Thank you for reading about my class trip to Egypt-Israel/Palestine!  I am fundraising to pay for the trip so if you would like to learn more about that please click here.

We used 3 categories for everything we saw to distinguish how plausible it was that something actually happened in a particular location.

Categories

1.    Category 1:  There is archeological proof that this is logically the place where “it” occurred.

2.    Category 2:  Somewhere in between Category 1 and Category 3.

3.    Category 3:  Tradition states that this is where “it” took place.  However, there is no archeological proof and usually there is 20 more feet of dirt on top of the location then there was during Jesus’ time (or whatever time we talking about).

Thursday

Thursday morning we set out bright and early to Jerusalem.

Belvoir Fortress

Belvoir Fortress is a fortress that was built during the Crusades by the Crusaders (makes sense).  It was really nice to see and talk about a different time in history and learn a bit about the Crusaders.  Furthermore, the view was spectacular and it was on our way to Jerusalem from the Sea of Galilee.

View from Belvoir Fortress with me in the way:


Arch at Belvoir Fortress:


Who were the Crusaders:



Bethlehem

We arrived to Jerusalem...and drove right through it to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity.  As we met right outside the church there was a protest going on across the street over the war in Gaza at the Bethlehem Peace Center.

Protest in Bethlehem:





We then went inside the Church of the Nativity.  The door to get in is very short, therefore, it is called "the door of humility" because one must bow to go through it.  However, we were told the main purpose was most likely so that a person could not just ride in on a horse.  Honestly, I did not know the history of this church when we entered.  After we entered, a priest came up to our guide and we were asked to leave for 30 minutes for being loud.  I could feel that there was a lot of tension in the church. This is when we learned that the church is split right down the middle with the Greek Orthodox owning one half and the other half belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church.  Apparently, there are set rules about who can go where and the priest get in fist fights every now and again when the other side thinks someone has crossed the line.  It is a very tense place.  We went down and saw the star which is the traditional site where Jesus was born.  This is a category 3.  We were told that it is basically impossible for this to be the site where Christ was actually born.  However, it was still very powerful to be in the spot where so many people come and pray and believe that Christ was born.  After we left, I felt stressed because of the stressful environment and it took me a while to calm down.  I was really sad about how the supposed place of Jesus' birth had become a place of such conflict.

Video of traditional place where Jesus was born and where the manger was:


Picture of Traditional place where Jesus was born (the star marks the spot):


Herodion

Herodion is a palace fortress that King Herod the Great built for himself.  Just 2 years ago, the Tomb of Herod was found here which is really interesting.  The tunnel system was incredible and once again I was completely blown away by how much attention was paid to architecture back then.

Herodion




We then headed back to Jerusalem to the place we would be staying for the next several nights.  From Herodion one can see all of Bethlehem and Jerusalem side by side.  Jerusalem and Bethlehem are separated by a wall, but the cities are conjoined.  I thought there would be some distance between them, but they are practically one city it appears.

Welp, that's all for now.  I'll finish the rest of the trip later this week.  Have a great day!

Wednesday

Wednesday we got up a little bit earlier than usual for our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee!  It was your typical boat ride except for it was ON THE SEA OF GALILEE!  This is the sea that Jesus calmed and upon which Jesus walked.  It is also where the disciples who were fishermen fished...pretty cool!

Our boat ride had a certain mystique to it.  At the very beginning of the ride, all of the sudden the Star Spangled Banner started playing and the boat driver asked one of us to raise the US flag...not what we expected.  I stood up because that's what Westwood Elementary School taught me to do and then everybody else was standing and singing the Star Spangled Banner on the Sea of Galilee.  Yeah, once again, didn't see that one coming.  The rest of the boat ride consisted of a lot of surrealness and trying to feed birds.

Me on our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee:


Cana

Our next stop of the day was Cana which is a 20 minute drive from the Sea of Galilee.  Cana was a good sized modern city which is a bit confusing because I always think of Biblical cities as being stuck in Jesus' time.

The Cana Steak House


We then visited the traditional site of the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) where there is the Wedding church...obviously!  Our guide was married here which I thought was really cool.  A theory is that the wedding was for someone related to Jesus' mother Mary because it is typical for relatives of the couple getting married to be in charge of getting more wine when they run out.  So, that's a new theory I had not heard before.

The wedding chapel at the Wedding church at Cana:


What the jars in which Jesus ordered water to be put which was turned into wine would have looked like (Stone was a kosher way of keeping liquids, unlike wood and other liquid holders):



Nazareth

We then journeyed to Nazareth which is right next to Cana (you can see Nazareth from Cana from a tall rooftop and vice versa).  Nazareth is where Joseph and Mary came after they returned from exile in Egypt with Jesus.  Therefore, this is where Jesus was brought up.  Nazareth is a city of 200,000 people now, but our professor says that back in Jesus' day it was a town of 200-300 people.

We visited the Church of Annunciation where the Angel appeared to Mary and told her she was going to have a child: Luke 1:26-38.  It was an enormous Catholic church which houses the traditional spot where the angel appeared to Mary.  This is a category 3.  However, it was such a small town that we were definitely in the vicinity of it.  Furthermore, it is a cave as are most of the Biblical places we have visited.  It is really different than I envisioned because on VeggieTales and Bible cartoons Jesus is in a wooden manger and Mary is met by the Angel in a built home, but nope that's not how it was.  I'm going to write some strongly worded letters to VeggieTales about all this!

