Day 3: Israel

We left Dahab at the wee hours of the morn and headed across the Sinai towards the Israeli border town of Eliat (which, incidentally, had rockets launched at it the day before). We then began the arduous process of border crossing. First, we had to haul all of our luggage through the neutral zone, through the Egyptian security side and on to the Israeli side. We realized we have entirely too much stuff and we will be donating much of it before we leave Jerusalem. At the Israeli security side, some of our co-travelers were questioned, their bags searched, and their passports temporarily confiscated, but we were fortunate and made it through with no incident. We had one guy traveling with us who is Filipino, born and raised in Saudi Arabia, and looks slightly like an Arab. He had some trouble, but much less than we expected so the whole experience only took 2 hours as opposed to the 6 or so we could have expected.

The Israeli border patrol guards were mainly young women in skinny black jeans. They were all absolutely beautiful. A very different site from the middle-aged male Egyptian guards.

After we crossed the border, we loaded up on our Israeli bus, and let me tell you, all of us were stunned. It is spacious, clean, and all of our luggage actually fit underneath! Imagine!

We then went and saw one site, Masada, on the way to Jerusalem. We drove past the Dead Sea and through the lovely Israeli eastern wilderness. The roads were windy, and Israel is much more mountainous than I expected. Masada was pretty spectacular; it's a fortress/palace built by King Herod, but was used by religious Jewish zealots as a retreat when the Romans invaded. When the Romans finally were able to penetrate the fortress by building a MASSIVE man-made ramp out of the dirt and stones surrounding the cliffs, they found everyone dead inside as a result of a mass suicide plan.

Amir enjoyed playing on the model, which was just his size.





Next we went to Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by a local Bedouin shepherd boy. It used to be a monastery of sorts for very religious Jews. Amir enjoyed some time off the bus and in the dirt.




We arrived at the Jerusalem Center in time for dinner. I could write an entire blog post about how awesome the food is. Really, I could. There were amazing vegetables, delectable salads, grilled chicken, fish, DESSERT. REAL DESSERT. Mmmmm. I didn't realize how deprived we have been all summer living off of lentils, rice, koshary, and the occasional ho-ho (and we ate fresh fruits and vegetables too but I never was able to cook anything THAT good since I didn't have spices and only one tiny pot). Wow. Luckily I forgot how good real food was this summer or I would have been miserable.

After dinner and a short film, we drove to our hotel close to the Jerusalem Center since babies are forbidden to stay there. The hotel is decent, though our A/C is broken and the beds are pretty uncomfortable. I was pretty upset the first night we were there, but I've since made peace with it and am enjoying the Jerusalem Center while we are there hanging out and eating dinner. It really is an incredible facility. Absolutely stunning view of the Old City from atop the Mt. of Olives. I can't believe the Church actually owns such an incredible spot.