Pita and Peanut Butter

I ended my last post with "crazy adventures planned for this weekend". Well, part of the reason why those adventures were so crazy was simply  because there was very little planning that went into the weekend, or at least not very wise planning. Bridget and I decided to hike the Jesus Trail - a 60km hiking trail that "follows the footsteps of Jesus". So with a simple map and a quick check of the bus schedule, we planned to hike from Tiberias to Cana or Nazareth. Note: We both acknowledged the stupidity of this plan going into this weekend, and decided to fully embrace the crazy adventure that would result.

I title this post with "Pita and Peanut Butter" because that was the fuel that made this weekend happen. We started the weekend off with a grocery shopping trip where we bought all the food we would eat for the weekend: 15 pitas, a jar of peanut butter, a bag of carrots, 4 oranges, and 8 apples. In addition to food and ample water, we packed all the warm clothes we had and a toothbrush, and began our journey.

 

Thursday afternoon we first took a bus to Tiberias, a city on the Sea of Galilee (well technically we missed our bus and then took a nap in the sun at the bus station and went out and got some shawarma for dinner). Once in Tiberias, we took another bus further up north, and got off at a random stop. Our first goal was to find somewhere to sleep. We figured we would sort of camp, aka find somewhere in the woods to sleep, one - because we could (the weather said it wouldn't drop below 50 degrees), two - to add to the craziness/stupidity, three - to save money, four - why not? We happened to get off at a kibbutz that had a fancy tourist hotel next to it. So we sketchily crept through the hotel property until we ended up at the end of a pier that jutted out into the Galilee. It just happened to have two metal benches at the end of it - obvisouly where we were meant to sleep that night. It was absolutely gorgeous - a bright moon, lots of stars, mountains all around the sea, no bugs, and a club down the road playing "Adele" all night haha. It was cool to read the story of Jesus walking on water on the Galilee as we sat there, and to gaze at the many mountains that Jesus could have escaped to before feeding the five thousand. I didn't ever think I'd be sleeping on the shores of the Galilee, where Jesus spent so much of his life.  Hotel guests definitely came out to the pier a few times after we had laid down to sleep, and a fishing boat passed by making all kinds of noise. We surprisingly were never kicked off or told to leave. Around midnight, we both were freezing, so we moved to the beach where there was less wind. Despite getting up every few hours to run around and do some jumping jacks to stay warm, we slept rather well. Before the sun came up, we woke up at 6am, and began our hike.

The Jesus Trail was absolutely beautiful - and confirmed to me that Israel has the most varied landscape in a small area than anywhere else I've ever been. We started hiking through vineyards (and picked up some free orange-lemon-grapefruit like fruits on the ground to add to our food supply). We shortly were hiking up a mountain, with ancient caves and a gorgeous view of the Galilee and the boats of fishermen on it (like the disciples!). Then we passed through farmlands, woods, muddy rivers, a kibbutz, even the road. We hiked rather quickly, and took very few breaks, thus our few stops to eat a pita with peanut butter were almost heavenly. You'd think after eating copious amounts of peanut butter every day of my life I'd be sick of it by now…especially since thats mostly what I've been eating in Israel. We ended up hiking around 15 miles in 10 hours (from sunrise, to sunset). Right before sunset we found a little hill to camp for the night. After eating another pita, and putting on all our clothes, we went to bed around 5 pm, hoping to get some sleep before it got really cold.  

An ancient synagogue.

Bridget trekking through muddy streams.

The snake I ferociously killed...or found dead on the side of the rode.

Around 8pm, we both woke up freezing, and quickly made the decision to not even try to sleep through the night. We could either hike all night to stay warm, or find somewhere else to sleep. Luckily we had stopped near the rode, so we started walking that way, until we found a gas station. Once there, we started calling hostels, and ended up finding a "camp lodge" that would pick us up for free and had HEAT. It was run by a family, who were so kind, so loving, and so shocked that we called them at 9pm on Shabbat, but they graciously welcomed us in, offering us tea, a warm shower, and a cute little heated tent-like thing on their goat farm. Bridget and I couldn't have been more ecstatic or grateful.