The most unusual moment of our time in Nazareth occurred when we were all gathered around our guide Peter as he explained the history of the Church of the Annunciation to us.  As Peter talked the Call to Prayer rang out from every Mosque in town.  Then all of the sudden 2 F16s flew over and right when they were over Nazareth they turned on their afterburners and drowned out all other sounds.  It was pretty obvious that the Israeli F16s were trying to intimidate the Muslims which was really sad.

View of the cave where traditionally the Angel appeared to Mary:



Close up view of the cave where traditionally the Angel appeared to Mary:


Gaza Protest


Beit She'an

Beit She'an was impressive and overwhelming!  There were more ancient ruins here than anywhere else we went.  Biblically it is mentioned as a Canaanite city in the book of Joshua.  Otherwise, it was just impressive and a flash back to all of my Roman history in Latin classes.  Please click on the blue Beit She'an above if you want to learn more.  Too much information for me to write.

Beit She'an:


Model of how Beit She'an use to look:



Almost half of our group using the Roman Latrines (Amazing picture):


The Serious Roman Latrine Users:

Tuesday

Tel Hazor

Tel Hazor is another Biblical Tel (hill) like Tel Megiddo.  Hazor was one of the most important Canaanite cities and the archeological remains are the biggest and best in Israel.  Hazor is old!  You can find references to it in Joshua 11:1-5, 11:10-13, Judges 4, 1 Kings 9:15, and II Kings 15:29.  It is amazing reading these verses now with a much more concrete idea of where and what they are talking about!  Previously, I just skimmed over these city names because I had no idea where they were, but now they're real.  So, that is quite a blessing!  This is a category 1.

Oil Press at Hazor


Sign about Oil Press



Caesarea Philippi

We journeyed to Golan Heigths (our first occupied territory) so that we could see Caesarea Philippi which is where the ruins of the Temple of Pan are located.

Temple of Pan at Caesarea Philippi


Caesarea Philippi is where Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is, Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27, & Luke 9:18.  This is also where Jesus healed the woman (from Paneas) who had been bleeding for 12 years: Luke: 8:43, Mark 5:23, & Matthew 9:20.  This is a category 1.

We then walked an amazing hiking trail.  I honestly thought I was in the flint hills of Oklahoma or Arkansas on a hiking trail.  I had to pinch myself because it didn't feel like the Israel my mind had formed.  Our hike ended at the Paneas spring which is one of three contributers to the Jordan River.  This is also when we saw a lot of signs for Lebanon and were only miles from Lebanon I believe.

Paneas Spring - 1 of 3 sources of the Jordan River


We then drove farther northwest until we were at the border crossing to Syria.  We stopped and could see out into Syria for miles.  It was pretty cold so everyone got off the bus and then right back in.  I was the last one back in the bus because I really wanted to just go step in Syria to say hi, but that didn't happen.  It was really interesting because we could take pictures of Syria, but we could not turn around and take pictures of all of the Israel military defense satellites and such  on the hill behind us.

Picture of Golan Heights and Syria border (the little town in the middle of the pic is the border)


Kursi

We then went to Kursi National Park which is the traditional place where Jesus healed the 2 demon possessed men and the demons go into nearby pigs who drive them into the Sea of Galilee where they drown: Matthew 8:28-34.  That's a lot of possible bacon...

Kursi National Park


Jordan River

Our final stop of the day was the Jordan River which is the river in which Jesus was baptized by John: Matthew 3:5-6, Mark 1:5, Luke 3:3, and John 1:28.  The traditional place where Jesus was baptized is actually in Bethabara, Jordan.  So, we didn't go there; however, the place where we were is a very popular place to come and be baptized in the Jordan as well.  I believe it is much easier to come to this spot in Israel then the spot in Jordan.  There were pictures of Benny Henn and John Haggee baptizing people there.  There were also plenty of people in the baptismal pool next to us getting baptized.  We were all loud and screaming because the water was cold on our feet...imagine being dunked in it.  Any who, it was very weird.  It was a very holy place, but had been turned into six flags over Jesus...

Video of me in the Jordan:


Me in the Jordan:


They have Mark 1:9-11 in hundreds of languages all over the Jordan Baptism Tourist Stop


My 3 studied languages: Latin, Greek, Hebrew

Hello from Jerusalem!  I am trying to write down everything that we are seeing and experiencing, but there’s a lot.  So, I decided to break it down by day.  You can click on words in blue to get more information from Wikipedia if you'd like. Thanks for reading.

We used 3 categories for everything we saw to distinguish how plausible it was that something actually happened in a particular location.

Categories

1.    Category 1:  There is archeological proof that this is logically the place where “it” occurred.

2.    Category 2:  Somewhere in between Category 1 and Category 3.

3.    Category 3:  Tradition states that this is where “it” took place.  However, there is no archeological proof and usually there is 20 more feet of dirt on top of the location then there was during Jesus’ time (or whatever time we talking about).

