Next stop on our trip was lunch by the Sea of Galilee. We had "St. Peter's Fish", which was a bit boney but tasty. My good friend who happens to live in Nazareth joined us for lunch, then took my boys back to her house for the afternoon. The choir then headed to a few beautiful churches around the Sea. We were able to do a little singing at the church at the Mt. of Beatitudes, and visit where Christ multiplied the fish and loaves. Hearing the Palestinian choir sing for the first time brought tears to my eyes. Their passion for music overflowed in their expressions and the sound was beautiful.
The Sea of Galilee
Mosaic of the Fish and Loaves of Bread
Church of the Beatitudes
Church of the Annunciation
The whole first day I think we all just kept pinching ourselves to see if this was really happening. It really was a dream come true. As night fell, we all loaded on the bus for the drive to El-Quds, the Holy City. Our friend dropped the boys off while we stopped in Nazareth- I'm sure they had a lot more fun playing with her kids and drinking hot cocoa than they would have listening to us sing.
We arrived at our hotel and had dinner there. Our room was nice, and had a fold out sofa for the boys to sleep on. However, there were no baby cots left at the hotel. Obviously, I was a bit upset. We hadn't brought our pack-n-play and Baby Bulb can't exactly sleep on a bed yet. Our bed was really two pushed together so there was no way to have him sleep in between as the beds were on wheels and slid apart.
We worried about what to do as we talked to the hotel staff in the lobby. One of the Palestinian choir members saw us talking and came over. We explained the problem, and she outdid herself with that famous Arab hospitality. She went back to her house and found a portable cot that belonged to her nieces and nephews, and brought it back to the hotel within the hour.
The kids fell fast asleep, and we were out soon after. It had been a wonderful day.
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