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.