Jerusalem

So today was interesting. We went to Jerusalem. We first got up REALLY early like 6 am which is 12 midnight back home, and we went to a hotel in downtown Tel Aviv so that we could catch our little van, and tour guide. We went on this tour with two other groups of three people each. One group was two Canadians (saying eh? a lot) with a Israeli friend of theirs and the other group was a couple from Texas and the husbands younger brother. They were all very friendly people. Anyway we make our way to Jerusalem and I've got to say the way people drive around here is totally INSANE!! I dont understand it, i dont understand how there arent more wrecks here. The drivers are NUTS, anyway so we are driving to Jerusalem. We drive through the area that is around the West Bank, where all the fighting is but we were safe. There is a wall that is similar to the Berlin wall that separates the Palestine from the Israeli parts of this country. Its all very confusing but there is a wall that separates these two fighting nations. Ok, so we then went to Mount of Olives. It has an amazing view of Jerusalem, the one that people normally see. So we are looking at the view and then look up and theres a CAMEL!! And it has a saddle of sorts on it. And they are selling rides on the camel!! So we got on and went on a camel ride. It was AMAZING... SO fun and interesting. We just went around a circle a little bit, and then the man had him jogging. It was just so fun and it totally made my day!! It was a wonderful way to start the day. We then went down some really steep hills that they compare to San Francisco. And we pass the Garden of Gethsemane which is where Jesus was betrayed. And then we went inside the old city of Jerusalem itself. We started at the Western Wall, something that I had to cover my head for. It was really moving. And yes I wrote down a wish of mine and put it in the wall. I must say that being in Jerusalem, a place that Jesus was over 2000 years ago was VERY moving, and im not a religious person. So after the Western Wall we walked around more of the old city of Jerusalem and saw the stations of the cross. We saw nine of them anyway, i thought there were only nine but grandma thinks that there are twelve, but we saw nine. Then we went to where Jesus was crucified. We followed the path that he carried his cross on, talk about interesting and moving. Then we went into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is on the land where he was crucified. This church was very ornate. Lots of detail and many fine things around this place. After seeing the place where he was crucified we went to the cave where he was buried. We actually went inside, it was really dark and kind of creepy, really small and just amazing. There were pieces of paper which i assume were prayer notes like the ones that people stuff into the Western Wall. After that we went shopping and had lunch, which for me was a piece of pita bread and a sprite! After lunch we went to the place where the Last Supper took place. Now its just an old mostly empty building but walking into it, I got a sense that something important happened there. We then went to drop off part of our group so that they could go to Bethlehem while we went to the Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial. We had to go through a check point in order to drop off the part of our group. It was kind of interesting because Bethlehem is controlled by the Palestines and Israeli's are NOT allowed to visit. So, our tour guide could NOT take these people to Bethlehem, we had to meet up with someone who could take them there. Well after they were headed to Bethlehem we went to the Holocaust museum, it was interesting. And there were a great deal of Israeli Army there. In Israel EVERYONE has to serve in the army, women for 2 years and men for 3, starting right out of high school. So these army people are my age and they are carrying around HUGE rifles! No in the museum but as they were leaving they all were attached to a rifle. This is just mind boggling to me. I mean I understand it I suppose but im not used to it yet. And honestly a lot of the guys here arent that bad to look at! Especially when they are in uniform, just had to say it, sorry everyone!! :) Anyway from the museum we met up with the people who went to Bethlehem and then came back to Tel Aviv. We havent done much since getting back and in fact i think everyone is asleep or getting ready to go to sleep. I dont think anyone has really gotten anything other than a glimpse of Ibrahim since we got back. Yusef says that he turns into a bear, so other than a weak attempt so see what he was up to we have left him alone!
Tomorrow is our day of rest! We are going to hang around the house and maybe visit some close by things. Nothing real big or exciting, but I will keep everyone posted.

Oo, one thing that I forgot to mention. While walking around in Jerusalem today I got a sunburn. This is after the guide was making fun of me because I am so white. He asked me to please go to the sea and get some color, I tried to explain to him that I just dont tan. And now I have proof that I just dont tan. We werent even out and about in the sun THAT much but I STILL got a sunburn, and because I was wearing the head scarf it is only sunburned on my left side... quite interesting. But my face didnt get sunburned. It got a nice healthy Tan!! :)
So til tomorrow... goodnight!