TUESDAY
the 11th of june 2013
Hi
there all blog readers! I have thought of, for a long time to write
one last entry on the blog, but it has not been done until now. Two
weeks ago I arrived at the airport in Gothenburg which is named
Landvetter.
My
latest entry was written the day before I left for home. That same
evening we had a good-bye party with the volunteers. It was for me
and two girls who would go home too. It was really a very nice
occasion! But I felt sad to have to say farewell to all those that I
know, because I might never see many of them that I came to know at
Yad Hashmona. But in the same time I was excited to go back home to
Sweden again. The next day, my cab was booked for 12 AM. It almost
arrived in time just 10 minutes too late. I left Yad Hashmona with
mixed feelings, I was excited and in the same time expectant to see
old Sweden again. But I parted with sorrow in my heart to have been
separated from a lot of wonderful friends.
When I came to the airport my return procedure started with questions about what I had been doing in Israel, where I had lived, why and so on. When I was about to check-in at the airport, the fun really started. In my eyes it was a hilarious security at full speed. Everything and everyone was checked minutely by security people. It is not very nice to be in a line-up without knowing when you are about to get thru it. My belly craved for food! I was thinking about making a Face Book update about Israel, the country of line-ups. But I did not, so you will get that here on the blog. This country provides numerous opportunities to join a line-up. Car line-ups are just one example. Eventually, or what I felt like a half eternity I was able to have my luggage checked-in and got my boarding card. Then I went straight to a restaurant and bought some food. What Idid not know was that the rigorous security check-ups were far from over. I still had to go thru the same procedure for my hand baggage and thru a passport check-up to get a stamp in my passport. Because time was running out for me to catch my plane I was put in a special line-up probably for those who were in time shortage. At last I was through this jungle of bureaucracy, security check-ups, passport check-ups and interrogations. (Three times different security officers asked me for my story).Several hours later I landed in Sweden, more exactly on the Landvetter airport. Here I got an extraordinary reception from good friends and family. Then we drove home on strangely deserted highways. At home there was a reception party in the evening!
---> Home, sweet home <---
I
have had a wonderful time in Israel and at Yad Hashmona! What I
appreciated the most (I what I miss the most) is the fellowship with
all friends from all corners of the world whom I came to know. And of
course all the trips in the land of Israel. The trip with my friend
Henrik during my last week in Israel was fantastic.
I
want to direct a special thank you to Robert and Mathijs for their
letters of recommendation which were needed for the application for
voluntary work. Thanks Tomer in Tel Aviv with whom I stayed my first
night in Israel! Thank you Gershon for taking Henrik and me on the
trip of Galilee, that was really something! Thank you Itai for help and support in Israel! And thanks to everyone
else who I have met on my trip!
Thank
you everyone who have read my blog!
Good-Bye
Blog!
New adventures Number 2 – May 27th
The
past few days have been full to the brim to say the least. Tuesday
the 21st
of May, my friend Henrik came to Israel, we went the same evening /
night by bus to Eilat from Tel Aviv. The bus left at midnight and
arrived in Eilat at about 5:00 AM. We did not sleep too much that
night….
We had to wait for two hours until we could get to the
Youth hostel that we had booked a room at. That was not a problem for
us. It was no problem to sit outside and wait in the warm air. It was
so beautiful to see that sunrise.At about 07:00 we could go to the
hostel and hand in our bags, but our room was still not ready. So we
went to the beach to rent some sun chairs. It was so wonderful to
sleep a few hours and in the sam time increase the skin tan!
The
Shelter, as was the name of the hostel, turned out to be a very nice
place! Not the highest standard, but very cosy and friendly! The
Shelter is a Christian hostel and most of the guests who were there
were also Christians. This created a very nice atmosphere.
We rented
divers masks and breathers and went to a beach a few kilometers south
of Eilat, here there were coral reefs. Everything was so incredibly
beautiful. It was a wonderful feeling to swim among fish colored in
all colors of the rainbow with crystal clear water all around you.
Unfortunately we could not take pictures under the water
We also had
time to meet our friend Itai, and have lunch together with him. It
was very nice indeed!
On
Thursday evening / Night we took the night bus northward first to Tel
Aviv, and then by train to Haifa. We did not sleep much this night
either…In Haifa we were picked up by another Israeli friend named
Gershon, who drove us through Galilee during most of the day. First
we went to Megiddo where you can see ruins of several thousand years
old towns. There have been cities at Megiddo since several thousands
years, but the cities have been conquered and laid in ruins and been
rebuilt not once but some 25 times. You can actually see the remnants
of several cities as layers upon layers so to say. Here there also
was an old water tunnel which king Ahab built in his time. Megiddo is
placed on the Jesreel valley, in other words Armageddon.We also visited the Church of Announciation in Nasareth, the place where Mary is supposed to have received the message from the angel Gabriel. It is rather typical that a Church has been erected on that spot!i In Cana there were also a Church at the well where the water that Jesus turned into wine came from.Our last
visit was at Ginosar on the beach of Lake Kineret. In the mud here,
was discovered a boat that was about 2000 years old. They have
managed to keep it and placed it in a museum. It was really
interesting!
!Eventually
Gershon drove us to Tiberias where we had booked a night at a hostel.
It was very kind of him to take time and drive round on this trip and
also treat us with food. So once again thank you so very much
Gershon!!!!!
What
a feeling to sleep in a real bed that night and not on a stale bus!
We slept like logs.
The following day we rent bikes and started out on our trip around the lake. The weather was warm, So it was nice to wet yourself in the lake every now and then. We also dipped ourselves 7 times in the Jordan River, just like Naaman did! (Old Testament story) It was a lot greener around the lake when I biked around it some months earlier, now it was a lot more brownish.The same day that we got back to Tiberias we jumped on the bus to Jerusalem. Some time in the evening we arrived at Yad Hashmona.