Monday

Monday morning, we got up bright and early and took the bus to the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  There we read John 21 where Jesus comes to the disciples after the resurrection, sees that they can't catch any fish, tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and then fish galore.  If you haven't read John 21 recently...you should, it's interesting to say the least.

Me with a hand in the Sea of Galilee


Seminary group on the shores of the Sea of Galilee


Next, we went to Capernaum.  Matthew 4:13 tells us that when Jesus found out that John had been arrested, he left "Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea." This is where Jesus heals the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12 which is every Austin Seminary students favorite pericope because we spend our entire Greek exegesis course on this pericope.  So, when our guide asked if anyone knew Mark 2:1-12 everyone moaned "yes" and had grumpy faces.  It was surreal to see Peter's house where the story I spent hours studying took place.  Over Peter's house there is now a beautiful Catholic church with a opening in the middle so you can see Peter's house.  This is a category 2 I believe.

Peter's house


We then went to a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church that was in walking distance from Peter's house.

Next, we went to the traditional place where the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 took place.  This is a category 3 site, but we were told that it probably occurred a stone throw from where we were.  However, this raises an interesting question because in Luke 6 it is the Sermon on the Plain.  Where we were was definitely not a plain...  It could just be that Jesus preached it twice with different words at different places.  Well, there's only one thing to do...put it into my God question box.

Sermon on the Mount Video


From there we went to Korazim which was a city that Jesus condemns in Matthew 11:20 along with Capernaum and Bethsaida.  Apparently, it worked...because none of those cities exist anymore.  Seriously, what could be worse for a city than Jesus condemning it?

We had lunch at a fish place which served fish like Kenya, head and eyes included.  I scarfed mine down because that's what I lived off of for 2 weeks when I was on Mfangano Island, but I'm not sure everybody liked it.

We then traveled to the Church of the Multiplication (every math teacher's dream) located at Tabgha.  This is traditionally where Jesus fed the 5,000 (not counting women and children).  Under the Table there is limestone sticking upon which tradition says the baskets were placed.  Here is where the famous mosaic of the 2 fish and 5 loves is located right in front of the limestone beforementioned.  This is a category 3 I believe.

Limestone and Mosaic


Across the Sea is another site where Jesus fed the 4,000 (not counting women and children) with 7 loaves and "some fish" in Matthew 15 and Mark 8.  We did not go there because 4,000 isn't as impressive as 5,000...and because it was on the other side of the Sea.

We concluded the day with a mountaintop view of the Sea of Galilee.  From there we also saw Magdala which is the town in which Mary Magdaline was traditionally born and raised.

Video of Mountaintop view of the Sea of Galilee


(For those reading who were on the trip please correct or comment with your thoughts.  Thanks)

Hello from Jerusalem!  I am trying to write down everything that we are seeing and experiencing, but there’s a lot.  So, I decided to break it down by day.  You can click on words in blue to get more information from Wikipedia if you'd like. Thanks for reading.

Sunday

Sunday morning we woke up at 4 AM in Cairo so we could be at the airport extra early to fly to Tel Aviv, Israel.  It is very different traveling with 31 other people than by myself, but our group is full of incredible people so it was actually easier to get through everything with the group than it would have been by myself.  It also helped to have the travel agent take all our passports and check us in as one instead of 32.  They took my swiss army knife (even though it was in my checked bag)...which means no more opening pop in Kenya or Speghettios cans...no bueno.  Any who, we left Cairo and arrived in Israel. The airport in Tel Aviv is one of the nicest airports I have ever been in (and I’ve been in a lot of airports).  We met our guide, Peter, and we were off to the Sea of Galilee where we would stay for the next several days.  However, we had made such good time we decided to stop and see some sights.

My first impressions of Israel were formed by their airport (which as I said was amazing) and then by the wall which they are building to separate Israel from the West Bank.  Israel is not a very large country so we saw the wall many times as we were driving. It seems to me that walls haven't worked out so well throughout history...and it was just sad to see people building walls to separate themselves.

Any who...

We used 3 categories for everything we saw to distinguish how plausible it was that something actually happened in a particular location.

Categories

1.    Category 1:  There is archeological proof that this is logically the place where “it” occurred.

2.    Category 2:  Somewhere in between Category 1 and Category 3.

3.    Category 3:  Tradition states that this is where “it” took place.  However, there is no archeological proof and usually there is 20 more feet of dirt on top of the location then there was during Jesus’ time (or whatever time we are talking about).

Our first stop was Caesarea Maritima where we saw the double Roman aqueduct of Caesarea and the Amphitheater of Caesarea. 

Aqueduct of Caesarea:


Amphitheater of Caesarea: (Check out the line of Nigerians at the lower left)


The coolest part architecturally was that Caesarea had a protected harbor which was one of the engineering marvels of its time.

Me looking out at the Mediterrean Sea where the Harbor of Caesarea used to be:


In Christian history, Caesarea is where the only secular record of Pontius Pilate was found.  Furthermore, it is believed that Peter started the church in Caesarea and that Paul was imprisoned here and wrote his letters from prison.  I believe that the Biblical bo-jazz is a category 2.  So, that's pretty slick.

