Galilee

The Sea of Galilee

 Remains of Capernum

Capernum is where Jesus preached at the synagogue, healed Peter's mother-in-law, the centurion's servant, recruited his first disciples (fisherman).

view of the Mount of Beatitudes

 public bus stop

 My lunch and supper all in one.

This hotdog was loaded with chili, onions, beets, cabbage, pickles, cucumbers and tomatoes.  $4 cdn

Just before entering the remains of Capernum

 Actor portraying a carpenter/master builder from Jesus' time.

Nazareth Village

 Matthew 5:14 "You are the Light of the World"

this oil burner is from 1st century AD

 This is our water purification system.  5 drops of each, react for 5 mins and pour into 1 litre of water.  We're told we don't need it in Israel, but it's become habit after using it in Egypt and Jordan.

Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it."

The big gate was for animals, like camels.  the smaller gate was for people.

 Olive Press from the 1st century

 Synagogue from 1st century

November 17, 2010
Today we took the public bus to an intersection around the side of the Sea of Galilee.  Then we walked for 40 minutes to get to the remains of Capernum.  By 9 am it was over 30 degrees and no shade.  After viewing the site, the walk back to the bus, uphill took us an hour.  We had a lovely view of the Mount of Beatitudes, and despite the hot sun, it was a beautiful walk along the sea (lake).  We came upon a number of rock hyrax on our walk, a mammal native to Africa.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Hyrax There are only 4 species f hyrax.

Then we took the bus in the other direction to Nazareth, a bustling city because today was the first day of a 4 day muslim holiday.  Plenty of kids on the streets, obviously no school.  This holiday, called Eid-Ul-Adha, is Festival of Sacrifice marking the day after Arafat. The Day of Arafat is the most important day in the Hajj ritual.  Seems to me guns are part of this celebration as boys, as young as 2 and even teenagers, were walking around with guns - toys I presume.  But unsettling nonetheless.  Cana and Nazareth are definitely arab towns now.  
We went to Nazareth Village, a traditional Galilean village reconstructed with actors.  It was well done, we saw the wine press and olive press, shepherds with a flock, synagogue, houses, carpenter, vineyard.  It brought to life some of the parables for sure.


We had a 45 minute wait for our bus back to Tiberas and had the pleasure of sitting and people watching.  We were on the main drag of Nazareth and it was crowded with people and vehicles.  Apparently people "cruise main" here, just as they do in small town Manitoba.  Lots of young guys with their tunes booming out of their cars, checking to see if the people sitting along the streets were watching them.  Lots of boys around the ages 10-14, most with terrible haircuts, they're doing this unsightly spiking thing with their hair, but they thought they looked so cool.  Ah, the things you miss about regular life in other countries when you take a tour.  Public transportation offers a window into the daily life of the locals.


I'm glad I came to Israel, it's something to see and experience.  But to consider it a historical holy land tour would be disappointing.  Nothing looks like it did at Jesus' time and christians have foolishly (in my opinion) plunked churches on every location of any historical significance.  While I rant on that, I should mention that all these churches do not permit you entry if your shoulders or knees are showing.  I have little patience of legalism.  They say it's because it's a holy site.  Well, if you believe you have the holy spirit, then your body is a holy site.  God created Adam and Eve naked and they were good.  I hardly think God is offended by my knees.  On the contrary, He's more likely nodding His head saying, "I made those knees, they're awesome!"  End rant.