Day Twelve: April 20, 2006: Israel Trip
Temple Mount
We started off the day a bit later than yesterday. Finally the Feast of Unleavened Bread was over so we got a normal breakfast again: no more Matzahs, yipee! So we caught a taxi (they wanted 40 shekels: way too much) to Lion's Gate. In dealing with taxi drivers in Israel you have to set the price ahead of time or else you're dead meat-we did that right, but should've fought over the price more...o well, so he took us to Lion's Gate and even gave us his phone number if we should need another taxi ride (of course every taxi driver loves to drive suckers!). So up we walked, up the Via Dolorosa again on our way to the Temple Mount. There were many doors to the Temple Mount, but evidently only one WE as non-muslims were allowed in. We discussed this with many policemen who just told us to hurry because there was no getting in after 11 AM until after 1:30 PM. So they checked our bag and forgot to give Dieter a paper kibbot and we walked out onto the Temple Mount.
We could hardly get thorugh becuase of the tuor groups doing lunch in the entrance area. On the Temple Mount you haerd people screaming "eijeijeijie"...and celebrating Bar Mitzfahs. Closer to the wall were Orthodox Jews with their prayer shalls on rocking back and forth. The whole place was packed. The thing that hit me was that the Holy of Holies used to be somewhere really close. For us as christians the Holy of Holies isn*t as scary as for the Jews because we believe that through Jesus' death on the cross the way into the Holy of Holies was opened for all who receive Him. Soo...we moved on to the wood bridge over to the Dome of the Rock. We went up close and walked around it one full time. We were probably two of the tops 10 non-Muslims around-pretty intense! When we had enough of ht esun beating down hard on our heads (no shade) we tried to leave and a Muslim teenager started saying "no no no...that''s the way to the toilets not the exit"...oops, so he showed us the way out. On the way then back down the Via Dolorosa I saw three guys not dressed in police or military clothes going into a doorway carrying guns so I pulled Dieter away as fast as I could. Either they were undercover something or rather or just plain up to no good. Freaky! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem-it's a crazy place. We then headed for the Damascas Gate. You could hardly get through the Souq there were so many people. The muslim women would literally hiss at you if you ran into them, the guys with carts would just run into those in front of them to get them to move faster and you saw young boys duking it out all over the place: crazy! So we stopped for a fresh pressed juice at Damascas Gate, payed too much, went out the gate an sat on a bench at a grassy are by the walls. There we saw lots of Muslim women and children with bags and bags of what they'd bought at the Souq, stray cats roaming around and young Israeli soldiers playing with their guns on their break. After finishing our juice we went to a little Arab bus station and took a little Arab bus (with blaring Muslim sing song) to Bethlehem.
Bethlehem-Manger's Square
Arriving at the check point, we had to go through the passport control and walk through this huge cement wall barrier. On the other side we were met by taxi drivers who all wanted to take us to Manger Square. They wanted 25 shekels (outrageously overpriced). So we grabbed another lady who negotiated a better price. When we got to Manger Square we had a very pressing tour guide wanting us to hire him. We told him no like four or five times and then walked through the door of humility into the Basilica. The church is the oldest church in the world which is still in regular use. There were Eastern Europeans and Indians all fighting to get into the manger grotto and kiss the 2star of Bethlehem". We watched everything at a distance and I was in awe o fth ewood rafters that mad ethe huge Basilica in at least on way look like a stable. The people were going into the grotto, lying down on the floor, crawling into grotto and kissing this metal star. In a little chapel upstairs, the Greek Orthodox bishop was holding service singing like a Gregorian monk, all decked out with a poof crown and all. We went to the Catholic church right next door (the Basilica is Greek Orthodox) which was much more relaxing with German christians singing "Lobet den Herren" and classical music softly playing in the background. However, the Greek Orthodox sing song started getting louder and we eventually left (too many different noises at once). Evidently the Catholic church has a tunnel with a door with a peep hole into the manger grotto which used to be the closest Catholics could get to the "manger". The manger grotto was again determined to be the place by Constantine's mom who seemed to know where EVERYTHING happened in the Holy Land. We then left the two churches and walked across Manger Square to have lunch at a tourist trap place across from the churches. As we sat outside two little girls (about 9-10 years old) decided to sit there watching us. By the time we were done eating we realized they were beggers we couldn't drop. The one girl shadowed us for what seemed like forever. She was totally annoying and I think that was the point. I am amzed at the lack of dignity some people teach their children: the girl didn't look hungry or badly dressed...just bored maybe... Did I mention that Bethlehem is 100 % under Palestinian control and is a pretty dangerous place at the moment (we found this out after the fact). Just wait to you hear our next story that opened our eyes to this!
