Goodbye Turkey – Hello Israeli Interrogation!
(Istanbul – Tel Aviv – Jerusalem)
A Delightful Breakfast at Hotel Pen!
So we say goodbye to our time in Turkey- I have thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Turkey is definitely an odd mix between European secularism & Middle Eastern Islam. You can see these tensions throughout the country- a lot of the young women (especially) and men probably are more secular than anything else- the fashion is very European & reflects this. On the other hand, the older generations still adhere more so to the conservative Muslim faith- though there is a lot of nominal Islam as well throughout all demographics. I would say that Turkey is going through the same tensions that Canada/US go through with secularism & Christianity.
Another thing that I have noticed about Turkey is its cleanliness & quietness- quite the difference from ‘on the go’ Alberta. We are in the International terminal at Ataturk Airport…again fairly quiet. Food here is expensive- we went to Burger King and one combo cost us 15.25 TL (Approx. $10 CAD). Let’s pray that we can get through Israeli immigration/customs- I’m a little worried with my Red Sea visa.
Sitting in the lounge waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv, a lady in the security que was asked to unpack her hand luggage because there was a strange thing in her bag- we could see the screen- it did look weird. So on opening her bag, she pulled out a spring scale- a scale! Who packs a scale? She is either worried too much about her weight or getting hit with excess baggage charges. Go figure!
We arrived in Israel…yes where do I start? We got to the immigration counter and it was no surprise that they made a fuss about my Red Sea visa. We were interrogated there at the counter- I was honest and told the girl that I did missionary work. She didn’t understand…we tried explaining what a missionary does…it made no sense to her that Christians would go to an Islamic country to explain the gospel. She eventually stamped our passports (which may come back to bite us) & inserted a slip of paper. We walked into the next section and “ding ding”, round 2 of interrogation. A guard took the slips of paper out of our passports and then gave our passports to another guard. He tells us to wait and then passes our passports to another guard who ‘pretends’ to be looking for something. I know what this was- I saw a program on Israeli airport security and the psychological profiling that they do. Anyway, this guard interrogated us again, but this time was focused on my UAE stamps- which if she bothered to look at the dates would have seen that it was a transit stamp!
The Damascus Gate
We got by, grabbed our bags and caught a shuttle to Jerusalem. The city is boring…every house looks the same and is the same color. I guess the only exciting thing was that it’s on a hill. Finally, we reached the Damascus gate and made our way to the Austrian Hospice. Entering the gate, you can see a change in culture…from predominantly Jewish culture outside of the old city wall to an Arab culture inside. They are friendly, so no worries there.
Inside the Church
We arrived at the Hospice or shall I say the convent…can you say ‘get thee to a nunnery’? Though it looks like a convent & the rooms are plain, simple and cavernous, it has a bustle & atmosphere to it. I actually like it! We then went to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. How disturbing! People bowing down to rocks, worship statues and art! It’s blatant idolatry! What must Christ think? We stayed for 10 minutes and left. I don’t think it’s the right place anyway… and if it is – they have wrecked it big time!
Also the witness that it provides to the rest of the world – 4 Christian traditions have a vested interest in this site but they can’t get along. There have been heated punch ups between the different monks and to add further insult – it’s a Muslim family that care for the church and open its door to the people… all because they can’t get along.
Supper was at a nice pizza place across from the Hospice. Very nice! Our night is to be filled with journaling, reading, washing and sleeping. Don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