Oma, I figured you'd appreciate this one :)

We slept in the next morning - completely exhausted from the day before, and not wanting to leave the family and farm at all. Around 10am, we started hiking again though, and made it to Cana, the place Jesus turned water into wine, early in the afternoon (it was only about 5 miles). Instead of hiking to Nazareth, we decided to take a bus. Nazareth and Cana are both completely Arab cities, so we stood out a lot more, and wearing shorts and a t-shirt didn't help. It reminded me a lot of Mombassa, Kenya though, so I was pretty comfortable. Once in Nazareth, we visited the largest church in the Middle East, and a few other famous sites. We then just hung around there for a bit, until the one and only bus back to Karmiel arrived.

More of God's beauty that randomly landed on me!

The largest church in the Middle East.

Watching the sunset in Nazareth as we waited for our bus:

"May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord." -Psalms 104

All in all, the weekend was fantastic. I grew a lot closer to Bridget, got to see way more of the country by foot, met some amazing people, and felt pretty accomplished after hiking 20+ miles. The good points definitely outweighed the few points of misery; I wouldn't have asked for it any other way.

I also came to understand Luke 12:22-34 in a whole new way:

"And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you."


Almost becoming like a sparrow, with no storehouse of food besides the few pitas on our back, or a lily of the field with only what few clothes we could carry, it was a journey of completely trusting in God to take care of us. And He did in ways that I could not have asked or imagined. We ended up having just enough food for the trip, just enough money to get home on the bus, just enough water before we would find a place to fill up, two benches and a warm tent to lay our heads for the nights, sunny weather, no getting lost, safety, and a full moon as a night-light. How thankful I am to know that I don't need to worry about anything, not the food I eat, the place I will sleep, or my entire future, because God provides.

Week 3: Yav Dashem, Haifa, teaching.

On Sunday, instead of teaching, I joined the 11th grade class on a field trip to Yav Dashem, a Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.Overall it was a good day - I got to know a lot of the students better which is something I have been hoping for. But it was definitely a day that required a lot of patience - driving on a bus for 6 hours with crazy Israeli 11th graders is no easy task. It didn't help that I hadn't taught any 11th grade classes yet, so I didn't know any of the teachers or students. Since the students had never seen me in the teacher role, they viewed me with little respect/as their equal. They followed me around, translated everything for me (even though all the signs in the museum had English and Hebrew), and had me sit with them on the bus. The museum wasn't too different than the one in Washington D.C., just more from the Jewish perspective.

Monday was a regular day of teaching. However, now that its week 3, the teachers (who are Israeli thus  they are disorganized and never really know whats going on), have forgotten when we are teaching for them. So its become more and more common to walk into a class and be a surprise to a teacher, which means we usually just end up observing the class. Not quite as fun, but not complaining too much. It is funny to watch teachers constantly switch from English to Hebrew and writing left to right then right to left as they work through problems on the board.

Tuesday was election day in Israel! Nothing has changed since Jesus' time - to vote, you still have to go back to where you are registered/live (that's why Jesus was born in Bethlehem and not Nazareth). So everyone gets the day off - which meant another day of exploring! I went to Haifa, a city built on Mt. Carmel, just south of Akko. I started my day by checking out the Baha'i Gardens and shrine (Baha'i is a  religion that apparently has over 5 million followers, I had never heard of it before though). The gardens were absolutely beautiful. I then met up with Mika, the girl I teach with, and we went to the beach together. And because it won't be warm enough to go to the beach in Boston for quite a while - we both swam (ALL Israelis thought we were crazy). We then visited another church, and Mika headed back to Karmiel. I however went to a family's house for dinner that some friends, including Kathleen, had connected me with. I had never met them before, but they were MIT alums who moved to Israel after they graduated in the 80's (Mr. and Mrs. Coop, they didn't remember knowing you, but who knows). Like my short stay in a home in Tel Aviv, it was such a pleasure to be in a house, to meet their kids and their pastor (they had him over for his birthday), and to have a delicious home-cooked meal (with chicken even, and a grand dessert of brownies, chocolate mouse, whipped cream, and chocolate chip cookies that were almost as good as Oma's). It was interesting to talk to them about what being Christian was like in a Jewish state, something I have obviously thought a lot about since being here.

