Reflection from Day 2

Today was the first full day of being in Israel and Palestine. We stayed overnight at the Intercontinental Hotel, a hotel labyrinth of rooms, levels, and hallways. Given the topography of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the hotel is built on a hill, and therefore the reception area is on the 4th floor, the hallway to the rooms is down one floor and in another wing of the complex, and up another floor to the room. The restaurant is on the 1st floor. It's very confusing, but it's a good thing I haven't had too much to drink, or I might end up in a completely different location altogether.

The hotel is nice, but a bit inconsistent. It took about 20 minutes to figure out that you had to turn on the main power switch to the whole room prior to turning on anything, and that the lights in the bathroom require another light switch to be turned on. I was getting a bit panicky since I had to go to the bathroom, and didn't want to leave the door wide open while waiting for the porter to bring my bag to my room.

So today, luckily, I woke up at a semi normal time (4:30a.m.) and made some coffee and some tea before getting ready and meeting people for breakfast, before venturing off today.

Jerusalem is absolutely stunning. We visited the church of St. John the Baptist, where John the Baptist was born, and then recited a benedictine prayer before venturing off to visit the Church of the Visitation, where Mary came from Nazareth to visit Elizabeth in Bethlehem. It was a beautiful church, and I can only imagine in that time the time it took to travel the 100 miles (which took a week). It offered a stunning view of the hills overlooking the Kidron Valley. After walking up another big hill, we saw another big church before heading back down the hill to meet the bus.

We then proceeded to head toward Mt. Herzl, which is a major location where the Israeli Military Cemetery is, as well as Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. Because we had a bit of time before we needed to go to another spot on the itinerary, we were able to walk the grounds of the Avenue of the Righteous, and the Children's Museum.

It was a pretty solemn place, and a place where I would have liked to spend more time, but the children's museum was just about enough for me. The recitation of names of children who perished in the Holocaust, and the room of light were overwhelming to my senses.

From there, it was off to Manger Square, and the Church of the Nativity, where we were able to see the spot where Jesus was born, as well as where the manger laid. There were a lot of other groups there, and luckily we didn't have to wait at all to get in. One of the cool things was singing "Silent Night" near the location of the manger, and being joined in by another group, in RUSSIAN! VERY cool!

It was going under a lot of construction and several areas were in somewhat of a state of disrepair. One of my tour mates and I were talking about this, and somehow the three churches that are in charge of the church had a hard time getting the work completed, to which she said "this is what you get when you have to have a committee in charge of something..." which was a good laugh.

We then visited St. Catherine's Church before heading to Lunch.

After lunch, we made our way to Shepherd's Fields, the spot near where the angels appeared to the shepherds about the birth of Jesus. We were able to say a prayer a cave in the fields, followed by singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" which again was very moving.

From there, we made our way to a store, one of the premier places for Olive Wood products, jewelry, icons, and diamonds. I managed to buy a beautiful Nativity set, hand carved with the 3 Kings, Mary and Joseph, Jesus, the Manger, sheep, a couple of shepherds, a couple of angels and a cool looking camel. The shelter is hand carved from one piece of Olive Wood, and is quite stunning. I also bought 4 smaller serving bowls, as well as one large serving bowl. After Bassam (the man who sold me everything) was done hawking his wares, I realized that this particular piece is going to have to be a family heirloom. I didn't tell everyone how much I spent, but let's just say, it's very nice....and leave it at that. Johnny, our tour guide, came over and asked me if I bought a set, and I said yes. He asked me to show him, and when I pointed it out, he said...."you have really good taste!"

After our shopping extravaganza, we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow is going to be an early day. After the guide, Jim, and Sandy all tried to explain to people about how they needed to pack tomorrow, somehow it still didn't sink in. After all, we're going to another country altogether, and it's a muslim one....after being in Israel. I think some people don't realize that it's not like we're crossing the border between the US and Canada, which is absolutely mind boggling to me. Then again, with the education a lot of the people on the tour possess, it's surprising that some of them are having a hard time wrapping their head around the process. Even at dinner it was the main topic of conversation which became quite boring to me. Thank God for dear Dee, Jim, Sandy, Gary, Bill, and Diane...the night capped off very nicely with a lot of laughter, and a lot of new friends and new respect for people. All in all, it was another beautiful and great day in the Holy Land....and thanks be to God for the gift of his Son, and to witness the land where he walked. Thanks be to God for this opportunity, and for some new friends I became closer to today!