The following day we spent mostly in the Old Town of Jerusalem. We also did some shopping. In the evening we went to a Church, it is called the King of Kings.
This
is in short what we were doing during the the last few days. Now
there is not long until I put pack my things and go home. Tomorrow
evening I will be back in Sweden. There are also rumors about a
going-home party, not that this is something to celebrate but it is
of course a time to say good-bye to all the friends!
Over
here at my side, a lot of things have happened since the latest
entry. My boss, Israel, one night had a barbecue party at his home,
He and his wife have as a tradition to invite newly arrived
volunteers from time to time. I am not a newcomer as a volunteer but
he had forgotten to invite earlier, so I was welcome to joint hem
this time. It was a superb evening!
One day when I had the evening
shift I borrowed a bicycle from a guy who lives on the moshav. Then I
went on a biking trip. I had noticed something on Google Earth which
caught my interest. It was a road that seemed to lead to some kind
of installation, mavbe a military base somewhere into nowhere. The
road itself was not marked on Google Maps. So I thought it would be
interesting to see what it was..When I reached it I could see at once
that it was not a military installation but rather a building site
for the new railway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The workers
looked a bit strangely at me when I came biking thru the area but
they did not say anything to me. Then I took some small mountain
paths back to Yad Hashmona. That was a wonderful trip!
Another day I
went on a trip with volunteers which was arranged by Yad Hashmona.
Our guide was Eliav who is studying to become a tourguide. We went to
several places in the vicinity of Beit Shemesh. One place was Tel
Azeka, from where you have a wonderful view over the place where
David slaughtered Goliath. We also visited some caves hewn out of the
mountain by a group of Jews called the Hasminies, these people
revolted against the Romans. The caves were originally made to store
food but later on they became hiding places.
Another interesting thing that Eliav told us was that all the trees that have been planted in Israel are not only a blessing. It is a fact that the trees burn a lot easier than the natural vegetation of mostly bushes. As a result there have been several serious fires in the woods. That was an interesting information.On the 8th of May it was Yom Jerusalem or the day of Jerusalem. This is a day off when they remember the unification of Jerusalem in the war of 1967.I went to Jerusalem together with some friends to watch the celebration. At the Kotel people had gathered in hundreds. It was like a real party, people were dancing and a band played loud music. Also in other places a lot of people were out in the streets. On the Jaffa street there were so many people that the tram had been closed
Another interesting thing that Eliav told us was that all the trees that have been planted in Israel are not only a blessing. It is a fact that the trees burn a lot easier than the natural vegetation of mostly bushes. As a result there have been several serious fires in the woods. That was an interesting information.On the 8th of May it was Yom Jerusalem or the day of Jerusalem. This is a day off when they remember the unification of Jerusalem in the war of 1967.I went to Jerusalem together with some friends to watch the celebration. At the Kotel people had gathered in hundreds. It was like a real party, people were dancing and a band played loud music. Also in other places a lot of people were out in the streets. On the Jaffa street there were so many people that the tram had been closed
I had the honour to meet an
old friend, Tomer, from Tel Aviv, that was really nice!
The other day I went
to the Israel Museum. When I got there I was met by a pleasant
surprise, it was no entry charge today, though they wanted you to pay
20 NIS for the exebition about Herod the Great, and I gladly payed
for that. When all came to all I spent 5 hours at the museum. It was
very interesting with a lot to look at. The exebition about Herod was
really something. He seemed to have been evil and a ruler hungry for
power He had a taste for magnificent buildings. Outside of the
museum there is a modell of Jerusalem in the scale of 1:50. It shows
Jerusalem during the time of the second temple. Extremely well done
it was. You get a superb picture of what the city might have looked
like in those days.
When I was about to home from the museum I met
with two Swedes. They were on route to the bus station, but they were
not sure of the way. But on the contrary I was, so we joined paths. I
like to be able to your own country men!
Yesterday (18th of May) I did my last day of working as a restaurant cleaner. That felt good, I will not miss the work! At least I do not think so!
Because of this fact I am free today. I thought that if I should
make a long walk in the mountains of Judea that should be today! I
made some sandwishes and filled my water bottle and started to walk.
I thought of walking to the city called Modi’in which is about 20
km away from Yad Hashmona. Ii is a walk of about 4 hours. When I was
almost out of the mountains I came to a kibbutz. There I saw a man
standing and working in the garden I talked to him though he could
only speak Hebrew and Russian, I had to fish deep in my mind to find
some Russian phrases. I needed to fill my supply of water. I manged
to tell this to the man He answered by giving me a 2-liter bottle of
cold refreshing water. I tried to tell him that I only wanted a
refill of my bottle, but he insisted to give this bottle to me. This
turned out to be very good since I drank almost all of the water
before the trip was over. I met some guys out on a field who were
flying with RC planes. We talked for a while and the talk ended with
they convincing me of the good thing in going with them to Modi'in.
So this way I did not havet o walk all the way, but got a ride on the
last 5 km. Modi'in is a fairly young town, it was founded abot 10-15
years ago. It looks very modern, with many modern buildings. Then I
took the train from Modi'in to Tel Aviv, Where I jumped into the
Mediterranean sea since I needed that.
"Rafting" May 11th
When
you are in Israel you have to take the opportunity to do things which
can only be done here. Like
rafting on the Jordan river. My
friend Jonathan, asked me one day if I was interested. Of
course I was!! We
checked on the internet where such a thing could be done, and we
found one place in northern Galilee in the vicinity of Kiryat Shmona.
