Hotel Intercontinental Jerich Jericho

Je hebt van die dingen die je gezien of gedaan moet hebben.. Zo kan je Parijs niet verlaten zonder de Eiffeltoren te zien, en moet je in Israel in de Dooie Zee dobberen.. We kenden de plaatjes en de verhalen, en togen woensdag plichtgetrouw met een bus richting Kalya beach, de eerste halte van de bus en niet een van de toeristen trekpleisters mega hotels en 5 sterren uitzichten. De bus gooide ons dr langs een droge, hete snelweg ...

... coffee shops there. The traffic laws seem to be much more strictly enforced, and haggling is definitely still present, but not nearly to the extent of Egypt.

Pictures of the King (Abdullah) and his wife are just about everywhere. In fact, the guy that drove us yesterday from the bus to the beach on the Dead Sea had his pictures plastered across his back windshield (similar to how people at home might have a flag or sports team on there). He seems to ...

... and not left off to ruins really far away, where there were no other people whatsoever. A camel rider offered us a ride, but we declined. We also passed a Bedouin goat herd. We were in the middle of a desert valley. It was so cool!

We finally got back to civilization...Roman and Nabeathean civilization that is...on the other side of the valley and continued exploring. By now it was almost 4 and we hadn't eaten anything sincew breakfast. It was hotter than ...

... was! World Language Competition-all students that are in Arabic, French and Spanish have the chance to compete with poetry, reciting, and conversations.  It's pretty cool when an 8th grader whose first language is German wins 1st place in Arabic after this just being his first year of that language!  Each student that competes gets an award and all this is organized by one of the Arabic teachers.  Pretty cool! Band and Choir concerts-there was a dress rehersal on ...

... up & up. Finally we get to the border, and at that point the immigration & customs guys make everyone get out of the car, take out all the luggage, and they proceed to do a full cavity search of the car. I've never seen such an extensive search performed on a vehicle. I'm not sure exactly what they're looking for but thankfully all went well. Then they start going through our luggage and everyone ...

... into the museum with the rest of the group. Sue and Pam had walked back before the rest stop. After visiting the museum, Conrado, Nora, Dale, Sharon and I rode camels to the Treasury, what a great experience. Our camel guide took our picture taken then we walked back through the Siq to the bus. Stephen, Candy, Naomi, Laura, Dianne and Lisa also rode camels out. What a magnificent day in Petra. Sharon, Nora, Conrado, Linda, Dale, May 6, 2008 When we had first arrived at Petra ...

... it was so touching. When we arrived at Israeli border, things looked calm, we were treated well, until the problem with Turkish Team's visas popped up. Even though I talked and gave all the information of the group beforehand to the Israeli authorities, they said that they didn t recieve such information, we should just go back to Amman. That moment was the time everybody got so dissapointed but not too much that we ...

... big I got, but she just laughed and said that paper boys don't grow. Anyway, Aunt Jen told me some really cool things about Jericho. One thing is that Jericho is the oldest city in the world that has been inhabited continuously. Also, Jericho is the lowest city in the world! On the way to Jericho we passed signs telling us when we reached sea level--and then we kept driving lower and lower and lower. Jericho is near the Dead Sea which ...

... be able to picture it as I read the Bible but I also want to experience the story now. This is a "holy" place on the map but there are regular people here and I want to see that story too. That is why I titled this contrasts - we contrast different rocks, soils, and ridges but I also want to contrast beliefs, practices and peoples. Today I was up early again as our bus hit the road at 7a. We again drove into the West Bank and toward the town of Jericho. On the way we stopped at a St ...

... obviously did. Why would Jericho exist way out in the desert? Springs. Underground water supported an oasis out in nowhere. One of the country's top GNP - oranges. Also, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives are abundant here. Tourism is only the 3rd largest revenue producer in Israel. Next, down to the Dead Sea. Eric