I sit here on the AA flight 967 heading to Quito. We're about 35 minutes out from the airport. It's been a long day of travel. Mom and I left for Cincinnati at 9:30 this morning. I was thankful to get to spend some time with her as she's been in KY for 2 months and I've seen her for a total of less than 36 hours of it between my travel and her travel.The flight from Cincinnati was pretty painless, but it ended up being just what I needed. It's amazing how God chooses to speak to us. On the flight from Cincinnati to Miami, I decided to listen to my iPod some and a CD by Acoustix caught my eye. They're a barbershop quartet who have a good Christian album called O Worship the King. Just a few minutes before, it had hit me that I was about to be in another country to do an internship and teach. This is also my first time traveling out of the country without going with a group. I'll admit that I was freaking out a bit, especially about teaching. It's very intimidating and I feel rather inadequate. I'm mulling this all over while listening to the CD when the song "Fear Not My Child" came on. If you've never heard it, you should look it up. I'd heard it before, but never like this (and I've listened to this album a bunch of times). It came on right when I needed it. It also directed my thoughts to something E. Stanley Jones says in Christ of the Indian Road. He talks in there about how when he preached his first sermon, he got derailed very quickly after mispronouncing a word and making a college girl snicker. He realized then that God had not called him to be God's lawyer, but rather to be his witness. He talked about how God had always provided him with what to say as long as he sought what God wanted him to do. This is not an excuse to be lazy, but it does help me realize just how much I must rely on God and not myself. I just pray that God gives me wisdom and direction as I finish preparing to teach classes. This is easily the most intimidating thing I've ever had to do.
Update: It took me over an hour to get through Immigration and Customs because several flights were running late and all landed close together. Once I made it through Immigration, which was painless, I picked up my luggage and zipped right through Customs. It was the easiest time I've ever had going through Customs and Immigration. I think the fact that it was past midnight really helped things along. The Lamberts were waiting for me as I cleared customs. They were a welcome sight! We walked out to their car and made a beeline for the house. Dad had described the house to me, but he did not do it justice. It's absolutely beautiful. My room is the spear room. It has that name because there are spears on the walls. It's awesome! The big window looks right out onto Cayambe making for an incredible view. I crashed hard shortly after getting to the house, and that was the end of day one.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Israel Day 17: Modern Jerusalem
Here's my last impression report I have to write for the class. I still continue to do updates on the last few days here, but this is the last trip we took as a class.
Today was set aside as a day for us to mainly visit some of the more modern sites around Jerusalem. The day started with us spending several hours at Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem is a memorial and museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. I was unsure what to expect, but I was interested to see it. I’ve been to quite a few museums, and my least favorites are typically ones that mainly focus on history. History is just a subject that doesn’t interest me all that much. This museum was different.
Looking at the model of the place, the main hall doesn’t look terribly big. Dr. Rasmussen warned us that it would take a couple of hours to go through, but I was rather skeptical. The reason is that in most places such as this, I mainly look at the pictures and only read the signs that accompany the pictures that really catch my attention. I was unable to do that here. The stories told in the signs just draw you in. The most haunting aspect of many of the displays were the videos shown. Many of these videos were Holocaust survivors telling their stories. They were all so moving. It was like there was a magnet drawing me to many of these videos. Many of the people sharing in the videos were kids during this time. It was horrifying to hear them recount being lined up in front of pits with many others and then having soldiers shoot at them to murder them. Some of these kids were not actually hit but fell onto the piles of bodies anyway and were later to escape later. I cannot imagine what that must have been like. Nearly 90 minutes into my visit, I realized I’d seen less than half of the hall and I really had to hurry up and start rushing through. This is a place I really need to spend an entire day at to truly see and read everything.
This was one of the best, if not the best, museum I’ve ever seen in design. The exhibits and space add to the story being told without distracting you from it. I had no problem reading any of the exhibits as the light was never too low. It also had a very natural flow which kept people from really bumping into each other. I was just impressed with every component of the facility.
There were two places at Yad Vashem that really moved me. The first is the Hall of Names. It’s a large circular room with a deep pit in the center. Suspended above it is a large conical shaped piece that has hundreds of pictures on the inside of it. Around the perimeter of the room are probably thousands of boxes that contain the names and personal details of millions of victims recorded on Pages of Testimony (I had to look at their website to get it right). What struck was not the large number of records, but the vast number of shelves till empty. This is because they know that they have not recorded the details of all of the victims yet. They hope and expect to receive records on many more people.
The other place that really made me pause and reflect was the Children’s Memorial. This memorial is dedicated to the some 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. Entering the first part of the memorial, you see pictures of some of the children murdered set into a glass display. As you enter the main room which is very dark, you hear a voice reading the names, ages, and country of origin of many of the victims. All of the walls are mirrored and the reflect a candle in the very center of the room. These reflections make it appear as if there are thousands, if not millions, of candles in the room. This really brought home to me just how many children were murdered during the Holocaust.
While I had not known what to expect at Yad Vashem, it exceeded every expectation I could possibly have had. It was one of the most moving experiences of the trip for me.
After visiting Yad Vashem, we went to the Israel Museum for a little bit. The museum is undergoing extensive renovation which means that most of it is closed. The two main sections we wanted to see, however, were still open. The first is a 1:50 model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period. This model is positively amazing! During this time, Jerusalem had three different walls around it. I had studied maps and drawings of the layout, but it was fairly difficult for me to follow. Seeing these walls in “real life” made it much easier to understand the layout. I also had no idea that the Temple towered so high above the rest of the city. It was an amazing thing to see.
After looking at the model and discussing it, we moved to the Shrine of the Book. This is an exhibit dedicated to the Dead Sea Scrolls. They have some artifacts from Qumran as well as sections of various scrolls. They also have a life size reproduction of the complete Isaiah Scroll. The exhibit was impressive, and it was awesome to see documents that were that old. I think I would have enjoyed it more, however, if I could actually read and understand Hebrew or Aramaic. I’m not sure about this, but I suspect it would have made a difference.
We next drove to Shiloh to have lunch and see the antiquities site. The most interesting part of this location for me is that this is where the Tabernacle was located at one point. The only problem is that we don’t know for sure where the tabernacle was located. This is because the Romans later came in and built there as well. When the Romans built, they built on bedrock which means they destroyed whatever was beneath it. Because of this, there is not a lot of archaeological to help determine different buildings were located.
