Part I - A tent in the desert

Actually these two days have been absolutely packed with impressions of the "holy." We started off in Hebron - in the West Bank (disputed territories - depends on which map), a city of 150,000 Palestinians, virtually all Arab Muslims. Our rendevous was with a Christian Peacemaking Team that lives next to an embedded Jewish settlement of 200-400 Jewish settlers within the city. They were awarded land and buildings after 7 Yeshiva students were gunned down several years ago. The settlers are here, isolated, from ideological conviction - and they are protected by an Israeli outpost of soldiers. The Palestinians have limited access in this area, shops have closed nearby, there are check-points and one major thoroughfare completely off-limits to non-Israelis. Complex, confusing, and one little portrait of the daily conditions here.
A walk through the Old Town took us to the mosque which was built over the gravesite of ABraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (Rachel's tomb is near Bethlehem) - the tomb of the patriarchs/matriarchs of Jews, Christians and Muslims. It was a small, not-showy, bustling place with mostly Muslim tourists.... not many Christians or Jewish tourists in Hebron these days. I was moved by the privilage of being there, and it was sacred space. The actual graves are purported to be in caves about 36 ft. under the floor where we stood.
We had a picnic lunch at Tel BeerSheva - "tel" being a hill formed by layers of civilization. It was a high place looking over the desert of Negev - and the site of a covenant between Abraham and Abimileck (Genesis 21:25-33). The site is excavated to show a huge cistern/water holding arrangement that made it an important stop between Egypt and points north. Be'er Sheva is mentioned in the Old Testament at least 5 times. The Tel is outside of the current modern city, and is a national park. The air is hot and dry but with a breeze, so if you can find shade it's very pleasant. We must remember to drink water all the time!! This is the land of the Israelites (Old Testament).
When do we get to the tent?! Now - Thursday evening - our Bedouin host prepared and served coffee in this settlement for tourists - cabins available too - and then we went on a camel ride/walk/quite a calming experience for about a half hour. We were given a very large, covered in woolen cloth and canvas tent with pads, sleeping bags, and sheets - enough to accomodate all 40 men and women! You can imagine we were nervous about getting any actual sleep, but it worked out very well. We turned in early after a traditional supper of kababs, fresh vegetables, and the omni-present pita and hummus...and lemonade which hit the spot. What was holy was the breeze, stars, sounds of birds and donkeys trotting by as the work staff headed home to small Bedouin enclaves nearby. The Bedouin - desert people - don't move homesteads like they used to, but there is a continuation of sheep herding by those in this area. Many have been relocated into small towns, not much in the way of infrastructure and work and education. The young people are mostly leaving.
The desert is not sandy; it is covered in rocks and animal footpaths and hills. Whever there is water, there are trees... but these places are far between. The few cities have water piped in from up north - this is Israeli territory.