Tiveria

tiberias. the city on a hill. it was so nice to get out of jerusalem! just for a couple days! on thursday i headed north by bus. i sat next to a real nice israeli girl who is in the army. she was going back to her base. we didn't talk a lot - it was a hebrew/ english thing. but she shared an earbud with me and let me listen to the radio on her cell phone! and she slept on my shoulder for a bit (don't worry, she used ewenice as a pillow!).

it rained all the day that i got there. but i didn't let that 'ruin' my day.

so i walked around taking pictures and discovering the secret charm of this city. for example, i found the backdoor to the city down by the lake.

a quaint little table for two.

and the gate to the ancient city.

i had a good walk around the city in the rain (which i LOVE!) and had a nice bowl of soup for dinner at a little cafe. i am pretty sure i was the only person who stayed in the whole hostel that night. apparently, feb. doesn't bring a rush of tourists. so i had the whole four bed room to myself. i tried to watch tv, but it was all in russian or ukrainian. so i got up early on friday and went to beth shean to visit my friend, lital. (all my friends who have been there before, the bus stop is right next to the mcdonald's!)

unfortunately, we only had a short visit - but a good one! i was hoping lital would invite me to stay for shabbat. i dropped the "i don't have to be back in jerusalem tonight" clue a couple times. but she never insisted so i had to leave just after lunch in order to get back before the buses stopped running.

she showed me around her home and kibbutz. she really loves her family and country. it was beautiful. her whole family spoke excellent english, but they let me practice my hebrew too. which is hilarious and sad at the same time. and we did talk about Jesus a bit as well. even her mom asked some questions. again, lital told me again that i am the first (and only) christian that she has met who takes her faith seriously and sincerely. i really believe that this is why i am allowed to talk to her about Jesus. she respects me because i am real about what i believe. while we were at camp moshava, where we met, she was showing me a Scripture that really hit my heart and i began to cry. she laughed and when i looked at her she explained, "no, it's just you take it so seriously... like us."

no doubt.