Israel/Palestine

After touring ancient Roman ruins and citadels we took a bus from Aleppo, Syria to Amman, Jordan. It was an extremely long bus ride that we caught at 11 pm! I have problems sleeping on buses but was so exhausted that I slept on the floor! haha I got a lot of strange looks, but they let me sleep:) We had to get our passports re-stamped before we left Syria and had to unload all our luggage. As the bus was leaving I realized that the guy sitting next to me was gone. The bus left him! And this was his first time to leave the country! poor guy. But after a few shouts and foreignized Arabic we got the problem solved and found the lost guy. He looked like he was about to cry.:)

Once we made it to Jordan, my friends and I caught a taxi to the border of Israel. As you know Syria and Israel don't get along, so we couldn't go straight from Syria to Israel, which would have saved 5 hours of traveling time. Oh well, hopefully someday the governments will reach a truce. They should do it just for the sake of the poor college travelers:) haha.

Israel is amazing. It was weird to be in a westernized country in the Middle East. There were even women soldiers! And they looked tough! I didn't want to make them angry thats for sure. But there were actually a lot of really young soldiers thanks to the draft. We had to wait 3 hours at the border. They didn't appreciate the fact that we didn't want them to stamp our passports (If people have an Israeli stamp, they are forbidden from many countries including Yemen, Syria, and Saudi Arabia) But they luckily understood and we were Americans so the have to treat us nicely:) But it was really sad how they treated the Arabs. They had no patience with them! Its amazing how fear and internal conflict with a particular group can change the scenario of a simple situation.

In Jerusalem we stayed in a hostel just outside the walls of the old city in the Arab quarter. Inside the old city is a lot of markets, the wailing wall and the Dome of the Rock. Here is a good website that explains the Holy sites in Israel http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-dome-of-the-rock.htm


Israel is beautiful! It is clean and you can tell that a lot of money was put into the infrastructure. It was also really cool to be in the holiest place on earth. After shopping for souvenirs and chowing down on bread on hummus we followed the Via Dolorosa trail. It consists of several stations that follow the path Jesus Christ took before he was crucified. Here are the different stations:
1)Courtyard of Omariye College. The site where Jesus was condemned to death.
2)Chapels of the Condemnation and Flagellation. The area where Jesus took up the cross.
3)The corner of El-Wad road. Area where Jesus fell for the first time.
4)Armenian Catholic chapel. Area where Jesus met his mother.
5)Franciscan oratory. Area where Simon the Cyrenian is forced to carry the cross.
6)Convent of the Little Sisters of Jesus. Area where Veronica wiped the sweat from Jesus' face.
7)Roman column in a Franciscan chapel. Area where Jesus fell for the second time.
8)Greek monastery. Where Jesus consoled the women of Jerusalem.
9)Holy Sepuchre Basilica (actually contains several stations)
a) Where Jesus fell for the 3rd time
b) Where Jesus was stripped of his garments
c) Where Jesus was nailed to the cross and later taken down
d) Where Jesus was laid in a tomb
e) a monument commemorating his resurrection.

It was an amazing walk and it was interesting to see all the different kinds/denominations of churches inside Jerusalem. But it was also frustrating how all the monks were fighting over power. Reminds me of that

After the long walk we had dinner and met some Palestinians with Israeli IDs. Since they are Muslims and Palestinian they can't be Israeli, but technically aren't in Palestine anymore. Complicated, I know. Anyway, they showed us around at night. It was a lot of fun. Do the touristy things during the day, then experience the nightlife with the locals. My kind of vacation:)

The next day we took a day trip to Tel Aviv so Jessamyn could visit a family friend. I love Tel Aviv! It has a younger population like a college town, but is in a big city setting. Plus there is a beach! We didn't have our bathing suits but we at least took advantage of the sun. I however fell asleep and burned only half of my face! oops! If I return to Israel, I will definitely spend more time in Tel Aviv.
On the way home to our hostel we met some Palestinian Christians from Gaza. They were permitted into Jerusalem to celebrate Easter. They were really nice and helped us find our way back to the hostel. We actually saw them the next day in Ramallah, Palestine and they tried to convince us to go to Gaza....no thanks:)