Splashes of life around Jeru

"Jer-uuuu" (make the "ou" sound go for as long as you like) is what we have all somehow begun to call our beloved town. Our time here is quickly coming to an end which has thrown everyone into a weird warp speed. There are so many papers to write, places still to see, friends to get together with, souvenirs to buy, pictures to take, and food to try.
Here are a few pictures from around town last week. I'm trying hard to see this country, not through the eyes of one who has gotten used to all the amazing cultural differences, but through the eyes I had when I first got here.

Darling little Jewish boy, no more then 3 or 4, all ready to go in his little Kippa (Jewish male head covering) and tzitzit (tassels of his prayer shawl that are hanging out of the back of his shirt).

A soldier just chilling in the Jewish square with piles and piles of guns out in the open...

Ash, Kaytlin, and me in front of the "Wall of Remembrance" at the Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial and museum). We spent only four hours at this place but I could have easily spent another four! The museum was very well done and broke your hear while fascinating you at the same time. As we were leaving, I stopped to contemplate for a second and pray that there would never be another holocaust and mass genocide for anyone, when I was struck with the fact that the evils that I had just been educated about were happening right now in Africa and other places in the world. Made me wonder if one day my children would be going through a massive museum to the African genocides or if mankind will fight back before more blood is shed...

On the way home from a trip to the market, I stopped to get some night shots right outside the old city walls. The traffic was busy, the moon shone brightly, and I felt so blessed to be here.
The Palestinian Heritage center is actually in Bethlehem. Kaytlin and I stopped here on our way home from Arabic. This is a model of the way the Palestinian Bedouin used to live.Also in Bethlehem...can you read the street name? Yasser Arafat!!! (-:

Well, that's all for now. I just got back from the country of Jordan at the beginning of this week and will post the pictures from that trip very soon.

Stretchy Ice Cream

Remember a looong time ago, when I mentioned getting stretchy ice cream? Several of you wanted a few more details...and, finally, they are here! These pictures are from a day in early October, but they got lost in all my "ruins" pictures and I finally remembered them.

Israel can be so funny. (Kaytlin and I say "T double I" meaning "this is israel" whenever there is no explanation for the culturally funny and/or just plain weird thing we experience here.) This whole post is very "T double I"

Kaytlin, Ashleigh, and I went to Ramallah, the capital of Palestine, for the afternoon to seek out two "must sees" and to meet up with some friends. Our first stop: Rukab's Stretchy Ice Cream.

The ice cream actually stretches! It's so weird. We asked how they made it and they said it had to do with the way they mixed the ice cream...I think there is a bit more to it then that though. We've heard rumors of a secret family recipe...

The Ice cream tasted pretty good but would be pretty average without the stretch

We then went on to the funniest cafe ever, hold your breath in utter excitement and then see below...

Yes, you are seeing this correctly...
They were so sad because it was closed )-: There are no actual Starbucks in Israel...only this one little "Stars and Bucks cafe." Apparently they even sell mock mugs and tee shirts. We are hoping to got back and actually get to try their coffee...

Random mural that I liked in Ramallah that we saw on our way home.

We ended the evening with Shabatt dinner. Me, Ash, and Josh laughing cuz we're being tickled

The boys did this whole "creepy suave" night for Shabatt where they all had mustaches and acted super strangely...Trey, Brandon, Jon , and Dan

God and a mental hospital

I went to a mental hospital today... I know, I know, many of you are thinking to yourselves that it is about time, but I've already heard that joke from my school mates today, so save your breath! (-: Let me fill you in on how I have been seeing God work these past few days...

Wow! God has already answered the prayers I feel people praying for me regarding more opportunities to minister. Thanks so much to those of you who have been praying. I got to connect with two single women missionaries over in Bethlehem on Thursday. Not only was it great to hear their stories, but they were able to offer a lot of encouragement and hook me up with names of some orphanages, a refugee camp, and a women’s mental hospital- all located in Bethlehem. The orphanages are what I am most excited about!!! Today Kaytlin and I went with them to the mental hospital. We spent time with some of the older (think 80's), terminally mentally ill women. Though the place was very clean, it was pretty depressing. The room we were in had 10 beds all lined up and the women were just laying in them doing nothing. They were pretty happy to see us. Two of them actually talked to us in English, though a lot of what they said didn't makes sense. A few more of the women babbled in Arabic. We had no idea what they were saying. The lady I was "talking" with told me (with the nurses help) that she was 85 and had been ever since her family left her there and went to America- 15 years! We sang to the women and they seemed to like that. We hope to go back and maybe paint their nails and wash their feet (we figured they would get a kick out of colored nails!)

Kaytlin and I were talking on the way home about how we both really felt God was reminding us that though these women are old, mentally handicapped, and have been thrown away by society; because they were created in the image of God, they are beautiful. God sees them as beautiful and worthy and deserving of much love. Though, from a human perspective, it can seem pointless, we are called to love these women, honor them, and treat them with the dignity they deserve. Even if we can't understand the point of spending time with them, we really need no other reason to do so besides the fact that God created them. (Since when do we only care for those who can give us something back or who our society considers worthy?!) I am continuing to pray, not simply for compassion towards these women, but for a deep and genuine love for them.

