Eli's Joke for Jim Hynds

Yes, I did interrupt him mid-joke...Dad had the camera like 2 inches from his face...as you can see.

Sorry for interrupting Eli.

Pictures of Israel

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041529&id=56201495&l=b5dbe5fd6b

waitin at the airport

July 3, 2009

Delta airlines plays a pleasant video with safety instructions rather than having a host/hostess talk over the intercom.  There is a very pleasant young woman on the video who talks you through the emergency procedures.  Her calming voice really makes you feel relaxed with promises of pleasantry and complimentary services.

However, I would like to submit the following script modifications for future remaking of this video.  I have inserted the lines that I feel the Delta video leaves out.   [ ] indicates the script modifications I have inserted.

“Welcome aboard Delta Airlines.  We would like to thank you for choosing to travel with us.  Each seat is equipped with a seat belt. [If it doesn’t work right, that’s ok.  They are just for looks. They wouldn’t do a darn thing for ya if we actually hit the side of a mountain]  Please fasten your seat belt whenever you are seated.  [This will continue to give you the allusion that you have any control over your own safety on this flight.  It’s kinda like a security blanket]  The captain will turn off the fasten seat belt sign when it is safe to move about the cabin.  [Children will abuse this privilege and run throughout the isles.  Although the thought will occur in your mind, please be patient and DO NOT close line any of them as they zip past.]

In the unlikely [ but possible] event of an emergency the exit doors are clearly marked.  There are two at the front of the plane, four above the wings, and two in the back. [Again, these also do not function as child disposal portals.  Your patience is kindly appreciated with the little ones.]  Each door is equipped with a self inflating life raft in case of a water landing. Your seat cushion can also serve as a flotation device. [Again, not really gonna do much…when was the last time you heard of a water landing with survivors?  Except of course for that one fluke in the Hudson.] If you are seated in an emergency exit row please make sure to review the exit row instructions. [The likelihood of us surviving a crash is like 1 in 1000 so don’t worry about reading those too carefully.  A good skim through the pamphlet so that the other passengers seated near you think you know what you are doing is sufficient.]  

Incase of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will automatically drop from the ceiling.  Please fasten and secure your own mask before helping others around you.  [You may wonder, “Why would the cabin lose pressure?”  If there is a leak in the cabin or if a terrorist blows out a window a drop in cabin pressure is likely.  In such an event we know that the cabin will turn to chaos so the oxygen is laced with laughing gas to calm everyone down.]   

Once the aircraft has reached cruising altitude, we will be providing a complimentary snack and beverage service. [We also provide complimentary white noise for your sleeping pleasure…we have randomly seated children throughout the cabin who will cry intermittently through the night.  There are also free massages…the child behind you who will kick the seat each time she/he shifts positions.  The frequency of this event is not guaranteed and will likely wake you from the few moments of sleep you were getting.] The flight attendants will also be taking your Sky Mall orders.  All Sky Mall purchases are duty free [but we have jacked up the prices so you’re really not saving much]. 

Again, thank you for choosing Delta [we know you were just looking for the cheapest flight but hey, we’ll take it].  Have a nice flight.” 

[end scene]

Dad and I landed in the JFK airport an hour earlier than was scheduled so we now have 5 ½ hours to just relax until we finally fly to Indy at 12:30pm.  I love kids…except for on flights.  Dad and I are pretty tired from a flight with little kids who enjoyed loud conversation through the night with short breaks for periods of recreation up and down the isles.  Cute, but seriously kids?

We stood in lots of lines today…passport check, security, ticketing, security again, oversized baggage check (for the guitar), another round of security, money exchange, and finally boarding. Then at the US airport we stood in line for passport check, baggage claim, customs, rechecking our baggage, shuttle service to our terminal, oversized baggage check (I love traveling with a guitar), and security into our terminal.   In the last 20 hours of our lives, Dad and I have spent 12 in the air and at least 4 standing in lines in the airports.  I am not complaining because I appreciate all the safety precautions that they take but…ok there is a little bit of a complaint in there. 

