NOTES FROM GUIDING AT THE GARDEN TOMB ( PART 5 )

• Spent part of a 3 day break at the Sea of Galilee, enjoying dinner ( vegetable soup ) one evening at an out of the way place recommended by Al and Judy, fellow volunteers.  We were sitting there quietly, minding our own business, on Sunday, November 25th, when over the background music system came " I'm dreaming of a White Christmas " by you know who.  Two songs later " It came upon a midnight clear ".....right there in a Jewish diner, less than fifty miles away from where it all started some 2000 years ago.
• Speaking of dinner, we spent Saturday evening with 16 other volunteers and staff being hosted by one of our American guides and treated to a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, gravy, delicious dessert and much more.  Will have to walk more.
• Speaking of walking, we have been walking everywhere since we got here, not taking the rapid transit that started up since our last tour here.  So Friday we bought tickets to take the trip from one end to the other to see what we could see.....we saw nothing.  We forgot that Friday afternoon the tram stops at 3pm in order to be ready for Shabbat around 430pm.  We sat there at the station watching two empty trains go by before we figured it out with help from some friendly young Palestinian youth.
• It is quiet in Jerusalem - both in regards to war and in regards to tours coming through. A slow down is expected right about now, but some American groups cancelled because they felt unsure for their safety.  All is quiet in Israel right now.
• Glenda and I left Sunday morning for a three day break in the Galilee with good intentions, however everything seemed to go wrong... from getting lost and almost running out of gas to arriving at our guest house and finding three single beds, which wouldn't go together ( we tried ). They were three different heights.  About 25 minutes out of Tiberias on the way home, Glenda remembered " WE " forgot her pillow back at the guest house ( it's a special pillow ). We went back.
• Very excited about Gordon and Donna Reeve arriving this week - I won't be able to tell people on my tours that Glenda and I are the only Canadians volunteering here.  However, it will be wonderful working alongside such a great couple - they will be a perfect fit for God to use mightily here.
• There are more Flafel joints per capita in East Jerusalem than Fast Food franchises in any major city in North America.  They are tasty and healthy too.
• During our guided tours, often people ask me why there is a Palestinian bus depot right in the area where Christ may have been crucified.  My answer - this is Jerusalem.  I tell visitors that right outside the main entrance of the Garden Tomb is a Palestinian neighbourhood, complete with women completely covered head to toe, except for their face.  Five blocks to the right is Mia Sharim, an Ultra Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood, where driving your vehicle during Shabbat will guarantee it gets stoned.  Five blocks the other way is Ben Yahuda, Jerusalem's answer to Robson Square, where Glenda and I can sit with a Flafel and a coke and do two things....remind each other every five minutes that WE ARE ACTUALLY IN JERUSALEM....and secondly, watch people from every country in the world stroll by.  This is Jerusalem and we love serving here.  Thank you God.