Some things I am learning on pilgrimage

1. It's very difficult to always be converting money (shekels to dollars or vice versa), time (military), distance (metric) and temperature (Celsius)

2. There are no atheists in the Holy Land. People may not regularly practice, but their religion is a deep part of their identity

3. There is very little interfaith dialogue on the topmost levels of religious professionals

4. 18 year old Israeli military members with machine guns and no supervision are kinda scary

5. Middle Eastern meals demand hummus, pita, tomato and cucumber at breakfast, a dozen different salads at lunch and dinner, olives and olive oil always. Dessert is one of the 75 varies of dates.

6. In Druze culture, women are not allowed to step inside a mosque, they are considered not to be trusted. When entering a synagogue, women are to go in the left door, men to the right. Women entering a mosque will be given a cape and hood to cover up, even if they are fully clothed. And there are no Christian female clergy serving a church in this part of the world - it's against middle eastern culture.

7. There's an energy to this place. It hums.

8. Monks who watch over holy sites are allowed to yell at visitors if they don't follow the rules

9. Snails live in the desert

10. When you understand that you don't understand, then you understand.
11. Sometimes when it rains in Jerusalem, it rains alot. This makes the streets very treacherous and the pilgrim's shoes very damp.