The Orient Express???

For those of you who have read this at the Bridge Bible Fellowship blog, my apologies - this is a repeat. Just skip directly to the pictures.

I’m writing this sitting on a train ride along the Nile river. All I can say is, “Whoa!” This train ride has to rate among the top 5 all-time unique experiences of my life.

After waiting at the Giza station for over an hour, watching all the local people get on and off their trains, ours finally arrived.

Our group all had our own car, which is a sleeper car. Two per compartment, which is great. The train is old, like say 1950’s-ish, maybe 60’s-ish. The bathrooms are, let’s say, “interesting.” After an airline-style dinner of two kinds of “meat,” our compartments were converted by our attendant into two-bunk sleepers. Not bad, I’d say, if you like sleeping sideways on a train moving forward and rocking side-to-side.

The train went all night. We left Giza around 8:30 pm Thursday, and arrived at Luxor around 6:30 am Friday. After a wake-up knock on our compartment door, and a breakfast that consisted of 4 different kinds of bread and some cheese and some coffee, we disembarked at Luxor.

Later on that Same Day

This has been another very full day. We visited the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of some of the major Pharaohs of the Egyptian Empire have been excavated, including King Tutankhamen (King Tut), and Rameses II, who it is believed is the Pharaoh of the Book of Exodus in the bible. After a couple of other stops, then to our hotel to freshen up, we went to the Temple of Luxor, which I have to say, is truly amazing on a human and architectural scale. The glory doesn’t go to God, though - it was built by the Pharaohs of the time to honor themselves.

Back to our hotel, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner on the hotel patio overlooking the Nile.

Tomorrow, we go to the temple of Karnak, then back to Cairo where we’ll visit the great pyramids and the sphinx, spend the night in our hotel there, then begin our travels back home.

This has been one of the longest trips I've ever taken, and it has almost come to a close. I'm not sure I'll remember how to function once I get back home, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. For those whom I've been missing (you'll know who you are), I'll be seeing you again soon, God willing.

Love,

Larry

On to Egypt!

Harold striking a regal pose on our boat going across the Sea of Galilee

After a fond farewell to our trusted and beloved guide Mickey yesterday afternoon, and getting dunked in the Jordan River by Pastor Paul (my second baptism, just so I can say "I got baptized in the Jordan"), and one last night at our beautiful room on the Sea of Galilee, it's off to Cairo.

It's a short flight to Cairo, where we'll visit a museum and the old Coptic city, we'll be taking a train to Luxor. I'm typing this from Ben Gurion Airport waiting for our flight, enjoying a Latte with Mari and the rest of our group. I hope to post more pictures later today if I can find the time.

It's a little sad to be leaving Israel, especially our last place where we stayed in Galilee.

Here's a photo of the Dead Sea, where we were a few days ago. You gotta go there and experience what it's like to float on the water there. I couldn't stop laughing!




And another shot of Mari and me standing on the shore

Finally, I got a few photos posted

I know this is not a momentous occasion for anyone else, but it is for me. This is the 11th day of being in Israel, and the first I've been able to post any photos.

You can see my photostream here.

We are now at the Sea of Galilee, and I'm almost caught up with editing my photos on the computer. I've been organizing them in folders according to each place we've been, so at least I'll remember which place each photo was taken at.

I thought this was going to be a "vacation." I was so wrong. This is a "study tour," which is much different. "Vacation" implies rest. That is not what is happening on this trip. We have left our hotel early every morning, had a full agenda every day, with lots of walking, and returned nearly exhausted every night. Then we get up the next day and do it again.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have it any other way. If I went at the pace of my own choosing, I would not have learned a fraction of what I now know about so many things. Our tour guide, Mickey, is a fount of information... historical perspective, biblical perspective, political perspective, archaeological perspective... in fact, he has a perspective on anything we can ask.


This is Mickey, doing his thing - explaining in detail about Be'er Sheva, a site where Abraham made a pact with Abimelech thousands of years ago.

The days have been so full, and the internet connections so spotty, that I couldn't find any time to post pictures or even text on most days. In fact, I'm getting really tired right now, as it's 12:22 am.

Mari and I are in a resort on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. If our hotel room were any closer to the sea, we'd be in a houseboat. It's literally a few steps away from our front door.

Signing off for now, going to go get some sleep.

Houston, We Have a Problem

That's the message I keep getting when trying to upload my photos. Every hotel I've been at so far (I've lost count, but I think it's been 4 hotels in 5 days or something like that), the internet connection keeps timing out. So by the time I get 5 percent through a photo upload, the connection times out, and the photo doesn't make it. This is SO FRUSTRATING.

