merry christmas!

we have made it to jerusalem just in time for christmas. after we arrived in israel i almost turned around and fled back to egypt. the only thing stopping us was our lack of an egyptian return visa and our hotel booking in jerusalem. people in israel are extremely rude and unfriendly and after coming from hyperfriendly egypt it really hurt. our first 4 major interactions with people (border, taxi, information desk, bus driver) were so shockingly unfriendly that i was actually shaking by the end (being the only 2 people left on the road after a full bus drove away, even though we were about midway in line didnt help).

anyways, today has been a bit better and we are starting to find our way around the city. here i am at the western wall (middle right, white yarmulke), the last remnant of the original temple.

we also visited the church of the holy sepulchre where jesus was apparently crucified. one thing that we havent yet gotten used to in israel is half the young people walking around with automatic weapons strung across their back. even soldiers out of uniform (we hope they are soldiers) carry their guns over a sweater or t-shirt or whatever and none of them look much over 20. even when they are wearing uniforms often their pants are super low, their shirts are untucked and (firearms as fashion) their guns are slung lazily almost down to the ground. this group outside the church were much friendlier than most civilians.

finally, as a public service announcement we would like to inform you about our friend sam. we met him first at an oasis in the western desert with ty and kelsey. we then met him again on the top of mt. sinai and a third time in dahab... it was this third occasion that convinced us that we should be friends, so we hung out in dahab a few times and hope to reconnect in turkey. he is a good guy and a great storyteller (he's irish)... if you see this man, please let him sleep on your couch. he is not planning on coming to canada on this trip, but who knows how long he can stay home in ireland?

we also met a cool dutch couple that we got along with very well. sana is in the above shot, but we dont have any pictures of bart. luckily they plan to hook up with us again in amsterdam so it is not too late.

so merry christmas everyone! we are thinking of heading to bethlehem tomorrow for christmas day, but perhaps it will be too crowded. we will be thinking of you (family and friends) so eat some turkey for us and we will put in a good word for you if jesus comes back on his birthday.