Mika and I

Thats it for now - more crazy adventures for this weekend planned, so stay tuned :)

If you have nowhere to sleep, then don't sleep.

This weekend was quite the ADVENTURE! By the end I was amazed at what can happen when you put some crazy college students together in a foreign country (mom please don't freak out about this post, I skyped you once I was home safely and you said yourself I looked great!). It started with a goal to go to two places called Ein Gedi and Masada, and to swim in the Dead Sea. The original plan for the weekend involved a two day trip, with a night in a hostel near Masada, the main purpose being to wake up close to Masada so we could hike it and watch the sunrise from the top of it.

HOWEVER, when we called the hostel the day before the trip (another outcome of traveling with all college students), they were completely booked, as was every other hostel and hotel within a 100 mile radius. So we met up and tried to figure out a solution. I adore sunrises, and was determined to keep that in the works. Bridget and I also were completely willing to sleep in the car or to camp somewhere, but the other 8 people weren't so thrilled. And then I came up with a solution that reveals too well that I go to MIT (and that I've learned too much from my dad and his ability to forgo sleep to plow during those crazy snow storms) - if there is nowhere to sleep, lets just not sleep! We all stay up for p-sets, and I would say a sunrise hike > pset. I knew there was a solution to every problem…executing it was another issue, but we got everyone to agree to the plan, and at 7:30am the next morning, we were on our way.

Destination 1: Nahariya ---> Rosh Hanikra
Along with 5 other students staying at Ort Braude, I headed to Nahariya by bus, where we picked up two rental cars and groceries for Shabbat, when everything would be closed. We had to get rental cars because all public transportation shuts down on Shabbat, and  and it made getting to the Dead Sea way easier. We then headed to the most northwestern part of Israel - Rosh Hanikra. Rosh Hanikra is basically a cliff that you can go on top of to see a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. It then has "grottos", or little tunnels through the rock cut out by the water that you can walk through. It was absolutely beautiful, and walking out on the rocks and getting a little wetter than intentioned by a big wave was great!

"Above the sound of the surging water, and the mighty waves of the sea, the Lord sits enthroned in majesty." - Psalms 93:4

You can even see the Lebanon border (the fence in this picture) from where we were standing!

Destination 2: Nahariya ---> Tel Aviv
We headed back to Nahariya to grab some lunch, at a popular chain cafe in Israel called Aroma. Since I've been cooking on my own, and since kosher restaurants here either serve meat or dairy, I had had meat only 3 times since being in Israel. A chicken sandwich never tasted so good :)
We then drove about 2 hours to Tel Aviv. Driving down the coast as the sun set over it made it quite an enjoyable ride. As did the fact that I was driving a car at least 15 years newer than my car at home - with working blinkers, windows, doors, air conditioning, and brakes even! It was also pretty crazy to look down at my speedometer and see it say that I was driving over 100 kph. I now know that means I was going about 62 mph, but not knowing that made it seem way faster. Side-note: Even though we had to get the rental cars under two people who were 21, Kathleen and I were the only students who were willing to drive through a foreign country (I was actually very excited to). But rules in Israel were meant to be broken; it added to the adventure of it all. After some skillful parallel parking in Tel Aviv, we crashed at the hotel that the other MIT students were staying in. After getting dinner out (things actually stay open in Tel Aviv on Friday nights, even though the rest of Israel has shut down by this point). We then proceeded to have 10 people sleep for a few hours in 2 small hotel rooms. I fell asleep around 11 pm. When my alarm went off at 1:30 am, it was go-time. We all got up surprisingly quickly,  Kathleen and I inhaled some coffee/tea for caffeine, and we were off.

