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| Day 3: The North | | Date Created: Jan 05, 2005, 11:22 AM |
 Our day started through a hasidic area in Jerusalem. As our bus passed by, a loudspeaker blasted messages in Hebrew. Why was this? With no TVs and radios, these people rely on this voice to provide news and information. The two hour drive north of Jerusalem required a break at a highway rest stop. It was there were we discovered pasta can be made instantly with one push of a button. Our first stop of the day was Mukhraka, a holy site from the bible where a Jewish prophet proved to the pagans that his God was more powerful than theirs. |
 For lunch, we ventured into a Druize village-- a tribe of people who are not Jewish, Muslim or Christian, but a different and unique sect that live peacefully within the confines of the Israeli border. They accept Allah as their God and Muhammed as their prophet, but have an entirely secretive religion that only the most important members of the sect know the most intracite parts of their beliefs. A druize woman spoke to us about rules and their lives. As believers in Islam, they still volunteer for the Israeli Defense Force and attend Israeli public schools. They take a lot of criticism from other Arab nations for doing this, especially because they've fought other Druize people in military conflicts in the past 40 years. We were served a delicious lunch of hummus, druize pizza, and other foods that are commonly eaten. |
 After lunch we once again headed north to Safed. This is an amazing and ancient city that also is the birthplace of Kabalah. Jews hold this place very sacred. It contained a lot of mysticism and an incredible amount of culture. Many windows in the village are painted light blue. While there, we visited an art gallery, where the artist, Abraham, spoke to us the history of kabalah and how to interpret his kabalic art work. Next, we visited a beautiful temple painted in a light blue hue. After touring synagogues, we did a bit of shopping and boarded our buses for dinner. |
 It was time for dinner-- tonight was dairy night, since keeping kosher, we cannot have meat and dairy at the same sitting. It was quite plain; spaghetti, pizza, hummus, a bit of salad and other middle eastern treats. It was hard to fill out without eating a load of bread... After the relaxing dinner, the group purchased a few bottles of beer and wine, and hopped on a small party boat. A medley of music, created an excellent opportunity to show off our dance moves. Later, we gathered in a circle, sitting atop drums, and listened to the beats of Israeli and American music. A few members of the group belly danced in the circle. The group is really bonding. We have known each other for a little more than 72 hours and it has felt like we've known each other for our entire lives. Maybe its a connection that comes with coming to the Holy Land. |
 Day 3 ended with hanging out with friends in the hotel room. It was a cold and windy day-- we were soaked most of the time by heavy downpours, but that did not ruin our morale. We are in Israel... it is an amazing experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We got to sleep earlier than the night before to prepare for our trip to the Golan Heights-- only 40 miles from the Syrian border. |
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