What day is it?

The days are beginning to blurr together, but the 27^th and 28^th we were at Ein Gev, a kibbutz slash hotel where we stayed for about a week as students. Leaving, we drove south and passed another kibbutz by the name of Afakim. Oh, the memories I have of Afakim. As a young student we were used as slave labor to work the banana fields. Our program directors said it was for our experience but I wonder….

I guess you cannot visit Hebron any longer. In 1997 an overzealous Jew opened fire on a group of Muslim’s who were praying there near the burial sites of Abraham, Isaac and other biblical prophets, killing about 30. But never fear, they’ve brought some of the unique handmade glass from Hebron to Jericho where, of course, you can buy it at a ‘special price’. We didn’t get any glass, but Drew got some instruction on how to wear a kufeah.

There isn’t much left to see at Jericho (thanks to Joshua) so we took a quick peek and then made a B-line for the Dead Sea, which sits 1,300 feet BELOW sea level. You think the Great Salt Lake is salty? It’s got nothing on the Dead Sea. It was so much fun watching the boys float around and discover this incredible sensation. Scott and I even tried to recreate a 24-year-old scene.

Qumran is just a few minutes away (it was about 106 degrees) so we filled our bellies with shawarma and ice cream there. (The boys are quickly coming to like shawarma and falafel as much as I do.) It’s a pretty desolate place, so it’s hard to imagine why a shepherd would be tending sheep in that area long enough to stumble upon the Dead Sea Scrolls.

In the late afternoon we were in Bethany and visited the tomb of Lazarus. Dave emerged as I called him to 'come forth' and looked about dead himself. We jumped over to Hezekiah's tunnel and about ½ way through, I remembered as a student thinking ‘I will never do this again’. Good thing I forgot until after I started! We snaked through the cold water, hoping to make it out of this ancient water source alive. After exiting the other side, we were shown an ancient coin that would have amounted to 30 pieces of silver for those of you familiar with the significance that sobering amount.

Clark, our guide offered to take some of us to Ben Yahuda, an pedestrian mall that I had visited many times in 1987. It looks a little worse for the wear (I believe that a suicide bomber hit this target sometime in the 90’s) but still seems to be a hopping place!