The last of the pictures!

So, now that I'm slightly settled I had a little time to get up the rest of my best of pictures onto facebook, so I'm adding the links. So ends the days of my Jerusalem blog. It may be time for a blog makeover, but don't hold your breath. Enjoy the pictures! Thanks for reading about my many adventures.

Galilee pictures!

Just to let you know, I have finally finished getting the best of my galilee pictures onto facebook! Enjoy... and as soon as I get home there will be still more where those came from :)

The end is too near

So, I only have 3ish days left in the beautiful Jerusalem center. This afternoon our finals will be over with, then we are off to Bethany to see the tomb of Lazarus. Tomorrow we will be walking roughly 6 miles over the course of the day, for the "Last week walk", commemorating the last week of the Savior's life. Wednesday is a free day, and I assume that most of us will spend all day in the old city, maybe eating falaffel for lunch AND dinner. Who knows. We just won't want to leave. I doubt that anyone will sleep much that last night, especially since our plane leaves at 6:55am on thursday... which means we'll leave here before 4am for sure. Why would we want to waste our time with sleep? Wish me luck on finals... its time.

Strengthened faith in humanity

So, the coolest thing EVER happened to me yesterday. I was walking up the hill on my way back from the Old City, and we stopped at Lana's as usual to get a drink. Lana's is the last place I could remember having my camera before Galilee, and I couldn't think of anywhere else it would be. But I didn't think he would have found it, let alone saved it. But I asked him anyway, and he had it! He's been keeping it in his safe for almost 3 weeks incase on of us came to claim it. I was so excited, and so grateful. I honestly didn't think it would be there. So, that's my story about how Abdul the shopekeeper at Lana's gave my faith in humanity a giant boost. Life is beautiful.

Jordan!

So, I loved Jordan. I don't know if that's because I was only there for a few days, so I didn't have the chance to experience something I didn't like about it, but I really did enjoy it. Petra was awesome, and there isn't really any other way to describe it. Except in pictures. There will be pictures, but it may not be until I'm home. Let's be realistic. But it will get done fast when I get home, thanks to laptops and US high speed internet. Anyway, I rode a donkey up to the monastery at Petra, and it was quite the experience. I was actually really stressed out, but I'm glad I didn't have to walk up those 900 steps. I felt so bad for that donkey, when I wasn't afraid he would just turn and step right off the cliff. It was so hot in Petra, and I was definitely ready to go back to the hotel after almost eight hours of exploring. Actually, I was done after coming down from the monastery, but it was totally worth it.

Masada, the Dead Sea, and Qumran

This is what I did for dad's birthday after I called him :) It was 5am when I called, but it wasn't quite his birthday yet at home. I figured I would be more likely to talk to him the night before.
We arrived at Masada at 8am, and it was already too hot. We too the tram to the top, which was definitely worth it. It would have taken forever to climb, even though Nicole says we were cheating. We saw that ancient siege ramp that the Romans built, which was pretty darn impressive. Aparently there is a movie that was filmed on sight using the same ramp and everything. The siege machine that they built for the movie is still down there. I don't think I'll ever watch it though, because its one of those 4 hours long war movies, and it just doesnt sound like something I need to see.
After we got all hot and sweaty at Masada, we went to the Dead Sea for a swim. It was so wierd. I felt like a basketball in the swimming pool. I got some water in my eye, and I thought it might kill me. Luckily, I didn't taste any. I saw people just dive in, and they totally regretted it. A bunch of my friends smothered themselves in Dead Sea mud, but I chose to be the bystander with the camera. Maybe if it wasn't so hot out I would have rolled in the mud, but I felt gross enough as it was. I don't even have a picture of myself floating in the dead sea, which I do regret, but not that much. The shower afterwards was the most amazing shower of my life.
Our last stop of the day was Qumran. We were all glad that it didn't last long, because we were so dead tired. Qumran was where the dead sea scrolls were found, and we were lucky enough to have brother Seely with us, who actually is one of the editors of the dead sea scrolls. Go figure. Our teachers are amazing. They don't even tell us half the cool stuff they do. I did get a picture of myself at Qumran with Brother Seely. And I shook his hand, because once he actually touched part of a scroll because it got blown to the floor. It was between sheets of butcher paper, but his life motto is TOUCH EVERYTHING. So we do.

Galilee the rest

When we weren't visiting churches or going on crazy hot hikes, we were back at the Kibbutz, getting in as much swimming as we possibly could. The lifeguard was only on duty from 1 to 5, so on the days we weren't fieldtripping, I was in the water the whole time. Just like I would be at the beach at home. It was always so calm when we started, not a wave in sight. At about 3pm, the wind would start to kick up, and the waves got big fast. They were almost big enough to body surf on the very last day.
The best days were the last two when each class took turns with only a half day fieldtrip, so we were all together for swimming time. The rest of the week it seemed we hardly saw the other class. We didn't even go to church together.
On our way home from Galilee, we stopped in Sepphora, where the Seelys performed on an ancient stage. Ok, the stage wasnt ancient, but the rest of the theatre was. They got their family theme song stuck in my head for the rest of my life, so I'm going to share it with you. Just one verse though. I really need to ask the Seelys for the rest, because it's a great song. Sung to the tune of Far Far Away on Judea's Plains.

