I don't know why but i can't get over this jet lag thing! i'm usually the easiest sleeper of anybody but i could hardly keep my eyes open when i got home last night at 7 and then woke up this morning about 12:45... forcing myself to stay in bed till 3. So now i'm up and ready to go and my work doesn't open for another hour and a half. Perfect time to update my journaling about the trip, eh?
Dec. 21
No clue what day it is. we flew to Athens tonight and are waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv. We went and saw St. Paul's Cathedral in London- i think it's one of my favorites. It's welcoming and light and beautiful. And I love the music!
Everyone in London has a dog. We watched them all take their dogs on walks this morning at a park near the Evans'. And it's seriously like 101 Dalmatians, every ones dog looks like its walker! You could almost match up precisely each owner and its dog if they were all lined up facing one another. This cute old man passed us at one point and then further down the road we saw him and his dog again. This time his dog was sitting on a bench, so content, so human-like. In his cute little English accent he slowly turned his gaze from her to us and said, "She won't move! She just wants to sit there!" So funny.
We flew to Athens where the way the speak English brings back all kinds of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" lines to memory. So great.
I bought "the little prince" in honor of Deana in a quaint little bookstore. i like the things that make me feel like my friends and family are part of this trip. I just finished reading it here on the airplane. It reminded me not just of Deana, but also made me think a lot about life. The Little Prince meets all these people and learns about their lives/their duties/who they are. How seriously they take their lives just doesn't make sense to him. The details complicate life. I find myself feeling too much the same way- I accept things I like about life- i deal with what I don't. I pay little attention to detail and ask a lot of questions without wanting to answer many at all. I don't want to grow up. And yet the things that made his life difficult are the same that sometimes make mine- you allow yourself to be "tamed-" you love what doesn't always seem to love you back. You don't take advantage of all you could while you have it. Deana's referred to that book so many times and i'm glad i finally know what she's talking about. yes, it is a children's book but i highly recommend it. just makes you see the world a little differently.
And with that, I'll catch a few zzzs.
Mon. Dec 22, Park Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem
How bout a round of applause for the pilot! kinda made me chuckle when our flight landed smoothly and every broke out into clapping. We got to Israel at 3:45am and Tel Aviv is one of the nicest airports i've been in for awhile. Lots more crowded than i expected for that time of morning. Everything is in Hebrew, as expected, so when we went to withdraw cash we had no idea how much were were getting or spending. That probably would have helpful to look up :)
There are a few draw-backs to going on a trip like this on your own. Getting around, what to see, getting ripped off, some of it is quite ambiguous when you don't have a guide. However, there are a lot of perks too... everything is an adventure! I end up just laughing at a lot of stuff. We had to wait a few hours till anything started running or opening this morning. Sleeping in airports is awful when you're SO tired.
The shared taxi took us to Jerusalem where we waited and waited for rooms to open. Let me tell you about this city:
It's very cool to look around and see so many yamakas:) Birthright is a very real thing... everyone was asking me about if that's why i was coming and i didn't even know what it was but there are tons of Jewish students 26 and under that they pay for to come to Jerusalem and just see how it works in hopes that they'll one day either come back or support Israel. Honking your horn is truly, as Al said, just an extension of your voice, which bothered me more than once. It's like they just have conversations with each other via blaring noises. Young men walk around in uniform with HUGE guns out in the open. The "new" side of Jerusalem is quite cramped and there are menorahs in every window. Very cool.
We had to find something to do as we waited for the hotel so we toured the Supreme Court building. Everything is symbolically tied to a scripture in the Torah which was kind of neat. There was a rose garden out back that kept me thinking about a Hebrew song my students sang last year about an Evening of Roses... just can't get them off the brain :)
The landscape here is astounding. It's not the most beautiful, lush place... it's the desert. And parts of the Bible make so much more sense to me now and i see where they were talking about and the terrain they would have been living in.
We got falafel and shwarma pitas that were AMAZING for dinner. i think i'm really gonna like the food here- i could eat that hummus everyday and feel like this trip was a success.
I'm certainly beat. Tomorrow's another day.
