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August 12, 1972 Dear Aunt Grace, I've just returned from my last tour of the country before I leave. It was really quite different from the first. We were given four days of free time from the 2nd to 6th during which time Ruthie (one of my room mates) and I went to Haifa to visit her pen pal and family. They are Orthodox, so it was quite an interesting experience for me. From there we went to Jerusalem again. I believe tou could spend a month there and still not see everything! We arrived on a Friday, just in time to follow the pilgrimmage down the Via Dolorosa to the Stations of the cross. It ended at the Chruch of the Holy Sepulchre which is built ouer Calvary Hill and the Tomb where Christ was supposedly buried. I walked through the Garden of Gethsemame, sat in the Church of the Agonies. I also visited the Tomb of the Prophets (cold, dark, and clammy!) which had to be the most hair-raising experience of my life. There wasn't anything in the tomb but tunnels and holes but the little old man who led us around looked like Bella Legosi reincarnated. He carried an old pop bottle filled with kerosene as our lamp and had the habit of walking behind us with the light as we made our way thru the tunnels. It was pitch black since it was all underground so we didn't know what to expect!! You could hear the bats squeak now + then but thank heavens they didn't come near us! The next day we visited the Israeli Museum - I saw the head Sea Scrolls and all the artifacts which they have dug up over the past few centuries in a lot of the places I've been so far. It was really quite exciting!! The tour they took us on after that was mostly geographical, we didn't see many historical sites - just road and borders. We started out going thru Jerusalem and northward to the Galilee. We stayed in Tiberias for two nights, between times they drove us around the new borders of Syria and Lebanon and through old battlefields + bunkers. Unfortunately we couldn't set into the Golam Heights for military reasons. As it stood the bus driver carried a pistol in his belt and the guide brought a sub-machine gun on board. So it must have been slightly dangerous as it was. We drove to the top of Mt. Gilboa, went to Capernaum where St. Peter lived, and saw the Mt. of the beatitudes. The last nite we stayed on the shore of the Mediterranean near Rosh Haniler and had a barbecue. On the way home we drove thru Tel-Aviv and Jaffa, though we didn't have time to stay + stop. Now I set to pick peaches til I leave at the end of the month. I'm still arguing with the Airline over my ticket so even that is not certain. Don't write anymore after the 22nd, that should be about right! Love, Kathi