Day 4

This morning came a bit too early since we got home late last night – but we were on our way at the usual 7:30am. Just in case I haven't documented our morning schedule – our wakeup call is at 6am, breakfast is served starting at 6:30am, and then we must be on the bus and ready to go by 7:30am. Whew! We usually tour non-stop until about 5:30pm, dinner is at 6:30pm and then we're on our own. Day #1 and #2 we had an 8pm re-cap/devotional meeting but not last night or tonight. However, in our new hotel there are 30-minute lectures on various religious topics (So far we haven't attended any, but may go to the last one which is on the Israel & Palestinian conflict).

Our first stop today was at the Garden of Gethsemane, which is where Jesus went to pray and sweat drops of blood ("Take this cup from me…but not my will, but Thine be done"). On most of these special spots are churches instead of actual open gardens. In the courtyard area of this church (known as the "Church of All Nations") were several 2000 year old trees and the location that is known as the Garden of Gethsemane. We went into the church and there was a mass being held in German. It felt very reverent and peaceful – however, I got VERY frustrated when people kept taking pictures. I am all about capturing pictures, but for some reason it just felt like we needed to sit and enjoy the moment instead of taking pictures. It was pretty dark in the sanctuary and each flash and click and beep from the camera was very distracting to me (and to the worshippers) and got me a little upset and embarrassed for being a tourist.

Later we went to another church, the "Sanctuary of Bethpage" which is where Jesus rode into town on the donkey (Palm Sunday). It was a small little church and we read aloud the story from the Bible, and walked down a long and fairly steep path where Jesus would've traversed on the donkey.

The events later in the day are a bit jumbled since on one spot I forgot to bring my journal with me – one site was a church called Davanius Flavit, which was a church built on the site where Jesus wept for the city of Jerusalem. It was a somber site, and the roof of the church is shaped like an upside down tear and also has vases on it to catch the tears.

We then went into the Zion Gate, the Tomb of King David, and the Church of the Sepulcher. The Church of the Sepulcher is on the site where they believe Jesus was crucified. The church is on top of the rock where the cross stood and there is a spot where you can reach through and touch the actual rock. It is also a dark and holy place where you must whisper – but tons of people everywhere. In the same church is the actual rock where His body was laid when they removed him from the cross. Many many people kneeling down and lying face down on this rock. Nearby still is a shrine built to Jesus' tomb (since the original tomb was destroyed). It had candles all around it, and many many people inside and out praying and taking pictures. Incense smell fills the air.

Our final two spots were the Jewish & Arab Marketplaces which were long and very narrow streets inside the Zion gate where everything under the sun is sold – clothes, beads, breads, spices, raw meat, strange stuff (animal brains, intestines, etc), CDs/DVDs, parakeets, etc. It smelled quite bad and was very crowded and chaotic. Some parts were touristy but others were a genuine marketplace where people were haggling and buying their daily goods. Unreal!!

Our final stop today was the Western Wall (or "Wailing Wall"). Unfortunately, we weren't told in advance that today was the day we were going there, so I wasn't able to bring any prayers in advance (also since I didn't check my email last night since we were on the town). But when we found out we were going there, Amy and I wrote down about 7-10 prayers for our church, our friends, families, etc on different sheets of paper to put on the wall. The wall itself had a somewhat feeling of "huh?" to me, since from what I read it's more of a meaningful site for the Jews rather than Christians. This is the only remaining wall from the Temple that Solomon built and Jews are all over the place praying and touching the wall. I will honestly have to study up on the significance of this wall, but nevertheless I prayed for you guys and placed the prayers into the crevices in the wall.

A LOT of waking and standing today and everybody is sore and a bit tired. I got quite a bit sunburn today too – even though the temperature is in the low 60s, the sun really beats down and sneaks up on you. I am going to try to find some aloe!

Another interesting observation that I learned from our guide is that almost everywhere there is a Christian or Jewish church there is a Mosque across the street. Three times a day the Mosque has audio speakers outside its buildings that blare their songs and prayers anywhere within earshot. In fact, when I began writing today's journal I could hear the evening prayer being pumped through some speakers outside of our hotel. Devout Muslims are supposedly supposed to stop whatever they are doing and pray during this time. (Ironically when this prayer was occurring while we were walking around, nobody knelt down to pray – so apparently there weren't many religious Arab's around) I don't know how to nicely say it, but the whole thing is offensive to me. I'm ok with other churches having their own beliefs, but the audio speakers forcing it upon everyone and blatantly blaring their chants while we are trying to study and discover more about our own beliefs is very difficult indeed. It's a really different world over here.

That is about it for tonight! The weather is supposed to be lousy tomorrow, so our guide re-arranged some of our events. Tomorrow we are going back near Jericho and going to Masada and in order to beat the rush he wants us on the bus and ready to go by 6:45am (EEK!!!!). So needless to say we'll be going to bed early tonight! It's just about time for dinner, so I will sign off and talk to you tomorrow.

P.S. Rode a CAMEL today with mom :)