Our last stop of the day was at the Garden Tomb. This is a location I had looked forward to visiting. Stupidly though, I left my camera on the bus. Oh well, I got some postcards that have better photos on them than I would probably have taken. We first viewed a possible location for Golgotha. I actually had already seen this as you can get a good view of it from several different locations just outside the Old City or on top of the ramparts of the walls of the Old City. We then wandered through the gardens with the tour guide until we came to the tomb. It was an impressive sight to see. This really caused many of us to ponder if this tomb or one very close by was the burial place of Jesus. Our tour guide made the comment that the actual location doesn’t really matter to him because the tomb is not what we should be concerned with. We should focus on the fact that all we can do is look at various empty tombs because Jesus is alive! He made a very good point. It still didn’t answer my question about whether or not this was likely place though. I talked to Dr. Richter about it and she said that very few scholars believe this is the correct location. Many still believe the true location is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Regardless of whether or not the Garden Tomb is the true site, it is still a good visual of what the tomb may have originally looked like. Visiting the Garden Tomb was a great way to end our day of study and travel.
This day also ended this class except for the final exam we have tomorrow afternoon. This is a bittersweet moment for me. Part of me wants this class to go on much longer, but I’m also totally worn out. I’ve spent the past three weeks trying to drink from a fire hose, and my brain is overloaded. I now need time to unpack everything I’ve learned and seen on this trip. The good thing is that while the class is almost over, the trip is not. We will have almost three full days to rest, shop, explore, and revisit locations in Jerusalem that interest us. This means I’ll have the chance to eat more food in the Old City. Most of us went out to eat tonight to thank Dr and Mrs. Rasmussen, Dr. and Mrs. Wright, and Cyndi Parker for all of their hard work for this class as well as just to celebrate the end of the class. If the other food I find in the Old City is half as good as this, I’ll be a happy camper!
Today was set aside as a day for us to mainly visit some of the more modern sites around Jerusalem. The day started with us spending several hours at Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem is a memorial and museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. I was unsure what to expect, but I was interested to see it. I’ve been to quite a few museums, and my least favorites are typically ones that mainly focus on history. History is just a subject that doesn’t interest me all that much. This museum was different.
Looking at the model of the place, the main hall doesn’t look terribly big. Dr. Rasmussen warned us that it would take a couple of hours to go through, but I was rather skeptical. The reason is that in most places such as this, I mainly look at the pictures and only read the signs that accompany the pictures that really catch my attention. I was unable to do that here. The stories told in the signs just draw you in. The most haunting aspect of many of the displays were the videos shown. Many of these videos were Holocaust survivors telling their stories. They were all so moving. It was like there was a magnet drawing me to many of these videos. Many of the people sharing in the videos were kids during this time. It was horrifying to hear them recount being lined up in front of pits with many others and then having soldiers shoot at them to murder them. Some of these kids were not actually hit but fell onto the piles of bodies anyway and were later to escape later. I cannot imagine what that must have been like. Nearly 90 minutes into my visit, I realized I’d seen less than half of the hall and I really had to hurry up and start rushing through. This is a place I really need to spend an entire day at to truly see and read everything.
This was one of the best, if not the best, museum I’ve ever seen in design. The exhibits and space add to the story being told without distracting you from it. I had no problem reading any of the exhibits as the light was never too low. It also had a very natural flow which kept people from really bumping into each other. I was just impressed with every component of the facility.
There were two places at Yad Vashem that really moved me. The first is the Hall of Names. It’s a large circular room with a deep pit in the center. Suspended above it is a large conical shaped piece that has hundreds of pictures on the inside of it. Around the perimeter of the room are probably thousands of boxes that contain the names and personal details of millions of victims recorded on Pages of Testimony (I had to look at their website to get it right). What struck was not the large number of records, but the vast number of shelves till empty. This is because they know that they have not recorded the details of all of the victims yet. They hope and expect to receive records on many more people.
The other place that really made me pause and reflect was the Children’s Memorial. This memorial is dedicated to the some 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. Entering the first part of the memorial, you see pictures of some of the children murdered set into a glass display. As you enter the main room which is very dark, you hear a voice reading the names, ages, and country of origin of many of the victims. All of the walls are mirrored and the reflect a candle in the very center of the room. These reflections make it appear as if there are thousands, if not millions, of candles in the room. This really brought home to me just how many children were murdered during the Holocaust.
While I had not known what to expect at Yad Vashem, it exceeded every expectation I could possibly have had. It was one of the most moving experiences of the trip for me.
After visiting Yad Vashem, we went to the Israel Museum for a little bit. The museum is undergoing extensive renovation which means that most of it is closed. The two main sections we wanted to see, however, were still open. The first is a 1:50 model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period. This model is positively amazing! During this time, Jerusalem had three different walls around it. I had studied maps and drawings of the layout, but it was fairly difficult for me to follow. Seeing these walls in “real life” made it much easier to understand the layout. I also had no idea that the Temple towered so high above the rest of the city. It was an amazing thing to see.
After looking at the model and discussing it, we moved to the Shrine of the Book. This is an exhibit dedicated to the Dead Sea Scrolls. They have some artifacts from Qumran as well as sections of various scrolls. They also have a life size reproduction of the complete Isaiah Scroll. The exhibit was impressive, and it was awesome to see documents that were that old. I think I would have enjoyed it more, however, if I could actually read and understand Hebrew or Aramaic. I’m not sure about this, but I suspect it would have made a difference.
We next drove to Shiloh to have lunch and see the antiquities site. The most interesting part of this location for me is that this is where the Tabernacle was located at one point. The only problem is that we don’t know for sure where the tabernacle was located. This is because the Romans later came in and built there as well. When the Romans built, they built on bedrock which means they destroyed whatever was beneath it. Because of this, there is not a lot of archaeological to help determine different buildings were located.
Our last stop of the day was at the Garden Tomb. This is a location I had looked forward to visiting. Stupidly though, I left my camera on the bus. Oh well, I got some postcards that have better photos on them than I would probably have taken. We first viewed a possible location for Golgotha. I actually had already seen this as you can get a good view of it from several different locations just outside the Old City or on top of the ramparts of the walls of the Old City. We then wandered through the gardens with the tour guide until we came to the tomb. It was an impressive sight to see. This really caused many of us to ponder if this tomb or one very close by was the burial place of Jesus. Our tour guide made the comment that the actual location doesn’t really matter to him because the tomb is not what we should be concerned with. We should focus on the fact that all we can do is look at various empty tombs because Jesus is alive! He made a very good point. It still didn’t answer my question about whether or not this was likely place though. I talked to Dr. Richter about it and she said that very few scholars believe this is the correct location. Many still believe the true location is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Regardless of whether or not the Garden Tomb is the true site, it is still a good visual of what the tomb may have originally looked like. Visiting the Garden Tomb was a great way to end our day of study and travel.