But here’s the ironic thing…once we finally got a chance to relax the first thing Dad chose to do was wait in line again.  Starbucks.  Enough said.

As I was waiting for Dad while he got our coffees, I was thinking about what I would write about once I finally got a chance to sit and blog.  I was laughing to myself about the irony of Dad being back in line.  Then I thought about how coffee shops bring a strange sense of normalcy as Dad and I discovered on the busy streets of Jerusalem.  It is almost like a feeling of being “home” in a foreign place.  A deeper sense of home comes when you discover that a stranger is a believer in the middle of conversation.  This happened several times in Israel.  I would be talking to an Israeli who I assumed was Jewish or Muslim or secular and then randomly in mid conversation I figured out that they too believed that Christ is who he says he is.  In those moments I felt community between myself and a stranger, even if only for a short conversation. 

Now I am a 2 ½ hour flight away from Indy where I’ll get off the plane, say hey to my sisters and then drive to Missouri with Kristen for Ashley and Nate’s wedding which I am singing in tomorrow (hence the guitar in Israel). 

Only three (boarding, baggage claim, oversize baggage claim) more lines to go,

Haley Kate

July 1, 2009

It's 9:35pm on July 1^st here and Dad and I have made it back to my homeland here in Israel…Kibbutz Ginnosar.  I have found my self once again sitting by the Sea of Galilee for a final hour of Seaside Philosophy.   It is definitely the perfect way to spend my last full night in Israel.  We checked out of our hotel one night early to spend one final night here at the Kibbutz so Dad could get a better feel for where I’ve been.

For the first time in his life, Dad walked into the water of the Sea of Galilee.  Not ON the water…but hey it's a start.  We have had a great last few days here.  It has been an incredible experience and we are so grateful that we got to do this together.  We are already brainstorming about how to come back.  So far our best idea is...ah hem... "EXPERIENCE ISREAL 2011".   It will be a 3-part trip.  There will be sometime spent at a dig, time touring the country, and time teaming up with a ministry here.  I’ve come across so many unique ministries that could easily use volunteers.  Any takers?

And back to reality…we're gonna get up and do a quiet time by the sea tomorrow.  I have found that this place creates a deep desire to do just that anyway.  After breakfast we’ll head to a few more sites: Capernaum, Caesarea Philippi/Tel Dan? , and of course Bethsaida.  Then we'll drive back over to Tel Aviv to drop off our car and hang out til our flight leaves at 12:40am (Friday).  

Dad and I have learned a lot about ourselves on this trip:

I for one have learned that I get a little testy when under a hot sun for many hours a day. 

Dad finally learned, on our last day in the hotel, that our room is to the right when stepping out of the elevator, not the left….although every other day left seemed to be a first choice for him. 

I learned that my dad is more protective of his 22 year old daughter when walking through foreign streets where everyone looks like “terrorist”  (and I mean that in the most PC way possible…seriously, don’t be offended) and speaks a language other than ours. 

Dad learned that the amount of coffee he can consume in one sitting at a coffee shop here worries even the servers.   As one waiter asked, “Is your blood ok?”  To which he answered, “Oh, yeah.  Can you make the next pot stronger?”  (yes, he did ask for another pot, not cup)

I learned that modest clothing by American standards can be offensive to the orthodox Jews and their cousins, the Muslims.  (Don’t worry I didn’t get spit on or stoned, just some very pleasant looks.  What can I say? When it’s 106 degrees F, I’m gonna wear shorts.  I only did that once.)

Dad learned that the Dead Sea is not a refreshing dip…ever.  Nor does it taste even a little bit good.

I learned (as did Dad) that while the extra buoyancy of the salt-saturated water is a lot of fun, the burning sensation that every pore on your flesh experiences after about 10 minutes is not so fun.  (PS-DO NOT shave the day you are going to the Dead Sea.  Just don’t. )

We learned that kids are kids everywhere.

