Thursday we stayed in the Jerusalem and visited
some of the most holy sites in the world. We began our morning with a
visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Pictures can not
described the beauty of this sacred site. It truly moved you to be
physically present at such an inspiring holy place.
It was then on to the Western Wall and a true
lesson in the inequities of this world. As a group we had to go through
a security check point and open our backpacks for the armed guard. Our
Palestinian friends were not so fortunate, even though they were Israeli
citizens they were pulled aside, searched and had to produce their full
documents to be let inside. Not something we are use to in the US. The
positive of watching this unfold was the inner strength that these young
adults showed and manner in which they handled the whole unfortunate
situation. It was a lesson many of us will not forget.
After praying at the wall, we proceeded over to
the Southern Wall Excavations and actually walked on the many business
street that Jesus would have walked on many times throughout his life.
After a very silent walk along this street, we visited the stairs that
Mary carried Jesus to the Temple as a 40 day old baby and he himself
walked up many times.
After lunch we visited the City of David
Excavations and spent 45 minutes in Hezekiah’s Tunnel. This tunnel was
a very winding, narrow, water filled (ankle to knee deep) tunnel which
emptied into the Pool of Siloam.
A very good three days!
Peace
The Pilgrims
A Note from Carrie:
Hey Fam,
I've just finished breakfast here at St. George's and it's 7:10 am so I
thought I would send out a quick email before we went out for the day.
Today we are going to many religious sights including dome of the rock,
the western wall and hezekiah's tunnel. I have really enjoyed getting to
know the other three groups who are with us- from Seattle, WA,
Newfoundland Canada, and Minneapolis, Minn. They all have teens and
adults with them and everyone is getting along well and making new
friends.
We are all split into 8 families, mixed between each others groups. I am
in family 8, their spokesperson, and have Kristen Percival, a woman from
Minneapolis and two Canadian kids, Charlotte and Ryan. I really like our
family and I think it was a great idea to do this.
My favorite biblical landmark so far has been Church of the Nativity,
although it was very rushed and a tense atmosphere. Here, we got to
touch the place where Jesus was born, underneath a small altar, but the
christian priests who ran the church did not like us making so much
noise and we were silenced many times. One girl brought a glass bottle
of juice into the church and dropped it on accident. She had to pay $5
to get it cleaned up and was escorted out of the church. So, we are
definitely in a different environment and we are trying to adjust to it.
Everyone from St. Martin's is doing fine, and are getting sleep and
making new friends. I am so thankful our group is accepting me as one of
the pilgrims and its not wierd or awkward between us since I have
already done this.
My favorite other part was spending one night in the Negev desert, where
bedowin people had camps for us to sleep in- basically a big canopy tent
made of goat skin and we slept on thin mats on the floor with a sleeping
bag for a pillow. We got to ride real camels and that was my favorite
part! Kristen and I named our camel Ezekiel, and everyone had such a
blast riding. We got so spoiled by the hospitality of the bedowin
people, as they gave us three drinks when we first arrived ( lemonade,
hot tea, and coffee), and we learned about etiquette in their tribe. We
ate dinner there full of lamb and rice, pita and salads, and some sugar
candy for desert. It was really tasty and I had such a wonderful time
there. We woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning to go to Masada, and we
wanted to start climbing before the sun rose. We climbed up and down the
giant mountain, and the terrain was very steep and rocky. It was so much
fun and most of our group really loved it!
I've got to get going, but hopefully we can send more updates, soon!
Sorry for the lack of communication, but we have been on a very strict
schedule, more strict than the previous GI pilgrims had. I suspect it is
because we have such a large group to get through everything. Hope all
is well on the island and we will see you all in less than one week!
Love,
Carrie