This day also ended this class except for the final exam we have tomorrow afternoon. This is a bittersweet moment for me. Part of me wants this class to go on much longer, but I’m also totally worn out. I’ve spent the past three weeks trying to drink from a fire hose, and my brain is overloaded. I now need time to unpack everything I’ve learned and seen on this trip. The good thing is that while the class is almost over, the trip is not. We will have almost three full days to rest, shop, explore, and revisit locations in Jerusalem that interest us. This means I’ll have the chance to eat more food in the Old City. Most of us went out to eat tonight to thank Dr and Mrs. Rasmussen, Dr. and Mrs. Wright, and Cyndi Parker for all of their hard work for this class as well as just to celebrate the end of the class. If the other food I find in the Old City is half as good as this, I’ll be a happy camper!
Israel Day 16: Sepphoris, Nazareth, En Harod, Beth Shean/Sycthopolis
After we all had breakfast and had loaded up the bus, we took off to Sepphoris. This is an antiquities site that I didn’t know anything about. But, we had been told that there were some great mosaics there, so I was looking forward to that. As we entered the antiquities site, we started walking down a Roman road that actually dates back to Roman times. The stones were basically all worn smooth, but the road was still pretty bumpy because it was still made of individual stones. You could see deep ruts worn into some of them. Some of us pondered what it would have been like to ride a chariot down that road. My only thought is that as much as I’d like to drive a chariot, riding it down that road would be murder on your knees.
The mosaics were indeed as beautiful as they had been described. I thought I had seen some good mosaics before coming to Israel, but they’re nothing compared to the ones I’ve seen all over this country. Some of the ones I’ve seen at Sepphoris are the most intricate I’ve seen anywhere. I tried to take pictures of them, but no photo did them justice. The best part is that two of them have building built of them that have AC to help preserve them. I was a big fan of these two locations!
Next we stopped at an overlook that is above Nazareth. Nazareth has a ring of hills around it forming a kind of bowl shaped valley in the middle. While the city is fairly large and is up and over the sides of some of the hills, Biblical Nazareth was quite a bit smaller. It’s thought that it probably rested towards the bottom of the bowl where it was more protected. The down side to this is that no cool breeze probably blew through there. Rather, the breeze would have blown above it. It was interesting to see what all was near Nazareth as well as the probable location for the ancient site, but it really wasn’t too impressive to me because of the big city around it. It just didn’t seem like the little village I’ve always imagined.
For lunch, we stopped at En Harod. This is the probable location of where Gideon and his army drank from the spring. This is also where God pared down Gideon’s army to just 300 men. In my mind, this spring was going to be pretty large. I imagined it to be like some of the big springs we have in Florida. I should have learned at this point that most sites here are smaller than I imagined. This spring was no exception. I had trouble picturing so many men drinking from the spring. Dr. Stone shared with us some about Gideon and his battle against the Middianites. Standing where Gideon stood and looking at where they would have had to march to brings a whole new appreciation for this event. Seeing it in its larger context really helped me to picture just how tough these men would have had to be, and just how much they would have needed to depend on God.
Beth Shean was our last stop of the Galilee Field Study. What was interesting to me about this site is that you have an Iron Age Israelite site at the top of the tel. Lower down is an Early Bronze age site that would go back to the fifth or fourth millennium BC, and below that a Greco Roman site. On top of all of this, there’s one place you can stand at the Iron Age site where you can see the other two sites below and a McDonalds in the distance. That’s a huge swath of human history right there!
By the time we left this antiquities site, I was actually ready to get back to JUC. It fealt like I had been away from home for a very long time. Our time in the Galilee region was a great deal of fun, but it was also extremely tiring.
The mosaics were indeed as beautiful as they had been described. I thought I had seen some good mosaics before coming to Israel, but they’re nothing compared to the ones I’ve seen all over this country. Some of the ones I’ve seen at Sepphoris are the most intricate I’ve seen anywhere. I tried to take pictures of them, but no photo did them justice. The best part is that two of them have building built of them that have AC to help preserve them. I was a big fan of these two locations!
Next we stopped at an overlook that is above Nazareth. Nazareth has a ring of hills around it forming a kind of bowl shaped valley in the middle. While the city is fairly large and is up and over the sides of some of the hills, Biblical Nazareth was quite a bit smaller. It’s thought that it probably rested towards the bottom of the bowl where it was more protected. The down side to this is that no cool breeze probably blew through there. Rather, the breeze would have blown above it. It was interesting to see what all was near Nazareth as well as the probable location for the ancient site, but it really wasn’t too impressive to me because of the big city around it. It just didn’t seem like the little village I’ve always imagined.
For lunch, we stopped at En Harod. This is the probable location of where Gideon and his army drank from the spring. This is also where God pared down Gideon’s army to just 300 men. In my mind, this spring was going to be pretty large. I imagined it to be like some of the big springs we have in Florida. I should have learned at this point that most sites here are smaller than I imagined. This spring was no exception. I had trouble picturing so many men drinking from the spring. Dr. Stone shared with us some about Gideon and his battle against the Middianites. Standing where Gideon stood and looking at where they would have had to march to brings a whole new appreciation for this event. Seeing it in its larger context really helped me to picture just how tough these men would have had to be, and just how much they would have needed to depend on God.
Beth Shean was our last stop of the Galilee Field Study. What was interesting to me about this site is that you have an Iron Age Israelite site at the top of the tel. Lower down is an Early Bronze age site that would go back to the fifth or fourth millennium BC, and below that a Greco Roman site. On top of all of this, there’s one place you can stand at the Iron Age site where you can see the other two sites below and a McDonalds in the distance. That’s a huge swath of human history right there!
By the time we left this antiquities site, I was actually ready to get back to JUC. It fealt like I had been away from home for a very long time. Our time in the Galilee region was a great deal of fun, but it was also extremely tiring.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Israel Day 15: Boat Ride, Visiting the Jesus Boat, Churches, Rock Hyrax, and Arbel!
Here's my impression report for yesterday. It was quite an eventful day!
The first stop of the day was the one I was the most excited about for the whole Galilee trip. The prospect of a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee just sounded like so much fun! I’ll even admit that I was secretly hoping that a storm would suddenly blow in so we could experience a taste of what the disciples felt. Then we were told that storms have caused waves as high as ten meters on the Sea of Galilee. I can live without experiencing waves that high on a body of water that small!
Yar! A photo of the inside of our sturdy seafaring vessel.
The boat ride was indeed a blast, and the boat was actually bigger and nicer than I expected. The highlight of the boat ride for me was when one of the men from the crew demonstrated the use of a castnet. The net he used was similar to what would have been used in the first century, but it was made out of different material. Instead of being made of rope for the net and stones for the weights, it was made of nylon for the net and metal weights. It was still interesting though.