So I'm going to have to resort to text only. Too bad, because I'm not so good at writing, and I was so hoping to be uploading photos as the main chronicle of this trip. The places we've been and the things we've done have been absolutely incredible, and my means of communication is by photos. I was only going to write simple explanations of the places we've been as an adjunct to the images.

That said, and the fact that I'm limited to text, here goes.

Have you seen the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?" That's the one where Sean Connery plays father to Harrison Ford, and they're trying to find the Holy Grail. Remember when they get the grail and they run out of that place and it's this huge temple-looking thing that's carved into a mountain? We were there.

Know the place in the Bible, in 1 Samuel 23 where David is being pursued by Saul and he's in a cave and cuts off a corner of Saul's robe as he was tempted to kill him but he doesn't? We were there just today.

Know the place in Exodus where God tells Moses to speak to the rock so that water would come out, but instead Moses strikes the rock twice with his staff? Water comes out anyway, but God tells Moses that because of his disobedience he will die without entering the Promised Land? We were there.

We've floated in the Dead Sea (you gotta try that). We went to Masada, where the Jews held one last stand against the Romans in 73 AD. We went snorkeling in the Red Sea. We went to Be'er Sheva, where Abraham made a pact with Abimilech. We went to Mamshit (Memphis), a major Nabatean station on the ancient spice route.

Now we are in Jerusalem for five days, at an outstanding hotel (except for their internet service). Tomorrow we're going to Bethlehem, to an underground tunnel system being dug by archaeologists, and a couple other places of major significance like the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane.

I have to end now, but I'll keep trying to post photos if I can.

- Larry

God's Country

Today we have visited some sites from Old Testament History: Be'er Sheva, Tel Arat, and Mamshit. More to come.

Greetings from Paris

I'd post a picture at the top of this message, but the computers in Charles DeGaulle Airport don't seem to want to let me do that.

It was a very long nonstop flight from LAX to Paris, but we're all here. One bit of bad news, though - one of the members of our team broke her ankle just prior to the trip. Cheryl apparently will have to undergo surgery to repair it, and as a result she was not able to make the trip. Her mom, Rosella, is staying with her. So we're down two. Pray for rapid healing for Cheryl and maybe she can even join us midway through the tour.

Now I can officially say I've been to Paris, but not really. Being in the airport is not really being in the city. Too bad we didn't schedule a couple extra days here.

View the church's blog at http://blog.bridgebiblefellowship.org/

Next leg: Paris to Tel Aviv. I have a few technical details to work out before I can post more photos, but hopefully I won't be stopped by them.

Almost Ready

OK, I finished up everything at work as best I could so it would be easy for my co-workers to fill in the gaps in my absence, I went to Peter's AWANA year-end ceremony, hung out with some friends at the church, came home, finished up the karate booklet, had a family meeting and prayer time, and am starting to assemble the stuff I'm going to pack. Dentist appointment in the morning, have to go to two banks, Rachael and Peter have to be dropped off, and hopefully I'll find a little time to pack my suitcase and get my camera gear together. Oh, and maybe I'll even get a little sleep.

My packing priorities are maybe a little different than some people's.

Priority Number One: camera gear. I want to bring just enough so I can be creative with taking pictures without being bogged down with too much weight and bulk. I have a great camera backpack for most of the stuff, plus a tripod bag for a tripod, light stand and umbrella.

I got this lightweight carbon fiber tripod especially for this trip. Sure is lighter and more compact than my other one.

Priority number two: Bible, and maybe another book to read along the way, if my luggage weight limit allows for it. [Oh, I just had a guilt pang.] Bible should be priority number one. Caught myself, there. I wasn't considering NOT bringing a bible - that's been on my mind since beginning to plan this trip. After all, we're going to places where many of the events written about in the bible took place - how could I not bring a bible? In fact, I ordered a lightweight bible especially for the trip - I hope it shows up on time, otherwise I might have to bring a heavy one. Plus there's a bible in my Palm Pilot. So I'm covered there.

Priority numbers three and four: clothes and toiletries, and after that, a few odds and ends.

Gotta go to bed - sleep is calling me. 'Bye.

The Suspense is Killing Me

We leave in two days, and I haven't even begun to pack. The pace is too hectic for that, so I'm trusting that I'll be able to pack on Thursday (the day we leave), after a morning dentist appointment and before we need to be in the taxicab at 1:00. Oh, and bringing the kids to their respective homes where they'll stay for the first day or two.

