Here is a photo of Paul in the old port city of Jaffe.  You may remember it from the Bible story of when King Solomon wanted the wood to be brought into Jaffe for the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem!  Or maybe you remember it from the story of Jonah, when he hopped a ship to escapes God's request that he go preach at Ninevah, and instead he got himself swallowed by a whale off of the port of Jaffe.  Or maybe you remember it from the New Testament when Simon Peter went to Jaffe to visit Simon the Tanner and when he was there, he healed Tabitha!  Well, from whichever story you remember, it is a magnificent place to be - so rich in history!  See how beautiful the streets are?

Here is Laura, excavating at theTel Maresha Dig at Beit Guverin National Park!  To think that the last human hands to touch the pottery we found, and we did unearth pottery, was over 2,100 years ago!  This site has been occupied so many times, by so many different cultures, that every dig brings up something new!  Below is a picture of Paul in a cave we went spelunking in - it was just discovered and we were some of the first ones to be able to go in.  Sometimes we had to crawl on our bellies through tight spaces, but it was so worth it!

  When we returned to our hotel, we found we had missed Tel Aviv's Gay Pride day, but there were concerts still going on at the beach and this is the same view of the same beach that I posted yesterday!  The place is packed and the music is very loud!  Thousands are having a blast!  Tonight we head off for our first official dinner as a group - there are 12 of us.  Paul and I are the only Christians.  6 of them are from Long Island, 2 from New Jersey, 2 from Los Angeles and us!  The tour guide is a very knowledgeable and friendly woman, so all is well!  Lots of Love, Laura