Greetings and salutations!

Well my friends, I know it has been a ridiculous 3 months, but the uber-update I have promised has finally arrived! I hope that you are as excited about reading it as I am about putting it together. As usual there will be two parts to this update. First off I want to mention the long forgotten story! At last point the readers had voted Kyle Brampton as the main character’s name. This has been implemented and a substantial update has been made to the story. To read it, look for the link on the left or click here.

Now, onto what we’re really waiting for! This is the final Israel update and there are finally PICTURES online! Yes you can view nearly 100 photos from my journey. It has taken quite a while to get them scanned and so on so I wanted to get them posted quickly and easily. To this end I made use of HP’s Photo Sharing service. The interface is quite simple and you can browse through any of 6 albums. To view the actual size of a picture, please look for the link on the right of the screen. I hope you enjoy the photos and please let me know what you think by email or signing the guest book. To see the photos, look for the link on the left or click here.

I want to make a few comments on what was perhaps one of the most eventful weeks spent in Israel, my last one. Having taken three months to be able to look back, I am able to do so with a new perspective. I have come to learn and appreciate things I could not have so quickly after the journey. For one thing, the entire experience has renewed the sense of the “seeker” in me. This is in the sense that I am looking for avenues of journey in my life, seeking opportunities to learn more about myself, my God, and the world around me.

One of the most fascinating people I made contact with in Israel was actually a group I had never even heard of. The Druze live in the northern part of the country and they are truly a people unto themselves. The Druze associate themselves with wherever they live, so Druze in Israel consider themselves Israelis. Officially their culture is a variation on the Arab one, though their religion is a mix of Islamic/Jewish/Christian values which is very interesting. The striking thing about the Druze is their unending hospitality and their contagious kindness and love of life. These are without doubt the most charming people I met in my travels.

Georg and I rented a car and traveled the length of the entire country over the last week of our time there. Saying goodbye to the moshav was an emotional experience. It was clearly time to move on but there is much there I will miss and I may indeed return someday, which I didn’t ever think I would. We stopped in the northern port city of Haifa which is built on a mountain. I found Haifa to be beautiful as it was more modern than Jerusalem yet more peaceful and clean than Tel Aviv. It was a very tropical and moderate city that I would love to reside in should I have the chance. Many international corporations such as Microsoft and Intel have their local offices in Haifa, and of course, that is where the Ba’hai gardens reside. We also stopped in Akko, or the old Arab city of Acre. The crusade-era architecture was a wonderful sight and the food was among some of the best I’d yet tried.

We stopped in at Rosh Hankikra, which is at the north western tip of Israel and is a series of sea caves accessible only by a cable car down the sheer cliffs. During the British occupation, Rosh Hanikra was a highly strategic site and a railroad was built through it to transport British supplies. It was later demolished by Israeli forces to keep it from falling into the hands of its enemies. We made another go of the hike at Nahal Yehudiah and stopped in at Gan Hashlosha for another swim. We then moved on to Caesarea, which Herod built for Caesar Augustus. It is a hotbed of archeology but the city itself is completely dead. After driving around fruitlessly for some time it became our utmost priority to find a Mcdonalds!

We eventually made it down to the Dead Sea where we did our floating gig. Keep in mind that this is the highest concentration of salt on earth! Yes you can float like nobody’s business, but if you ingest any of the water you will become extremely ill, and should any get into your eyes, you can go blind. Needless to say we didn’t stay all that long. So we made our way to the oasis of En Gedi. We hiked the wadi (dessert valley) and then spent some time in the spa. It was certainly the first time I ever had a mud treatment but it was actually very invigorating. After that our journey led us to Eilat, the southernmost city of Israel. It sits on the Red Sea and borders Jordan and Egypt. It is also the most commercial (read tourist) area of Israel and is essentially a resort city with all the shops, clubs, and beach life that accompanies it.

