massada

this picture is from the church of the holy sepulchre, which was two days ago.

yesterday, we went to where the dead sea scrolls were found, to ein gedi, and then to the dead sea. you really do float, it's really weird. our synchronized swimming was fabulous. and you really do sting in places you didn't know you had cuts.

today i walked up massada with two tripmates (not at sunrise) then walked around up top for two hours, then cable car-ed it down. on the way down this large dutch tourist group started singing dutch songs, in synch. they sang frere jaques in a round. just out of the blue.

then we went to a roman ruin, and i was so tired and nauseous by then that i had to lie down instead on a bench. i meant to lay down for 5 minutes and fell asleep for 45 instead.

on the way to the hotel, on the border of syria and lebanon, we tasted some liquors made by a local winery. delicious. and hilarious when the bartender suggested we try and reach the bottom of our glasses with our tongues to get the last bit of dark chocolate liqueur. in case you were wondering, i didn't buy any to bring home. sorry.

we ate dinner at the kibbutz tonight and danced with israeli tourists on vacation who were handing around a bottle of anise. in israel they drink anise with grapefruit juice on ice. it's very nice.

i feel like i'm starting to get a better grasp on the israeli political stance. they feel surrounded and threatened, and you can see why when you look at the hills where rockets are fired from. they don't seem to see how constantly taking the offensive may be creating some of their problems, but israel really is small, and jordan, syria and lebanon seem like a big united arab threat against them. they carry pictures around of soldiers killed in war and since everyone has to serve, people feel connected to military losses in a way people in the US don't. i'm not saying i agree with the israeli stance, but i can see where the fear comes from.

one thing on my mind is the british mandate. it seems israelis feel like the land is their own because legally, a lot of it is. it was given to them by the british and by the UN. so they can say the suburbs of jerusalem belong to them, because a piece of paper says so. on the other hand, i can see why the palestinians don't recognize israel, since they weren't the ones who gave their own land for the jewish state. it was colonial policy, so why should they accept it?

there is so much tension here, i'm glad for every chance to ignore it and just look out the window at beautiful scenery.