The crazy day of May 26

This is the same day, but from Allens view.

"We hiked from below Jerusalem to Jericho, which took about 4 hours. Not a long hike (downhill almost the whole way), but really hot and dry. It is very extreme conditions to say the least. We arrived just above Jericho at one of Herod the Great's palace's, where the bus was going to pick us up. The bus wasn't there.

Lin called the bus driver and asked where he was but he said he wouldn't come up to meet us where we were. We didn't understand what was going on but decided we might as well walk the 2 kilometers down the road with the group to meet the bus instead of waiting. Turns out that the road was being paved (which the driver could communicate in his broken English and our lack of Hebrew and Arabic).

Once we arrived at the bus, after passing the fresh tarmac which was about 200 degrees, we found out that the bus was broken down. There was a little shop where everyone got drinks and snacks as we waited, out of the sun.

After about 30 minutes of waiting the bus got started (just needed a jump in the end), and we proceeded to the old city of Jericho (an archeological site with walls, a tower and some buildings from at least 8000 years ago). Jericho is supposedly the oldest continually inhabited city in the world.

By this time Christina (Steve's wife), who had started feeling sick when we were waiting for the bus to start, was not doing well. We assumed she was really dehydrated and we decided to send her back to Jerusalem in a taxi with Lin and Steve so she could get to a clinic. The rest of us got on the bus and started on or way back to Jerusalem.

Within 5 minutes we got stopped at a Palestinian Authority checkpoint and waited there for over 20 minutes. I am still not sure what that was about but the bus driver had to speak with about 4 separate people before they let him go.

By this time there were a few others in our group that were starting to feel sick...all we could think of was that the hike had really dehydrated people. It had been so hot and we figured some people hadn't brought enough water (even though we had stressed the importance of having several litres each).

We got on our way from Jericho after the Palestinian Authority let the bus driver go. One or two people threw up on the bus (in garbage cans or plastic bags), but we were getting close to home which was a relief. We passed through an Israeli checkpoint coming into Jerusalem and the bus pulled over to the side. I asked the driver what was going on...the bus was overheating!

A few of the sick got off the bus to get some fresh air as we waited. I asked the bus driver what was the plan and he said another bus was coming to pick us up. No timeline, but it sounded like things were being organized quickly.

A few other people started feeling sick and the number of yella participants stepping off the bus to get fresh air increased. Two of the guys said that they had diarrhea and had to find a bathroom right away. I went with them about 500 meters back down the road towards the checkpoint trying not to alarm the heavily armed soldiers who I knew wouldn't appreciate three guys walking down the road the wrong way towards a security checkpoint.

"What are you doing?" said the first soldiers I came to, with a pretty stern voice and holding his automatic rifle a little tighter...

I explained that our bus was broken down and that we needed to find a bathroom. He was helpful and pointed us in the right direction, and mentioned that there was water there as well. We had to explain this to two other sets of soldiers before we got to the bathroom, but within a minute or two, the two sick young men were on the can.

I walked back and forth about 3 or 4 times filling up water bottles for people in the group, each time I went back to the bus there were more people sick. I asked the bus driver how much longer and he said 10 minutes.

By this time the bus was fine, but the driver was not. The driver was incapable of continuing the trip as he was sick as a dog as well. There were about 8 of the group, including the bus driver that were sick by this point!

After about 30 -40 minutes a taxi showed up and the bus drivers swapped, and within 5 minutes we were dropped off at Lion's gate (the entrance into the old city that is closest to where we are staying, a convent called Ecce Homo).

Those of us who were feeling fine went straight to dinner, which had just started. By this point it was 7 pm. Food was great, but we were a little worried about all the dehydrated people. Within an hour a few more people dropped of and threw up. "Okay, what the is going on here. This is crazy. There is no way that everyone is dehydrated."

Steve and Christina got back from the clinic within an hour or two and gave us an update. She was dehydrated after loosing a lot of fluids. The cause?: a bacterial infection of some sort.

Brendon couldn't stand all the racket of fluids in the boys dorm and so came by to ask if he could spend the night on the extra bed that Lin and I had in our room. I left for 5 minutes only to get an update that he had vomited all over our floor...This was getting ridiculous.

Then Hannah got sick. I knew that she was not dehydrated so I figured by this point that we were dealing with some type of food poisoning.

I knew there was an American Doctor staying at Ecce Homo with us, so I tracked him down and asked if he would be willing to help us out. Dr. Robert Stall and I went into the the dorms and visited each one who was sick. It was awful. As we went through the dorms you could hear participants vomiting.

His recommendation in the end was that we get everyone who was sick to a clinic/hospital to get checked out.

At this point there were 11 people sick (not including Christina who had already been to a clinic and back) so we hired a van and hauled off to the Hadassah Medical Center, a hospital on mount Skopus. Lin, Dr. Rob, and I took a taxi to the hospital. After a bit of chaos getting everyone admitted (Sean laying sick on the floor, Charles vomiting into a bag in the lobby etc...) we soon had 11 patients being treated and tested. It was now about 10pm. Things we under control...

A few minutes later I got a call that Kara was on her way, she was sick. 13 down. Linford and I drew straws and he took Kara's taxi back to the old city since we realized that we both didn't need to be there.

By about 1:00am 10 of our group were released, and went home with Dr. Rob. What a day. But it was not over yet..

I was looking forward to having the last two participants released. It was about 1:30 (I have been going to bed at about 10pm here, so this was getting late).

Just as the first group was on their way back to Ecce Homo, Lin called to let me know that the last two boys were on their way to the hospital - same symptoms. Christina was still terribly ill, so she was going to come to the hospital as well. 15 down. I joked with Lin that it was only a matter of time until we got sick.

By this time, I was exhausted. I was beginning to crash...it had been a long day. That is when it hit me. I was not going to make it. I thought that I was in the clear...it was almost 2:00, I had just checked on Pader and Willms who were fast asleep getting their last installment of saline, when I felt it. It was a harmless wave of warmth that washed over me...but I knew I was a goner. Within 3 minutes I was on the toilet. Less than 5 minutes after that I was vomiting. I lost. I had fought bravely....but I was defeated. 16 down. 16 of 23 in our group got sick.

By 2:00am the final shipment of sick came via taxi from the old city. I helped Pader and Josh check out, and order a taxi to get us back home.

By 2:45 we were back. It had been a long night and I was ready for bed."