Galilee-Sunday

Day two began by us driving on a road that went directly through two old Syrian-Israel Boarders. The sides of the roads are lined with fences and signs warning of land mines. We were supprised to find out all the signs were completely legit and necessary as the acres of fields on the side of the road contain millions of land mines that have never been triggered.

Ian and me going to the edge (the signs says "Danger Mines! in case you can't read it)

We then continued on to the tell of Hazor- the biggest tell in all of Israel. Despite it's size, there wasn't anything that made it stick out from other tells and ruins we have seen, so I'm only posting one picture from it...it will give you a great idea of the overall historical feel of the place.

Yep, me and solider man, that's Hazor...

Onward to Dan...

Some of the ruins here were from the time of Abraham and there was an arch that Abraham may have even gone through. We spent some time cheking out the ruins of tell Dan and then got to explore some of the beautiful trails.
Liz and me hiding in what the sign tells us is the "Winnie the Poo" tree. Can you see it?
It was beautiful and calm

Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi where there were many places dedicated to pagan gods-
This is the giant cave of Pan, the Hellenistic god of fertility. It was here, in the midst of all the pegan influences, where Jesus asked Peter who he though he was (Matthew 16:13-20). Also, an interesting fact: it was here that Jesus said "on this rock I will build my church." Maybe he was using this place, this core of Hellenistic paganism, to say that he can take all the wrong and still build his kingdom on man’s mistakes, on this giant rock dedicated to another. I made them do it...but we licked one in Jerusalem, why not here too?
I'm not sure what this old building is, but I loved the colors and shape

I'm skiping telling you about a boring lookout and bringing you to the last stop of the day- A basalt valcano in the Golan Heights where we visisted an inactive military base from the wars against Syria and Lebanon. It was so cold at the top of the mountain and as the evening got later we were standing in the midst of clouds. Our view through the overcast sky was into Syria- the closest I'll get to that country in a long time. Dan, me and Jon jumping on the mountainThe sweetest sign ever! Kinda like the one in Portland but more legit...

and that is the end of day 2. yay, now off to write some reports and study for a test tomorrow. peace.

Galilee-Saturday

It all started one slightly sunny day in the grand city of Jerusalem. We were all up by 6am getting ready to leave on our longest field study yet to the Galilee. The prediction of rain put no damper on our excitement. First stop of the day Caesarea (not to be confused with Caesarea Philipi which comes later on in the trip). The ruins of Caesarea are right on the Mediterranean Sea. And though the sea is very beautiful, it held a very negative image for the people of the Bible. During our instruction time, Dr. Wright began by telling us to try to view and understand the sea in the way in which it was seen and understood by the people who lived long ago. The ocean was a place hated and feared by the Israelites who much preferred the shelter and stability of the dry hills. Psalm 107 talks about how the sea brings no peace. Revelation 21:1 talks about how there will be no sea in the new heaven and new earth, and Revelation also talks about how the Anti-Christ will come up out of the sea. A final example of the negativity associated with the sea is the story of Jonah and how he sought to escape the Lord and so hid in a place where there was supposedly no Lord and no peace. After hearing this, I still love the sea, but I will definitely read about it with new eyes as I try to understand the view of the people I am reading about.
Detailed capitals from the post New Testament period

There were a ton of fishermen on the shore of the sea
"Horse racing" in Caesarea's giant stadium

We then went to see the Caesarean Aqueducts and then on to Mt. Carmel. The place on Mt. Carmel that we stopped at overlooked the Jezreel Valley. This was the place where many Bible stories took place including a great deal of Elijah's life.

Everyone is orienting their maps to the horizon line.

Here is a paragraph from my field study report that talks about an interesting aspect of one of Elijah's story:

The story takes place in 1 Kings 19 where, after Elijah has been hiding from Jezebel for a long time and is at such a low place in his life that he wanted to die, God reveals himself to Elijah. The wind came, then an earthquake, then lightning- but God was not in any of these. Finally there was a still quite whisper. It was through the whisper that God chose to speak to Elijah. It is hard for us humans to understand why God wouldn’t show his power in a huge way and reveal himself through one of the very strong forces of nature. We must look at the culture and what is going on around Elijah religiously in order to make some sense of this. Baal was one of the prominent gods of this time and many Israelites were beginning to compromise over their beliefs in worshiping only one God by adding bits of paganism into their normal worship and engaging in idolatry. The god Baal was the god of the rains, the sky, and bringing about new growth. The wind, earthquake and lightning could all be seen as things under his domain and God did not want Elijah to think that he might actually be similar or simply anther part of Baal. He had to be, in no way, associated with a false god. God was showing that his very essence was completely different then this false god.