Destination 3: Masada
Driving to Masada was great - the roads were completely empty, I was completely awake, and the ease of navigating through Israel was much appreciated. At one point we hit the thickest fog I've ever driven through - couldn't really see anything but the tail lights of Kathleen in front of me as we inched slowly along. Luckily that didn't last too long, and the rest was smooth sailing. We passed lots of "camel crossing" signs along the way, although we didn't get to see any camels. And we didn't end up in the West Bank by accident! Once we got into the desert area, I felt like I was driving on Mars. We couldn't see much more than what our headlights were illuminating, but we could tell that there were huge mounds of orange dirt all around us. We passed a sign that said we were at sea level, and then the elevation quickly dropped. Like driving down a Colorado mountain pass, I didn't have to use the accelerator at all through the curvy roads headed towards the lowest place on earth. At 5:15 am, we successfully pulled into the Masada parking lot - even had time to take a 20 minute nap!

The stars at Masada were beautiful. We were literally in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Masada is a plateau in the desert, where King Herod decided to build palaces for himself around 31 BC. It was sieged by Romans around 70 AD.

We started hiking around 5:45 am, when it was still very dark out. The darkness made it actually feel like we were on Mars (not that I would mind that at all). We made it to the top around 6:30 am. I retreated off on my own to spend some time in prayer as I watched the sunrise.

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens…When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" - Psalms 8:4-5

Once the sun had come up, I spent some time walking around the ruins, marveling at the history of it all, and how much was still standing after 2,000 years. I proceeded to casually lie down in the warmth of the sun and wait for the others…and ended up sleeping for an hour.

Our group eventually hiked back down, enjoyed some nutella-banana sandwiches and a pomegranate for breakfast, and hopped back in the cars.

Destination 4: Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi is a national reserve and beach just slightly north of Masada. We dropped half of our group off at the beach, and then proceeded to the national reserve for another hike. As we hiked up the "wadi" ("Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley." -Wikipedia), we saw many waterfalls and springs, that we happily dipped our feet in. It was literally an oasis - one of the only places in the desert with water and vegetation. We even got to see the cave that David may have hid in when Saul was trying to find him and kill him. Came across this a few days before we left for Ein Gedi randomly as I was reading the Bible:
 "My beloved is like a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-Gedi"

 -Song of Solomon 1:14.

Destination 5: Dead Sea
Swimming in the Dead Sea was possibly one of the weirdest things I have done. I didn't believe Kathleen when she said it was so salty that you couldn't even go under in it or that you wouldn't want to spend a long time in it, but she was correct. The Sea is 33% solid matter, can't support any life, and though it looks like the ocean, its not. A lot of the rocks in the sea have this thick encrusting of white salt on them, and the water looks oily almost. Even your skin feels slimy when you are in it. You pretty much can't 'swim' in it - you have no other option but to float. It was difficult to make yourself vertical in the water! I thourougly enjoyed it, was laughing at the ridiculousness of it the whole time. I think it was the closest feeling to no gravity I will get to feel before I'm actually in space. :)

Destination 6: 'Home'
We left the Dead Sea late in the afternoon, and then proceeded to drive to Tel Aviv to drop off the students living there. Got some more tea in their hotel, and then headed off to Nahariya to drop off a rental car, and then finally back to Karmiel. 10 hours of driving across Israel in one day - absolutely worth it :)

Week 2 (including a trip to Akko)

Sunday morning (after getting back from Jerusalem) I woke up early to lesson plan, only to find out that the teacher just wanted me to observe the class instead of teach. Mika and I taught a math class afterwards though - and it went really well. The students were very interested in us, and the problems we gave them.

