April 17, 2001

We were hoping to unload the ol' lemon today, but our connection to sell it couldn't come through. So we've left it in Jerusalem, in hopes of returning to sell it another day. N'sha'allah (God willing).

Church of All Nations at the Gethsemane.

We also cut loose the rental car, first taking it on a spin at the Mount of Olives, visiting the Garden of Gethsemane and the architecturally magnificent Church of All Nations with its splendid stained glass and modern mosaics. We then walked across the ar-Ram checkpoint and into Ramallah to meet our ride to Zababdeh. After we hopped in, he drove all the way back to ar-Ram and showed us where he could pick us up next time. Oh, well. Learning curve, learning curve.

One of many Israeli roadblocks to avoid.

Non-road road.

We then made our way back to Zababdeh by the by-roads and the dusty trails, avoiding roadblocks and bulldozed ways, taking a detour through the Jordan Valley at one point and through the desert non-roads at another point, following cars that seemed to know the way.

Tractors busy at work in the fields.

Everything is beginning to turn yellow, as it hasn't rained in quite a while. The sun has been out which has warmed things, but it means soon the green will no longer be green. We watched a tractor outside our building ploughing the hay as birds (mostly cattle egrets and blackbirds) rejoiced at the freshly pluckable goodies (seeds? insects? grubs?). We, however, turned into bed to nurse our two colds (one each).