Day 5 - Paris to Jerusalem

Well, as I previously mentioned, I managed to get two hours of sleep on my Paris flight, but managed to skip breakfast. That was fun. So, after that, we explored the Paris airport for ANY kind of food. It was a big airport. We actually had to take a tram from our plane out in the middle of nowhere and drive us to the airport. Then we had to go thru another tram to get to our terminal….which had essentially no food. I bought hot chocolate that tasted like water with a melted M&M in it and a lemon merange pastry that wasn't so good. And of course, being euros, paid way to much for it. Anyway, not much to say about waiting in an airport. I blogged a little big and talked a little bit and did a video blog for someone else's website…so perhaps you'll be seeing a link to that soon.
We got on this flight…and it was uncomfortable. I might have got one hour of sleep in the 5 hours that we were on the plane. It was miserable. And I was contorting myself in awkward ways to get comfortable (all without a pillow - thank you cheapo Air France). Kate Reed's ipod came in handy though - so this is a PUBLIC THANK YOU SHOUT OUT TO E. KATE REED! It was much appreciated and needed, especially when I couldn't fall asleep.

When the flight was over, we had to do the immigration thing. Not bad. No customs at all either. They did bend my suitcase - I don’t know if they just threw something heavy on it or what, but the one side is dent in, and the frame inside is bent. I was mad about that until they literally sliced another girl's bag open with a box cutter apparnetly and she got it back tied together, and yet another girl's shampoos and stuff were gone through and they poured them all over her clothes. So maybe I should count my blessings.

We left the airport, eventually, joining up with our students from overseas. We have Burtrund from Brazil, Sondra and Daniella from Germany, Simar from Belgium, and we are getting Rufus tomorrow from Kenya. We had about an hour ride from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. When entering Jerusalem, you are literally "summiting" the mountains, going higher and higher. Therefore, all that God says about protecting Jerusalem is true - hidden in the hills, guarded by the mountains…its soo cool to see the world of God alive and see it with my own eyes.

We got to our hotel around 7 or 8 and moved in. I am staying with Ben and Rufus when he arrives. After that, we went and ate lunch with a Rabbi. IT was a good time of question and answer about Israel, their government, their culture, and their Judiasm. So, we started out with fish, humus - WHICH IS SOOOOO GOOOD OVER HERE - bread, grape juice, cucumbers, and red beats. It was pretty good and I got pretty full on that. Then, they brought out soup - which was like chicken broth with little tiny crunchy crackers in it. After that, as we're thinking we're nearing the end of our meal, they bring out rice. So we pile the rice on our plates. Then they bring out more beets, beef, and vegetables. This was a lot of food that we had not saved room for. So after my plate was full of that, they brought out this REALLY good chicken - that again, NO ONE HAD ROOM FOR. It was soo good though. After that, we had dessert with a weird crumb topping. It was good though

After dinner, we went down to tour the old city and see the Western Wall of the 2nd temple. It was a longer walk, but it is shavat here, which is the celebration of the sabbath, which starts at dusk on Friday night and ends Saturday night around 9 or 10 pm. It's so peaceful here and quiet, and no one is really on the roads. Families are seen walking together and overall its just a nice feeling. We got the the wailing wall and had to wear make-shift yamakus as we went down and prayed. I really didn't know what to pray for, and I didn't have this "awestruck" feeling that I thought I might have, but as I prayed, I really started interceding for the Jewish people and prayers and verses seen in Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the prophets all kept coming back to me. God has so much for the Jews still in store, but the Muslims have so much control over Jerusalem. Right behind the wall is the Mosque and the Dome thing and the Southern Wall is now being controversially escavated by the Muslims. All the Jews really have left is the Western Wall. I really prayed that God would make himself known to them, and that they might be freed of all the terroristic attacks on them in their homeland. I thought about all the children and innocent victims that these radical Islamic-facists target, and it really made me cry. As I prayed for deliverance, and as I prayed for peace, I remembered the verse in the Bible that talks about things like this only being the beginnings of birth pains as a woman goes into labor. It was such an intense feeling. But I remember praying, "Even so, Come Lord Jesus."