Home Again

We're back from out 18-day stay in Israel and I think I have recovered from jet lag. There is a seven hour time difference which explains how we could make an 11 hour flight home in four hours. It was nearly 1 a.m. on June 13 when we left Israeli soil and 5 a.m. when we arrived in Newark, NJ. I was able to sleep more on the way home than I did on the way over because we were flying with the night.

We had a good time in Israel. From May 28-June 5 we toured the usual sites of historical and Biblical signifigance. The things I am reading in the Bible and the newspaper make more sense now that I can picture the places. I can look at this familiar picture of Jerusalem and recognize more places than just the Dome of the Rock in the center.

Twenty-five of our group of 39 left after the tour ended (Thursday) and 14 of us stayed on for the work project. Fortunately, we had time to rest while the work was being organized on Friday and Saturday. Of course, Sunday was another day of rest. By Monday we were ready to get to work.

We were divided into groups to scrape and paint five houses. Some went to Bethlehem, but our job was in the old city of Jerusalem. We painted one room in Elias' house and two rooms in George's house, finishing both jobs on Wednesday.

Since our flight was not leaving until midnight on Thursday, June 12, we had another day to kill. We went to see Solomon's quarries under old Jerusalem and revisited the Garden Tomb before checking out of our hotel Thursday morning. The the group went to south of Jerusalem to see a few more historic sites. We visited Herod's summer palace, Abraham's home town of Hebron where we saw the tombs of the patiarchs, and the Valley of Eschol where Caleb and Joshua found the huge bunch of grapes. There are still many vineyards there.

We also went to the Valley of Elah where David killed Goliath. Leroy fulfilled one of his wishes there when he picked up five smooth stones from the brook which was dry at this time of year. From there we headed to the airport at Tel Aviv. The extra tour day was special in that we went to some places tourists seldom go these days. It was a nice finishing touch. I am glad we had the privilege of taking this trip, but I am also glad to be home again.