Tabgha...Jerusalem...Dead Sea and back

Reading the newspaper in the Dead Sea (the water is way over my head but you cannot sink even if you try)

Me and the view we ate supper to (imagine it a little darker with the lights to houses and shops glowing)

On the roof at Dormition Abbey, notice my monster verticle (I realize Leither is higher but he's an All-American)Dead Sea with Jordan in the background

Dawn at the Dead Sea looking at Jordan
Me atop Ein Gedi mts
Looking below at our trail in Ein Gedi
Waterfall in Ein Gedi (Ein Gedi boasts springs from which a lot of Israel's drinking water comes from...with treatment)
Bakery in Davidka Square (Jewish market in Jerusalem)
Fish stand in Davidka Square
A look down Davidka Square
Hiking in Ein Gedi
Looking up at the mountains at Ein Gedi

Last week I was chosen as the driver into Tiberias for the weekly grocery run. I went with Thomas, Johannes, and MaryLouise, our always smiling 50s aged speaks only German multifunctional woman (not at all meant to be sexist): cooks/cleans/works in gift shop, monastery, and office. It was an eventful trip with lots of German backseat driving and me biting my lip and not throwing anyone out of the van.

This Friday Thomas, Leither, and I had planned to meet up with Martin and Johannes in Jerusalem. Martin and Johannes were there to participate in a seminar led by their volunteer organization. Friday morning Thomas, Leither, and I hurried and multi-tasked our way through a lot of chores and “busy work” in order to also pack and catch the bus at 12:45pm to Jerusalem. This is Israel, everything has a schedule of its own and not knowing when the bus would arrive we hurried to the bus stop (10 minute walk) while Ayla followed us. Thinking she would turn around when we got far from the monastery and because we had no time to take her back we let her tag along.
As we crossed a very busy highway 100s of feet in front of Ayla, she did not watch for cars, I looked back to her and yelled but she was clipped by a small car (that hit the brakes but was still going at least 50mph). I cannot describe the terror in my mind; a nursing mother and already underweight 45lb dog being hit by a solid metal half-ton car. She folded, rolled, and skidded across the pavement and as she regained a distinguishable form I waited in anticipation for the compound fracture that should accompany a hit like that. She limped to the shoulder of the highway and thankfully only had minimal visible scratches. One of us had to accompany her to the vet (and since I am her "caretaker" I immediately said I would so the others would not feel any guilt of leaving me and going to Jerusalem) so I gave my travel book and map of Israel to Thomas and Br. Franciscos came and the two of us drove 40 minutes with Ayla to the vet. This was a pointless trip. As we got to the veterinarian’s house: his wife (he was out on calls) took one look at Ayla, said she would be fine, and proceeded to clean her scrapes with hydrogen peroxide. As a biology major and accident-prone individual I’ve done worse cosmetic damage to myself and could have made the same diagnosis and treatment. I concluded the next morning she would be okay and made plans to get to Jerusalem.
I hitched a ride with an Austrian Benedictine Sister passing through on her way to Jerusalem to pick up her own zivis. We drove the Jordan River Valley which is sandwiched between the east shore of the Sea of Galilee and western border of Jordan. Great drive of conversation (learned she works/lives in the West Best among other things) and landscape. You will get sick of me saying this; the views are remarkable. The best part to this is when we got to Jerusalem she asked me if I knew my way around and being there only once before for 2 days I of course said…”Yes I do”. She dropped me off about one mile from my destination and I walked it because I had 2 hours until I had to meet up with the other guys. I look like that typical “trying to find him/herself in the world” adventurer you see on the side of the road or in a huge city with the giant backpack, backwards hat, and rugged looks (my hair is getting longer and I’ve begun a sorry excuse for a beard- I love this look). This is the first time I have ever felt that “on your own” feeling. Who would know where to find me if I just happened to “lose myself”? (Don’t worry Br. Paul I write this post from my room back in Tabgha). By the previous question I mean that I had the realization that I want and am eager for the responsibility to be on my own (I just do not have the financial capability yet). I took this walk as a chance to do some people watching and see if I could make my way to Dormition Abbey without the travel book and map. I made it with zero errors. That night we bought fresh falafel from a Moslem stand. It is Ramadan (Moslem calendar month commemorating the Quran to Mohammed) so all practicing Moslems are forbidden from eating, drinking, smoking, sex, etc. from dusk till dawn. This means they are easily agitated (try eating and drinking nothing in blistering heat 5am-6:30pm everyday for a month straight) and as we were walking back to the monastery I heard a huge BOOM and people started yelling and shouting which scared me. I thought “oh no, what happened this time?” (there was an incident a week ago in Jerusalem when a Palestinian boy drove into a crowd of Israeli military and was shot dead). Richard, the zivi at Dormition, told us all that it was just the cannon signaling the end of the day for the Moslems and allowing the guilty pleasures to begin. We ate supper of warm falafel, fresh bread, and cold hummus while sitting on top of Dormition overlooking the city at sunset. It is a 45 minute walk to the central bus station and we had to pick up 7-8 German zivis along the way but we caught the 10pm bus to the Dead Sea where we spent the night sleeping under the stars on the beach at Ein Gedi.
The next morning we were up early and reading the newspaper in the Dead Sea. It is so salty you float on your own (see picture) and is dangerous to swallow water. The water is thicker than normal water (obvious with the salt) and feels like a very fine oil on the skin. After you get out you must shower off but even with a good rinse-off you still feel bits of salt on your skin. It hurts when water gets in any crevice (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, straying south…).
We then hiked the Ein Gedi mountains. All the Germans thought it looked like Arizona and the Grand Canyon area. All I can say is that the mountains of Jordan and the Dead Sea looked like they were computer graphic from my view atop the mountains. My pictures do not do justice. The crevices and ridges in the mountains were so smooth and majestic and the water so many colors of blue and shimmering. They seemed not made from natural materials, like something you would dream of.
We took the bus back to Jerusalem (1 hour ride non-stop) walked around for a bit (visited a Jewish market: Davidka) and then got some pizza before we caught the bus back to Tabgha. We entered the pizzeria that was no bigger than my bedroom back in the US and were ordering when about 12 or so young military men came in and started talking to the one young male worker behind the counter (in Hebrew). Our pizzas were halted and theirs were made, I will eagerly step aside for someone who is in service to their country but these 18, 19, and 20s year-olds left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, they were loud, rude, and intimidating. The weapons strapped to their shoulders made it easy to brush this episode off, pizza was sub-par. Made it back to Tabgha to find all the animals in great condition.
Jerusalem and the Dead Sea are very beautiful places in completely different ways. One is filled with so much tension because of some many different people but feels so busy and important with its history and commotion while the other is secluded and quiet with lots of chances to just take it all in with only silence.