We stayed the night in Eilat and crossed the border into Jordan the next day, bound for Petra. Of course we got to the Jordanian side and they complained about my passport, so I had to walk back to the Israeli side only to be fully searched and registered again despite the fact I would be leaving right away. Finally we made it into Jordan and traveled to Aqcaba where we waited for 2 hours for a bus to Petra. The entire bus trip was highlighted by the continuous yelling/crying of an Islamic sermon being played on tape….don’t even get me started on that one. Anyway we eventually made it to Petra and proceeded past the Indiana Jones gift shops into the outer canyon. It was here that we were accosted by salesman renting horses, which to my shame I ended up giving into despite Georg’s objections. Part of it had to be the Indiana Jones thing. Anyway it ended up being a total sham and it became our goal to avoid those guys for the rest of the day as we carried on through the Siq on foot. Walking through a narrow gap surrounded by monumental walls of earth was certainly intimidating, but you couldn’t help but be in awe of what the Nabataeans accomplished. There was definitely a sense of walking into history. We spent the next 8 hours hiking through the large city which was one of the best experiences of the summer. We spent time speaking with some of the local Bedouin Arabs which was both entertaining and enlightening, and further supported my observation that the Jews are Coke people and the Arabs are Pepsi people *S*

We initially planned to stay in Petra for the night but decided to go back to Eilat at the last moment. We took a 2 hour cab ride which ran us 60$ and then we checked into a well known Christian hostel called “The Shelter.” By this time the temperature had climbed to the mid 40s and I was becoming quite ill. It was too hot to sleep, too hot to do anything but sweat. The next day Georg and I split up. I went to go experience my first scuba dive and swim with dolphins. The task was an expensive one and I was sick, but I was not going to let myself miss such an opportunity and I’m tremendously glad I took it. After that we left Petra. We had planned to hike Massada, an ancient fortress at the top of a desert mountain, but I just wasn’t up for it and we made our way back to Tel Aviv. I felt bad for robbing Georg of that climb but I was just not in the condition to travel anymore. I was looking forward to going home, which was somewhat of a surprise to me.

After recouping a few days in Tel Aviv, it was finally time to head home. I knew I would miss Israel terribly and that I would miss Georg a great deal, as he had become, and remains, one of my closest friends. We could only hope that we would be reunited in the Holy Land again someday, and so we do. Well, just when I thought all the fun was over, I had my airport experience. In Israel every piece of luggage is scanned, not just the carry on. After the scanning my entire set of luggage was systematically unpacked and searched for traces of anything illegal. My knives got through without incident but they were concerned about my gas mask. They said that I couldn’t take military equipment out of the country. I explained that it was civilian issue and had never been used. That won me the argument, and my favorite souvenir. Then I was questioned for several minutes about where I was from, why I was here, who I knew, and so on. This was followed up by a frisking search which was oh so much fun. Finally I was cleared to leave and one of the officers started following me. When I asked why I was being escorted, she replied that it was to make sure I didn’t have to repeat the whole process!

Leaving Israel behind only physically, I traveled to Milan where I caught my connecting flight. Ironically it was here that I had the only item ever confiscated from me, my Swiss Army knife card. I was a little upset about that, but I got to sit beside a model all the way back to Canada so I guess that makes up for it? Anyway I arrived safely back in Canada without SARS though still somewhat ill. My family and some friends met me at the airport which was a pleasant surprise, and then I had to deal with my new reality. My parents had separated and sold the house so I had nowhere to live. I also had no job. So no family, no house, no job *S* It was certainly an interesting time. I lived at my aunt and uncles for about a week (for which I remain so thankful) and then I was blessed to be able to move into a house with my friend Andrew, where I currently live. I eventually got a job at Canadian Tire (yeah I know) and started up at school again, which gives you a pretty good picture of where I am now.

I am doing well, as is my family, and I have been truly blessed. Despite the current challenges of my life, I remember Israel and the lessons it taught me. I remember the people I grew so close to there, and I remember what it was like to come home. In light of all this I am soon setting out on new adventures. I will quickly be finished school and then must take a practicum which I look forward to a great deal, but not as much as traveling to Japan to teach English. This is my latest idea and I am extremely excited about it. I’ll be sure to keep you all informed. Until then, thank you for your encouragement and all the things you’ve all meant to me.

God Bless

With Hope,
Joseph