It started to rain on the Mt. and I was very unprepared so I wore my Geo-basics book to keep me dry...see Dr. Wright? It has so many more purposes then just teaching me about rocks!

We went on to see more ruins at Megido (and the armagedon valley). We discussed how this would not be the place of the final battle at the end of the earth as many people tend to think (thanks Left Behind). There is a very strong possibility that the final battle will actually happen in Jerusalem. Dr. Wright explained the reasoning behind this, but it is to hard to explain on this blog. It's super interesting though.

Our final stop was a great view from the Nazareth ridge. After more class time we headed to a lovely hostel in En Gev right on the Sea of Galilee where we would be staying the next 3 nights. We had a wonderful, all you could eat, dinner before falling into bed for much needed sleep.

Beit Jala School

Hey all! I just got back from my amazing Galilee trip last night and have begun the job of sorting through pictures. I'm embarrassed to admit I took a little over 1,1oo pics over the four day trip, so I have quite the task of sorting, deleting and editing (my goal is to get them down to 700). I'm working on that and a few papers right now, but I will blog the trip as soon as I can.

I did want to post this blog real quick as I was working on uploading it when I left but forgot to finish. These pictures are from a school I help teach at on Tuesdays.
The school is an extension of the American School of Jerusalem and was started when the separation wall went up between Jerusalem and the West Bank. The kids couldn't get to their school anymore, so another one was started in the city of Beit Jala, right next to Bethlehem. It's called the "American School" because it is mostly in English. Some of the kids are Christian, some Muslim, and some un-religious. On a side note, I was really excited to find out that they use a lot of the Abeka school curriculum from the States that I am super familiar with from my school days. It made it really easy to teach. My day entails arriving at 8:30 and teaching/overseeing first grade for the first couple periods while the head teacher, a lovely Palestinian woman, takes the kids out in little groups to read. I am more of an "overseer" and I spend a lot of time answering math and English questions with the occasional class game or group instruction. After a few breaks we do art. Tuesday is the only day we can do art because it is just to difficult for Lilly to do art with all the kids on her own. Last week I led PE instead of art while Lilly worked with a few of the struggling students. I definitely lost my voice from all the yelling- being heard above 23 extremely excited voices and getting them to follow instructions left me ready for a nap! But I love it, and as you might guess, Tuesdays are a highlight for me as I get to spend time with these beautiful children who can't help but capture your heart. Take a peek and smile...

Boys being boys-Malek, Ali, Simon, George, Bashar...enjoying break

Sweet Natasha and Taleen

Yazen and Ali kept playing a little game with me where they would pose just long enough for me to grab my camera and then run off and want me to chase them. What they didn't realize is that I had a zoom...

Some close ups...

Strong Taleen

Yazen was my biggest ham, he posed for me for several minutes (as opposed to seconds)... He is quite smart but always pretends he doesn't understand so he can ask me questions and get some one on one time. I'm on to his game... (-;

Zoyah is the trouble maker of the class but so smart!
To Andrew I give the title "stinker," he would only give me these goofy faces

Malek (I love this name! It means king) is one of the sweetest kids you will ever meet

This beauty is actually in second grade, but she was having lunch when we were and I only needed one look at her eyes before I begged for a photo- she happily obliged

Time to go back to class. Part of my kids make up the very first line

Olive Harvesting

This afternoon a bunch of us went to the Wright's (our school directors) church for a morning of olive picking in the church yard. We were pretty excited because how often do you get a chance to pick (and then pickle) olives in the US??? We felt pretty legit.
Liz and a lady from the church picking away. You just throw the olives on sheets on the ground and then pick them up when you are all done.

Way up in the tree picking away.Sweet olive tree

Some of our bounty...

Check out how dirty our hands got!

