These are some of the pictures I took while I was in Jordan, Israel and Palestine, brought to you a mere 7 months after my return from said countries. Sadly, I've shrunken them all down considerably, so if they are pixelated, my apologies. I did not have the patience to upload enormous, yet terribly clear, photographs.
Anyway, I am getting extraordinarily close to finishing my written summary of this trip (which I started in January and then abandoned until now). I need to go back through and sort out the details, try and cut out the boring parts and make it somewhat readable.
For now, I give you the following however-many photographs while I sit back and enjoy my few days of limitless wireless internet access.
Just a Palestinian bloke, feeding the birds. I think this is in Bethlehem.
My friend Jessica, doing some Talmud reading atop some synagogue ruins in Israel.
I took this picture in Jordan during a lunch break. I was eating falafel on pita and frankly, a steal at [the equivalent of $1.25), it was fantastic.
During the same lunch break, we went wandering. These were some Barbies in a toy store we found.
One of many Cathedrals. To be honest, I would have to look up which one this is. I think it is at the place that commemorates the feeding of the five thousand.
The Sea of Galilee. Admittedly, one of the most meaningful places.
A church beside the Sea of Galilee. It stands at the place that is recognized as the spot where Peter had his coming-to-terms with Jesus.
This building is on the hill that is recognized as the place where the Sermon on the Mount took place.
We stopped off and took a mini-hike outside of Nazareth. To say it was beautiful would be to say too little.
Masada. We took the cable car up and then hiked/ran back down. It was the beginning of some severe, severe muscle work-outs.
A cave we found on Masada. There were several places to climb and walk and hike and wander on top of Masada.
My dear friend Elizabeth, tribal dancing on top of Masada.
A very typical street in Bethlehem. The decorations are up because it was almost Armenian Christmas when we were there.
Inside the Church of the Nativity
The highly revered place (located in the caves beneath the Church of the Nativity) which is recognized as the birth place of Jesus.
Some coffee salesmen in front of the Church of the Nativity, selling coffee that is at least 9 times better than anything Starbucks can whip up.
Another typical Bethlehem street
All over in Nazareth, and especially in Bethlehem, there are barbed wire fences and lots of rubble, remains from all-too-recent attacks.
A woman in front of the wall that surrounds Palestinian Bethlehem. The large photographs on the wall are part of the big art project Face to Face, which I had studied prior to this trip and which I didn't dream I'd be privileged enough to actually ever see.
Some Palestinians walking in front of the wall (this is all inside the wall, by the way, despite how it looks)
More of the wall and some of the graffiti that covers it
This is a piece by the artist Banksy, of whom I am a quite a fan and whose work I did not expect to ever have the honor of seeing
This is just some graffiti in Bethlehem that we saw on our way back from the wall
Behind this Bar Mitzvah family photo stands the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. This is actually quite far away from the wall itself, as there are crowds of people praying against the wall that aren't visible in this picture.
The Temple Mount (or Dome of the Rock) in Jerusalem
The facade of the Church of the Condemnation, which stands facing the Church of Flagellation in Jerusalem
Sneaking pictures of some guards in Jerusalem
A fellow standing in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on what is believed by many (but not all) to be Golgotha
These are just some kittens I saw on the roof of a building in Jerusalem.
A courtyard at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
In the courtyard at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
A stand in the market of the Islamic quarter of Jerusalem
This is a Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem, overlooking the city. There's a Jewish funeral taking place under the blue tarpaulin.
Our group lined up along the edge of a hill/mountain in the "wilderness" around Jerusalem and threw rocks off of the edge for an embarrassing amount of time. It was amusing. This is the sort of place in which the parable of the Good Samaritan would have taken place.
We discovered some fossils on the rock piles.
There were Russian Orthodox women swarming all of the sites that day. Maybe it is normal, maybe they were just in season (or maybe they were Armenian, in town for Christmas?). I am not sure, and feel bad for not knowing.
We took a lunch break in Jericho, which was a wonderful, wonderful little town that had delicious falafel and pleasant streets.
Some ruins in Jordan, and our Jordanian guide Faras (Firas?)
One pink house in Jerash, Jordan
This was a tree with some good carvings on the mountain where Moses is believed to have seen the Promised Land before he died.
My friend Elizabeth finding oddities in the Dead Sea. It was too cold for a swim so we settled with exploring.
Inside the Basilica of the Annunciation.
We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, complete with live band and a bat.
More on the boat
More of the wall around Palestine
A bedouin family in the "wilderness" of Israel
Pieced together panoramic view of Nazareth from our hostel, which doesn't do justice
A few (of many) interesting street signs
Political propaganda was plastered everywhere
Inside our hostel in Nazareth, easily the nicest hostel I've ever encountered (the farthest right just shows that the towels had Hebrew on them)
The Jordan River, complete with baptismal stalls
Our hotel room in Amman
Our doorman at the Hotel Al Manar in Amman, where we stayed the first two nights and the last night
Some art work at a basilica in Jordan
I think this is Cave IV, though I'm not sure. It is at Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
Some guards in Jerash, Jordan... Obligatory Middle East guard photograph
A band in Jordan that played Yankee Doodle for us
This is the river in Jordan that is recognized as the place where Jacob wrestled
In Jordan in some temple ruins
And that is all for now. Hopefully soon, a written account (in which I doubt there is much interest, though I'm working on it regardless), and more and more pictures from Costa Rica.
Cheers.
