It started out with us crawling through a really awesome and long and windy passageway that occasionally opened up into larger rooms. This wasn't like touristy caves in America. This was touristy Israel, so there were no electric lights or anything down there, or hand rails, and seldom even steps (unless they were there from two millenia ago). So, we crawled through this vast and oppressive passage through the cavern, the whole way lit by candlelight. Often we had to get down on our bellies or backs and slide under a very low ceiling. Sometimes, we had to crawl on our knees. We had to climb through holes small enough that they brushed me on all sides (one mid-sized hole is shown below). I'm not so skinny, but there were plenty of people bigger than me on the trip, and I'm sure it was none too comfortable, though it was very rewarding. After all of that, we dug for buried treasure, i.e. bits of bone and pottery. Overall, very cool.

Tel Aviv:

Another excursion during the day was to Tel Aviv. We spent very little time in Tel Aviv, which is strange since it is a major city. It is considered one of the biggest party cities in the world, and is very secular. We were there several times, but never for very long. On our main day trip there, we were taken to some street where tons of local artists, artisans, and craftsmen set up booths. It was awesome, but we only had like forty-five minutes to eat lunch and check out the street, and lunch for some reason took priority that day.

There is a picture below of the couple next to our table at the Israeli hamburger place we went. In Israel, you never see anything called a "hamburger," or "cheeseburger," unless you are at McDonald's. Jews can't eat ham, and mixing meat with cheese (a cheeseburger) is not kosher. So, instead, they call hamburgers "beef burgers," and just forgo the cheese.

Also pictured are several shops that were along a big street. I included these because it was interesting how much like American shops they were. Some parts of Israel were very different, but Tel Aviv was just like a borough of NYC. Same street vendors selling knock-off purses and perfumes, etc.

Here are a couple random shots. The first two were taken at some major cemetary for Prime Ministers and soldiers. Lots of notables buried there. It was also, notably, the first place where I started taking TONS of pictures of our leader, Gary, since he generally looks pretty damn funny if you catch him in the little moments when he isn't on. He'll get his own update later, since I ended up taking about 230 shots of him. Haha, it sounds crazy, but they had all the guys from our bus laughing hysterically for several entire days. Anyway... the second picture below is a good advertisement for Avis. The others are just shots on the bus. Kendra sleeping, the Mark sleeping with Yair goofing around.

Caesaria:

Caesaria (pronounced KAY-'sah-ree-ah) was a Roman fortress on the Mediterranean Sea. This was when we left Jerusalem and went to the North for several days. Caesaria was our first stop in the North. The ruins there were pretty awesome. There was a medium-sized ampitheater still standing where they still hold performances by what we were told are all the hottest Israeli artists. There were also the ruins of a town and fortress. It's right on the beach, and this was our first glimpse of the Mediterranean, which is beautiful and pretty clear even though it's supposedly quite polluted. Not nearly as clear as the Red Sea, but still much clearer than anything I've seen in the US.