Saturday, February 29th

Saturday, February 27th

We arrived in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem around 3:00. Unfortunately, though I arrived safely, my suitcase did not. So….I will be wearing the same clothes until it gets here. I am part of a group of 22 and about 6 of us do not have our suitcases.

We got on a big, bug bus. Much nicer than a school bus, but it does not have a bathroom on it. It does, however, have a refrigerator stocked with water bottles that we can buy for $1.00 in American money.

The money used in Israel is shekels, but we have been told that most of the places we go, if we want to buy something, we can use American dollars.

It is raining here today, but our guide, Claudia, says it will get sunnier and warmer through the week. To arrive here in the rain made me wonder why the people who told the stories in the bible didn’t say more about the weather. When Jesus and the disciples were walking all over the place was it mostly sunny? Did they have to make stops because of a thunderstorm? There was the time Jesus stopped the storm when he and the disciples were out on the boat. What are some other weather moments in the bible?

We are about to drive along a road where we can see the big wall that was built to separate Israel from Palestine. Walls, walls, walls. Lots and lots of people do not like the wall. They feel that it keeps neighbors from working out differences. I can tell you it is ugly and grey and feels bad. It looks cold. If I could get out of the bus, I would go put a hand on it and say a prayer for the people on both sides of the wall. I would pray for peace. It makes me sad to see the wall.

When we get to the hotel it was dinner time. We are all very sleepy because no one slept very much on the airplanes. But….dinner….was a huge buffet. All different kinds of foods…fruits, vegetables, soup, meats, desserts. It was unbelievable.

It is expensive to go on the internet everyday. I will either need to share internet time or figure out somewhere else to go to get online. But, all that is for tomorrow. Now, it is time to sleep.
We arrived in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem around 3:00. Unfortunately, though I arrived safely, my suitcase did not. So….I will be wearing the same clothes until it gets here. I am part of a group of 22 and about 6 of us do not have our suitcases.

We got on a big, bug bus. Much nicer than a school bus, but it does not have a bathroom on it. It does, however, have a refrigerator stocked with water bottles that we can buy for $1.00 in American money.

The money used in Israel is shekels, but we have been told that most of the places we go, if we want to buy something, we can use American dollars.

It is raining here today, but our guide, Claudia, says it will get sunnier and warmer through the week. To arrive here in the rain made me wonder why the people who told the stories in the bible didn’t say more about the weather. When Jesus and the disciples were walking all over the place was it mostly sunny? Did they have to make stops because of a thunderstorm? There was the time Jesus stopped the storm when he and the disciples were out on the boat. What are some other weather moments in the bible?

We are about to drive along a road where we can see the big wall that was built to separate Israel from Palestine. Walls, walls, walls. Lots and lots of people do not like the wall. They feel that it keeps neighbors from working out differences. I can tell you it is ugly and grey and feels bad. It looks cold. If I could get out of the bus, I would go put a hand on it and say a prayer for the people on both sides of the wall. I would pray for peace. It makes me sad to see the wall.

When we get to the hotel it was dinner time. We are all very sleepy because no one slept very much on the airplanes. But….dinner….was a huge buffet. All different kinds of foods…fruits, vegetables, soup, meats, desserts. It was unbelievable.

It is expensive to go on the internet everyday. I will either need to share internet time or figure out somewhere else to go to get online. But, all that is for tomorrow. Now, it is time to sleep.

Shalom (peace) from Israel, Pastor Laurie