Well, here we are about a week into vacation, and this is the first internet I have had since we have started. Since we left the school last Wednesday evening, we have been on a trip that has been exciting, adventurous, near disastrous at times, memorable, relaxing, and most of all, fun.
We started our trip off with a flight to Milan, where we waited in the train station from about 11:00 pm to about 7:00am the next morning. At about 12:30, a few of us were hungry, so we decided to leave the train station to go across the street to Micky D’s for a little snack. According to the sign, the train station closes at 1:00 am, but when we returned at about 12:50, the doors were all shut, barred, and padlocked. There was no busting in on this one. Earlier in the evening, I thought how funny it would be if one of us got locked out of the train station for the night, but all of the sudden, it didn’t seem so funny anymore. It was below 40 degrees outside, we could see our breath, and that train station isn’t in the best part of town. We walked all the way around the train station, and all of the doors were locked except one. The one that wasn’t locked had about four guards in the doorway. Out of our group, I spoke the second-best Spanish, and somehow I was elected to go talk with the guards who spoke Italian. Perfect. The four of us walked up, and I just started rattling out as quick as I could that our suitcases were inside, our friends were inside, and last but certainly not least, we needed to go inside. Now, I told you that I was talking very fast, but I never said that what I was saying made any sense whatsoever to that guard, even if he did know a little Spanish. He looked at me with a very puzzled look and said, “You speak English?” I was very flustered because I was very surprised, but I gladly told him everything over again in English. In broken English, he told me that unless we had a ticket, we couldn’t go in. I told him that we didn’t have any, but our stuff was already inside. I don’t know if that guard was drunk, compassionate, or something else, but I don’t care; I loved him just the same when he let us through. We rejoined our group, and we got warm, and cheered up quickly. 
A little while later, Walter came in, but three more were waiting outside. Walter came in with a little bit of a panic, and asked if anyone had any tickets for tomorrow’s train, because he had told the guard that we were all inside with the tickets already. We told him that no one had any tickets yet. Then he told us that if he didn’t have anything to show the guards, not only would the three outside not be able to come in, but also if the police came around during the night, they could kick us out into the cold. Someone suggested we use our Eurail passes to get the other three in. They came up with three passes: we needed four; one for Walter as well. At that point, I remembered that I had one too- somehow in all the panic, I forgot I had one. I offered mine as well. Walter and Esther went to talk to the guards. Esther went along in the case that they decided to kick the others out, she would be able to retrieve the passes and bring them back in side. In about three minutes, Walter, Megan, Chelsea, Eric (Walter’s friend from PUC), and Esther returned. We all made it into the train station for the night. Safe, mostly warm, together, happy.
We met many interesting people in that train station, and most of them were drunk. I must say, I am not one who feels 100% comfortable hanging out with drunk people, especially in a train station, but I will say that even though I wasn’t 100% comfortable with it, drunk people have an amazing potential for humor. There was a man there who was either drunk, mentally retarded, or a little of both. He threw bread pieces at our group, and the whole night he would laugh for absolutely no reason whatsoever. There was a man who came hobbling in who told us that he had had an Appendicitis 10 days ago, so we gave up one of our seats for him. When he left, he sprang to his feet, grabbed his very large suitcase, and walked away briskly- not limping. While he was there, he was trying to shush all of the drunk people from Scotland- or at least I think that’s where they were from, who were drinking nonstop and laughing even more than they were drinking. Somehow, a guy trying to shush a group of laughing drunken Scotts indiscreetly makes for quite a funny scene. We started talking; me in English and him in broken English. When I told him we were studying in Spain, we found out we each speak Spanish, so we switched to Spanish. The conversation was much smoother and quicker, but later on, he reverted back to broken English; very broken English. It actually started to frustrate me that it would take three times as long to talk since he only seemed to want to talk English. I have a theory that the way to show off in Europe is to speak English, because we were doing absolutely fine in Spanish, but yet he kept on going for English. He told Casey [the only black person with us] that he looked just like Barack Obama. Casey looks nothing like Obama, at least in my opinion, but this guy was adamant that he was the spitting image. My guess is that this guy hasn’t seen too many people with African roots before.