A deckhand demonstrates how to throw a cast net
The location we docked at is the home of the Jesus Boat. This is a boat that was discovered less than 30 years ago. It seems to be from the first century, and is remarkably intact. This is the kind of boat that Jesus and the disciples would have used on the Sea of Galilee. My only disappointment in the exhibit was that they didn’t spend much time discussing how they preserved the boat. It soaked in a pool of chemicals for years, but I really wanted to know what kinds of chemicals. This is something I’ll have to look up later. The way the boat was displayed was absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed the way they used sandblasted pieces of glass cut in wavy patterns to mimic water. The blue lighting really enhanced the effect. It was a very creative and well done exhibit. I just wish I had thought to bring a tripod on this trip just so that I could have gotten a decent picture of the boat and exhibit. Oh well, live and learn.
The Jesus Boat. I had to use a flash so the picture is very washed out. The actual exhibit is much, much prettier
Next on the agenda was a visit to two different churches. This is really what I needed at this point in the trip. We first went to a church that celebrates the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The church was one of the most peaceful I’ve ever visited. The church had some beautiful mosaics that were a joy to view. It was a great place just to spend a few minutes in prayer.
Theo courtyard outside the church. The pond below the olive tree has a bunch of koi in it!
We then moved on to the church that commemorates (and claims to be the location of) Jesus giving the Beatitudes. The sisters there had reserved us a location where we were able to have a short worship service. We sang a few songs, and then McKenzie shared with us a few thoughts on the Beatitudes and visiting the Holy Land in general. We were then given 45 minutes to wander around the grounds of the church as well as the church itself. This came when I needed it most. This trip is very intensive and tiring, and the focus is mainly on academics. Even though we get a handful of free days or afternoons, we have to spend most of them studying for our exams and doing map work. The 45 minutes we had at this location gave me a time when all we had to do was enjoy the gardens and spend time in prayer and contemplation. Up until this point, I had been getting more and more worn out and the trip was starting to be a chore rather than a joy. This little bit of time given to us helped me to refocus my priorities for the rest of the trip. I only wish we had gotten a chance to experience this sooner.
Just one photo of the beautiful gardens at this church.
The best part about the visit to Chorazim was that there were a bunch of rock hyraxes there. I’ll take a moment to admit that I have no idea what the plural of hyrax is. Anywho, there were a bunch of them and I was able to not only see them in the wild but also get a few pictures of them. This was incredibly exciting for me because the one animal I really wanted to see in Israel was a rock hyrax. Not only did I see one of them, I got to see a bunch. They were everywhere!
Isn't this a cute rock hyrax?
The last stop of the day was the cliffs of Arbel. We had tried to stop here on our first day, but we were just late enough getting there that we weren’t able to see it then. We hiked over to the top of one of the cliffs to discuss what we could see and to admire the view. I say we walked over because we were already nearly to the top of the cliff when we parked the bus. The hike the rest of the way to the top was short and the ascent was minimal. Then we were given the option to walk back to the bus or to take an hour long hike.
I opted for the hike. I was smart enough to take two liters of water with me. This ended up being a very good thing, even though it made my backpack heavier than I would have liked. The hike down was fairly steep with us having to climb down small metal rungs at times. Part of me kept thinking that this was crazy. Thankfully, I continued on. By the time we finished our descent, I had already torn through liter number one of water and was wishing I had brought three liters with me instead of just two. It didn’t help that it was 40°C (104°F). If I had known it was this hot, I might have opted to go back to the bus rather than hike. Thankfully, there was a bit of somewhat flat ground to walk on for a while, which was a nice break from climbing down. There were all kinds of caves that Jewish men hid in at one point when they were defying Herod. They were pretty interesting to see. Finally we came to the point where we needed to start climbing back up the cliff.
Arbel is lots of fun. Really!
This was the part I had been dreading. Initially, we had a fairly steep hike up that was longer than I expected. Then we came to the point where hiking up a nice trail was no longer really an option. It was time to start climbing back up the cliff. Thankfully, the park service is kind enough to put in big metal rungs and cables that you can hang onto and step on (in the case of the rungs that is). If the climb had been much steeper or if those rungs hadn’t been there, I would have been looking for a harness and climbing rope. Overall, the climb back up wasn’t too terrible. At least it wouldn’t have been if it hadn’t been so hot outside. By the time I made it back to the bus, I had consumed all the water I had and was wishing we hadn’t already used up the rest of the water on the bus. I was very thankful to get back to En Gev and get more water.
The capstone to the whole day was getting back to the resort at En Gev earlier than we expected. This was great because it meant we had time to change into our swimsuits and go swimming in the Sea of Galilee for a while before supper. After hiking in 104°F temperatures, swimming in the cool, calm water of the Sea of Galilee felt amazing. I had initially planned to go swimming again after supper, but the post-Arbel swim was so wonderful that swimming again would have just been disappointing.
The final event of the day was a worship service on the shore of the Sea of Galilee that Dr. Richter had put together. Dr. Stone and Laurie White took turns leading us in some songs. In between these, several people shared testimonies of how God is working in their lives, or epiphanies and insights God had given them during this trip. It was a great time of worship and praise, and really helped to sum up our trip thus far. I walked away from that service thinking that if we had ended the trip right then and there, I would feel like this trip had been worth it. Everything else to come is just icing on the cake.
This picture was taken the day before. It's just too pretty not to use
The first stop of the day was the one I was the most excited about for the whole Galilee trip. The prospect of a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee just sounded like so much fun! I’ll even admit that I was secretly hoping that a storm would suddenly blow in so we could experience a taste of what the disciples felt. Then we were told that storms have caused waves as high as ten meters on the Sea of Galilee. I can live without experiencing waves that high on a body of water that small!
Yar! A photo of the inside of our sturdy seafaring vessel.
A deckhand demonstrates how to throw a cast netThe location we docked at is the home of the Jesus Boat. This is a boat that was discovered less than 30 years ago. It seems to be from the first century, and is remarkably intact. This is the kind of boat that Jesus and the disciples would have used on the Sea of Galilee. My only disappointment in the exhibit was that they didn’t spend much time discussing how they preserved the boat. It soaked in a pool of chemicals for years, but I really wanted to know what kinds of chemicals. This is something I’ll have to look up later. The way the boat was displayed was absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed the way they used sandblasted pieces of glass cut in wavy patterns to mimic water. The blue lighting really enhanced the effect. It was a very creative and well done exhibit. I just wish I had thought to bring a tripod on this trip just so that I could have gotten a decent picture of the boat and exhibit. Oh well, live and learn.
