March 15th

March 15^th

Today is the last day that we have in Rome to ourselves before we meet our tour group in fact we meet them tonight. The Spanish steps or in Italian Scalinata Di Piazza Di Spagna, ironically enough were not built by the Spanish but instead by the French. There are 12 flights of stairs that are supposed to be transcending far above for a spectacular view unfortunately it was sort of difficult to see above the heads of the people and the market owners trying to get you to buy their fares. It was nice however. The view was nice. Above the stairs rested the Trinita Dei Monti church.

Rome due to a lot of flooding rose 30 feet of time and so underneath what we see of Rome; the surface, there is a whole other underground city covered by layers of dirt hidden with time. So naturally we had to go see an excerpt of underground Rome. Beneath the church of San Clemente they have excavated 60ft of ruins, frescoes, and the room of the Mithras (a cult) where they performed grisly rituals. Underground it was cold and dank and I couldn’t take any pictures unfortunately as I was asked not to. The old bathing rooms, an underground stream. It was all very fascinating. Tonight we meet our tour group and will go on about exploring Italy.

March 14th

March 14^th

Today was a very busy day filled with lots of history and things to see. Rome consists of 7 hills today I visited Capotoline hill and the basilica that sits perched atop it. (Basilica is a fancy name for a church) I saw and visited the Capotiline museo or Museum. The museum is so big that I only got a chance to see half of it. The museum is neat for several reasons one of the reasons is that it is built around and on top of what used to be the first governmental offices. The square and the museum were designed by Michelangelo. For the first 1,000 years that Rome was a city-state it wasn’t very imaginative most of the works were copied from previous works that were made in Greece. After that lapse of having no imagination they became much more imaginative and instead of copying from Greece. Fontana di Trevi is a very famous fountain that is supposed to be simply spectacular at night. Trevi fountain was designed by Nicola Salvi and built in 1732-62. Although it is supposed to be simply spectacular, gorgeous beyond measure… it was pretty I’ll give it that, but maybe it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I also saw the place where historians believe that Cesar was stabbed to death. I think that it is an odd coincidence that right after Brutus murdered his friend Julius the next emperors abused the power shamelessly.

March 13th

Wow I shall just say that Rome is AMAZING. Rome is built on 7 hills and consists of three different cities that were built at different times. The room that we are staying while in Rome is adorable. The name of the hotel is Antica Roma which means Ancient Rome. The rooms’ well suite is like something out of the 1800s simply charming. I took pictures of it all. We took a tour of Rome on a tour bus and I learned several interesting tidbits. For example, the Conte family and the Kalona family despised each other and built fortified buildings to protect themselves from each other. They had many battles… and they lived across the street from each other. Another family that was shall we say …. Interesting was the Barbarini family, in fact they earned themselves the phrases “What the barbarians didn’t do the Barbarini did” the Barbarini family believed that they were entitled and so they acted quite ill behaved. They took marble and stones from the coliseum in order to beautify their own palace or plazzo. WE visited the Pantheon which was built as a house of worship for all the gods and it also houses the house of Raphael who is a famous artist. I also visited Ponto San Angelo which is lined with the arch angles that were sculpted by Bernini. The arch angels represent Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. One angel carries the cross; one angel carries the crown of thorns, and so on. Rome is filled with 3,000 years of history I have only seen a small portion of it I can’t wait to uncover more

March 12th

March 12^th Traveling Alatallia operated by Delta, sleeping reading, listening to music, and other blah things that occur while traveling on an airplane. I do not ever want to go to an airport again, I will have to be dragged kicking and screaming before I will willing step into a crowded space filled with recycled air. Yikes! Or maybe I have just gotten sick of airplanes with all the time I have been spending on them. Finally I arrive in Rome to find a charming hotel room.

March 11

Today is the last day I shall spend in Israel. Today was mainly filled with packing doing laundry and other such tasks that fall under the title of quotidian. Another thing that I noticed is how different even American junk food is. In America if you walk into a McDonalds you can order a hamburger and other assorted greasy junk foods, but if it comes to ordering something healthy you MIGHT be able to get a measly salad. If you walk into a McDonalds in Israel you can order a full luscious salad with Feta or chicken or tofu (all of these items are kosher by the way) with lemon dressing. Wow that really put into perspective how cough unhealthy America is. So tomorrow I shall board a plane to go to Rome where I will be for three days and then I will connect with a tour group.