Dec 23, 2008 Jerusalem,
We woke early today and took a cab into the Old City. Holy cow, the streets were so crowded. It was like being transported back in time. We bought a nativity from a Palestinian man- Al talked them down big time. They even gave us orange juice (if you can call it that,) "no business, just for my brothers!" So funny. I guess tourism has been way down this year which isn't too surprising in lieu of the financial crisis among other things. We went and found the rental car agency via this incredible looking YMCA. We went in and found a big of Christmas which was a sight for sore eyes. Anyway, we picked up the car after souvenir shopping and trying to piece together what on earth we were seeing around the city and inside the gates.
Now, the traffic in Israel is insane. I have Al three thumbs up for his driving he did so well, dodging the most randomly consistent of all obstacles- a woman with a walker, a bike, a parked car, a black cat, and yes, even the police- insane. We got a GPS as a saving grace and made our way to Tel Aviv to pick up Amos, our Jewish tour guide from the Hilton. We waded in the water at the beach and scaled a few cliffs... and by we i mean "I" scaled a cliff. The wind get crazy strong around here. We found Amos who showed us the way up to Galilee. We asked all about the culture of Muslim vs Jew and how it effects everyday life there in Israel. They are pretty protective of their little country and they try to get people coming back and living. The two hour drive had me thinking lots about the walk Christ would have made from Capernaum to Jerusalem- it certainly wasn't short.
We got to Ein Get and ate a St. Peter's Fish Dinner with the LDS Family Tour group. maybe it was cuz it was delicious or maybe it was because i hadn't eaten anything all day but that fish was licked clean. The cute old ladies in the group are wonderful and there's a family of 9 whose youngest daughter was baptized today in the See of Galilee.
I got a few great treasures today. I'm not a jewelry person really at all we saw this opal bracelet and talked the guy down by quite a bit. Found a drum, some scarves, and a few more things. All day today every store we went into the people would tell us we were their first customer. It's supposed to be good luck if they sell to the first person in their shop so they talk as if they're striking a deal with you. I'm pretty sure Al will save me hundreds of dollars on this trip with his madd haggling skills.
I can't help but think of my family as I'm here and there- i wish they could be with me. I'm excited to call on Christmas Day. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. How ironic to be in the land of Christ's birth and life and see almost no sign at all of it. The world is slowly forgetting Christmas- in a very different way in the USA than other places, but nonetheless it's disappearing. How grateful I am that I have reason and places to celebrate my Savior's life and birth other than just at this holiday that appears so insignificant right now.
Merry Christmas Eve eve.
Dec. 21
No clue what day it is. we flew to Athens tonight and are waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv. We went and saw St. Paul's Cathedral in London- i think it's one of my favorites. It's welcoming and light and beautiful. And I love the music!
Everyone in London has a dog. We watched them all take their dogs on walks this morning at a park near the Evans'. And it's seriously like 101 Dalmatians, every ones dog looks like its walker! You could almost match up precisely each owner and its dog if they were all lined up facing one another. This cute old man passed us at one point and then further down the road we saw him and his dog again. This time his dog was sitting on a bench, so content, so human-like. In his cute little English accent he slowly turned his gaze from her to us and said, "She won't move! She just wants to sit there!" So funny.
We flew to Athens where the way the speak English brings back all kinds of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" lines to memory. So great.
I bought "the little prince" in honor of Deana in a quaint little bookstore. i like the things that make me feel like my friends and family are part of this trip. I just finished reading it here on the airplane. It reminded me not just of Deana, but also made me think a lot about life. The Little Prince meets all these people and learns about their lives/their duties/who they are. How seriously they take their lives just doesn't make sense to him. The details complicate life. I find myself feeling too much the same way- I accept things I like about life- i deal with what I don't. I pay little attention to detail and ask a lot of questions without wanting to answer many at all. I don't want to grow up. And yet the things that made his life difficult are the same that sometimes make mine- you allow yourself to be "tamed-" you love what doesn't always seem to love you back. You don't take advantage of all you could while you have it. Deana's referred to that book so many times and i'm glad i finally know what she's talking about. yes, it is a children's book but i highly recommend it. just makes you see the world a little differently.
And with that, I'll catch a few zzzs.
Mon. Dec 22, Park Plaza Hotel, Jerusalem
How bout a round of applause for the pilot! kinda made me chuckle when our flight landed smoothly and every broke out into clapping. We got to Israel at 3:45am and Tel Aviv is one of the nicest airports i've been in for awhile. Lots more crowded than i expected for that time of morning. Everything is in Hebrew, as expected, so when we went to withdraw cash we had no idea how much were were getting or spending. That probably would have helpful to look up :)
There are a few draw-backs to going on a trip like this on your own. Getting around, what to see, getting ripped off, some of it is quite ambiguous when you don't have a guide. However, there are a lot of perks too... everything is an adventure! I end up just laughing at a lot of stuff. We had to wait a few hours till anything started running or opening this morning. Sleeping in airports is awful when you're SO tired.
