One Week Away!

It’s one week before I go, and I’ve gotten most everything ready. I’m not going to be going alone anymore, my old friend Rafael will be going with me. He’s in Mexico right now and will fly out to Tel Aviv the same day I will. He gets there 2 hours before I do. We are going to meet at one of the airport stores in Ben Gurion International. From there we’ll catch a sherut (shared taxi-van) to the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, then call for an Arab taxi to take us to Ecce Homo.

My brother Frank, who has been a Muslim for 20+ years has a friend from the Masjid whose brother is a Palestinian Taxi driver. He asked me if I wanted him to arrange for us to meet. I said sure. And to be honest I was a little reluctant. I wasn’t sure how I felt about meeting up with someone in Palestine I didnt know, particularly after you’ve heard nothing but anti-american propaganda about the place and the people. But regardless, meeting local people and seeing stuff the locals would recommend is something I’d love to do, more so than some tour package. So i’ll trust my brother’s judgement.

 I also found out that my nephew Justin, from my other brother,  is going into Iraq next week. He’s a marine whose duty it is to be part of the helicopter landing team who fly in first to secure an area for the rest of the guys to come in through. He’s going to the hotbed of the insurgency. Al Anbar province. My brother Joe, who is his father, said he could tell Justin was nervous when he told him. I say that nervousness is good. It can save his life. We’re all concerned and praying for him. Joe said it was funny how two Aceves’ will be in the middle east at the same time, just a few hundred miles apart. Be safe Justin, do your work and get home. Godspeed.

I’m not sure it’s hit me yet. I’m going to be gone for 17 days, the longest time I’ve been away from my wife since we’ve been together. I’m gonna miss her.  alot.