2009 Middle East Travel Seminar

We got up at 6:30 at the kibbutz this am when Trisha Tull knocked and said "Good morning, Brandie and Maryann" There were no phones in the rooms so Trisha became a full service guide. The kibbutz was interesting. No longer used as such, it is more a traveler's hostel. There were cats everywhere that were really friendly and several dogs as well. I have been eating humus at every meal (a food I have shunned in the past but I nnw love it). Connisseurs say that it's more pure here.

We traveled to Zippori Park where there is an old synagogue that has been partially restored. It had mosaics on the floor that were beautiful. The closer you walked near to where the Torah was read the more biblical were the stories told by the mosaics. There was a long walk to get up to that site and with all the walking I have been doing, I'm either going to be stronger when I return to Louisville or dead.

We drove in the very comfortable bus with Talib as the able driver down narrow paths that a lesser person wouldn't fear to tread. Our guide, Claudia, is an Arab Christian with an extensive knowledge of the sites we visit. Apparently other folks (who are locals) have commented on the great explanations she gives. There are other guides who are not as knowledgeable and spout all
sorts of untruths.

We then went to Nazareth to see actual digs. Good archeologists will not just destroy upper layers because they have a particular period they are searching for. You can therefore see layers from the time of Jesus, as well as the Byzantine, Roman, and other periods, as well.
We left the actual digs and saw the Church of the Annunciation which is lovely but only a traditonal site not necessarily the actual one. We saw a museum in the Basilica with pottery from the time of David. More walking back to the bus. With narrow streets the bus can't always be right where I would want it to be. We went to Nazareth village next. This is a modern village set up to look like it would in Jesus' time. The area is rocky and there are shepherds abiding in the fields and actual donkeys and sheep and goats and lots of olive and grape trees. We were
shown how olive oil was made in a real, ancient press. Another gentleman showed us how he cut wood with an ancient saw and Yohan helped him. We had lunch at this place and were feed an ancient meal. the flat bread was warm and delicious. Dessert was apple slices with fig jelly which I surprised myself by loving.

We are now in Tiberius at the Ron Beach Hotel which is right on the Sea of Galilee. I am looking out my room window while I blog watching sea gulls floating above the sea. We we'll be here two days which is a blessing because we won't have to pack up our stuff for the umpteen millionth time. I intend to have some quiet time here for meditation because so far we have moved at a fast clip and it has been hard to really be contemplative. Hi Family, Portland church, friends at New Goshen, et al.