Rachel's Tomb
Well we found a taxi driver who would take us to Rachel's Tomb for 15 shekels-go Dieter (he was getting the hang of haggling...he even talked a guy into selling us something for a great price in the souq before leaving for Bethlehem). The taxi driver kept trying to get us to have him take us to the Shepherd's Fields. We decided against that because the fields around Bethlehem gave you a great picture of where the shepherds were met by the angel. They say they also know where Ruth met Boaz (yeah right, guys tour trap!!)...So the taxi driver resigned to taking us only to Rachel's Tomb. He would only go so far, we had to walk along the huge concrete barrier at Rachel's Tomb lined with trash and a dead cat. It stunk and was definitely not a tourist trap. The Israeli Soldier looked surprised to see us (I don't think normal tourists ever go there nowadays). He said we could go in with the orthodox Jews who had just pulled up in a huge bus. he unlocked the door and let us in and then locked us all in. THey first had a well to do their hanwashing rituals then they walked down to the tomb (just an ugly building-absolutely no schnick schnack as the Germans would put it). Dieter put on a paper kibbot and went in to the men's entrance. i went in on the women's side but all you could see was a barrier covered in plastic and a lot of Jews reading the scriptures and praying. We felt desperately out of place, so we went to the door and knocked to get out. He let us out at first and we asked if we could walk to the check point-he said, "no it's too dangerous, you have to take the bus out with the others." He told us the bus would leave in 15 minutes and that we should go inside so he could lock us in again ("that's safer"). While waiting for the bus we read about the tomb where Jews pray for God to give them children if they can't have any or a safe delivery if they're pregnant. So finally when the bus was there they let us out and we haggled with the bus driver to take us near our hotel for ten shekels (not bad). So...we got in the bus pretty scared and around us the Orthodox Jews started filling up the spaces. One of them asked to orrow a pen which showed me that the Pharisee's rule of having nothing to do with Gentiles was not true for them-makes sense the way Jerusalem is today that would be impossible. So out of the barrier we went with Jews on either side-men in the front of the bus with their top hats, long coats and Shirley Temples and women in the back. They were all soooo quiet and then children very well behaved with the exception of an American Jewish family who were obviously just visiting. It was a stark contrast to the loud Arab bus that was only half that size and very beat up in comparison. We felt a lot better getting out of Bethlehem and got a good look at a lot of Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. The bus driver kept his promise and let us off by our hotel where we stopped at the Central Bus Station for coffee, etc. We went to a 1 dollar store (5 shekels) and bought a lot of cheap fun stuff.
Henrik and Patricia and the Arab Wedding
We then hiked back to our car and reorganized our luggage. From there we set out on the feat of finding Henrik and Patricia's hotel which we found about an hour and lots of frustration and arguments later. They were totally surprised to see us and it was so awesome having fellowship with them and two other German christians from Munich and Landau. Hanging out and trading experiences was worth every ounce of gas and the hour of searching. We felt sooo much better. As we were talking we heard a lot of commotion outside and realized a Muslim wedding was going on. So we went out to watch from a distance. I guess the religious ceremony was done and they were clapping and pounding on a drum and carryin g the groom around on their shoulders like a baseball hero. They entered the reception hall to an Arab version of the typical wedding recessional and a litle Muslim sing song. The women and me were separate and I bet we were totally out of place in our normal western dress. They eventually closed the doors to the hall and we went back to the hotel lobby to finish our chat. We eventually left them to get to bed. Their bus tour was going on bright and early the next morning. So we set off to get to the airport.
