A Georgia Girl in Germany

Labels: Benjamin, Germany, Nana and Papa

In honor of Nana & Papa’s arrival in Germany today, I had to share this photo of Benjamin from their visit last April. Benjamin really enjoyed having them around, and one morning woke up, walked down to Nana’s bedroom and crawled into her bed…hoping for snuggle time. I think it’s cute that he also brought his puppy bed with Baby Puppy and Blue so they could get some good rest in Nana’s room as well.

Labels: Benjamin, Nana and Papa

I really enjoyed my visit to Israel. I worked long hours while there -- sometimes it was as late as 9 p.m. when we returned to the hotel. Fortunately, I was able to “play” hard too with my sightseeing excursions -- which made the trip more than worthwhile. This is the view from my hotel room looking out at the Mediterranean Sea.

Here’s a small panorama of Tel Aviv’s skyline -- again, from my hotel balcony.



Before we loaded up for our ride to the airport, I opted to stroll through one of the markets with Corey (a co-worker) in Tel Aviv to browse around and see if there was any last-minute-item that I absolutely needed. We first stopped for some fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice. It was good, but probably would have been better with half an orange squeezed into it (Corey’s style) to take the edge off the bitterness.

Many streets were blocked off near the market area for a Purim street-party. There were lots of people in costumes, various performances and a general sense of festiveness.

Hmmm, I don’t think I could walk on all fours like this for long, much less on stilts!

This performance included a very talented pair of fire-drummers.

Some performers even got the younger partiers involved -- dancing and playing the drums here.

Fun costumes were everywhere.

Of course, I took one last stroll along the beach before grabbing my gear and heading for home. It really was beautiful -- this was the view I had during breakfast each day!

And this, my friends, is the last post from my Israel trip. It only took me a month to get them all posted...but nearly a year to get started on them. Still to come on the travel-front: Netherlands, Normandy, Garmisch, Paris and Greece. I think I’ll post a few of our day-to-day updates before tackling the next set of travel posts though.

Labels: Israel, Travel

The people I worked with for the two weeks I was in Israel were absolutely wonderful. They are all Public Affairs professionals. This photo doesn’t include everyone -- since they are all reservists, some of them had to get back to their “other” jobs on our last day there.

A few people of note: the two ladies in the front row -- Rotem and Harel -- along with one other young lady (Yael), helped me “escape” to the local mall one day for lunch. It was great to get away from chow hall food and wander in a bit of civilization, even if it was only for an hour or so. They even helped me find Pooh Bear books written in Hebrew for my young relatives (niece, nephew, cousins’ kids). I always try to buy a few children’s books for my own kids when I travel, and I like giving such books as gifts too ... hoping it will inspire a love of languages while they’re still young. Besides, with the illustrations, it’s fairly easy to make up your own version of the stories. In this case, Yael translated the books for me since I couldn’t decipher the script and couldn’t rely on an online translation for help.

One person who isn’t in this group shot (and I’m drawing a blank on his name), told us how his grandfather heard back in 1946 that Jews were going to declare a Jewish homeland -- the country of Israel. So his grandfather headed west from northern Iraq and WALKED to present-day-Israel with his family so he could be a part of the fledgling country. This was two years before Israel declared independence!

Jeff and I are posing with David, Barry and Jonathan here. I worked with the three of them almost every day. I thought it was interesting how many of them have dual-citizenship. All three of these individuals are dual U.S.-Israeli citizens and immigrated to Israel from the U.S.

Here we are (below) with Jonathan and Yehuda after our out-briefing (just before Jonathan took Jeff and me to his campus). They both also immigrated from the U.S., and I believe both still have dual-citizenship. Yehuda is amazing. At one time, he spoke nine languages. He was a world-class runner, and had been selected to participate in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games. As fate would have it, he injured his leg and couldn’t compete, so he didn’t travel to Munich with the Israeli Olympians. During the second week of the Olympics, eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually murdered by Black September, a militant group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization.