The place is a kibbutz, called Kfar Blum which offers rafting on the
river. Kiryat Shmona is almost as far north in Israel as you can go,
close to the border of Lebanon. That is about 4 hours time by bus
from where we are. We realized that it was too far to travel in just
one day so we booked a youth hostel in Tiberias which is about 1.5
hours from Kiryat Shmona. But since the buses ran so infrequently we
took a cab instead. Once we got to Kfar Blum we bought the tickets
and soon we were on the “river” or rather the creek. The Jordan
River is larger north of the Sea of Galilee, but that does not mean
that it is big.We have many bigger streams in Sweden. But of course,
the Jordan River is probably the most famous river in the world
though it is so small. It reminded me of a tiny creek in Sweden from
many aspects, like the size, the vegetation around it and also the
water quality. We hoped for a longer stay on the river, let us say
2,5 hours. We had read about that on the internet. But when we were
about to buy tickets they told us that the longest trip was 1 hour.
So that was that. The security regulations were rigorous before we
could leave, you could not jump into the water, stop the boat or grab
branches stretching out from beside the river. In the end we were out
on the river! To call this rafting might be to exaggerate, because
there was only one rush with about 2 meters difference in height. The
rafting was mostly a peaceful slow pace gliding through all the green
(the water was green too). It was not really the adrenalin kick that
the webpage promised us, but still it was great! To say that I have
done rafting on the Jordan River is still something to brag
about!Watch this video clip which my friend made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3ZBl-NiyI
Together
with some friends I went down to the Dead Sea and Masada a couple of
sdays ago. The goal for our trip was not really the Masada cliff as I
have written about in an earlier blog entry. This time we wanted to
take a closer look at something which lies just below the Masada
cliff. Here you can find what could be the ruins of the biblical city
of Gomorra, which God destroyed by raining fire and brim stone over
it. I had watched a documentary program about some people who went
there and found some sulphor. I also wanted to go there to find
something for myself. You can watch the documentary program here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=XzVR5HTcR1I&feature=endscreen
When we came to Masada, we decided to climb the cliff first . This time we walked along the trail. That was my second visit to Masada during my time in Israel Afterwards we headed for the what could be the ruins of the ancient city of Gommorah. It took us quite a while until we found any brim stone, but after a long time of searching wefound quite a lot. Wonderful to find brimstone! This is a good evidence that the that the story about Sodom & Gomorrah is true,but it also points to the existence of God! Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0zo5Fs3Tf8&feature=youtu.beQuote from Genesis 19:24-25: “The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”
When we came to Masada, we decided to climb the cliff first . This time we walked along the trail. That was my second visit to Masada during my time in Israel Afterwards we headed for the what could be the ruins of the ancient city of Gommorah. It took us quite a while until we found any brim stone, but after a long time of searching wefound quite a lot. Wonderful to find brimstone! This is a good evidence that the that the story about Sodom & Gomorrah is true,but it also points to the existence of God! Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0zo5Fs3Tf8&feature=youtu.beQuote from Genesis 19:24-25: “The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”
I
have found part of this brimstone myself, and I intend to bring it
home with me, provided they do not take it from me when about to fly
home!
Jaffa
– April 23rd
Since
my last entry the Independence day of Israel has been celebrated. At
two times there were sirens going off all over the country. Then
everything stopped for one minute. The
first time on the eve of the 14th of April I stood on a street
without traffic in Jerusalem. The next day I was free and went to Tel
Aviv and Jaffa, when the sirens went off the second time I stood
viewing a highway it was awesome to see how everything stopped and it
was also moving. Ifilmed the incident and you can view it at this
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mior_nW3fjU&feature=youtu.be The
reason for this silent minute wa sto honour all the fallen Israeli
soldiers..
The
city of Jaff is different from Tel Aviv because Jaffa is several
thousands of years old and Tel Aviv only about 100 years old. Jaffa
has for a long time been an important merchant city in the Middle
East. It was from Jaffa that Jonah the prophet fled to Tarsis when he
was called to go to Nineveh.
Just strolling around in Jaffa was quite interesting, the city has in many ways kept its old character. I went to the harbour, seéing all the small boats and feeling the salty air made me feel like home in the Swedish West coast again. From there I went to the flee market which Jaffa is famous for. They had a lot of crap but I found a pair of sun glasses which really satisfied me. For lunch I had schawarma in a little schawarma place which was said to serve the best schawarma in Israel. It was very good in fact the best I have had so far. So it could really be the best in Israel.
Just strolling around in Jaffa was quite interesting, the city has in many ways kept its old character. I went to the harbour, seéing all the small boats and feeling the salty air made me feel like home in the Swedish West coast again. From there I went to the flee market which Jaffa is famous for. They had a lot of crap but I found a pair of sun glasses which really satisfied me. For lunch I had schawarma in a little schawarma place which was said to serve the best schawarma in Israel. It was very good in fact the best I have had so far. So it could really be the best in Israel.
I
finnished my day in Jaffa by swimming in the Mediteranean Sea, the
second time in my life. This time it was not interupted by any guards
When
I was about to go home I let an old dream come true. That dream was
to some time travel by train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Yes, there
is a train line between these two cities, but many people does not
seem to know that. Not many seem to benefit from this possibility
because 1/3 of the seats were empty. The reason might be that the
train station is in the opposite end of Jerusalem and far far away
from the Bus station. The train trip takes longer time than the bus
and it is also somewhat more expensive. But the trip gave you a lot
more beautiful views, Not to mention that the train is much more
comfortable at least I think so. When the train enters into the
mountains to begin its climb up to Jerusalem, the view is just
marvelous. The tracks follow a natural streem which is winding
through the hills like a giant serpent. I took a lot of pictures
along the train ride but they did not turn out too good, due to the
very dirty train window.
