Last night in Israel, so I'll try to upload some photos.

Sometimes you can't use the link on the right to check out newly posted photos at Webshots, so you can go directly to the photos site by typing in this link:

http://community.webshots.com/user/beth_home

All is well. It's so warm here in Tel Aviv that we're running around at 7 pm at night without any coats. Of course, we've already heard it's QUITE a bit cooler in Turkey, probably below 50 at this time of night, so prepare to shiver in the next installment. Tel Aviv is a World Heritage site for its Bauhaus architecture of the 1920s and 1930s as Jewish refugees settled here and built so quickly in the modern style. Now, not all of the buildings have been restored, but throughout Israel, we have seen amazing architecture, just not your traditional giant boxes, but curves and soaring lines everywhere.

My faith in humanity was restored by visiting the Bahai Shrine of the Bab in Haifa yesterday morning. The gardens were quite elaborate and very precisely planted and cared for -- rows and rows of flowers, shrubs and walkways to prepare you for the actual shrine itself, a towering white building with a truly gold-plated dome on its top. My concern over Israel and its failure so far to come to any peaceful common grounds was eased by this special place that emphasizes tolerance of all creeds. The many people working there, over 600 from 90 different countries, were so trusting of the future. Each person we spoke to had a kind of inner peace that makes me feel hopeful about the future. Well, there were guards at the gate here too, and I know that Bahai's have faced terrible persecution for their beliefs. But the reality is we need to be able to hope in the future.

Now back to uploading pictures!