Catching up on things I could not fill you in on.

Hi,

I have much to write, and I still have pictures and videos that I need to get on here.

Bedouins

The Bedouins are ethnic Arab tribes (similar to Native Americans) that live most of the Middle East countries. They are or were a pastoral group of people, living in tents, and taking care of flocks of sheep, goats and camels. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro of Median, was a Bedouin.

In Israel most Bedouin live in southern Israel in the Negev Desert. They have a few towns, but many are living in "Unofficial villages", that are without basic services such as water, electricity and schools, even though they are located near electric and water lines. Unlike other countries, the Bedouin are not allowed to own their land. Given that the Bedouin were here long before Abraham (considered to be the first Jew) ever came to Israel, they are not being treated fairly.
I was able to visit Bedouin in both Israel and Jordan. While Israel, we met with the mayor of an official town, and listened as he told us how he wanted to improve the lives of his people. We also visited a weaver's co-op, where women are working on traditional Bedouin items to sell to tourists. We also drove far out into the middle of nowhere, to have a traditional Bedouin lunch, in a tent, sitting on the floor. The Jordanian Royal family had Bedouin roots, and are proud of this heritage. Bedouin in Jordan live as they please, and it is not uncommon to see their tents and and pens for animals in any given area.

Islam

In Islam, there are two main factions, Sunni (orthodox) and Shia'a. The two groups consider each other to be Muslim. However, there are off-shoots, that are not considered to be part of the Islam religion. Islam was started when a merchant named Mohammed, was wondering why his people, the Arabs, had not been visited by God. He knew Jews, and Christians, and often wondered why his people had been left out. After much searching, he received a visit from the Angel Gabriel. (For Mormons reading this, our leaders have said that Mohammed did receive visitations.)

Bahai'a
The Bahai'as are an off-shoot of Shia'a Muslims. They are not considered to by Muslim. Their headquarters are in Haifa, Israel.

Druze
The Druze are an off-shoot of Sunni Muslims. They believe in reincarnations, which is not part of Islam. They have a very secretive religion, and not alot is know about their religious beliefs. Druze live in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria.

Judaism

There are four main types of Judaism, Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. (And there are subgroups within these four groups.) It is the Ultra-Orthodox men that usually make the photos in newspapers in magazines and newspapers. The long curls, called Pay-oat, are in observance of a scripture in the Old Testament that states not to cut one's hair. Most men curl these long tresses of hair, and I have even seen one man with curlers! I have also seen one man who did not curl his pay-oat.
Most Jewish men from conservative to Orthodox where a kipa, or yarmulke, the small skull cap. This is reverence to God. Orthodox women cover their hair, usually with scarves. Some ultra-orthodox women shave their heads and wear scarves, wigs, or hats.

Shabbat

Hebrew for Sabbath, the entire country of Israel follows Shabbat law to one point or another. In Hotels, one elevator is designated as a Shabbat elevator, meaning it will stop on every floor so that Jews do not have to push buttons, which would break Shabbat law of building on the Sabbath. Pushing a button starts a circuit, and this is considered working. Most stores and restaurants are closed on Shabbat.

Kosher Laws

Kosher or Kashrut, are the laws that govern food and this can get quite complicated.

Fish: only those with fins and scales are kosher
Meat: Comes from animals that chew cud and do not have cloven hooves
Fruits and Veggies: all kosher, unless they have bugs on them. Bugs are not Kosher.
No mixing of milk and meat. We often found that butter was not available when meat was served. No cheeseburgers.

With processed foods this can be very complicated. Some Orthodox Jews will wash dishes with meat in one dishwasher load, then do an empty load, and then wash any dishes that touched dairy.

The Old City of Jerusalem

Old Jerusalem is a small area that dates back over 3000 years. It is walled, and about 20,000 people live there. The current walls date from the time of Suleiman the Great. He built the walls around 1537-42.
Today the Old City has four loosely defined quarters of Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. The Armenians come from a country, Armenia, that was the first country to entirely convert to Christianity. They have had a presence in Jerusalem from the 300's A.D. and on.
The Old City has traditional sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where is sacred to Catholics and Orthodox Christians as the place of Golgatha/Calvary. Most Protestants and Mormons believe that Golgatha/Calvary are located at the Garden Tomb, which is located outside the city walls. Golgatha is Aramaic for Place of the Skull, Calvary means the same thing in Latin.
The Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows is the Traditional path that Christ took when he was crucified. Religious scholars now know that this path is not accurate, as the streets were different at the time He was alive.
Most of the Old City is comprised of a great market place that is great for tourists. However, there are many Holy places for Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
At the east of the city is the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) . On the top of the mount, the Muslims have built Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock. (which covers the rocky projection of Mt. Moriah) We did not get to go to these sites, despite several attempts by members of the group. We had Israeli, and American Jewish guides, and they were not going there, and kept us busy so that we could not. Our Israeli guide said that money used to see these sites goes directly to terrorists. Well, I've been there before, ten years ago, and I do not recall being asked for money to enter the Dome of the Rock. Not being Muslim, I could not enter the mosque, but I have looked inside it.

Laurie the Terrorist

The time finally came to leave Israel. We were sad to go, but happy to get back to non-kosher food. Our first obstacle - Ben Gurian Airport.

