Back in the USA

[Delphia Dirks]

Hi Rosina..

Welcome back.   I am inerested in your opinions/observations re Jerusalem...
And, am most interested in hearing abaut your trip to St. Catherine
Monestary.... it is one of the very few places that was untouched by the
iconoclast movement and so has some of the oldest existing icons.  It is
next on my list of places to go... so you can't tell me enough about it.

--delphia

> From: Rosina Lila <BlaroliaAOL.COM>
> Reply-To: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage <GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu>
> Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 08:32:13 EDT
> To: GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
> Subject: Back in the USA
>
> Hello you all,
> I am back from my Egypt/Jerusalem trip, tired and somewhat shaken, but in one
> piece.
> I visited some extraordinary sites in Egypt, monasteries about which I knew
> nothing at all,  and was hugely surprised and delighted, particularly by the
> monastery of St. Catherine in Mount Sinai (the whole of the Sinai belongs to
> Egypt), which was visited by the Pope when he went to Egypt two years ago and
> which attracts pilgrims from every part of the world.  The monastery is
> spellbinding and, reportedly, has a connection to our St. James,  and if you
> are interested I will tell you about it.
> As to Jerusalem....., well, you know the situation there. As to what I saw,
> and felt,  not being an Arab, or a Muslim, or a Jewish, my views and
> feelings, unhampered by passion or indoctrination, are sure to displease
> partisans of one side or the other. In order not to draw fire or offend
> anyone, it is best that I keep them to myself.
> However, if some of you nonpartisan old-time e-mail pals, are interested in
> them, you can ask me directly.
> Meanwhile, I shall start looking for shoes for my Santiago pilgrimage at the
> end of next month.  The ones I took last year, EMI, or something like that, I
> left at the Santiago Cathedral crypt together with my hat when I arrived at
> Santiago in the middle of a rain storm.  I don't know why.... it was a
> spontaneous gesture; I wasn't even aware of it until I arrived at the hotel
> barefoot and drew some amused glances.
> Oh, well.
> I thought of you often during my trip..... really.
> Fond regards.
> Rosina