Day one March 1st

Here is the start of my daily log of my journeys , please note that I wrote these notes of my day persay when it was happening on a piece of paper. As right now is obviously not March 1st....

Day one March First March 1 2008
Today is March first a Saturday. I am at the airport right now waiting for breakfast. I don't know what the time is right now, but I do know that I got up at 3:00 this morning, left the house at 4:00 in a car that looked like a hearse. Hmmm I always thought that I could reserve riding in a hearse for when I was dead. Well, at least I have gained a new experience. On the way to Tel =Aviv Israel, we have to change planes several times. (well we stop to refuel any who) We go from sunny San Diego to Atlanta Georgia to Milan in Italy then to the final destination Tel Aviv Israel. The time is 5:36 AM When I finally get off the first plane it will be 3:30ish in the afternoon ( if I was reffering to SanDiego time zones) It will be a long droll day but I hope that I can pass the time through reading, writing, and most likely homework. Well, over and out I should probably go get ready to board the plane, in order to get to the gate in time. .......
A while later the same day... I think ( as switching time zones is discombobulating)
The plane from Georgia to Italy is colossal there are 6 seats in a row with space in between them and there are 3 different cabins each with aproximately15 seats each, there is a T.V. at each seat with lots of choices of television shows, movies, good music, and games. On each seat there is a bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, headphones, and a sleeping mask. As of right now right now it feels as if riding in a hearse happened a millenium ago.Today has been a long and draining day even though it feels as if not much has happened. Lots has happened already and lots more will continue to happen. I am in the middle of the second flight or the longest one from Georgia to Italy.. well over and out

Day three March 3rd

To be honest I do not know how March second passed all I know is that today is allegedly March 3rd. Last night was the first time I had slept in an actual bed in 48 + hours. I will never again underestimate the value of sleeping in a bed, cause I can from personal experience tell you that the stone in the Italian airport is a very uncomfortable sleeping arangement, or that sleeping on a coffee table in Atlanta is also very uncomfortable even if my feet had a chair to rest on. ( don't ask) so I must assume that somehow that in passing time zones that Mrach Second slipped away. No Matter but today is March 3rd and I start my first day of pilgramige. Jaleh had mentioned that the breakfasts at the dan Gardens hotel in Hiafa were authentic and not american. Man was she right and it was goood. There was none of the scrambled eggs and sausage ordeal but instead there was lebni and vegtables in marinade and feta but if I were to mention everything it would take forever. Wow this is very different experience!!! Going through customs and pasport control was very frightening. so we are leaving the hotel room momentarily so farewell... hasta luego!!...

...... sometime later Now it is almost 1:30 and I have become a registered pilgrim or someone who travels to the holy land on a pilgramige. everyone at the pilgrim reception ceneter has been very nice and every one says Allahuapah which in arabic means God is most glorious it is a greeting. I have met several people though none of them are my own age. Even if I did not come to Israel to meet people and have friends it would be nice. We went to a local market to obtain some food and buy todays lunch, which conssted of Humus some cheese that resembled feta but didn't taste like it, and the best stinking pitas i have ever tasted. the pitas where thick and fresh and airy but hearty at the same time those pitas where phenomenal!! but enough about pitas, I should spend this time interacting.. So over and out (3:50)

....... again some time later

I saw the gardens and the shrines for the first time(from the outside) the beauty was not only in the ;landscaping and the architecture but in the awe and the love and understanding that tends to radiate from holy places. As I am writing this last bit I am sitting at a table at the Pilgrim Recception centere to find out what will happen next..

March 4th Today is or i should say today was as the day is now gone

march 10th

March 10^th

Wow I am astonished that today is my last full day. The end of pilgrimage is near however I am changed not the same person I used to be, in a good way. I will always remember this pilgrimage. Even if I am not in the holy land I shall be with God here or there… Everywhere!!! Today I visited the buildings on the ark. Such as the Universal house of Justice or the center or head of our religion, they manage money and assorted secretarial duties. The international teaching center creates plans to help us deepen ourselves as Bahais and they have a lecture hall for members of the universal house of Justice to address the peoples. The last building on the Ark is the institute of the study of the texts, so when people have questions about life or how religion pertains to a certain aspect of their life, they consult the institute and the institute will tell them where in the numerous tablets they can find the answer to their question. The institute also works on translating and retranslating and making sure that the translations of the text are as accurate as they can be. Later on I also visited the house of the Master or Abdul-baha. This house did not hold any impact for me it just felt like a pretty, and a big house.

