"Squeeze the World"
Friday, October 13, 2006
Jerusalem
I am exhausted, but the trip was great. The crew was made up of 2 Brits, 2 Yanks, 1 Fin, 1 Fin-Israeli, 1 Romanian Israeli, 1 Colombian and an Israeli hitchhiker we picked up on the way. She seemed to think that we were all crazy, but she was grateful enough for people willing to take her all the way to Jerusalem. The car ride was beautiful, we drove next to the Jordan Valley most of the way and then the ascent into Jerusalem is absolutely striking, especially at night when the lights stretch across the hills. I wish I could have captured it all with my camera, but even then it's something you have to experience yourself.
The conference itself was great. I heard my first authentic New Yawk accent while waiting to get in. Even at a conference of international Christians, all lines in Israel are the same. Shuffle and lean or you're sifted to the back. There was more diversity than anything I've been to, in people as well as performance. Most of the time was spent in music and dancing, and the costumes and styles were gorgeous. The PM made a video appearance and there were a few other bits of ceremony, but those were glossed over by the crowd. They said that 250 Holocaust survivors were in attendance, and I met one afterwards. Actually, we took her home, too. She was an amazing lady with an incredible amount of energy and a wit to match our English driver.
After the conference (of which I shall be posting pictures, but I'm having difficulty with the whole "monthly limit." I think I'm going to make another account, but I haven't been able to get around to it quite yet.) We went racing around Jerusalem while the driver pointed out various pieces of interest. We walked around the Artists' Colony (beautiful!) and tried to get into the Old City but all the entrances were blocked because of Ramadan. We ended up on the Mount of Olives and saw a great view of the city. It was about midnight then and we stopped for dinner (ha!) at a little place outside Jericho. The rest of the journey was a blur of bouncing around in the back of the Jeep, but the whole time was a great experience, and it's been a superb Succot!
The conference itself was great. I heard my first authentic New Yawk accent while waiting to get in. Even at a conference of international Christians, all lines in Israel are the same. Shuffle and lean or you're sifted to the back. There was more diversity than anything I've been to, in people as well as performance. Most of the time was spent in music and dancing, and the costumes and styles were gorgeous. The PM made a video appearance and there were a few other bits of ceremony, but those were glossed over by the crowd. They said that 250 Holocaust survivors were in attendance, and I met one afterwards. Actually, we took her home, too. She was an amazing lady with an incredible amount of energy and a wit to match our English driver.
After the conference (of which I shall be posting pictures, but I'm having difficulty with the whole "monthly limit." I think I'm going to make another account, but I haven't been able to get around to it quite yet.) We went racing around Jerusalem while the driver pointed out various pieces of interest. We walked around the Artists' Colony (beautiful!) and tried to get into the Old City but all the entrances were blocked because of Ramadan. We ended up on the Mount of Olives and saw a great view of the city. It was about midnight then and we stopped for dinner (ha!) at a little place outside Jericho. The rest of the journey was a blur of bouncing around in the back of the Jeep, but the whole time was a great experience, and it's been a superb Succot!
A, 8:32 AM
4 Comments:
Anna - here is a link to a plug in that Matt thinks you should use to put pictures on picasa albums.
Anna
We have a temple near our house. Saturday, I finally figured out what they have been constucting - it looked like the pictures you took for Succot. It was set back in the woods, covered with moss & limbs and the sides were cloth.
Way cool.
Contiune to stay safe & have a great time.
We have a temple near our house. Saturday, I finally figured out what they have been constucting - it looked like the pictures you took for Succot. It was set back in the woods, covered with moss & limbs and the sides were cloth.
Way cool.
Contiune to stay safe & have a great time.
Linda- Were people staying in it? That is cool.
After writing my comment I drove by & realized there was a really really long extension cord hooked up to it. I noticed after Temple on Sat people were walking down to it with what looked liked food. So I'm not sure if anyone is living in it however it appears that the congergation has meals in it.
