• DC to Bogota, $400 including all taxes and fees

    17Mar
    Categories: Asides, Work Comments: 0

    There’s a tremendous fare available right now from Washington D.C. to Bogota, Colombia for $400 round trip. For details, email me at hans at goldrule dot net or call me at 800-950-3273.

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  • Thai Supper in Hutch

    16Mar
    Categories: Personal, Photos Comments: 3

    One of my friends, Gene, is co-worker to a Thai lady married to an American man. They live in Hutch and invited Gene for supper. Gene in turn invited all of us “Thailanders” (those who have lived in Thailand or are going to live in Thailand) plus a few random people. They were a lovely couple that were 5 star hosts. They met in Chiang Mai while both were attending Chiang Mai University. They also had a super-cute, highly entertaining 3 year old daughter. We had an awesome evening.



    Craig and Rachel, the soon-to-be Thailand Lisu villagers




    Listening attentively to Melody



    Happily demonstrating how big Clifford the dog is


    Showing off her sunglasses


    Showing her *real* glasses





    Our wonderful hosts with a succulent dessert of sticky rice drizzled with sweetened condensed milk, mangos, and fried bananas





    Making Chinese tea for us

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  • Hebron: Cave of the Patriarchs, Machpelah, Mosque of Abraham

    14Mar
    Categories: Photos Comments: 3


    My buddy Ben whom I was hanging out with for the day and a Bethlehem taxi driver who rapidly became our buddy as well. The chicken and bread was excellent! My stomach is growling for it right now…


    The Ibrahimi Mosque, or Mosque of Abraham, which is located atop The Cave of the Patriarchs, or in Biblical terms The Cave of Machpelah which Abraham purchased from the Hittites as a burial ground.

    Wikipedia summarizes well the Cave/Mosque’s current status:

    After the Six Day War, the area came under the control of Israel, and the restriction limiting Jews to the 7th step was lifted. In 1994 Baruch Goldstein took an assault rifle into the enclosure and killed 29 Palestinian Muslims at prayer, as well as injuring 125 others, before being bludgeoned to death by survivors. The resulting riots left an additional 26 Palestinians and 9 Israelis dead, and the incident provoked national and international condemnation of Goldstein’s actions.

    The increased sensitivity of the site meant that in 1995 the Wye River Accords, part of the Arab-Israeli peace process, included a temporary status agreement for the site, restricting access for both Jews and Muslims. As part of this agreement, the waqf—a traditional “trust” holding land for Islamic religious purposes—controls 81% of the building. This includes the whole of the southeastern section, which lies above the only known entrance to the caves, and possibly over the entirety of the caves themselves. In consequence, Jews are not permitted to visit the Cenotaphs of Isaac or Rebekah, which lie entirely within the southeastern section, except for 10 days a year which hold special significance in Judaism. One of these days is the Shabbat of Chayei Sarah, when the Jews read the Torah portion concerning the death of Abraham and Sarah, and that concerning the purchase by Abraham of the land in which the caves are situated.

    The Israeli authorities do not allow Jewish religious authorities the right to maintain the site, and only allow the waqf to do so. Tourists are permitted to enter the site. Security at the site has increased since the Intifada, and the Israel Defense Forces surround the site with soldiers, and control access to the shrines.


    A view from the top of the steps on the Jewish side



    Praying, reading Scripture
    (notice this is a zoomed shot of the last pic)

    I was having trouble deciding how I wanted to interpret the above image. I have two more versions here and

    here. Tell me which you like best and what you like and don’t like about the various ones.



    An Orthodox Jewish lady reading the Scriptures. Notice the Arabic script on the mosque walls.


    A wider angle view of the outside. Unfortunately, the IDF soldiers wouldn’t let us go to the Arab/Muslim side, though we tried. So we had to stay on the Jewish side.


    The shuttered souk (marketplace)

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  • Twilight over Mississippi Catfish Pond

    12Mar
    Categories: Photos Comments: 1

    Several weekends ago, we went down to Macon, MS to hang out with all the wonderful people that were on last year’s Europe tour. All but one person came! We had a blast. Here’s a pic I managed to grab:


    Twilight over Levi Lee’s catfish pond in Macon, MS

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  • Bethlehem: Church of Nativity

    10Mar
    Categories: Photos Comments: 1

    Wikipedia:

    The Church of the Nativity (Arabic: كنيسة المهد‎) in Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Christ, and it is considered sacred by followers of both Christianity and Islam (see Jesus in Islam).





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  • Mar Saba Monastery near Bethlehem

    10Mar
    Categories: Photos Comments: 1

    One day while living in Jerusalem, I went with Ben, a British friend of mine who was taking a break from studying Arabic in Amman, to explore Bethlehem (and Hebron). We hopped in with a taxi driver who befriended us (and was delighted at my buddy’s excellent Arabic and my feeble Arabic) and he proceeded to take us around Bethlehem. One of the highlights was the Mar Saba Monastery near Bethlehem. Here’s what Wikipedia says:

    The Great Lavra of St. Sabas, known in Arabic as Mar Saba (Hebrew: מנזר מר סבא‎), is a Greek Orthodox monastery overlooking the Kidron Valley in the West Bank east of Bethlehem. It was founded by Saint Sabas of Cappadocia in the year 439 and today houses around 20 monks. It is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited monasteries in the world, and still maintains many of its ancient traditions. One in particular is the restriction on women entering the main compound. The only building that women can enter is the Women’s Tower, near the main entrance.

    And here’s a picture:


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