Our room was on the top floor and in a wing away from most of the kids. The view from the balcony outside our room was impressive, as you can see. Most of the kids were between 16 and 20 and were there for the Birthright program. They come from all over the world to visit Israel and learn about their homeland and history. It was sort of like summer camp with many of them carrying musical instruments. The only difference was that some of them were also carrying rifles.
Here we are waiting outside the hostel for John and Sara to pick us up for dinner at her Mom's.
We were fortunate to be invited to participate in the family celebration of Shabbat. Everyone had fun and the little girls competed with each other to see who could be the cutest, while the adults competed with their cameras. Sara's mother, Simcha, is a very gracious woman and together with her family were lovely hosts.
We took some time the next morning to do some retail therapy in Old Jerusalem with John and Sara. This being Saturday, only the Moslem shops were open, but there were still plenty of places to shop.
On our way out of Jerusalem to visit the Dead Sea, we passed several places where Bedouins were living. They are nomads, so their homes are temporary, but apparently, they may stay in the same place for years. More like squatters, really.
Notice the caves up the side of the hill. The place was full of them. This was Qumran, where they found the Dead Sea scrolls.
The Dead Sea was pretty desolate, except for this resort-like area that was a swimming beach. It was HOT. We were far enough below sea level that even the whitest person would not get sunburned. The water felt oily and several people were covered in mud, which is supposed to be good for you.
We skipped the mud treatment and settled for just getting our feet wet.
Luckily, there was a local oasis near there where we stopped for something cool on our way back to Jerusalem, where the climate was much more pleasant
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