Ten Days in Israel (part 1)

Some months ago, my mom announced that she was going on a tour through Israel. My first thought was, “couldn’t you choose a somewhat less volatile and dangerous place to vacation?” Actually, I said something like that, but she was undeterred. Good for her. She’s back safe and sound with stories to tell of her very interesting journey. The good blogger in me jumped at the chance to publish some of her tales. And she graciously obliged. Here’s what hope will be the first of several segments on her Ten Days in Israel.
------
Renee's mom’s Christian bird's eye overview of "The Holy Land experience."

"In the beginning... "

Yes, right from the start, my trip was no ordinary one! In spite of my many flight delays (going and coming [Renee: Mom flew from San Antonio, TX thru NYC to Israel]), luggage "misplacement," having to wear the same clothes for four days (some of the lovely women on the tour came to my rescue, however), I truly had a most enjoyable and memorable ten-day tour experience. This trip was definitely the highlight of my 2006 summer! I don't think anything could possibly top it!

Hopefully, I will share with you and your readers, a day-by-day account, and as much as I can recall of the many fun/wacky/silly-, and some not so silly occurrences.

Ours was an interfaith group, although our very gracious host, Michael Medved, is of the Jewish faith. The Medved tour took us to many wonderful and important Jewish sites, as well as optional Christian tours.

Although, Michael Medved lives and broadcasts his radio talk show from Seattle, Washingon, his father, as well as his brother and family live in Israel. They are all very actively involved in civics and public affairs, as well as enterprising business organizations, etc.

The tour took us to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem New City, Jerusalem Old City, the Dead Sea, Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, Upper Galilee, Lower Galilee and the Coast Line, Nazareth, and even stayed overnight at a Kibbutz (a communal-type hotel). A very fully-packed trip to say the least!

We visited many historical and holy sites, museums, important buildings, churches and synagogues, excavations, Nasada National Park, The Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a hospital, Jerusalem College of Technology, the Israel Air Force Center Foundation, and we even planted a tree! We also experienced sabbath (Shabbat) dinners, which included their prayers, songs and thanksgivings. All this I will go into more depth about later on in the "series."

I was totally impressed by the bravery of the Israeli people, and their ability to carry on their daily lives. How much they enjoy life, are happy, outgoing, hard-working people, very devotedly religious and God-fearing, often "breaking into song." They're always beautifying and improving their country and I found them to be very friendly, welcoming, and wanting to share their traditions, customs, and way of life with all who will listen. All this, in spite of having to be forever vigilant of their many enemies surrounding them who are trying to obliterate them from the face of the earth.

Another impressive aspect of their society is that because their country is small, most citizens not only have one profession, but two, three or more, taking these responsibilities very seriously and non-complaining, not to mention serving in the military, and doing so with pride! They are for the most part, very well educated and are forever striving for greater achievements.

One of their very absolute resolutions which clearly stands out is: They will always BE! In other words, they will NEVER cease to exist. They are making sure of that! They are working diligently on that every day. Their average birthrate per family is six, and the hospitals that we visited make sure that the moms-to-be are very well cared for and pampered (their words).

To be continued…

Technorati Topics: travel, middle east