Day One: Amman and Jerusalem

Friday, June 26th

Ally and I left Friday morning, June 26th for Amman, Jordan. While in the airport in Cairo we saw about 30 Arab men wearing bathtowel ensembles. Here is a picture of one of the men's backs. Ally and I are trying to figure out who these bathtowel wearing men are...so, if you know...let me know!


Our travels started well...flight to Amman was fine and the taxi ride to the Jordanian/Israeli border was lovely. BUT...when we got to the Israeli border, we came across our first speed bump... The last bus across the border left at 11:30, and we arrived at 12:00. So, we were forced to take a $92 per person VIP shuttle across. OH NO! This was Ally and my complete food budget for the trip in Jerusalem.


The good news though was this $92 VIP access got Ally and I through the 4-5 hour border crossing in less than 2 hours!

When we got to the other side, a connection Ally had from a friend in Cairo was there to pick us up. His name is Dan, and he is a high energy, spunky 75 year old man. We had a blast with him!

We got to Jerusalem around 3:00pm, and the adventures quickly began.

Jerusalem is an incredible city. We ushered in Shabbat at the Western Wall with all of the Jews. It was such a powerful experience. I love the liveliness of the city. The city is just brimming with life. Every corner...every street...evey nook in the city just breathes life. The history is amazing to see here.

While wandering around Jerusalem, I ran into a friend from Valley High School! Crazy! He is in Jerusalem working on his masters thesis about Jewish culture. What a small world! I feel that the more I travel, the smaller the world seems to be. And, the more types of people I meet, the more I see how connected and similar we all are.

One really interesting thing about Israel is that if you are an Israeli soldier, whether in or out of uniform, you must carry your gun. So, wandering the city are men and women carry huge army guns. It was crazy seeing a guy in street clothes with an AK 47 strapped to his side. Oh my!

Dan took us all around the Old City in Jerusalem. We walked on the rooftops as Dan explained the many wonderful sights around the city. I am so excited for Day Two of our Israeli adventure!

Lyrics I'm Humming:

"Picture of Jesus" by Ben Harper