Tel Aviv Airport
We made it to the airport filled up the tank turned in our car and were taken to terminal 3. As I sat waiting and Dieter was using the restroom, a crazy Israeli guy started asking me a million questions. he was really freaky, sounded like he was mentally ill and very paranoid. he said he was going to Cypress that morning and then moving to Iran because he couldn't stand the Israeli government any more. We descreetly left after a long time of listening to him and were able to find a quiet place to sleep. We then got in line for the Israeli security check. First they asked us a million crazy and pressing questions. One was why my name was Hannah Elisabeth-that name is Jewish, do you have Jewish parents? Who are your parents? Where are they from? What was every hotel you stayed in?...They then xrayed our bags and wanted to unpack 3 out of 4! Out carry on was the worst-they xrayed, metal checked, opened and made a huge mess of everything and still didn't find what they were looking for. The guy next to us had his cigarettes xrayed. The other guy on the other side was asked about his suit and why and where he was in Egypt first. Our patience was truly at its witts end, but it wasn't over yet. We checked in and had to hand in Dieter's trekking backpack at oddsize baggage. Then they checked the carry on and looked at every detail of our tickets and passports for the second time...then the passport check (why do I have to do this leaving?)...that took FOREVER and they wanted the papers back that we had received when we cam ein (luckily I had them in my hand luggage to glue in my scrapbook-nobody had told us to keep them because they would want them back...crazy!!). So we finally go through there and yet another check point where they checked our passports and tickets again and we finally got to our gates and fell asleep immediately. Luckily Dieter woke up for the boarding call because otherwise we would still be there. We were sooo happy when our plane took off. Now we're in Athens, back in the good ole EU! The flight was great...pretty empty...so lots of space... Praise God we ade it out alive! Don't wanna go back anytime soon! And hereby do I end my Israeli ramblings...I hope dear reader you got a realistic picture of the Israel we saw and experienced...and please do pray for peace in these perilous times. Lord Jesus come quickly!
We started off the day a bit later than yesterday. Finally the Feast of Unleavened Bread was over so we got a normal breakfast again: no more Matzahs, yipee! So we caught a taxi (they wanted 40 shekels: way too much) to Lion's Gate. In dealing with taxi drivers in Israel you have to set the price ahead of time or else you're dead meat-we did that right, but should've fought over the price more...o well, so he took us to Lion's Gate and even gave us his phone number if we should need another taxi ride (of course every taxi driver loves to drive suckers!). So up we walked, up the Via Dolorosa again on our way to the Temple Mount. There were many doors to the Temple Mount, but evidently only one WE as non-muslims were allowed in. We discussed this with many policemen who just told us to hurry because there was no getting in after 11 AM until after 1:30 PM. So they checked our bag and forgot to give Dieter a paper kibbot and we walked out onto the Temple Mount.
We could hardly get thorugh becuase of the tuor groups doing lunch in the entrance area. On the Temple Mount you haerd people screaming "eijeijeijie"...and celebrating Bar Mitzfahs. Closer to the wall were Orthodox Jews with their prayer shalls on rocking back and forth. The whole place was packed. The thing that hit me was that the Holy of Holies used to be somewhere really close. For us as christians the Holy of Holies isn*t as scary as for the Jews because we believe that through Jesus' death on the cross the way into the Holy of Holies was opened for all who receive Him. Soo...we moved on to the wood bridge over to the Dome of the Rock. We went up close and walked around it one full time. We were probably two of the tops 10 non-Muslims around-pretty intense! When we had enough of ht esun beating down hard on our heads (no shade) we tried to leave and a Muslim teenager started saying "no no no...that''s the way to the toilets not the exit"...oops, so he showed us the way out. On the way then back down the Via Dolorosa I saw three guys not dressed in police or military clothes going into a doorway carrying guns so I pulled Dieter away as fast as I could. Either they were undercover something or rather or just plain up to no good. Freaky! Pray for the peace of Jerusalem-it's a crazy place. We then headed for the Damascas Gate. You could hardly get through the Souq there were so many people. The muslim women would literally hiss at you if you ran into them, the guys with carts would just run into those in front of them to get them to move faster and you saw young boys duking it out all over the place: crazy! So we stopped for a fresh pressed juice at Damascas Gate, payed too much, went out the gate an sat on a bench at a grassy are by the walls. There we saw lots of Muslim women and children with bags and bags of what they'd bought at the Souq, stray cats roaming around and young Israeli soldiers playing with their guns on their break. After finishing our juice we went to a little Arab bus station and took a little Arab bus (with blaring Muslim sing song) to Bethlehem.