Finally, after a long night of attempting sleep, talking, watching movies, rubbing our red eyes, and just waiting, we boarded the train and headed out. 18 ACA students and 1 visitor from the NorCal area got on a train that was absolutely filthy. We were so tired, we disregarded the ridiculously dirty headrests, reclined our seats back, and drifted off. I only woke up once during our train ride to go to the bathroom, and let me tell you, this bathroom is like non other I have ever seen. On this train, there is a toilet, much like any other bathroom. The difference is that this toilet has a pipe that goes straight down to the tracks; you can actually see the tracks from the bowl of the toilet. When I did my business, it went straight onto the tracks; when I flushed the toilet, the water went straight onto the tracks. I think from now on whenever I walk across any train track, I will be reminded of that train ride into Savona from Milan.
We pulled into the train station, got on a bus, and headed to the port. Our ship, the Costa Serena, was waiting for us, and for not really being too familiar with boats, this is by far the biggest boat I have ever seen. After checking in, waiting, and waiting some more, we boarded.
The first thing they told us was that the buffet on floor 9 was open. We were tired, hungry, filthy, and crabby, and the sound of a buffet was music in our ears. Josh, Eric and I ran to our rooms, left our bags, and headed to the buffet. In the buffet, there were perfectly prepared fish, salads, rice, meats, breads, and much more. I filled a large oval plate with everything I saw there, and when I was done with that plate, I went back and filled another just like it, and finished that one too. I ate like a pig that first meal, and even though I was still tired and filthy, having a very full stomach felt absolutely delightful after a long while going hungry in the train station and the train. 
After the buffet, we went to the room, showered, and slept until dinner. Dinner here on the ship is absolutely amazing as well. Each night is a 6 course meal; appetizer, soup, pasta, entrée, cheese platter, desert. This cruise pays for itself just in the food. Someone calculated that for eating out every meal, not even as classy as we do here on the ship every meal, it would come out to more than we paid for the cruise! For 12 days on the cruise, we get room, board, transportation, and entertainment, and we paid around $550 U.S. dollars. I don’t even think you could do hostels, trains, food, etc. for 12 days any cheaper.
Our first real day at sea was very nice. We all slept in; all 19 of us. I took a book I bought before the trip and went out on the deck for a while and just read for pleasure. I don’t even remember the last time I just read a book for the fun of it with no rush, no incentive, and no report due when I was done. I read slowly on purpose absorbing every word. I believe that is how reading should be. Of course, the lounge chair, the deck, and the boat didn’t hurt the atmosphere either. Later on that day, I went to the art class and painted a little vase, and later on, I went to Italian class. We learned the basics; hello, goodbye, how do you say…, can you say it slower, etc. I learned that Italian is much more similar to Spanish than I even thought.
At dinner, we found out that Tarah, another ACA student who was supposed to be with us on the cruise, missed her flight and was in Milan instead of on the boat with us on the way to Olympia, Greece. I thought it was kind of funny because she already missed a few flights and trains. Tarah ended up meeting us in Greece. 
