A Peek Into My Mind

I’ve been back from my trip for 6 weeks now, so its getting more and more difficult to remember where we went. I know that by day 7, i was getting a bit bored of taking photos of things. Not that the journey was boring, but I like taking photos of people more than I like taking photos of buildings and whatnot. I’m going to put photos that I think looked nice from each day.

The Western Wall- the mens side.
Things in the Middle East are always divided. I stood on a chair on the womens side of the wall and took this photo. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get in trouble doing so, but my mom said, “NO! YOU CAN!” so, i did.
Here, men and women pray towards to wall. Praying can get very intense, that some people start to weep and wail… hence the other name for this wall is the Wailing Wall. People (like myself) leave prayers at the wall. I wished it was easier to stick the letters on the wall. But there are hardly any crevices to place the notes, and it would be really rude to use gum to stick the notes. I found a small spot on the bottom of the wall to leave letters that Paulette, Chinky, Me and Alejo wrote.

Here’s my mom in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque with that dang umbrella! Do you know how many times my mom lost that thing while we were on the trip!? YEESH! Surprisingly enough, umbrella made it back to the states. Her eyeglasses, on the other hand, were left on the Emirates plane.

This is a fun photo of our priest that accompanied us. All the moms on the trip always told him smoking was bad. Day 7

I started feeling exhausted on Day 8. Not just from all the traveling we had been doing, but exhausted from the people and all the commotion that would happen. Everyday, someone had to complain about something really silly. But, nonetheless, we pushed through…

This is the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
It was at this location that our group ran into another pilgrimage group from Tanzania!! Our friend, Moises started chatted it up with the Tanzanian priest, Father Tim! He was such a jolly, friendly guy!
Here’s our priest, Father Thinh with Father Tim!
Even from the other side of the world people love Jesus!
I had a good time taking photos of our friends from Tanzania!
Here I am with Father Tim. I told him I would sent him the photos when I got the chance. He told me, “When you send these photos to me, you will one day go to Tanzania!” I’m looking forward to seeing Father Tim, the friends I met through him… and TANZANIA!! Who wants to join me?
Me and my mom standing at the edge of the Sea of Galilee.
Yep! She’s holding that umbrella!!
I got baptized in the Jordan River on Day 8, too. The water was really cold!!

After we got back to the hotel, I actually felt refreshed. I decided to forget about all the drama that had been going on and on for the past number of days. Day 8

Yep, i’m doing it! I’m posting photos from Day 9!!
We all traveled to a church in Canaa. This is where Jesus turned the water into wine and got the wedding reception STARTED YA’LL (You know, the Wedding in Canaa?)!!! Just kidding. Jesus never got drunk in his lifetime. He responsibly had 1 glass of wine at dinner whenever he ate red meat, or sheep.
Anyways, at this church, if you went on the pilgrimage with your spouse, you got your wedding vows renewed! I served as the “event photographer”. Instead of posting photos of each person, here’s a photo of all the couples that renewed their vows.
I’m posting the photo below because I like the nun standing behind my mom. My mom is more in focus, but you can see the exuberant smile that the nun has. She seemed so happy to be there with us. She’s sweet… whoever she is.
I spent time waiting for everyone to clear out of the photo below.
I like this photo because it is VERY clear! You can zoom into the photo and see how clear it is! I’ll let you all in a little secret, there was actually one person standing in the middle of the photo. I used Photoshop to erase him out. Hehehe… I can’t remember the name of this church, though… Day 9

bye!