Today was our final day in the city of Nazareth, and we began by walking to the Municipal Center to have a word with Tareq. Sitting in a classroom typically reserved for the training of city tour guides like Yair, Tareq spoke about the importance of religious tourism.
Read MoreDay 7 began with a trip to the mayor's office in Nazareth. Ali Salam became the mayor of Israel's largest Arab city two years ago, after serving as deputy mayor for just about two decades. With Raji — another one of our guides — translating, Mayor Salam welcomed us to Nazareth and gave a brief overview of the kinds of work he does, and what he hopes to accomplish.
Read MoreToday was the big one, the Mini Mondial (Mini World Cup) put on by PeacePlayers International in the city of Herzliya. The soccer tournament is held annually to help foster peace between Israeli and Palestinian children, centered around the idea that sport can bring people together. The kids are placed on teams made up of both Israelis and Palestinians and get to know each other by participating in weekly and monthly activities leading up to the main event.
Read MoreIt was a hot one today, folks. Despite that fact, sightseeing was in full force, beginning with a short excursion from the hotel to Mount Precipice, alternately known as Mount of the Leap of the Lord. Situated slightly outside the city of Nazareth, the locals believe it is the place where Jesus escaped a crowd of ruffians that tried to push him over the edge. Though I was not familiar with the story, it is apparently mentioned in Luke 4:29-30, for those interested.
Read MoreWe hit up two aesthetically-pleasing sites along the Israeli coast today. Stop number one was Caesarea, the ancient port established by Herod the Great, that little rascal who purportedly wanted baby Jesus dead so that he wouldn't be usurped as "King of the Jews" (obvs. things didn't quite work out like he'd hoped).
Read MoreThe Museum of the Jewish People was the first thing on today's agenda. Notable among the exhibits focused around the Jewish Diaspora (in my opinion) was the section that covered Jews living on the African continent — perhaps something that wouldn't normally cross your mind.
Read MoreThough it was a beach day/day to get acclimated, myself and others did a lot of walking. We walked down the promenade at Tel Aviv Yafo Beach to get to a nice spot in the sand; we walked further to stop at a coffee shop called Aroma (which has this splendid little frozen coffee drink); and then we walked even further to the city's port, a commercial and entertainment district, where we found a charming park with miniature zip line included.
Read MoreI landed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, May 4, right around 3:40 PM local time (which is to say 8:40 AM in Michigan). As I glanced at signs and advertisements posted along the walls of the airport, it was quite clear that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
Read MoreIn a somewhat miraculous and unprecedented move, I crawled out of my tortoise-like shell of shyness and spoke actual, verbal, audible words to you, words which I still believe must have warmed your heart.
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