Originally, I wanted to spend the night at the Masada so my family could see the beautiful desert sunrise in the mornin atop Masada. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
Instead, we hired Ron again to be our guide and driver for the day. We actually drove through the West Bank! (Personally, I was happy for this route as this was twice faster than the other one that goes through Judean Desert.) We saw Bedouin tents but no Palestinians as they settled in further into the territory rather than along the roads. When Mom saw the sign for Ramallah, she commented how it was always in the US media. Eerily, West Bank appeared a lot more peaceful than the US media would claim otherwise. The scenary reminded my parents of Napa- beautiful green valleys with scattered trees and plenty of rocky surface. I agreed, West Bank's o instablity prevented its beauty from being enjoyed by visitors except for the lucky ones driving along 90. We passed through two checkpoints without problem- they didn't even stop us!
When we got to Masada, we got caught with a big Middle East tour group so we tried to stay away from them after the introductory film. I remembered a lot of it. What was different this time from last time, almost two years ago, was that Masada had been developed into an actual museum with labels and information everywhere for what the visitors were looking at. When Ron asked what the solid black line across the walls meant, I forgot that it showed what was left of Masada when the archeaologists excavated. Dad and Mom were totally giddy during the whole tour because for Dad, Masada didn't exist in 1966, and for Mom, archeaologists were still working on it in 1974 and she only saw portions of it. We saw various parts of Herod's palace including the bathhouse, and how the water system was built so the people atop the plateau could have water.
In case you don't know the story of Masada, here goes: When the Romans took over Jerusalem in 72 BC, King Herod and the Jews fled to Masada and lived on it for several years under Roman seige. The Romans had no way of getting up there (how the Jews did it is beyond anyone's imagination) so during the time, they surrounded the area and started building what's now called today "the Roman ramp." When they finally reached to the top of Masada, they found all the Jews dead. Apparently, the Jews chose martyrdom over slavery. The signfiance of this event was that the Jews wanted to perserve their dignity and it was their last heroic stand against the Roman Empire.
Some people remain skeptical of the Masada legend because archeaologists never found any human bodies except for a few skeletons. They don't believe that it ever happened since it was such an awesome uprising that involved hundreds of lives (that's a lot of people back in the anciet times).
I took my family over to the south side of Masada where there's an amazing place to hear echoes. Generally, birthright trips go here to shout "Am Yisrael Chai!". When I did it on my trip, just to hear those words and 50 voices and echoes, I felt chills in my bones! It was such a powerful experience for me to really believe that the Jews never gave up and despite the mass suicide, we are still alive today. My family decided to try shouting "Go Bills!" and when they did it together, they hear the echo. They thought it was so cool to hear something like that. This valley between the plateaus was the perfect place to do this kind of fun activity.
After Masada, we drove back up north a bit to find a touristy site with a cafeteria and a shop so we could eat lunch (chicken schintzels) and buy some bathing suit for them (I did tell them to bring suits!!!). Mom didn't look too thrill about having to buy a bathing suit. Andrew pointed out a very funny pair of boxer shorts in relation to checking if someone's Jewish or not.
I worried at first about how enjoyable the Dead Sea would be for my non-beach family, especially that Andrew isn't crazy about getting dirty with the nature. Much to my surprise, the boys had a wonderful time. I don't think I had never laughed so hard in a while. Since I already knew what to do on a Dead Sea beach, I led the way. The boys eventually followed me into the mud pit. Dad went in for a minute and realized that he didn't like the sinking feeling of the mud under him so he got out quickly. I showed Andrew what to do with the mud. While I lathered myself entirely in mud, the boys went off to the water to try out the floating. When I got there, the boys looked pretty comfortable in the water and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Seeing all of us in the water, Mom decided to try it for herself. But she didn't really want to walk on the rocks so she tried to sit and push herself in. It didn't work as the water was too shallow and she'd have to go about two yards in in order to crawl into the water. I whispered to Mom when I got out (for a good personal reason), "The boys are going to come running out of the water soon!" After cleaning myself off,
I came back to find Dad still in the water. The next thing I saw was probably the most hysterical sight ever: In the mud pit, Andrew lathered himself gently with mud and making the most of the quiet moment. He literally rolled and jumped around the pit. After covering every inch of himself, he simply sat in the sun to let the mud dry. This once unthinkable snapshot is what I will never forget. If you understand what kind of guy Andrew is, you'd understand the bewilderment that I felt.
I joined in and then Andrew spotted some very black mud in the sea that a couple people were covering themselves with. He said, let's go over there, there's better mud! I had to blink quite a few times to believe that he was actually saying and doing these things.
Now I'm really glad that Andrew enjoyed the Dead Sea. Obviously, Mom just had an okay time being a beach bummer- literally. I think that these past two days have been the best days for Dad because these were the things he definitely did not get to do when he was 13- being on the east side of Jerusalem and the Old City, walking around atop Masada, and floating in the Dead Sea.