The night before we got into Israel, we were all sitting around dinner, and I got an unexpected surprise. A woman with a thick British accent came up to our table and informed me that I had been chosen at random for a meeting with the Israeli government the next morning. She told me that there was a letter left in our room with all of the specifics. I wasn’t too worried because after all, it was random, and I have absolutely nothing to hide. However, when I got back to my room and read the note, it didn’t say anything about random anywhere. Worse yet, the meeting was at 6:30 the next morning, and we had just gained an hour because we went east, so it was essentially 5:30 as far as I was concerned. I was not too happy about them making me get up so early on my vacation, but oh well. I got up, showered, and went to the meeting place, which was the lobby of the ship. When I arrived, I told the concierge I was there, and while they were crossing my name off the list, I noticed that there were only about 10 names on it. I figured that if this really was random, there would have been at least 100 names on it, because there are over 3,000 people on this boat right now. From 6:30 in the morning until about 7:00, I waited in the lobby. I was thoroughly mad now, because I had woken up early for them, and they just made me wait, and what made it worse was my stomach was growling loudly because I was starving. Finally, they called me into another room… and told me to wait some more. When I reached the second area, I saw the rest of the people on the list, and they all looked very Middle Eastern. Random my sweet fanny. I actually felt really out of place there, even though I share some of the same heritage as they do. Let’s just say I was the milk of the land and they were the honey if you catch my drift. Luckily, because I was the only American present, they interviewed me first. Interviewed probably isn’t the right word; interrogated is more like it. For the next ten minutes, I was asked where my father was born, where my mother was born, where I was born, why I was on this cruise, who was I with, where have I traveled before, why I was living in Spain, why I chose to learn Spanish, what I knew of Israel, what was I planning to do while I was there, and many other seemingly pointless questions. I decided that playing it stupid would probably be the safest bet, and get me out of there the soonest. The best part is that every answer I gave him was absolutely true. When he asked me why I chose this particular cruise, I told him the honest truth; because it was cheap. When he asked me where my mother was born, I told him I wasn’t exactly sure because my grandparents traveled a lot as missionaries. When he asked why I chose to learn Spanish, I told him because I live in SoCal and many speak it there. Of course as I was telling him about why I wanted to learn, I was thinking in the back of my head, “I learned Spanish so that I could come here to Israel and yell at the Arabic terrorists who don’t even speak Spanish”. When he asked what I knew about Israel, I told him the dead honest truth: I know almost nothing. After about ten minutes, he thanked me, and I was on my way.
After my interrogation, I went to breakfast, and prepared for an exciting day in Israel. Israel was the one place all of all wanted to splurge for a tour because we wanted to see Jerusalem and we knew that if we did it ourselves we would not be able to see everything or know all of the history behind it. For two days, we had the nicest tour guide and bus driver in the world. The bus driver’s name was Ethan, and the tour guide’s name was Michal [Mick- (big flem)-all], but she told us to call her Micky. By the second day, she had 20 new kids as she started calling us her “babies”. We saw about 329% more than I thought we would in those two days. We saw Mount Masada, the Dead Sea, the temple of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the supposed place where Jesus was born, the Garden Tomb, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the supposed place where David cut off part of Saul’s robe, the location of where Jacob almost sacrificed Isaac, John the Baptist’s birthplace, the room of the Last Supper, Palm Sunday walk, and the Via Dolorosa. 
It’s funny, right now, you might be wondering how far we travelled, and how many hours we spent in the bus, but the surprising thing is that all of these sights are basically a stone’s throw away from each other. In the Bible, everywhere seems really far away from everywhere, and if we were walking like they were, it would have been. In this day and age, everything seems like it is in the same neighborhood. Take the Mount of Olives for instance; the Garden of Gethsemane is in the valley straight down from the mount, and it sounds like the Garden of Gethsemane extended up onto the Mount of Olives. Take Jerusalem and Bethlehem; they are probably only about a mile apart, if that. Take the place where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac; it is believed that that is the same mountain that the temple is built upon. It astonished me that everything could be so close and interconnected, when every Bible story seems like it took place hundreds of miles from the others. 
Of all of the places we visited, my two favorites were the Dead Sea, and the Garden Tomb. We swam in the Dead Sea, and it was unlike anything I have ever experienced before in my life. I swam out about twenty feet, stopped moving, and stayed right where I was without sinking at all; no energy required. I remember when I was younger we swam in our swimming pool and Brian and my Mom could always float, and I never could. I remember trying to tweak my form so many times, but to no avail. Here, no matter your form, no matter your size, I assure you that you will float. Mickey told us that the water of the Dead Sea is 10 times saltier than anywhere else on earth. This information is good and bad; it provided a swim unlike any other, but when I got a little water in my eyes, it hurt 10 times as much as at a normal beach. Normally at the beach, it stops hurting in about 5 to ten minutes tops, and you can return to your activities. Here, when I got water in my eyes, not only did it sting like crazy- worse than I have ever felt before in my life, but it also took about a half an hour to even be able to keep my eyes open. Despite the salt in my eyes, that single experience was worth the entire cost of that tour, and that is a memory that I will keep with me forever. 
