The Holy Land Summer 1999
by Cristy Trembly

The week before I left for the Holy Land trip was quite a busy one, I had a seminar which I attended and Whoopi Goldberg was the moderator, on minorities in media, and it was excellent. I also had our big AWRT awards luncheon of the year, the Genii Awards, and since we have had a lot of trouble this year I was worried that we would even do it, but we did, and it came out OK. This was the Friday I left, so I had a hectic work day with the Geniis in the middle, then home to finish the last minute packing and on to the airport on Friday night!! You know getting the Holy Land trip had been my heart and soul for over a year and now I am finally doing it!!

WASHINGTON, DC: First I went to Washington, DC for nearly a week, I always enjoy going there. I have lots of fun with the DAR ladies and took care of some family stuff, too. Then flew to Frankfurt, Germany. I had a long layover so went to visit Jackie's cousins in Aschaffenburg-I had flown all night on a pretty full plane but decided to take the train to see them, after all even though Jackie and I are no longer together, I like his cousins and they like me and we still keep in touch. So I went down there, it was fun and the kids are really grown up now! I saw their new house and it was a fun day. Then they drove me back to the airport and I met up with Diana who had flown from LA. We then flew to Beirut, I cannot even believe it as we are doing it! It was great, they checked our passports very carefully and made sure we had no Israel stamps in them, and the flight was pretty full. But all was delayed, and when we got there, the immigration and customs took forever, long lines, so we met Joseph, my friend, and it was nearly 3 am!! By the time we got home and in bed it was 4 am and I was ready for a bed after flying from Thursday night to Saturday morning total!

LEBANON: It is great, has been built up so much since the Civil War, though there are still bombed out houses and people living in open buildings right along the famous Green Line. This was interesting for us, and by the next time we visit all will be restored, they are trying hard to forget about the problems. Everything is either in French or Arabic, usually both, and you can see the difference between the Christian and Muslim sections simply by the Virgin Mary statues in one neighborhood and the mosques in another. People live more mixed and they all get along now, and the tragedy is, after all the years of war, neither side gained an inch of territory or beliefs or anything. Their house was out of the firing line but they could look on their balcony and see rockets falling and the blasts would be so powerful that it did break their windows and the heat tore their curtains, and blew out their glassware in a cabinet, but really they were lucky. They have lived in the same 5th floor house for 35 years. They also have a view of the Mediterranean, it is incredible to imagine that this is the same sea as France and Spain, and we are so far from there. We walked around Beirut, saw the American University, scene of so much bombing, the Corniche with the sea views and a mix of people, girls in short skirts and women fully covered. We saw the old site of the US Embassy and walked through fashionable Hamra, the downtown that was why Beirut used to be called the Paris of the Middle East.

We drove up to the grottos of Jeita, these incredible underground caves with amazing formations, and a cable car ride to the top, and to Jounieh, a seaside town with a port and big tall apartment buildings that reminds me of Monte Carlo. There is the huge basilica and Virgin Mary statue there, it is said that when they turned the statue towards the mountains, in the night it mysteriously turned towards the sea, so now she protects the sea.

We visited Byblos, with ruins from 7000 years ago, which we cannot imagine, especially Americans who think 200 years ago is really old! Byblos made the original papyrus and this was used to write the bible so the word Bible came from Byblos! They also have the first writing in an alphabet so it is called the city of alphabet. There is also Roman ruins and the present, and even a Mexican Consulate (I am not sure why!) To see the restorations is incredible, and all through this trip I am amazed at how our houses don't last for 50 years, maybe, we can't keep a good roof on them, and these places are 5000 years old! I wonder if people will be able to find us in 3000 years in the future, what we have done, what they will find...the ancient people knew amazing things.

Also in Byblos I got to visit my first mosque; I have been studying a lot about Islam to be ready for the trip and so I was excited to see the mosque. Usually women aren't allowed, or only in a small separate area, but it wasn't prayer time so they let me in, 2 young guys who were very nice, and I knew a lot of good questions to ask them so they were very nice and we took pictures and everything. I thought this was incredible, it was a small mosque but my first encounter!

