Well the Grand Final has been run and won by Hawthorn so there will be quite a few people who will be walking tall for a day or two - in some ways I'm glad I'm not around as I'm sure there would be a few people who would be only too pleased to remind me that they beat Geelong last weekend.
Anyway, back to Israel.
This morning we headed off early to go to Jericho. Not long after leaving Jerusalem we picked up Elias, our guide who had been with us on our trip to Bethlehem and Hebron earlier in our time. Because he is a Palestinian he is not allowed to guide in Jerusalem and in fact is not allowed into Jerusalem at all.
We went first to Wadi Kelt, a little site above a valley which was quite desolate, and there we reflected on Psalm 63. It is part of the story of this land, especially whenever people travel into the Palestinian areas, that as soon as a bus or tourist vehicle of any kind stops, then people are there trying to sell trinkets or scarves of some sort or other. We were to have 25 minutes of quiet time but it was a little difficult as the young children especially tried to get into the best position so that as soon as omeone moved they could be there to offer their wares. The scenery was so desolate that it almost defied belief that people could travel through these hills and not get lost.
From there we travelled to a Monastery of St George on the way from Wadi Kelt to Jericho. It was also in a desolate place, built on the side of a hill but there was a water course that ran along the valley floor so there was some form of support of life available. Apparently there are only 4 or 5 monks living there so it would be interesting to know how they manage - it would only be with the support of some outside benefactors as there didn't seem to be any space for anything to grow.
As we headed back up the hill we were almost involved in an accident as an off-road vehicle came round the corner at speed and only just missed collecting the bus who had nowhere to go to avoid him. A few seconds later 4 more vehicles came round the next corner but we had a little more time to get ready for them - our bus driver gave them a little bit of a talking at - but we were safe from there.
Our next stop was the Mt of Temptation. When we arrived at the Centre below the Mt we found a sign saying that Jericho was the oldest city in the world - not necessarily continuously lived in - but it's been around for 10,000 years anyway.
To get to the top of the mountain, thankfully, we caught a cable car system. as we travelled up we saw below us some buses and a line of people making their way up the hill. When we got to the end of the cable care ride we still had quite a serious climb in front of us so we then became doubly glad that Ecce Homo had paid for us to get that far. There were three gondolas in each pod and their were 4 pods so that there were two up and two down which made life easier.
The little chapel of the Temptation is run by the Greek Orthodox and it seems that there are only two or three monks there - we saw two - and much of the building is unused. Sadly it had been redeveloped in the period just before the 1st Intafada and travel to the Palestine territories was restricted and not as many pilgrims come to the Holy Land anymore.
The iconography within the Chapel was impressive and we were able to go up to a little room where Jesus is reputed to have sat after his sojourn in the desert and where he was tempted by Satan to change the stones into bread. Sadly the picture isn't as clear as I would have liked but it shows the stone seat.
Back to the gondolas and the ride back down to the bottom of the Mt and then we walked to Elisha's spring - one of the reasons that Jericho has been a place where peole have lived for so long.
We had two more stops before lunch. The first was a Romanian Church which also has some amazing iconagraphy both in the church and in the crypt below. I've included a couple of photos here because the work was so amazing.
The icon in the cupola upstairs was brilliant.
Daniel in the Lion's Den
Ananias, Azariah and Mizael saved from the burning furnace.Before we got to lunch there was a short stop at the Sycamore that Zaccheus was reputed to have climbed in order to see Jesus. After having used the story so many times with Children and for Reconciliation services all I could think off was that Zaccheus would never have been seen by Jesus today as the tree is so tall.
Lunch was a meal of pita bread, salads and chips and was a pleasant little conclusion to out time in Jericho. The photos show that we weren't missing out on anything.
After getting off the bus I managed to find a money changer so that I could get some Shequels - I was almost broke - and I was able to add some to the Sisters of Sion Education Fund so that was good.
There is Mass tonight for the French Course who finish their program tomorrow so quite a few of us are going to be there in the background. Then after tea we are heading out to a Light and Sound Show up at the Tower of David so will add something about that later.
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