The Jesus Boat. I had to use a flash so the picture is very washed out. The actual exhibit is much, much prettier
Next on the agenda was a visit to two different churches. This is really what I needed at this point in the trip. We first went to a church that celebrates the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000. The church was one of the most peaceful I’ve ever visited. The church had some beautiful mosaics that were a joy to view. It was a great place just to spend a few minutes in prayer.
Theo courtyard outside the church. The pond below the olive tree has a bunch of koi in it!We then moved on to the church that commemorates (and claims to be the location of) Jesus giving the Beatitudes. The sisters there had reserved us a location where we were able to have a short worship service. We sang a few songs, and then McKenzie shared with us a few thoughts on the Beatitudes and visiting the Holy Land in general. We were then given 45 minutes to wander around the grounds of the church as well as the church itself. This came when I needed it most. This trip is very intensive and tiring, and the focus is mainly on academics. Even though we get a handful of free days or afternoons, we have to spend most of them studying for our exams and doing map work. The 45 minutes we had at this location gave me a time when all we had to do was enjoy the gardens and spend time in prayer and contemplation. Up until this point, I had been getting more and more worn out and the trip was starting to be a chore rather than a joy. This little bit of time given to us helped me to refocus my priorities for the rest of the trip. I only wish we had gotten a chance to experience this sooner.
Just one photo of the beautiful gardens at this church.The best part about the visit to Chorazim was that there were a bunch of rock hyraxes there. I’ll take a moment to admit that I have no idea what the plural of hyrax is. Anywho, there were a bunch of them and I was able to not only see them in the wild but also get a few pictures of them. This was incredibly exciting for me because the one animal I really wanted to see in Israel was a rock hyrax. Not only did I see one of them, I got to see a bunch. They were everywhere!
Isn't this a cute rock hyrax?The last stop of the day was the cliffs of Arbel. We had tried to stop here on our first day, but we were just late enough getting there that we weren’t able to see it then. We hiked over to the top of one of the cliffs to discuss what we could see and to admire the view. I say we walked over because we were already nearly to the top of the cliff when we parked the bus. The hike the rest of the way to the top was short and the ascent was minimal. Then we were given the option to walk back to the bus or to take an hour long hike.
I opted for the hike. I was smart enough to take two liters of water with me. This ended up being a very good thing, even though it made my backpack heavier than I would have liked. The hike down was fairly steep with us having to climb down small metal rungs at times. Part of me kept thinking that this was crazy. Thankfully, I continued on. By the time we finished our descent, I had already torn through liter number one of water and was wishing I had brought three liters with me instead of just two. It didn’t help that it was 40°C (104°F). If I had known it was this hot, I might have opted to go back to the bus rather than hike. Thankfully, there was a bit of somewhat flat ground to walk on for a while, which was a nice break from climbing down. There were all kinds of caves that Jewish men hid in at one point when they were defying Herod. They were pretty interesting to see. Finally we came to the point where we needed to start climbing back up the cliff.
Arbel is lots of fun. Really!This was the part I had been dreading. Initially, we had a fairly steep hike up that was longer than I expected. Then we came to the point where hiking up a nice trail was no longer really an option. It was time to start climbing back up the cliff. Thankfully, the park service is kind enough to put in big metal rungs and cables that you can hang onto and step on (in the case of the rungs that is). If the climb had been much steeper or if those rungs hadn’t been there, I would have been looking for a harness and climbing rope. Overall, the climb back up wasn’t too terrible. At least it wouldn’t have been if it hadn’t been so hot outside. By the time I made it back to the bus, I had consumed all the water I had and was wishing we hadn’t already used up the rest of the water on the bus. I was very thankful to get back to En Gev and get more water.
The capstone to the whole day was getting back to the resort at En Gev earlier than we expected. This was great because it meant we had time to change into our swimsuits and go swimming in the Sea of Galilee for a while before supper. After hiking in 104°F temperatures, swimming in the cool, calm water of the Sea of Galilee felt amazing. I had initially planned to go swimming again after supper, but the post-Arbel swim was so wonderful that swimming again would have just been disappointing.
The final event of the day was a worship service on the shore of the Sea of Galilee that Dr. Richter had put together. Dr. Stone and Laurie White took turns leading us in some songs. In between these, several people shared testimonies of how God is working in their lives, or epiphanies and insights God had given them during this trip. It was a great time of worship and praise, and really helped to sum up our trip thus far. I walked away from that service thinking that if we had ended the trip right then and there, I would feel like this trip had been worth it. Everything else to come is just icing on the cake.
This picture was taken the day before. It's just too pretty not to useMonday, June 28, 2010
Israel Day 14: Hazor, Dan, and the Golan Heights
I don't really feel like posting pictures tonight. I might come back and add them later. But here's the impression report.
Today we started off the day heading to Hazor. This was a location I had heard a lot of people talk about, but I didn’t know much about it. One interesting thing about it is that it is a very large tel (mound) which means it was probably a very large city. The tel is over 200 acres. This is huge, especially when compared to places like Jericho which is only seven acres. There were two things I found interesting there.
The first is that Hazor is currently an active dig site. There were people doing excavations while we were walking around. This was interesting especially because we got to talk with someone who has excavated there for several seasons now. Honestly though, my main initial impression was that it’s another antiquities site that has had some reconstruction done to it, but it’s till an antiquities site. There were a few interesting things there, but overall, it’s already run together in my mind with most of the other tels I’ve been to.
The second interesting thing that happened there for me was that I spotted a rough tailed agama while Dr. Rasmussen was talking about something (I think it was a storehouse). I lifted up my camera and managed to get one shot of it before I was yelled at for taking a picture while he was lecturing. To be perfectly honest, I was really annoyed by that. Agamas are not terribly common lizards to see when there are so many people around. Compound that with the fact that the rough tail agama only occurs in part of Israel—a part I’m only in for a few days—and the agama had my sole attention. The tel has been there for thousands of years and it will probably continue to be around for many more. That agama will not be. That means to this point, I’ve seen ibex, two different frog species whose pictures I need to check against a field guide to be sure what they are, several bird species (mainly pigeons and doves though), a spider I have yet to identify because the only field guide for it I’ve seen so far was in Hebrew, and a lizard I only saw the tail of so I’m not sure what it is. I was hoping to see more wildlife here. I guess I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed!
One of our next stops was Tel Dan and the nature preserve there. The nature preserve was absolutely beautiful. I wish we had been able to spend more time walking through a few of the trails to hopefully see the wildlife instead of rushing through it all to get to the antiquities site. I recognize that the antiquities sites are important, and there was some fascinating stuff there, but there’s really something to be said for enjoying God’s creation. Man’s creation is interesting, but I find God’s far more magnificent. That’s why I’m so glad to be able to spend some time here sitting on the shore of the sea of Galilee watching the water and sky and listening to the waves lap against the shore.
