Hi everyone! I'm writing to answer some of the questions that Mrs. Osborne was asked about the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea is called that because there is almost no life in it. I heard there is one kind of Bacteria that lives in it, but that's all. There are no fish, no worms, no plants, nothing. More than 30 % of the Dead Sea is salt and minerals. That means if you go into it, you float really easy. When I come back I'll show you some pictures of me floating in it. IT looks like a pretty, clean lake. You could die if you drank only one cup of the water. YOu can float in water less than a foot deep.

The Sea of Galilee is a big lake. HEre is a picture of me standing by the shore. The water is fresh and it provides drinking water for a lot of people in Israel. It also waters lots of the crops here. I'ts pretty too, but you can't die from drinking the water. And, there are a lot of fish in it! I don't know all the kinds, but there are perch and another kind that is in the last picture. They call them St. Peter's fish, or Talapia. The picture of the fish are of little ones. I took the picture when I visited the Jordan river. When they get bigger, they go downstream and live in the Sea of Galilee, unless fishermen and women catch them in their nets.

The weather here has been warm, between 28 and 31 degrees. Ask your teacher how warm that is. Most of the people here speak at least two languages. Lot's of people speak English and that helps. Mostly though, there are two groups of people who live in the holy land. There are the Israeli's and most of them speak Hebrew. Most of the road signs here are in Hebrew and often, there is English underneath. The rest of the people are Palestinians. Most of them are Muslims and speak Arabic. The Israelis dress like we do mostly. The Palestinians dress more conservatively. Most of the women wear a head covering of some kind. Here in Jerusalem they don't dress like we do. In Nazareth, a city farther north in Israel, the Palestinians dress more like we do.

I don't have answers for your questions about Egypt or the Red Sea yet. I will be leaving for Egypt next Thursday. I'll be answering more questions after that!

Can't wait to see you and show you my pictures.

Love you all,

Fr. Ralph