Bethlehem-Manger's Square
Arriving at the check point, we had to go through the passport control and walk through this huge cement wall barrier. On the other side we were met by taxi drivers who all wanted to take us to Manger Square. They wanted 25 shekels (outrageously overpriced). So we grabbed another lady who negotiated a better price. When we got to Manger Square we had a very pressing tour guide wanting us to hire him. We told him no like four or five times and then walked through the door of humility into the Basilica. The church is the oldest church in the world which is still in regular use. There were Eastern Europeans and Indians all fighting to get into the manger grotto and kiss the 2star of Bethlehem". We watched everything at a distance and I was in awe o fth ewood rafters that mad ethe huge Basilica in at least on way look like a stable. The people were going into the grotto, lying down on the floor, crawling into grotto and kissing this metal star. In a little chapel upstairs, the Greek Orthodox bishop was holding service singing like a Gregorian monk, all decked out with a poof crown and all. We went to the Catholic church right next door (the Basilica is Greek Orthodox) which was much more relaxing with German christians singing "Lobet den Herren" and classical music softly playing in the background. However, the Greek Orthodox sing song started getting louder and we eventually left (too many different noises at once). Evidently the Catholic church has a tunnel with a door with a peep hole into the manger grotto which used to be the closest Catholics could get to the "manger". The manger grotto was again determined to be the place by Constantine's mom who seemed to know where EVERYTHING happened in the Holy Land. We then left the two churches and walked across Manger Square to have lunch at a tourist trap place across from the churches. As we sat outside two little girls (about 9-10 years old) decided to sit there watching us. By the time we were done eating we realized they were beggers we couldn't drop. The one girl shadowed us for what seemed like forever. She was totally annoying and I think that was the point. I am amzed at the lack of dignity some people teach their children: the girl didn't look hungry or badly dressed...just bored maybe... Did I mention that Bethlehem is 100 % under Palestinian control and is a pretty dangerous place at the moment (we found this out after the fact). Just wait to you hear our next story that opened our eyes to this!
Rachel's Tomb
Well we found a taxi driver who would take us to Rachel's Tomb for 15 shekels-go Dieter (he was getting the hang of haggling...he even talked a guy into selling us something for a great price in the souq before leaving for Bethlehem). The taxi driver kept trying to get us to have him take us to the Shepherd's Fields. We decided against that because the fields around Bethlehem gave you a great picture of where the shepherds were met by the angel. They say they also know where Ruth met Boaz (yeah right, guys tour trap!!)...So the taxi driver resigned to taking us only to Rachel's Tomb. He would only go so far, we had to walk along the huge concrete barrier at Rachel's Tomb lined with trash and a dead cat. It stunk and was definitely not a tourist trap. The Israeli Soldier looked surprised to see us (I don't think normal tourists ever go there nowadays). He said we could go in with the orthodox Jews who had just pulled up in a huge bus. he unlocked the door and let us in and then locked us all in. THey first had a well to do their hanwashing rituals then they walked down to the tomb (just an ugly building-absolutely no schnick schnack as the Germans would put it). Dieter put on a paper kibbot and went in to the men's entrance. i went in on the women's side but all you could see was a barrier covered in plastic and a lot of Jews reading the scriptures and praying. We felt desperately out of place, so we went to the door and knocked to get out. He let us out at first and we asked if we could walk to the check point-he said, "no it's too dangerous, you have to take the bus out with the others." He told us the bus would leave in 15 minutes and that we should go inside so he could lock us in again ("that's safer"). While waiting for the bus we read about the tomb where Jews pray for God to give them children if they can't have any or a safe delivery if they're pregnant. So finally when the bus was there they let us out and we haggled with the bus driver to take us near our hotel for ten shekels (not bad). So...we got in the bus pretty scared and around us the Orthodox Jews started filling up the spaces. One of them asked to orrow a pen which showed me that the Pharisee's rule of having nothing to do with Gentiles was not true for them-makes sense the way Jerusalem is today that would be impossible. So out of the barrier we went with Jews on either side-men in the front of the bus with their top hats, long coats and Shirley Temples and women in the back. They were all soooo quiet and then children very well behaved with the exception of an American Jewish family who were obviously just visiting. It was a stark contrast to the loud Arab bus that was only half that size and very beat up in comparison. We felt a lot better getting out of Bethlehem and got a good look at a lot of Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. The bus driver kept his promise and let us off by our hotel where we stopped at the Central Bus Station for coffee, etc. We went to a 1 dollar store (5 shekels) and bought a lot of cheap fun stuff.
