Breathe

View of Old City Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Dustin and I are back in Nicaragua (this time for a while) and our whirlwind visit to the U.S., Israel/Palestine, Jordan, and the U.S. again is now over. Knowing that we’ll be here for an extended time makes it easier to rest (a little) and get settled into our surroundings.

Our trip to Israel/Palestine can’t be summarized in one adjective like awesome or great. While it was those things, it was many other things on many different levels.  I’m still processing it so I can articulate what I observed and experience without either A. talking for hours on end or B. losing my audience. It’s never easy to fully talk about and do a place justice to someone who wasn’t there with you experiencing the same thing. So for now, all I’m going to say this that there is a lot that is not shown or discussed on the news - about both sides. It was an invaluable experience to be able to talk with and be among both Palestinians and Israelis on the same trip and listening to what they have to say about their histories and the current conflict. More on that at another time.

I think one of my favorite places we visited was the Sea of Galilee. Not only is it beautiful, it’s the place where Jesus carried out most of his ministry. There are several places we visited that were “believed” to be certain spots where Jesus did this or Jesus  did that. But the sea is the sea and it was fun to imagine some of the events that went on there. We had time to sit along the banks, alone, to pray to and to listen to what God might be saying. Later on, many of us decided to get baptized in the sea. Not a bad place to have it done if you ask me! I’ve already been baptized but did it again and had Dustin do it. It was an awesome experience. 

Dustin and me at the Monastery, Petra

After the trip, a small group of us jumped over to Jordan for a few days to meet with some people that we know. My brother, who was on a trip from Prague and Budapest, flew over to Amman to join us. We first went to Petra and hiked all the way to the top to the Monastery. On the way down we decided to ride donkeys to give our feet a rest and to make it out quickly. We laughed the entire way down as our donkeys would randomly start running and would clump together so our legs were wedged between other donkeys and knees were in places they shouldn’t be. 

Mike in a Roman amphitheater in downtown Amman

In Amman, Mike and I had the opportunity to break away from the group and spend some quality time together while roaming around the city eating amazing food and shopping. Thanks to Dori who was our guide that afternoon! Mike stayed in Amman for two extra days and had a great time with our friends. 

One of the great things about this trip were the friendships that were made. Some friendships were brand new while others were strengthened and went to a deeper level. It’s great to be around likeminded individuals who have similar passions. 

Kind of a vague and general blog about our trip but I don’t want to write a novel in one blog.  Now, I am focused on language school and getting started on my work for ONET and continuing my work on the literacy component of the PEACE plan.