On top of everything else, tonight Mari told me our washing machine is broken and cannot be used, so if we want to wash any clothes, it's to the laundromat. I'll try to do without, since things are so tight I don't think I could squeeze one more thing in. I'll pack dirty clothes if I have to and wash them in Israel when we get there.

A Difficult Day

I think I was attacked today. I'm not sure, though. I might have attacked myself.

See, I've been looking forward to this Israel trip, more and more as the time gets closer. Today, though, was a bad day. Today I've been overwhelmed with excessive amounts of work that I was not looking for.

Rather it was forced upon me under penalty of sending a friend to jail.

How is that, you may ask. Well, his [ex-]friend is suing him because of some business partnership dispute, and my friend is being forced by the judge to cough up a whole bunch of graphic design files that I've created for him over the years or else be held in comtempt of court, and it's all of a sudden a big emergency. As if I wasn't already busy enough.

Long story short, I kind of freaked (sorry, Barry). I started panicking, looking at all that I have to do, and thinking “this is impossible. This guy who's suing my friend is going to come after me with some legal action and I'll have to miss my trip because of a subpoena or some legal thing and I'll be really unhappy, and, well, I think I'll get really unhappy right now.”

Make sense? Neither does it to me.

If I was attacked, it was the spiritual enemy who is always waiting for an opportunity to trip me up. If I wasn't, then it was my own mind doing it to myself. Either way, it's been a bad day. I hope tomorrow gets better. I think I need to pray. Hard.

Plans for the Future

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" James 4:13-15

I have to remember that. If I think I have the power to carry out my plans, and yet God has another plan for me that I'm ignoring, it will not go well with me. I'll be fighting against Him - how can He bless me? That's why I keep checking with Him - "is my plan Your plan?"

That said, it came to me some time ago, after the encouragement of many friends, that I should develop a photography business. So I clumsily started down that path, spending way too much money on photography gear (see the post on Photography Gear as evidence) - money I didn't have but was "hoping" I would make back in a jiffy. It hasn't exactly worked out that way. I've made some money at it, but am in debt more than I should be. I have a lot to learn about aligning my will with God's purpose for me.

In the meantime, it's been very interesting. I have learned more about photography in the past three years than probably the sum total of what I knew before. And one thing I've learned is that if I go at the pace I think I should go, I'll probably kill myself with exhaustion in the process. So I've had to slow down and keep my ear inclined to God's subtle whispers. I'm working a full time job here, you know? I can't stay up until all hours feeding my creative urges and expect to get up for work the next morning and be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I am not Superman. The body rebels: "Hey, what do you think you're doing here?"

So I've learned to see things from a different perspective. Go at a little more reasonable pace - this will take time. And along the way I get encouraging signs. A photo job here, another one there. Somebody gives me an encouraging word. Somebody else asks for my business card - and practice, practice, practice.

The Strobist has done more to improve my photography than probably any other single educational resource I've engaged in in my 30 years of shooting. And one of the things David Hobby does on the site is to point the way to resources such as other photographers' sites, books, and the like. Thank you, David Hobby. I hope to return the favor some day, in a way that will bless you beyond measure.

Photography Gear

A little self-indulgence here:
Here's the gear I currently own:

• Nikon D200 body, with
• MB-D200 Battery Grip
  
• Nikon D70s body
• Nikon SB800 Speedlights (2)
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
• Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 micro
  
• Nikkor 18-70 f/3.5-5.6
• Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR
• Nikkor 70-300 f/4-5.6
• Nikkor 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 VR
• Nikon MC-30 cable release
• Nikon SC-29 TTL strobe cable
• Nikon SC-17 TTL strobe cable (not shown)
• Nikon AS-19 strobe brackets (2)
• Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 carbon fiber tripod
• Manfrotto 3021BN tripod (not shown)
• Manfrotto 486RC2 ball head (not shown)
• Manfrotto Super Clamp
• Manfrotto No. 175 clamps (2)
• Manfrotto swivel adapters (2)
• Kalt mini ball head
• Hoodman Hoodloupe
• Lexar, SanDisk memory cards
  

Studio lights:

• JTL 160 strobes (3)
• Autoslave background light
  

Plus:

• Studio background stand, 12 ft. by JTL
  
• Muslin backdrop
• Seamless Paper
• Light Stands by LumoPro and JTL
  
• Umbrellas by Westcott and JTL
  
• Reflectors by Photoflex
  
• Grid spots (DIY - See the Strobist)
  
• Snoots
• Barn Door
• Rosco Gels
• Gary Fong Lightspheres (2)
• Lumiquest 5-in-1