Joshua Drank a Bottle in Jericho

Ahhh, each morning I drag more and more getting up! This morning we didn't go for a walk, but Katrina and I enjoyed the view from the balcony b/f our meeting and lunch. Breakfast was fantastic and I am happy to report that the second step from the top claimed no more victims today! Yay! We didn't want to leave the hotel just b/c the view was so fantastic. Our first stop after breakfast was backtracking a little bit. We went to the Church of the Beatitudes, the site traditionally associated with the Sermon on the Mount. The church really didn't do too much for me. The place was over-crowded with tourists, more than any other site. I've realized that I am not usually inspired by churches, but rather by outside places where I can meditate and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, though there were passable gardens outside of the church, the place was so freakin busy that I couldn't enjoy it! So overall the place was lost on me.

I did gain an even greater appreciation for Talib's driving. These switchbacks are crazy and I would never want to drive a huge bus on those roads! What a man! I can't sing his praises enough! 

Another thing I learned about myself at the church is that I don't pray like other people do. When we entered the church, many from our group sat down or kneeled to pray, but I simply looked around and left. I felt no need, or want to pray. For me, prayer is not a conversation with with God so much as being silent with myself and meditating. I guess for me prayer is a  telepathic connection with God; when I'm still with myself, I feel that God knows what lies heaviest on my heart and will listen. But that's just me...

After the church, we drove back south through Tiberias on our way to the West Bank. Now I must admit that I have been quite excited about going to the West Bank for awhile now. I almost wonder if I am more interested in this trip as a political trip than a religious trip b/c the current political conditions are both fascinating and relevant. Not that I'm not enjoying the religious sites, but I am looking forward to talking with people and getting different views about these issues. 

Before we entered the West Bank, we stopped off at Bet She'an, the ruins of a Roman decopolis, the only one within the borders of Israel. The city was later turned into a Byzantine city, but it was destroyed in the huge earthquake in 747. Only a small part of the city has been excavated. Some local Arab Israeli neighborhoods were destroyed so that more excavation could be done, but the other neighborhoods are Jewish, so they cannot be destroyed. This really struck me and illustrates the unfairness of Israel's treatment of Palestinians both in Israel and the West Bank. As Tova said, the Israelis have an obligation to the other people living in this land, an obligation which they are failing in right now in many ways. 

The first stop at the city was the amphitheater where Eugene, Brandie and I performed on the stage for the rest of the group. We sang our "Wheels on the Bus" song. How surreal to stand there on that old building singing such a silly song to the crowd? Amazing! Then another group heard us singing and asked for an encore, so we all sang Hava Nasira as a group. That was our first public performance. It was a little rough, but we'll only improve. Then we saw some bath houses and public restrooms (sexy) and the Cardo. Yohan, Brandie, Katrina and I posed for a picture crossing the Cardo like the Beatles on the cover of Abbey Road. Nice! Also, at the top of the Tel was a prop from Jesus Christ Superstar...the tree Judas hung himself from. How creepy that the one prop left was that one! But I got plenty pictures of it.

The Jordan River has hardly any music in it at some points! Crazy! As we were driving, I could look across to Jordan. There were a couple fences and a span of land mines and then across the Jordan was Jordan. Entering the West Bank wasn't as hard as I thought. We went right through the checkpoint, probably b/c we're American tourists and the fact that it's in zone C, which is completely under Israel's control. Claudia did say that sometimes she has to hide in the bus, b/c as an Arab Israeli, she isn't allowed to go everywhere in the West Bank, even as a tour guide. The land is much drier here, probably b/c there is less irrigation. We saw a Israeli settlement not long after entering the West Bank. It was surrounded by a fence and a huge roll of barbed wire. Most of the Palestinian settlements we saw were run down and littered, quite a change from what we've seen so far! 

We had to pass through another Israeli checkpoint and a Palestinian checkpoint in order to reach Jericho, which is a zone A, completely under Palestinian control. We stopped off for lunch at a restaurant and had time to shop afterwards. Lunch was ok, falafel for the first time! :-) I didn't find anything to buy though, but we did see a camel. Brandie and Katrina each took a camel ride, and I was not in the mood to take a ride, but the attendant forced me, so I did. The ride was bumpy, and I felt like I was about to fall off when the camel stood up and sat down. The camel's name was Sammy and he's from California. Go figure! 

After lunch, we walked up to the old city of Jericho, which is dated back to 8000 BCE, making it one of the oldest and the lowest city on the earth! The remains of the walls are from 2000 BCE . There was a Palestinian policeman there w/o a gun. I thought that was strange. I've gotten so used to seeing guns everywhere. A cat named Monica, after Monica Lewinsky, fell in love with Yohan. I think she found a new Bill!

On our way to the next site, we had to stop so a herd of goats could go by. Half the bus stood up at the windows to see, and I could just tell the herders were thinking, "Stupid tourists!" We visited the Palace of Hi-Sham, a caliph from the 7-8 centuries CE. There were more ruins here, another bathhouse, but a guest room off of the bathhouse had a beautiful mosaic tile. I was pretty cashed by that point, so I wasn't paying too much attention. Oh well.

Our hotel in Jericho is an oasis of greenery and beauty in the town. The hotel is NICE! When we all got up to our rooms, we thought the power was turned off b/c we couldn't get the lights in our rooms to turn on. Katrina and I just open our blinds (no great view), but Brandie was afraid to go in by herself b/c she thought she saw a cat. (There are SOOO many stray cats over here!) So I went in with her, and or course, Katrina, that little devil, scared the shit our of us and I screamed. There was no cat. The lights only turn on when you put your room card in a slot inside the room. Then when you leave, you have to take the card with you, so you can't leave the lights on. Pretty cool, huh? I guess electricity must be very expensive here b/c the lights are dim in the halls as well, but they've adapted!

Katrina and I played table tennis b/f dinner tonight. We are amazing and should be in the Olympics! We hit off of everything: the table, the floor, the wall, ourselves...great! At one point, Katrina slipped and fell and landed on her bum and her sunglasses fell from her head to directly on her nose. It was so perfect, I wish I had my camera right then. It was a good time. Then we had dinner (hummus and amazing spinach soup) and now we're drinking beer and having a blogging party. At one point we had 5 computers and 7 people sitting around a table talking and blogging. Fun times.

So a comment on the title. Katrina was singing the song "Joshua fought the battle in Jericho" or whatever that song was. I started singing as well, but Katrina thought I said "bottle" instead of "battle." That made me think of "Joshua drank a bottle in Jericho" which I proceeded to sing all day long. Lovely. Night All.