The Adventure Begins

After arriving at my gate in Newark Liberty, I had the good fortune to sit down directly adjacent to 3 ladies who are part of the group I'm traveling with in Israel. Within a few minutes Katie (29 yrs old from Pittburgh), Sarah (18 from Arkansas), Melissa (18 from Arkansas) and I were laughing together like friends who've know each other for years. We went on to share personal stories of how we came to have relationship with God. When we got on the plane, Katie & I were able to sit next to each other after many people in another tour group missed their connection. It was a smooth ten and a half hour flight. We arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv around 9:30AM Israeli time after a beautiful sunrise and bright views of the mediterrenean coast, covered with stucco homes and modern skyscrapers that speckled downtown Tel Aviv. The clean, modern airport was a swirl of laughing vacationers and conservative jewish and hasidic families, covered heads, arms, ladies with long black skirts. Customs went smoothly and we met one of the tour leaders in the spot we planned.We rode a small bus 45 minutes to Jersusalem.

The weather changed dramatically from hot humidity to a dry heat. Similarly, the scenery transformed from flatlands covered with vineyards and farms to low hills covered with brush to low mountains covered with forest. Kathyrn, the Aussie tour leader, told the story of how the mountains used to be bare. Since the land was resettled after 1948, something amazing has been happening to the landscape. It's turning green again as trees are sent here and planted, a gift from the nations of the world. She pointed out the Australian gum trees that were planted and growing on the edge of a wooded area, planted in the past few years. As we entered into Jerusalem, I was reminded of a vision I had as a young college student of a middle eastern wall made of large sand-colored bricks: almost every building in the city is made of them! It is a beautiful city and the area near our hotel is peaceful. I feel safe here. Tomorrow we leave for the Dead Sea and camping overnight in a Bedouin village.