Gone to the Holy Land... Be back in 10 days.

Walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

16.11.2008 - 16.11.2008

I FINALLY finished blogging about Southern Greece... A little later than I would have liked but I felt SO guilty starting on Israel without finishing Southern Greece.
I am becoming an expert at navigating airports and going through customs. This trip had an additional component though-- Questioning. We went up in groups of 2 and were asked things like: How long have you known each other? How long have you know you were going to Israel? Who pack your luggage? When did you pack it? Who was in the room? Where has it been since then?
The airport in Tel Aviv is AMAZING! I wish our airports were that nice. There is a large open circular area with a "waterfall" that looks like it's raining down from the ceiling into a fountain.
I always give you a little update on the guy situation in every country so I wouldn't want to disappoint you. Alright... Quick re-cap. Greek men- UGH! There's occasionally a cute one but I've been highly disappointed. I've come to the opinion all the cute ones work in the police force. Egypt- The men were much cuter. Israel- I got off the plane and saw cute guys everywhere! That combined with the fact that Israel is SO clean compared to everywhere else I've been if forced to choose I would pick someone from here. Lol
Israel is BEAUTIFUL! I keep thinking of Jesus as a young boy running around this area and think... Lucky Duck! We went to Ceserea and Nazareth today. This area looks very similar to the hill country. It's very "Americanized" over here. We saw an ACE, Toys-R-Us, Burger King and of course McDonalds.
Our tour guide Yosi kept reinforcing that archeology, religion, and politics are very mixed together sometimes making it difficult to get a true picture.
At Ceserea the two most important remaining structures are a Byzantine Church and the remains of the Herodian Harbor.
The Harbor was built in 25 BC by Herod the Great and was the first artificial harbor in the world. We also saw the first artificial pool. This pool was constructed outside the summer villa of Herod the Great. When you look at the picture of the pool you will see a big rock. This is called Poet's Island and as the name suggests poetry was read here.
Herod was a real scum-bag personally but he was a fairly good king. Jesus was born under his rule and Herod is considered very important because he shaped the atmosphere Jesus was born into. Herod killed a lot of people including his wife, who was an Asmonian and her 2 sons. Because of this Caesar Augustus said the now famous saying-- It is better to be Herod's pig than his son.
Our last site at Ceserea was a roman theater. Yosi played his flute for us with a background composition similar to something that might have been played back in the day.
We finally ate lunch around 4. It was a pita and chicken which tasted almost EXACTLY like a breaded chicken sandwich at Wendy's. So I have now had "Israeli Wendy's."
By 5 it is dark here so unfortunately we saw the remains of ancient Nazareth in the dark. Israel also has an annoying habit of building churches on top of holy sites sort-of as a monument. Soooo... There aren't too many pictures from here but take my word for it, it was interesting!
We also went to church in Nazareth. There is a church of Christ there with about 50 people. It is very hard for them because they are disowned by their families. they are also persecuted. There were some teenage muslim boys who had come by and vandalized the church just the night before. You hear about these types of things happening ALL the time but being here and seeing it with your own eyes just brings it home in an entirely different way.
We spent the night at an AMAZING hotel. Scratch what I said about the Best Western being my favorite hotel. This one by FAR is. The beds are incredibly comfortable and there is a heated pool, hot tub and sauna. So while all of you are at work I have been soaking in the hot tub. Greece and Europe obviously doesn't believe in hot tubs but hooray for Israel believing in them!