On the terrace just now, having my coffee. 8AM.!!

Last evening was very interesting, gang.

The lecture was about recent archeological updates on John the Baptist’s cave. Unfortunately, I was very tired from my trip and had been up since 5AM .

But the more interesting part—

After I had checked in (and posted photos of my unexpectedly huge suite to my blog!), I checked in at the conference room, got my badge and the printed materials for the conference.

Then I introduced myself to Dr. James Tabor! Finally. Yay!

We all had a 2-hr break for dinner before the conference actually got started. James Tabor walked with me to the hotel restaurant and we chatted like we’d known each other forever, but then he was meeting with 2 men who were already at the bar.

I somehow managed to start chatting with a group who were sitting at a round hightop table (they were wearing their badges, so I knew they were part of the conference).

Long story short, they left their table and, taking their drinks with them, sat down at a much larger table so that we could all have dinner together!

If you’re new to the blog — I have struggled my entire life with borderline autism. This makes it extremely difficult for me to feel comfortable around strangers (and that is putting it mildly, trust me).

But while having dinner with these 5 strangers — all around my age or a little older; 1 man from Texas; a married couple from Washington State; a married couple from Georgia. I suddenly realized that I felt totally, completely comfortable with them. I was at ease and we were all chatting about things like the Historical Jesus, the James ossuary, the Talpiot tombs.

It was such an incredible feeling — to feel how relaxed I was! That never happens to me, gang.

Normally, I put up a totally artificial barrier where strangers think I’m friendly but in reality I’m extremely tense and can’t wait to get away. I have been like this my entire life. Creating strategies for how best to survive being around strangers.

It was just such a beautiful feeling. After 66 years… I think that’s a large part of why I slept so great last night.

Okay. I’m gonna go get breakfast. The conference starts at 10AM.

I hope you’re having a great Saturday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting! See ya later, gators!!🥰☕️🍳🧇🥐