Jonathan is a very outgoing and colorful individual, for whom I have a great deal of respect. He kinda reminded me of some of my Italian relatives -- outgoing, boisterous and a friend to all. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he was on active duty as a Commando with the Israeli Defense Force. His unit had run out of ammunition, and was often taking ammo from fallen Egyptian soldiers for its own survival. Jonathan said that had the U.S. not flown supplies to Israel during the first few days of the war, he and his unit would not have survived. That said, before I travel somewhere new and interesting, I often ask my dad if he’d been there during his Air Force career. When I asked him whether he’d been to Israel, he replied that he’d been there only once -- in early October 1973 to offload supplies at Lod Airport (now Ben-Gurion Airport). When he checked his flight log, it showed one landing and one take-off on Oct. 7 (the war started on the 6th). He clearly remembers that his C-141 was one of the first U.S. cargo planes on the ramp -- all of them bringing in supplies for the Israeli military. When I relayed this story to Jonathan, his eyes immediately welled up with tears, he grabbed my hand in a hearty handshake and told me to thank my dad. He later told me, “It could very well be that your dad brought in some of the goodies that my unit actually ended up using to defend our dear country, with our backs against the wall, in probably one of the nastiest wars we have ever had to fight.” Wow. If you notice, you’ll see that he’s standing beside me in all three of these photos -- definitely not coincidence. As a footnote, Dad sent Jonathan a copy of the book “Operation Nickel Grass,” detailing how the U.S. flew supply missions to Israel, which Jonathan now has on display in his office at the university.

Labels: Israel, Travel

After our last day of work and the out-brief, we had the afternoon off before having to get ready to fly home the next day. One of the individuals I had been working with is one of the vice president of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, a private, non-profit college near Tel Aviv. Jonathan took Jeff and me on a tour of the campus, then later that evening invited us to join him and his wife for the campus Purim celebration. The college was founded in 1994 at a former anti-artillery base, and was the first private college in Israel. Jonathan told us what this building was before being converted into an auditorium, but I’ve since forgotten (something related to it being on an anti-artillery base).

Jonathan treated us to a wonderful, delicious lunch. He peppered us with amazing statistics about the school and its students while we ate, and made us feel like visiting royalty. As we finished up our lunch, he pointed to a group of six students and said, “I bet at least two-thirds of those students are from elite military units” (military service is compulsory in Israel). Sure enough, when we walked up to them and started talking to them, we discovered that one was a C-130 pilot, one was an F-16 pilot, one was a Black Hawk pilot, two were navy SEALS and one was a medic. Jonathan takes a special interest in the elite military (he was one once -- more to come on this in a later post), and pointed out that they receive special dispensation at the college -- including that they don’t have to take their equivalent of the SATs in order to be admitted. Instead, they’re admitted simply because they’re in the elite military, and have already proven themselves more than capable of meeting rigorous standards. After lunch, Jonathan took us back to his office for a glass of Scotch. Whew! Fortunately, he poured me only a tiny bit! He also took us on a tour of the campus. We saw David Ben-Gurion’s grandson teaching a class (Ben-Gurion was the first Israeli Prime Minister). This professor is also related to the individual who is responsible for reviving Hebrew as a modern language. Jonathan also took us through the very modern communication department (for professional communicators, this was a hit!).

Purim is the most festive of Jewish holidays -- a time of prizes, noisemakers, costumes and treats. The Festival of Purim commemorates a major victory over oppression and is recounted in the Megillah, the scroll of the story of Esther (or the Book of Esther in the Old Testament). Try to imagine the frivolity of Carnival, the youthful excitement of Halloween and the bravado of a war victory -- all rolled into one day. Now you have Purim.

During the celebration, men sit on one side of the room, and women on the other. I sat with Jonathan’s wife Iris (love the name -- one of my favorite aunts was named Iris), and she was very gracious in explaining the different aspects of the celebration to me. Here, she’s using a Purim gragger, or “ra’ashan” (noisemaker) when Haman’s name was mentioned during the reading of the Megillah. Tradition dictates that you’re to make as much noise as possible when you hear Haman’s name, to blot out the name of evil.

Two rabbis read the story of Esther. Fortunately, Iris brought a book written in English for me to follow along. Unfortunately, they read the story so quickly that I couldn’t keep up -- I only made it halfway through. Fortunately, I have the story in my Bible.