Í
took a walk the other day, to the West Bank or as they say here in
Israel, Judea and Samaria. Walked?
Well
Yad Washem is only a few kilometers away from the border and the
barrier which the Israelis has built as protection from terrorists.
For some reason I am fascinated by the phenomenon like, politics,
power, instability, military installations. Separation
barriers etc.
One day I filled my water bottle and entered on my trip to take a closer look at how the barrier is constructed. In the planning we were two guys who would go but the other partner changed his mind so I went by myself, After about one hour of walking I reached my goal. The word you often hear when speaking about the But this is rather incorrect because less than 10 % of the barrier is a wall. Only in the densest peopled areas they have built a wall. The rest of the barrier is a fence. But that does not mean that it is easy to pass it without being noticed. I would say that it is impossible to cross it. It is not only one fence but four that you havet o pass. If that is not enough, Let us start from the beginning. If a man like me comes from the Israeli side you first encounter lots of barbed wire. Then after perhaps 10 meters there is a 2 lane paved road, that is only used by the military. This road makes it possible to quickly reach to every part of the barrier. . After the road there is a part of sand which is raked frequently. I saw a trctor with a rake in the rear end that raked the sand. Then another fence! Which is followed by barbed wire after let’s say 10 meters. I got the impression that the Israeli side was more lush and green than the Palestinian side.
This
barrier is as you might understand a very controversial thing.
Personally I think that Israel is doing the right thing in protecting
its citizens from suicide bombers. The statistic shows that the
number of suicide bombings have been reduced since the building of
the barrier.
In
the Sunday evening a jolly gang went to the Dead Sea and the desert
for a camping trip. We were five people 1 from Sweden and 4 from
Brazil. I had Brazilian people on every side so to say. I did not
object to this because these people are nice guys! We took a bus
down towards Ein Gedi but jumped off a little bit before at a
military check-point. We were close to a village called Metsoke
Dragot. Did I say Close? It took us two hours to walk from the
check-point to this village. But in due time we got there. Before we
started walking we talked to the soldiers at the check-point. Nice
people. When we humbly asked them where to fill our water bottles
they gave us some full bottles, free of charge. This is the way
soldiers should be, nice and helpful to the common people.
Well,
some two hours later we came to Metsoke Dragot. Then it was almost
midnight. We started looking for a place to pitch the tent and soon
we found a place suitable for this. Here was even a place to
barbeque. We put up the tent and started a fire. As fuel we took the
dry bushes that grew here and there in the desert. Then we baked some
kind of bread ovwer the fire the doe was put around sticks. The
“bread” was then eaten with lots of “nutella”, a bread spread
made of nuts and chocolate. It tasted gorgeous at around 02:00 o
clock we were all in “bed”.
About
07:00 in the morning we were woken up by the rising sun. How
beautiful it was to see thje sunrise over the dead sea and Jordan on
the other side. None of us could say that they slept well, but that
might too much to say about the first night in the desert. After
breakfast and putting our gears into the backpacks our plan was to
walk along a trail which starts out from Metsoke Dragot. But first we
had to fill up our supply of fresh water. This don’t sound too
difficult given that there was a village nearby. But Israel is not
like Sweden. The village or settlement was surrounded by a fence and
when we called at their doorbell no one opened. So Christino, one of
the Brazilians got in inside the fence “illegally” trying to find
anyone that could help us with our water problem. But none wanted to
help him. Our solution wa sto beg some other trailers for some water.
Then Chris found a faucet where he poured some water but it tasted
so bad that we could not use it. We
never had to use that water.
Then
we started walking along the trail. Firt we walked through a rather
dead desert landscape that had us climbing quite a lot. After a while
the trail turned into a so called Wadi i.e a dry river bed. It is
called Wadi Darga. That was really something, you walked in a gorge
with high mountains on either side of you. The riverbed was not all
dry and the walk was sometimes hard. In some places you had to swim
in order to come further. Some passages were so steep that you were
forced to use the rope to get through. In fact no hikers are let in
to the Wadi without ropes. The ropes were more than necessary in some
passages I liked the walk and also the challenge it put us into but
not all of our group liked that. Especially one of the girls had a
hard time with the climbing part. I felt pity for her, but the only
way was to follow the Wadi either forwards or backwards. All the
climbing passages and they were many caused us to have a very slow
progress. The fact that we had to carry the camping equipment did not
make it any better. All our things were packed in plastic bags in the
backpacks but they still got wet from the water that came into them.
Water is heavy when you have it in a backpack.
Here is a videoclip to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbs8aWnoqp8
To
sum it up, we were still in the Wadi when darkness started to fall.
We had started the walk early in the morning. Of course we did not
expect this. We had in mind to get to Ein Bokek and swim in the Dead
Sea in the afternoon. After we had finnished the walk. Now we had to
get out of the Wadi in darkness. But it so happened that we were not
alone. A group of young orthodox boys were behind us. They had to
slow down their pace due to our slow progress. In a way we were all
in the same boat or rather in the same Wadi. We just had to
cooperate. We arranged us in a way that those who had torches spread
out in the group. It so happened that I was the one to lead this
strange group of people, we were 1 Swede, 4 Brazilians and maybe 15
orthodox young Jews from Jerusalem. While walking it was not nice not
to know how far it was until we would get out of the Wadi. “What if
the batteries run out of power?” ”What if someone falls and get
hurt. But
none of these scenarios came true. I
do not know exactly how long we walked like that in the Wadi but it
was surely more than one hour. At some places along the trail, the
terrain was so difficult that I had to go thru a passage anfd then
stand there with my torch light and light up the path so the others
could come thru. But thank heavens, we all got thru without any
injuries and no one was missing. When we in the end reached the road
we had been walking for 12 hours. Then another problem arose, it was
a thought that I had pushed away during the walk but now it came
back. But I never had to think that thought. The Jewish group had a
van waiting for them on the road and there were some places left. So
our group came to Jerusalem free of charge. I see this as God’s
provision for us. When I humbly asked how much do we have to pay, the
leader of the Jewish group just said “God will pay”
In Jerusalem we bought pizza which we ate during the bus trip to home. At around midnight we were back at Yad Hashmona, tired and chilled, but full of experiences.
