a son as well. This family is so interesting to me because the father is a Russian Jew and the mother is Arab (I think Muslim background). The children speak Russian, Arabic, Hebrew and English with ease and the conversation flowed from one language to the next, sometimes in the same sentence!

They had a small kitten that was so cute! I enjoyed holding it and it made me miss the kittens from home. 

This is me in front of the Dome of the Rock

Jews from all streams, from very mainstream to Orthodox, praying at the Western Wall.

From the Mt. of Olives we observed some Orthodox Jews praying at a grave (or graves). It was interesting to watch and listen to them...at one point they pulled out shofars and were blowing them...I have it on video, but it's not really exciting enough to go to the effort of uploading. :)

Another close-up of their prayers...I think the earlocks would drive me nuts if I had to wear them like that. :)

Nazareth and Jerusalem: Take One

Here are my pictures from my trip these past few days. Just to warn you...there's a lot...and I'm going to add another post with pictures from my friend. :)

I'm not sure how much you all want to know about the details of the trip, so I'll just add a bit of explanation and if you want the full scoop, let me know and I'll email you instead. 

The streets in Old City Nazareth. You can just see the sign for the Fauzi Azar Inn, a pretty famous place to stay...at least among people I know. :) It's a pretty incredible place...right in the heart of the old city.

Inside the Fauzi Azar there is an incredible mural in the dining area, done by a woman I am privileged to know. We went into the inn and they graciously allowed us to go and see the mural, even though the room wasn't technically open. :)

The Orthodox Church of the Annunciation...or the Basilica as it is also called. It is supposedly on the site where the angel appeared to Mary telling her she would give birth to Jesus. Inside are pictures (mosaics and other media like that) of that announcement given by lots of countries from around the world. 

The doors to the Basilica

Inside a group from Ethiopia was there praying and carrying out a service. I think they were Coptics...and it was interesting to observe their way of worshipping. 

Looking out over the city of Nazareth...right behind my head is Mt. Precipice, where they say the story in Luke 4:16-30.

We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Nazareth and then headed to Jerusalem Tuesday morning...

We stayed at a hostel right inside the Old City, and this was the view. :) Our "room" was actually the roof, and although it was a bit chilly last night, in reality it was an amazing place to spend our night in Jerusalem.

We walked and walked through the Old City, getting lost at times, but eventually making our way here, to the Western (Wailing) Wall. I got some pictures as we walked up the walkway onto the Temple Mount.

Some men placing their written prayers into the cracks. 

These men were having a Quranic study in the Temple Mount complex, right outside the Dome of the Rock...the man on the right is the teacher I believe.

The Dome of the Rock

A man studying in the Temple Mount complex

From the Temple Mount we made our way...eventually...to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is a bit blurry (sorry!) but these people are putting items on and kissing the stone believed to be the slab that Jesus' body was laid upon while he was in the grave. The people believe that the items they place on there will be blessed...fascinating and a bit sad.

From the Church we took the bus to East Jerusalem, up to the Mt. of Olives. Not really like what I pictured, but we did get a great view of the Old City. Directly below is a Jewish cemetery and I believe it's either the Kidron Vally or the Valley of Ben Himmon (I'm not sure on that spelling) between me and the Old City.

Here's the view without me in it. :)

This is where we slept last night...this is at 6 am as the sun was coming up. :)

And this was the sunrise...it was incredible to look over the Old City, because from where I was at, it looked so small...every important site to Christians, Muslims and Jews so close together, and yet worlds apart. From the catacomb of streets below it was a totally different story...it seemed like they went on forever. 

One of our "roofmates" woke up with the sun too, to pray. It was fascinating to observe the ritual prayers of the Jews.

Birthday Weekend Pictures

I know you're expecting pictures from Israel/Palestine, but I'm too much of a perfectionist/someone who likes order to not put these pictures on first. :) The next post is about Israel, I promise.

Roommates! This woman is super dear to me...I have been so blessed to have her as a roommate this year.

With Roa'a

With Haneen

The two of them...I think they might actually become friends...maybe. :)

Opening my gift from Haneen...Roa'a had already given me a gift at school. Haneen made the sign and the crocheted doily type thing.

These are paintballing pictures from my one friend, but she didn't have her camera around when we were all decked out in our gear so those will come later. :)

This little guy fell asleep in mid-bite. :) And yes, it is a boy...I made the wrong assumption when I first saw him.

Enjoying the view and the green-ness while it lasts. :)

With my friend overlooking the valley below

My Exciting Life

I feel like my life has been pretty exciting last week, and this coming week will just add to it. :)

On Friday for lunch/supper my friend took me to and Indian restaurant, which was amazing! The food was very authentic, even more so that what I've found in the States, and it brought back lots of good memories of India.

Saturday this same friend and I went with two of our other friends to a country club type place where I got to experience something for the first time...paint-balling!! I never thought my first time going paint-balling would be here, but it was great! There are a ton of pictures of the event, but none on my computer yet (I have to get them from my friends) and so eventually I'll get those posted. 

