Hi guys - well the last few days have been jam packed. Sunday was a cold and rainy day, but, hearty pilgrims that this bunch is, we ventured forth anyway and had a full day of visiting the shrines. Monday was much, much nicer. Yesterday was cold but bearable. We've seen so much and done so much that I can't keep it all straight - that is primarily because I am also sick with bronchitis. It started after that dip in the Dead Sea and I thought I had just swallowed too much salt water. But, it got worse and I do get this bronchitis every couple of years. Now, I am one lucky person to have a friend such as Barbara - she brought some anti-biotics with her and it is the same thing my doc at home gave me last time. So I am taking them and hopefully will be all better by the time I get to Rome tomorrow. (and exciting news about that - my neice and great-neice are meeting me there. What a special treat that is going to be. Dena has been to ROme several times and knows her way around so we are going to be very lucky).
I will send another mail later today detailing the sites we've seen the last three days - I just need to get to feeling better so I can sort them all out.
The folks I am traveling with are just so wonderful. The Brazilian sisters and the Polish doctor and Barbara and I have developed a close bond and are having fun together as a girls group. Yesterday after the structured part of the tour ended, we spent the afternoon going back to the Wailing Wall (it was raining too hard on Sunday when we were there and Barbara and Maska wanted to make some rubbings). Then we went back to the Arab market and bargained with the shopkeepers and all bought some trinkets. Barbara is very good at bargaining and we all had so much fun. Today we are going museum hopping - at least I hope I can join them - had a bad night but am up early moving around trying to boost my energy.
The only other woman is the group is here with her husband. Nice couple, but she leans a little to the overly pious side and we are getting pretty sick of her.
From a spritual standpoint, I think we have all accomplished our goals or at least made significant progress.
I am trying to become more politically knowledgeable of the situation over here as you just cannot avoid it. But sometimes it is hard keeping all the players straight - there are the Jews, Christians, Arabs, Armenians, Muslims, Palestinians, Israilies. They each own or control different sites and a couple of the shrines are controlled jointly - one group may have the roof, another the sanctuary, etc. Very, very interesting but confusng. The Catholics, of course, are in control of a good percentage as they are with the rest of the world.
Our preist, Father Bob, arrived Monady night and we are glad to have him here. He is a nice person and mucho fun!!!!! Unfortunately, he has not escaped the preaching from our pious one. She thinks she knows more than anyone, but I guess that's the way saints are. He takes it in stride though and just shrugs her off. Last night at dinner, she made a rude and inappropriate comment to Masaka about taking a rubbing of the wall. Barbara really put her in her place though.
Now, guys if you want to come to Jerusalem and are not going to because you think it is not safe, you are so WRONG!!!! We have had no problems whatsoever. I feel safer here than in Dallas. Yes, there are soldiers everywhere with machine guns slung across their backs and there are walls, walls, walls and we have to go through security checkpoints all the time, but you get used to all of that. There were one place we couldn't see on the scheduled day because the Israelis had it closed off - ones of the groups is digging tunnels under another group's area and I guess there was some concern about rioting taking place. We had to skip going to a restaurant our guide wanted to take us do, because of potention rioting. But, that's a way of life here and just isn't that big a deal.
Well, I'm off to breakfast and hopefully a day of museum hoppingn.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment