Israel Souvenirs

I realized as I prepared for the Holy Land fireside I presented last week that I never posted the pics of what I bought. I also realized I never posted pictures of some of the places we stopped at that didn't fit into any post (like the Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, which might be one of the most incredible and haunting places I have ever visited) or follow up stories about the group. Well, I won't trouble with the group post because as funny or irritating as certain tour member's quirks were, it's rather snarky to poke fun at other people (even as I write this...my fingers are twitching to share the harmonica playing/garage band sharing/break out into a solo in a church just because scenes with one particular member but I won't. Gah!) but I will include an update on the low talking married couple because there was a lot interest in them.

They went home. When they both chose to stay behind at the hotel rather than ride a boat on the Sea of Galilee, I felt so annoyed at their young, ignorant choices. The next day, when we drove down through the West Bank and stopped at the baptismal site of Christ, WHICH HAD ONLY BEEN REOPENED TO THE PUBLIC FOR TWO YEARS, they stayed on the bus, and quietly sang to each other while sharing a pair of headphones. I may have rolled my eyes while simultaneously wanting to slap them for not getting the bigger picture. That night, they hired a car to take them back to Tel Aviv from the Dead Sea and flew back to Utah 5 days early, missing the Jerusalem stop completely. What our tour guide explained was that the husband suffered from extreme homesickness and it was his first time away from home. I'm not sure how old he was but she admitted during a group game to being born in 1995, making her 17 unless her birthday had already happened in early January. The trip was a wedding/honeymoon present from her mom and after lots of calls between the parents and the tour guides, the decision was made to send them home and both seemed a lot happier after that. Moral of the story is: DO NOT buy an expensive tour to the Holy Land with a choir for you child and her new husband without knowing if he suffers from extreme homesickness.  It makes my head hurt thinking of all that expense and missed experiences but I wish them all the best.

Now, onto my purchases. I knew I wanted an olive wood nativity so tried my best to stay out of the shops until I had found a nativity. I did o.k. I found a few things I thought the boys would like here and there and got pictures of them all except a panoramic poster of Jerusalem for Henry (he loves maps and posters and pinned it to his wall right away). Without further ado:

Here is my nativity.  It is much larger than what I thought I'd get but they just kept talking me into bigger and more intricately carved sets once they got their hooks in me. Ultimately, I wanted an heirloom set that I'd love for the next 50 years and splurged. Even with the "50% discount" they insisted they were giving our group, I still spent $750 on it. I know. I'm tacky by talking money. Dowager Countess of Grantham would be horrified that I am mentioning prices in polite society but, who knows, maybe in 50 years, that will seem like a steal. Plus, I had no idea how much nativities cost when I started looking and was a little shell shocked at their cost. You can find some really cheap looking ones for around $100 but there are also some mighty grand ones for thousands of dollars. Consider my tackiness a public service announcement.





The reason I liked it so much is because it had an extra shepherd, and I already told you how enamored I am with the shepherd of the nativity after visiting Bethlehem and Shepherd's field, but I also liked it because it included a woman. There is no doubt in my mind after learning so much about life during Christ's time and Judaism that there would have been a woman present at Jesus's birth. Someone would have been there to help Mary. She probably wasn't holding a bowl on her head, but maybe she was carrying hot water. I will never need a wood creche as a backdrop because after seeing where he was born, I believe it happened in a cave. So, when I see a nativity inside a hollowed out rock, then I will be tempted to get the extra piece, but, in the meantime, all I want are the figures.




In addition to the nativity, I really wanted a beautiful olive wood carving that showed Peter and Christ on the Sea of Galilee. Christ was standing on top of the water but Peter was half submerged and both were extending their hands out to each other. I love this scripture story and Peter's faith, then doubt, then Christ's mercy and help and would have loved to get that as well but it was $450 and I was definitely out of spending money.  I found this picture online. It isn't mine.


I wish my table were in better condition or I had thought to put a table cloth on to hide the embarrassing lack of varnish. Oh well.  My furniture is not perfect.




I bought these beautiful blue opal earrings after shaking off the diamond jewelry saleslady in Tiberias. She really didn't seem to get that I didn't have thousands of dollars to spend on gemstone jewelry but seemed pleased when I finally said I could afford these for $40.  It's probably done on purpose and they are not even worth $40 but after looking at so many things out of my price range, they lead you to this kitschy room on the way out that has affordable things. Most anyone who purchased anything did so in this room, although a few people did buy the pricey stuff. One man bought a loose diamond. Fancy.




I bought Jay and myself some camel leather sandals because I was inspired to emulate Jesus down to his footwear. These were super cheap and only cost $15 each. They even put a cigarette lighter up to the shoe to show it was real leather! Jay's sandals are the picture above and mine are below.







Getting something for Seth stumped me. I thought about some arab headwear but it never seemed to be available when I thought of it so when I saw this shirt, I thought, "Perfect." They had them in the old royal BYU blue but it was just a silk screen so I asked for a navy t-shirt instead.




I got Sam a David's sling.




Daniel got this stuffed lamb. It "baaa"s.




I also bought these books that have pictures and drawings of the places we visited.

I brought this back for Patty to thank her for all her help in watching Daniel for three days. I have the best sister-in-law and my kids have the best aunt! I really liked these more contemporary carvings that left the images faceless. Reminds me of Willow Tree and seems more reverent, somehow.&nbsp


Sorry, weird catch up post!

How Can I Keep From Singing?

The tour I chose to go on was called "Touring the Holy Land Through Music" through Morris Murdock Travel. For me, it combined three of my great passions: travel, faith and music.

I didn't know what to expect in terms of a choir. There was no audition process so I wasn't expecting thought the choir to be Mo-Tab caliber or anything close, but I also couldn't imagine someone who can't sing to choose this particular tour of Israel.

I'd say our tour choir was comparable to a really good ward choir. All four parts could be heard but not every singer had a strong voice. Some struggled to even match pitch. And yet, in the hands of Brady Allred, a very competent conductor and whom Maureen studied under while she got her masters at the U of U (which is how she found out about the tour and consequentially how I found out about the tour), we sounded much better than most ward choirs. Just like a good coach, a good conductor can turn adequate into something more.

We were told from the get go that our tour was not a vacation. Between visiting all of the sites that really shouldn't be missed if you are going to travel to such a historically loaded place, and rehearsing music for two separate performances, we were usually up by 6am and not back to our hotel rooms until 8pm or later. I worried about all of that go-go-go before I went, because I am someone who likes and needs down time, but I discovered that I not only did fine, I enjoyed it all. There were a few nights when I inwardly groaned thinking about rehearsing for an hour after dinner, but I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy each practice. I usually dislike rehearsals, mostly due to the time it takes for all the sections to learn and go through parts, but Dr. Allred could combine part learning with all the other sounds he wanted out of us. Vowels, glottal stops, diction and breath were seamlessly rehearsed alongside the inevitable, "This is your note, tenors," moments. And those are the kinds of details that make choral music fun to sing and beautiful to listen to.

Besides our two performances with Israeli choirs, we sang everywhere. We sang "Come Follow Me" in the Galilee and "More Holiness Give Me" at the place of the last supper. We sang "Israel, Israel, God Is Calling" on the bus and "Silent Night" in the grotto of Bethlehem. We sang "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" at the Garden Tomb and "The Lord's Prayer" at the Church of the Beatitudes, where he taught the prayer. We sang, "I Need Thee Every Hour," in the prison pit under Caiaphus' house and "The Lord Is My Shepherd," inside the cave at Shepherd's Field. We really sang anywhere they'd let us and it always added something extra to the stop.




Inside the room of the last supper.  It has changed hands many times and from the gothic arches, was obviously in the hands of the Crusaders at one point.





When the muslims had control, they covered one of the windows with a muslim prayer altar.  Such a juxtaposition of different faiths.





One of the Israeli choirs performing for us.



We sang in this church near the pools of Bethesda.  The acoustics were amazing.



We went to John the Baptist's birthplace and sang in a church dedicated to his life.









Maureen was the unofficial accompanist, although she had to pay for her tour as well.  She said she didn't mind so I was outraged for the both of us.  It was very nice to have her there.  Her talent greatly improved our overall sound.



We sang, "God So Loved The World" here.

It was a holy experience and because music penetrates spirit, it was often during those moments of song that I got it. That I understood the importance and reality of what had happened at that spot.

When we came to the bottom of the Mount of Olives and came to Gethsemane, I expected an almost overwhelming feeling of wonder to come over me. The acts that took place there are the very core of my testimony and perhaps my expectations were too high, but inside the church, where the bedrock believed to be the stone Christ prayed and suffered upon, I felt nothing extra. In fact, because the inside of the church was under construction, I actually felt annoyed. Bothered. Definitely disappointed. A new priest had also put the kibbosh on our group entering into the garden area with the Olive trees and the whole stop seemed to be one giant fail until we gathered as a group outside of the church and sang, "I Stand All Amazed." This has never been a favorite hymn of mine. I don't love the melody and the chorus often sounds shrill because it is high but as we stood in a relative circle and sang the second verse, about marveling that Christ would descend from his throne to rescue a soul as rebellious and proud as mine, well, the words couldn't have been more true. I'm certain I couldn't have had that moment of remembering the whys and the love of Gethsemane if the visit hadn't included the song. The music of that hymn and singing it as a choir penetrated my heart and I was able to receive an answer to prayer that I was dangerously close to missing.




Somewhere in there is the bedrock.








This was the area outside the church where we sang. You can see how there is rock everywhere.  I'm not sure why I thought it was limited to inside the church.

We learned some non-hymns too that were so fun to sing. We sang a beautiful arrangement of "The Lord Is My Shepherd," that can be sung anywhere because jewish people aren't offended by it as it is a Psalm of David. Likewise, we got to sing, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," which became my favorite song from the entire tour. David really knew what he was talking about when describing the Lord. Not only are the words perfect but the arrangement by Shelley always brought a smile to face while singing. Uplifting and powerful and true.




David and his harp

We had to sing the spiritual, "Hush! Somebody's Callin' My Name," way too much. I remember when traveling to Europe with a choir after high school graduation singing a lot of spirituals and the audience responding favorably as well. Even though our group was about as white-bred as possible, I suppose simply being from America gave legitimacy to the performance. We also learned a piece called, "The Dream Isaiah Saw," about the lamb and the lion finally being able to lie down together and it such an appropriate piece of music to sing in a place where the lamb and lion are in constant war. We never quite managed to perform it as its meant to be performed, because we sang it with an Israeli choir as a combined piece and didn't have time to polish some rather rough parts, but it was fun to learn. We even learned a few Hebrew songs. I can totally make that sound like I'm attempting to bring up phlegm from the back of my throat. It's weird to do it mid-sentence while singing, but fun nonetheless.




Rehearsing with the combined choir.  Maureen at the electric keyboard.  I am standing right behind Dr. Allred's head.



We performed our final concert at St. Andrew's Scottish church.  Neutral ground, I guess:)


I wish I would have had somebody take a picture of me with some of the Israeli singers I spoke to after the concert.  Not only did I have my best hair of the trip (I curled it with a curling iron) but they were so interesting to talk and listen to.



Rocking the keyboard.  Even though she did have to pay full-price for the tour, she did get a tulip after the concert.  That makes things more even, right?



The best part is that without even trying, those musical memories will stay longer with me than any others. I have no doubt that down the road someday, I'll be singing one of the hymns that was sung at these various sites and, whoosh, I'll be right back there. Seeing it and feeling it all over again. That is the power of music. What a blessing to have that additional dimension to the tour.

Is It Safe?

I really didn't know much about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before traveling to the part of the world that seems to have belonged to everyone and no one since the beginning of time. After spending 10 days there watching and reading and learning as much as I could, I can say I still don't understand all of it and probably never will. As our Israeli tour guide often replied following a question from somebody about it, or about a border, or ownership of land, or the history, "Well," followed with a pause, "it is complicated."  It really depends on who you ask.

All of the signs are trilingual.  Hebrew is at the top.  Its letters or sounds are boxy.  Arabic is in the middle.  I think it looks beautiful, like drawing.  Then, good ol' English.  We English speakers are so lucky that it is the universal tourist language.  

For a Palestinian point of view, read this blogger's explanation.  For a moderate Jewish perspective, read this news article.

All of that history and turmoil often makes news outlets like CNN and the BBC put Israel in the global hot seat. When you watch the news, it feels like the most dangerous place on earth to be.  The most common question I have received pre and post travel to Israel has been, "Is it safe to go there?" I purchased my trip and airfare in October and never really gave that question too much thought. After the escalation in the Gaza Strip in mid November, when missiles were fired at both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the first time since the 1990s that either city has been directly targeted, I wondered about safety and thought the trip would likely be cancelled.

After what must have been lots of time on the phone, Steve Perry called to reassure each of us that the tour was still on and that it really is a safe place to visit. I accepted his more experienced perspective but was glad I had purchased trip insurance, just in case.

Israel is, in fact, a safe place to visit. The northern coastline and central part of the country, around the Sea of Galilee, felt much like traveling through Idaho but with more history. Major world empires haven't been conquered and lost in the potato state. Still, we traveled through lots of farmland and small towns dotted the landscape. Homes were essentially in good repair and there were plenty of gas stations to fuel most people's small compact cars. I'm sure there are also some not so safe areas up there, just like Idaho Falls probably has a sketchy sections, but that seems to have more to do with socioeconomic disparity than ideological and racial land disputes.

When we left the north and traveled through the West Bank to get to the Dead Sea and then to Jerusalem, it did feel different...more tense. More stressful. More disparity between wealthy and poor. More like any big city in the US with its good neighborhoods and bad. There is definitely more security  at places.

I think Israel takes many precautions to make itself safe for tourism. To begin with, I could not check in and print my boarding passes for my flight there online. The United agent confirmed my suspicions that it was because of my final destination. All tickets to Tel Aviv require confirmation of passport documentation by the airline before a boarding pass is printed.

There was also a secure gate at the international airport in Newark, New Jersey. My ticket simply read "C 138" but when I found 138, next to gates 135, 136 and 137 with flights going to Munich and London and Frankfurt, there were walls completely surrounding it with a roped off entry on either side. When TSA agents arrived an hour before take-off, our passports needed to be shown again as well as a mandatory carry-on bag search and having our bodies wanded by detectors (metal? I don't know. You just had to stand with your arms out while they moved a machine around the silhouette of your body). Then we had to show our passports again with our boarding passes before walking down the Tarmac.

The flight was normal until the last hour before landing. The stewards passed out breakfast and then we were instructed to use the restrooms if necessary because it is against Israeli law to have anyone out of their airplane seat 30 minutes before landing. As soon as we passed into Israeli air space, we were in our seats.

Customs wasn't nearly as big of deal as I thought it would be after all of that. Perhaps it was the United States passport I carried but I stood in a line exclusive to those with an Israeli or US passport and answered a few simple questions about the purpose of my trip while doing my best to understand the customs agent's thick accent and then had 7 hours to kill in relative comfort. I'm sure a visitor with an Egyptian or Asian passport would have a much more intense experience. In fact, I know some holding passports from countries hostile to Israel cannot fly into Tel Aviv at all.

Even though I compared some areas to Idaho and others to bigger US cities, I was surprised that Israel felt as poor as it did.  I'm not sure how much has to do with wealth as much as it has to do with space. Almost everyone lives in apartments. Almost everyone hangs their laundry out to dry. Almost all of the building seems more akin to methods used in Mexico or Thailand, concrete and rebar, and it seemed like there were lots of new buildings abandoned or older buildings abandoned.  It all being concrete, it was hard to tell.  I was expecting more wealth.  The muslim communities are very poor.  There is lots of garbage and derelict homes. Regardless of the economy, it felt safe. There were no angry mobs,  hostile demonstrations or military patrols.

A poorer muslim neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

When we left the Galilee, we passed a checkpoint that didn't even require our bus slowing down. We had just passed into the West Bank which is in "Israel" kinda sorta. This is disputed land which used to belong to Jordan but Israel won/took in the Six Day War in 1967.  Before that, Jordan controlled the entire area, including the Old City part of Jerusalem. When Israel defeated the Jordanians, almost a million Palestinians became refugees. This time of history, the 1970s to modern day, is when terrorism as we understand it began. After Israeli soldiers were killed by terrorism along the border, Israel threatened the government of Jordan with full retaliation if they didn't deal with their border issues and, according to our Israeli guide, who, I am sure has her own historical bias, Jordan's King Hussein's solution was to slaughter the refugees. That led to their fleeing to Lebanon, another border country which used to be harmless, to be another trouble spot of terrorism.

But, things with Jordan are better now and that border is considered peaceful. We got to visit the baptismal site of Christ with ease. The checkpoints in and out of the West Bank are patrolled by Israelis those wanting to enter Israeli controlled land are going to get stopped but going in the opposite direction was met with no resistance.  I can see how that might cause some hard feelings.

This explains it all.

Checkpoint into Jerusalem.

Someone's getting searched.  

After crossing in and out of the West Bank several times and then traveling outside of Israeli controlled land into Bethlehem, which is separated by a huge concrete border fence about 20 feet high, I have wondered what is to become of this land. The signs in Palestine, intended for the many Christian pilgrims to read, say,"Pray for the freedom of Palestine." I will admit that I felt less comfortable there, with the heavier Muslim presence and higher level of poverty, compared to Jewish controlled areas. I hope that my own bias and indoctrination doesn't blind me to truth and reason, although I am sure they do. I just admitted as much. We were perfectly safe in Bethlehem. And yet, I felt less so.

You can see the security fence.  Resembles the Berlin Wall, in my opinion.  Families are literally separated. 

Blurry graffiti on the Palestinian side of the wall as we drove by on the bus.

Jerusalem is a divided city and, as such, there is much more security. Coming as neutral tourists with money (although one angry man accused Maureen and I of loving Jews more than Arabs after we won't accept his help as a day tour guide), I felt like we were welcomed everywhere. Not that any of them seemed to particularly like Americans but their economy does want and need our money! The most heavily guarded area of Old Jerusalem was to get to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. We had to go through detectors and have bag searches to get to the Western Wall and an armed officer simply told us to turn around when Maureen and I got to an entrance that was open only to muslims. There are a lot of Israeli solders in training in the Jewish quarter and there is security on the Jewish side up on the ramparts checking tickets. I guess I will say that while in Jerusalem I didn't feel Idaho safe but more like rock concert safe. They are going to check your bags.

Israel is pretty friendly with the US.  All Israeli citizens are required by law to serve in the army for 2 years when they are 18. 

Part of their training is to go to the same exact sites we visited and learn about history.

Western Wall security

I took this picture up on the rampart. It's hard to see but this ruin, within the Old City but in the muslim quarter, is filled with trash.  Plastic bottles and plastic bags.  I try to understand why difference between the Jewish and Christian quarters and the muslim quarter, which has trash everywhere, and I think it has to do with the level of education.  I'm not sure these families know about decomposition and just how long those bottles and bags are going to sit there. 

The most intense scrutiny came when leaving the country. Taking off shoes and walking through a metal detector is like sandbox play compared to getting on a plane at Ben Gurion airport.  To even approach the ticket counter, I was asked a series of questions from security. Why did I come to Israel?  Where did I go? Have my bags been with me the entire time? What did I buy? Was I given any gifts? All with no smiles or happy eyes. This was no farewell committee bidding me adieu.

Once I answered the questions to some satisfaction, a sticker with a barcode was attached to my luggage.  It then had to go through an X-Ray scanner.  I can't imagine what inside my suitcase sent up a red flag, but I then had to proceed to the area for a bag check.

I had to open my luggage and they checked everything.  They wanded everything with a plastic stick with a microfiber cloth on the end and then placed the cloth on a scanner that checked for explosive material.  Something failed and they did it again. Then, I had to put everything back in and go back to X-Ray.  Then, I got to go check into my flight.

I thought that would be it but there was more security to go through.  All of my carry-ons were also personally checked and swiped for explosive materials.  More questions were asked about where I purchased such and such.  With their accents, I wasn't always able to answer right away as my brain had to process the question first and I felt a bit like a criminal.  It took me over an hour to get through security.

Entering the US again was almost just as hard.  The customs agents were taking about 4 minutes per person (I started timing when the line was moving so slowly) and I didn't have much cushion time before my next leg, even though I had an over 2 hour layover in New Jersey.

My point is, all of the security makes Israel as safe as a place can be. I'd say it's as safe as visiting any place in the US. I know there is a lot of turmoil and that things constantly change but if you have any inclination to go and the safety issue is what might be holding you back, well, then...you should go.  Really. I'm sure glad I went and I'm very glad I was safe. I do pray for peace in that land and for the people that live there. I will continue to observe and learn as best I can and be thankful for the safety precautions taken which allowed me to enjoy an amazing part of the world. It's a wonderful place to visit.  It truly had it all.



If the walls could speak, I wonder what they would say?  Who deserves this land?

My Favorite Stop #1 - The Fisher of Men

The Sea of Galilee is actually a freshwater lake.  In Israel, it is known as Lake Kinneret.  This is the area of Israel where Christ spent most of his adult life and gained most of his followers.  Eleven of his twelve disciples, all but Judas, came from the Galilee.  Mary Magdalene was from the Galilee. Most of the villages where the miracles of Christ were performed are now mere discovered ruins with churches built on top (of course).  Maybe the lack of modernism was what made the water and the land feel so tranquil and reverent.



Our first stop was the Mount of Beatitudes where Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount.  It is atop a hill above a natural amphitheater where a large crowd could have gathered to listen.  I don't know if he spoke from the top of the hill or from the bottom.  My guess would be at the bottom, as that seems to be how theaters are designed to carry sound, but no angel has revealed to me the exact spot.  The church the celebrates the spot is at the top.



It is a beautiful octagonal chapel with the eight beatitudes taking a side each.



This picture has him up at the top too.  Hmmm.



View from the hill where the church sits.  You can see the gentle slope where the multitudes would have sat.


We next traveled a mile or so west to the small village of Tabgha, an lush area well described in the scriptures with seven springs that deposit into the Galilee and create a warmer water temperature attractive to fish.  I imagine Peter, James, John and the other fisherman spending time here when Jesus called to them to follow Him.  At this spot, Christ performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes.



The stone beneath this altar is believed to be the stone Christ laid the loaves of bread upon.

Christ later appeared to his disciples at Tabgha.  His resurrected body dined with them.  This is where Christ instructed Peter to feed his sheep and spread the gospel.




A large olive oil press discovered.  Baskets of olives would be filled and pressed by the heavy stone.  The first press would extract what is known as Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  One theory of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, was that the oil used in the temple menorah was extra virgin olive oil from the Galilee.  The four days it took to get there and back from Jerusalem are the eight days the single lamp of oil stayed lit.  After the extra virgin oil is extracted, the olives are again pressed two more times for a total of three presses.  Our guide pointed out that when Christ was at Gethsemane, which actually means oil press, he was also "pressed" when he prayed three separate times.

After those stops, I was looking forward to our boat ride on the water.  The marina where we bought our tickets had this display of a 2,000 year old boat found on the bottom of the sea.  They had to reinforce it with this ugly yellow foam or it would have disinigrated but they treated and left exposed a small section to see how the planks of wood looked.



The picture behind the boat is from when they raised it off the lake bottom.



A replica of the kinds of boats used in Jesus' time.




On the water!  It was a rough, windy day and I loved it!



A short video that gives perspective to the size of the lake and where the towns and villages were located.



Our guide, Steven Kapp Perry, is Janice Kapp Perry's son.  He was such a nice, humble, patient man and not cheesy at all.  He apologized for his voice, which is actually very nice, and sang his mother's song, "Jesus Was No Ordinary Man."  It brought me back to my days in Young Womens and was a nice moment.

Then, our boat captain, Daniel, who was Christian, took over and brought a more evangelical spirit to the boat.  It was fun listening to him and singing along with him.




Of course, he had his CDs for sale when he finished.  I loved his crew.  Check out the guy rocking the keyboard and backup vocals and the substitute boat driver that reminded me of Pitbull.



Maureen and I didn't need too much encouragement to sing along.



We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that, I'm sure, deals exclusively with Christian tourists.  We had two choices. Chicken kabobs or St. Peter's fish.  The fish was claimed to have been caught fresh that morning and was a mild Tilapia.  I like tilapia and when was I going to get another chance to eat the very kind of fish Christ's disciples would have caught and eaten? I chose the fish.



And then I almost cried when the fish came.  This is not how I eat fish.  I don't even like to eat chicken drumsticks because it resembles the animal body part too much.  This...definitely resembled the source of the meat.

I was proud of myself. After a few moments of panic, I picked up the fish and, starting with the tail, peeled the skin from right to left exposing the flaky meat underneath.  Now, all I had to deal with were all the little bones.  I sort of scraped out as much as I could with my fork, turned the fish over and ripped it the other way.  I think I got most of the meat.  It was not a clean and neat plate when I was finished.

After lunch, we went to Capernahum, where Peter lived.



I love Peter.  I like to think all of the apostles were as nuanced and personable as Peter but, because of position or rank, didn't get as much written about them.  But, Peter, we get to know.  He has so much faith.  He follows Jesus without hesitation when asked.  He asks the best questions and gives the best answers.  He knew Christ was his savior not because of all of the miracles he witnessed but because the Holy Ghost made it known to him.  He had Christ live with him, in this very village.  They must have been great friends.



They synagogue across the way from Peter's home.  It's probably not how it would have looked during Christ's time but built upon the same land.




An example of the black stone used to build in the Galilee.  Jerusalem stone, which is a light colored limestone, is what is used in Jerusalem.  I never pictured the Savior to live in a dark stone house, but that is certainly what the walls would have been made from.

After Christ left the earth, his disciples almost immediately began to gather in his room at Peter's house. I'm sure it was a way to remember him and his teachings and to try and feel close to him.  Because of those almost immediate visits, and the distance from the hot seat of Jerusalem, scholars believe this encircled area was the very room of Christ.  It was enlarged from a single room to make room for all of the visitors early on and enlarged again after that.  And, it wouldn't be a proper Christian site without a church built on top of all of that.  This time, instead of incorporating a church into the stone, they built it like a spaceship landing above it.



The spaceship church, or St. Peter's church.



Christ's room in Peter's home.



A map explaining things. A is the synagogue and B is Christ's room. You can see how close together they were and how easy it would have been for Christ to be there.



There is a glass window built above the room to look down into the room.



What the inside of the church looks like.

I think I loved this place so much because the doctrines of Christ's gospel that I love were given here.  Here, he said, "Come follow me."  I am not always the most willing follower, but this visit reminded me of why I made the choice to follow him and encouraged me to follow still.