Israel Trip Day Three

Well, I should be asleep right now. It is around 2 in the morning. When your body says "you should be awake" there is not much you can do about it.

It is very quiet in the hotel. All I can hear outside is the sound of gunfire and explosions in the distance (Just kidding Alan). Actually, the streets are quiet too. Mandy's breathing and the noise from our battery-operated sound machine fill the room. (When we laid down... it sort of sounded like "rain" but now it sounds like digital rain falling on a working electric train track. There are some weird noise patterns in this thing) I'm hoping the batteries wear out soon.

Most everyone in Israel speaks English as their second language. Most signs are in Hebrew and English (most but not all). The funny thing so far is something that I have always wanted but now I have it, is sort of weird. The elevators (There are 5 in this hotel) will show you which door will open "way" before the door opens. So if you push "up" an arrow above a certain door will light up. It may not open for 4 more minutes, but at least you know which one to wait in front of. Not a bad feature.

Once again, I am in another country that loves sports we know little of in the US. Mandy and I watched a handball game on TV briefly. Looks fun. Sort of like Water Polo...without the water.

The currency rate is 3.5 to 1. But we have been told, don't argue over some rough calculations when purchasing things. 3-to-1 is easier to do in your head and most people wing the price of things anyway. Their dollar is called a shekel still, but the shekel in the Bible was made with silver (I believe) and means "weight." This currency is obviously not based on a gold/silver standard anymore, I would guess.

Its going to be a whirlwind tour, I can already tell. Between packing, eating, loading, touring, bathing, and following instructions, it will be real difficult to log on and upload to the blog, but we enjoy it and will do our best.

A great day here in Tel Aviv. After sleeping in till 10:30am (boy we needed that), we got ready for our 11:30 meeting with the entire IFL and DTS staff. We learned of our responsibilities and some facts about the tour we needed to know. We then had a good lunch at the hotel. A few of us (6) decided to go to the port city of Joppa (or Joffa) about a mile and a half walk down the shoreline.

The ocean was very blue, almost Caribbean blue but the pictures really do not do it justice. Sort of cold but swimmable... just not for us.
The city itself was on a hill, which I can only guess, was done on purpose since ships could see high ground first when looking for land. Most of the town looks "old" and is not littered with modern buildings or shops. I think it would be a fun 3-4 day weekend destination. Beautiful views, a cool wind, and clean streets. We could better understand why in Acts Peter went to the rooftop to take a nap. We saw many roofs with small gardens and could tell the cool breeze felt better on the high places in town. (our first.. "now I get it moment")
We came back to the hotel to greet some buses and travelers arriving from the airport. We actually met a small group from Van Alstyne this evening.

Before dinner we (and a part of the Stiles family) took time to stroll down a local market. It was crowded, noisy, and frankly dirty. But very authentic and part of the everyday life here. Fresh fruit, bread, olives, spices, peppers, cheese, and even a few t-shirts. We walked through a city park and took pictures in front of a small olive grove and at the beach.
The evening ended with a large dinner and meeting of 700ish people in a room. We were introduced as Bus 6 (The Plum Bus) host and hostess. Tomorrow I may have to speak in front of 700 people and explain the video blog we are working on each day. Not looking forward to that.

We are headed to bed and getting ready for a big day in the morning. Miss the kids and hope they get to take this trip of a lifetime sometime in the future.