Henrik and Patricia and the Arab Wedding
We then hiked back to our car and reorganized our luggage. From there we set out on the feat of finding Henrik and Patricia's hotel which we found about an hour and lots of frustration and arguments later. They were totally surprised to see us and it was so awesome having fellowship with them and two other German christians from Munich and Landau. Hanging out and trading experiences was worth every ounce of gas and the hour of searching. We felt sooo much better. As we were talking we heard a lot of commotion outside and realized a Muslim wedding was going on. So we went out to watch from a distance. I guess the religious ceremony was done and they were clapping and pounding on a drum and carryin g the groom around on their shoulders like a baseball hero. They entered the reception hall to an Arab version of the typical wedding recessional and a litle Muslim sing song. The women and me were separate and I bet we were totally out of place in our normal western dress. They eventually closed the doors to the hall and we went back to the hotel lobby to finish our chat. We eventually left them to get to bed. Their bus tour was going on bright and early the next morning. So we set off to get to the airport.
Tel Aviv Airport
We made it to the airport filled up the tank turned in our car and were taken to terminal 3. As I sat waiting and Dieter was using the restroom, a crazy Israeli guy started asking me a million questions. he was really freaky, sounded like he was mentally ill and very paranoid. he said he was going to Cypress that morning and then moving to Iran because he couldn't stand the Israeli government any more. We descreetly left after a long time of listening to him and were able to find a quiet place to sleep. We then got in line for the Israeli security check. First they asked us a million crazy and pressing questions. One was why my name was Hannah Elisabeth-that name is Jewish, do you have Jewish parents? Who are your parents? Where are they from? What was every hotel you stayed in?...They then xrayed our bags and wanted to unpack 3 out of 4! Out carry on was the worst-they xrayed, metal checked, opened and made a huge mess of everything and still didn't find what they were looking for. The guy next to us had his cigarettes xrayed. The other guy on the other side was asked about his suit and why and where he was in Egypt first. Our patience was truly at its witts end, but it wasn't over yet. We checked in and had to hand in Dieter's trekking backpack at oddsize baggage. Then they checked the carry on and looked at every detail of our tickets and passports for the second time...then the passport check (why do I have to do this leaving?)...that took FOREVER and they wanted the papers back that we had received when we cam ein (luckily I had them in my hand luggage to glue in my scrapbook-nobody had told us to keep them because they would want them back...crazy!!). So we finally go through there and yet another check point where they checked our passports and tickets again and we finally got to our gates and fell asleep immediately. Luckily Dieter woke up for the boarding call because otherwise we would still be there. We were sooo happy when our plane took off. Now we're in Athens, back in the good ole EU! The flight was great...pretty empty...so lots of space... Praise God we ade it out alive! Don't wanna go back anytime soon! And hereby do I end my Israeli ramblings...I hope dear reader you got a realistic picture of the Israel we saw and experienced...and please do pray for peace in these perilous times. Lord Jesus come quickly!
posted by Hannah's Music at 7:01 AM
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