Torn between two worlds

I'm finding myself in a bit of an odd space right now.  I'm torn between two worlds, and yet they flow perfectly together, feeding off each other.  It sounds like a contradiction, but let me explain.

We've been back from Israel for a week and a half, but my thoughts keep going back to the trip.  In my spare moments, I find myself drifting back to some of the sights we saw, experiences we felt, the listeners I met who I now consider friends, and our guide Raffi and fearless driver David.  It's a bit like living in a constant nostalgic state, thankful for our fantastic trip but missing it at the same time.  I think of Raffi and David specifically because I don't know if I will ever see them again, in this or the next life.  With the listeners on the trip, we've agreed to keep in touch and do a reunion, and if we do lose touch years down the road at least we'll be reunited one day up above.  I wish I could say the same for Raffi and David, and it breaks my heart that (for now) I can't.  And that is the biggest part of the nostalgia to me, friends I will never see again and who won't share in our joys.  Hence, they will remain in my prayers.

And while I'm wresting down the nostalgia, I'm being thrust into the Christmas season.  I say 'thrust' because 1) it's happening so fast, and 2) I'm a bit stuck in the past three weeks as explained above.  Nonetheless, I'm getting really excited as I hear the Christmas music and see decorations going up.

So those are the my two worlds right now, how are they flowing perfectly together?  I'm finding more and more that my trip to Israel has set the perfect backdrop for Christmas.  As I read through the Christmas story (I was reading the first few chapters of Luke this morning) I better understand the text.  Names that I normally would have glossed over suddenly jump off the page as I recognize their significance.  The words and places have so much more context, and the story seems so much more real.  The more I read in the bible, the more I think about the trip.  And the more I think about our trip, the more I want to read my bible.

It's a vicious cycle, but one I don't mind being caught in.

Israel - Days 10 and 11

Well we're back on Canadian soil.  That past two days have been absolutely bittersweet.  All of us were excited to get back home and see our loved ones and stop living out of a suitcase, and yet none of us wanted to leave.

Day 10 was our day of travelling.  We woke up at 12:30am, and were on the bus and on the way to the airport by 1:30am.  Our flight was at 5:30am and we got to Frankfurt, Germany a few hours later.  We had a 7 hour stopover in Frankfurt, so Christian Journeys organized a bus tour of Frankfurt.  Most people went on that, a couple stayed back, and I think it's safe to say that by the time we were boarding our second plane to get back to Canada, all of us were excited to touch down on home soil - not because of anything bad, but because we were all very tired, cold, and cramped from all the travelling.

After an 8 hour flight, we touched down in Toronto around 7:45pm, and from the time we left our hotel to the time we reached Toronto, we had been travelling for over 24 hours...and some still had a bit of a ways to go to get home (I feel for you!).

I have only one regret this entire trip, although there was not much I could do about it.  We arrived at the airport last night, got our luggage, went through customs, etc, etc...  I had a big problem though.  My foot had been sore from all the walking the past few days.  I really got painful from walking around the Frankfurt airport, and on the 8 hour flight back to Canada, it swelled massively.  It was so large and so painful that my wife had to push me around the Toronto airport in a wheelchair.  When we got through to the front gate to meet up with our ride, I was in so much pain that it was all I could really think about.  I also knew that our ride was circling the airport with our 11 month old son in the car (and it was WAY past his bedtime), so I only said goodbye to a few people before leaving.  At the time there was nothing I could do, the pain was overwhelming and I (stubbornly) didn't want our last memories to be me of me in a wheelchair.  Now though, I feel the bitter part of the bittersweet - I am so sad that I did not get a chance to say goodbye properly, and waking up this morning, my thoughts immediately go to Israel, our tour guide Raffi, and the group that I just spent 10 days with.  That being said, here's my foot this morning.  This picture is after the swelling went down quite a bit from last night...I'm still hobbling but at least it's better.

So now here I am on day 11, back in Canada, sitting in my parent's living room at 7am (I've been up since 4:45, but actually got out of bed at 6am...jet lag!).  I'm conflicted, not knowing what to do or feel this morning.  I am so thankful and thrilled for our trip, and for the incredible friendships that were formed (which I hope will last well beyond the trip!) and I'm thrilled to see my son again.  But I'm heartbroken for what I described above, and for the trip being over in general.  It's like when you come back from camp, or from a vacation with friends and family, or when summer vacation is over and you had an awesome one...all you want to do is go back, and you don't want to face getting back to reality.  That's my conflict this morning.  Thank you Jesus for such an amazing trip.