The main part of the antiquities component of Tel Dan that I found interesting was listening to Dr. Richter talk about site B which she and Dr. Stone, along with some students from Asbury, helped excavate. The most fascinating part of her talk was when she was talking about the Muslim graves they excavated as part of that site. The anthropologist that worked with them there was able to estimate the ages of the people buried there fairly accurately. Not only that, but the anthropologist was able to determine things like how well they ate and how hard they would have worked by closely examining the skeletons. This makes the site more real because it gives it a face (well, skull really) and some form of an identity. It made the site more human to me.
Visiting Qasrin was an interesting site because of all the reconstruction done. We got to go in a reconstructed house to see how a family might have lived several thousand years ago. The most moving part of this was listening to Dr. Richter talk about how in a given family, everyone would have known everyone else’s business because they all lived in such close quarters. Not only that, but everyone in the community knew everyone else’s business. Isaiah uses an analogy at one point of a women in labor who is losing all of her strength and cannot birth a child. In this situation at that time, that was a death sentence for both mother and child. Dr. Richter went on to talk about how when a woman first went into labor, the whole community would be aware of what was happening because of her cries and the activity of the family. As she started to lose her strength the community would realize this and they would know when she died. When this happened, this was not a loss just for the family, but for the entire community. This was absolutely heartbreaking, and it served to put make Isaiah’s analogy become more real. This passage came alive to me like it never had before.
At the tail end of the day, we stopped by Bethsaida to have a quick look around. This site was interesting mainly because what we visited is called et-Tell. The reason for this is that we’re not sure that this is the location of Bethsaida. It seems to be a good candidate, but it’s anything but certain. It showed me just how difficult it can be to be certain of the physical location of a place mentioned in the Bible. Names change over time, and as this happens, some names get lost to history. Bethsaida is one of those sites.
Overall, today was a good day that allowed me to see more of God’s beautiful creation. It’s really helped me to feel more of a connection to events in the Bible and the locations at which they took place.
Today we started off the day heading to Hazor. This was a location I had heard a lot of people talk about, but I didn’t know much about it. One interesting thing about it is that it is a very large tel (mound) which means it was probably a very large city. The tel is over 200 acres. This is huge, especially when compared to places like Jericho which is only seven acres. There were two things I found interesting there.
The first is that Hazor is currently an active dig site. There were people doing excavations while we were walking around. This was interesting especially because we got to talk with someone who has excavated there for several seasons now. Honestly though, my main initial impression was that it’s another antiquities site that has had some reconstruction done to it, but it’s till an antiquities site. There were a few interesting things there, but overall, it’s already run together in my mind with most of the other tels I’ve been to.
The second interesting thing that happened there for me was that I spotted a rough tailed agama while Dr. Rasmussen was talking about something (I think it was a storehouse). I lifted up my camera and managed to get one shot of it before I was yelled at for taking a picture while he was lecturing. To be perfectly honest, I was really annoyed by that. Agamas are not terribly common lizards to see when there are so many people around. Compound that with the fact that the rough tail agama only occurs in part of Israel—a part I’m only in for a few days—and the agama had my sole attention. The tel has been there for thousands of years and it will probably continue to be around for many more. That agama will not be. That means to this point, I’ve seen ibex, two different frog species whose pictures I need to check against a field guide to be sure what they are, several bird species (mainly pigeons and doves though), a spider I have yet to identify because the only field guide for it I’ve seen so far was in Hebrew, and a lizard I only saw the tail of so I’m not sure what it is. I was hoping to see more wildlife here. I guess I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed!
One of our next stops was Tel Dan and the nature preserve there. The nature preserve was absolutely beautiful. I wish we had been able to spend more time walking through a few of the trails to hopefully see the wildlife instead of rushing through it all to get to the antiquities site. I recognize that the antiquities sites are important, and there was some fascinating stuff there, but there’s really something to be said for enjoying God’s creation. Man’s creation is interesting, but I find God’s far more magnificent. That’s why I’m so glad to be able to spend some time here sitting on the shore of the sea of Galilee watching the water and sky and listening to the waves lap against the shore.
The main part of the antiquities component of Tel Dan that I found interesting was listening to Dr. Richter talk about site B which she and Dr. Stone, along with some students from Asbury, helped excavate. The most fascinating part of her talk was when she was talking about the Muslim graves they excavated as part of that site. The anthropologist that worked with them there was able to estimate the ages of the people buried there fairly accurately. Not only that, but the anthropologist was able to determine things like how well they ate and how hard they would have worked by closely examining the skeletons. This makes the site more real because it gives it a face (well, skull really) and some form of an identity. It made the site more human to me.
Visiting Qasrin was an interesting site because of all the reconstruction done. We got to go in a reconstructed house to see how a family might have lived several thousand years ago. The most moving part of this was listening to Dr. Richter talk about how in a given family, everyone would have known everyone else’s business because they all lived in such close quarters. Not only that, but everyone in the community knew everyone else’s business. Isaiah uses an analogy at one point of a women in labor who is losing all of her strength and cannot birth a child. In this situation at that time, that was a death sentence for both mother and child. Dr. Richter went on to talk about how when a woman first went into labor, the whole community would be aware of what was happening because of her cries and the activity of the family. As she started to lose her strength the community would realize this and they would know when she died. When this happened, this was not a loss just for the family, but for the entire community. This was absolutely heartbreaking, and it served to put make Isaiah’s analogy become more real. This passage came alive to me like it never had before.
At the tail end of the day, we stopped by Bethsaida to have a quick look around. This site was interesting mainly because what we visited is called et-Tell. The reason for this is that we’re not sure that this is the location of Bethsaida. It seems to be a good candidate, but it’s anything but certain. It showed me just how difficult it can be to be certain of the physical location of a place mentioned in the Bible. Names change over time, and as this happens, some names get lost to history. Bethsaida is one of those sites.
Overall, today was a good day that allowed me to see more of God’s beautiful creation. It’s really helped me to feel more of a connection to events in the Bible and the locations at which they took place.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Israel Day 13: Caesarea, Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, and the Sea of Galilee
After spending so much time in Central and South Israel, I was looking forward to see the Northern part of Israel. I was especially excited to see the Sea of Galilee. I’ll even admit that I was a little bit bummed that we would be visiting other locations first.