We learned there is not a person who doesn’t have a story to tell.

We have come to understand that there is no simple way to explain the conflicts of Israel.  They are complex, deeply rooted issues with many sides to each story.  It would be arrogant to think that we could leave this place with a political solution to the problems.  The real need is for the people of this land to know Yeshua as the Messiah…not merely as a prophet, not merely as a confused rabbi but as the Lord and Savior of the world…the God of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac.

Dad and I knew that the second part of this trip (when he was here with me) would be much less organized than the previous half.  The dig was a very scheduled few weeks and when there was free time there was always a group of people organizing something that I was free to join.  So basically I did very little planning.  The only thing I was in charge of planning was my 3rd hike up Mt. Arbel (approx. 4 hours) because I was one of two people who knew the hike that time.

Here is a picture from that hike...you tell me if 4 hours on three occasions in 100 degree heat was worth it...

the answer is yes, in case you didn't know. That is looking out over the Sea of Galilee.  The city on the far right of the photo is Tiberias and the dark patch of woods by the water on the left side of the photo is the Ginnosar Kibbutz where I stayed for the dig.  Amazing.

I really do miss the dig in some ways but this half of the trip has been so much fun.  I have never learned so much on any trip ever.  Nor have I ever had a desire to come back to my hotel and read/study every night.  Ha ha.  Scripture is different when you are reading about where you were walking 2 hours earlier.

Today is our last full day of exploring Jerusalem.  I have been kinda sick the last couple days.  I was able to ignore it the last two days but it finally caught up with me today and I had to come back to the hotel early to rest for a while.  I've been really dizzy for days on end...its kind of comical actually.  At times I walk as though I've had too much to drink.  My sense of balance is way off sometimes. 

Tomorrow Dad and I are going with Mary, a guide that the Truman University group (they were at the dig with me) used, to Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity, a refugee camp, shepherd's field, and the surrounding area.  There isn't as many sites to see there as there is important conflict to be aware of.  The danger is not posed to us but to any Israeli who would want to travel with us.  When we go, Mary will enter through a separate part because she is an Israeli citizen.  

Tuesday we are gonna go to Masada, Dead Sea, Ein Gedi.  Then we'll check out of our hotel here and head North to stay one night at the Kibbutz and visit the dig and the sites up that direction (most of which I've already been to).  I think it'll be a great way to end the trip...our last full night by the Sea of Galilee...perfect.  Then our flight leave on Friday morning at 12:40 am.  

Because I didn't blog much this past week (lack of internet access) there are lots of interesting stories that I haven't shared with you.  We'll have to save that for conversations in the States.

Some proof that Dad and I really have been in Jerusalem...

Haley Kate

Dad is finally here!