Tomorrow my friend and I will head to Israel/Palestine for a few days of vacation for Easter. We're first going to Nazareth and then Jerusalem. I'm so excited to explore some of these ancient places, and to have the Word come alive as I visit these cities. I had been hoping to actually be in Jerusalem for Easter, but since entry into the country is hard on Saturdays (Sabbath) I'll settle for Nazareth. :)

All that to say, I don't have any pictures yet of all these great things I've done, but I will hopefully by next weekend, and speaking of which, May 1st is Labor Day here so we'll have that counted as break as well. (The university doesn't actually give us a spring or Easter break...May 1st is the only day we don't have class other than weekends...so we are giving ourselves this break)

So, for the next few days I'll be away from my computer, although I'm hoping to maybe connect on my ipod once or twice to check email, but I'm not promising anything. If you need me...well, I'll be back by Wednesday night. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter celebration! I know I will.

Pictures from a classmate

Here are some pictures that my Russian-Swedish classmate gave me. She has a super nice camera and took lots of pictures, which I'm grateful for. :)

Eating lunch at the camp with my friend classmates, one from Norway and one from the U.S. Guess which one is which. ;)

What the tents looked like...there were three rows like this with two cots per tent.

Out in the desert

Walking down from where we watched the sun set

Dancing in full swing back at the camp

The view from our beach chairs...we camped out in the shade since the sun was almost too hot. It was great because we were at a private beach so we could feel a bit more at ease in our swimsuits.

The clear blue water of the Red Sea

Birthday Blessings

I have some pictures ready to go from my classmate, of the desert trip, but I will post those later...right now I just wanted to let you all know how blessed I've been today.

Today I was extremely blessed by friends and family. :) I woke up to flowers from my friend and a wonderful conversation over coffee. Then I talked to my parents and Reg, Stacy, and then Kerri on skype. :) And then I received a gift from one of my roommates, before we went out to eat for supper at Fuddrucker's. Well, when we showed up who should be waiting for us but my friend who I got the flowers from, and my two closest Arab friends. :) It was a delightful surprise and we had a wonderful time together. And then the four of us Westerners came back to the apartment and had a dance party. :) We went from modern dance music, to "Achy Breaky Heart", to Grease. Let me just say that I will sleep well tonight. 

I know sometimes celebrating holidays and other special days far away from home can be hard, but I feel like it can also be a chance to experience blessings and surprises that wouldn't otherwise come your way. While being away from home has had it's challenges this year, it has also yielded incredible blessings and memories that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Trip to the Desert and the Red Sea

Sorry it's taken me so long to get these pictures posted...I was recovering from lack of sleep. :)

So, the trip was as follows:

leave from the school at 8:30 9:20

travel 3 hours south (which takes about 4 because of stops)

eat lunch at the campground/Bedouin camp/tourist trap

enjoy the blistering sun and try to find some relief in the shade

load up in jeeps/trucks and drive around through the desert for a couple of hours until the sun sets

return to the camp to find alot of Arabs dancing and eating and smoking nargeelah (water pipes)

watch the dancing for an hour or so

eat supper around 9, and climb into bed around 10-10:30 while the majority of my group drinks the night away

wake up, eat breakfast and leave for the Red Sea at 8:00 8:45ish

arrive at the 5 star hotel, change and stake out a lounge chair on the beach

enjoy the refreshing sea, the beautiful day and some delicious ice cream :)

find supper/lunch outside the hotel

load up and head back to the capital at 5:30 6:15

finally get home at 11:30 pm, exhausted :)

Here are a few of the pictures I and my friend took during the trip...we didn't end up getting any pictures of the Red Sea for some reason

A meeting of ancient and modern cultures in the desert

Sitting at the entrance to our tent at the campground...at least we had beds and weren't on the ground :)

With a Russian-Swede from my class who was on the trip

A complaining camel...they make the most unusual sounds :)

Driving through the desert...it was so different than anything I've ever seen before

Standing to look above the cab of the truck

We ran/walked/staggered up the sand hill to the left...it's taller and steeper and much more difficult than it looks. The sand there was this reddish color that was incredible.

At the bottom of the hill on our way up...this was when I thought it wouldn't take that long

Halfway up people are collapsing along the way and it seems like I'll never reach the top

Finally at the top! Going down was a hundred times easier.

The view from the top...the tracks are the ones we followed in and out of this area. The area is called Wadi ___ (blank for security reasons) but another name is Wadi Al-Kamar (kamar means moon) because the landscape looks like the moon.

Atop another hill-type thing where we watched the sun set into the haze. :)

 The setting sun

In the desert...you can't tell how far up we are, but let me assure you, it was high. :) Some of the rocks had a purple-ish tint to them that was unreal...so I picked one up to prove it later.

I might get some pictures from the Swedish girl from my class, and if so I'll put some up of the Red Sea.