I was unsure of what to expect with Caesarea. I knew it was an important sea port in its day and is mentioned in the Bible some, but I didn’t really know anything about it. I’ll even admit that the prospect of yet another antiquities site with a bunch of ruins that mostly look like other ruins was not appealing to me because I’m not an archaeologist and I’ve never taken an archaeology class. Caesarea was a welcome change from the expected. Like Masada, it’s had a great deal of reconstruction work done on some sections. This allowed me to get a better idea of what it looked like back in the first century. Even better, they had some excellent marble statues as well as other architectural pieces on display. I’ve been lucky enough to see some marble statues in art museums, but it was another experience entirely to see different statues in a context that is starting to approach the context of where they would have originally been displayed. It’s still not the same, but it brings the appreciation to a whole new level.
A marble statue of a man with a lamb around his neck
The major highlight for me there was walking around the kurkar rocks that made the foundation for the lower part of the palace as well as the swimming pool. The best part of it was that the Mediterranean Sea was splashing up onto the rocks filling the remnants of the swimming pool as well as creating all sorts of tidal pools in the eroded rocks.
There were small fishes, arthropods, and even one nice size dead crab in one pool. Granted, the crab was indeed dead, but at least I got to see some Mediterranean Sea critters up close and personal. Even if one of them—the crab—won’t remember it.
A view of the Jezreel Valley as seen from the top of Mt. Carmel
This monastery is located at the top of Mount Carmel and is located at the traditional place of Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal. The first thing I noticed is that Mount Camel isn’t as tall in real life as it is in my mind. If we had not been able to take the bus up there but rather walk it instead, I’m sure I would have a slightly different opinion of this. But still, I expected it to be much taller than it is. The second thing I noticed is that you can see most of the Jezreel valley from up there. The topographical maps I have show this, but it’s far more dramatic in real life. It was quite impressive. Seeing the location of this even really makes it more real to me. The story just seemed to come alive to me when I was up there. Other sites have helped me have a better appreciation for the events that took place on or near there, but this one was really dramatic for me. Having read the full Biblical account ahead of time probably didn’t hurt either.
Driving down the road, we stopped for a moment so Dr. Rasmussen could point out to us a well preserved rolling stone grave. We didn't get out of a bus, but here's a picture I took
We visited Megiddo. The main highlight there for me was seeing an actual manger that would be similar to what Mary would have laid Jesus in. I've included a picture for those who are curious...
After a failed attempt to visit Arbel (the park had already closed by the time we got there) we went ahead and drove over to Tiberius. Tiberius is one of the cities located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They have a nice overlook that gives a great view of most of the Sea and it also happens to be almost directly across the Sea of Galilee from where we’re staying at night. This allowed us to get a brief preview of the resort at En Gev at which we would be staying. The first thing that really struck me about the Sea of Galilee is just how small it is. I knew it wasn’t huge, but it’s still smaller than I had anticipated. A more appropriate name for it is probably the Lake of Galilee, but I’m no expert on that.
The Sea of Galilee as seen from an overlook at Tiberius
The resort we are staying at in En Gev was the biggest surprise of the day for me. Dr. Rasmussen had told us that it was a nice location on the Sea of Galilee, but his brief description did not do it justice. The bungalow Jeremy, Sam, and I are staying in is as close to the shore as you can get here.
My bungalow at En Gev. Good old number 104!
It’s a 30 second walk from our door to the water. Even better, the resort faces west which means we saw the sun setting over the Sea of Galilee. To top it off, towards the end of the sunset, some of us went swimming so we we’re swimming in the Sea of Galilee watching the sun slowly drop below the mountains on the other side. It was the most amazing sight I’ve seen yet in Israel. As I sit here writing this, I’m sitting just above the beach listening to the waves lap at the shore staring off into the lights of Tiberius on the other side. I feel like I could stay here forever. I’m so glad we get to spend three nights here!
Sunset over the Sea of Galilee
I was unsure of what to expect with Caesarea. I knew it was an important sea port in its day and is mentioned in the Bible some, but I didn’t really know anything about it. I’ll even admit that the prospect of yet another antiquities site with a bunch of ruins that mostly look like other ruins was not appealing to me because I’m not an archaeologist and I’ve never taken an archaeology class. Caesarea was a welcome change from the expected. Like Masada, it’s had a great deal of reconstruction work done on some sections. This allowed me to get a better idea of what it looked like back in the first century. Even better, they had some excellent marble statues as well as other architectural pieces on display. I’ve been lucky enough to see some marble statues in art museums, but it was another experience entirely to see different statues in a context that is starting to approach the context of where they would have originally been displayed. It’s still not the same, but it brings the appreciation to a whole new level.
A marble statue of a man with a lamb around his neck
There were small fishes, arthropods, and even one nice size dead crab in one pool. Granted, the crab was indeed dead, but at least I got to see some Mediterranean Sea critters up close and personal. Even if one of them—the crab—won’t remember it.
Me and a dead crab
First thing in the morning on the way to Caesarea, we had a worship service on the bus with Dr. Stone leading us in some songs. After the music, several of the students did a dramatic reading of 1 Kings 18 which is the story of Elijah having a showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. After the reading, Dr. Richter shared a few thoughts on the passage. The reason for picking this passage is that our next stop after the aqueducts was the Muraqa Sanctuary and Monastery.Next we mosied over to the aqueducts. This was far more exciting for me than I ever would have expected. I’ve seen lots of pictures of aqueducts, but this was my first time to experience them up close and personal. The best part was that we were even allowed to climb on top of them! As I was walking down, the thought that kept popping into my mind was that people would have constructed these by hand. They’re an impressive feat of engineering. The only down side to walking along the top of them was that at some point I had to climb back down. It didn’t occur to me that I’d probably have to jump down the last six feet since down climbing them would seem pretty difficult. In retrospect, down climbing probably would have been the better option. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
A view of the Jezreel Valley as seen from the top of Mt. Carmel
Driving down the road, we stopped for a moment so Dr. Rasmussen could point out to us a well preserved rolling stone grave. We didn't get out of a bus, but here's a picture I took
We visited Megiddo. The main highlight there for me was seeing an actual manger that would be similar to what Mary would have laid Jesus in. I've included a picture for those who are curious...
After a failed attempt to visit Arbel (the park had already closed by the time we got there) we went ahead and drove over to Tiberius. Tiberius is one of the cities located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They have a nice overlook that gives a great view of most of the Sea and it also happens to be almost directly across the Sea of Galilee from where we’re staying at night. This allowed us to get a brief preview of the resort at En Gev at which we would be staying. The first thing that really struck me about the Sea of Galilee is just how small it is. I knew it wasn’t huge, but it’s still smaller than I had anticipated. A more appropriate name for it is probably the Lake of Galilee, but I’m no expert on that.
The Sea of Galilee as seen from an overlook at Tiberius
My bungalow at En Gev. Good old number 104!