After teaching, our MIT group met with a student group at the college called Ayalim. The group built student villages all around Israel to populate areas of the country that were predominantly inhabited by Arabs. It was interesting to meet with them, but also made me very uncomfortable. I don't want to offend anyone who is reading this, nor do I have any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but I do know that racism is wrong, and the obvious racism against Arabs in this country bothers me more and more each day. We got to talk to the students in the group, and I was pretty straightforward about asking them about their customs, their views on Arabs, and the state of Israel. Some of the students tried to beat around the bush, some were overtly racist, some just had a lot of pride and admiration for Israel. One of the students also asked me quite a few questions - about Christianity, my views on Israel, American life, other places I had traveled…overall it was a good, relaxed, but complex conversation.

Afterwards, I worked out in the [tiny] weight room at the college. It is very odd for woman to work out in Israel, especially by lifting weights, so I got plenty of weird stares. For dinner, our MIT group went into downtown Karmiel and got shawarma (they roast meat on a spinning pole and then shave it off) and falafel. When I got back I celebrated one of my roommates birthdays with some cake.

Monday was another typical day of teaching. But it was a day filled with lots of JOY - the sun came out, and it felt like a warm spring day in Boston. I went for a beautiful run through Karmiel, found a park, and like I was 6 years old again, went down the giant slide and climbed a big rope thing they had and sat up on it, soaking in the sun and praying. I also found a wall to play lacrosse on - which drew tons stares and students talking about me in Hebrew.

On Tuesday, I only had to teach one class in the morning. So Bridget and I went for an adventure to Akko - a nearby city on the coast, which has barely changed since Ottomans lived there a few hundred years ago. Smelling the salt air, feeling more sunshine, and getting to talk with Bridget made it a perfect day. Hopefully pictures can express some of the beauty:

Bridget playing Jonah.

Today (Wednesday), I got to teach Chemistry again! Its the class I enjoy teaching most, the class I am most confident in teaching, and feel like I am actually giving the students a better understanding and enjoyment of chemistry. Played more lacrosse today, spent lots of time with God, and skyped Chantine!!

Friday morning our MIT group is headed to the Dead Sea, to hike, swim/float, and explore. So expect a post about that sometime after Sunday!

Israel - the country of opposites.

I've been talking a lot about what I've been doing here in Israel, but I think its time a write a post about the culture of Israel.

Israel is truly the country of opposites - a picture of a palm tree and snow describes it best. The landscape can go from looking like California, to Pennsylvania, to Colorado, then to Miami, within an hour of driving through it. Whether or not your Jewish or Arab completely defines you (and you are one of the other - no such thing as being 25% this and 50% that…). Israeli's joke about how they are always at war with someone, always on the defensive and the offensive.

I think people here are incapable of feeling awkwardness or shame. Israeli people do what they want, when they want. Which is why the first Hebrew word most people learn is "belligron", which means chaos. For instance, in the school I am teaching at, it is perfectly normal for a teacher to arrive ten minutes late to class, or for students to circle up and play a card game in the middle of the lesson. Its perfectly acceptable for a student to charge their phone during class, and pick a call up if it rings. The teacher's room says students can't enter, but they come in and out all day. Teachers don't have their own classroom, thus they are always just hanging around the teachers room, eating, chatting, not really doing anything. Students here lack any discipline - they are crazy. They talk throughout class without ever getting yelled at, get up and leave when they want, basically lack any respect for any teacher. So its quite a blessing when they pay attention. Teachers seem to lack any lesson plans - when we ask them what we should teach next week, the typical respond is "do what you want", they have nothing planned for us to disturb anyways. Today in one of my classes two girls had basically wrapped themselves up in toilet paper, and the teacher didn't even flinch.

There is also a clear distinction between Jews who are religious and those that are not. There is very little middle ground. They are either orthodox, and are wearing top hats, have long curly hair from their temples, ropes hanging from their clothes etc. Then their are the non-religious, who don't go to synagogue, who drink, smoke, do what they want, and don't really believe in anything.

