As a Bahai, I believe that there is one universal God and that He has sent down teachings via the different prophets. That all of the prophets existed and brought essentially the same spiritual teachings as one another but it is the social teachings that have changed in keeping with the times and the progress of humanity. About every thousand years there is a new prophet with teachings that apply to people for that time. So for this time we believe that Bahaullah is the messenger for this age. He brings us new teachings such as the equality of men and woman, the oneness of religion, universal peace, the need to science and religion to agree. He says that if religion be the cause of war, then it is better not to have it at all. Bahaullah is the first prophet to leave a clear lineage of leaders within the faith. This is to prevent the split of one religion as has happened every time in history. We do not have clergies or mullahs, no one judging you but God. All the laws are a personal relationship or covenant with God. When I see the disunity and hatred in the old city it just reconfirms that the teachings of Bahaullah are right for this time. Questions? Ask me or go to www.bahai.org.
When Tyson and I were reunited after being seperated in the old city, I told him all the stories I could remember from the tour while we made our way back to Tel Aviv. The drive took about an hour. We stopped on the way for petrol which costs a whopping $2.20 USD a liter!!! That, the price of parking, plus the cost of insurance..not the best place to rent a car, I suppose. We found parking and laid by one of the most beautiful beaches with silky white sand and turquoise blue water. The cool water was refreshing for a swim and we watched a kids surfing lesson. We collected some beautiful rocks and shells along the sand and strolled along the seawall. Israel really has the best of both worlds with it's beautiful tropical beaches, amazing history, religiously important sites, hiking, scenery, modern technology and even a few minutes of snow per year.
We went shopping for some groceries in the city and spent most of the last of our shequals. We bought two 1.5 liter bottles of pop, two large cakes, pita bread, lunch meat, humus and jam. We then had to top up the gas at the airport station to make sure that the rental company would not charge us for filling it and then we returned the car. We spent the very last of our shequels on Mcflurries at an Israeli fast food place and the tip for the shuttle driver who took us to the airport. We arrived to the airport around 9:30 pm for our 4:50am flight. We sat on the internet, I slept some and before we knew it, it was 3:50 am and we had not checked in. Israel's security department, being one of the tightest security airports in the world, was not impressed. Of course they pulled us over for extra screening where they ripped all our stuff apart and even took apart our laptop. The supervisor told us we would be missing our flight for sure because they cannot do the security checks in ten minutes when our flight was leaving. After several nerve wracking minutes, she let us go through and we barely made our flight. I slept through the whole thing waking up for food only. We stopped over in Berlin where we saw Ozzy Ozborne and then finally made it to Zurich.
We got off the plane and waited for our baggage and then walked through the exit. There was no passport check or customs at all and as we walked I noticed my last name on a piece of paper. Since I was expecting family to pick us up, I was shocked. We gave him the benefit of the doubt though and went into his car with him. From Zurich to my uncle's place in Bern it took over an hour and we reached a new building that he had purchased and was repairing. We greeted each other and head to the family home atop a beautiful hill. We had lunch together of Persian food, cleaned up a bit and head back out for the afternoon.
Some interesting facts that I learned about the country is that, in a side street, the driver on the right side has the right of way. They have mandatory army service for boys, two years worth of time spaced out over several years but one can pay their way out of it. They only have basic education until grade nine and after that, only ten percent of children who attain the highest grades move on to high school and ten percent of those students move on to post secondary school. For most people, education after ninth grade is unattainable. The majority of the students enter the work field at this time and learn on the job. They are paid a small amount the first year, a bit more the second year and then a full wage by the third year at which time, they should know the work well. Also Switzerland is by far (about double) the most expensive country in the Europe. The minimum wage however allows one to take home nearly $5500 CAD per month which is well above other minimum wages.
In the afternoon my Uncle, Tyson and I walked along the beautiful lake that Bern is so famous for. We stopped by a coffee shop where we tried local delicassies and drinks. We met with my Aunt and we all went home. We met with my cousins one fifteen year old boy and one nineteen year old girl. That night my cousin, my aunt and I went to a ballet lesson. My cousin has been dancing since the age of four and my aunt has been practicing for ten years and it was my very first class so as you can imagine it was abit of a disaster. I completed (barely) one of the two hours of excersizes and the rest of the time I watched the performers in awe. The instructor's son is a very famous dancer from Broadway. We had a lot of fun and came home to eat tender barbequed lamb chops with rice. The boys went into the outdoor hot tub (heated with the energy in the air) and the girls all passed out.
The next morning we slept in by accident and went downtown with my aunt after a big breakfast. She activated a new phone for us and bought some minutes so we would not be stranded. We walked around downtown Bern which is very typical of what one may expect in the area. There is an older and newer part of the city and it is very beautiful. We saw the Parliament building and a very large beautiful chruch. The three of us went for a lovely lunch together where Tyson had tortellini and I had a parmesan salad. After lunch my aunt went to meet with her friend and Tyson and I shopped a bit, wandered the area and stopped by some travel agencies. We still have no idea where we are going, when or how to get there, but we did not get help today.