The other brain "figuring it out" here.

Yahudiya Nature Reserve

Boy at the Baptism loved my camera, I liked his all white digs
From left Zivis Johannes (checkered shirt) and Thomas (white polo), SJUBVC Mike Leither (Back), and Zivi Martin (blue polo)
From left: Fr. Basilius, Benedikt, Johannes, Martin, Thomas, and Me at Yahudiya.
Much of the terrain through Yahudiya was riverside over rock and through trees.
Pictures do not do justice to what I saw and experienced , this is what Yahudiya looked like from the cliff.
Fr. Jeremias baptizing
Fr. Jeremias and the family
Swim break at Yahudiya
Can you see me mid flight?

I should introduce Mike Leither my fellow St. John’s University Benedictine Volunteer Corps member in Tabgha (see previous posts for a picture). I met him at the end of April this past school year. We have a lot of mutual friends but surprisingly never found each other in the same company for the four years. He hails from the St. Cloud area and is the eldest of three kids. He was an art major and an All-American track athlete at SJU (he looks like it, he got the nickname “Hulk” when we first arrived). He is a hard worker and very smart in the construction and creation of projects (hopes to attend architecture school in the coming years). His skills have been put to use here and he has excelled. He is a huge country music fan (attending WeFest the weekend before we left for here), has a smile that reaches ear to ear, and is very well intentioned; the latter two especially making him easy to get along with. He has a brush with the German language from his time as a boy scout but learned Spanish in school so the speaking has been a little more troublesome for him but he manages well. He has an appetite (which I can understand with the great food they provide here) that is only surpassed by his ability to metabolize what he takes in. He has a natural ability to accomplish any task or challenge he sets out to do. I am glad St. John’s sent two of us here as even though the Germans do not try to, we are excluded quite easily and often (often at times of talking).

