Death by salt

Adventure day!

We started our day with an early morning (not sunrise :/) climb up the cliffs of Masada! This didn't kill us, but it came close. Some of the guys decided to race up the hill to the top, and they collapsed a little more than half way up. I think my professor actually made it up the highest with a constant stride, and he's not exactly what you would call 'young'.

From the top we had spectacular view of the Dead Sea and all the way into Jordan! I didn't realize how high we actually were until I saw people down below. They didn't look like the size of ants, they looked like the size of the tiny crumbs ants carry! 

Next we drove to the Dead Sea, and this was just bad news. So normally the Dead Sea is perfectly still and actually reflects the mountains beyond it and is all around peaceful and calm to float in. No, not today. The winds were so intense that they were causing surfable waves to crash on the shore. We didn't exactly pay attention to the "DO NOT SWIM PAST THIS SIGN" warning, so we walked right past it to find the mud. After we smeared the black mud on our skin, we one by one got in the water. We were instructed to NOT get our faces wet because that much salt in our eyes would be the worst thing ever. I was one of the first in the water and we were floating around all calm and yelling how cool it was and for everybody to get in. Just when most of the group is in the water, the winds and currents pick up again and the extremely salty water starts to splash everywhere, mainly directly into our eyes. What started out as being a pleasant beach day quickly escalated to the scene from Titanic when everybody is screaming in the water. Nobody could see a thing as we were attempting to swim back to the shore blind without getting anymore salt in our eyes. Titanic then evolved into Saving Private Ryan trying to get back onto the beach. We were crawling on all fours and clinging to rocks for dear life as the waves crashed on us. When I finally got out, I remember looking back and seeing Charlotte pulling Jenny our of the water, both crying. Charlotte was pouring water into Jennys eyes and her own eyes trying to see. Bry's entire leg was bleeding, so were some other people's. Colby was acting as a medic, dressing peoples wounds and pouring rubbing alcohol on them (causing even more pain). I tried my best to go back in the water (once I could see again) to pull girls out of the rocks trying to not think about the pain in my own bleeding feet. I guess we should have payed attention to the sign telling us not to swim there. I think there was much easier access in the designated spot. I have to say that I've never had that much fun while being in that much agony! I wasn't able to take any pictures during the chaos, but here are some pictures just before:

Even though the Dead Sea was painful and complete madness, it was still one of the most entertaining and fun moments we've had on this trip as a group! I was completely weightless in that water floating around (before the waves) and it really was nice! Plus the black mud has all of these minerals in it made my skin softer than it's probably ever been.

We then went to the springs at Ein Gedi. These were much more refreshing than the Dead Sea! We swam around and stood under waterfalls. It was almost polar opposite to earlier in the day. 

We ended our adventure day at Qumran! I have been looking forward to see where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found for so long, and today it finally happened! It was even cooler than I imagined it, and I can't wait to go see the scrolls this weekend here in Jerusalem. We're now back in Jerusalem after our 5 day road trip around southern Israel. We're here for about a week and then we do another week long road trip to Nazareth and the northern country! 

My day with the Bedouin

Me and The Sheikh

The Bedouin are tribal nomads that have roamed these lands for thousands of years, not really changing in most of their traditions and ways of life. They were gracious enough to feed us a delicious traditional meal on Monday night. We then spent hours driving around trying to find accomidationis for us in Arad, eventually splitting up into three groups. All of the guys slept on floor mats in an apartment with Sudanese refugees. The next morning we drove back to the Bedouin compound for breakfast.

Bedouin Brakfast

After an extremely filling breakfast, the Sheikh, or leader, of the Bedouin tribe (an extremely influential man in not just this area, but the entire country) shared with us the history of the tribe and how currently political situations in the area are effecting them. The Bedouin used to be able to roam where ever they wanted, following the water. But because of nations and borders, they have been forced to settle into semi-permanent communities. The community that this Sheikh is the leader of has 1,000 families! It was a true honor to be able to speak with him and hear his story. He only spoke Arabic, so a friend of Cyndi had to translate for us with the help of our rad bus driver Omar. 