My final words about the trip - Christian Journeys' slogan is "Visit Israel, you'll never be the same."  I think I can agree with that.  It's day one of being back, so I'm still processing everything, but I hope and pray that my Israeli experiences in the Holy Land will shape my life.  One thing I know for sure - and that's already happened - is that I'll never read my bible the same way again.  It's one thing to read about the places in the bible, it's another to have walked them yourself.  It brings a whole new perspective.  I am praying and asking Jesus that I will be changed forever.

To Christian Journeys, LIFE, our incredible tour guide Raffi, our fearless driver David, and all 33 people that joined me on this trip, I say thank you for everything.  Words cannot express my feelings at this moment.  Here's our guide Raffi on the left, and our fearless driver David on the right (Glen Sye, from LIFE, is in the blue)

To God, I say thank you for the opportunity to go, thank you for teaching me so much, and please help me to implement it everyday from here on in.  And to you the LIFE listener and reader, thank you for following along, and for your encouragement and prayers.  I hope that one day you can experience what I've just experienced, you won't regret it.

Israel - Day 9

This blog is also written on Sunday, but is actually about Friday.

Here it is, our final full day in Israel.  Everything, including the morning group devotions, was a little bittersweet as we knew this was the last time.  But we also knew that we're in for a great day.

We started out with an unexpected stop at the Israeli parliament and supreme court buildings.  Raffi explained to us how they operate, and it was a good way to round out the trip as we'd been learning quite a bit about how Israel's current government and it's history in becoming a nation.  In front of the parliament building we stopped and said a prayer for Israel and it's leaders.

Then it was off to the Yad Vashem museum, a museum about the holocaust.  A very somber experience.  A couple of years ago my wife and I toured a concentration camp in Germany.  That was rough.  Now we saw it all from Israel's perspective, reading the stories of the victims, hearing the names of children, seeing video of those who risked their lives to protect others...  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum, so here's a shot of part of the main building (there are several buildings - the children's memorial was incredibly well done).

From there we crossed over into Palestinian lands for the second time in our 10 days (the first time was in Jericho).  This time we got much more of a feel for Palestine.  It really did feel like a different country even though it's right in the middle of Israel  (Palestine is actually an autonomy, not a country).  Our visit was to see Bethlehem where Christ was born.  I think it's fair to say that it's not what any of us expected.  A church has been built over the spot where the birth is supposed to have happened.  The church is very decorated, it was packed...and it just felt all too much.  Here's the church, the ornate decorations, the spot where Jesus is thought to have been born, and the spot 10 feet away where he's thought to have been placed in a manger.

There was one really cool part about this church.  You have to enter through a small door, meaning you have to crouch to get through it.  It serves as a reminder of where you are about to enter, and that you must stay humble.

Finally it was on to the last stop on our trip, and what better way to end it than at the garden tomb where Jesus was laid for 3 days and then raised to life.  This was REALLY cool.  The area was purchased by a church denomination in Britain a couple hundred years ago, and they still run it.  Our Christian guide shared incredible information with us as to why they believe this is actual the crucifixion site, and it was hard to argue.  I'll run through a few points.  The most obvious is Golgotha, which means 'place of the skull'.  Can you see a skull on this mountainside?  There are actually three, but you may only be able to see two from this angle.

Next is where the hill is located, right alongside the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, a very prominent spot where everyone would see it.  That was the common practice of the Romans - to put crosses in very public areas so that they would not be missed.  Then we looked at the tomb itself.  It was the tomb belonging to a rich man, which is what the bible says.  Also in the bible is that after Jesus was resurrected, Peter runs to the tomb, sees the clothes, and runs back to tell the others.  It doesn't say that he goes in the tomb.  The layout of this tomb was a bit unusual with the preparation room on the left and the tomb itself on the far upper right, and the layout would have allowed Peter to see the spot where Jesus was laid without entering the tomb.

Also cool was the channel for the large rock to be rolled in front of the tomb.  The rock is no longer there, but you can see how it would have worked.