It’s a 30 second walk from our door to the water. Even better, the resort faces west which means we saw the sun setting over the Sea of Galilee. To top it off, towards the end of the sunset, some of us went swimming so we we’re swimming in the Sea of Galilee watching the sun slowly drop below the mountains on the other side. It was the most amazing sight I’ve seen yet in Israel. As I sit here writing this, I’m sitting just above the beach listening to the waves lap at the shore staring off into the lights of Tiberius on the other side. I feel like I could stay here forever. I’m so glad we get to spend three nights here!
Sunset over the Sea of Galilee
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Israel Day 11 and 12: Free day, studying, test, homework, and free time!
Yesterday (Friday) was a free day for our class, which means it's time to study for the test the next morning. Before studying though, we got to go on a field trip that Dr. Richter had arranged for us. I'm not quite sure who initiated it, but we were invited to Hebrew Union College to go on a private tour of the Skirball Museum. When I inquired the day before what was at the museum, Dr. Richter replied, "Old stuff!" That's good enough for me, so off we went to the Skirball Museum.
Either we're getting a bit more used to walking up and down hills, or the walk was not as bad as expected because we arrived 20 minutes early.
The Museum did indeed contain lots of old stuff. They had quite a few artifacts (mainly potter) from Tel Dan, Tel Gezer, and Tel Aroer. I was excited to see some real pottery up close and personal. At almost every antiquities site we've been too, we've seen scads of pottery shards, but alas no full pottery pieces. Whatever little museums may be attached to the sites typically have only contained reproductions. It was awesome to see so many jars, vessels, and other pieces made out of pottery. They even had a bathtub and a pottery sarcophagus! The best part was that we could touch just about everything. The professor who led our tour commented that it was all just rock and fired pottery. The only way we could really damage any of it is if we smashed it.
The tour of the Skirball museum was Skirballrific, but it wasn't long before studying for the upcoming test became a priority. It's hard to believe that it was only on Monday that I was sitting down to take a test. I'd love to say studying was fun, but it's still studying so...
A group of us had planned to take a study break after supper (I know, supper is also a study break) and head to the Wailing Wall to see what it was like just before the beginning of Shabbat. We had been told it was worth the time to go see all of the people gathering to worship, pray, and celebrate the beginning of Shabbat. We made it there about 7:45 (45 minutes or so before sundown) and it was pretty packed. There was a heavy military presence, but many of them seemed to be there to also celebrate. We made our way over to the wall that separates the rest of the area from the Western Wall to watch what was going on. We stopped at the women's side first because we heard a lot of singing. Groups of women were standing in circles dancing and singing very jubilantly. It sounded beautiful and was an awesome sight to watch. After a few minutes, we wandered over to the men's side to watch the happenings. Two guys were being carried around on shoulders and the rest of the activity closely mirrored what was happening on the other side. It was like one big worship party!
Two things I found really fascinating were watching what the men were wearing, and watching the teenagers and young adults. There was a wide range in the clothing the men wore from jeans and t-shirts to suits and hats to even fancier clothes. Some guys looked like they were wearing black silk bathrobes. I joked that I needed a field guide to understand what different outfits mean. Really though, it's not totally a joke. I think I need to do some more reading on modern Judaism.
The young people were really interesting to watch. It seemed that they were at a major social event. In reality, they were. After all, many of us find church to be a social event. It was just surprising to see "kids" who were 18 and 19 standing there in clothing that is fairly western, but with semi-automatic weapons slung over one shoulder.
After a trip to the Western Wall, it was time to mosey back to JUC and get back to studying. After class and our test today, I did a little bit of homework, took a nap, and then went to the Old City with Joel Bonner to wander around and buy some snacks for our next trip. We each got a variety of dried fruit and enjoyed looking in the various shops. It's so cool to only be a 10 minute walk (if I'm taking my time) from the Old City. It'll be nice to have a lot of next weekend to shop and explore it some more.
Either we're getting a bit more used to walking up and down hills, or the walk was not as bad as expected because we arrived 20 minutes early.
The Museum did indeed contain lots of old stuff. They had quite a few artifacts (mainly potter) from Tel Dan, Tel Gezer, and Tel Aroer. I was excited to see some real pottery up close and personal. At almost every antiquities site we've been too, we've seen scads of pottery shards, but alas no full pottery pieces. Whatever little museums may be attached to the sites typically have only contained reproductions. It was awesome to see so many jars, vessels, and other pieces made out of pottery. They even had a bathtub and a pottery sarcophagus! The best part was that we could touch just about everything. The professor who led our tour commented that it was all just rock and fired pottery. The only way we could really damage any of it is if we smashed it.
The tour of the Skirball museum was Skirballrific, but it wasn't long before studying for the upcoming test became a priority. It's hard to believe that it was only on Monday that I was sitting down to take a test. I'd love to say studying was fun, but it's still studying so...
A group of us had planned to take a study break after supper (I know, supper is also a study break) and head to the Wailing Wall to see what it was like just before the beginning of Shabbat. We had been told it was worth the time to go see all of the people gathering to worship, pray, and celebrate the beginning of Shabbat. We made it there about 7:45 (45 minutes or so before sundown) and it was pretty packed. There was a heavy military presence, but many of them seemed to be there to also celebrate. We made our way over to the wall that separates the rest of the area from the Western Wall to watch what was going on. We stopped at the women's side first because we heard a lot of singing. Groups of women were standing in circles dancing and singing very jubilantly. It sounded beautiful and was an awesome sight to watch. After a few minutes, we wandered over to the men's side to watch the happenings. Two guys were being carried around on shoulders and the rest of the activity closely mirrored what was happening on the other side. It was like one big worship party!
Two things I found really fascinating were watching what the men were wearing, and watching the teenagers and young adults. There was a wide range in the clothing the men wore from jeans and t-shirts to suits and hats to even fancier clothes. Some guys looked like they were wearing black silk bathrobes. I joked that I needed a field guide to understand what different outfits mean. Really though, it's not totally a joke. I think I need to do some more reading on modern Judaism.
The young people were really interesting to watch. It seemed that they were at a major social event. In reality, they were. After all, many of us find church to be a social event. It was just surprising to see "kids" who were 18 and 19 standing there in clothing that is fairly western, but with semi-automatic weapons slung over one shoulder.
After a trip to the Western Wall, it was time to mosey back to JUC and get back to studying. After class and our test today, I did a little bit of homework, took a nap, and then went to the Old City with Joel Bonner to wander around and buy some snacks for our next trip. We each got a variety of dried fruit and enjoyed looking in the various shops. It's so cool to only be a 10 minute walk (if I'm taking my time) from the Old City. It'll be nice to have a lot of next weekend to shop and explore it some more.
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