Talking with the Sheikh

After breakfast and our talk, the Sheikh took us on a tour of the animals he has at his compound. They had goats, sheep, chicken, camels (big and small), donkeys... It was basically Westmont farm time! 

Ugliest animal ever

Baby black lamb

The Sheik and a baby camel (stupid pole)

The Negev

Southern Israel: the Negev, as close to inhospitable land as you can possibly semi-survive in. I can't imagine what it's like to live down there, especially in the 120+ summer heat.

Tel Arad

There is next to absolutely nothing down there, but it was awesome! Desert as far and the eye can see, but somehow people were able to make the most out of the land and live down there in the Biblical and greater Negev. We hiked up to the top of a bunch of tels to see all kinds of ruins of cities, fortresses, and entire civilizations lost in the dirt. We saw where Sampson was born, raised and reeked havoc. We also saw where David killed Goliath. We had to wear hard hats at Tel Beersheba and walked through the cities ancient water system. We visited an ancient Israeli fortress at Tel Arad and saw what is believed to be a second temple built by Solomon to Yahweh, this one on a much smaller scale. 

Mapping parts of the Bible. 

This is why I love this class: this is how we learn. Cyndi, our guide and professor, read to us 2 Chr 20:6-10. When you read it, it just looks like a list of cities and an average reader would skip to the next part of the story. Instead, as she read off the names of the cities, we put a rock on the map where they were located. We've spent the past two weeks learning cities, trade routes, mountain/hill/valley lines, rivers, roads... basically everything about the geography of the biblical Holy Land. As we plotted these cities from 2 Chr, we quickly realized that it was a defense strategy by Rehoboam to refortify these importantly located cities to protect the Kingdom from coming invasion! It was so cool to see seemingly meaningless names turn into ancient war plans!

Swimming in the Mediterranean 

One of the highlights from the week was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! None of us have swam in the ocean for months, and we were all dying too! I've grown up around the ocean, it's in my blood! I was so excited to finally swim around freely! The Mediterranean was warm and clear. We stayed there all afternoon and we watched some of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in a really long time!

Wadi Zin

We hiked through the massive canyon created by Wadi Zin and up the side of the cliff! The walking on this trip has honestly been some of the highlights! The thinks we see while in the middle of nowhere on a hike have been unbelievable! 

Made it to the top! 

Palestine: The West Bank

It's been a long time since my last post on here, but the past few weeks have been some of the busiest days of my life (even more so than spring sing week, it's crazy!) The past five nights in particular traveling every day to a new city have been insane. We spent the first two of those nights at a home stay in the West Bank near Bethlehem. 

We arrived in Bethlehem on Friday, toured the Church of the Nativity (but didn't get to go down to the cave, still bitter), then we were picked up by our host families. Most of us stayed in groups of two or four. Three other guys and I was picked up by this 26 year old Palestinian named Awad, and he was so much fun! In the beginning I felt like a preview day student or something being shown around the city and his house. Awad lives with his mother and 18 year old sister. We had breakfasts and dinner with them, and spend our daylight hours with the team going around the West Bank with our Palestinian guide Ayman. We visited Herodium and Bethlehem on Friday, then on saturday we spent the morning in Hebron.

Hebron

Hebron isn't the safest place, in fact it's one of the cities with the greatest tention in the entire West Bank. While most Israeli settlements in the West Bank are located just outside of Arab cities, this settlement is right smack in the middle. There are 400 settlers with 1,500 soldiers protecting them. Needless to say, there is a lot of fighting in Hebron. We visited a mosque that was the location of a massacre in 1994 when a crazy ideological Israeli settler walked into the mosque and opened fired during Islamic prayer: killing 29, injuring 125. The building is actually half mosque and half synagog and sits on top of the Cave of the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are all believed to be buried there. This was actually the first mosque I have ever been in and it was really fascinating. The girls on our trip had to put on these cloaks that made them look like witches! After Hebron we went back to Bethlehem and visited the Shepherds Field, believed to be where the angles appeared to the Shepherds.  

Cave of the Patriarchs. 

