July 31: Be'ersheva (Masada & The Negev)

(1) We rose at the butt-crack of dawn to climb Masada (Hebrew for "Fortress"). It's a commanding mountain, but only manages to summit at 190 feet above sea level - that's normal sea level. One has to remember that we were starting at the lowest spot on Earth. From the Dead Sea, Masada actually rises 1,500 feet. (photo: www.bibleplaces.com)

(2) The fortresses rising along Masada are believed to have been built between 37 and 31 B.C. by Herod the Great... I have no idea who that is. However, it's quite amazing that we were able to pass by these ruins on our way to the top, a vast mesa offering stunning views of the surrounding area and the Dead Sea. Watching the sun rise over Jordan was a humbling experience.

(3) Even after the sun had risen higher in the sky, we still found ourselves looking out over the water. Later, we explored the flat-top, peering in and out of ancient structures. Masada seemed like the pefect place to hold a pay-per-view Pink Floyd concert.

(4) After climbing down the mountain, the three of us packed up and headed away from Masada, passing through this massive oasis on our way to Be'ersheva to visit my mom's cousins from Russia. (photo: www.terragalleria.com)

(5) Further along the way to Be'ersheva, we drove through the Negev Desert. Here we were in a foreign country, thousands of miles away from America... yet, something felt very familiar. It felt like home. In fact, I found much of the Israeli landscape to look just like the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. This was especially true in the Negev. (photo: www.terragalleria.com)

(6) We finally made it out to Be'ersheva and met the Russian cousins. After taking them all out to dinner, I ended up going back to their home, and, at their insistance, spending the night. I'm sure that the closet I slept in was forty degrees warmer than the hotel where Mom and Lucy stayed, but I was grateful for their hospitality and enjoyed spending time with such gracious hosts. It really was a closet, just large enough for a bed and a small, decorative collection of torn out pages from Hebrew "boy band" magazines.