Middle East travel plans

This is my second post in the 2013 Ultimate Peace series! In the first one, I just got the series going again. Put out a few pictures from the wine party/fundraiser. Now I'm talking a little more about what my next couple weeks are supposed to be like...

Ultimate Peace will run Summer Camp this year, but I can't make it. I'm attending instead the Training Camp. The main advertised difference between Summer Camp (when I coached at in 2011) and camp this year is that the level of competition will be higher at TC. I'll also be meeting many new people! Talking about more advanced components of ultimate. And definitely engaging the difficult parts about friendship, fun, nonviolence, integrity, and mutual respect.

Another way my experience will be different from UP 2011 is my time to travel away from camp. My week ahead of camp is much shorter than the extended trip my first time around. Then, I took about two and a half weeks after camp to see the region. I stayed with a friend of a friend in Jerusalem and Haifa. I spent a (nearly sleepless) night in Jordan to see Petra. I stayed at hostels in Tel Aviv and Eilat.

This time I have less than 1 week of extra time. I'll see people in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. But for the most part I'm aiming to experience Bethlehem. Here are a couple pictures from my travels last time:

Jesus' manger

On the Palestinian side of Rachel's crossing (between Jerusalem and Bethlehem)

A piece of the separation wall 

Floating in the dead sea

I'm leaving in a couple of days and trying to fit a lot in. Will certainly blog more between now and camp though perhaps not every day. If you have jerseys and discs you'd like to donate, there may still be time to collect those :)