The Schedule:
The make-up of each day is pretty similar. Wake up call at 6:00, hotel breakfast at 7:00
and by 8:00 each morning the bus is pulling out, headed for our first
destination of the day. Israel is still
on its winter schedule so almost all of the national parks/tourist spots close
at 4:00. We’re usually back at the hotel
a little before dinner time. Danny and I
struggle not to take a nap before dinner and so far, we haven’t been
successful. :) After a big day of touring, I just want to
put my feet up. When I do, the jet lag +
pregnancy fatigue overpower me and I pass out quickly.
The Guides:
Ronnie is our tour guide.
He was born in Manhattan, New York but has been an Israeli
citizen for the past 40 years. He speaks
Hebrew and English interchangeably and has a wealth of knowledge on the country
of Israel. He’s on the bus microphone
throughout the day explaining everything from daily life during the time of
Jesus to what kind of trees we’re passing along the road. We can ask him all kinds of questions and his
quick wit and sarcastic humor keep us laughing all day long. When we get to a site he gives us a quick
historical rundown of where we are before handing it over to one of our Bible
teachers. Ronnie is also in charge of
our schedule. He makes sure we’re on
time and he’s in constant contact with the tour agency should any tweaks need
to be made for security reasons. (As far
as I know, that hasn’t happened yet.)
Dr. Bramer, Dr. Bailey and Dr. Dyer are our Bible scholars.
They lead us in worship at most of our stops. Then we walk through Scripture under their
incredible knowledge, authority and authenticity. They don’t hold back from personal testimony
(pretty or not) and like Ronnie, are engaged and approachable throughout the
day. In other words, you can ask them
anything and they don’t treat you like it’s the most ridiculous question
they’ve heard all day.
The Group:
Our tour group is made up of one hundred people from all
over the country. About half are here
with their spouses. Some brought their
children. We range from elementary
school to age 71. We’re traveling on two
big buses that were assigned before we arrived.
Sometimes they combine our groups for an on site teaching, other times
we stay divided.
The Land:
Israel is about the size of New Jersey. The rainy season is just about over so
everything is the greenest it will be all year long. In a couple of weeks, everything will turn
brown. The weather has been all over the
map. In Galilee it was 70, at the Red
Sea it was 90. When we go to Jerusalem
it will be half that warm. There are
mountains everywhere! At one point when
we were driving north we could see the Mediterranean on our left and mountains
on our right. If you drive for thirty
minutes, you’ll see something completely different. It’s amazing how many kinds of geography are
crammed into such a small country.
The Food:
The food is predominately Mediterranean. Lots of pickled vegetables, marinated salads
and fish. This meat and potatoes girl is
doing pretty well. My nurse practitioner
warned me, “Now don’t go crazy.” I did
have this for lunch the other day:
It’s totally out of character for me, but it came from the Sea
of Galilee! The meat was good once you
cut past the eyeballs. :) We take snacks we brought from home to hold
us over until the next meal. I can’t say
we aren’t planning our first meal when we land back in the States. :)
The Technology
One of the most helpful details of our trip is our
headset. We were each given a portable
listening device. It’s a little pack we
wear around our neck with an attached earpiece.
It’s connected wirelessly to our guide’s headset so when
he’s speaking we can clearly hear him from any distance. It’s so nice because I can walk around a site
taking pictures and still hear every word he’s saying from 50 yards away. And it’s a huge time saver. No yelling across the way to gather everyone
together when it’s time to get back on the bus.
I love, love, love my headset!
Ok, that's it for some of the nitty, gritty. Next update will include some of the amazing sites!