We also spent some time walking around Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem. This was a very moving experience seeing the camp and the displacement of so many people. We walked along the West Bank fence, or in the case of where we were walking, the wall. It was giant. Most of the border is a fence, but where there is a history of violence or shootings through the fence, the Israeli government built a wall. 

View of Bethlehem from my home stay room

We ended our stay in Bethlehem at a hookah bar restaurant called the Shepherds Valley restaurant, Awad's uncle owns the place. It was the best hookah I have ever had! The bowl was made out of a hollowed out apple and it lasted over two and a half hours! We were eventually joined by four more guys from our team under sad circumstances, but we had such a fun last night with Awad drinking local beers and smoking hookah! I really wish we could have stayed longer with him and his family. We had so many great conversations with them about what it's like to live as a Palestinian in the West Bank and about their political views. I learned a lot in only a few hours of conversation from both Awad and his mom. I already miss them! We had our frist home cooked meals in months there and I hope to one day see them again.

God of this City

You're the God of this City 

You're the King of these people 

You're the Lord of this nation 

You are...

God truly is the God of this nation of Israel. I cannot get over the fact that I am here in Jerusalem, in Israel: the Holy Land. I have only been here for something like four days, and that time has already started to change my life. 

View from the Old City wall to the City of David and East Jerusalem

We arrived on Thursday at 2am. The girls squeezed into the handful of ready hotel rooms and the guys spent the night on the floor of a classroom at Jerusalem University College. JUC is going to be our home base for everything we do and learn, but we’re living in a hotel that is a five minute walk (up hill both ways) in the Old City. From day one I knew this was going to be an experience that I will never forget. We’ve talked with Palestinians and Israelis, Jews, Christians and Muslims, and just about every combination of ethnicity and religion possible. The idea that is being stressed to us is learning every side and perspective and story of a conflict, namely the Israeli-Palestine conflict. We have been exposed to intimate family struggles, and generation long dreams. This afternoon we heard from a Palestinian Christian who grew up in the Jewish school system! He lectured on the importance and danger of the historical narratives on both sides of the conflict.

Damascus Gate

We spent our second day (Friday) exploring the City of David, the Eastern Hill of Jerusalem. The highlight of the morning was adventuring through Hezekiah's Tunnel! The tunnel is super narrow, and has absolutely no light. The water flowing through it at one point came half way up my thigh, and on some of the shorter girls it came up way above their waists! We also saw where archeologists have recently discovered the foundation stones of King David’s palace, and I stood on a platform about it, around the same level his roof would have been. We looked down on the City of David, just like David did when he saw Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. We also went down to the pool of Siloam. In John 9:6-7, Jesus heals the blind man by spitting in the dirt, rubbing into the man's eyes, and telling him to wash it off in the pool of Siloam, and he is healed! It was so rad seeing the actual Roman pool! 

Entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel

Yesterday (Saturday) we continued to be guided around by our teacher, guide, and knowledgeable all around expert, Cyndi, through the Old City of Jerusalem to get our bearings. The city is broken up into four quarters (not at all equally). There is the Jewish quarter, the Muslim quarter, the Christian quarter and the Armenian quarter. We weaved in and out of them, and you can immediately tell when you cross a boundary, everything changes. When I walk through the narrow and confusing streets of Jerusalem, I feel like I am walking back in time. This city is the most fascinating place I have ever been! 

I am so excited to see what the LORD is going to show me this month. During our first class on Friday we went day by day through our schedule. I had a minor heart attack slash I was jumping with excitement on, no joke, every single day. Our schedule is packed with 7am to dinner full days. We will be traveling north through Galilee and Samaria, and south throughout Judea and the Dead Sea. We're even having a two night home stay with Palestinian families in Bethlehem! We will be meeting an complete array of people: from shop owners in Jerusalem, to ministers of the Palestinian National Authority's Legislative Council (basically Palestinian senators, aka very importnat people directly involved in peace talks) Yeah, I kind of freaked out when I learned about that one. This is going to be the most memorable month of my college years! 

"...O Jerusalem, the built up Jerusalem is like a city that is united together...Pray for the peace of Jerusalem..." (Psalms 122:2-6)