While visiting the Holy Land, we pause often to contemplate the ministry of Jesus and its impact on our lives. We develop friendships with people we never met before and call them a brother or sister in Christ when it comes time to say good-bye. Yet we also have fun!
Some of our amusing times wouldn’t make sense to others, because “you had to be there!” So I won’t share those, but I have a few photos of what I’d call “fun” things…
I think, for fun, this photo is a favorite. On the Via Dolorosa at station four, an open doorway revealed a courtyard with two ducks dandified with sunglasses and ball caps sitting under an umbrella! Garden markets by the roadside sold different sizes of these ducks (sans sunglasses and caps). We asked Yosii about them; he only said they were used as garden decorations. (Station four commemorates a meeting of Jesus with his mother Mary while carrying the cross to Calvary, although no account is recorded in scripture of such an event.)
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| The ducks were sitting just below the carpet hanging on the wall. |
This photo is more charming than fun. “Big Sister” helps tie her younger sister’s shoe. The sculpture is on the lawn of the beach promenade in front of our hotel at Netanya.
Another photo of siblings show them covered in Dead Sea mud, probably more for "fun" than for the mud's therapeutic and healing qualities. Their mother gave me permission to take their photo.
All over Israel one can see these bins for recycling plastic.
In Nazareth Village, Ted, who likes renovating houses, tries his hand at using a first-century drill.
Then we have the camels…..
You’ve already seen us on camels going to Abraham’s tent, but when Mary and I climbed onto our camel, the face of another camel was only inches from my bare leg. Having heard they regurgitate some of their food and use their lips to fling it at an agitator, I was quite nervous until they moved him away!
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Although camels remain an important part of Bedouin property, camels in the towns are more a novelty than necessity. They can be found in major tourist areas waiting to give someone the ride of a lifetime.
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| Waiting to give tourists a ride. |
If a child is afraid to get on a real camel, he or she can climb aboard this wooden one outside a shop on a street in Nazareth.
At the Mount of Beatitudes, in the garden, I saw this creature—a roughtail rock agama perhaps? I’m not an expert on lizards!
Another favorite—which is surprising since I have a woman’s natural antipathy toward mice!—is what I call my Masada Mouse. This little brown creature scavenges for food at the top of the mountain at Masada.
Then the cats! They are everywhere. I have photos of cats from most cities in Israel. My “Jerusalem Cat" seeks shelter from the sun.
The last two photos are from Jaffa (Joppa). In March of 1799, Napoleon laid siege to the town and captured it. Historians relate the French brutally killed thousands of Jaffa’s inhabitants. My question is--why do they commemorate him with these statues? Or maybe they make fun of him?
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| Barb and Lydia with Napoleon |
Jaffa has become THE place where wedding parties have receptions and take photographs. The last stop on our tour was the harbor at Jaffa. And here was a bride having her photo taken—lying on the ground at the harbor!
The end of this blog draws to a close. Before I finish, though, I would like to do one more post to wrap things up and to address safety of travel in Israel. Unless I think of something else!
