We're safe and sound in the Holy Land. Wow, what a trip we had. We crossed the border in about an hour. It wasn't too bad. They didn't detain us or anything but there was definitely blatant racial profiling on our dutch friend, Andrew, who got pulled aside. Actually, they made it a tad more difficult for the two brown girls, Marcia and Monica. They checked everything in our bags and rubbed it with some anthrax detector, but Josiah thought the situation was redeemed by the good looks of the guards.

We've definitely experienced some culture shock. I don't think any of us expected to see girls in bikinis walking down the streets, packing heat in a serious manner. Many civilians had automatic rifles, nonchalantly swinging at their side. "I kid you not." Not quite what we're used to in Cairo. The guns are actually loaded here.

We actually decided to all stay in Eilat for the night and enjoy the gorgious beach. But, when we discovered that all of the hostils in Eilat were completely booked because of the Passover holiday, we decided to bus it to Jerusalem. We walked to the ticket counter to change our tickets when the man told us our bus was leaving "now" and that we have two seats and four people standing. So, four of us stood while the bus filled up. Then, by God's grace, the bus began to leave with exactly four empty seats - which we soon filled. Pretty sweet, huh?

So, we're in Jerusalem at the Hebron hostil in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. We're super pumped to walk down the Via Delarosa tomorrow - being Good Friday and all. We'll let you know more as it happens. We love you and miss you all a ton.

Andrews and Josiah

P.S. Marcia's cell phone isn't working if you were planning to call.