 
We then journey to Tel Megiddo (Tel is Hebrew for “hill” or “mound”).  Tel Megiddo is a city that was inhabited from 7000 BC to 586 BC and is where the word Armageddon comes from.  It is the place that Revelation is referring to when it speaks of Armageddon (good way to start the tour).  The city was located at a major crossroads and was therefore, a very important place strategically.  As our professor described it, one army would be traveling one way and another the other way.  They would meet at the crossroads and then fight.
 
The most interesting architectural aspect of Tel Megiddo was that they dug a tunnel to their water source.  Their water source was outside the city walls.  So, when they were under attack they couldn't get H2O.  Therefore, they dug this tunnel through limestone (?) to the water and then closed off the other end.  I wouldn't want to attempt this today with our technology, so to do it back then is beyond amazing.

A Panorama video of Tel Megiddo


Jesus' manger - An example of what Jesus' manger looked like at the stable of Megiddo:


We then drove through Tiberius to the place we were staying right on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  The first time I got up to leave the hotel room, I walked out and looked at the Sea of Galilee and was dumbfounded.  This continued for the next 4 days we stayed there.  Thus concludes Sunday...

(For those reading who were on the trip please correct or comment with your thoughts.  Thanks)

I have officially raised the money to pay off my immunization debt!  I want to thank each person who donated to help me! 

Thank you!
Robert

Here is a testimonial that I received that made me chuckle so I wanted to share it with you all:

Hello from the Sea of Galilee in Israel! I will write more about my experience in Israel later, but for now I want to tell you all about my time in Egypt.

Wednesday

The other 31 people in our group arrived very early in the morning after experiencing a nice unexpected 12-hour layover in Germany. Yep, that’s no fun. So, they spent the morning trying to sleep. When they had rested, I got to see everyone which was really nice. When Andy (our Professor) introduced me to the group everyone cheered and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside and missed seminary and the community there. Furthermore, my seminary neighbor, Mary-Elizabeth, brought me some things I wanted from the States and asked everyone else on the trip to bring me essentials from the States (M&Ms, Reeses, and Head & Shoulders). So, it was good to see everyone on multiple levels. We then met our tour guide, Heba, and traveled to the city of Memphis.   Memphis has mostly been covered by another city being built on top of it repeatedly, but they do have an open air museum with a sphinx and a Statue of Ramses II (questionably) which was used in the 10 Commandments movie.

Statue of Ramses II at Memphis:


Afterwards, we went and visited the Step Pyramid (Pyramid of Djoser) and another Pyramid (Tomb of King Titi) which looks just like a sand hill, but we all went inside of it and it had incredibly beautiful hieroglyphics everywhere.  Who'd a thunk it?

Tomb of King Titi:


Step Pyramid and I:


Thursday

Thursday morning we headed to the Giza pyramids bright and early which are right by our hotel. The Pyramids are different than I thought they would be because the Great Pyramid is not in the middle, but is the bigger one on a side.

A short video standing on the Great Pyramid:


Isaac and I standing on the Great Pyramid:


The Pyramid in the middle was just built on higher ground and still has its shell at the tip top. It's actually amusing because the middle Pyramid was built by the Great Pyramid builder's son.  So, rather than build a bigger pyramid than his dad he just built it on higher ground.  The Giza Pyramids were very impressive and something I have wanted to see since the 6th grade and thought I would have to wait until I was retired to see, but the opportunity arose at 25.  Take that world!

The group drove to get a good view of all 3 which was also where we all had a camel ride which was amazing.

A view of the 3: (the Great is on the left)


A view of the 3 with me:


When a camel stands up it is very awkward and unusual. My camel's name was Bartholomew or that was what I called him. It was very surreal to see all 32 of us riding along on camels with the Giza Pyramids in the background.

A video of the camel ride:


A picture of me and Bartholomew:


Then we all went to see a boat that was buried with the Pharaoh of the Great Pyramid (Great idea!). My seminary neighbor, Mary-Elizabeth, and I left early because we were the only ones that wanted to go inside the Giza Pyramids. So, we got to go inside the middle Pyramid. I found that walking backwards down the very short passage was easier and less strenuous on my back so that ‘s what I did. We went down for a while then level for a while and then up for a while. Then we arrived in the tomb which was unreal.

Video of inside Pyramid:


It was very humid. On our way out I was walking down the short passage and once we came to a place where I could stand up, so I did and there was a very long line of Asians who laughed at me each one in turn as I passed them because I am too tall to be walking around in Pyramids.

We then drove to the other side of town to see a Mosque, called the Citadel.



Afterward, we had lunch at a boat on the Nile and the meal was very nice. We finally made our way to the Egyptian Museum. I was very excited about this because I distinctly remember in 6th grade learning about Egyptian History.  Even more precisely I remember how captivated I was with the discovery of King Tut’s Tomb. I remember staring at the large picture of King Tut’s face in our textbooks.



So, when I actually got to see the 28 pound solid gold mask of King Tut and saw my reflection in the protective glass I could visualize the 6th grade me staring at the picture of it at my desk in Broken Arrow, OK. It was a surreal moment.

While at the museum, we also went to see the Mummies. The coolest was Ramses II. It was really crazy to see this 5,000 year old Pharaoh with hair, finger nails, and skin. He was very well preserved, lived to be possibly 100, and had 80 or so children or so the legend goes. Thursday was a very full day.

Pic of Ramses mummy.