Domari- Gypsies

Today, Friday (Shabbat) Kaytlin, Alex, Erin and I went to the Domari Gypsy enrichment center for the empowerment of women (yeah, long name). This group of Gypsy people live in East Jerusalem and are not culturally accepted by either Arabs or Jews. Historically they originated in India but now live in little groups all over the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Traditionally the Gypsies were a nomadic people who lived in tents and traveled around practicing their different trades of art, music, and crafts. A generation or two ago, the Gypsies of Jerusalem still lived in tents but because it is very hard to make a living in their traditional fashion they have had to settle down and now live in low income housing and are trying to learn new ways to earn a living besides what has been passed down to them.
The purpose of the Domari center is to preserve the traditional Gypsy culture while encouraging them toward further education and helping them to improve their economic status. The center strives to do this by helping them make and sell their traditional crafts (bags, jewelery, scarves, etc.) as well as helping with learning English and homework. They also provide a safe community for the women and children to come and be accepted and celebrate their unique and different culture.

JUC students volunteer at the center when we can (some once a week, I'll be going every Friday now that Ramadan is over.) Today we started out by doing some clean up to the outside of the center so it would be all ready for more visitors.

We kinda filled the neighborhood dumpster with all the trash we picked up...hope tomorrow is pick up day (-:

Then we spent some time hanging out with the kids. Kaytlin and Alex did homework help while Erin and I did craft time and conversational English.

I got coloring duty with the two littlest cuties
*tickle, tickle, tickle, scream!*
Beautiful...and smart! This darling 6 year old recited the first three pages of her English homework to me instead of actually reading it...what can you say?
She got a little pouty when it was time for us to leave...

Dead Sea-Monday

Alright, this is the last post from last weekends field study (and this is my forth attempt at posting it because it kept getting deleted...so I'm hoping this will go through this time :-)

Well, after two intense "go-go-go" days, we were all rather tired physically, mentally, and emotionally and were looking forward to a day with a bit less lecturing and a bit more relaxing. Though we saw a bunch of stuff once again, it was a bit more low key- a good last day of study.

We started out by going to the famous Roman stronghold by the dead sea- Masada. The history of Masada is quite short. It was build in 20BC by Herod the Great as a palace, entertainment place, and fortress against revolts. It eventually was taken over by Jewish Zealots who camped there and used it as a base during their rades of Roman cities. Eventually Rome took it back and conquered it around 90 AD. There is a very well known story told by Josephus (the first century Jewish Roman historian) about how Masada fell and how all the Jews committed suicide before the Romans could make them their slaves. It is unlikely that this story actually happened as many of the details don't match up and it was probably told as a political move on Josephus part to show the Jews that he was still loyal to them even after adopting a Roman name and life. Either way, it was a huge incredible fortress that has interested many archaeologists and historians over the years.

The siege ramp leading up to Masada. It took about 10 minutes to quickly climb up, but a few guys wanted to break the JUC record and run up it (several made it in less then 3 minutes and would have broken the record if they had started at the right place- but one guy threw up several times afterwards...)
The view of the siege ramp and the Negev desert from the top
Teresa, Courtney, Peter, Ash, Kaytlin, me, Caitlyn, and Christina posing in an ancient on sight temple
Some of the store houses
close up of the store house ruins

view of the dead sea and a Roman encampment (the square in the dirt in the lower right side)

After about 3 hours of class and exploration time at Masada we went to the place I had been waiting for, well, for FOREVER- the dead sea!!!

Bre and me floating with utter excitement and awe. It was so cool!!!
Look, no hands or feet for me, Ash, or Kaytlin! This was such an incredible experience, but because the sea is 38% salt it starts to sting your skin and you really can't stay in for more then 20 minutes. The stings were very, very worth it though.

Our next stop was again a more restful one- the springs of En Gedi. This oasis, rich in green and brimming with water, was such a stark juxtaposition to the surrounding dry dessert and the completely dead (in the times of the Bible-worthless) sea. David lived here for a while as he was hiding from Saul and En Gedi is also mentioned in the Song of Songs.
The first waterfall we came to, the water was the most interesting teal color
The second one we came to we all decided we couldn't resist and all had to go swimming. I was a bit daring and took my camera down into the pool with me...but I got some great shots:

Jon reveling in the beauty of the water

We finished the day by heading to Qumran. Qumran is a place right on the edge of the dead sea and is the place where the dead sea scrolls were found. (The dead sea scrolls are the oldest found manuscripts of the Bible from before 100 AD- they are twice as old as the next oldest manuscripts!) We had class time in one of the rooms where the dead sea scrolls were copied and then we climbed up to one of the caves.


We then bussed back to our home in Jerusalem just in time for dinner, shower, laundry, and sleep. Next weekend's filed study- 4 days in Galilee!