Jeep ride and East Jerusalem

This is a picture from last month, on our night jeep ride in the Galilee. It was the trip where we picked our own plums and peaches off the trees in the fields... and didn't see any animals.

Mara, me, Stephanie, and Rebecca on our way to Sheik Ibrahim's in East Jerusalem. Directly behind us in the foreground is the ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives. This cemetery was used in the time of King David, and supposedly, he, Solomon, and other famous Biblical people are buried here. In the background you can see the gold Dome of the Rock and the walls of the Old City, with modern Jerusalem surrounding it. I love that the Dome of the Rock (so easily identifiable here) was only painted gold when color TV came out. Aah, the practicality of religion!

Sheik Ibrahim introducing himself. We were sitting in an open amphitheatre behind him, looking out over Jerusalem.

Most of my pictures of his house didn't turn out too well (too dark), but I love this one of his ceiling - you can see "Shalom" in Hebrew letters backwards on one banner, and Arabic lettering saying "Salaam" behind it. All on rainbows. Peace!

A totally organic lunch, fruit of the earth. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, watermelon, canteloupe-y melon, huge grapes, persimmons (one of my favorite fruits), bananas, plums, kiwis, and more. It was incredible. And no one had any kashrut (kosher) issues, so it worked out perfectly!