We also visit Baalbek, the most famous ruins in Lebanon and the Temple of Jupiter is one of the symbols for the money and the maps and other things, the tall Roman columns. I also learned that Roman columns are smooth and Greek have ridges. We spent a lot of time here, looking at the fabulous restorations or everything and so incredibly old.

It was also a bit of adventure for us there as Baalbek is a strictly Muslim town and it was an Islamic holiday, so Hezbollah decided to have a demonstration. All along the road was black posters and pictures of the Ayatollah, the Pres. of Iran, and a lot of checkpoints along with many photos of Pres. Assad of Syria. Lebanon still has a lot of Syrian troops and this causes some friction, they feel like a colony, imagine if there were only pictures of Queen Elizabeth in the US and almost no pictures of Clinton, they said, even if they are friendly you would feel bad, and I certainly do understand it. Not that we have pictures of Clinton on every street corner, far from it, only in the post office or the newspaper! Of course in a place like Syria, the photos are everywhere and mandatory, I think, but in Lebanon it is particularly strange to see it. There are Lebanese checkpoints, Syrian ones, and we felt safe all the time but they are still there, supposedly keeping the peace. Anyway, we got to Baalbek and almost in the middle of a traffic jam with totally covered women and men with guns and little kids with black armbands and they are shouting slogans like "long live the revolution" and stuff like that, we are not scared but we don't take pictures and keep low key as our heads are not covered and we definitely look out of place. We could hear the speeches as we look at the ruins and it surely looked interesting though not really advisable for us to go. It was fascinating to us!

We visited the famous Cedars of Lebanon, where Solomon used the wood to build the temple, and the wood is very famous and smells great. It is about 8000 ft. up there so the air is cool and fresh and wonderful, and we walk around. We even met some other Americans from South Carolina and Texas which were visiting, they work in Saudi Arabia! It was very beautiful, some of the trees are 4000 years old and it is all carefully preserved now. I got a key chain with my name in Arabic which I thought was very exotic!

On the way back we visited Bcharre, a small town which is famous as the home town of Khalil Gibran, so we visit the museum which is spectacular. He wrote many books and also was an amazing painter, a very spiritual person and very popular in the US and around the world. We also visited Tripoli , in the far north of Lebanon, which had a big sign of Allah in the front square which I thought was very interesting!! It is a large city with a nice beach.

Lebanon has modern highways and good food and the people are friendly. With English and French it was easy, and I didn't feel afraid of anything, it's just an interesting mix and they welcome Americans back since we haven't been able to legally visit in many years. The driving is a little scary, especially at the traffic circles, but nothing compared to Syria where there is absolutely no law of the road and people make 5 lanes out of 2!

SYRIA: We drive through the historic Bekaa Valley on the famous road to Damascus where we can remember the famous trips we used to see on TV of when the route was open or closed during the Civil War, and also the road the hostages would take when they were released-quite a few Americans and the negotiator, Terry Waite, it brings back a lot of memories and quite amazing that we are following in their path. We take a service taxi to Damascus, the driver is a friend of Joseph's wife and is very good about negotiating the border etc. It is cheap to drive, $10 for each of us and it takes 3 hours. There is no need to fly or stress or anything, we just go! The driver is very good, he knows all the guards on both sides and has been making this trip for 46 years.

We stayed with Joseph's cousin and he was very nice, they have a lovely house and a nice family, a teenage boy who reminded me of any American high school student, and a girl who is finishing at the university in English literature. They treated us wonderfully and we had a great time, and he is a professional tour guide so he knows everything!

That first evening he thought we should sightsee, which was fine with me though I was tired and it had been a long day, but we went to the famous outdoor market there and ended up at the Omayyad Mosque, built in 701 AD. It was incredible, the 4th holiest place in Islam, and also the tomb o John the Baptist is located there. Women can enter if they wear a robe, supplied by them, available for rental for 20 cents! We saw it with the full moon around the minarets, and again in the daytime, and to go in there was really amazing. I felt something very special.

The next 2 days we visited Maloula, one of only 3 towns where they still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and some beautiful monasteries both there and in Saidnaya, , and of course more of the interesting sites of Damascus, including the Roman citadel and the different gates and the Azem Palace. Damascus has an incredible history and so many wonderful things, it is no wonder that Mohamed said that Damascus was close to paradise.

