a broad abroad

I am in Jerusalem! What an amazing city. There is an energy here that must come only from being in a place steeped in so much history and theology.  Regardless of your religion or what you think about theology, this is THE place.  At its most basic level, this place has shaped billions of lives; a place that has prompted wars and provided solace to those of multiple faiths.  And here I am.  It is hard to believe. But first... Yesterday we spent the morning hiking through a stream that fed into the Jordan River. It was a relaxing hike even though the temperature was approaching 105 degrees... We then stopped at a lookout near the Island of Peace, and could see the Jordanian border. It's that guard post near the midde of the pic. We also drove past Jericho in the West Bank. Whoa! After a few hours we made it  to Jerusalem.  At the top of Mount Scopus we could see all of the city. A powerful moment! Everything is made of limestone to preserve the feel of the c...

Hi everyone! We really hit the ground running and I've finally gotten a few minutes to myself to update you on my adventures. I am so excited to learn about another culture so full of history! Monday we traveled. We arrived around 10 pm and went to bed. Traveling really takes a lot out of you...  We have been in Kfar Tavor, a secluded little town.  Tuesday the fun began. We "hiked" at Mount Meron (which was really more of a nice nature walk). It is the second tallest mountain in Israel, if I remember correctly. We could see Lebanon from there. This is where some believe the Messiah will rise from before he goes to Tzfat.  We then visited Tzfat (the old city part), which is one of Israel's four holy cities, and went to a lovely old synagogue with a 500 year old scroll in it! Here we learned a little bit about Jewish mysticism, some "urban legends" in Tzfat, and Israel's history. There is an earthquake in Israel every 90 years, by the way. The next one sho...

I'm in Austria right now! I  wish we had a longer stopover, but it's only going to be a couple hours.  They do have lots of processed meats and frappes here, though, so I guess that's a real thing.  It's super green from what I can see out my window too. So I'm en route to Israel right now!  I am so excited to be going on another fun and educational trip. My favorite kind of trip to take is one that combines sightseeing with some history.  And what's the point of traveling if not to widen your worldview and challenge your perspective? I wish I had done a bit of background reading about this country so I could know what to expect in terms of sights we'll see and history we'll hear about. Hopefully I can do that in my free time. Our agenda is packed and I am SO excited to share my adventures.  I think that this will be more of a fun, relaxing trip in comparison to the sociology-based (and at times emotionally draining) trip to South Africa.  I expect to ...

"Quo Vadis?" is on quite a few billboards and signs in South Africa. I finally looked it up today. It is Latin for "where are you going?" and it is very fitting for the past two weeks. I feel like I heard a decent amount of complaining on my trip. Complaints about the hotels, the food, the tour guides, the packed schedule. I found myself often reminding the others that WE ARE IN SOUTH AFRICA. We came here at minimal cost for two weeks of education and sightseeing, and we got that a thousand times over. I am so beyond fortunate to have experienced innumerable once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Even if I do go back to South Africa, I will likely never experience the same things I did this time. I climbed mountains. I fended off scammers and pickpockets. I came face to face with elephants.  I bargained with street vendors. I met political legends. I sat on cliffs. I met countless inspirational people.  I heard Toto's "Africa" song in every restaurant. I pl...

Hey friends and family! I've been working on a couple posts, but I keep falling asleep before I can post them, and the past couple days have been hectic. I'm at the airport now heading home. I'll try to post when I have a few free minutes, otherwise I'll post tomorrow about Thursday and Friday. Much to say! I'm looking forward to coming home though!!!

I know this post is overdue! We've been busy and the lack of sleep caught up to me. Okay, so we ended up going to the Cape Town jazz festival on Wednesday night. We saw a free concert in the downtown square - it was a really popular band, kind of a reggae/jazz combo. Wish I could remember the name of the band! It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. We had a much more uplifting day on Thursday. We had a free morning, so I went with a bunch of people to a little plaza called green market square, where vendors sell locally made crafts and whatnot. We got breakfast at a cute little cafe (you know how I love those) and spent the morning bargaining for souvenirs. I am normally pretty shy, but I became an excellent haggler by the end of the morning and left with a big bag of goodies :) We spent the afternoon on a tour with Uthando, a nonprofit organization sponsoring disadvantaged communities here. Uthando basically provides a safe tour of townships, while bringing visitors to inspira...

Hi friends and family! I don't have any pictures at all to share from today, but we had a super busy day. This morning we headed to a lower-middle-class township to play with kids in a daycare.  Working with children in disadvantaged areas is very moving.  Although these kids all seemed to have clean clothes, fresh haircuts, and lunch boxes with food in them, many of the kids came from single-parent homes. Many of the parents had drug and alcohol problems, were unemployed, or left their children in the daycare so as to not have to deal with them during the daytime.   The kids could all speak English and Afrikaans. Many were interracial. They were age 4 and younger.  They sang us songs like the itsy-bitsy spider and that silly "I love you, you love me" Barney song.  They said the Lord's Prayer. When it was snack time, the kids all willingly broke their sandwiches in half and shared with other kids who did not have lunch that day.  It was so fascinating to wa...