Out of all of the sites, I was most skeptical of the location of the manger, and this place; the tomb. Not only do they have little to no evidence for the manger, but to top it off, they have built a church on top of what is supposedly the cave where Jesus was born. I felt that the location for the tomb was a lot more evidence based, so a much better chance of it being the right place. The tour guide told us a lot of Biblical facts about the description of the tomb, and even though I was really excited, I felt a little skeptical; I wanted to read it for myself. Up until this point in my life, I have only read the Bible for the stories, and for the content. I have never read the Bible for historical research before, and it was really exciting to do so. I am not saying I believe that this is the right tomb, but I believe that it very well could be.
First of all, the guide started us off in a garden like area, and he took us over where we could see a small hill about 50 meters away. The hill had a little cliff off to one side, and in that cliff face, there were two caves where two eyes would be on a face. The guide then showed us a picture of that very same cliff 100 years before, and below the two caves that looked like eyes, there was a very long horizontal cave where the mouth would have been. The whole cliff looked like the face of a skull, hence Golgotha, “Place of the Skull” [Matt 27:33] . Another reason why this hill really matches the description is because it is literally a stone’s throw away from the city wall; …for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city… John 19:20. Now, the problem with this piece of evidence is that no one knows if this face was formed before or after the crucifixion, and on top of that, apparently there are lots of earthquakes and other terrain changing things that happen quite frequently. However, for now, let’s just assume we have the right hill. Now, I mentioned that we were in a garden at this point looking at the hill that was very close to us. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden…John 19:41. Before you say, “well duh, they just built a garden to make the story fit”, stay with me. The tour guide made the point that to keep a garden alive in the Jerusalem area, one would need lots of water. Right under where the garden and tomb are, there is an ancient storage tank that holds many thousands of gallons of water (I can’t remember how many exactly), and we were able to look down a shaft and see it. So now we have water for a garden, possibly a garden, and the skull head. Now, to have a garden and a big storage tank, we would need a pretty wealthy guy. When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, names Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple. He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus…. Matt. 27:57. Next, the guide took us inside the actual tomb. There are two spaces for corpses, but only one spot looks used. It is fairly easy to tell which ones have been used, because they had to dig a little pocket for the feet and for the head because it wasn’t long enough as is for a corpse- kind of like my brother on most beds. One of the spaces clearly had a spot for the feet and for the head dug out, and the other one didn’t have any; it was cleanly cut. This suggests that no one had ever been in that space. And when Joseph had taken the body…laid it in his own new tomb. Matt. 27:57, Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher. John 19:41. Now, there is one thing that the tour guide said that I am skeptical on. He told us that Mary went in and looked to the right. Our guide told us that most tombs of the day had two chambers, the “weeping chamber”, and the one where the corps actually was. Usually, they were straight in a line, but in this tomb, the chambers were side by side: the entrance was in the left room; the weeping chamber, and the right room had the spaces for the corpses. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment… Mark 16:5, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain John 20:12. So, does that mean that the young man was sitting on the right side of the tomb, not necessarily in the other chamber, just off to the right side? Or does that mean that if you put the two verses together, there were two angels sitting to the right at the head and feet of Jesus? I am not saying that my skepticism discredits this tomb, but I do think it is important to question. I am no Biblical scholar, and I am not trying to sway your opinion, or even my own. I am simply just laying out the facts as I saw them, and as I read about them. I really do believe that this site has a very good chance of being the right one, but no one really knows. The most important thing is what our flamboyant British guide said, “Guys, it doesn’t really matter if this is the right tomb or not, what really matters is that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and He is alive.” 
Well, those are the big highlights of what has been happening here on board for the last couple of days. We are heading into Izmir tomorrow, and Athens on either Friday or Sabbath. I am not sure how many other internet opportunities I will have after this, but if I don’t I will definitely have it when we get off the ship in about 5 days. Pictures will follow soon! Hasta la proxima vez…
Delightful account! And yes, I trust you will remember these things for a good long while. Pictures on facebook perhaps? I'll look there next. Love you, big boy,
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As Always your writing is very compelling... It draws me into whatever you are doing and experiencing. You are becoming a fantastic writer. I can hardly wait to see your pictures and hear more about your trip. Glad you are getting a chance to rest, relax and eat plenty of wonderful food.
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Dad
big flem! nice!
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