Fr. Basilius is back in Germany for two and a half weeks on vacation and Abbot Benedikt is in Rome for the annual Abbots convention (Every Abbot in Rome, lookout for this wild crowd!). This leaves Fr. Jeramias as our leader here. He has been back from Germany for about 2 weeks and I have begun to get to know him well. He is a kind warm smart man (I know I use this to describe a lot of the people I have met) and it's easy to see how everyone gets along with him. He is eager to talk to me about American politics, as I have communicated my viewpoint on issues with him almost everyday. He will bring up issues in the news, keeping me on my toes on daily happenings, and I try to explain the best I can (without bias). It would be safe to say that we share stances on a lot of issues. I have yet to find one we do not agree upon. I look to him to clarify things here that I do not understand or agree with and he has yet to fail me with the answer needed for my problem.

We had a baptism here on Saturday 20th, which is unique because the mother of the child was the first child to get baptized in the Church when it was rebuilt in the 80's. There was a huge number of family there and they invited us to watch.

Pics from the last week with visitors

This is the boat we road on the Galilee.
There was a bench outside the museum about 100ft long made completely of mosaic tiles at Ginosaur (where the ancient Galilee boat was found).
Leither and I out on the Galilee.

Lazy fat cat at Peter's Primacy, immediately became energized when I put the Johnnies hat on him. He quickly scaled a giant tree and took down a hang glider mistaking it for a bird. What is RED?

Inside Peter's Primacy (next door, run by Franciscan nuns) Chruch.

Seeing the US via a phone call and visitors

This is inside The Church of St. Peter (hexagonal church from last post).

Again the inside of Church of St. Peter.
Me on the steps to Church of St. Peter.
Our American visitors and us on the Galilee
This is a artifact that was collected from the Galilee in the 1980's. It has been dated about 2000 years old. It is a 10 meter boat. Packed in mud and found during a drought, to excavate took extreme care as the wood broke down as you touched it. They surrounded it with polyethelene foam and wax to absorb into the wood to make it stronger again.



I was able to make the first phone call home about a week ago but my phone card only had 8 minutes on it so the conversation with my mom was short and jumped around. BUT TODAY (Sunday) I got my Skype up and running (though I cannot call landlines or cells yet) and made a call home! I have been able to email everyone but that is not the same as talking on the phone. My parents bought a computer so we were able to see each other with the video cameras too. It was awesome! I think I had a permanent smile on my face the whole time and of course they did too (happy to see me but I think also to fiddle around with their new toy).


The American Presidential election is watched around the clock around the world. From my study abroad experience junior year I realized how little I knew about US politics, how much everyone else pays attention to what the US does (we have a huge influence on the world), and how little I paid attention to foreign politics. In the last year and a half I have tried to remedy that problem. Israeli government is largely supported by our current US administration; from talking with the monks here in Tabgha, Ibrahim, and reading local news I have found out that many of the younger Jewish population supports Obama because they are not interested in who possesses what and who controls what. Israel has mandatory military service and after the Golan War two years ago the young population really have grown tired of all the tension, violence, and anger. I have been told that the older population supported Bush in the past but now have also been swaying towards Obama. I will be really excited to see how the rest of the world reacts to November 4.

