Pre-Petra
I am glad to say that Ulpan is finally over. It’s been an intense five weeks of language study, with me taking Hebrew like it was my job, but I’ve completed the “Aleph” (first) level and am ready to start the regular semester.
My buddy Josh returned from the States tonight, and tomorrow we head to Jordan. I’m looking forward to traveling with him, because he’s the only person I know here that can speak Arabic. I’m sure this will come in handy at the border crossings, hotels, and in other things. Middle Eastern culture is interesting because often-times people who provide you with services or products will try anything to screw you out of money. It is nothing for them to lie straight to your face, telling you that the chitzey cross necklace (the one you can buy at any elementary school Santa’s Shop around December) you’re looking into buying is made of real gold and diamonds. When bargaining, it’s important to start out and remain at a very low price. Jordan should be an adventure because I’m even more of a foreigner there and there will be even greater possibilities for me to lose my shekels to dishonest or greedy salespeople/service providers.
Walking around in Western Jerusalem (the Israeli and Jewish areas), I’ve noticed that many Jewish fellows with peyos (those long locks of hair that fall from the sides of many an Orthodox fellow’s temple) enjoy curling them in public. They twist the curls around their fingers, wrapping and re-wrapping them in public. It’s amusing to see older gentlemen restlessly curling and playing with their hair as they wait for the bus or walk to the market.
It’s citrus season here in Israel. There seem to be orange, lemon, tangerine, and kumquat trees everywhere bearing down under the weight of their succulent fruits. Even trees that line the roads, planted here like the maples or oaks on the tree-lawns of Westfield, are full of luscious fruit to tempt the passer-by. This land truly is the land of “chalav o’dvash,” of milk and honey, as Exodus 3:8 points out. The smallest trees, perhaps planted only last year, are full of fruit even now. It seems a miracle that these tiny and often sickly looking trees bear anything at all, let alone a handful of citrus. It reminds me of how I am as a believer in Christ. I’m a small, sickly-looking tree without much to offer on my own. It’s only by the grace of God that I can produce anything of value. With His help and through His mercies, however, it’s possible that I “produce(d) a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." (Mark 4:8)
My buddy Josh returned from the States tonight, and tomorrow we head to Jordan. I’m looking forward to traveling with him, because he’s the only person I know here that can speak Arabic. I’m sure this will come in handy at the border crossings, hotels, and in other things. Middle Eastern culture is interesting because often-times people who provide you with services or products will try anything to screw you out of money. It is nothing for them to lie straight to your face, telling you that the chitzey cross necklace (the one you can buy at any elementary school Santa’s Shop around December) you’re looking into buying is made of real gold and diamonds. When bargaining, it’s important to start out and remain at a very low price. Jordan should be an adventure because I’m even more of a foreigner there and there will be even greater possibilities for me to lose my shekels to dishonest or greedy salespeople/service providers.
Walking around in Western Jerusalem (the Israeli and Jewish areas), I’ve noticed that many Jewish fellows with peyos (those long locks of hair that fall from the sides of many an Orthodox fellow’s temple) enjoy curling them in public. They twist the curls around their fingers, wrapping and re-wrapping them in public. It’s amusing to see older gentlemen restlessly curling and playing with their hair as they wait for the bus or walk to the market.
It’s citrus season here in Israel. There seem to be orange, lemon, tangerine, and kumquat trees everywhere bearing down under the weight of their succulent fruits. Even trees that line the roads, planted here like the maples or oaks on the tree-lawns of Westfield, are full of luscious fruit to tempt the passer-by. This land truly is the land of “chalav o’dvash,” of milk and honey, as Exodus 3:8 points out. The smallest trees, perhaps planted only last year, are full of fruit even now. It seems a miracle that these tiny and often sickly looking trees bear anything at all, let alone a handful of citrus. It reminds me of how I am as a believer in Christ. I’m a small, sickly-looking tree without much to offer on my own. It’s only by the grace of God that I can produce anything of value. With His help and through His mercies, however, it’s possible that I “produce(d) a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." (Mark 4:8)
posted by Jason | 2:27 PM
1 Comments:
Tell your Mom she is going to LOVE it in Israel... I bet she will cry when she walks around Jerusalem, as I did. I am going to Beirut at the end of March to pray for pastor's wives and believer workers there - have never been to Lebanon. We went to Petra and loved it - esp. the Treasury (seen in Indiana Jones' Temple of Doom movie). Beautiful colors. Many said it will be the site the believers/Jews will flee to in the end times......
Post a Comment
<< Home