Computers! Like cars, it's a love-hate relationship

We're having the best time on our visit to Israel, and yesterday I was able to load pictures to Flickr. Today, although I can get on the Internet (obviously), I can't get to Flickr uploads. Ah, computers are like cars - so necessary for the enjoyment of our daily lives, and so impossible to ignore when they don't work the way you are used to having them work.

But enough of that. Can't get to Flickr, but I sure can get to Blogspot, it seems.

We're with a great bunch of travel companions from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Escondido. We seem to have all the necessary ingredients in common, and it's really great.

Some of our friends asked if we would feel safe on this trip, and the answer is a resounding Yes!!! It seems like anywhere else we've visited from time to time. It's all new to us, so everything is unusual at first. But there doesn't seem to be anything around us that causes us fear.

Yesterday, I posted most of my pictures on Flickr. Today, I'll post a few here on blogspot (hopefully). We're starting our mornings around 6:30 or 7:00 with breakfast, and then we're on the bus and rolling by 8:30. Today we went to Bethany. Like Bethlehem, it's mostly Palestine sector, but unlike Bethlehem, there weren't any checkpoints we needed to go through.

In Bethany, we visited the church of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and the tomb of Lazarus. Lauren actually went to the tomb. I didn't. It was a dark, dank, and deep climb into the ground, and as soon as I started the trek, I knew that wasn't the place for me. Claustrophobia was immediately apparent to my senses. Lauren got a picture or two, and I will post them on Flickr at a later date; but one picture I CAN easily post here is just outside the church / tomb area - Lauren on a camel!

As in most tourist areas, everywhere we go someone wants to sell us something. We don't buy much, but Lauren is a friendly guy, and he forgets to not have a conversation with the sellers - so we end up with a few (very low-cost) goodies to bring home with us. It's all part of the experience for us, and it turns out to be a lot of fun.

There's so much to see that's so pleasing to the eye, but one of my favorite sights is the produce stands. I love the food we're having - it includes a lot of wonderfully prepared fresh fruit and vegetables. This one is a sample, although it's more deluxe than most because it was set up as part of a restaurant where we ate.

Oh, yes, the food is wonderful. I love basmati rice, but it is so much nuttier here, and there are these wonderful salsa-like mixes of seasoned raw vegetables that make me think I'm having some sort of delicacy. I am in (healthy) food heaven! Ahhhhhhh!

I have lots, and lots of wonderful pictures - at least they seem wonderful to me - of the mountains, desert, valleys, shepherds, sheep. I can't wait to get them loaded to Flickr! But I will have to be patient, I suppose.

Can't get to my Yahoo mail, either - not using Outlook or by looking on the Web. Well, so much for that!

In the meantime, Israel is a wonderful place to visit. We have met very friendly people on both sides of the divide - both the Palestine and Israeli sectors. We can only pray and pray and pray for peace. Both sides need to come to terms and work together. I don't understand everything there is to know about the political agenda; but I do know that these wonderful people - all of them - need to be able to build a future!

More on another day.....