Friday

Friday, we drove north halfway to Alexandria to visit a Coptic monastery in Wadi Natrun. We had a very interesting monk show us around who had a wizard beard. He was very knowledgeable and shared his views with us about the Coptic church and theology. It was a good visit.



Saturday

Saturday, we journeyed to Coptic Cairo, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, which is tradition ridden with Biblical history. The tradition is that this location is one of the possibilities of where Moses was found by Pharaoh's daughter on River Nile, also where Jeremiah came when he was exiled, and where the exiled Holy Family came when Joseph and Mary had to flee to Egypt with Jesus because Herod was killing everyone 2 and under. So, it is traditionally a very historic place. When I say “traditionally” it means that there is no archaeological proof, but it is believed/this is an option where it might have happened.



We then visited the Presbterian seminary in Cairo, the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC).  An APTS graduate is working at the seminary and we were invited over to meet with other seminarians.  It was a good last night in Cairo and it was nice to interact with other seminary students from another country.

Goodbye Egypt!

Good morning from Cairo, Egypt!  I am in Cairo for the week with a group from my seminary and we will eventually be going to Israel.  It is a seminary class called “Places of the Bible” where our Old Testament Professor takes us to a Biblical place reads the Biblical story and then points and says, “there it is” and then the group says “ooo…”  I believe our goal is to repeat this as many times as possible.  However, this is just my vision of the future from Robert world (population one) and so we will have to see if this is how the class actually operates. 

The flight from Nairobi to Cairo was 5 hours almost directly north.  It’s interesting having to listen to everything that is announced in Arabic first and then English.  The preflight instruction video was quite amusing with the role of the passenger being played by a Nintendo Wii Mii (a device where you create a person and choose all of their physical features) of an Arab man with an amazing mustache (it put Tom Sellick to shame, I was impressed).  I slept most of the way cramped between 2 men in the emergency exit row.  My legs were happy, my arms weren’t.  Once I got off the plane I was met by a man with a sign which said “Mr. Robert ---------” which is a bit different from my usual matatu ride.  His name was Ahmad and he got me through customs by just saying a few words in Arabic, he then looked at me and I said, “that was easy” to which be replied, “my dad’s vice president of (something) for Egypt Air.”  That’s how I role.  Our ride to the hotel yesterday was interesting.  Traffic was crazy, but not as crazy as Nairobi.  They don’t have cable here so every roof top is covered in satellite dishes.  At first I thought that they were bushes and everyone just grew bushes on their roofs.  Nope.  We crossed over the Nile twice which was beautiful.  Then as we approached the hotel, Ahmad said if you turn left here you’ll be at the pyramids in 10 minutes.  I coolly and literally said, “oh cool” and then turned my head to see the 3 largest pyramids filling the window to which I uncoolly started saying, “oh wow, that’s amazing!”  We then arrived at the hotel from which you can also see the pyramids.  I arrived Tuesday morning and the seminary group was supposed to arrive in the afternoon, but the afternoon came and went without them.  I finally went to the front desk and was informed that their flight wouldn’t get in until 5 AM the next morning.  So, I went to bed and woke up to Egyptian men pounding on the door delivering Isaac’s (my roommates) luggage.  I was quite startled and unaware of where I was when they woke me so I went to the door and opened it and looked grumpily out at 2 short Egyptian men as I stood there in my boxers.  I wonder what they thought seeing a 6 foot 5 white man in his boxers.  I guess everyone was confused…  The best part of my time in Egypt so far was the shower.  I turned on the water which was instantly hot and although I warily touched the water nob the shower didn’t shock me once!  I hadn’t taken a shower in 2 weeks because the water at AEE has been out for 2 weeks and when I did take my Egyptian shower I couldn’t get my right hand wet because of the stitches I had put in it Sunday.  Let me break that last statement down for you.

The day after Christmas the water at AEE stopped working and still wasn’t working when I left yesterday which isn’t a big deal I have learned.  Running water is amazing, but not a necessity.  I guess I would now put it under the want column rather than the need.  We have 2 300 Liter Containers that keep water that I boil from which to drink at AEE.  Well, I’ve been using it for basin bathing since our running water went out.  I have gotten quite good at basin bathing, but don’t think that 6’5 is the best basin bathing height.  The running water being out meant that we had to fill our toilet to flush it as well.  Did you know it takes 10 Liters of water to flush a toilet?  That’s more water than I drink in 2 days and I drink a lot of water.  The first time I flushed the toilet in Egypt I walked away with a dumb founded look on my face.  It was so easy and amazing.  Any who, I like running water is what I’ve determined.