We have four American visitors here in Tabgha. They are the benefactors to a peace project called Beit Benedict. It encourages interfaith relationships between the three major religious communities: Jewish, Moslem, and Christian. It will have its headquarters in Jerusalem but will take place also outside Jerusalem. The supporters were Dennis and Rose from Naperville and Bob and Valerie from St. Helena. I use their names because I would like them and you to know how much they meant to me, still yet in the age of technology having a familiar voice abroad-American English-is a comfort and even the simplest comment of how they admired us for our work built me up. They were extremely nice people who invited us to spend the day with them around the Galilee and also brought us treats from America (candy and gum, the gum here is not the same). I admire them for their trust and enthusiasm in a project that so many people could just shrug off and feel has no importance, this project carries great importance. They were accompanied by Helene (American) and Fr. Johannas (Slovakian) both people who had spent time here in Tabgha, I had been in contact with before I departed the states and gave me much help in preparation, and are helping coordinate the Beit Benedict project. I cannot say enough about these two either they are very genuine, supportive, and kind; as they left I had to turn them down for the ump-teenth time that there was no need to send anything from the states back here to Leither and I as we have everything we need.
Normally every night, minus Wednesday and Sunday, we have a reading for all of supper. We eat supper in silence with only the person reading allowed talking privileges. Leither and I are the only English speakers here so all the supper readings are in German. I am familiar with this procedure from my short time spent at the SJU monastery so it is nothing new but it is empty significance to me because of my inability to understand all of the reading. With the event of our new American visitors Fr. Basilius asked Leither or I if one of us would read the supper reading in English. 5 minutes before Father had to go to prayer he asked me to come into his office. He had a letter that the Pope had recently written and was going to give this to me to read. I know very little about Pope Benedict except that him and I disagree on a lot of issues and I did not feel strong reading this mostly because I could not imagine it to be very entertaining (sorry to the monastic community). The supper readings should have some faith base to them whether it is news, proclamation, or history and Father did not like my quick suggestion to read a story instead (I was hoping to find a favorite baseball story of mine Attitude by Garrison Keillor). So I quickly ran through a mental checklist of what was needed in the reading and I thought of Martin Luther King Jr. I proposed the most familiar and my favorite writing Letter from a Birmingham Jail and the Father said “yes”, he had no background on the significance of the piece but since it was MLK Jr. I think that is why he was okay with it. As I stood before everyone reading for the entire meal I was overcome with humility and realization. I have never felt more proud to read a piece of literature in my life and as I read the words on the page strong emotion stirred in my mind and heart. If you were to just chang the group you are writing to and this letter could be used universally. I was unsure if it would go over well with the guests and the Germans but I felt reassured as after they finished eating I was commended by all the visitors and almost all the Germans on the text and by the way I read it (I would like to think the ones who did not praise the piece had a hard time understanding English).

More pics

These are ruins of Capernaum houses. My room at home is bigger than any of these foundations.












This is the Greek Othodox Church at Capernaum. It rivals the Catholic Church of St. Peter just 50 yards away. Every Sunday each church sings as loud as they can to drow out the other, only kidding.









Found these men on the shore of the Galilee and asked them if I could photograph them, they were drinking beer and eating watermelon chilled by the waterfall. This is a 3 minute walk from where I live and no significant religious association I can taint, take a wild guess what I'm doing next Sunday.







This is one of the 8 carvings on the inside of Primacy of St. Peter (Church of St. Peter in Capernaum). It is a raised octagon church built on the remains of Peter's house and all 8 carvings are intricate and huge.















Here is a vine/tree tunnel at the Greek Ortho Church. I just liked how dark and cool it was to stand in. The leaves of the plants had a smoothing fresh smell that was enticing, I don't think it was anything illegal.

Take a day off

On Thursday we had a break from work and took a group trip to nearby Ya’ ar Yehudiyya Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights. After about a half hour drive there we acquired our maps of the park, learned the rules, and completed packing our bags. The reserve has about 15 trails ranging from beginner hiking ability (1 hour-fairly flat terrain) to expert (8 hours climbing rocks, crossing rivers, swimming under waterfalls). We chose a 6-hour loop through a river canyon that was intermediate ability; I think it was quite easy. The trail was diverse with hiking through forested area, scaling ridges, and climbing up/down/across rock surfaces. The only wildlife I saw minus an occasional bird overhead was trout in the river. The trail was packed with many people hiking ranging in ages from teens-40s and quite a few were in the military service. I am pretty bright, I can tell by just looking at them; they were dressed like the rest of us in shorts and t-shirts but I noticed they had their semi-automatic assault rifles slung over one shoulder. A huge attraction on the trail we hiked is the three huge pools to swim in, which have high cliffs allowing you to jump into the pools. The highest cliff I saw someone jump off (then had to myself) was probably 50-55 feet high with the pool about 21 feet deep (measured 7 meters). I’ve done cliff jumping before in South Africa but my legs started to question my brain on its decision making (tried my best to act cool and not show it) and before my legs could provide the voice of reason needed at the time I took off running and jumped off the cliff.

