Two more holiday's

Israel's Independence Day- And Memorial Day...

The last couple of weeks everybody has been hanging up flags. Getting ready to celebrate.Today is Israel's Independence Day-Yom Ha'atzmaut . Israeli's have a lot of pride in their country. Eric had the day off today so we meet up with friends and had a BBQ on the beach : ) We spent hours in the calm ,clear blue water. We are all just a little sunburned but it was worth it . It was a great way to spend any day of the week ! I am looking forward to many more days on the beach like today

Ahhhhhh... Life on the Mediterranean

As a bonus the IAF (Israeli Air Force) Had aerial demonstrations , performing celebratory maneuvers in the sky.

Yesterday was a jarring contrast , Memorial Day-Yom haZikaron . One of the most somber days on the Israeli calendar. Nearly every Israeli family has been touched by decades of conflict, either losing a relative or knowing someone else who has had a loved one die in battle.Israel came to a standstill in a solemn two-minute ritual while sirens rang out across the country (third time in a week we have had sirens) This time , I was shopping at the grocery store when the sirens rang, every one stopped what they were doing and stood there in total silence ! The whole nation having this two minutes together to think about what it is they are memorializing !

In the The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is The Lost City of Petra . I am embarrassed to say, I had never even heard of Petra before moving to this part of the world! Of course, I had heard of Jordan.

Petra is a place of endless wonder.Massive stone carvings jut out of the cliffs. The ancient Nabateans actually carved their buildings (over 2,000 Years ago) into the solid rock, with facades based on Greek architecture. We spent the day hiking and exploring the rich archaeological remains

The Siq

The Siq (canyon in Arabic) twists and turns, until abruptly, through a cleft in the rock, the first glimpse of the city of Petra can be seen

The Treasury

After hours of exploring , we made our journey back, knowing that we had just covered only a fraction of what Jordan has to offer….

We went to Bethlehem for a few hours which was really awesome…We visited The Church of the Nativity where inside is the site where Jesus is said to have been born

Bethlehem is located in the West Bank and it is not always recommend to visit. The timing and the opportunity seemed to be right ... so we went

Manger Square

The main entrance into the Church

Mosaic floor built in 325 AD

Most of what stands was built in the 6th-century

The Jerusalem Y.M.C.A

We were staying at the Y.M.C.A in Jerusalem (we stopped on our way back from Egypt)


I was surprised to learn that Jerusalem’s YMCA was designed by the same architectural firm that created New York’s Empire State Building ,both built at the same time in 1931 . The hotel was simply incredible, not only did it offer low prices on the rooms but with its elegant arches, domes and 152-foot observation tower, it is a city landmark acknowledged as a center of cultural, athletic, social and intellectual life in Jerusalem! It even runs a peace preschool bringing together Muslim, Jewish and Christian children http://www.jerusalemymca.org/


Getting Back to Bethlehem, The hotel was able to arrange a guide to take us. It is a short drive but it takes time going through several checkpoints. Bethlehem is under Palestinian control . I felt welcomed and completely safe the whole time

Jerusalem is such a beautiful city... it is so chaotic, noisy and crowded and yet so peaceful at the same time . It is my favorite place in Israel . Visiting again we went to the Garden of Gethsemane . The garden where, according to the New Testament and Christian traditions Jesus prayed and suffered for the sins of the world the night before he was crucified

What I found interesting is that there are olive trees that date over 2000 years...silent witnesses in a beautiful garden

Inside the Church of All Nations, next to the Garden of Gethsemane is a section of bedrock (enshrined) where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest.

The Byzantine-era church of the Tomb of the Virgin

Near by is the Tomb of the Virgin. A incredibly beautiful Grotto from the 6th century. It is not clear to me whose tombs are in this Grotto (I have read the Virgin Mary's tomb is here and also her parents and Joseph are here) The biblical accounts provide no information about the end of Mary's life but...according to Christian tradition, this site in Jerusalem is where Mary fell into an eternal sleep and was taken to heaven, also the Prophet Muhammad is said to have seen a light over Mary's Tomb (with the contradicting descriptions of this grotto, I ended up a bit confused) Still it is one of the oldest and most impressive churches I have seen here

Yet another Holiday has caught me by surprise...

Yom Ha'Shoa honors the millions of Jews who died in the Holocaust, as well as the acts of heroism that saved many others

Wendi , Elodie and Myself had been planning to go out to breakfast and catch up!!! Over Passover break Wendi went to Rome, I went to Cairo and since Elodie had just been to Cairo... us girls had lots to chat about. None of us realized that in Israel , it is law all public entertainment and restaurants will be closed on Yom Ha'shoa (even on the eve. of this remembrance day) Of course, after learning of this our fun morning out was abruptly rescheduled

It soon became clear to me how serious today is to this country to pause , reflect , and honor the victims of the Holocaust. The boys told me the day before they had to where white to school on Tuesday ...I had not put it together at that point. Later, last night when we figured it out we talked to them about the Holocaust and what today is about... both boys spoke up with stories of how Grandparents of their classmates had been stopping in the classroom all week to tell their personal stories of survival and tragedy !!!

Today at school they will listen to speakers, poems, prayers, and sing songs. Six candles will be lit to represent the six million who died. And more Holocaust survivors will speak to the school children about their experiences and share in the readings.

Eric and I will honor the Holocaust victims by visiting Vad Yashem (the Holocaust museum) during our time here in Israel

At 10 am, air raid sirens went off throughout the entire country, lasting about 2 minutes. When I heard the sirens I quickly grabbed my camera, went outside on the patio, and began recording. The video is nothing to look at, but it was interesting hearing the sirens blasting loudly outside our home.

We also visited Dahshur, Memphis, and Saqqara

The top of the Red Pyramid at Dahshur fell off you can see it behind Eric

125-ton 3,200-year-old granite Statue of Ramses II

All I know is I came back from the bathroom and there was Mary with the bread ladies

Mom wondering around at Saqqara

How on earth do they do this???

Eric ,Me and the boys at the Khan el-Khalili market

burkhas,burkhas, and more burkhas

Driving in Cairo is nut's !!! There are NO traffic signals or stop signs NONE

BFE...

A walk on top of the old city walls

The Old City of Jerusalem is truly exceptional, not only for its history and architecture but mostly(for me) seeing so many places associated with Jesus life. Today was our second time in the Old city. We met up with friends who live here ... and headed up The Jerusalem Ramparts walk. It was an exciting and very special way to see the city. You can walk atop the ramparts that were built in 12th century .

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Patrolling the Medieval city walls (so much better with friends)