You can see the men starting to get rowdy here. Jonathan’s in the blue and white striped shirt wearing Jeff’s BDU hat, and Jeff is sitting next to him. Jeff and I didn’t have costumes since we had just found out about the celebration earlier that day. Fortunately, we weren’t the only people without costumes, so we didn’t stand out too much.

After the Purim celebration, Jonathan and Iris took us to dinner at a little restaurant near a marina in Tel Aviv. What a site to see all the boats lined up in the water!

This was a wonderful way to bring our trip to Israel to a close. Don’t worry though, I still have another post or two before I’m done with my Israel trip. Keep checking back!

Labels: Israel, Travel

Happy Easter all! I’ll post Easter photos in a few days. In the meantime, the end is in sight for my Israel posts, so I’ll keep chugging along.

There are two locations on the Jordan River where Christians believe Jesus was baptized. The traditional site is further south from the Sea of Galilee, near the Judean desert, however since that site was on the Israel-Jordan border during the Arab-Israel conflict, the Yardenit site, where the Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee toward the Dead Sea, was developed by Kibbutz Kinnereth for pilgrims who wanted to participate in baptism ceremonies in the Jordan River.

Yardenit is set up with several wading areas along the shoreline, specially-designed for baptisms. While we were there, two of these areas were being used -- the individuals in white are waiting to be baptized. Along the wall behind the walkway leading to the wading areas are numerous translations of Mark 1: 9-11 -- in almost every language imaginable.

A sign here claims that scripture indicates Jesus was baptized “very close to this part of the Jordan River” since archaeologists believe that a nearby “tel” is Bethabara, which is where Jesus was baptized. The sign also claims that the “time factor” precludes the Church of the Twelve Apostles near the Judean desert from being the true location since that’s a five- to six-day walk to Cana, which is where Jesus was three days after his baptism.

Regardless of which location is the actual site of Jesus’ baptism, there’s no doubt that he was baptized in the Jordan River ... so I took the opportunity to wade in the holy waters myself. It was chilly at first, but it didn’t take long for the water to feel comfortable. This wading area wasn’t being used for baptisms -- it was a little further south, but still within view of the others.

The Jordan River has a dam that traps water to bring it to southern Israel. It actually closes the river to keep 90% to 95% of the water. Jordan also gets water from here for its agricultural needs as part of a peace treaty -- regardless of the amount of water available (from rain and the three springs that lead from the Hermon Mountain to here). Because of this, the Sea of Galilee is approximately nine feet lower than usual. The water is cleaned in a reservoir then pumped out via an intricate pipe system. This view is looking south, as the water leaves the Sea of Galilee.

This was our last view of the Sea of Galilee, as we headed back south toward Tel Aviv -- as the sun began to set across the fertile land.

Once again, we passed the Horns of Hattin, where the Crusaders were defeated by Muslims in 1187. It definitely looked different with the long, evening shadows descending upon the land.

We had a long day in Galilee, but it was a very worthwhile trip. I even ate fish from the Sea of Galilee for lunch that day. Some people decided to simply rest at the hotel or walk through Tel Aviv instead of opting for the long day of sightseeing, but I wasn’t sure if I’d ever make it back to Israel, so had to take this opportunity to see as much as feasibly possible ... and I’m glad I did!

Labels: Israel, Travel

When we left Tabgha, we didn’t have to travel far to get to our next stop. On the way, we passed the Greek Orthodox Church on the outskirts of Capernaum (or rather, the excavations of Capernaum).

We also passed this Franciscan church, although I didn’t hear a specific name for it.

Our next destination was the Mount of Beatitudes. The Basilica of the Mount of Beatitudes was built by the Franciscans in 1937 on the hillside where Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount overlooking the Sea of Galilee. In 1935, remains of a small Byzantine church were discovered nearby, but the Franciscans opted to not rebuild the modern church over the ancient chapel. The octagonal basilica recalls the eight blessings which are inscribed on the inside walls, with the ninth inside the dome. The seven theological and cardinal virtues are also included on the walls inside the basilica: faith, hope, charity (love), prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude.