In
retrospect when I look back: Then our walk in the Wadi became a
picture for me of life as a Christian. It is not always easy and
sometime you have to walk through hard times. You have to fight in
other instances. At other times it just seem to be hopeless.
Sometimes you wander if you ever will get through everything. But the
goal that is waiting in the end of our walk with Jesus outweighs all
hardships that we may have in this life. Heaven is awaiting us. In
our case heaven was symbolized by coming home and like a long warm
shower and go to sleep.
Time
tends to fly wj´hen you have fun. This happens in my case. It feels
like it was a long long time since the last entry was published. But
I see now that it is only 10 days.
During
the passed time Pesach or Passover has come to Israel. What the Jews
celebrate at Passover is the exodus from Egypt. The Christians
celebrate Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection and we call it
Easter.
The days before Passover were very hectic with a lot of house cleaning. Everything needed to be perfectly clean. In Exodus 12:19 it says ” Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land”. Yad Hashmona is not a religious Jewish place, but a messianic Jewish. But this passage in the scripture they live up to. So during one week the only bread that is served is unleavened bread, in other words no white soft bread. It was interesting to experience this. For us Christians and Messianic Jews this has a higher spiritual meaning. When we cleanse our house from old leaven, then we remember what Jesus did at Easter, He cleansed our hearts from sin.
On
Monday evening there was a Pesach-dinner for all the people on the
Moshav. I was working that evening but luckily I could take part in
it anyway. It
was very nice. Some
kids of the moshav performed a drama that depicted how the Jews were
slaves in Egypt.
I went to Tel Aviv to get my visa pro-longed just the other day. At the same time I went to the beach to take a swim in the Mediterranean Sea. I was disappointed though; at most places that I passed it was not OK to swim. At last I found a part where swimming was OK. I went into the water and swam and it was so nice, but not for long because I heard the swimming guards yelling at someone. Since the did it in Hebrew I did not realize that they were yelling at me. But soon I saw that I was the only person in the water so I got up and asked them what they wanted. “You can’t swim here, it is dangerous” Jag gick upp och frågade vad de ville. "You can't swim here, it's dangerous", one of them said. “Okey” I said and walked in a low mode to sit down in the sun instead. It was wonderful as long as it lasted. Now I can proudly say that I swam in the Mediterranean!
I
went to the airport in Tel Aviv the other day. Some friends from my
own home village would come to Israel. I had checked on the internet
when their plane was due to arrive, so I went ahead of them to be
there and surprise when they came.. I also wanted to welcome them to
Israel. That was a complete success! The same evening I met with two
other friends from home, Linn and Johanna from Shevet Achim in
Jerusalem. We had a very nice evening together.
Here
at Yad Hashmona we have a service every Shabatt. All people of the
Moshav do not go there, but many does. Even among the volunteers
myself included. I like the meetings and thiunk that they are very
good. Last Shabatt the 16th
of March, a trip was organized to the place where David killed
Goliath. It was in the form of a picnic. It was done so that the
Shabat children (it is tempting to say Sundayschool children) should
be able to see the place where it actually happened. It must be
wonderful to be a shabat school child in this country, everything
come sto life when you can see the places the events took place.
Anyway all were welcome to join this trip so I did that, Very nice
indeed. The pictures shows a reconstruction of what happened!.
On
the same trip we also looked at some 2000 year old shelters hewn out
of the mountain. They were made by Jews who tried to hide from the
Romans. They built a whole system of narrow tunnels, that ended in
large, spacy halls in the mountain. The reason for the narrow tunnels
was that this fact made it easier to defend themselves against
attacking romans. Some tunnels were so narrow that even I hesitated
to enter them, but I made it!
This
past Wednesday, President Obama came to Israel. I had the day off, so
I took off for Jerusalem and went to the Israeli president’s
residence, because I knew that Obama would first go to Jerusalem. I
never saw him though, the security forces were dioing a too good job
for me to see Obama. I have never seen so many armed security guards
at one location before this time. The whole block around the
presidential residence was closed, with guards literally scattered
high and low. In street corners, alleys and on house roofs,
everywhere you looked you saw armed guards. What I can say is that I
saw the result of the presence of president Obama!
Yesterday
was also a free day. I went to Jerusalem again, this time together
with Madeleine, a Dutch girl who works as a volunteer in the nearby
village called Abu Gosh. She usually come to the shabatt services at
the Moshav. We started early to get in time for the opening of the
Temple Mount, which opens at 7:30 and closed as early as 10:00. After
half an hour of line-up standing we were eventually there. For the
first time I got to see the Al Aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock
at close hand, fun!
Then
we took a three hours guided tour in the archaeological diggings at
the City of David, which included the walk through Hezekia’s water
tunnel. That was relly interesting, and we had a perfect guide. It
was a fun thing to walk through the tunnel! But I regret that I did
not take notes during the guiding, he mentioned so many interesting
things.
Now
it is official! I
will be staying here until the end of May. Time flies when you have a
great time, So it feels good to prolong the visit!
