Hey everybody!
Please let me just start off by apologizing for my horrible behavior! I am so sorry that I left y'all hanging on my life and that you currently are just wondering what I could be doing that I can't blog about, but I assure you, I am safe and sound and trucking along the wonderful Israeli-Greek life :). Starting on Monday it will become Turkish as well! Who would have thought that I would ever ever go to Turkey! I sure didn't!
So, let's see, last I left you I was in Israel, in Jappa I believe. As that was around a month ago there is no way that I can ever recount all that I have done, so, unfortunately I will only have to hit the highlights and leave off every single pastry that I ate, much to your dismay, I'm sure. So let me just start by saying if you ever get the opportunity to go to Israel, GO. I mean, I feel like that's an obvious choice, but I'm just telling you, you should make it happen. That trip was one of the most tiring trips of my life, as soon as we would hit the bus we would all fall asleep instantly. Our guide Yossi was absolutely awesome, we still mention some of his phrases such as, "Coffee in-Coffee out." I've mentioned our groups obsession with the caffienated beverage before, so it just makes sense that we would carry it with us to Israel. I'm not going to lie, we were not a happy group unless there was good coffee at our hotel/kibbutz. Yossi was just the best tour guide you could ask for, but he was definitely a non-stop guy.
There were a few highlights from Israel for me. The best day for me was the Mount of Beatitudes. We started at the top and walked down the mountain on a beaten trail. It was SO muddy, but so green. I never really thought about Israel being green, but it really was. Anyways, we treked down the mountain and it was just such a happy day! We were all just laughing and loving each other and gaining weight fom all of the mud stuck to our feet, and just enjoying the beautiful views. I loved every second of walking down the mountain. But wait, the coolest part hasn't been told yet, we walked down the mountain and right to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. WHAT!! Who gets to do that! As we washed our feet and shoes off in the Sea of Galilee I just had the most surreal moment. Jesus was there. Jesus had just walked down that same path (we even found some of the Roman roads.) Jesus had put his feet in that very same water. It's just, such an indescribable experience. You never actually think of Jesus being covered in mud walking down a beautiful scene with his best friends, but he did. It was just one of the most peaceful wonderful moments of my life. Later we took a boat on the Sea of Galilee and it was also a wonderul experience. That was again just all of us together, happy and laughing, and just all very aware of how blessed we were to be there.
Another highlight for me was when we went to more of the Nazareth area, aka, the desert. Oh my goodness, being from Tennessee I've never seen a desert in my life. It was insane. Just miles and miles of sand, everywhere you look. There were kind of sketch men with donkeys that would be like a free ride for the pretty lady ? But really, the rides weren't free, they wanted other forms of payment (SKETCH!). But, it was absolutely amazing to see, a complete beauty, but in completely different way. The rest of the trip we went to Jerusalem, and really. Jerusalem was just such a surprise, nothing of what I expected. The city is just layer upon layer of different people and different religion. The only commonality between everyone there is that they all believe they deserve the land. The wall between Palestine and Jerusalem was absolutely insane. Bethlehem is in Palestinian territory and so we got to go through, and it is just a completely different world. It is absolutely ridiculous, and makes me wonder if the world will ever achieve peace. However, as a whole, Jerusalem was way crowded and way commercialized. So, it just made me thankful that I can worship God wherever I am, and that it doesn't rely on the location I am in or the direction I face when I pray. I am just so thankful that we have a God who loves us and who wants a personal relationship with us.
So, there it is. There was so much more about Israel and I'm so sure that talking to you all later I will share more stories with you. But there's the jist. I'll update you on some more soon. I have the Peloponesse, Barca, and not to mention our beautiful life here in Greece, which, PRAISE it's getting warmer! Today I went to the beach and it was wonderful :).
I love you all, so much. Please forgive me for my lack of updating. Talk to you soon.
