Climb Every Mountain

Hello all! I write to you from the somber halls of the Sisters of Nazareth Convent. Actually, it's really not that somber- there are some kids yelling playing outside. Anyways, I made it here, but not without some harrowing misadventures.

Last night- my final night in Jerusalem- I had a grand old time once again with the two Germans and a new room mate of ours. He's an American who is taking a week off to see Israel. During the rest of the year, though, he's a pilot for Delta! I had some great conversations with him about that job. Something interesting about his career is that he only sleeps in his house about one week out of the month, since he lives in LA and works out of JFK. Isn't that amazing? I don't know if I could do that. His stories about passengers were hilarious as well.

So to commemorate my final night, and the final night of the Germans, we went to our favorite bar, Mike's Place, once again for happy hour, and then went to a very Middle-Eastern Hookah Bar. It was a really nice night and I will definitely miss Jerusalem and the friends I made there.

This morning I woke up quite early in order to catch my bus to Tiberias- my jumping off point for the Sea of Galilee. After a 3 hour ride we finally got there, and I needed to find a bus to get to the Mount of the Beattitudes, where Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount. After waiting for an hour and realizing that the final bus to Nazareth was at 4PM, I knew I was in a predicament. When the bus finally came and the driver couldn't speak English, I had a feeling that I just needed to stay in Tiberias to ensure that I would get my bus to my hostel. Who knew if there would be a bus coming back to Tiberias in the outlands of Northern Israel?

This was a pretty big letdown, though. I was really looking forward to seeing some the sights near the Sea, but I decided to go the safe but sorry route. Since I had some time on my hands, I walked down the shore of the Sea in the town and looked around and relaxed. I grabbed a Falafel and got on an early bus to Nazareth.

The Sea of GalileeI got into Nazareth at about 1:30PM, when the driver told me that this was my stop, and thus left me once again in the center of a city that I did not know at all. Oh well- I just found my way north to the convent where I'm sleeping and set my pack down. Then I walked to the post office, got some stamps, and went to the city's main attraction- the Basilica of the Annunciation. This large cathedral is built on the piece of land where Mary was informed that she- suprise!- was pregnant. Each country has donated some sort of art to the cathedral, making it an interesting collection of religious imagery. I spent quite a bit of time in the cathedral, listening to a service going on as well as a choir practicing. It was quite serene and it helped me relax.

The outside of the Basilica
So essentially, although the day contained a major letdown, it was a relaxing one and I still got to see a large amount of Israeli countryside on the way to Tiberias. I think it's good that I have some of these days when I don't do everything that I can fit in 12 hours. Hopefully they won't happen too often, though. Haha.

Today marks 3 weeks until I'm back home. It's strange how quickly this trip is going. I feel like every day lasts only 2 hours or something. I can tell, though, that I'm learning a ton, experiencing a lot, and meeting awesome people. And how bad could it be? Every day less of the trip means one day closer to Columbia!

Until next time- stay classy.