June 23, 2009
Dad is finally here!
After taking a taxi from the kibbutz to Tiberias, then taking a bus to Jerusalem and finally taking one last taxi to my hotel, I arrived to find out my reservation had been canceled…twice. At least that was what the German receptionist was explaining to me as I stood in the lobby with suitcase and guitar in hand with my full pack on my back. Great…now what?
However, after showing her some paper work and listening to her whisper to her boss about who knows what for about 20 minutes, she finally handed me a key and gave me a room number, 517. So I got on the elevator the size of a small closet and there was no level 5. So I went up as far as this elevator would take me and got off. Then took a flight of stairs up to the 5th floor (my suitcase sounding like I dropped it off a balcony with every step it slammed into as I dragged it up behind me).
Once I got situated in my room I called Ingrid, a friend from the dig who I knew would be staying at Ecce Homo (which is in the Old City) while I am in Jerusalem. She and I met up at the Jaffa Gate (located on the west side of the Old City) and she took me on my inaugural walk through Old Jerusalem. We stopped at the Western Wall to pray—that was surreal—which was a great way to start off my time in Jerusalem.
After walking around for about a couple hours or so we stopped at “Everest Kafeteria” to get a drink. This was one of the funniest experiences I have had yet in Israel. I don’t have time to type out the story now but I can tell you about it when I get home…let’s just say we got fed for free and made friends with Ziad, the store owner?, who I think would marry Ingrid if she consented.
Ingrid and I had a great night talking and enjoying all the free food and drink that Ziad kept bringing out, even though we said “no thank you” repeatedly. Continuing our walkthrough after our episode at the café, we walked past a lot of the well-known sites in the Old City but I didn’t go in because I wanted to wait for Dad. Eventually we ended up back at Jaffa Gate and parted ways. Dad and I are planning to meet up with her for dinner or something one night.
Back at the hotel, I was walking up to the elevator doors when I heard my name and turned to see Dad. He was at the coffee bar, of course. I ran over and gave him a huge hug. We spent the rest of the night chatting in our room and then went out to get some food for Dad.
Monday morning we headed into the Old City. We went to the Church of the Redeemer, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Burnt House Museum, the Western Wall (Dave, I kissed it for you), walked through each of the Jewish, Armenian, Christian and Muslim Quarters, the Temple Mount, (to name a few) and got lost I don’t know how many times. Being lost never lasts long though because it really isn’t that big of a place.
Standing inside the walls of the Temple Mount and walking up to the Dome of the Rock was the strangest feeling. Knowing that we were standing where the Temple had been, where Jesus took a whip and drove the animals out of what had become a “den of thieves”, where countless lives had been lost in battles over the centuries and where so much is yet to happen…words fail to describe.
Jerusalem seems far from the quiet life of the kibbutz and worlds away from Carmel, Indiana. Dad and I are so excited, yet overwhelmed to be here.
Internet now costs us each time we want to use it so you may hear from us less often but we’ll check in when we can. I might write posts a few nights in a row but not be able to put them online until later so who knows.
If you are the praying type, please pray with us that we would be sensitive to what the Lord wants to do in our hearts while we are here, for continued safety, and that we would be willing to learn and to look beyond the protestant, mid-western, American paradigm we have grown up in.
Haley Kate

I get very distracted when I come to the museum to check internet stuff cause i keep finding family online to video chat with.  It is such a different experience of communication internationally than other experiences I've had abroad.  It seems too easy to get online and see my dad's face as we talk about his upcoming arrival.  It is so convenient but some of the mystery of being abroad seems to fade a bit.  But I'm grateful.

So I'm sitting on the back of the museum here at the Ginnosar Kibbutz and it is a really windy day.  There are a handful of people out windsurfing on the Galilee.  I keep laughing out loud when ever one of them is gracefully gliding across the water and BAM!  They totally bite it and face plant into the sea...oh it's good times.  :)

Ok, so they are falling so much that I've decided to put in an * whenever I see a windsurfer bite it.  

* no but really...

Tomorrow is my last day at the dig.  I really will be sad to leave.  Shai, a volunteer at the site who has lived at the kibbutz for over half his life, ask me this question: What is the difference between a volunteer and a slave?   Answer: a slave gets paid.   Yeah, we are pretty much paying to do slave labor in some ways.  We spend a significant amount of time digging, hauling dirt, moving rocks and attempting to move boulders.    However, he does exclude the fact that another difference is that volunteers (some) actually like to do that.  I am one of them.  All of that * hard work seems to fade from memory when we are passing around a roman ax from the 1st century, as we did yesterday afternoon.  

I have learned a LOT about archaeology by being on the dig site.   I was talking to my dad yesterday and I told him that I will never be able to look at pottery in a museum the same way again.  When they are on display at an exhibit, the all look similar and quite boring really.  But now that I know what it takes to get them, how exciting it is to excavate them and the ** significance of even miniscule pieces of pottery, it makes the museum experience more exciting.   Wow, that sounds so nerdy.  It's ok.  I'll own it.