After each visiting the tomb, we had a time of worship and sharing as we read the story of the crucifixion and the resurrection.  This was a really powerful moment as we partook in communion together as one family, and encouraged each other not to forget all we'd learned when we returned to our normal lives (Deuteronomy 4:9).

Finally to round out the day and the trip, we got together in a room at our hotel and shared some laughs, some memories, and our highlights - what we'd learned, what stuck out to us, and how we had been changed.  Then it was off to bed because we had an early morning...wake up call at 12:30am to catch our flight back home!

Israel - Day 8

I'm a few days behind on my blogging, I apologize - our schedule has been so busy that by the time we get back to our hotel it's all I can do to keep my eyes open sometimes!  Part of this blog was started on Thursday, a bit more was added Friday, and the rest is being written on Sunday.  It's actually about Thursday though.

Today is a very special day - it's my wife's birthday!!!  What a cool place to be celebrating, and with such great people.  We walked onto our bus in the morning and David, our fearless driver (that's what our guide Raffi always calls him), had decorated the bus with balloons.  Then we sang a few songs to wish my wife a happy birthday.

After that, it was on to our first stop, the Davidson Centre.  This place blew me away, and I'll explain why in just a second.  First though, I thought I'd share this video.  When we first arrived we stumbled on a bar mitzvah.  This was the first of many that we saw today.

(video coming shortly)

Okay, back to the Davidson Centre.  I thought it was just a small museum - instead, it was exactly where Jesus walked.  The centre is focused on the southwest corner of the old city of Jerusalem and the temple.  There's quite a bit in the picture below.  On the right is the wall of the massive structure that supported the temple (the temple was built on top of it).  On the left you see the shops.  This is where Jesus went in and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, saying they had turned God's house into a den of robbers (Matthew 21).  In the centre is the main street where Jesus and his disciples walked.  That in itself is amazing.  But what's even more cool is that we know that it was preserved perfectly from just after the time of Jesus.  You can see in the centre of the road that there are several massive boulders.  The boulders are actually from the top of the wall on the right.  When the Romans took over in 70AD (just after Jesus), they destroyed the temple.  They pushed these rocks down onto the street below, and they have stood in the exact same spot since.  It's sad that the temple was destroyed, but amazing that we can see the exact street Jesus walked on and the destruction that took place afterward.

From here we took a right turn (bottom right corner of the above picture) and walked to what are known as 'The Teaching Steps'.  This is one of the entrances to the temple (it's been bricked off since), and Jesus walked these steps many times.  He also taught the crowds on these steps.  The steps at the top are rebuilt, but the steps where we are sitting date back to Jesus time.

Then it was on to the infamous Wailing Wall.  This wall is the only wall remaining of the second temple.  It's also the wall that was closest to the place where the holy of holies resided, where only the high priest was allowed to go to pray and offer sacrifices.  It's where God dwelt. 

For generations, thousand of Jews have been making pilgrimages to this wall to pray for the restoration of Israel.  People of other faiths are also welcome to come pray.  Many leave notes in the cracks in the wall.

From taking in the Wailing Wall, we moved next to go below the wall and the city itself.  We went into the tunnels that were found, many of which were from Jesus time.  If you remember my description of the tel from a few days ago (a city built on a city, built on a city, etc, etc), that also happened in Jerusalem.  The first temple was built in Solomon's time and destroyed years later.  The second temple was built on top of the first temple, and it is where Jesus worshipped and taught.  It was destroyed in 70AD, and now the site is a mosque.  Anyway these tunnels were quite extensive and we saw cisterns, caves, arches, etc...

This is the bath where people would bathe to cleanse themselves before going into the temple.  It's thought Jesus and his disciples may have used this actual bath.  The bath still works today, and experts don't know where the water is coming from.

Finally it was on to the Via Dolorosa.  This is the path Jesus took as He carried the cross to his crucifixion.  The actual path itself is 10 metres below this one (as explained above).  There are 14 stations, including where Jesus is given the cross, where He falls three different times, and where He speaks to the women of Jerusalem.  This station is where He falls and Simon is given is cross to carry.

