the last days

Hey There!  Once again, we apologize for the delay of update, but we’ve been doing some pretty cool stuff.

Yesterday, we were able to tour Old Jerusalem, which included a tour of the Temple Institute and the Wailing Wall.  We even got to go into the Rabbinical Tunnels, which are located under the Temple Mount.  Our tour also included walking through the 14 stations of the Cross.  We ate lunch at a sweet little pizza joint and were able to fit a little bit of shopping in!  Very unique about this day was that we were able to go EXTREMELY close to the Eastern Gate of the temple mount.  This doesn't happen every day and I don't think other tour groups get to do this because it's located in the Muslim cemetery.  It was so neat and we were in awe of how close we got (there's a group picture below).  

Today, we toured all around the Dead Sea.  During our travels, we saw the vast desert, which is very different from the cities we’ve been staying in.  We went to Masada this morning, which is where the Jewish rebels stood their ground against the Roman army during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  We rode a cable car to the top of the mountain and had a tour of their settlement—it was very neat.  From there we headed to eat lunch, tour a cave where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, and swim in the Dead Sea. 

Almost everyone swam in the Dead Sea and all enjoyed it!  Everyone was impressed with the inability to sink in the water and covered themselves in the mud.  Needless to say, everyone came out looking 10 years younger (at least that’s what you should tell your family member or friend when they come home J).  When we were about to leave the Dead Sea, our bus started having some trouble and we had to wait for a new one to come.  Everyone had a great attitude about it though and we had some good times together while waiting on the bus.  Right here is a perfect time to plug how AWESOME our bus driver, Mohammed, has been.  The driving over here is crazy and he maneuvers our big charter bus around like it’s a Toyota Corolla and makes full use of the horn (along with every other driver).  Mohammed gets us places and he gets us there fast and we’ve all loved him as our driver. 

Once our bus finally was fixed, we stopped on our way back to the hotel to take camel rides.  They were short and sweet but they were a lot of fun!

We have a late start to the morning tomorrow and a few more stops to make on our way to the airport.  Everyone has had a great time but we are ready to see our family and friends.  Hope you have enjoyed reading the blog—see you Sunday morning!

The Wailing Wall 

The Market of Jerusalem

Our tour guide, Makhoul