The
heading states that this entry will be about Ein Kerem. This is a
small village, some 10 minutes trip by car from Yad Hashmona. In this
village it is believed that Mary (mother of Jesus) met with Elisabeth
(mother of John the Baptist) and subsequently the place where John
the Baptist is believed to have been born. As the custom is there are
of course a lot of Churches here. The past Tuesday I was off from
work, so I joined some other volunteers who also were free, and also
some of those who live on the Moshav. We went to the mentioned
village of Ein Kerem. We took a long walk and were thinking of going
to a Russian orthodox church. But we came from the wrong direction
and thought that we could follow the wall with the barbed wire to the
main entrance. This walk took a lot of effort from even some
climbing. But when we reached the main entrance it was closed. But
the area was really very beautiful!
We
visited a small chocolate factory. In Ein Kerem (or a place where
they made chocolate). To call it factory is a bit of an
overstatement. When I hear the word factory I think of a very large
facility with lots of machines and automated things. This
“chocolate-factory” looked more like a regular kitchen with some
less usual machines. But they make home made chocolate which they
sell in a tiny store. They probably live owhere most tourists never
go.
I
said that there would be more entries. But quite a long time has
elapsed since the last entry, I sorry for that. Just after the last
entry the feast of Purim began here in Israel. If I am not completely
wrong this is celebrated due to what happened in the book of Esther
in the Bible, when the Jewish people were saved from destruction. At
this feast there is a tradition that people dress up in costumes. At
Yad Hashmona we threw a Purim party for all who wanted to
participate. There were sketches and a lot of funny things. I dressed
up as a dragon.
The
following day there was time for a trip together with the volunteers.
We went to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, then we walked from
there down into the Kidron valley. And the on to David’s City and
the archaeological excavations at the Dung gate, the walk ended in
the Jewish Quarter in the Old Time (I don’t know it this means
anything to those of you who have never been there, but ….) It was
not a long distance that we walked, it would not take more than 20
minutes. But along the way there were many Biblical places. Our
Guide, Noomi lives at Yad Hashmona. She was an excellent guide. The
20 minute path took us 7 hours to complete. There were so many
fantastic places with tons of history in this arera. These places
represented things from the Old Testament as well as the new. You
find the garden of Gethsemane, The pillars of Absalom, the place
where Jesus wept over Jerusalem and many more places.
The
other day when I worked on the evening shift I took a trip into
Jerusalem the time before noon. I wanted to go to the Knesset and the
government quarters. I looked at my map where the bus lines were
written so I entered a bus with the desired number (because I could
not read the hieroglyphic characters they use in this country!) The
bus number was OK but not the direction!!! With this bus I ended up
far out in the suburbs. But I managed to get to the Knesset in the
end.
One
day I got visitors from Sweden to Yad Hashmona. I enjoyed showing the
place to them!
Today
I went o Yad Vashem, the museum of the holocaust in Jerusalem. It was
interesting, but also very scary and awful. It was scary to think
about that fact that ordinary, honest German citizens could be
persuaded to do such atrocities as they did to the Jews. The museum
was free of charge and you can rent a head phone or audio guide which
I did. The building looks like a U. When you enter, films are shown
that show Jewish life before the Nazis was brought to power in
Germany. (then you are in the upper part of the U) The Jews lead a
faily easy life in Europe at this time, at least in Western Europe
that is. Many were highly educated and were well off. Then it was
shown how the Jews got worse and worse conditions when the nazis came
to power. They were bereaved of all their rights and their properties
were confiscated. When Nazi Germany occupied other countries in
Europe it meant that hell broke loose for the Jews. In the end the
holocaust started (now we are down in the U) As time went by the
Germans faced trouble in their war and when the allies started to
gain more victories (Now we are on the way up out of the U). Then
Germany capitulatedand in 1948 the surviving Jews, and Jews from all
over the world founded the new state of Israel. Now we are up of the
U again. The Jewish people now have its home land and a possibility
to defend their right to exist in the earth. That is something they
really managed to do well!. After a visit to Yad Vashem you really
understand the necessity of a Jewish state. Upon leaving the museum
you will se an incredibly beautiful view over the valley. That is a
symbol telling us that we are now in for something new and something
better, a new beginning after all the awfall things that lies behind.
Even if Yad Vashem is not the Hppiest place to visit, it is still well worth a visit, that I really think you should visit when you visit Israel. The fact is that whenever there is an official visitor to Israel, Yad Vashem is one of the places that will be on the agenda.
Trip
around lake Kinneret February 12th
This
past weekend I had two days off in a row, Friday and Saturday. So was
also my friend Andre from the USA. We decided to take a bus to
Tiberias and and rent two bikes and then bike around the lake.
Perhaps you should say to go down to Tiberias and lake Kinneret.
Jerusalem is about 800 meters above sea-level whilst Lake Kinneret is
only 211 meters above sea-level. Well it is upwards, and northward on
the map. We brought some camping gears so we could pitch a tent
somewhere. In Tiberias we rent towo bikes and set out on our trip
northward. We followed the shore of the lake. It was a heavy job to
bike since you had to have the packing on your back. Nothing could be
put on the bikes. But we managed to bike about 20 km to the northern
end of the lake. Acording to the internet there should be a
campground here. We found the place and at the same time I got a flat
tire. This turned out to be a positive thing. Once upon a time
there had been a camping ground here. They had a nice beach a
picknick table and some public lavatories and showers (there was also
electric sockets here) This fact would later result in disastrous
consequences in the near future. The whole place looked deserted and
worn down to say the least. There was trash here and there as if
nobode had emptied that trash bins in several months. Either the camp
ground was closed for the season or simply just stopped being a camp
ground. Anyway we decided to pitch the tent here No other people were
to be seen. I decided naively to put my phone on recharge in that
evening. I wanted it to be fully loaded the next day. I admit it was
stupid of me!The tent we had was said to be a tent for two. This is
of course a matter of definition haw large an area two people need, I
would not call it a tent for two. It was 200 cm x 145 cm with no
outer tent. You do not want to leave the package outside during the
night. Somehow we managed to get into the sleeping bags though it was
very little space per person. Of course it was also very warm inside
in my down sleeping bag. When I bought a foam mat earlier in the week
the lady in the store asked me what I was about to do. I said that I
would bike around lake Kinneret and camp some where along the way.