I am going to an Arab church in Bethlehem tomorrow with Lilly, the lady I assistant teach with at the Beit Jala school. Kaytlin and I are hoping to check out one of the orphanages on the way home. It's a pity that I am making all these connections (I've met 7 different missionaries in Bethlehem now) right when my time here at JUC is getting busy and coming to an end. I have to trust that God knows what he wants to do with me during this last month that I am here.

God gave us the most beautiful sunset to enjoy on our way home through the check point. In the bottom of the picture is the seperation wall and the city of Bethlehem.

Galilee-Tuesday

Alright, last post of our field study last week is finally done! I'm now almost caught up with blogging!

On our final morning in Galilee I got up really early while it was still dark to watch the sunrise and spend some with Jesus on the sea where he spent a lot of time as a man. It was super overcast, so I didn't see much of a sunrise, but the sea was still beautiful and time with the Lord was good as I flipped through Luke and read all the stories that happened at or on the sea of Galilee.

This last filed study had a similar theme running through out our different stops- mosaics. We began by looking at an old mosaic floor of a synagogue in the place called Zipori/Siphoris. It was beautifully done and preserved well. Some interesting aspects of this mosaic is the zodiac in the middle of the different Bible stories portrayed on the floor. There are actually 7 different Zodiacs that have been found in synagogues all over Galilee. Some say this is simply a religious symbol of the time but no churches of this time have had any kind of zodiac in them. It is assumed that this is when the Jewish community began to become accommodating towards people of other religions and accepted some of their different influences, including keeping up with the styles and having zodiacs in their places of holy worship. The synagogue that had these mosaics not only had pagan symbols but also were committing what their fathers would consider idolatry as they had pictures of people and animals all throughout their decorations. In this particular floor there is also four woman constructed in the four corners of the mosaic that represent the four seasons. This was a huge step to not only an image of a person but a woman in their synagogue. This particular floor also has what looks like an image of Helios, the Greek god of the sun. The zodiac

We also saw many more mosaics at this sight in some other building including what is known as "the Mona Lisa of Galilee."

We stopped at Jezreel for a few minutes (Ashleigh and Kaytlin above), but because of the rain we continued on to Beth Alfa where we saw more mosaics and saw an interesting movie on the hiring and making of the beautiful floors.

We concluded our day at the most amazing ruins sight of the entire trip- Bet Shan/Scythopolis. It was fun to see a place with more "modern" ruins (from the time of Christ-early AD) that are modeled after the grand structures of Rome.

The amazing theater

Columns were everywhere

We climbed the Bet Shan Tell to see the view of Scythopolis below. It is hard to tell how big this place is but the giant theater is in the far back left corner if that gives you an idea.
The sun set as we began our journey back to Jerusalem. This filed study was our final one in Israel. Only two more trips to go- in two weeks: Jordan!

Blood Diamonds

This isn’t really Israel related, more some personal thoughts which I know I don’t normally post on my blog but felt like sharing tonight...
I just watched the movie Blood Diamond, maybe some of you have seen it? Besides the fact that it is super intense (definitely not for kids) and really heart breaking, it reminded me of all that I want to do with my life. The movie takes place in Sierra Leon where there was/is a great amount of diamonds mined and harvested at the expense of peoples lives. The movie follows several people: a man forced into the slavery of searching for diamonds, a little boy- brainwashed, forced to kill, and turned into a child solider, and a family- ripped apart by the corruption of the country- becoming simply one more name in the refugee camps. It would have felt a lot better if I could have told myself in all the intense, heart breaking scenes that this was just a movie, but I couldn’t lie. In fact, I did just the opposite throughout those two long hours. I kept saying to myself, "You know this is real! You’ve at least gotten a taste of the poverty and orphans and corruption when you went to Africa before. You’ve read so many books on the slavery that is going on in the world, yet there is so much more evil and wrong happening behind closed doors and in the middle of the jungles that you don’t have a clue about. What are you, Naomi, going to do about all this? What does God want you to do" That’s what I've been talking to God about tonight...

It’s hard having to leave the Middle East in a month and go back to studying full time in the US when all I really want is to go out and help people, impact their lives, and give them true, life changing hope. I know that can be done wherever you are, but my heart is with these broken, abandoned, brutalized, hurting slaves. I really really really want to make a difference in this world, and more specifically, among the refuge camps and the slaves. I do not want be tied down by money, status, or other complications a life of luxury in America throws my way.
Either I’m supposed to be learning patience and faithfulness right now, at this place in my life, or...there is something else I haven’t figure out yet.

