The Road To Jericho

Yesterday we went down to the ancient city of Jericho! They believe it is one of the oldest cities in the whole world! We saw walls that were from the time of Joshua, the Jericho tower which, Archeologists believe to be from 8,000 BC! making it the oldest remaining human artifact on the planet! We hiked up to the top of the cliff where it is believed that Satan tempted Jesus Christ. Built literally right into the side of the cliff now, is a Monastery. We had to cover our heads and neck with a scarf, but we got to go in and read the parable of the Good Samaritan inside. We also saw the remains of King Harod's palace and the pool where he drowned.

Lets just say that is is a good thing that I do not usually carry money around with me here because as we hiked the cliff in Jericho, there were 3 or 4 little boys (probably 6 or 7 years old) begging for money! Ok tear my heart out why don't you little boys! Everyone in our group was pretty good at just walking by them and trying to ignore them, but I just couldn't do it! But i had NO money to give them! so as everyone just kept walking, i got stuck surrounded by these adorable little boys with huge brown eyes, who were absolute MASTERS at begging, and I just had to stand there on the verge of tears! my friends had to finally just come back and grab my hand, ripping me from these innocent eyes peering into my soul! It was the saddest thing ever!

 

**Tip for anyone who is planning on one day becoming homeless and broke: make your children do the begging for you and teach them phrases like, "please pretty lady I am hungry, please help me please." and then teach them to do it with a face that looks like that of puppy who you just scolded and told could not follow you anymore. 

Also, the road to Jericho is HORRIBLE if you have a head cold! because it is a whopping 800 feet bellow sea level! making it also the LOWEST place on earth. Consequently, my eardrums could not equalize as we dropped so quickly in elevation! balloon + too much air = pop. ouch.