* You need to know first that a tell is basically a hill with ruins on top. There are lots of layers of cities that have been built and destroyed and built again.

We're the Seely family
and they won't give us a bus
Because they know we'd take it
to Beirut and Damascus

What the tell, What the tell
What the tell are we climbing?
Rocks and boulders, oh how swell!
Climb another hill!
Oh what the tell!

Our t-shirts for this semester are going to say "what the tell tours" on the front. I love the Seelys.

Galilee May 28 - June 3

That last post was way longer than I was expecting it would be... I promise this is only a very small part of what I wrote in my journal these days. So, now I've decided that you are just going to get the super highlights. If you want more details after you see my pictures of Galilee, I'll be happy to give them.
Galilee definitely earned its place in my heart as one of my favorite places on earth. The fact that we spent a week and a half living 200 feet from its shore almost seems like a dream to me. I loved every moment. Ok, maybe not every moment. It got really hot in the afternoons, and I often wondered "what the tell are we climbing?" haha... I'll explain that in a minute.
One of my favorite things that we did was to cross the sea of Galilee on a sail boat. Ok, it wasn't a real sail boat. It was for tourists, and it was motorized. But it was still cool. We stopped in the middle to have a devotional, where we read the story about Peter walking to Jesus on the water. Then we sang, Master the Tempest is Raging, right there in the middle of where it all happened. Sister Ostler requested that a few of us sing Each Cooing Dove, which is a song in the old hymnbook about Galilee. I sang with Jen, Camille, and Deborah. It's a very pretty song, and I put a copy of it in my journal. We got to sing it again in the Tiberias branch on Shabbat, and we were more prepared that time. Aparently it was President Hunter's favorite song, and the older members of the branch remember how he used to ask them to sing it when he came to visit.
My favorite churches that we visited were on the Mount of Beatitudes, and Mount Tabor, which is the traditional Mount of Transfiguration. They were very well taken care of, and beautifully and simply decorated. I don't like the chruches that are so full of ornaments and shrines. They make me feel crowded. Another favorite place was Capernaum, where Peter's house was. Jesus spent a lot of time there, and probably stayed mostly in Peter's home. Christians have been using that site as a church since the very beginning.
Something I really liked about all the sites we visited was that we stopped to have a short devotional given by students about what happened there, or in a place like it. We would also sing a hymn or two, and that was expecially cool in all the churches, where the sound was amazing.

Galilee! May 25 and 26

We left early as usual to be on our way to Galilee. On the way, we stopped first at Caesarea, right on the Mediterranian sea. It was gorgeous. We saw the hippodrome and an amphitheatre built by the Romans. They were getting ready for some kind of concert or something, because there were wires and speakers all over the stage. Otherwise we would have done some performing of our own for each other. That had to wait for later in the week.
Our next stop was Megiddo, also known as Armageddon. So, when the final battle happens, I'll be able to say that I've been there. All it is right now is a bunch of farm land. It's quite an unassuming place, but more battles have been fought there than any other place on earth.
I had my very first falaffel for lunch that day, and it was so good! Part of the fun was the guy making them. He was throwing the falaffel balls everywhere and he caught every one, even behind his back.
Next we stopped in Nazareth. We went to the church of the Annunciation, and I actually really liked it. There were paintings of Mary and Jesus from most nations of the world displayed around the courtyard and inside the church. It was a beautiful church, inside and out.
When we got to Galilee, most of us ran straight to the water. Not to swim, of course, because we aren't allowed to "put our big toe in the water" unless there is an israeli lifeguard on duty. Truth be told, most of us had our feet in the water because we interpreted "don't swim without a lifeguard" as we were ok as long as we werent in our swimsuit. I watched the sunset and saw Tiberias appear on the other side of the sea after the sun went down. It was gorgeous.
The next day we went first to Hazor, where there is a huge archeological site. We walked through both the Canaanite temple and the Israelite temple that used to be there, as well as an israelite house.
Next we went to Tell Dan, and we walked through a national forest. It was so pretty and green! Definitely different scenery that we are used to here. It is brought to life because of the spring where the Jordan river begins. I loved the hike because it was in the shade. From the top of the tell, we could see Lebanon.
We also went to Nimrod's fortress, which was huge! It was so much fun to explore because there was something new around every corner. It was so high, and so windy. We could see the Golan Heights from the highest tower.

Egypt pictures!

So, the long awaited Egypt pictures are finally ready! And believe it or not the Galilee ones might be up tomorrow. Maybe even tonight when I get home from the synagogue. We'll see. I hope you enjoy them! Also... I promise to update my posts tomorrow. There's lots to write, and I'm going to break it up into days this time instead of writing a huge post.