Hello,
Today was probably the most powerful day yet. Today we saw lots of soldiers with guns and some fighter planes went over. It made me feel like I was in a place that was so different than Canada! I hope that nothing needs to be cancelled because of the fighting, but no worries, if we were in danger Shoresh would keep us safe let alone God!!
Today we went to Ein Gedi, that is the oasis that David hid from Saul when Saul was angry at him. I learned that when David was hiding in a cave Saul walked in and Saul of course could not see (if you walk into the dark after being in the sun you cant see) so David being the "good" person he was did not kill Saul he only cut off the corner of his robe and was hit by his conscience! Because the tassels on the end of his robe has an expensive ribbon that tells that Saul is king and David cut that off.
Then I went on a trail going up to the high waterfall, it was truly amazing seeing that in the middle of the desert you can get so much water.
Then we went to Qumran which is past the border into Palestinian Occupied Territory. We had to pass a check point, two Israeli soldiers came onto the bus - one had a gun and they just walked through the bus. There in Qumran we heard a bit about the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they were found. It really is quite interesting.
That is mostly it.
Now I will talk about the animals that I saw today and also on our whole trip-
#1- The camel, for obvious reasons we saw camels. But not just for riding we also saw them in the wild. You would never think about this but they are so camouflaged into the desert!!
#2- We saw Ibex, this we saw at Ein Gedi. They are super sure footed and can climb a 90 degree cliff up the side of a mountain!
#3- When I went on the walk I saw an adorable baby mongoose. It was just sitting on a rock sun bathing!!
We have also seen quite a few bugs and birds that I don`t know the name of.
Oh! I almost forgot about telling you about our hotel. We are at a kibbutz and it is quite nice. It is right on the Sea of Galilee, I even got to swim in the Sea of Galilee!! It was very warm (even warmer than the pool) and it was also quite mucky on the bottom but the mud did not stick to your feat like Canada mud!! I was quite surprised with that.
Here is my fun fact of the day-
Hebrews read backwards!! There periods and that are always at the beginning!!
 |
| The ibex. It is posing!! |
 |
| A distance view of the ibex |
 |
| This is the baby mongoose! Cute eh? |
 |
| This is an action shot of the mongoose! He had enough of us! |
 |
| This is a small waterfall |
 |
| Another waterfall |
 |
| This is about a quarter of the waterfall |
 |
| The bottom quarter |
 |
| This photo is taken by a friend, I am in front o the waterfall |
 |
| I am very high up and look more stairs ahead! |
 |
| This is the exact place where the dead sea scrolls were |
 |
| You can sort of see the fighter planes in the distance, But believe me they sounded close! |
 |
| A distance shot of the cave where the dead sea scrolls where found |
 |
| Me walking in the sea of Galilee |
It was a harder day for me today. I only had 3 hours sleep the night before (still off kilter with time I guess, and also Anna-Lee has a cough.)
I was also put up close and personal with my vision disability. Well, I am every moment, but today a bit more.Whether it be crowds or steps, or dark, or just newness (not knowing where the soap is, or the light switch for example), it just makes for a challenging time. Anna-Lee has been so amazing at guiding me. Today she got some time on her own though as I could not do the upper level of Ein Gedi, nor could I manage through stores and restaurants and even washrooms by myself.
Having to "admit" my disability really does result in the inability to partake in certain things was probably my biggest focus today.
Not sure I made any headway though.
I do have to say however that our tour leader Alan Gilman is compassionate and sensitive and made it easier to take a deep breath and let it go. And then I called home and cried with my husband. I can't tell you how refreshing it was to have him pray audibly over the phone for me and Anna-Lee.
 |
| The Jordan River - the country of Jordan is right there on the other side. |
 |
| Date palm orchard |
No comments:
Post a Comment