Swimming In The Yarden (Jordan) ... by Hannah

Shalom Y'all,

These pictures were taken last week ... the day before we left Poriya Illit. We went swimming in the Jordan river with Arena, and then joined the rest of the family at a pool in a nearby kibbutz.

Tommy was the first one to get into the water.

It's not a very big river, is it?!

Tommy kept trying to get me into the water and get me wet!

This picture was taken between the time that Tommy let go of the rope swing, and entered the water.

Arena was taking photos of us.

Another action shot.

Yosi and me in the pool.

The lighting was strange, because this part of the pool was covered with large blue tarps.

Tommy and me with Ahava and Yosi.

The people that we were staying with have a business where they take pictures of people dressed up in Bible costumes, and then place their pictures in a scene such as the Negev (desert), or the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Saying good-bye to Yosi.

Our dear friends and wonderful hosts :)

Below is just an ordinary bus stop, but it has a funny memory for us. When we were here as a family, we rented a small car when we needed to go somewhere (and weren't riding the bus), and never had room for anyone besides our family. We often saw soldiers hitch-hiking, and talked about picking one up if we ever had room. It is now illegal for a soldier to hitch-hike, but at the time, it was not. 

One weekend, we rented a 15-passenger van, and went to visit our friends in Poriya Illit. As we were returning to Ashkelon early in the morning, we saw a soldier hitch-hiking. My father pulled over, and he climbed in on the front bench next to Tommy, Lydia, and me. We soon realized that he did not speak any English, but when asked where he wanted to go, he said "Lamala". That means "up", and we didn't understand. He tried to call someone on his cell phone, but didn't get ahold of them. Then my mother had the brilliant idea to give him a map. The only problem was, the map was in booklet form ... each section of the country was on a different page ... and it was all in English.

Mama handed him the map from where she was sitting in the front seat, so she didn't see his reaction. Tommy and I did :)  He opened it from the back (Hebrew is read right to left, instead of left to right like English) ... turned it upside down ... and finally realized that it was in English. Under his breath, he muttered; "Ze gam ba'Anglit".

That means; "It is also in English!" I almost burst out laughing ... I thought it was so funny that he added the word "also", even though he was muttering to himself and didn't think we could understand him. A moment later, Mama turns around to ask if he had found the place he was looking for. Just then, she realized that she had handed him an English map, and started laughing hilariously. It was right about then that we turned onto another road, and this bus stop came into view. The soldier said; "Out here! Out here!" He hurried out of the van as soon as my father had pulled to a stop, and we all laughed and laughed ... we decided he must have called his other army friends and told them not to hitch a ride with the crazy American family in the big white van!

This is farmland in the Jezreel Valley.

This is Har Megiddo ... known in English as Armageddon. We visited the ruins here as a family, but Tommy and I were not able to do it again this time.

Tomorrow we are going to Ashkelon, and will stay with some friends for several days. I'm not sure what the internet connection will be like, but we'll try to post again soon!

P.S. Thank you all for the comments! They are always fun to receive :)