“It is cold up there he answered” How to define “cold” is
another question of definition. Iwas NOT cold during that night
The next morning my phone was of course gone. Stolen, kidnapped. Not very funny. But luckily we could call from Andres phone to the bike rental company. They sent a car to give us a new bike. Andrew thought that he had enough biking. But I wanted to make the complete circle around the lake. In retrospect I realize that the flat tyre was a good thing Because the oick-up service would have cost extra money otherwise. I had just a wonderfiul day biking round the lake. It was just perfect not too warm and almost no wind. I noticed that the eastern side of the lake was not a populated as the western side. It is an incredibly beautiful area to bike through, with the Golan heights rising majestically on one side of the road and the lake that beautifully stretches out on the other side. But there was something that irritated me, and that was the fact that it was not alloed to swim anywhere. I thought that this had something to do with water preserving since this lake is almost the only source of fresh water in Israel. Sao I respected the ban on swimming. The beach at ein Gev was of course closed when I got there. Not until south of Tiberias I found a beach where it was OK to swim. Here I jumped into the water, and gosh what a feeling! Later I found out that the ban on swimming is due to the fact that most Israelis do not know how to swim, therefore the local authorities do not want to be responsible if a swimmer would drown. Since I can swim I could have swam at the places where it was banned.What happened to the phone you might ask. I have no faith whatsoever that it will come back to me. I tried to notify the police but that cannot be done from Jerusalem because it was stolen in northern Israel. I just have to accept that it is gone for ever. What I miss the most is all the pictures on the meory card of 32 Gb….But soon I will get a new phone. Thanks a lot dad!!!
Betlehem and more... February 1th
Time
goes very quickly! Soon I have been here for one month. In an earlier
entry I mentioned that I had an increasing pain in my throat that
would not go away.The fact is that I had such a pain in my throat
that I had never had before. So I asked to see a doctor to get some
medical prescription. He saw that I had tonsillitis and gave me a
recipe for penicillin. I was told that you could get the medicin
at any drugstore and that the insurance company would cover the cost.
But this was a half truth because I had to search everywhere for a
drugstore that accepted my insurance company. At last I found one I
Jerusalem. Ironicly when I got the pills my aching throat was getting
better but I had been told to take the pills anyway because
tonsillitis can be contagious even if you feel well. So the pills
will hopefully do some good.The other day, I and Jonathan (USA),
Souza (Brazil) and Helen (South Africa) went to Bethlehem. We looked
aroun in the city and saw the Church of Nativity i.e. the palce where
Jesus is said to have been born. It seems like Churches have been
erected everywhere where there is some Biblical event taken place.
One of the most ridiculous in my opinion is the muilk grotto Chapel,
also found in Bethlehem. Here did Mary, according to tradition spill
some breast milk when she fed baby Jesus. And then they build a
church on the spot! We never vivited this church but saw it on the
way in and out of Bethlehem. By the way, if you know any geography,
maybe you noticed that the four of us represent not only four
countries but also four different contonents of the world. Europe,
North America, South America and Africa all on a trip in the fifth
continent, namely Asia. Maybe it is only I who recognize these things
but it is fun anyway!
To
visit Bethlehem was by the way something special. Almost at once when
we stepped out of the bus we were attacked by taxi drivers who tried
to convince us that we should take a taxi “it takes 45 minutes to
walk to the church, and only 10 minutes by taxi! We have a special
price for you! This and similair talk we heard not just once. The
truth is that it took us about 15 minutes to walk. I bought a
Palestinian scarf in Bethlehem. I managed to reduce the price from 40
NIS down to 20 NIS it is the best bargain I have done so far.After
the visit to Bethlehem I, Souza and Jonathan went up to the mount of
Olives in Jerusalem. Now I got to see the classical view of
Jerusalem, something I have seen on pictures many times. Amusing!
Yesterday
(January 31st) I together with several other volunteers went to an
American football game in Jerusalem. One of the volunteers played in
one of the teams unfortunately in the losing team…..
This is all I can write today I wish you all dear blog readers, a very nice evening
This is all I can write today I wish you all dear blog readers, a very nice evening
On
a discovery trip January 20th
A
new blog entry! Yesterday (19th of January) There was Shabbat in
Israel. For me this means that I have the day off. Before noon I went
to the Shabbat service of the Moshav, it was very good!In the
afternoon I and an American friend went walking in the surounding
hills. Yad Hashmona is situated on top of a hill. We had seen
something like a cave in the slopes on the other side of the valley.
So we began walking to have a closer look at this cave. It was not
all easy to get down into the valley. To start with we had to go
through some thorny bushes because we could not find a path. Thorny
bushes and pine trees seems to be the type of vegetation which grows
the best in this area! Well after some time of ruff terrain we found
a path which made it easier to go. When we got down into the valley
we could not see the cave, and after a lot of searching we were ready
to give up. But, by sheer chance when we had lost hope we found it!
The cave was about the size of a classroom but you could not stand up
everywhere in it. The cave had two doorways, at the greatest one
someone had made a gate. After the visit to the cave we went up to
the top of another hill. From this spot we had a marvelous view of
the westbank, you could also see part of the security barrier which
Israel has built to protect itself from terrorists. Of course I
forgot to take a picture of the view.
Today,
Sunday we went on a trip with all the volonteers. It was made in the
footsteps of Samuel the prophet, our tour guide was Arie Bar-David, a
very experienced man with much knowledge, who lives in Yad Hashmona.