There are two sites where it's believed Jesus was crucified.  The Via Dolorosa ends where the Catholics believe it happened (we'll be visiting the protestant site tomorrow).  There is a church built on the site, ornately decorated.  Here is the rock it's believed Jesus was crucified on, and the stone where it's believed His body was laid afterward.

You'll remember that we started off the day by celebrating a birthday, and we ended it off the same way.  Instead of heading back to the hotel as was the original plan, our fearless driver David picked up a couple of cakes and headed to a mountaintop.  Here we enjoyed some deliciousness as we overlooked the desert on one side and Jerusalem on the other.

To round out the day, our guide Raffi told us about spectacular show that happens at the Tower of David Museum.  It's a light show that takes place on the walls of King Herod's palace.  It tells the story of Israel's history.  Many in our group took in the show, and my wife and I were able to enjoy thanks to the generosity of one person in our group who paid for our tickets - we still don't know who it was, but thank you!  Here's wall before the light show.

Israel - Day 7

Every day on this trip is powerful, but there are three days that are incredibly powerful.  The first was this past Sunday when we visited Capernaum and several locations around the Sea of Galilee, where most of Jesus ministry was.  The second will be this Friday when we walk the Via Dolorosa and visit the Garden Tomb where Jesus was laid.  And the third was today.

This morning we began by standing on the Mount of Olives.  There we gazed on Jerusalem, as Jesus did when he entered on Palm Sunday.  We stood at the spot where Jesus wept over the city as he entered it (Luke 19:41).  We took in the view of the vast city, and pictured how he saw it 2,000 years ago while realizing that He still cries over the city today.

.  Then we walked down the same path that Jesus took, and went to the Garden of Gethsemane

This was one of this absolute highlight moments for us - being in the same garden where Jesus was as he prayed the night before he was crucified.  We spent much time here reflecting individually and together.  It was a powerful, emotional time as we realized that Jesus walked this very garden with His disciples, knowing what was coming just a few hours away, and yet still He submit to His father's will.  I thought of those times when I have been in utter anguish, and I can picture Jesus at that moment, just collapsing against a tree (it was a rock in the bible, but the trees served the purpose here in the garden), and just crying out to Father God.  From the garden He could look up at the stars, at Jerusalem and at the temple where He taught and tried to show people the good news, and I imagine his heart was broken for the city and the people he loved so much.  After we each reflected, we had a time of worship together.

 From the Garden of Gethsemane we went to the house of Caiaphas, where Jesus was taken after he as arrested in the garden.  To get there we had to walk alongside the steps Jesus took.

 A church has been built over the house of Caiaphas.  Underneath, Jesus defended himself and spent the night before being sent to Pontius Pilate the next morning.  This spot was an eye opener.  We went down to the pit where Jesus was thought to have been held.  It was dark, cold, and probably stunk from human waste from the other prisoners before Jesus.  It was probably about 20 feet deep, and the only way in and out was to be lowered down/up through a hole in the ceiling.

Not only that, the person - in this case Jesus - remained standing and was tied around their chest and shoulders to be lowered up and down.  I can only imagine what Jesus was thinking this long night He spent along in a dark, damp, smelly pit, the night before he knew he was to die.

From there it was on to a double site - the Upper Room, found over King David's Tomb.  Why did I post a boring picture of a building below?  It's to show the interesting mix and spiritual warfare found throughout Israel, and specifically Jerusalem.  The bottom level of this building is where the Tomb of King David is found.  The second level is the Upper Room.  The top level is a mosque.

This is what they suppose is King David's Tomb...well, half of it.  There is a men's and a women's side.  This picture is obviously from the men's.

Then it was into the Upper Room.  This is actually a church from the Byzantine Era, if I remember correctly.  But in this room we read of the last supper, and then we had another powerful moment.  It was during the last supper that Jesus also washed the disciples feet.  Glen Sye, with LIFE, brought a towel with him to wash the feet of one lady in our group in the Upper Room, as we all watched emotionally.

Finally, we ended our day at the pools of Bethseda where Jesus healed man who had been crippled for 38 years (John 5).  At this point too, we had a powerful time of prayer (I told you, it was an amazing day!)  Here we brought up prayer requests and prayed for each other, believing that the same God who healed that crippled man 2,000 years ago could also heal us, our loved ones, and our world today.

