We ventured into the West Bank today and survived. Be skeptical about every news report you've ever seen about this part of the country. Yes, there is a war going on. But not here. We had a journalist come speak to us at our forum address last night named Matthew Kalman, who's been a Jerusalem freelance correspondent since 1998. He explained to us how journalists show up here with no knowledge of the languages, religions, or cultures and start writing. He also talked about the problem that is celebrity journalism, and how we'd rather see a familiar face telling us a story than an expert tell us the real story. Journalists on television want to look brave and in-the-action, so they report near soldiers or skew stories about "the wrong pile of rubble." Plus, the culture of hospitality here causes the locals to answer questions with the answer they think you want, and it takes a long time to get those answers (after tea and dinner and meeting the whole family). Don't think that means there isn't tension, because the Palestinians are really unhappy about being kicked off their land and the Israelis are firm in their claim to land that God once promised them. I would say that they are co-inhabiting Jerusalem, living parallel lives separately.
It's hard for Westerners to understand the enormous influence that religion plays here. People will literally die to have control of the cave where they think Lehi buried his wife. If a location or object is (or possibly is) related to a religious person or event, it's a really big deal. Really. If they believe it to be the will of God, they follow through come hell or high water. Different culture. Different priorities. So much of it is so different and will sound ridiculous to Western ears that those reporters who know what they're doing and who they're dealing with can't print it.
So when we showed up expecting to see soldiers and tanks everywhere, we were surprised to find that though there are soldiers everywhere, they're just milling around in groups killing time and being educated about the sites in the area. They're pretty much just tourists in uniform. Sorta.
We ventured into the West Bank on our big tour buses today to visit Jericho, Herod the Great's winter palace, and the Wadi Qelt. Though the ancient walls of Jericho have not really been found, we saw some pretty cool old walls today on Tell es-Sultan. Literally from the Bronze age. Thousands of years ago and some pretty big bits of wall are still there. Lame to look at, but amazing when you consider just how old they are.
Next we saw the ruins of Herod the Great's winter palace. Everybody took pictures in this sweet circle bath that's still intact. Possibly the place where he had his wife's brother killed before killing his wife and all of his sons by her. The people liked them. Herod was a jealous man. His outposts are everywhere, so it was cool to finally see one of the many buildings he commissioned.
For the grand finale, the Wadi Qelt. A wadi is a canyon that's dry for most of the year but functions as a river should there be rain. It was like the Grand Canyon of the Judaen Wilderness. It was a spectacular view. We took a trail up on top of the hill and looked down into it and across at all the hills and desert and it was just...wow. A big wow. Down in the wadi, built into the rock is a monastery. I really wish we could have gone down and gone inside, but we didn't have time! It's called Saint George Monastery, and I highly recommend googling it. Apparently other hermit monks live in the caves you'll see around the canyon as well. Amazing. Hopefully get some pics up on Facebook soon so y'all can see them. Some Bedouin people had an encampment/shanty town set up nearby and we got to watch them wander the cliffs with herds of goats. Many a picture was taken.
On Monday we leave for Jordan. Safe to say we're all pumped. But we're an enthusiastic group (for example, we clap for everything). Be prepared. I may ride a camel on Monday.
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