Homeward bound

The pilgrims are in Toronto after eleven hours of flying from Tel Aviv. Good to be able to post in English, not Hebrew. Thanks to Jim for blogging our emails.  Own beds tonight!

May 23

Sorting Pottery

Monday May 21 - More Dig

We get up at 4:45 for the dig. Today we moved a lot of rocks and dusty soil. We work until 12:30. It is hard work.

Grotto of Pan at Caesarea Phillipi

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The pictures of the dig don't tell the whole story. We are dusty. We are dirty. We are constantly told to drink water. Breakfast isn't until 9 so either you have an early snack or you are some hungry. Then the high point of the day, a Popsicle at 11 oh joy!!! Off to lunch at 12. Some of us went on a 9 km hike after the dig on Monday, we who went are tired. Then an hour lecture in the evening. Tuesday sounds like a day of rest. All in all it is going well and we are having fun. And in truth, an army marches on it's stomach and the food is excellent, especially that produced by our vounteer te in the field. Very well done. Now off for a shower and a snooze

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Wednesday we were shut down at 10am. The wind picked up and we couldn't shift. So we just dumped the dirt over the side but finally they sent us home. We are digging where the Syrians built a trench in 1967 war so they is alot of junk. Still hope to at least see the 10th century BCE wall before we leave on

Sunday May 20 - The Dig.

Today is Sunday, May 20. We are at the dig part of our trip in Bethsaida and have had our orientation with Dr. Rami Arav and we met Kate, who will be our site supervisor and this is going to be exciting. The weather cooled off a bit today. We are living at a Kibbutz this week and on the dig we will be the dust people. Since the last post we dipped our feet in the Jordan and were blessed with Holy water. We sailed on the Sea of Galilee and visited Sepphoris,believed to be Mary's home and Nazareth. A highlight was a visit to Nazareth village which was a recreation of what it would have been like in Jesus day. A visit to Mt Tabor gave new meaning to mountain top experience and the start of Jesus' ministry.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go

May 19(?) The Sea of Galilee

.....Peter, Peter, Peter on the sea sea sea....

May 16 Where The People Beat Their Feet Upon......

Today we visited Qumran, King Herod's fortress in Masada and floated in the Dead Sea. We also got to do what our mother's never let us do, get messy and play in the mud, at The Ein Gedi Dead Sea spa!  Diana R.

The Mud People

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Qumran-why would you ever want to live here? The middle of a desert, no local food and no water. They came here to escape what they considered the corrupt temple system in Jerusalem. They built large cisterns to store the floods that came down the dry wadis a few times a year. In the end they were wiped out by the Romans who considered them part of the revolt in Jerusalem. Peaceable people who wanted to share quiet community, the right way, by themselves

Dead Sea - what can you say other than fun , fun. The biggest danger was falling asleep whe floating on your back. Oh and mud , the oh so ooey, gooey black mud. Your skin felt like silk afterwards

Masada-proof positive that Herod was powerful and quite mad. Even if the suicide pact story is but a story, the fact of the zealots holding out for years is an awe inspiring story.  Russ P.

Wednesday, May 16 In The Path of The Good Samaritan

Today, Wednesday we went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and it is down hill all the way since Jericho is right close to the dead sea, some 400 metres below sea level.  Is it ever a dessert here.  Most of us floated in the dead sea and some took advantage of the healing mud. 

A bedouin home near where good samaratin story took place

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Jericho - a town under seige, literally. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, a hotel that had a casino that catered to the high rollers from Israel. The fence and checkpoints went up and the Israelies stopped coming. So now its a 5 star hotel with 3 star prices. A beautiful structure that I only hope can once again be success. Much of the area is like that, evidence of so much potential with people begging you to buy trinkets so they can support their families

Russ and Lynn

Good News of a Distant Arrival

We were very pleased to hear of the birth of Alexander John Lougheed Aldis. We would like to congratulate Tonja, Phil, Mackenzie, Jan and Peter for this wonderful event. 

The Wailing Wall

Everyone here is having fun, walking more than enough and eating about the same amount. Today we walked the Via Dolorosa and ended the day with an inpirational session with the Sabeel Organization. Tonight we pack and are off to Jericho, Masada and The Dead Sea tomorrow. We wish you all well back in Ottawa and hope you can share a small bit in our pilgrimage. 


Shalom from all! 

Dome Of The Rock

Walking through the old city of Jerusalem

Day 3 - Caesarea &Megiddo

Shalom from Jerusalem on Monday. Yesterday we started out in Tel Aviv and journeyed first to Caesarea, the former Roman capital founded by King Herod to bonour, Caesar Augustus. We saw excavated ruins of an amphitheater,a hippodrome and aqueduct and a beautiful harbour. Next to Megiddo where we looked over the valley where some believe the last battle between good and evil will take place. A highlight in the afternoon was a visit to a Biblical nature reserve, with an excellent guide, who connected plant life growing there with Bible passages. It was here that Joan drew water from the cistern and proved she was a strong woman. At the end of the day we shared our thanks for the trip so far, talked about surprises, such as the size of the settlements and pondered how long it would take to walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem where we visit today, by bus, not on foot or by donkey. Joyce

Safe and sound in Toronto

The first part of the pilrimage went without a hitch. Now we wait for the next flight. The excitement is building

The Excitement Builds

Gad, it's now Tuesday evening.  The big pilgrimage is getting closer and closer.  Time to start thinking about packing.

Departure Approaches

One week to go !!!