Israel February 2007 - A Day in the Desert

You guys CANNOT imagine what fun I had today. I'm sure there has to be something illegal about having so much fun.

This is going to be short - have to meet the others in 20 minutes for dinner - they are all at Mass.

The sites we saw were:

The Qumran - that is where the dead sea scrolls were discovered in the late 40s. Now I've read about it but not in a lot of detail. Now I am very eager to do some serious reading though. But, as with everything in this country, there is controversy and conflict about it.

Next - Masada - the site of the mass suicide back I can't remember when. I didn't even know about this - though there was a movie made in the USA. We saw a short film on it before going up to the top of the mountain - it was a kleenex film. There were some breathtaking views and I got some great pics. Again, though, there are two sides to this story - the Jews and the Christians.

And now for the FUN things -

I rode a CAMEL!!!!! Yes - I did. It was so much FUN you just cannot believe. Of course, I've ridden horses before and even an elephant (remember, John David?). But this was something else - he was all decked out in colorful garb, got down on the ground so I could get on - was led by a Bedouin in the traditional dress and missing several teeth!!!

And then - I floated in the Dead Sea. Notice I did not say swim. You cannot swim because the water is way too bouyant. Now this is probably not the smartest thing I have ever done. The water was very choppy today and I had a hard time keeping my balance. I shouldn't have gone out so far. I swallowed a lot of salt water (and this is SALT water - not like the Pacific or Atlantic - this sea has the highest concentration of salt of any sea in the world). It was a workout getting out of that sea - kept stepping in deep mudholes and falling down and getting floated away. It's a good thing I don't have heart trouble, because I would surely be dead the way my heart was beating. And I cannot talk - my throat is nearly closed up from all the water I took in. And I have quite a few cuts and bruises. But, it was FUN FUN FUN anyway and I can truthfully say I have floated in the Dead Sea.
The scenery we saw in the desert today was just incredible. The Sea itself is awesome - it has so many minerals in it - the colors vary in all shades of green.

Oh and we went to Jericho - saw an old oak tree like the one Zacheus climbed. Not a big deal there.

I am sure having trouble getting comfortable going thruough all these checkpoints and all the young men everywhere, not just the checkpoints, with machine guns slung over their shoulders. And there were vendors like the ones who bother me yesterday right outside the bus, so I didn't even get off.

Oh, I forgot to tell y'all about the Mexican priests. There is a group of them here on a spiritual retreat - we keep running in to them everywhere - they are a lot of fun and a couple of them are real hotties. They laugh at us and with us and are just great to be around. We're gonna have a pic made with them tonight.

Gotta run - more later.