I learned that there are no McDonalds in Syria and no actual Coca Cola, it is a knock off brand, which says something about Syria I think, the closed society that it really is, despite the modern highways and other stores and big cities. There is something else going on there, and we hear about Pres. Assad in the news. I think he will be re-elected as many times as he is able to run and they are grooming his son to take his place. Of course his picture is everywhere, even by the churches and definitely in every town center and every store. When you leave Syria, at the border there is a smiling Pres. Assad saying thanks for your visit! We took a servees again, $25 apiece as we had to pay for all the seats ourselves, so it is about 3 hours to Amman, and since they didn't change time for summer, they are an hour behind which we desparately needed. I wish we'd had an extra hour per day!

JORDAN part one: We spent the day in Jordan to see Amman, check out if Queen Noor will have any time to see our group when we return on the 5th, and do some sightseeing. We get there about 11 am and this is great, we check into the hotel, I am leaving my 2 suitcases there and will pick them up when returning with the group later on. I wanted my ladies to meet me here but they couldn't do the airfare into Jordan very well so we have to go to Tel Aviv to meet them. There is a plan and I cannot always make it what I want, which you know is frustrating for me! But this is good, I can check out Jordan and get some money and be prepared.

As I try to make phone calls for the Queen visit and other things, unfortunately it is a holiday in Jordan, starting a 3 day weekend and nobody is there. Not good, so I try to leave messages on the machines that they have, but not everyone has one so this is a problem. Better to get out in the world-we first went out to the Royal Cemetery and after some runaround, it is closed. However, when I show the photo of Her Majesty and I off the web site, they send a vehicle for us as taxis are not allowed. We go in and to see the exact places that I saw on CNN, to see King Hussein's grave, and the royal cemetery and the royal mosque, I was just overwhelmed and started to cry and couldn't stop! Even I was shocked by this reaction. The guards were very nice and even gave me water and then sent us back down the hill, where we had the taxi drop us off in town.

We visited the Roman theater and odeon and we walked all around in town. We walked to King Talal's house where King Hussein and Prince Hassan were both born, and this was really good too, though I couldn't find the place and we kept walking up and up until a nice old guy in a grocery store showed us the way and offered us free pepsi and said he had always lived in the neighborhood and remembered the King as a young man and so on, so he had a local boy show us the way-next to it is a former palace that is now a handicraft center complex, dedicated by Queen Noor and her photo in the front! After a very full day we went back to the hotel, where we had to get up far too early to get the airplane to Tel Aviv. It is only 65 miles and only a 20 minute flight, but you cannot easily take a servees like in the Arab countries, as Jordanian taxis could not go into Israel and there is a no man's land between the two countries, it is a miracle you can cross the border at all, but you would need to get a servees to the border which is $35 a person, then cross on foot with your stuff, then find a servees on the other side to take you to Tel Aviv which would be at least that much, and it would take hours, so to save the hassle, for the same price, it is just as simple to take the $70 plane flight! Of course before we could even relax in the seat we were there, which was just great!

ISRAEL: How can it be possible that we are actually in Israel!! This is just fantastic! One thing we immediately find, that while the last three countries we visited are sort of developing, Israel is totally a First world modern country with every convenience! Other than most of the signs being in Hebrew, we could totally be in the US, with the shopping malls and highways and things e recognize! So we get to the hotel which is very upscale for us, with a fantastic sea view, and an upgraded room on the executive floor. We are very fortunate! The rest of the group isn't coming in until 5 pm and it is now 1 pm, so I say, let's go walk and see Tel Aviv! So we went to the mall and ate at the food court, the best homemade mashed potatoes I had seen in a month, second only to my own kitchen! We saw the Rabin memorial, at the spot where he was killed, and went to the Independence House where the state of Israel was declared by David Ben Gurion in 1948! This was not easy to find and the map was not exactly to scale so I felt pretty bad, we were so tired and I know Diana thought I was dragging her on a wild goose chase, as we say, where there is no end and I am just looking at the map all the time, pretty discouraged! But we do find it and it is closed, oh well, then we came back, met the ladies, and walked to Jaffa to the old port and now an artists' colony and cute old area of Tel Aviv, well Jaffa is the Joppa of the Bible and very beautiful at night. I cannot believe my feet will walk another inch, we are so tired, have flown so far, and walked so long! But the ladies all arrived fine and we did very well, and slept as long as we could! It will be a wonderful pilgrimage to visit the holy sites and I can't believe I don't have to organize anymore, that there is a guide and a bus and I am no longer trying to get people coming on the trip, it can all just happen now and I can enjoy it!