Now to the fun story.  Sunday night I was making a special dinner, Velveeta Shells and Cheese!  And this is where irony steps in because I have been chopping vegetables regularly in the past few months and had no problems.  Well, while putting the finishing touches on my Shells, the cheese, I needed something to open the cheese pouch with.  So, I grabbed a knife and stuck it through and somehow cut my left index finger really thoroughly.  Before my mind realized I had cut myself my finger was in my mouth.  There was nothing clean there I could use to put pressure on it with so I had to walk down to my place and get something all the while using my tongue to keep pressure on my finger.  When I finally got pressure on my finger and spat out a lot more blood than I expected I realized there was a problem.  So, I went back to the kitchen sat down and ate my shells with one hand.  I wasn’t going to waste 1 of 4 boxes of shells I have here.  So after eating I called Rodgers and told him I thought I needed to go to the ER.  We went and I got 3 stitches and the doc told me not to get my hand wet for 3 days.  So, Monday when I tried to basin bathe things didn’t go so great.  One hand in the air and one hand down for washing.  I felt funny and definitely looked funny!  So, I went and got my first hair cut since being here, free hair washing!  Woot Woot.  Now in Cairo in the shower I just stick my left arm straight out and it goes right over the curtain so 6'5 is good for some bathing techniques.  So, that’s the story of the finger.  If everyone who is reading this will give their left index finger a kiss I would appreciate it.  It’s a great finger and without it I am having a fun time trying to type right now.

Well, I think that’s it for now.  I will update you all from Cairo soon!

My Sunday school teacher while I was in elementary school, fishing buddy, and friend, Ron Heck, died this past Thursday.  As I walked the mile between matatu stops journeying back from Westlands to Karen I reflected on Ron and 3 distinct memories came to mind:

1.  My family started attending the First Presbyterian Church of Broken Arrow when I was in the third grade and Ron and his wife, Mary Ann, were my Sunday School teachers from then until I finished fifth grade.  I distinctly remember the first time I heard Ron read scripture to us and the first time I heard many Bible stories was from Ron's voice.  I don't think I realized what a big impact Sunday School teachers for elementary age kids can have on someones life until I reflected upon this during the week.
   
2. When my best friend Brad and I were Confirmed in the 8th grade, Ron took us both aside, sat us down, and gave us both a self help book that was a major part of his business success he told us.  He also gave us both a pack of highlighters.  Ron wanted to pass on his success to us, 2 8th grade teenagers.  He didn’t want to keep it to himself.  I love that he took interest in two 8th graders and treated us with respect and like adults.  I believe this speaks volumes about his character.
   
3. When I was in high school, Ron and our friend Thompson would take me fishing.  They both taught me how to fish and I cherish the memories of the 3 of us sitting out in the middle of the lake in silence for hours and then talking for hours because we hadn't caught anything.

On Sunday we got to experience an African church service, which was pretty much amazing. We got there early so we could meet some of Robert's friends. When we first got there everybody was staring at something, and then I started to wonder what they all could be staring at. I then realized "ohh it was me and the fam." Then we go in to the church service and it begins. Once I stood up to sing kids started to stare at me like this one kid stared at me for a whole 5 minutes. While the church service was going on a couple got married. They even had communion with real wine. After church all the YAVs and us went out to eat with the boss lady, Phyllis. They took us out to eat Ethiopian food.  After this we went back to the church and saw the church Christmas play. Before it though this one little girl was running around me and my family while we were sitting down. She actually grabbed my hair and was like “what's this?” because there so used to their hair and white people have a different kind of hair. So after all this, which by the way lasted like 3 hours, we went home and I got some R and R.

The next day was the first day of our safari! So we got up early and our safari driver picked us up, his name was Chris, and we drove for about 6 hours until we reached our goal. We stopped though at The Great Rift Valley which is supposedly where life began. Let's just say this was by far the bumpiest ride of my life and the dustiest I might add. On the way there we saw a lot Maasai and lot of their villages. We also got tons of mzungu waves. We saw some giraffes just chillin on the side of the road which was pretty neato. Finally we got there and we settled down. Then we got some grub which was quite interesting. After we ate we went on our first safari and we saw tons of animals. We then headed back and called it a night. The rooms were pretty sweet though like they had mosquito nets all around the bed.

The next day we all woke up and had by far one of the best breakfasts that I’ve ever had. Then we headed out on the morning safari which we say a lion on and a cheetah and a rhino. So it was a good safari.  After the morning safari we headed back to our rooms and Robert laid down because he was feeling sick. We watched some illegal DVDs of House which was pretty sweet. Then we had some lunch which wasn’t the best but still pretty good I guess. Then I hit the pool for a sec and spent the rest of the afternoon cloud gazing. Well until our afternoon safari happened, but unfortunately the bro was feeling sick and couldn’t go. So we went on the safari and saw some more amazing animals like we saw a jaguar just chillin out in a tree. Then we saw two lions just hanging out. It was pretty sweet even though they were far away. We then headed back and got some dinner. During the dinner though there was a blackout but it wasn’t all that bad and it came back on in a minute or two. The dinner was pretty sweet too. They had like different stations where they had different foods different tribes of Africa would eat. After dinner there was a Maasai tribal dance show which involved them doing this dance thing around the lodge and having them jump really really high in the air. We called it a night after that.

We woke up and packed up and went to our last heaven sent breakfast then headed on back to Nairobi. On the trip back we saw some baboons just chillin on the side of the road. We also went and stopped by a gift shop that was on the side of the road in one of the villages. Now I really wanted a drum and so we found one. I showed it to my brother before and asked how much do you think it will cost us and he said like 500 shillings, then we went and asked how much it was. The guy who was selling it to us said it was going to cost 60,000 shillings which is like 80 dollars. My brother literally replied “are you insane?” It pretty much made my day. So we took our business else where because my brother said we could find that at the Maasai market in Nairobi for like 500 shillings. We go on our way and finally get back in like 3 hours while along the way there were tons of mzungu waves and yells. So we finally get back and rest pretty much all day and then call it a night.