Whoa, that escalated quickly.

If you’ve never experienced a descent where you left your feet for longer than 2 seconds this is how it goes: you feel as light as a feather, floating with no force from any direction for a split second which quickly turns into a helpless feeling as you gain warp-speed downward with every high-speed shutter pulse that is your heart beating through your throat. I threw out a quick “peace” sign to my German non-participants watching below and then gave a gold medal deserving toothpick gracefully plunging into the water. 2/3 of our hiking was in the canyon and under the comfort of the tree canopy, though I was still soaked with sweat it provided protection from the brutal sun, which was a impressive mixture of greens and browns from the plants (mostly shrubs and trees, few flowers). Two lasting views from the day: sitting under a giant waterfall with the relaxing massage water drops looking out through the cascade to a rainbow and as we reached the top of the river canyon looking back down into it and seeing the green as we stood in dried grass, dust, and rock. The view from the top of the canyon really fascinated me because the land was all one flat surface adjacent to the canyon stretching for miles to where you could see ridges and bluffs in the distance. It was a painting to me; a fissure just packed with life: green growing plants and running water but then on the horizontal surface dry browns and grey rocks extending until you can barely distinguish a plateau.

Johnnies fans aboad...Benedick (departed zivi)

















Ruins at the Church of St. Anna (where the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have been born) in Jerusalem.












The Western Wall. I took this photo on the Sabbath (Saturday, a big no-no in Jewish culture) and the men on the far left started yelling at me, but I took off running and they couldn't catch me (kidding, that I took off running but they still couldn't catch me). Borderline embarrassing you BPR.












Found an ass at the Greek Orthodox Church in Capernaum.













Ruins of Church of St. Peter at Capernaum.

Sleepless in Tabgha

Me frolicking in the Mediterranean at Nahariya (Leither's digital camera can go underwater up to 30 feet)











Mediterranean and me













The floor of the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish is all mosaic. Imagine covering two basket ball floors in tiles 1cm by 1cm. Over half of the floor has been redone but here under the altar are original tiles (fish and loaf of bread on each side of the basket).








This is a view out from the Fortress of Yehiam.















More original mosaic tile from Church of the Multiplication...










On Tuesday morning I tried to stay up to watch the Vikings on Monday Night Football. It started at 2am here and didn’t end until 5:30 am. I never thought it would be a chore to watch MNF, I couldn’t watch or even listen to the game (I would’ve loved Paul Allen on the radio) I had to look at the stats as they were updated and it was all in vain; the Vikes lost. That night the three zivis, two Americans, and Fr. Basilius played a game of good old-fashioned Monopoly (in German). Playing it brought back memories of times that I played with my family and how I usually ended up crying when I lost, which was how most family games ended for me growing up, I hate losing. We started the game at about 9:30pm and did not end until 12:45pm with the final two players the good Father and myself. Well I will tell you NEVER play a game with a monk for two reasons: he’s got God on his side (I’m telling you I couldn’t catch a break) and you can’t successfully trash talk back and forth (I didn’t try, but I sure thought about it). This game did not end up in me crying, I was so tired from little sleep that I was glad I lost so I could go to bed.

Tons of animals.

Thursday the 4th our 1 year old Siberian husky Ayla (eye-la) had 6 pups and we found 3 new-born kittens in the church organ (no joke). Our other dog Frau Roiter (black Labrador) is pregnant from the same stray father of Ayla’s pups. I will spare you my thoughts about the Catholic Church’s stance on contraceptives (for now) and refrain from making some off color comment about the repercussions of having sex on monastic grounds but the fact that I bring it up should let you know that our conversations have not been lacking in emotion or frankness. I did not expect it at this age but I have become a father…to the pups. It is amazing to see what introducing children into the world will do to animals of all species (I mean Ayla and myself). I have observed a huge change in Ayla’s demeanor since the pups have been born; before she was very submissive and now she is obviously the dominant dog on the compound. She is very protective of her pups to the other dogs and only lets a select few humans pick them up and take them from her. I somehow got blessed to be one of those she is comfortable with and was delegated as the one to feed her and make sure all six pups are accounted for throughout the day. I say blessed because she scares me when she is angry.