This day was unbelievable.  We essentially travelled the last hours of Jesus' life before he was crucified, walking the same steps he took.  We also walked along the Via Dolorosa several times as we strolled  through the old city of Jerusalem in the city walls.  To see all these sites made me see and understand the crucifixion as I never had before.  I have a new appreciation for the love, grace, mercy, and compassion of Christ.

Israel - Day 6

And we made it to Jerusalem!  But wait, that's the end of our day, let me start at the beginning.

A few of us went for a morning dip in the Dead Sea before we left our hotel.  As we were driving away, I snapped this picture.  We Canadians would think that white stuff on the water is ice, but no, it's salt.

We made our way from our hotel to the remains of a fortress/city called Masada, built on the top of a mountain.  It was built by the Romans and Herod the Great, taken over by the zealots when the Romans had to send many of their forces back home when there was some tension, and then taken over again by the Romans.  This all happened during and just after Jesus lifetime, so while it's not in the bible, it gave us a great reference to what was happening elsewhere in the country during Jesus time.  You could walk up the mountain via the snake path, or take the gondola.

At the top you could pretty much see the entire layout of the place.  It was really remarkable, including the colourful frescos that still remain.

They created huge storage rooms, and aqueducts and massive cisterns to hold all the water from the flash floods that would hit.  Here's our group looking into one of the cisterns.

In the picture below, you're looking at a view of Herod's palace from the back and side.  When we stood at the palace itself, it was easy to see why he selected that spot for himself.  There was a constant, wonderful breeze atop a scorching hot mountain.

There was one other REALLY cool thing on the top of this mountain.  Have you ever tried to tell someone about Jesus, and they argue by saying that the Bible has been changed so many times over the years?  Here's proof that it hasn't changed.  Here's a scribe on the mountaintop of Masada, and he is copying the Old Testament word for word.  If he makes one mistake he has to throw that whole sheet out.  (The bible has been copied out by hand by the Jews since the time of Jesus).

One more thing from Masada…  In Israel it is mandatory for citizens to enter the army.  They do so after high school, so many are very young.  It is not uncommon to see a site like this (this was at top of the hill on Masada - note the rifle).

From Masada we went to the hills of En Gedi.  These are the hills where David hid from Saul and his army.  1 Samuel 24 has the story - David hid in one of the caves as Saul's army approached.  Saul decided to relieve himself in a cave, and it happened to be the exact one David was hiding in.  Instead of killing Saul, David cut off a corner of his robe, then later showed it to him to say that he could have taken his life but did not.  That happened in one of these caves.  At this spot we read 1 Samuel 24, and also Psalm 13.  That's a Psalm of deep grief and sorrow, where David still praises God in the end.  As we read, we pictured David in one of these caves, writing this Psalm and others like it.

As we walked in those hills, we also passed the type of tree that it's believed Jesus' crown of thorns was made from (I can't remember the name of it).  The thorns were smaller than I expected, but incredibly sharp and very strong.  Not something you'd like to have stuck on your head.

From there we moved on to Qumran.  This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found just 66 years ago.  Just a few paragraphs ago I talked about how we know the bible hasn't been changed over the years.  Here's more proof, and this is amazing.  The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest text of the Old Testament ever found - they date back exactly to the time of Jesus.  Before this discovery, the oldest version of the bible that we had was from the 10th century, 1,000 years after Jesus.  Our guide told us that up until the 1947 discovery, people had wondered if the bible we read today was the same one Jesus read.  This discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that it was.  These are some of the hills and caves where the scrolls were found.

And after a full day in the sunshine (it was hot!), we finally hit Jerusalem.  The first thing we did was take in the view.  There were a lot of tears when we hit this spot.

Tomorrow we actually begin our adventure of touring Jerusalem.  We're spending 3 full days here, by far the longest time we're spending one spot.  But it's easy when there's so much to see - the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, the garden tomb, walk the Via Dolorosa, etc, etc…

Okay, it's off to bed for me.  One quick note, see the post below, I was able to upload the video of the Israeli fighter jets.

Israel - Day 5

I know in Canada it's snowing with snow squall warnings for parts of Central Ontario, so don't be  jealous when I tell you that today was a scorcher here...this is the temperature gauge on our bus telling us what it's like outside - thankfully our bus is air conditioned!