The next day is Christmas day which we spend just resting up and then going to the boss lady's house who I hear makes amazing food. We finally get to her house and we meet everybody. In Kenya, you have to greet everybody that’s in a room or else you're being rude. We do that which takes like 5 minutes because there are so many people there. Then its finally grub time and let's just say this lady knows how to cook. After all this eating is over we get to where the YAVs played secret Santa. The YAVs were so nice we even got a present too, some sweet fake tattoos.

From Family Visit

We do some more fun stuff then we head home and call it a night.

The next morning we head out to the airport, which they told us to leave 3 hours early just to get there in time because of traffic. Luckily that was not the case and we got there in like less then an hour. We do all the checks and all that jazz and then we finally get on the plane to London. The trip lasted like 8 hours and wasn't packed at all which was amazing. Then we got to London and got some food and then headed off to find a hotel. We finally got one booked and headed there. Now if you’ve ever been to London in December you know that it's freezing which we had no idea about but luckily we were super bundled up. We finally got to the hotel and chilled out there, I fell asleep right away.

The next morning we woke up super early and headed off to the airport. We had to catch a bus and all that jazz. Then we finally made it to the airport and of course have to wait and then we boarded the plane. This time it's like a 10 hour flight and it was super packed and they had horrible movie selections so it wasn’t the best flight. After 10 long hours though we finally make it to Houston and we chilled out there and grabbed some UNO. Then after some delays we finally were on the plane to my beloved Oklahoma. We touched down and I am so excited to be back at home.  I’ve learned so much about Kenya, but I doubt I’ll be ready for Kenya round 2 anytime soon.

Patrick

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Robert had made arrangements for his host family, Eustace and Priscilla Mbogo, to spend the day with us.  The Mbogos are a delightful couple, and it was especially fun to be driving around Nairobi rather than walking.  We saw parts of the city we had not seen before as we drove to the Nairobi Safari Walk.  As Mr. Mbogo said, this place offered us a chance to see some wildlife we would not see on a regular safari.  I was especially interested in the albino zebra and the pygmy hippos.
 
On the way to the By Grace church and school compound, we stopped at a grocery store so that Priscilla could pick up a few items.  There were a number of street vendors operating in the parking lot.  Mr. Mbogo bought Tom a red chukka (what the Masai wear) and for me a piece of fabric which I wore as a skirt over my slacks for the rest of the day.  We then proceeded to the Mbogos’ home where we were served a traditional African dinner.  After the meal, the Mbogos showed us By Grace church and school which they founded.  They have accomplished much during their lives.

From Family Visit

Sunday, December 21, 2008

We took a taxi from the AACC to St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.  It was good to meet several of Robert’s friends before church.  The church building was unusual in that everything about it was completely traditional, except for the fact that all the huge windows on both sides of the sanctuary were completely open to the outside and everyone was very comfortable.  Robert’s Young Adult Volunteer coordinator Rev. Phyllis Byrd preached a very eloquent sermon. 

After church, we all (4 Quirings, 4 Byrds, and 6 YAV’s) made our way to an Ethiopian restaurant.  The Ethiopian meal experience was extraordinary.  I have no idea of the names of the food.  Anyway, what happens is that three or four people share a large platter covered with what looks like (but is not) unbaked pie dough.  Scattered on the platter are maybe ten different food items.  Rolls of the dough are provided as silverware.  The diner tears off a bit of the dough, scoops up whatever she wants to try and then consumes the whole thing.  Much of it tasted very good.

From Family Visit

And Shelvis who missed the picture:

From Family Visit

After lunch we returned to the church for their Christmas program.  The music was fabulous, but it was a bit of a pain not to understand what was said in between.

Monday, December 22, 2008

This was the beginning day for our safari.  Our driver/guide Christopher picked us up at 7:30 a.m.  Christopher said he had worked as a guide for forty years, and I do feel we profited from his experience.  We traveled in a white Toyota minivan with a pop-up top.  We headed out of Nairobi toward the Masai Mara Animal Reserve.  The drive to the safari area includes a panoramic view of the Great Rift Valley and roads that alternated between standard quality to extremely poor. 

From Family Visit

As we got closer to the reserve, we observed many Masai villages, homes, and stockades and the Masai themselves herding their cattle.

We arrived at Sopa Lodge around noon and were greeted by servers offering us rolled up damp washcloths with which to remove the dust of the journey from hands and faces.  We were also served fruit drinks.  We found our rooms to be large and comfortable.  We especially liked how each room had a little porch with chairs so that a person could sit outside and enjoy the outside air and the views.
Since sunset is a prime time for animal viewing we ventured out at 4 p.m.  As we drove into the reserve, I was reminded of the pastures in Kansas and also of the scenery on either side of Highway 40 as a person travels west in the US.  Far different though was the variety of animals visible everywhere.  We first saw many zebra, wildebeest, impala, gazelles, and buffalo (according to Christopher, the most dangerous animal in the reserve).  Our first sighting of big game was a large number of giraffe grazing along a creek bed.  We kept driving and came upon an even more imposing sight--a herd of about twenty elephants.  The group included a bull elephant and several baby elephants, which were kept in the middle of the herd.  It was quite a thrill to see so many elephants.  We had to head back to the lodge before dark, but we felt fortunate to have seen so many animals.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