Some other interesting facts about Israeli culture that I've noticed (not trying to generalize here, just giving you a picture of some of the differences with American culture):

-The students here are so NEAT - beds always made, kitchen always clean. I don't know if I've ever seen MIT dorms as clean.
-The entire campus goes home every Thursday night, and returns Sunday morning, mainly because Israel is so small that they can, and they like to be home for Shabbat, whether or not they are religious.
-Since the students are only here for half the week, they are here solely to study. So they are basically always working - there are very few clubs, no sports teams (or even a field to practice on), and not much student life in general.
-All Israeli shower floors I've seen are level with the bathroom floor, so every time you shower the entire bathroom floor floods. Thus every shower has a squeegee in it.
-Everyone in college is between 22-30 years old, so it almost feels like being on a graduate school campus. This is because all Israeli citizens serve 3-4 years in the military after they graduate high school. They usually then spend a year of traveling around the world before coming to college.
-iPhones cost almost a $1000 here, and yet EVERYONE has one.
-Many people here smoke - high schoolers, college kids…sometimes its hard to get a breath of fresh air.
-Pretty much every food item comes in a pita.
-Students at this college take 8 classes at once - thus its normal to have 6-12 hours of class a day!
-Since all citizens have to serve in the military, there are people in uniform walking around everywhere here. Every bus or train I've been on has had at least 5 military personnel on it. Everyone who is my age in this country is in the military right now. Its funny to see girls with long hair, makeup, and perfectly painted nails, in a military uniform.


I have definitely never lived in a place quite like Israel. Its closer to America than Kenya was, but still feels very different. Its weird that I may be the only Christian my roommates have ever known or lived with. Its funny to watch a chemistry lesson purely in Hebrew, except for the reactions and equations, which then use English letters. I'm not loving the lifestyle and culture as much as I fell in love with that of Kenya or the Dominican, but I am learning a lot about the culture and myself, seeing lots of cool things, and having a good time. I have never desired to know a country's language as much as I do here - I miss being able to read, something I've taken for granted in all of the other places I've been.

Jerusalem

The unexposed part of the wailing wall from underground.

Mika, Kathleen, me.

"You are standing at the point closest to the site of the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount."

Friday morning Kathleen, 4 other MIT students, and I boarded the train to Jerusalem, and made it to the Old City. We first went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a beautiful church, and one of the places Jesus may have been crucified. Kathleen and I then went on an underground tour of the Western Wall. Since Muslims have control of the temple mount, the Western Wall of the temple is the closest the Jews can get to the mount, thus it was one of the most sacred places in all of Jerusalem for them. Only a few hundred feet of it are actually exposed, but Kathleen and I were able to walk along the entire thing through an underground tunnel on the tour. It was pretty crazy to think that we were so close to the Holy of Holies, the only place where God's Presence used to be, the place that only a Priest could enter on one day of the year. It was also incredible to see the passion that the Jewish people had as they stood at the wall, and read their prayers aloud.

The wailing wall.

After the tour, we went to the Garden Tomb, one of the sites they think Jesus body was laid. We met and joined a Nigerian group that was passing through (God is too good at knowing what I need and when). It was a beautiful garden, and really cool to see the Bible come alive before me.

Because it was Friday afternoon, the city (and country) was starting to shut down for Shabbat, which starts at sunset (they blow a horn throughout the city when it starts and stops). So Kathleen and I grabbed some food from a supermarket, and headed for our hostel. The wonderful - well kept, clean, and full or other young people. They had a whole hang out room with food, music, pool tables, places to read, and more, so we spent most of the time there. Kathleen and I had a grand dinner together from our grocery shopping - bread, peanut butter, a banana and pomegranate, and digestives.

The group that came together to explore for the day - David, Jeff, Carlos, Sheila, me, Simon, and David.

Garden of Gethsemane.

