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Showing posts with the label Israel

Pilgrimage 2.0-10 : Jom Jordan

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Sherry bid us farewell at the Allenby / King Hussein Bridge border crossing. As I had the best grasp of English, I got off the bus to answer some standard questions. A hunky Israeli soldier in aviator glasses asked : - Do you have a weapon? - Did you notice anyone else carrying a weapon? - Did anyone ask you to bring anything into Jordan? Wouldn't mind him performing a body search and disarming my 'weapon'. The immigration process between Israel and Jordan was much simpler compared to when we came in from Egypt. Our passports were bulk processed by Jordan immigration, and we didn't even need to offload our luggage. When we got back our passports, it wasn't stamped. All it had was a small barcode on the signature page. In Jordan, we got another Mandarin-speaking guide who went by the name Sami. He worked in China for more than a decade and married a Chinese woman who happens to be a practicing Orthodox Christian. All of us were surprised that his wife didn&

Pilgrimage 2.0-9 : Transfiguration

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Breakfast at Gai Beach Resort was equally as satisfying as dinner. The salad bar boasted of various types of cheeses, cured fish, and healthy salads. Yummy bread aplenty to go with omelettes, baked eggs, and gratin. The first church of the day was the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish over in Tabgha. It sits upon the site of two Byzantine churches, and features restored mosaics from the 5th century. The focal point of the church is the limestone block at the altar that is venerated as the place the miracle of the Multiplication took place. In front of it is also an old mosaic of five loaves of bread flanked by two fishes. A short walk away was the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter , where we celebrated open air mass under a tree. Inside the church was Mensa Christi, spot where Jesus is said to have laid out a breakfast for His apostles, and told St. Peter to "feed my sheep", installing Peter as the leader of the apostles. The church also