Day 4

This morning we walked through a Kibutz. It's a bit like an Israeli Hudderite colony. They eat their meals together in a large mass hall, and work together on different things to bring money into the Kibutz, especially farming. The kids usually see their parents for only a few hours a day. Most Kibutz have their own schools, and they share a common faith. The Kibutz we visited was right along the Lebanon border, and so they have bomb shelters. There has been fourn years of peace with Lebanon, but there were many rockets fired in the past into this area.

The areas here are still named after the tribes. We stayed in Dan, by the Dan river. We drove through several places that are named in Joshua as we drove closer to Lebanon. It's interesting to see the Bible come to life as we drive through. Some people, however prefer to walk it, and there is something called the Trail of Israel, which takes three months to walk. A good deal of people ages 23-24 complete this trail, often after their army and university career are over.

We drove by the border manned by the army. There is a gravel, flat road on either side of the fence. The rake it every day so that they can see if anyone has been there. If there is so much as one rock overturned, they will not about it. They can tell how heavy the person walking on there is, and if they are carrying something or someone over the border.

The air around here is very clean, almost as clean as our mountain air in Alberta!

We stopped for coffee anon -coffee in the clouds-. This is an old army outpost, complete with bunkers and an amazing view over the 'valley of tears', or the Golan Heights. You can tell this is a war torn area, as most of the architecture is nothing but crumbled buildings and piles of rubble. Barbed wire is a very common sight here as well. It was in this area that we did a bit of off roading in our small mini van...which was interesting. ;)

We also stopped at a winery by the name of Chateau Golan, and had a tour as well as a small wine tasting. In Israel they don't ask your age, they just pour you wine, so I was able to participate in the testing. No worries.....it was only a very little bit. :)

Another stop today was at Bet-She'an, which has ruins from the time of Saul. Amazing, magnificent place, very ancient, Roman-type feel. Lots of columns and bath houses. Huge amounts of marble were needed to complete many of the structures.

Our tour guide took us through the area of the West Bank on our way to Jerusalem. There are areas where the Palestinians are still living, and you can tell where they live. Large amounts of plastic are strewn over their fields, and there is garbage everywhere. They do not take care of their land, and that is very evident here.

The terrain changes very quickly, it can go from desert dunes to green, lush areas well populated by trees and other vegetation in less than 10 minutes. Our tour guide took us to a remote place where it is believed that Jesus was baptized. There are caves here in the middle of the desert that the monks used to live in . He made us Turkish coffee, which is very very bitter and strong. It was an amazing place to sit and think and I could've spent hours there.

Israel doesn't have a history, it is still making it's history. Many people are willing to give up their lives in order to ensure that this country remains. There is a deep root of pride in the people here, and I admire it.

Dinner was had at Joy, a very good restaurant in the German Quarter of Jerusalem before crashing in our hotel room.