Day 2: Slept like a rock . . . a snoring rock! Woke up at 6:15 am and got ready for the day. Had an interesting breakfast: scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, roasted bell peppers (red, green, and yellow), roasted onions, pita bread, Greek yogurt, vanilla pudding, water, and some other thing I liked, but couldn't tell you what it was!
Headed out at 8:00 am for field trip to Jerusalem. Got to travel the modern evolution of the ancient road that heads inland from Tel Aviv through Gezer to Jerusalem. Went past the remains of Beth Shemesh (check out the story in Judges where the ark of the covenant is returned to the Hebrews after being in the custody of the Philistines for a while), Keriath Jearim (same story), and a few other points of interest that I took notes on, but can't remember right now!
In Jerusalem . . .
We went to the Temple Mount and prayed at the Western Wall (a.k.a. Wailing Wall) and left a prayer note in one of the many crevices.
We went to the Basilica/Church of the Sepulchre, the Upper Room, the Church of Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Stations of the Cross (Via de la Rosa), the traditional sight of the Tomb of King David, traveled through the Kidron Valley, and saw the Dead Sea (or at least the haze over the Dead Sea) from the back side of the Mount of Olives.
We walked through the Old City which has incredibly narrow streets lined with Arab shops selling all kinds of touristy stuff. We went to a specific Arab shop that our Tel Gezer folks have done business with in the past and he had lunch ordered for us and we shopped at his shop. "Everyone tell you they have good price, but it is a lie! I, I will give you best price!" Bought something for my wife and a chess set for me! Couldn't find anything decent for my baby girl! (Sorry, Grace! Don't worry Grace I've got lots of time!)
Lunch, that was interesting! We had our choice of falafels or chwarmas. Falafels is pita bread split open with fried chickpea patties, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, and Greek yogurt and . . . of all things . . . French fries! Chwarmas are the same thing, but instead of chickpea patties, it (supposedly) had meat. We sat/stood around (all 35 of us) in this cramped little shop eating our sandwiches while the store keepers sons(?) ran around refilling our 6 oz. plastic cups with lemonade or orange drink. It was pretty cool.
After lunch we continued our tours and came back home. Oh, lots of different languages to translate on different signs, buildings, and monuments. Many religious groups and cultures have left their marks on this city . . . Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Russian, and English. I got a chance to exercise my Hebrew and Greek. Of course, the Latin was no problem! See, TWCA students, it does come in handy!
Got back to Neve Shalom around 4:30 pm. Had another brief meeting letting us know what to expect for our first work day tomorrow (up at 4:00 am!). And, then our hosts here at Neve Shalom treated us to a BBQ on their grass lawn! Grilled hot dogs, grilled chicken thighs, hamburger patties (no buns, only pita), more cucumber-tomato salad (apparently a staple here, every meal it's available), hummus (another staple made from chickpeas into a paste/sauce . . . yuck), salad, and a very lovely carrot cake with thick creamy icing! Yum!
By the way, it's warm here, but no more than back home. Last couple of weeks have been incredibly hot in Texas and this was mild compared to that. That being said, I have been sucking down water like it is going out of style! It may not be hotter here, but it is dryer. So, lots of water in my big blue platic water bottle from Target (thanks Madisynn for helping me pick it out!).
It is almost 9:00 pm. I'm going to head out and get ready for bed. 4:00 am will come early!
Shalom!
Trey
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