We left the lodge at 7 a.m., eager to see what our second day on safari would bring.  Christopher seemed to think we had been quite fortunate to see all the animals we had seen the previous evening.  We hadn’t seen any lions though, so his focus for the morning was to hunt down this elusive prey.  He went to several locations where the lions usually are, but no luck.  Then all of the sudden we could hear great excitement in the men’s voices that chatter continuously on the two way radio.  It seems a rhinoceros had been spotted.  Christopher said he had not seen a rhinoceros in the park for six or seven years.  Sure enough, after maneuvering over the trails, we came upon the rhinoceros having his or her breakfast and quite unconcerned with all the attention from several vans of tourists.  According to the guide book, it is rare to see a rhinoceros on safari.



As we continued our search for lion, we spotted a giraffe standing like a statue under a tree fairly close by.  We drove right up to this giraffe, taking all kinds of pictures and admiring this unusual animal.  Then behind the giraffe we noticed a young elephant moving along at a faster clip than seemed normal for an elephant.  Christopher thought the elephant was going to find water, so we left the giraffe under the tree and followed the elephant—all from the safety of the van, of course.  A little further down the trail, sure enough, there was the small elephant with his trunk in the ground, apparently getting water from a source we couldn’t see.

From Family Visit

From Family Visit

About this time our young elephant friend decided he or she didn’t like being stalked.  This young elephant got in front of our van in the middle of the trail in a challenging position.  Christopher then gunned the van motor and the elephant took off.  I am thinking if the elephant had been larger we wouldn’t have done all that, but all’s well that ends well.

The final big event of our morning safari was our encounter with the true king of the safari.  After hearing a lot of chatter on the radio, we noticed a number of other vans heading for this one clump of bushes.

From Family Visit

The first thing we noticed was a dead animal fairly close to the trail.  Then Christopher got off the trail (a no-no) and pulled around the bush so that we could observe the large male lion lying under the brush, yawning, licking his chops, and showing off his huge teeth.  This was at very close range.  We took our pictures and got out of there. 



After lunch and rest at the lodge, we went out into the reserve one more time that afternoon.  We saw two female lion, but not at such close range.  We also observed a cheetah up in a tree, also at long range.  The big game was so overwhelming that I have forgotten to mention the ostriches, emu, and many unusual birds that we observed.  We felt that we had had an outstanding safari experience.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

What an unusual way to spend Christmas Eve!  We got a fairly early start for our drive back to Nairobi.  Before getting totally out of the reserve, we had our last significant encounter with wildlife—a whole troop of baboons beside the road—quite entertaining.

Halfway back, we stopped at a trading post for a break.  Patrick saw a drum he liked, and Tom was attracted by a small piece of animal sculpture.  However we didn’t think these items were worth $60 each, which was the asking price, so we left with no souvenirs.  After getting settled back into our room at AACC, we walked up the street to eat at the Chicken Inn. 

Thursday, December 25, 2008

The big event of our day was our invitation to dine at Rev. Byrd’s at 3 p.m.  When we first entered the large living room, we went around and shook hands with all the other guests who were seated in sofas and chairs which bordered the room.  The guest list totaled twenty—four Quirings, six YAV’s and the rest were family and friends of our hosts.  After a bit, Tom and I (as the oldest guests) were invited to wash our hands first.  This apparently is a Kenyan custom, which of course makes a lot of sense.  Anyway, everyone present had to wash their hands before eating.  As the longest married, Tom and I were the first in line to enter the dining room where a large table was loaded with delicious food including pumpkin pudding with marshmallows and a turkey looking just like a Norman Rockwell picture.  We ate in the living room with the help of small tables strategically placed around the room.  Three kinds of desserts were available.  In the course of the evening, the YAV’s exchanged gifts, sang Christmas carols, and toasted the health of all with wine and fruit punch.  It was wonderful to be able to share Christmas Day with Robert, his YAV friends, and our generous hosts.

From Family Visit

Friday, December 26, 2008

Since many Nairobi citizens return to their villages for the Christmas holiday, the streets were quieter than usual as Robert and Rodgers drove us to the airport in the AEE van.  We made it in plenty of time.  It was very hard to part from Robert! 

We considered ourselves very fortunate because the plane from Nairobi to London was almost empty.  We felt free to move around during the flight.  Both Tom and I took window seats, and I was surprised to discover that a person can actually see the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, the Alps, and the English Channel including the white cliffs of Dover, from 30,000 feet.  As we approached the airport, flying over the city of London, I could recognize several famous landmarks, which was a thrill for me.  But by the time we landed and got situated in our hotel, it was too late to do any sightseeing.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to face our nine hour flight.  The plane was full—every seat occupied.  We were thrilled to finally get to Houston.  The flight to Tulsa seemed to take no time at all.  Our thoughtful neighbor, Linda Newton, was at the airport to greet us.

We are still a bit incredulous that we actually have experienced life in Nairobi, Kenya, that we were able to go on a safari, and that once again all of our family was together at Christmas.

Helen