It was incredibly interesting! It is wonderfuil to read the bible
stories and in the same time be on the location where the story once
took place. We visited the ruins of the temple in Shilo (1 Sam 1:3)
i.e the temple where the priest Eli and his sons Hophni and Pinehas
were in action. The story of the book of Samuel came to life when you
were on the spot where it all happened. The places we visited are in
the West Bank, or Samaria as the Israelis call it. Are there any
differences to the rest of Israel? That is a bit hard for me to tell
since I have not travelled so much in Israel. But when we went thru a
Palestinian village I got the impression that is was not as clean as
in Israel and it also looked more worn down than the places I have
seen in Israel. My impression of Israel is that they are good at tidy
up villages and keep them fresh. You could see that in the settlement
that we passed thru..
Now
I could also see more of the barrier that Israel has built along the
border of the West Bank. Before I went to Israel I thought that the
barrier was a massive wall along the border. But that is not a
correct picture. Only about 10% is a wall, in the less populated
areas it is aan electrified fence with lots of barbed wire (and
probably a lot of advanced alarm systems as well).
Life
at Yad Hasmona January 26th
I
felt like there was some time since the latest entry on the blog so
here is a new entry!
Now I have been so long that I can describe how a usual day is constructed. That is a day when I am working.
07:15
Get out of the bed, breakfast is served until 08:00. Actually the day
starts at 07:30 for us in housekeeping but it has almost never
happened that we started that early.
08:00 Work starts! Usually we have a short time of devotion to start with and then we are given our duties for the day on a piece of paper. We always work in pairs, so we receive the duties in pairs.
08:00 Work starts! Usually we have a short time of devotion to start with and then we are given our duties for the day on a piece of paper. We always work in pairs, so we receive the duties in pairs.
The
work consists of make the rooms ready for the guests. That can mean
to tidy up the room totally, if new guests are arriving. Or if the
guests are staying here several days we only have to make the beds
and put in new towels and empty the trash. This second work does not
take a lot of time But cleaning a room totally takes the most time of
us
12:30
(app. Lunch. The food at this place has a very high quality!
After
lunch the work continues until you are finished. <if there are not
anything more to be done you can leave when you are finished.
Officially
the work day ends at 3:30 PM.What I do in my spare time varies.
I might take a walk, or go jogging, or rest, or hang out with other
volonteers in our activity room, called “the moadon” which means
the club. Sometimes I skype with friends at home. Last Tuesday, I and
Jonathan my American friend took a trip to the old town in Jerusalem.
For the first time in my entire life I saw the western wall! It is
interesting to have been at one of the world’s most known places!
Next
day i did not feel well to say the least. I was tired and walked
around half asleep during the first part of the day. At lunchtime it
culminated in complete fatigue. It felt like a fever. I took some
pills for the fever. I was naïve enough to think that all was
normal. In the evening the fever returned I had to go to bed early.
But the pain in my throat did not go away. Whatwas the reason I don’t
know. Jonathan thought it could be because of some cookies we bought
in Jerusalem. Because both of us felt a bit bad the day after. Who
knows it might be the truth.
This is the end of this entry, have a nice evening dear blog readers!
First
day at work! January 9th
I
ended my last entry by saying that the Israelis are very helpful.
That is of course thrue some of them are even too helpful.! When I
was in Jerusalem and had to change buses I was almost at once
attacked by a taxi driver who tried to convince me that “you had
better go with me “ to Yad Hashmona in my taxi, instead of taking
the bus. I tried to tell him repeatedly that I did not intend to take
a taxi but rather go by bus. I do not regret that I took the bus.
That trip was 10 NIS which is about 18 SEK. Had I taken the taxi it
would have cost me 150 NIS which is almost 250 SEK. Collective
travelling is much cheaper in Israel than in Sweden.
Today I started the work at Yad Hashmona’s guest house. The work is fairly simple. Tidy up the beds and clean the rooms. But there are many details to have in mind. Today I worked together with a German girl, two girls from Brazil and a guy from Poland. Nice gang! In the end of the day it was rather stressful due to a tourist group that arrived earlier than expected.
Yad
Hashmona have about 200 people who live here permanently, and at the
moment there are about 20 volunteers. All the continents of the earth
except Antarctica are represented here.
The weather was awful when I came to Israel. Yesterday I had the day off and I wanted to make a trip to Jerusalem but I couldn’t because it was raining cats and dogs all day.But apart from the weather I like it here in this place and I have a feeling that these three months will pass by quickly!
The weather was awful when I came to Israel. Yesterday I had the day off and I wanted to make a trip to Jerusalem but I couldn’t because it was raining cats and dogs all day.But apart from the weather I like it here in this place and I have a feeling that these three months will pass by quickly!
Now
I have access to internet, at last. So now I can start writing on my
blog. Yesterday, in the afternoon (Jan 6th)
I came to a windy and rainy Tela Aviv.
Weatherwiase
I did not get the best reception, But the welcome I got from the
people was far far better. At the trainstation in Tel Aviv I was met
by my newfound friend, Tomer, I stayed with him. After a nice evening
with him in the “city that never sleeps”, and a good nights
sleep in his home, we said goodbye. I went to the office for
Kibutz-volunteer-workers only to discover that it was closed (My
usual luck!)
So
I took the bus to Jerusalem, in order to board another bus for Yad
Hashmona. It seems to be a very nice place. I think that I will like
it here! Even though the weather is not the best cold and rainy.
My
impression of the Israelis this far, is that they are very nice
people. Eager to help and very friendly. But I have not met very many
yet! -)
Would be nice to have the same pictures in the English part as in the Swedish one.
SvaraRadera"the translater"