Milk and Honey

I'm starting to wonder why all of the Bible videos show this land as a desert with tan stone buildings where everything is covered in a fine layer of sand. Northern Israel, where you find Galilee and Nazareth, looks like a mix between California and Ireland. The rolling hills are coated in bright green grass, there are springs and rivers and forests of eucalyptus and pine trees on every square inch of land, and we have yet to experience a day without rain. Kyle even says it reminds him of Portland! Ahhhh! And the apples! The Golan Heights has the juiciest, sweetest, and crunchiest apples I have ever tasted- and they are 100% natural! The honey here is somehow extracted from-dates! I made Kyle buy me a jar because it looked to die for. To be fair, it is winter here, but still, this is all completely unexpected! Israel is much more like America than Jordan was, in that it's clean and well cared for- except for the areas where the Palestinians live, and clearly no tax dollars are spent. Also, nothing here is written in English- so I can't exactly function in public without our tour guide.

London found a crab!

So far, we have hiked the trails of two tributaries leading to the Jordan River, taken a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, visited the location of the Sermon on the Mount, and visited dozens of ruined ancient towns. Everywhere we go brings light to Bible stories I've studied since birth, adding new layers of understanding to my faith. 

The Golan Heights

I have to say, my favorite experience was Saturday (the Sabbath here) when we had church in a building overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  The church branch is comprised of people who speak Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, English, and Russian.  All around me, the speakers' words were being translated into five languages, with the help of several BYU students, including the ever-talented Kyle :-) The entire meeting was truly miraculous.

The view from church.

Despite the fact that every site we see is glorious, I can't imagine touring for another week and a half! Our days begin at 6 am and wrap up around 9:30 pm. It's hard enough to keep a 17 month old happy on a bus for twelve hours a day--------but London is breaking in a gnarly molar. My sweet child is miserable. Yesterday, we returned to the kabbutz (a Jewish communal living center turned hotel) and I ran to the convenience store inside to get London some ice cream in hopes of soothing her poor mouth. We hadn't left the check-out stand when I got the first bite into her mouth-- instant relief! My sheer exhaustion seemed to dissipate with every spoonful.  However, I soon learned that it's illegal (not kosher) here to have dairy and meat products in the same place within 4 hours of each other, and, lucky me, there were meatballs for dinner that night. Within thirty seconds, I was rushed off by the hotel manager who made certain I left immediately. Of course, at the time, I had no idea why she was being so rude to me and my baby who was drenched in tears. I was sufficiently angry.

Currently, I'm writing this from a convent in Nazareth, which is kind of awesome. The bus dropped us off on a busy street at the bottom of a hill, and we walked up to the top where a church and convent stand side by side. We just got here tonight, so I haven't had a chance to see the sights yet! Tomorrow, we're going to a town where people dress and act like they did two thousand years ago- like Colonial Williamsburg but about a million times more fabulous. If there was one word to describe my thoughts about northern Israel, it would be: impressed.