Instead, we hired Ron again to be our guide and driver for the day. We actually drove through the West Bank! (Personally, I was happy for this route as this was twice faster than the other one that goes through Judean Desert.) We saw Bedouin tents but no Palestinians as they settled in further into the territory rather than along the roads. When Mom saw the sign for Ramallah, she commented how it was always in the US media. Eerily, West Bank appeared a lot more peaceful than the US media would claim otherwise. The scenary reminded my parents of Napa- beautiful green valleys with scattered trees and plenty of rocky surface. I agreed, West Bank's o instablity prevented its beauty from being enjoyed by visitors except for the lucky ones driving along 90. We passed through two checkpoints without problem- they didn't even stop us!
When we got to Masada, we got caught with a big Middle East tour group so we tried to stay away from them after the introductory film. I remembered a lot of it. What was different this time from last time, almost two years ago, was that Masada had been developed into an actual museum with labels and information everywhere for what the visitors were looking at. When Ron asked what the solid black line across the walls meant, I forgot that it showed what was left of Masada when the archeaologists excavated. Dad and Mom were totally giddy during the whole tour because for Dad, Masada didn't exist in 1966, and for Mom, archeaologists were still working on it in 1974 and she only saw portions of it. We saw various parts of Herod's palace including the bathhouse, and how the water system was built so the people atop the plateau could have water.
In case you don't know the story of Masada, here goes: When the Romans took over Jerusalem in 72 BC, King Herod and the Jews fled to Masada and lived on it for several years under Roman seige. The Romans had no way of getting up there (how the Jews did it is beyond anyone's imagination) so during the time, they surrounded the area and started building what's now called today "the Roman ramp." When they finally reached to the top of Masada, they found all the Jews dead. Apparently, the Jews chose martyrdom over slavery. The signfiance of this event was that the Jews wanted to perserve their dignity and it was their last heroic stand against the Roman Empire.
Some people remain skeptical of the Masada legend because archeaologists never found any human bodies except for a few skeletons. They don't believe that it ever happened since it was such an awesome uprising that involved hundreds of lives (that's a lot of people back in the anciet times).
I took my family over to the south side of Masada where there's an amazing place to hear echoes. Generally, birthright trips go here to shout "Am Yisrael Chai!". When I did it on my trip, just to hear those words and 50 voices and echoes, I felt chills in my bones! It was such a powerful experience for me to really believe that the Jews never gave up and despite the mass suicide, we are still alive today. My family decided to try shouting "Go Bills!" and when they did it together, they hear the echo. They thought it was so cool to hear something like that. This valley between the plateaus was the perfect place to do this kind of fun activity.
After Masada, we drove back up north a bit to find a touristy site with a cafeteria and a shop so we could eat lunch (chicken schintzels) and buy some bathing suit for them (I did tell them to bring suits!!!). Mom didn't look too thrill about having to buy a bathing suit. Andrew pointed out a very funny pair of boxer shorts in relation to checking if someone's Jewish or not.
I worried at first about how enjoyable the Dead Sea would be for my non-beach family, especially that Andrew isn't crazy about getting dirty with the nature. Much to my surprise, the boys had a wonderful time. I don't think I had never laughed so hard in a while. Since I already knew what to do on a Dead Sea beach, I led the way. The boys eventually followed me into the mud pit. Dad went in for a minute and realized that he didn't like the sinking feeling of the mud under him so he got out quickly. I showed Andrew what to do with the mud. While I lathered myself entirely in mud, the boys went off to the water to try out the floating. When I got there, the boys looked pretty comfortable in the water and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Seeing all of us in the water, Mom decided to try it for herself. But she didn't really want to walk on the rocks so she tried to sit and push herself in. It didn't work as the water was too shallow and she'd have to go about two yards in in order to crawl into the water. I whispered to Mom when I got out (for a good personal reason), "The boys are going to come running out of the water soon!" After cleaning myself off,
I came back to find Dad still in the water. The next thing I saw was probably the most hysterical sight ever: In the mud pit, Andrew lathered himself gently with mud and making the most of the quiet moment. He literally rolled and jumped around the pit. After covering every inch of himself, he simply sat in the sun to let the mud dry. This once unthinkable snapshot is what I will never forget. If you understand what kind of guy Andrew is, you'd understand the bewilderment that I felt.I joined in and then Andrew spotted some very black mud in the sea that a couple people were covering themselves with. He said, let's go over there, there's better mud! I had to blink quite a few times to believe that he was actually saying and doing these things.
Now I'm really glad that Andrew enjoyed the Dead Sea. Obviously, Mom just had an okay time being a beach bummer- literally. I think that these past two days have been the best days for Dad because these were the things he definitely did not get to do when he was 13- being on the east side of Jerusalem and the Old City, walking around atop Masada, and floating in the Dead Sea.
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