my trip, part 3 // Israel

the Road to Samaria

a Bedouin man waiting to sell us some scarves while we looked at the view

the view from the Mount of Olives!!

 I really badly wanted to have this post up in a timely manner, but I moved in with a friend of mine for a week while her parents were out of town, and we were too busy getting groceries and making meals and generally being adults, and I just didn't sit down with my computer all that much. Which was actually nice, but it means that blogging things DID NOT HAPPEN. Bad me. So, a recap! If you want to read the beginning of my journey, I talk a lot about airplanes and clouds and flight in general here. Or, if you'd rather skip to that and get straight to the time when I'm in Jordan (!!), you can read all about it here. :)

journaling in my favourite hotel

view of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem

March 20/16   close to 2pm in Jerusalem, Israel!!!

Okay, I know I said that I didn't want to come to Israel, but the travel bug in me is revived, and being here is totally awesome! It smells like spring here, and Jerusalem is cleaner and less chaotic than Amman. Here there are no garbage bags lying by the road or caught in the brush, and unlike Amman, there are traffic lights everywhere! 

Our tour guide told us earlier today that while most people would say there are four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) there are really five - and once you've visited Israel, you've read them all.

palm trees??

contrasts... old pillars, normal modern street and cars and stuff. what.

March 21/16   back at the hotel, around 7:00pm

On contrasts - you can walk along the top of a wall that was built 500 years ago, and look out and see traffic lights and hear horns honking. You can stand on the Mount of Olives and know that Jesus was here too - but all you can see is a modern city. It's hard ... it's more of a contrast than Jordan, which showed its age, felt lived-in, was comfortable and loud and a little bit dirty, like that pair of jeans you'd rather wear then wash. Israel is old, too, but it's a clean and polished old; makeup done, clothes ironed, and a polite but distant smile on her face as you pass through. So far we've seen the face of Israel, but last week we got to know the heart of Jordan. 

no big deal, just drinking hot chocolate and wandering around Jerusalem

walking the market streets was one of my favourite parts of Israel.

Sea of Galilee!!!

seeing the hills Jesus would have looked at 2000 years ago was crazy.

I was here. what. even. is. my. life.

cool looking statue of St. Peter

 March 23/16   8pm at a cute little B'n'B in Tel Aviv

 Today, we hiked up a mountain! I had decided to wear a long skirt, which meant that I had to yank it up as we climbed, but it was so worth it! The view was outstanding, all of Israel spread green and pure below us. Last week, I loved Jordan as it wanted to be loved, with energy and passion and a little bit of brokenness, but that view sparked a few feelings of affection for Israel, too. 

our special little mountain.

no one was appropriately dressed, but whatever. you can hike in flip flops, right??

getting higher... we're almost level with the peak on our right now!

we were getting tired by this point, and it was starting to be hot.

we ran into some very nice Russian tourists at the top! they were so lovely.

one of my friends corrected me very firmly for saying that we reached "the top" ...

... because technically, there was more mountain above us. but we were CLOSE.

it's the thought that counts, right?

my cheeks got tired from smiling too much.

So I finish this journey with mixed emotions and strong feelings, but I can tell you this: I will never look at the world the same way again. I've seen things now, I've been places, and maybe I don't feel like a completely new person, but I'm not the same, either.

I kinda like it.

xx,
Olivia