Ok, well these are a few of my many thoughts of tonight, but I would love to encourage you all to research and discover a bit more about the slave trade going on in the world today. Thought it is hard to know, UNICEF estimates conservatively that there are 300,000 child soldiers in the world right now. And on a larger scale, statistics estimate that there are 27,000,000 total slaves in our world today. These are big, overwhelming numbers- but I have to keep reminding myself that behind each of those numbers is a face, a story, and a person that needs to know true love.
Well I’m off to bed, but I love you family and friends, and thanks for reading about the people who are on my heart. Oh, and one last thing: just for the record, when any of you decides to purchase a diamond, please, please tell your jeweler that you will only buy certified "conflict free diamonds." Diamonds may be "forever", but life is worth so much more...

Galilee-Monday

Day three began with one of my favorites moments of the entire trip- a boat ride on the sea of Galilee. The weather was perfect, the lighting amazing, and the colors bright and pure. We spent some time just cruising around taking in the feel of the sea.

It was stormy and at times started to sprinkle, but we were undercover and so the rain just made it feel all the more realistic and moody.

One of the guys who took us out gave us a demonstration of how the cast net is used. He threw it out over the water a few times and them drew it back in being careful not to tangle the net weights on the end of the net. We discussed the fishing in the sea now and back in the time of Jesus. There are apparently 18 different types of kosher fish in the sea along with several kinds that are not kosher. Someday I hope to return and fish in the sea.

Our next stop along the sea was Kursi, the place where the demon possessed men were healed when Jesus sent their evil spirits into the heard of pigs that were nearby. Kursi has some ruins and an old temple to the pigs.

We then went to a very interesting Talmudic city called Qasrin. Talmudic is the Jewish description of the city while Byzantine is the Christian description. We spend an extended amount of time in an insula, a house that is a box of rooms. We talked about the different elements in the house and how they may have related to Jesus during his time. Dr. Wright spoke of the Christmas story and how it is probably wrong when it says that Mary and Joseph went to an inn and were refused residence. What most likely happened was that Mary and Joseph actually went to stay with distant family and were probably not refused a place to stay but refused a place in the traklin (the common room where guests slept) and instead were given a place in the stable, or back room to stay as it would be more private and conducive to a pregnant woman. Kind of put a different spin on my picture of Jesus' birth.

Random column at some of the synagogue ruins of Qasrin.

The next stop was Capurnum where we saw the church built over the possible residence of Peter, his mother-in-law, and maybe Jesus. We also got to explore some ancient synagogue ruins. It poured the hardest I had ever seen when we first arrived and we all got soaked!

A modern little Russian church in Capurnum as seen through the rain stained window of the church built over Peter's house.

We took a quick stop at the Jordan river-it was kinda dirty and not nearly as impressive as I had imagined.

Kaytlin is "baptizing" me...

...and then I baptized her.

Our final stop was a beautiful climb down the Arbel cliffs. The view from above was breathtaking as we saw for miles and even got a glimpse of a beautiful rainbow. We then hiked, climbed, ran, and slid down the cliffs to the bottom of the mountain. It was a great end to a busy informative day. Ash and me-I love my roommate! and what a view!

Part of the cliff.

Layers- a puddle, a cliff, a city, and the sky beyond.

The colors and lighting were unreal!

See the tiny people climbing down? Don't worry, we had some hand rails to hold onto.

Palestinian Basketball

Halloween night I got to do something a bit different then your typical costume party- I got to go to a semi-pro basketball game in Bethlehem! Kaytlin, Ashleigh, Matt and I decided to skip out on our school's costume party/dinner (though, from the photos, it seems we missed out on some crazy funny times) to go see our friend Jarred play in his championship game. Jarred is with a group called Athletes in Action and has been living in Bethlehem and playing in the Palestinian semi-pro league this past year. Before Palestine he played in Russia and is hoping to go play in Australia next year. Jarred takes one class at my school, JUC, which is how we all met.
Kaytlin, Ashleigh, Jarred, Paul (also is with AIA though plays on a different team then Jarred), me, and Matt

It was Bethlehem against Ivda'd (a refugee camp, I was told) for the championship. The crowd was SO loud and intense. Apparently, the game before there was a big fight involving the fans going onto the floor and punching, but we didn't get to experience any of that for our game.

These little guys wanted me to take their picture too! They were fans for the other team and so when I tried to take a few pics of Jarred they would put their hands in front of my camera...very competitive! (-:

At the start of half time I went as close as I could get to the court while still being behind the railing to try to get some good shots. The first two rows that were on the other side of the railing were for the mayors, government people, and the heads of the league. One of the older men saw me taking pics and told me to hop the fence and come sit with him. He ended up being the head of the league and let me sit in the front row the rest of the game. It was awesome! I even got a complementary drink! (which I politely refused three times and then the man just picked one out and gave it to me!)

Jarred is by far the best player on the team and made a lot of points!

We ended up loosing by two point! So disappointing! But Jarred played really well and got some special award (our guess was MVP) but we weren't sure because it was all in Arabic.

Here's a short little movie clip from the game.