Wierd morning, great afternoon

Ah, the moment I knew had to come has finally arrived. I've been evangelized. Twice in one morning, no less.

This one guy tells me that he's been having visions of the future ever since his near-death experience in 1974, and that he is a prophet. He actually went to the national hurricane center in 1995 to tell them a catastrophe was coming. Lucky for us, news broadcasts confirm his visions, so I'm told that the end times foretold in Revelation are coming. Did you know that the fact that the world's economy is collapsing means that the rapture is right around the corner? Now I do. Also Rabbi Akiva is personally responsible for the fact that the whole world wasn't Christian by the end of the 2nd century. Sweet.

And this older lady told me her life story for three hours (we got "cut short" by the fact that I had a life to attend to, but she promises she'll tell me the rest later), and the moral of that story is that I'd better get right with Jesus and forget about all the rest of the world's heathen religions, because Jesus will be appearing on the Mount of Olives any minute now.

So that kept me busy from about 9AM until 1PM. When I finally escaped the lounge of the hostel, I actually had a great day. I went to the City of David, which is still an active excavation, and because I missed the tour group, I got to go through Hezekiah's tunnel all by myself. Woohoo! It's this long subterranean tunnel that goes beneath the ancient city walls of Jerusalem to the spring that provided the city's water supply. This secret tunnel made sure that even if the city was under siege, there would always be plenty of fresh water. And more importantly, it provides me with the opportunity to feel like Indiana Jones! Woohoo! This was by far the coolest thing so far in Israel. I had a blast getting into my board shorts and tevas and wading along by myself by the light of my trusty flashlight. As you can see, the passage is very narrow and dark and spooky. Perfect.

Off to do some shopping in the New City tonight...provided it doesn't rain.