Leaving our hotel this morning was tough again - we were on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

From there we went to the site of Jesus first miracle, the wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine.  As with many sacred sites, a church has been built over the supposed location of the miracle.  But we stopped there and read the story of the start of Jesus' ministry.

We left there and on our way to our next site, stopped our bus at the side of the road at 11am to have a moment of silence as we marked Remembrance Day.  One of the ladies on our tour, Nancy, whose son has served 4 tours of Afghanistan, led us in prayer and the Canadian national anthem.  What made it even more poignant was that we were in the Armageddon Valley when we pulled over.  Not only did we remember Canadian soldiers, we remembered all the battles going on here in Israel, all the battles fought on this very piece of land we were travelling on, the big battle that may still be fought on this land, and we remembered countries like Syria who do not enjoy the same freedoms we do (we just saw and prayed for Syria two days earlier).

After our moment of silence we continued on to Nazareth, where Jesus was raised.  Surprisingly, there are almost no remains of the village from Jesus' time.  When I heard this I thought the site wouldn't be all that powerful.  I was 100% wrong.  A Christian ministry has set up shop there, and has created a replica village.  They take you through what it was like in Jesus' time, show you the remains they did find, and quote all kinds of scripture to show that Christ really was the promised Messiah.  This was huge for me as it really connected the prophesies in the Old Testament with their fulfillment in Jesus in the New Testament.  One example is the olive press.  Isaiah talks about how Jesus was crushed for our iniquities.  We saw the olive press and how olives are crushed, even the seeds, to make olive oil.  I've heard this before, but seeing it brought new meaning.

The Nazareth visit was also quite insightful.  I didn't know that Roman crosses were built with a seat on them.  The crucified person would struggle for air and would push himself up with his feet.  When he got tired, he could sit and rest for a bit.  Once he started to suffocate again, he'd push up...and then sit back down...and so forth...  It was a horrible way of prolonging the torture.

After three days of this agony, the person's legs would be broken.  Jesus, however, died in 6 hours.  It's thought that there are two reasons why - so that the scriptures would be fulfilled where it says none of his bones would be broken, and because Jesus said that He laid down His life - no one was taking it from Him.  That was really powerful for me, I'd never thought of that last point like that.  What was really neat was that at the end of the tour, we were able to pray with our guide Daniel for him and the entire Christian team that was hosting that ministry...and what a ministry it is.  My description does not do it justice.

Then it was on to the city of Beth-Shan, where King Saul and his sons were hanged after they were killed in battle.  We saw the remains of the Roman city, which was really quite remarkable as mosaic floors, a full theatre, and some rooms were still intact.

For lunch we made an unexpected stop in Jericho.  It was not on our itinerary because it's on Palestinian lands, and often times the border is closed during times of tension.  Today it was not.  Not much is left of the city itself, in fact we really only stayed in the current city.  But we did read the story of the fall of Jericho in the Old Testament, and of Jesus speaking to and dining with Zaccheus in the New Testament.  It's also known as the oldest city in the world.

Finally, from the oldest city on earth we travelled to the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea.  It's amazing to see how much the water level has been dropping (it's about one metre every year).  We checked into our hotel and we all had one thing on our minds - swim (and by swim I mean float) in the Dead Sea.  I've never seen anything like it.  It literally pushes you up.  You can't stay underwater.  And you can't stay in the water for too long either, there's just too much salt.  In fact, if you reach down while in the water and grab a handful of the ground, it's literally a handful of salt and nothing else.

Before I tell you how our day ended, I'll share something that's been hitting me over the past few days, and especially today.  As I mentioned right off the top, it's hot here.  Really hot.  We've been travelling from city to city, ancient city to ancient city, and the one thing they have in common is that they are all built near fresh water sources, especially the old cities.  They couldn't survive otherwise. And when the spring or water source dried up, the people moved on.  It didn't matter how much money, time, and effort they had put into building the city and the infrastructure, if there was no water they had to leave.  That has brought the meaning behind Jesus being the Living Water to a whole new level of understanding for me.

Okay, so how did we end our day?  By hanging out in our hotel, overlooking the Dead Sea, and watching Israeli fighter jets whizz by just a few hundred feet away.  It was incredible.

Sorry the quality's not great, but you get the idea.  The jets were flying all evening.