The yellow gold inside represents the sun, which always shines here. The acoustics inside the basilica were great. When I walked inside, a small group of individuals were singing a capella, and their words reverberated and were magnified inside the basilica. I’m not sure what they were singing, and couldn’t even read the music (it reminded me of the music in the mass book I received at the Vatican), but it sounded beautiful.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
-- Matthew 5: 3-12

The hillside and view of the Sea of Galilee was stunning. I felt an amazing peace as I wandered the grounds. I even passed another tour group (after my group had disbanded to look around on our own), and overheard the guide comment about acoustic studies that were done there. She was in the crowd of 5,000 people who were trying to confirm if this could be the location of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. She said the acoustics were such that everyone there on the hillside -- all 5,000 people -- could hear the speaker when he talked (with out a microphone or any other aid). Science proved that the acoustics are correct, and that this really was where Jesus could have been heard by the multitude!

Wow! I was in awe at simply being here, but hearing the guide tell her story sent chills down my spine. I was really walking where Jesus had walked. Yes, I did so in Jerusalem, Gethsemane and Nazareth, but this was where he preached to the masses.

It was very peaceful and quiet here, with a wonderful view of the Sea of Galilee stretching out to the south -- I could have stayed much longer than our tour allowed.



Behind the Basilica of the Mount of Beatitudes is another building as well as a nuns’ hostel (nuns run this basilica). These mosaics were on the walkway up the hill toward those buildings. Visiting here was definitely one of the major highlights of my trip to Israel.

Labels: Israel, Travel

Labels: Israel, Travel

Our next stop: the Sea of Galilee. Talk about a beautiful body of water! We stopped at a lookout point to the southwest of the lake -- we were at sea level, with the lake 685 feet below us. It’s the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea). Behind me to the left is the Golan Heights, and to the right are two original kibbutzes in the area. These kibbutzes grow date palm trees and also make honey from palm trees.

The colorful scenery was simply stunning, and quite a contrast to southern Israel and the West Bank. We ended up circling the Sea of Galilee, going counterclockwise.

It’s only 13 miles long by 7 miles wide, which hardly qualifies it as a “sea,” so it is more accurately a lake. It is the only freshwater water supply in Israel and sits deep in the Jordan Great Rift Valley, which is caused by the separation of the African and Arabian Plates. Its main source of water is the Jordan River, which flows through it from north to south, although it is fed partly by underground springs.

When we drove up to the Golan Heights, we were literally a stone’s throw from Jordan (although my cell phone didn’t warn me of per-call charges from Jordan this time). This double fence is on the border, and had signs posted at regular intervals warning of mines between the border fence.



This turret was left behind from the war of 1967, when the Golan Heights was part of Syria.

If you look closely in the valley below, you can see Gadera, Jordan, and a spa that was once a Roman bath. You can also see the switchback road we were traveling. Some of the hairpin turns were quite hairy for our bus!

Once we made it to the top of the Golan Heights, we passed several other kibbutzes. There’s lots of agriculture up there.

This view of the Sea of Galilee is from the Golan Heights, looking southeast. The Mount of Transfiguration is in the center on the horizon.

Tiberias is on the western bank of the lake -- it’s the lowest city in the world.

On the horizon to the north is Safed, what our tour guide called the home of mysticism of Judaism. This village sits atop a mountaintop (see the steep drop to the left of center -- just below the huge piece of dust from my lense that appears to be floating in the sky) and is home of he Kabbala -- a medieval philosophy of direct communication between man and God. Further to the right, and nearer the shore, is where Jesus gave his sermon on the mount.

Looking southeast again, with the Mount of Transfiguration behind the cactus. From this vantage point, you can easily understand why Israel cannot give up the Golan Heights -- it’s a very strategic location overlooking much of northern Israel to the west.

Slightly more to the right of this photo is the snow-capped Mount Hernon, the highest mountain in Israel (lying partially in Lebanon and Syria as well). The rain and snow that falls here affects the water supply of the entire region. Israel's National Water Carrier, built in 1964, transports water from the lake to the population centers of Israel, and is the source of most of the country’s drinking water. Israel also supplies water from the lake to Jordan, under the terms of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty. However, increasing water demand and dry winters have stressed the lake causing a decreasing water line, at times to dangerously low levels.

More beautiful flowers growing in the Golan Heights.

The view of the northern area of the Sea of Galilee, as we drove down from the Golan Heights.

Labels: Israel, Travel