9:30 p.m. What an ordeal we had yesterday crossing the border! No worse than anyone else goes through, I suppose. It was just tedious standing in line for x-rays, passport stamps, customs . . .
I felt terrible yesterday, exhausted from Mt. Sinai. As soon as we reached our hotel, the lovely Ye’elim Holiday Village at 6:00, I fell into bed and didn’t wake up till the next morning. I missed out on supper and swimming, which Shannon told me was a blast. She said the guys did a synchronized swimming routine!
We ate breakfast at 8:00. It’s so great being in Israel, where we can drink the water and it feels like we’re in civilization again. I got to eat Cheerios!
The first place we visited was Timna, where we saw the copper mines, crawled around in mining shafts, and saw ancient smelting tools. There was also a cool replica of the tabernacle.
Next we visited the Avdat canyon, which was absolutely gorgeous. The only catch was, we had to climb out again. Imagine ten flights of stone stairs in the hot sun, and there you have it. But hey, after Mt. Sinai, this was a piece of cake. Our hotel in Beer Sheva, the Desert Inn, is very nice. And it looks and smells like a real hotel. We went to the mall nearby and had a good time being reinducted into the familar world of excess and capitalism. Note: Israelis love spandex.
Well, I’m sitting in my bed, so I guess I’ll take advantage of my surroundings and go to sleep.
Oh! I almost forgot. Dr. Browning’s father gave Dr. B the money to buy Shannon a new camera, which I thought was incredibly nice. G’night!