Finally. A new post. Get ready, this is going to be a long one.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Hebron in the West Bank. We were visiting various tombs that are in the area and let me tell you, it was quite an experience.

Yep, this is normal in this area. The road was surrounded with concert walls on both sides and Israeli military was everywhere.



This is inside Rachel's tomb. Many Jews come here to pray and for the longest time the tomb was closed because of the danger. Shootings were once a daily occurrence but now the tomb looks more like a fortress and is protected by the military.




Our next stop was the tombs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This dude means business.



As we walked up to the tomb entrance I tried to be as candid as possible. Success? The building is actually half mosque and the other half is devoted to the tombs. Needless to say, things can be pretty tense sometimes.



Once inside, we made our way through a few halls and came to central location with the tombs. The actual tombs were originally found underneath the building, but supposedly the current location of the tombs are directly above where they were first discovered. As we were walking around a little Israeli man started speaking to me in Hebrew. I had no idea what he was saying other than he mentioned "blessing". He then prompted me to light a candle and then asked for money. As crafty as he was, I told him I didn't have any money and walked away.

Praying at the tombs.



At this point of our visit we made our way through the streets to visit a few synagogues and a center were they study the Torah. Here a few pictures from the streets.

Ridin' bikes.






This building is devoted to studying/learning Torah. People come here in there free time to learn and we were here to go to the roof to get a better view of Hebron.



You know, hanging out on the roof. The view was fantastic and we were up there just as the sun was setting, which made it all the more beautiful.



A view from the roof.



I was explaining to Ryan how to take good pictures. I mean it's not like you can ever take a bad picture of me, but you understand. Here I'm explaining the finer points taking pictures when you're on a roof. Actually, I have no idea what I was talking about.



The following weekend some friends and I went on a hike in the hills just west of Jerusalem. Here's a view from the start of our hike. We would then spend the rest of the day hiking to the hills you see in the distance.



No, we didn't go alone. We had a tour guide, Mickey, and here he is explaining something about nature.




Another picture of our guide explaining something about nature. Trees perhaps?



The guide asked us to bring flashlights and shoes to get wet and that can only mean one thing. Fresh water springs. That dark entrance is actually an entrance to fun.



One by one we made our way into the tunnel.



Some climbing required.



This semi-cave was completely black, but thanks to a few headlamps and flashlights we were able to explore a little. Unfortunately is was only about the size of classroom.



Time to leave. More tunnels ahead.



The next spring tunnel we explored was much different than the first. Mickey warned us to take only our flashlights. Why? Because we had to wade through waist deep water to find the end of the tunnel. Imagine a space the size of a small walk-in closet. Now make the ceiling 4ft and add water up to your waist. We had about 12 people in this space listening to Mickey tell a love story. Good times, good times.

Some pictures of the view on the last leg of our journey.






We made it and after our long hike we came to a picnic area and made pita from scratch. This is some pita cooking action. It was delicious and now I'm making my own pita back at the apartment. In fact last night for dinner had chicken ad veggies wrapped in homemade pita. Delicious.



All of us were dead tired and I spent the rest of the day sitting around and resting. This past weekend I went on Shabbaton (vacation-esque trip for shabbat) to the Galilee region. It was much different than I was expecting, but I still had a great time. We ended up visiting a kibbutz (collective community, it's hard to explain, hit up wikipedia) and took part in the prayers for shabbat. It was different, but I really enjoyed it. The food was great and when we weren't praying or having little learning workshops, we were hanging out by the pool. No, I don't have pictures. Sorry, but I'm sure you can imagine me laying by a pool. It's not too hard.

I know, this post was long overdue, but thanks for hanging in there and reading the whole thing. Ulpan is almost over, which means our big traveling trip is almost here. I'll have tons and tons of pictures from that and I'll most definitely be better at keeping this updated.

Until next time, take care.