The shared taxi took us to Jerusalem where we waited and waited for rooms to open. Let me tell you about this city:
It's very cool to look around and see so many yamakas:) Birthright is a very real thing... everyone was asking me about if that's why i was coming and i didn't even know what it was but there are tons of Jewish students 26 and under that they pay for to come to Jerusalem and just see how it works in hopes that they'll one day either come back or support Israel. Honking your horn is truly, as Al said, just an extension of your voice, which bothered me more than once. It's like they just have conversations with each other via blaring noises. Young men walk around in uniform with HUGE guns out in the open. The "new" side of Jerusalem is quite cramped and there are menorahs in every window. Very cool.
We had to find something to do as we waited for the hotel so we toured the Supreme Court building. Everything is symbolically tied to a scripture in the Torah which was kind of neat. There was a rose garden out back that kept me thinking about a Hebrew song my students sang last year about an Evening of Roses... just can't get them off the brain :)
The landscape here is astounding. It's not the most beautiful, lush place... it's the desert. And parts of the Bible make so much more sense to me now and i see where they were talking about and the terrain they would have been living in.
We got falafel and shwarma pitas that were AMAZING for dinner. i think i'm really gonna like the food here- i could eat that hummus everyday and feel like this trip was a success.
I'm certainly beat. Tomorrow's another day.
Dec 23, 2008 Jerusalem,
We woke early today and took a cab into the Old City. Holy cow, the streets were so crowded. It was like being transported back in time. We bought a nativity from a Palestinian man- Al talked them down big time. They even gave us orange juice (if you can call it that,) "no business, just for my brothers!" So funny. I guess tourism has been way down this year which isn't too surprising in lieu of the financial crisis among other things. We went and found the rental car agency via this incredible looking YMCA. We went in and found a big of Christmas which was a sight for sore eyes. Anyway, we picked up the car after souvenir shopping and trying to piece together what on earth we were seeing around the city and inside the gates.
Now, the traffic in Israel is insane. I have Al three thumbs up for his driving he did so well, dodging the most randomly consistent of all obstacles- a woman with a walker, a bike, a parked car, a black cat, and yes, even the police- insane. We got a GPS as a saving grace and made our way to Tel Aviv to pick up Amos, our Jewish tour guide from the Hilton. We waded in the water at the beach and scaled a few cliffs... and by we i mean "I" scaled a cliff. The wind get crazy strong around here. We found Amos who showed us the way up to Galilee. We asked all about the culture of Muslim vs Jew and how it effects everyday life there in Israel. They are pretty protective of their little country and they try to get people coming back and living. The two hour drive had me thinking lots about the walk Christ would have made from Capernaum to Jerusalem- it certainly wasn't short.
We got to Ein Get and ate a St. Peter's Fish Dinner with the LDS Family Tour group. maybe it was cuz it was delicious or maybe it was because i hadn't eaten anything all day but that fish was licked clean. The cute old ladies in the group are wonderful and there's a family of 9 whose youngest daughter was baptized today in the See of Galilee.
I got a few great treasures today. I'm not a jewelry person really at all we saw this opal bracelet and talked the guy down by quite a bit. Found a drum, some scarves, and a few more things. All day today every store we went into the people would tell us we were their first customer. It's supposed to be good luck if they sell to the first person in their shop so they talk as if they're striking a deal with you. I'm pretty sure Al will save me hundreds of dollars on this trip with his madd haggling skills.
I can't help but think of my family as I'm here and there- i wish they could be with me. I'm excited to call on Christmas Day. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. How ironic to be in the land of Christ's birth and life and see almost no sign at all of it. The world is slowly forgetting Christmas- in a very different way in the USA than other places, but nonetheless it's disappearing. How grateful I am that I have reason and places to celebrate my Savior's life and birth other than just at this holiday that appears so insignificant right now.
Merry Christmas Eve eve.
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WOW...reading this takes my breath away! It's almost as if I'm there with you.
I remember once upon when you were on that same time schedule...7 p.m. to 3 a.m. only you were weeks old at the time. :)