Cyprus

I've been in Cyprus for three days going on four now. It's been a great blessing. Elie has three beautiful daughters and a wonderful wife. I've been staying in the guest house outside. Been great

WE went to Paphos where the Apostle Paul was

today we went to a waterfall and met some Lebanese folks who recognized us freom TV

was fun.

Here are some pictures of Paphos and Cyprus

Ben Gurion

spent the night at the Austrian Hospice. Was not a very pleasant experience but overall its was OK. In morning went to central bus station and then am here to Ben Gurion
I'm flying with El Al. I was moved at how kind the security folks were with me. They were very sympathetic about Dad.

Just ate a huge bagel and had a coke -- 46 shekels -- ouch

on way to Cyprus.

God's favor seems to be on my trip

Rainy Day Ramallah written at Musallam Hospital

Rainy day Ramallah

Liquid not yet fallen fallen 

Falling from the sky

Gray so dark the color bodes

Of eyes so color blind

Of all sorrows we have heard

Many through the days

This is what we got

I’d rather be playing Guns n Roses with the band

I’d rather be back home not in this foreign land

But daddy he got sick today I had to do my share

No one cares how much I play till they know I care

Rainy day Ramallah its not like Paris France

Where poetry drips off the lips

Like sight starts with a glance

Here the movement’s slower

At least it seems to me

That birds don’t quite scrape the sky

Though they spread their wings

Dad’s asleep his mouth agape

It looks like he’s in pain

Or close enough to breath and gasp

And make the clouds drop rain

Upon this land so arid

So dreary and ashamed

Or is it just my memories

I tried so to escape

Here with Khaled and Waleed

Sohaila was there too

Fatima and me we watched

To learn this world so new

Back then it was raining too

We stepped out of a car

And ate a sweet delicacy

Too sweet for my taste

We also got wet when we walked

From the shop back to the car

And then on to Jericho

A journey seemed so far

We played as children often do

As if we’d smash into the hills

All barren and yellow, it’s the desert

Dad’s mouth is half open

He yellow dentures show

As if its hard to breathe

In time I know I’ll know

His own teeth long ago they failed

To meet his need

These fake and clumsy dentures

Each day to help him eat

On continents across the globe

My father wandered bravely

And taught a generation

How to break the barriers

How to get a passport

How to stand in line

How to fly upon a plane

And how to find a wife

He’s the one whose feet did run

And we just simply followed

He took at he risks

And we just mocked and followed

Dads eyes are like permanently teary

His look angry

His body is bruised and wounded

He’s a fighter

He just had a pouch of sodium chloride put into his left arm and he’s falling asleep watching the middle easts equivalent of Good Morning America

The drip drip drip is going down the hose

Rainy Day Ramallah

November Rain

When I went to Brazil in 1981, one of the main songs for me for that time was "Light of the World," by Barry Maguire or "Old Branch," also by MaGuire.

When  I went to Croatia, the song was "Us Now," by Jon Gibson

When  I came here in 1989, the song was "Judas Kiss," by Petra and "Holiness" by Wayne Watson

The last time I was here in 2013, I think the main song I would say was "Take a Walk," as it came to reflect how I was feeling back then, etc. 

If I was to say which one particular song seems to be a big part of this trip, I think (the secular) one would be November Rain by Guns 'n Roses

I started playing it at open mikes in So Cal. Had some pretty cool reactions especially at the Fox's Coffee House where I first played it with a backing track.

I was also enjoying playing at Bogarts in Seal Beach where the guy who does the open mike said of me "...he usually does scorching guitar leads..."

I also did it twice in Laguna Beach -- Once I sang it and once the kid "Christian" sang it

I also did it at Beach Hut Deli which I think was probably my best but Chris the guy who does the open mike didn't like using a backing track and was reluctant to compliment me though Mohammed was there and he complimented me

Since I've been here in Holy Land, I have heard the song a zillion times - the real one and the one I did at Foxs (mostly)

But I think that will be the song I associate with this trip the most

HEre are some of the performances of it

Fox's (may not work)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0zhUwraJiBBS0JiSkNwZmYyRXc/view

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDnsVE4eOeg

Old Man and the Sea

Najat and me took Dad to Jerusalem and Jaffa today. I pushed him all the way to the Al Aqsa and then  she said, "Are you going in?" She said they would think its strange if they see someone standing and not praying with them. I said I'd stand outside and wait. She said I shouldn't stand so close. I went up to the Dome of the Rock but didn't go in and went out the gate to one of the dark halls and had a carrot juice. Then I when to the third station of the cross:

Then we went to the restaurant Old Man and the Sea عجوز و البحر

it became a theme for me of the day. Adleh understood it when I told here

Old Man and the Sea

Najat and me took Dad to Jerusalem and Jaffa today. I pushed him all the way to the Al Aqsa and then  she said, "Are you going in?" She said they would think its strange if they see someone standing and not praying with them. I said I'd stand outside and wait. She said I shouldn't stand so close. I went up to the Dome of the Rock but didn't go in and went out the gate to one of the dark halls and had a carrot juice. Then I when to the third station of the cross:

Then we went to the restaurant Old Man and the Sea عجوز و البحر

it became a theme for me of the day. Adleh understood it when I told here