We met with my cousin and took the train into the Bahai Center. We met the Swiss Bahai community, wow. We participated in the feast and consultation and then socialized over snacks. After getting back to the house, we ate chicken wings and french bread for dinner. We had stopped at a petrol station on the way home and picked up tons of Swiss chocolate, so we ate more than anyone should in a year or so. Tyson and I stayed up with my uncle for a while chatting and learning from each other. Tyson went to bed and I stayed up doing some computor work.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
When Tyson and I were reunited after being seperated in the old city, I told him all the stories I could remember from the tour while we made our way back to Tel Aviv. The drive took about an hour. We stopped on the way for petrol which costs a whopping $2.20 USD a liter!!! That, the price of parking, plus the cost of insurance..not the best place to rent a car, I suppose. We found parking and laid by one of the most beautiful beaches with silky white sand and turquoise blue water. The cool water was refreshing for a swim and we watched a kids surfing lesson. We collected some beautiful rocks and shells along the sand and strolled along the seawall. Israel really has the best of both worlds with it's beautiful tropical beaches, amazing history, religiously important sites, hiking, scenery, modern technology and even a few minutes of snow per year.
We went shopping for some groceries in the city and spent most of the last of our shequals. We bought two 1.5 liter bottles of pop, two large cakes, pita bread, lunch meat, humus and jam. We then had to top up the gas at the airport station to make sure that the rental company would not charge us for filling it and then we returned the car. We spent the very last of our shequels on Mcflurries at an Israeli fast food place and the tip for the shuttle driver who took us to the airport. We arrived to the airport around 9:30 pm for our 4:50am flight. We sat on the internet, I slept some and before we knew it, it was 3:50 am and we had not checked in. Israel's security department, being one of the tightest security airports in the world, was not impressed. Of course they pulled us over for extra screening where they ripped all our stuff apart and even took apart our laptop. The supervisor told us we would be missing our flight for sure because they cannot do the security checks in ten minutes when our flight was leaving. After several nerve wracking minutes, she let us go through and we barely made our flight. I slept through the whole thing waking up for food only. We stopped over in Berlin where we saw Ozzy Ozborne and then finally made it to Zurich.
We got off the plane and waited for our baggage and then walked through the exit. There was no passport check or customs at all and as we walked I noticed my last name on a piece of paper. Since I was expecting family to pick us up, I was shocked. We gave him the benefit of the doubt though and went into his car with him. From Zurich to my uncle's place in Bern it took over an hour and we reached a new building that he had purchased and was repairing. We greeted each other and head to the family home atop a beautiful hill. We had lunch together of Persian food, cleaned up a bit and head back out for the afternoon.
Some interesting facts that I learned about the country is that, in a side street, the driver on the right side has the right of way. They have mandatory army service for boys, two years worth of time spaced out over several years but one can pay their way out of it. They only have basic education until grade nine and after that, only ten percent of children who attain the highest grades move on to high school and ten percent of those students move on to post secondary school. For most people, education after ninth grade is unattainable. The majority of the students enter the work field at this time and learn on the job. They are paid a small amount the first year, a bit more the second year and then a full wage by the third year at which time, they should know the work well. Also Switzerland is by far (about double) the most expensive country in the Europe. The minimum wage however allows one to take home nearly $5500 CAD per month which is well above other minimum wages.
In the afternoon my Uncle, Tyson and I walked along the beautiful lake that Bern is so famous for. We stopped by a coffee shop where we tried local delicassies and drinks. We met with my Aunt and we all went home. We met with my cousins one fifteen year old boy and one nineteen year old girl. That night my cousin, my aunt and I went to a ballet lesson. My cousin has been dancing since the age of four and my aunt has been practicing for ten years and it was my very first class so as you can imagine it was abit of a disaster. I completed (barely) one of the two hours of excersizes and the rest of the time I watched the performers in awe. The instructor's son is a very famous dancer from Broadway. We had a lot of fun and came home to eat tender barbequed lamb chops with rice. The boys went into the outdoor hot tub (heated with the energy in the air) and the girls all passed out.
The next morning we slept in by accident and went downtown with my aunt after a big breakfast. She activated a new phone for us and bought some minutes so we would not be stranded. We walked around downtown Bern which is very typical of what one may expect in the area. There is an older and newer part of the city and it is very beautiful. We saw the Parliament building and a very large beautiful chruch. The three of us went for a lovely lunch together where Tyson had tortellini and I had a parmesan salad. After lunch my aunt went to meet with her friend and Tyson and I shopped a bit, wandered the area and stopped by some travel agencies. We still have no idea where we are going, when or how to get there, but we did not get help today.
We met with my cousin and took the train into the Bahai Center. We met the Swiss Bahai community, wow. We participated in the feast and consultation and then socialized over snacks. After getting back to the house, we ate chicken wings and french bread for dinner. We had stopped at a petrol station on the way home and picked up tons of Swiss chocolate, so we ate more than anyone should in a year or so. Tyson and I stayed up with my uncle for a while chatting and learning from each other. Tyson went to bed and I stayed up doing some computor work.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
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