Bits and Pieces - This and That

Well yes, this REALLY IS Joy posting now. I know that some other posts say that they are from Joy but don't believe everything you read. (I did write the post on Mt. Carmel though.)

And no, the picture at the right is NOT me. It's Renie, my roommate, and I just happen to like the photo! I took it at the ruins of the synagogue at Chorazin.

The purpose of this post is to fill in the blanks. We've been trying so hard to convey all the spectacular sites, that we haven't given you all the other "stuff". So here it goes:

The buses are top o' the line Mercedes Benz buses. They are amazingly comfortable and they seem to be able to navigate even the tightest of curves on some of these old roads. Or, perhaps it is the skill of our wonderful Israeli drivers. For example, we drove through at least one minefield without incident. There are 6 buses with about 50 people per bus on the tour. Dave, Marilyn, Scott, Debbie, Renie and I are on one bus and Kitty and John are on another. We didn't want to share our bus with them or Precepts decided to put the potential trouble makers on a separate bus. You decide.

We are enjoing immensely our Israeli tour guides. They are extraordinarily knowledgable and have excellent communication skills. There is one guide per bus. Our guide is Amos (Ah-mus) and Kitty's is Etin.

Each bus has hosts from Precepts who are responsible for keeping us all in line and making sure everyone is out of the bathroom before the bus leaves a given stop.

Oh and about the bathrooms: just don't go there. One of big challenges is that we're not supposed to put the used toilet paper into the toilet, because it clogs up the plumbing. Kitty knows of at least two Holy sites that now have minor plumbing problems. It is a supreme tragedy when one waits and FINALLY gets to the front of the line and one learns that a few ladies ahead of you where forgetful about "the rules".

The food has been very, very good. We eat breakfast (6:30 am) at the hotel before we leave and then dinner back at the hotel at 7 pm. Kitty still looks suspiciously at the fish selections in the early morning. And they look back at her. Many of the selections are traditional Israeli fare and Kitty says we are yearning for a taco.

The coffee is excellent. Even Dave Utterback agrees.

The currency is shekels. Until a few moments ago, I had many. Now I have none. I decided to splurge and spring out the shekels for a REAL Coke for me and Scott and that was that. Two Cokes cost 24 shekels or $8. That will be my last Coke until we touch down in the USA.

We tried to have our first devotions together this morning before breakfast at 6:30 out by the water. However, one of us didn't make it at all (zzzzzzz), two forgot their Bibles, one was in Joshua when she was supposed to be in Judges (figuring any "J" book would suffice), and one person was discovered to have brought her John MacArthur study Bible (gasp!) on the Precepts Study Tour. Only one person, the leader and his lovely wife of 25 years, was awake.

We are staying at the Gai Beach Hotel which is on the northwestern shore of Sea of Tiberias (aka Galiliee). http://www.gaibeachhotel.com/ As you will see from the photos, this hotel is lovely and has a large water park complex. However, Renie has tried twice to use the outdoor pool and learned that we don't swim past 5pm at the Gai Beach. Today, Scott and John got all decked out in their kowabunga duds and decided to try the water slide. Again, they were disappointed. So they are now down in the spa soaking in the hot tub with the walking wounded.

The rooms are adequate, each with a patio overlooking the pool area adjacent to the shore. Kitty wants everyone to know that the towels are thin. But Kitty dutifully reminds herself, "no gongusmos" which loosely translated means "no murmuring or complaining".

I'm sure that you can tell from all the postings here that we're really enjoying this trip. It is amazing to see the Bible really come alive as we are taught in various locations. Now to close...because the rule of this blog is that there is Scripture in every post, I will say, "Today is the the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad it in!"