March 9th

March 9th

Today we visited the house of Abdul Pasha although my Dad is still ill he wanted us to continue our pilgrimage without him. This house has lots of historic meaning in our religion as many tablets where revealed here. I have some pictures.....

Today is the 10th today is the last full day of pilgrimage. Today we visited the house of Abdul-pasha. The house of Abdul pasha is in Akko. Abdul-baha was exiled in Akko and could not leave unfortunately the Shrine of the Bab was being built, Abdul-baha built a small wooden room on top of his house so that he could foresee the building process even if he couldn’t be there in person. In this way he oversaw the building of the shrine of the Bab.

March 8th

Today or March 8th I shall only inform a little bit of due to the fact that I can't share much information unless you are interested in how efficient Israel's emergency room is. My father got ill and thankfully we had travel insurance because he needed to be in the emergency room. While my dad was being ill which was all day my Mother, My brother and I felt that it was our duty to stay with him so we did, I read Harry potter 7 for the second time. And well blah blah blah. Not very interesting however when we did get to the emergency room they had him looked at within an hour or so and we stayed most of the night, but any who. I thought that it was interesting how the Government in Israel is in charge of medicine and medicinal care yet it is still efficient and works far better than our system does. Hmmmm isn’t that odd. I could hear and feel the bombing in Gaza strip that was frightening I have been hearing it for a while now.

March 7th

Today is March 7th ... Several things are to happen today we visit the International archive display where all of the important and holy articles pertaining to the Bahai faith now rest. The only picture of Baha’u’llah is in the archives, He wished only one picture to be made of him for one simple reason. He did not want Bahai's of the world worshiping a photo but instead worshiping God. There were the pictures of both the Bab and Baha’u’llah as well as original tablets revealed by Baha’u’llah and the Bab. Later on today we are going to Akko. We have a free day to do whatever we liked so my family and two of the friends that we have met decided to go into Akko. As Bahai’s visiting a place full of both religious and political unrest it is unsafe for us to venture very far into this city. So we were asked by the Universal house of Justice to stay on the outskirts of town along the colored route on a map they had given us. Even on the outskirts of town there were many things to see bazaars filled with textiles and fruit. In the past Napoleon tried to conquer Akko but he could not, this downfall, the many soldiers that he lost; was the start of the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was all very interesting we wandered around the city being entranced by all the neat and interesting objects. We got lost. Looking at a map we realized that we had strayed far into the middle of the city, thankfully nothing happened and we just made our way back to the outskirts of the city. We visited the walls of the city, the land gate and the sea gate, we also visited the moat. When Napoleon tried to conquer the city he did not know that the only way that this city was never conquered was by sea never by land.

March 6th

March 6th

Today is not quite done yet, today being March 6th of course. I visited both the Mansion at Bahji and the mansion at Mazreih I prayed and meditated in the rooms where Baha'u'llah had lived. I must say that it is simply breathtaking in Bahji. *(I am sitting in the Bahji visitors’ center by the way) the scenery is gorgeous, green. Consisting of 420 different species, and very full of life and love.

March 5th

Today is March 5th and yet again it was just as impactfull as visiting the shrine. We visited the Most Great Prison in Akko. This city, Akko was at many times a Prison City so the main aspect of the city was the prison. In this prison many people who have impacted history have remained contained within its walls. While I was there I noticed something that made me smile, was that there were Muslim, and Christian, and Bahai’s all visiting the prison at the same time this unity and accord of having three different religious groups in one place made me feel good inside. Maybe we are getting somewhere after all maybe we are growing maybe there is hope after all.

