My eyes are bleary. I’ve got a headache. I could really use a shower and about eight hours of sleep, but I’m smiling. In the past twenty-four hours I have travelled via a fifteen-passenger van, an Amtrak train, the Chicago L, a train at O’Hare International Airport, and two jets. Within the hour, thirty-two of my travel partners and I will land in Tel Aviv Israel.
When the group from Ann Arbor met up with the group from Mequon last night, we all grabbed something to eat then broke into three smaller groups of ten students and one leader each. I don’t know what the other groups talked about, but my group and I did some round robin discussions, one of which was, “What are you most looking forward to?” The responses included:
Ride in a first century boat on the Sea of Galilee;
Float in the Dead Sea;
Ride on a Camel;
Visit Calvary;
Go to the old city of Jerusalem.
As we shared, we were practically giddy. Some of these students have travelled much more than I have; some have travelled very little. Some are excited to try new foods and meet new people; some are uneasy with all the newness surrounding us. Yet all of them have chosen to invest a great deal of time and money and set any insecurities behind in order to walk where Jesus walked and see what Jesus saw.
It’s now almost four hours later. I have had an extremely satisfying dinner (I am sure one post this week will be all about the food.); I’ve finally satisfied my thirst with many glasses of water, so my headache is gone; I’ve showered; and I’m resting in clean sheets and jotting down a few things before I nod off. We’ve got a 6am wakeup call so that we can get up, shower, dress, and have our packed suitcases outside our doors by 7am. Porters will move them to the bus while we eat more delicious food and then board for our first day of touring.
Get this: We are going to Caesarea where we will gather shells on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Then, we will see a Roman Aqueduct, Megiddo, and Mt. Arbel before we hike the Jesus Trail and spend the night in Galilee. That’s all tomorrow.
Because we flew in to Tel Aviv after dark, and probably because I’m so exhausted, Israel feels like many other places I have been. For Heaven’s sake, we saw McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Toys R Us, and even an Ikea on our drive to the hotel. However, I can hear the waves of the Mediterranean hitting the beach below my window, and I’m promised an amazing view when I awake in the morning. I’m going to fall asleep now to the rhythm of the tide and try to imagine what tomorrow has in store.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
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