We are heading towards Caesarea, the Roman capital, where Elijah didn't die, he was brought up; Enoch also didn't die here traditionally. Caesarea was destroyed in 638 during the Islamization period, and was buried so it was easy to uncover later. There is a large Roman amphitheater and you can see the layers one on top of the other, they are still excavating. The sea is beautiful and the weather is great. An amphitheater is when the stage is on one side, and they measured the wind and sun so that you could have the maximum acoustical power, and the theater is still used, with folding chairs added. The hippodrome was partially destroyed in the big earthquake. Many areas they number and rebury into the area so it doesn't deteriorate then they put grass on it, otherwise everything in Israel would be a big hole! You can also see a dividing line in the water where the color changes which is Herod's original seaport, buried underneath. Pontius Pilate was here at Caesarea, and Pablo Casals sang here. Paul probably stood trial in Caesarea. We then drive toward Haifa and around to get a view of Mt. Carmel, then up to the top and the Bahai shrine for photos. There is also a beautiful garden there.

We drove through a Druze village, Isifiye, and Dalyat al Carmel; we learned some things about the Druze, the only difference is many of the things in town are in Arabic too, like the election posters, but 1.2 million Arabs live in Israel, are full Israeli citizens, and they don't have to serve in the military but the Druze offered to serve and they are proud warriors. Druze is a religion that broke off from Islam but has many similarities.

We then visited Megiddo; a city that was strategically important so that if you want to control the area, you need Megiddo. It was fought over by Solomon, Ahab, Egyptians, Canaanites, we see stone from 2700 BC and Tutmose 3rd telling about his conquests in 1400 BC. The 16th level is of King David, and the waterworks are made by Ahab. He built a hole, the bottom lower than the top, the source down to keep it from the enemy. It was also camouflaged.

The Pope's last visit to Israel was in 1964 and he was here. The Turks were here, Gen. Allenby was here, and during WW1 was called the Lord of Armageddon. It is also a strategic route for bird migration, they pass here from Africa to Europe; it was a major trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. This area is still the breadbasket of Israel, with pomegranate and pepper trees. On each level you can see the tribes of Jordan, Gilead, villages during the Arab time, and Caesarea didn't come along until 1500 years later.

Nazareth is incredible; it is a cleaner area than the others, and the main thing here is to walk down the main street, we are lucky to be able to park nearby and there are not too many tourists and traffic. The Church of the Annunciation was finished in 1966 over the spot where Mary and Joseph is thought of have lived. We must remember they lived in caves 2000 years ago, and in the church is the cave area. There are mosaics given by different countries to show how they see Jesus, in different colors and styles depending if they are from Cameroun, Mexico or the USA. Japan has Mary in a kimono and Jesus is Asian. We also see the back of the cave-when we go inside the first time there are a good many tourists but we can thread through to sit and look, though there isn't enough time to really feel it and very little quiet. There are many church groups, of course. There is also a sign for David, the "star" of David, is Delta upside down and rightside up, so people who couldn't read knew this was David's place. The crooked cross symbol also seen here and in Buddhist and Indian places are symbols against evil spirits, not the way Germans changed it. The wall around of the church is 4th then 6th then 12th century added on. In the chapel above there is a mikva, using rainwater or spring water for baptism and cleansing, purification.

The church is amazing, I stop to pray and I try to soak it up, and stay out of the noise of the tourists and the babel of languages and try to imagine what it is like to be there 2000 years ago. It is hard to believe we were actually there.

We continue on to Cana, land of John 2 and 4, where Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding. Many people come to renew their vows in the church here. Cana has become the symbol of matrimony. The Cana church is a copy of a Franciscan church in Salzburg, the 2 domes signify the couple and the 1 meeting is the bonding in unity.