There was a time that anyone arriving in Israel would go through passport control, pick up luggage and then go to a big room with lots of long tables. There luggage would be searched for illegal items. They don't do that anymore. Getting into Israel is easy, getting out . . . .

1) Our Israeli guide brought us to the airport and told us what to do and where to go. A few of us headed in the right direction. We were asked where we were flying to. My friends were put in one line, and I was put in another. (Now, because of some really bad hair days, I had taken to wearing a scarf, much like the Orthodox Jewish women do. So, it was assumed I was not with the Utah group.) I was finally reunited with them, but several times I was asked if I was with the group. I would have taken the scarf off, but the hair was a major puffball.

2) The x-ray machines. These are quite powerful, enough that they can detect print. I and a few others were sent to have our bags manually checked because we failed x-ray! I had a tripod for my cameras, and truthfully, it looked like a weapon on the x-ray. A friend had bought a Koran, and she had to answer all kinds of questions about that.

3) Finally, get in line to check in with Delta. I waited 30 minutes behind a family, finally gave up and went to another line. The lovely agent helped me repack my bags so that the one was not so heavy, and saved my $150 in costs.

4) Then off through some gate that checked if you had a boarding pass.
5) Passport control
6) x-ray for carry on items
7) finally get to the gate with a few minutes so spare. It took almost three hours to go through these 7 steps!

I am finally home. I have more to add to the blog as soon as I can. So stay tuned.

Last Day in Israel

However, this is not my last blog. I have been in a Kibbutz for the last 48 hours with no internet access. I wrote part of my blog in my windows program, and cannot export it at this time.

The Last 48 Hours

A Kibbutz is a collective group of people who live together in a huge family-like setting where all are equal. Sounds Socialistic, well it is. The first Kibbutz founders were socialist Jews who came to the Holy Land to start their own version of a Utopian society. The closest thing in America that we have to this would be the society at Walden Pond, Massachusetts. Read On Walden Pond by B.F. Skinner.

Last week, I stayed one night at Kibbutz Dargania, the oldest, and Mother of All Kibbutzim in Israel. I was with the student anthropology group. This kibbutz grows bananas. I did not have to work in the groves. My banana pictures are on my regular camera. Then I joined up with the teachers and we traveled together to Kibbutz Eilot, which makes transformers. My things were taking to my room, then my professor and I went across the border to Jordan to join the anthropolgy students for a going away dinner with the Bedouin. Unlike Israel, the Bedouin live free nomadic lives in Jordan. The royal family of Jordan is proud of their Bedouin heritage. I was not allowed to stay overnight, being a woman all. The idea was to get me exposed to several dialects of Arabic

Food at a Kibbutz is not fancy, and the Middle Eastern tradition of eating pickeled vegetables at all three meals does not go down well with North Americans. The teachers were complaining loudly. Also, there were flies everywhere. Ah, welcome to socialism! For those American conservatives screaming that Pres. Obama and the Democrats are leading us down the road to socialism - Idiots! The conservatives have no clue what they are talking about. I am liberal, and the 72 hours I spent enveloped in socialism . . . . I am too much of a capitalist to give up my creature comforts. America is in good hands, and we are not going down this road.

The next day, all groups went back into Jordan and visited the ancient city of Petra. Their are many websites, and I am sure some videos/dvds on Petra. It is hard to put into words. This is where Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail. The Jordanians really use that movie to the hilt as you can by Indiana Jones souveniers by the boatload.

Petra had some changes since my last visit, and not for the better. Extra potty stops were built into some of the tombs, and there were far too many Bedouin trying to sell things. I spent several minutes quitely bargaining in Arabic for teachers who could not get what they wanted using Israeli shekels. The Bedouin would work with me, and I used shekels, but I was not whining and acting like a spoiled tourist, which I am sure they get tired of. I really believe it was my behavior other than my Arabic skills that got me what was needed.

After we returned to Israel , a small group of us went into Eilat, the coastal party town on the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba. From the beach front you could see four countries: the town of Taba in Egypt, Aqaba in Jordan, and a small port town in Saudi Arabia which I can't remember all of the name. Starts with D, I think. Taba, Eilat, and Aqaba are party beach towns, think spring break, with Eilat being the wildest of the three. My roommate, Jayne and I, found a burger king, Kosher of course, and were happy to eat in silence and then go sit on the beach until it was time to go back to the kibbutz.

Up at the crack of dawn, both groups headed north to Masada, the last Jewish stronghold before the Romans completely ended the revolt in 72 A.D. Peter O'Toole stared in a movie about Masada, and there was a mini-series in the "80s starring Peter Strauss. For those of you with Netflix, I would look into these movies. I will be getting them when I get home. This was my second trip to Masada. It is amazing to me that these people could survive out here. The Judean Desert is a very harsh place to eak out a living.

Then we went swimming in the Dead Sea. It is very oily. But there is no oil! 33% of the water is salt and minerals. One can't accidently drown here, because as soon as you get into the water, you legs go up! You can literally float on top of the water much as a leaf floats on water.

After floating, I retired my swimming suit into the garbage. It was old, and worn with the chlorine from water arobics. I figured the Dead Sea salts would pretty much ruin it althogher.

From the Dead Sea we went to Tel Aviv to spend our last day repacking suitcases, and getting ready to leave on a July 4th midnight flight into Atlanta. Some of the group have gone off in search of stuff to to in Jaffa, but I am so tired. I will be glad to get home.