My experience here at the Ginnosar Kibbutz and at the dig has been irreplaceable.  I have absolutely loved it.  History has become much more tangible and exciting for me.  I am also absolutely humbled by how much I don't know.  I have learned an incredible amount about archaeology that I really don't think I ever would have understood in this way had I just been reading about it.  Plus I've had the amazing privilege of intersecting with so many great people who have come and gone to volunteer at the dig.

*** (those are the one's I forgot to include cause I was in the middle of typing.)

There really is SO much I could share about but I have to get to pottery reading--our last one :(

If i get a chance to write some tomorrow I will otherwise I probably wont have a chance to until I get into Jerusalem this weekend.

so grateful,

Haley

Dad's arrival: 3 days and counting (yes it will be on Father's Day)

my sabbath

Its Sunday afternoon and I have not stepped off the kibbutz all day but it has been great.  I'm taking today as a sabbath day to relax, read, write and talk with strangers on the kibbutz.  The group traveling around today is going to the same places I went last weekend so I decided to hang out here since I'll be revisiting those sites with dad in a couple weeks anyway.

Today had been amazing. I got up and took a book to breakfast.  Then I made my way down to the sea to sit under a shade awning where I continued reading, journaling, and observing all the tourists who were taking the "Jesus Boat" tour around the lake.  The  boat has this funny ritual and I am becoming quite cultured because of it.  Whenever a new tour group gets on the boat, the crew plays the national anthem of whatever country the group is from as it raises their flag on a pole on the little boat.  I was sitting about 200 yds from the dock they were leaving from so I heard the North Korean, German, American, Hungarian, German again, and French national anthems.  It was a good way to start the morning.  

The last few evenings of "Seaside Philosophy" (by the way, my name caught on and its great) have been really rich.  Thursday evening was the last night for one of the groups who have been on the dig with me.  It started as a small group and grew as the night went on.  The Lord orchestrated an incredible evening discussion that I could not have planned if I wanted to.  Lets just say that it ended with the Gospel and even the drunk friends in the circle seemed sober for a while.  (I can tell you more about that evening in person if you ask but there are too many details to write about).  Oh and then we all sang one more song together very loudly and really never on key, at the request of one of our more hydrated friends. 

Last night it ended up just being me, Justin, and Jordan.  We brought the guitar and a mellon that the boys had taken from a local field.  Apparently they had no idea how to pick out a good mellon because when they handed it to me and I literally felt it squish through the rind, I knew we would not be partaking of any mellon that evening.  Justin served in Iraq for a while and had been to Israel on this same trip before.  Jordan is a political science major from Truman State U and he is on his first trip to Israel as I am.  The three of us talked for about an hour and a half. Some of what we talked about lead me to these conclusions:

Being here makes me feel really small--I love it.  I have met so many people from so many very different walks of life here.  Believers and nonbelievers, nationals and ex-pats, old and young, those who support the palestinians and those who support the Israelis and those who are indifferent, some who have traveled the world and some who have never left their home town (or kibbutz)...the list goes on.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Being in Israel is causing my life to intersect with so many people who I would have never had the privilege of knowing or seeing otherwise.  The diversity of these people adds to my awareness of how small I am.

Standing on top of Megiddo--a place with thousands of years of history and ruins of civilization on top of civilization is such a different experience with history than standing in a 150 year old house at a historic site in the States.  When I look out over the Jezreel Valley, I know I'm being amazed at a view that has amazed people long before Christ walked the earth.  Pulling something out of the earth that has been covered for centuries is an intimate moment with the past.  The history of these places adds to my awareness of how small I am.

And yet, the God of all of these places, the God who wants to be in the lives of all of these people, steps in to love me more intimately than I could ever ask or imagine.  He uses the simplicity of the humble to challenge the proud (I've definitely seen that happen in our group).  He uses the love of those with less to dumbfound the incompleteness of those with much.  It is a beautiful thing.

shrinking,

Haley Kate