We then arrived in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, and in front of the hotel it says Welcome Cristy Trembly group, how exciting!! We can't really believe what we have experienced today and after dinner, I busily get a phone card, with Begin and Sadat and Carter on it (quite a novelty for an American as e don't have phone cards or understand them!!) , and call the Queen's office. They have been looking for me and want to arrange something, she wants to meet with us, and we should call when we arrive in Jordan!! It is so exciting! The ladies are very anxious and want to meet Her Majesty and of course I really want to see her again myself, I can't believe what a role model she is to me, and then I met her here in LA and now I am possibly meeting her in Jordan!

After dinner we have a spiritual meeting in Ellen's room, after their first night and what we have experienced so far. We marvel at seeing the See of Galilee, visiting Nazareth and being in this incredible place. She talks about the braid of the 3 religions of the book taking place here, on how God's love is the greatest gift, but something is only called a gift if you take it. We are all feeling an emotional overload, and we share a lot. Ellen is editing a book on weather, some of the research reveals that in the air circulation of the world through time, that we breathe 9 molecules of air that Jesus did every day, so we really are a part of Jesus all the time, inside and out. This is such a different experience from any other kind of trip, and to have Rev. Ellen to share it with us, and my good friends Elaine and Diana and feeling a part of it all together. It is hard to absorb it all, or write about it, or have enough time to feel it like we want to...

GALILEE: We took an incredible boat ride on the Sea Of Galilee and met up with another Methodist group from England, they were very nice. We are trying to understand the experience that we're having and remembering the Bible verses about Galilee, and then we went to see the old boat that was dug up here that was 2000 years old and the type that Jesus would have used. We stick our feet in the water and wish it would never end, to feel this kind of peace. Ellen said we have to keep this feeling in our hearts when we get back home, but she doesn't know all about my work reality!

We continue on to the Church of the Beatitudes at the Mount of Beatitudes, so you have the names Beata and Beatrice coming from that. We remember the 8 blessings (blessed are the poor...blessed are the meek...) and that the church is octagonal, it is Franciscan, as are many churches on holy sites, or the Poor Clares which is the sisterly order related to the Franciscans. It is still a lot to grasp that we are in these places, and interesting to note the distances involved, how it would have been for Jesus to walk etc. We also overlook a banana plantation area where Jesus probably spoke. It is just from one side of the hill to the other, we can imagine the walk.

We continue on to Tabgha, seeing the church over the spot where the loaves and fishes miracle took place. There is a baptismal font from the Byzantine era (4-6th C AD) and it is shaped like a cross. It is great to see it all, but there are plenty of tourists and you feel like a rush there, which isn't as good as it takes away from the solemnity of the moment.

We also visited Capernaum, where Matthew details many things, he was perhaps the best historian, and told about the healing of the mother-in-law (imagine that!) and the first followers of Jesus came from here. The Torah was also read here, the first 5 books of our Bible. In Jewish synagogues you don't see humans on carvings, no Roman gods, you would see fruit, stars, kiddush cup. The stone is made by Alpheus, whose son is Zebediah, whose son is John, and it is written on these stones in Hebrew, which Israelis can read as if it were written today.

We crossed into the Golan Heights which was very cool, we have Lebanon on one side and Syria on the other, you still see flags where possible land mines are from that earlier war; since Israel won it in the 6 day war in 1967. 15,000 Israelis live here now, and we discussed what might happen after the elections, one thing for peace with Syria would be to give the Golan back. We can still see the military on the Syrian side, it is hard to imagine these enemies so close by each other, and even with a peace, can they ever trust each other, I hope there will be a peace soon... It was particularly ironic for Diana and I wsince we had just been in both countries a week ago!

We then visited Yardenit for the Jordan baptism site as we are reconfirming our baptism this afternoon. Ellen shared with us on the bus about white being the color of baptism as originally we were naked when baptized, then later on a white dress to show rebirth and new life. This garment would also be for our significant events, like white in a wedding dress, and white for a funeral as we are moving on into another new life. I am sure you have seen it on videos or on TV about the Israel baptism thing, some wear white robes and get dunked in the sea, some of us get sprinkled, that is what I did and it was very moving to reconfirm our baptism in this holy river. We ended this day talking together, looking at the Sea of Galilee and eating dinner, once again a little overwhelmed at what we had done!

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