Israel is a small country–about the size of Delaware. Look for Delaware on a US map and it’s hard to find. But for a small country it has a range of topography. In the North some pretty good soil for farming and in the far south the Negeb desert. I haven’t traveled the deserts of the US southwest, so I was surprised at how desolate it really is. All rocks and sand with just a little vegetation. But the air is dry and the wind is cool so it really is a pleasant place to live. Beduin (nomads) live in the area, and it’s where we saw camels. We visited another cousin of Oren’s who is in the Isreali air force. He flies attack helicopters. We visited the base and sat in the helicopters. The family loves the desert and hates to think of moving on to the next post which they will do in August. We also visited a huge crater in the area. Here’s some pictures of the area. It’s where I imagine Jesus was during his temptation, though I think it was probably up north some place and not so much desert but deserted. The desert is a forbidding place to those outside of it, but home for others. Interesting how adaptable we human beings can be.
