Live from the Dead Sea

Sorry but we are unable to post picts from this location.  It's just too dead !!!  ha ha ha

I guess there were a couple of minor rocket strikes yesterday.  They missed us so what the heck.... At least that was what one of the Fox News watchers said.  I thought about telling them it's really the Fantasy News Network.  We have had a few interesting discussions.  One lady asked our guide why the Palestinians still occupied Israeli territory !  I told her she had that backward but some of these people, oh nevermind.  Some are just dumb shits!

Anyway, as I mentioned in our brief email earlier, yesterday (Friday) we visited the northern-most border in Israel at Metulla (look it up) across the fence from Lebanon.  We saw the UN patrol and found out the houses behind us all had bomb shelters and we WERE ON A DAMN BUS WITH WINDOWS!   NOBODY ASKED ME IF WE WANTED TO GO HERE!!  Then things quieted down while we drove through the GOLAN HEIGHTS AND VISITED THE SYRIAN BORDER OVERLOOKING THE ARMAGEDDON VALLEY!!!  WHAT IS THIS, THE DARE PART OF "TRUTH OR DARE"?  This really makes flying look wonderful.  As I mentioned to some of you, this trip was for Belinda.  I looked at it like a colonoscopy.  You know you need to do it and you just want to get it over with.

We then took a boat ride on the Sea of Gallilee at sunset.  Beautius.  Then back to the kabutz, kibutz, kibbutz, whatever, for dinner.  This morning we had to walk through a flock of peacocks to get our feet in the Sea of Gallilee.

Today we visited a few other sites, Capernum, the Jesus Boat Museum, visited the Mount of the Beautitudes where Jesus did his Sermon on the Mount and the Loaves and Fishes site, and both of us were baptized by a Baptist minister in the Jordan River.  Then we headed on our way THROUGH THE WEST BANK THROUGH TWO ARMED CHECKPOINTS to finally get to our hotel on the Dead Sea.  We got here late so haven't seen the sea but will walk down there sometime before 10:30 am when we leave for Masada and the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  OF COURSE, IT'S BACK THROUGH THE WEST BANK AND THE TWO CHECKPOINTS.  Then on to Jerusalem where we will stay our four final nights before flying back to Berlin.  Actually only three and 1/2 nights.  We have to leave Thursday morning at 1:30am to get to the airport.

It's been educational.  Our guide Micky is a Russian Jew and a Christian.  A great guy.  He's our Jewish mother, as he says.

Anyway, did I mention some of these people on the bus are dumb shits?  One guy, from Salem by the way, says something about "those Muslims" and I said "Do you know what they believe?"  And the discussion went from there.  You see, there is this town called Nazareth.  You've probably heard of it.  Anyway, it is now an Arab (Muslim) city under Israeli jurisdiction with separate malls, stores, etc. since 1948.  Since Jews and Muslims don't mix, kind of like there's a wall between them, Israel builds a new city up on the hill overlooking the old city and they name it Nazareth Elite.  This guy didn't see the irony in that or how it perpetuates the us/them mentality.  Did I mention there are dumb shits on this bus?  Some actually get all their news from Fox.  They don't listen to anything else.  One dopey Texan says "I gotta go watch Fox so I know what to bitch about the President."  But it does help me understand why I was sent on this trip.  To help some of these poor souls use their head.  I don't think I'm doing too well though.

OK, Belinda says enough swearing,  I've been baptized.

By the way, I asked some French kid who lives in Switzerland who's about Jesse's age, 35, who was on the ferry from Egypt to Jordan (geez, that still sounds strange when I say that) what he thought of Obama.  He said Obama has given the world hope but is not quite sure about why he won the Nobel Peace Prize.  He was open-minded enough to wait to see if the hope that Obama has created won't make a difference in the world.  Not like a few on the bus.  As I said, this has been an educational trip, in more ways than one.

Tomorrow I will attempt to get one more person on the bus to think.  Then I will have met my quota.  PTL

Shalom and goodnight all

P.S.  There were no rocket strikes that our guide knew about.  Don't know how Fox News could have gotten that wrong.