One of the people that was contained within the prison was Baha'u'llah. The prison was eerie majestic, yet foreboding all at the same time. Again I spent a long time praying and meditating in silence. Another place I visited was the house of Abud, the house of Abud was the place where Baha’u’llah stayed when he was released from the prison but still confined in the walls of the city. In the house of Abud He revealed many tablets. I knelt in what used to be His room and I prayed. I prayed in both his cell and the room; both were very impactfull. The day was long even if it ended at 4:00 I went back up to the hotel room to rest then I got up at 7:30 for a meeting with the international teaching center after the meeting I had the pleasantries of nodding and smiling and shaking their hands as they wanted to meet all of the pilgrims. The most exciting part of the evening was probably debating whether or not I wanted to have caffeinated tea that would keep me from sleeping when I was so tired, or did I want to have the tea so that it could keep me awake. I decided on having the tea. ;)

March 4th

Today is March 4^th or should I say today was as the day is now gone. Today is unable to be explained in words… so it is beyond words. I went to Baji or the shrine of Baha'ullah' the prophet of our faith the Bahai faith. I visited this shrine and I sat and prayed or mediated in silence, for hours. I felt so at peace and at rest with myself it was unbelievable. It made me sit and wonder for a while I listened… I heard silence for the first time in my life my heart was calm my brain wasn’t whirring with turmoil.

Being in the presence of such a holy entity left me feeling revitalized purified and cleaner a better person somehow. I took many photographs of the surrounding gardens but even though the photographs can remain vivid the pictures in my heart will last forever. I also got a chance to meet the universal house of justice or the head of the faith, the people who maintain the peace and keep everything in order. This is a privilege that not many people are blessed by having the opportunity to do.

Day 3 March 3rd

Day three March 3rd

To be honest I do not know how March second passed all I know is that today is allegedly March 3rd. Last night was the first time I had slept in an actual bed in 48 + hours. I will never again underestimate the value of sleeping in a bed, because I can from personal experience tell you that the tile in the Italian airport is a very uncomfortable sleeping arrangement, or that sleeping on a coffee table in Atlanta is also very uncomfortable. (Don’t ask)

So I must assume that somehow that in passing time zones that March second slipped away. No matter, today is March 3rd and I start my first day of pilgrimage. Jaleh had mentioned that the breakfasts at the Dan Gardens hotel in Haifa were authentic and not American. She was right and boy am I pleased about that fact. It was good. There were no scrambled eggs and sausage that accompany an American breakfast. Instead what food greeted me was lebni, and vegetables in marinade, and feta but if I were to mention everything it would take forever

...... Sometime later…. Now it is almost 1:30 and I have become a registered pilgrim or someone who travels to the holy land on a pilgrimige. Everyone at the pilgrim reception center has been very nice and every one says Allahuapah which in Arabic means “God is most glorious”. It is a greeting as Salaam is in Hebrew.

I have met several people some of the friendliest and forthright and willing people I believe I have ever met in my life.

One thing that I noticed while out buying lunch at a small market was how nice the people are here. They smile at you and say salaam and when they say that greeting, they don’t only say it they actually mean it. Their smiles are genuine and they don’t stop at the eyes they come from the soul as if they care… For example the lady at the small market was not well off and that was apparent, she gave my brother free candy even if he could not eat it because he is allergic and he did not understand that the woman was being kind she tried hard to reach out.

Again sometime later…….

I saw the gardens and the shrines for the first time (from the outside) the beauty was not only in the landscaping and the architecture but in the awe and the love and understanding that tends to radiate from holy places. As I am writing this last bit I am sitting at a table at the Pilgrim Reception center to find out what will happen next...

Wall Smart ~ trustworthiness

Hi people the last line of the comic got cut off and so I am sorry about that but I can read it.

Okies!!!

Fighting inside and out

Comic (the real one) Miscommunications!!

Comic~ Then and Now

Dilbert By adam scott

One of the cartoonists that I enjoy greatly is Adam Scott. He is unique in the aspect that he used his bosses and co-workers as inspiration to create the humorous Dilbert!!!!

Here are three of his comics that I enjoy:

Another one that I like:

And last but not least:

A New Beginning

Hey everyone,

I know that I haven't posted anything in a long time but now I am back!!!! Presentations of Learning are over!!! And the new semester begins!!! I am excited for the ability to start over. I will be posting more frequently though!! See ya guys soon!!!


Love ,
Janea