I have been so blessed to be able to come here and be part of this people for even a short time. I have been so busy I have neglected my blog entirely!
So far, I have had some truly blessed experiences.
The first day, I was pretty tired after a fourteen hour flight, and I was delighted to step out into the heat and humidity and find my lovely friend Bruce and his son Oren waiting for me. We made a stop at a homestead of Bruce's friend Shimon. The homestead reminded me of SO MANY I have seen in Oregon. He had built the house himself. Four dogs made me feel right at home, and chickens clucked and picked while two doves teased the dogs into chasing them. Shimon's children were beautiful!!
On his wall was stenciled the words "Ahava and shalom" on the wall. This means love and peace. Bruce interpreted as Shimon explained that love comes first because without love there is no peace, with love, peace will follow.
We visited in the shade, and drank Turkish coffee. Turkish coffee is a rich, dark blend of coffee where one pours in hot water and drinks the coffee with the grounds at the bottom. After a 14 hour flight, this coffee was fantastic!! It was precisely what I needed.
We sat in the shade and talked about Israel. Shimon told me about his passion for the place, directed me to visit Hebron, and exclaimed his joy over him and his children being able to live in the land.
After the visit with Shimon, Bruce drove me to Jerusalem. We stopped briefly, on the way up the mountain, to grab some water from a spring that Bruce knows about. In Duetoronomy it says that he will bring them to a land where the springs gush from the mountains. After capturing a bottle of this spring water, we continued on the way.
We went to the grocery on the way through. This is NOT your American supermarket experience full of carefully maintained rows of fruits and vegetables, and congenial, polite store clerks. This is people standing on top of one another, yelling at one another for being in the way. Inside the store is cramped and barely navigable, but no one seems to notice. There is less concern about touching one another, as people brush one another and shove into one another all of the time. A small child bags the groceries, and a beautiful young girl, college age, runs each item through the checkout.
We set off toward Tekoa, Bruce's home. The drive out here was madness. The best way for me to describe how people drive is: anarchy!! While there are lines on the road, and obvious rules to be followed, somehow, most folk seem to think they are suggestions as opposed to rules. People are honking as soon as the light turns green, and pedestrians MUST be careful because it's every man for himself. The only thing I can do is put myself in the father's hands and have faith he will take care of me.
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| View from Bruce's house - Tekoa |
I can't get over the sheer beautify of the place. There's a new site around every corner!!
The first day, Bruce took me along on his errands, and I got to see a side of Jerusalem I wouldn't have seen otherwise. There are things here I would never have guessed. The government buildings have check-in counters for folks to leave their guns while they go up into the building for their business. This is VERY well used.
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| Weapon check in counter |
Security is very important in Israel. We Americans would feel very constrained by the measures that businesses and towns must take to protect citizens. Almost all private offices have a locked door, and one must buzz to be allowed in. At the front of every town is a security gate and an armed security guard. Going into the city of Jerusalem there are checkpoints intended to protect the citizens from terrorism.
We had a great example of the security level. We stopped to view a local politician's house, and across the street were some protesters protesting the treatment of war vets. Bruce thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to show that Israel is a democratic, free state. We took a couple of pics, and stopped a little further down, and then we were approached by one of the guards who questioned Josh, Bruce's tour guest, very carefully, reviewed his passport for several minutes, and requested to see the ID of every one in the vehicle. Later in the day, Bruce even got a call questioning what we were doing there!!
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| Protesters in Tekoa |
I was able to tag along with Bruce as he gave a tour presentation. I was impressed by the people we met. I was impressed by the resilience of these people. He took us to meet Ephrita, a beautiful Jewish woman. Ephrita lives in an outpost nearby Tekoa, where the munincipality has turned off the electric and the water because they want to force people to move out. They bulldozed seventeen buildings last year, leaving the families homeless, and it's even believed they burned down the only local coffee shop of a man in the little village. The citizens make do by bringing in water and using a generator. They are very tough people.
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| Burned out home |
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| Ephrita lives without electric or water |
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| Leftovers from a bulldozed home |
We also stopped at a local open air farmer's market. There I bought a delicious jar of honey from a lovely Jewish lady, and we sampled sushi made by an Israeli!! It was my first time eating sushi, and while I doubt I will ever be a great fan of sushi, I didn't hate it.
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| Sushi |
Even here, the cats recognize that I'm a crazy cat lady, and they hang around my feet. In fact, this little orange cat seems to be outside whenever I step out of Bruce's house. When I stepped out this morning, there was another cat I haven't seen before.
I wish I could capture the smell of the place...the feel of it. The diversity of the people here is amazing, and they live alongside one another in peace. Riding the bus a modern Jew sits next to a Muslim woman, who is standing next to an Orthodox Jew. Modern girls in skimply clothing walk through streets crowded with the religious observant in their modest, traditional clothing. In many ways, it's very surreal.
We pass signs for a kosher MacDonald's, and the smell of all kinds of food spills into the streets. Stores hawk hookahs and tourist bric-a-brac. The city is loud and bustling...the country is quiet and sleepy. In every way, I'm delighted to be here.
This next week I will be putting on my tourist hat and seeing more of the sights. I will, I promise, take more pictures to share.
More posts to come!!
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