Busy and Galilee

Hello from Israel.

Well it has been about 5 weeks since I have been here and I have been busy.  Between working and sightseeing and resting because of all the working and sightseeing it has been hard to find the time to update.  I will update you on a few things that have been going on since my last update.

It was Israel's Independence day a few weeks ago and I was able to go to the ceremony on Mt. Herzl and film a lot of it.  The footage we were able to use in a program about the origins of the modern state of Israel (She turned 61 btw) and the celebration.  It was quite fun and I had a front row seat.  My cousin in law Adi choreographed the whole thing.

This week is a little crazy both in the home, work, and Israel in general.  Israel of course, has the Pope visiting so there has been a lot of media coverage on that.  I personally have tried to stay out of the city centre because security has been tight.  It's tight in general so imagine what this is like.

At work we are busy shooting programs.  It is a lot of work as it is primarily David, my cousin, and I doing the bulk of the work.  Since I've been here I have put together around 10 programs which is 2 a week.  Some of the interviews are a little more straightforward.  Others, like the Galilee program took a little longer.  Chris, my other cousin, has been busy doing the web stuff and helping Meridel get ready to travel to Switzerland and Germany.

Which brings us to today.  Meridel has just left for 6 weeks and getting her ready to go has drawn a lot of resources.  I have been the one working with the IVTV stuff, and keeping that up to date.  Now with her gone it'll be back more into the routine of doing the show.

I mentioned a show about the Galilee.  Well I was able to travel with Jay and Meridel up to the area and we shot a nice little program about the area with Meridel and her friend Irene who is an expert on the region.  Plus I was able to enjoy it and we saw Capernaum, and Tel Hadar, and Tiberias.  We didn't go into Nazareth because it is primarily an Arab town and it is a little dicey there.  We travelled up the Jordan valley through the West Bank (which is safe if you keep to the main road) and past Jericho.  Jericho we also didn't go into because it's a little crazy there too.  However, it is real close to the river (only 1or 2 miles) so when the Israelites crossed the river on dry land, these people could see everything from the walls.

The past week I have been down to Tel Aviv a few times for a barbecue and a birthday party.  The weather has been cool but the past few days it is starting to feel warmer.  At some point me and my cousin Chris will head into Bethlehem to check it out.  Anyways,  I have some amazing thoughts to share but writing them down doesn't really do it justice.  Your just gonna have to ask me for stories when I get home.  Anyways,  much love toeveryone back home.  I will update soon when I get more information.  Until then Shalom from Israel.

P.S. the video below is a montage I shot and edited together for the Galilee program, but the music didn't feel right for it so I changed the montage around a bit and used a more mellow beat.  This is the original edit.