Day 2

I took a bunch of notes during our drive today. Nothing overly with a sense of order, but some interesting facts



First we drove through a few Kibbutz ( colonies of people often European immigrants wanting to live together). We learned a little bit about everyday live including the fact that the school children start learning English in first grade, and boys and girls must serve in the army at 18. Girls have to serve two years, unless they are promoted to a higher position, and boys must serve three years.



Every tree in Isreal is hand planted, often by immigrants who had no jobs. They used pine trees from Spain, but the trees couldn't endure the weather, so they all died. The biggest forest in Israel is right up against the desert, and every tree is individually watered through a complex irrigation system.



There were many events that the Jewish people consider miracles that occured during the wars. One such story was when they faced the Egyptians, who had a much larger, more organized army. The Israli people flew two planes, that had just been finished that morning, and dropped bombs that didn't go off. The Egyptians though they had an entire air force, and stopped their attack.



A constant problem in Isreal is the conflicts between the Jewish and the Arab peoples. Although there are many areas that they live peacefully together. You can tell the different areas where they live by two things. Israeli people have red roofs, and live higher on the mountains, which the Arabs prefer to live in the valleys, and their housese are built by layers, each layer representing another generation. In many of the areas, the hot water tanks are on the roofs of houses, painted black to keep pressure, and manyof the houses are only solar powered.



Although the Bedoins live in small, crumbeling houses, they have their own schools. A problem in these schools is that the girls often drop out at 13 in order to be married at 15. Although many people see Bedoins as nomadic people, they are developing entire citites. Keep in mind, however, that if they ever heard you calling them 'city people' you would have to learn how to run across a desert very quickly.



The Israli people are very interested in learning how to cultivate the desert land, and spend lots of money towards research into complex irrigation systems. One of the quickest ways to get water is during the few days of rain that they get in the desert. Unlike other areas, the water does not soak into the land, and even an hour of rain could close roads and cause major flooding. In fact, five minutes of rain shuts down the city of Tel-Aviv, as we learned yesterday. They would pull over to the side of the road in order to avoid driving in the rain.



After driving through the beautiful desert area, we spent a few hours at the Dead Sea area. First we went to an area called Massada. This was an enormous fortress built by Herod in 67 AD. The Jews that were living there were under attack from the Roman people during that time, and this castle was a safe place to be. Until the Romans started using captives from Jerusalem to begin building ramps up to the walls. When the Jews started shooting arrows at the workers, they realized they were shooting at their own people, and called a cease-fire. Unfortunately, the ramps continued to be built, and the 15,000 man Roman army was much larger than the 1,000 men, woman and children that resided in Masada. They were now faced with the dilema of whether or not to let themselves be captured and become prostitues, and gladiators in the areanas or to kill themselves, which was stricly forbidden. Deciding that living among the Roman people was a far worse end to their lives, every family drew lots. One person had to ensure that the whole family killed themselves, and that everything was burned. They were not to make a fuss, but they had to die quietly on their beds. Once morning came, the Roman soldiers came up to the city to conquer the people. When they saw what had happened, they marveled at the strength and courage of the Jews, and even though they had finally won after seven years of fighting, there are stories from the people who expierenced it that recal sad, mourful faces. Even now, the Israeli people say that never again shall Massada be conquered, and that remains a symbol of hope for them in all their struggels.



The Dead Sea was an amazing expierence. You walk a little ways out on the very hard, salty bottom, then sit and lift your legs up and float. Any cut or imperfection on your body will suddenly begin to sting, as the very salty water cleanses your pores, and heals the cuts. There are no living things in that water, as it is 13% salt. That may not seem like much, but most salt water bodies are only 3% salt. Sadly, however, the Dead Sea is shrinking by an alarming couple meters a year. The governments are trying their best to figure out ways of slowing, and eventually stopping the shrinking of the Dead Sea, in order to preserve much of the prosperity of the people around that area.





Some of the more humorous things that happned today:

Our tour guide, who served many years in the army, told us that one day they got a call that there was an Arab with a large gun that was walking around Masada. Naturally, they drove all their Jeeps out there, and got ready for a showdown. It turned out it was a Japanese tourist with a large amount of camera equipment. Glad I didn't bring my tripod....

At dinner tonight, when my mom and Janelle were being served desert, the waiter asked us where to put it, and my mom pointed out a spot between her and Janelle. The waiter's responce to this was " Always listen to the missus". This seems to be a popular idea around here. As our tour guide said " Every woman around here can operate a M16...you don't mess with them. If your wife tells you to take out the garbage....you're taking out the garbage".



Today was a very busy, very hot day. Although the locals say it was a cool day, as it was only 30 degrees. Apparently they usually get 40-50 degrees, especially in the desert areas.





That's all I've got for today! Tomorrow's journal log will be much of the same thing, as we are going to be touring around with a guide, and I like taking notes about facts so that I can remember them as we go along.