On Shabbat, everything is closed; Jerusalem almost seems abandoned. All of public transportation shuts down, so your basically stuck wherever you are until Shabbat ends. One of our friends even asked a man to take a picture of our group, and the man replied that he couldn't because it was Shabbat. Kathleen and I decided to go to a Christian-Jewish church service in the Old City, because a few students who were staying at the hostel that we had met the night before invited us to it. It was neat to see Jewish people who had become Christian worshiping Jesus right near the place He had the Last Supper. The students we had met were from Germany and Switzerland, so it was cool to read a scripture aloud in English, while they read in German, and the pastor read in Hebrew. We met a lot of people at the church after the service, including a son and father who wanted to show us around the city. They brought us to an Arab restaurant to get one of their famous dishes that Kathleen had tried to get me to try the day before - melted cheese with a honey-sugar layer on top. It was way too much cheese for me, and way too sweet, but worth the experience.

Sugar-cheese thing.

We then went to the Mount of Olives, and visited the Garden of Gethsemane. This was the most powerful place to be in for me, because there was no question that Jesus was there on his last night, and because at that place is where our salvation started. I found a place to be alone and pray, and read Luke 22, praying the same prayer Jesus did ("not my will Father, but yours, be done"). We walked up the mount further, until we were able to see all of the Old City as the sunset over it, and the end of Shabbat horn blew.

Kathleen and I spent the rest of the night at the hostel (until the buses started running again to take us home), with our new German/Switzerland friends David, David, and Simon. Hanging out with them throughout the day was so great - they brought so much joy and laughter. Like I learned in Kenya, it really doesn't matter where you are or what your doing; the thing that matters most is the people you are with. Since I've been to Israel I've been praying that God would bring amazing people into my path that I can learn from, and he did just that in Jerusalem. One of the David's was constantly proclaiming God's greatness, and embodied a joy that I've been trying to embody myself these past few days.

Tel Aviv

Kathleen and I arrived in Tel Aviv by train Wednesday night, got some dinner, and met another group of MIT students who are teaching in Tel Aviv at their hotel. Tel Aviv is like the Manhattan of the Middle East, and is right on the coast.

On Thursday, they all had to go to their school to teach, so I decided to explore the city on my own. I started the morning on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. It was so refreshing to walk down the beach for a while (although cold), and then to get some breakfast at a cafe. I made my way to the old city of Tel Aviv, also known as Yafo. I got to see a few cool things, like a house that Peter stayed at (Acts 9:42), an old church, gardens, statues…

The old city - Yafo.

The new city.

It was nice to not have a set schedule for the day - I just wondered around, occasionally glancing at the map. For lunch, I intentionally ate at a restaurant that didn't have an english menu, and kind of just told me the waitress to bring me whatever she thought was good. It was very cheap since it wasn't a tourist hot-spot, and delicious. I ended up getting some kind of egg-tomotato-salad thing in a pita. Afterwards I did more exploring as I made my way back to the hotel.

One very different thing about the day that I never experienced while in Kenya was my ability to blend in (somewhat). The blonde hair is still a pretty good indicator that I'm European or American, but with a hat on, no one could really tell I didn't belong until I spoke. I'm also not used to being able to pull out my phone in public or to not have to constantly be on my guard from pick-pockets; the city is very safe, and because to live in Tel Aviv you have to be very wealthy, nothing I own is even desirable to most of the residents there. Quite different from Nai-robbery...

That night, Kathleen and I stayed with some of her family friends who live in Tel Aviv. It was so great to be with a family (with a 4 year old son and 7 year old daughter). Nothing can beat a warm house, homemade chicken soup, a comfy bed, and little kids to play with, especially when you've lived in college dorms for 2 years. We were supposed to go to Jerusalem that night instead of stay with them, but because it was SNOWING in Jerusalem, we had to go there the next morning. I was a little bummed about having less time in Jerusalem, but staying with the family was well worth it! Kathleen and I even went for a long run on the beach as the sun was setting - and instead of the beach being refreshing like it was in the morning, it was truly captivating. One of those moments when God's Creation captures you, makes your heart beat faster, and all you want to do is worship Him :)