Thursday-Saturday, Jan 29-31

Thursday didn’t start off the best, but slowly got better throughout the day. We had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning because we were leaving at 5 to go hike up Masada and watch the sunrise.  Really, the only crappy part about the morning was waking up so early and having to hike up a mountain while being really sick. But, watching the sunrise was pretty worth it. It was beautiful. After being on top of Masada for a while, we left to our day’s next activity – a jeep safari! I don’t know why they call it a “jeep” safari, because we definitely weren’t in a jeep. It was more like…the front of a small semi with part of a section of a bus at Disney World – completely open with lots of rows in it. It’s kind of hard to describe, but I hope you can get somewhat of an idea of what it looked like. Anyway, they picked us up at Masada and we were off, driving all over the Judean wilderness, going places a car should never be able to drive. A definite highlight was having lunch in the middle of a desert, overlooking a monastery that was in a crack in between two mountains. How many people can say they’ve done that?! Pretty cool stuff… So our safari lasted about 6 hours and needless to say, we were glad when it was over. Our butts were hurting from sitting for so long and our bodies were freezing from the cold wind blowing in the open car. But, it was definitely an amazing experience. That ended our 12^th day of our trip (10^th day of actual touring), and that night got a much-needed 12 hours of sleep that night!

Friday, I was a bum. Not much more is needed to be said. =]  The only thing I did was go get lunch with some friends at a place called “Burger Bar”. Kosher burgers, of course. It was actually really really good though, and even though the waiters could barely speak English, one of them just happened to know enough to tell me that I had a beautiful smile. Crazy when that happens. Haha! Friday night we had our second Shabbat service. It wasn’t as intense as last week’s service, but it still touched me. One of my friends actually spoke for a couple minutes about how God tells us to be the salt of the earth and she said some things that really caught my attention. Not too long after service, I went to bed and got another much-needed great night of sleep.

Today has been a lot like yesterday, in the way that I’ve been a bum most of the day. Other than eating breakfast and lunch and meeting with my group for 2 hours, I’ve just been catching up on this blog, writing the events of the past 5 days. Tonight we’re going to the Myer’s church again, so I’m pretty excited for that! All in all, it has been a crazy busy week. I will do better at writing in my blog each night, rather than waiting 3 or more days and then having to write a ton! Haha! Thank you for everyone's prayers for my safety and health. I am feeling a million times better than I have been the past few days and I think whatever I had has finally passed. Love you and hope all is well back at home!

Wednesday, Jan 28

Wednesday was probably my favorite day of the whole trip so far. We started out by going to a place where you overlooked the city of Jericho. Unfortunately, because the city is under Palestinian rule, we aren’t able to physically go into the city, but looking over it all was pretty cool. Our next stop was Qumran. It’s not the actual place where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, but it is possibly the place where a group of Essenes, called the Dead Sea Sect, was located. Ripped up pieces of the DDS were actually found in cave #11, which is near Qumran. Because there are countless numbers of pieces, it’s been almost impossible for the archeologists to piece them together. But as of last year, they began using DNA testing to match the skins of the animals the scrolls were written on in order to at least group them together. I thought that was pretty cool. After Qumran, we went to the Dead Sea!! Fun fun fun! Almost our entire group spread mud over their bodies and we quickly went from an all-white group of 32 to black body-builders. Well, for the guys anyway. (We let them pretend for the time being =]) The last time I went to the Dead Sea, which was the first time I came to Israel, I had a nice size injury on my knee, so I didn’t get the full experience of the sea. But this time was incredible! Some of the students and I went out pretty far and were amazed by the fact we could stand straight up and be standing on absolutely nothing. God has an amazing imagination! So…once that salty experience was over, our group headed to an experience that was added to our trip at the last minute. We drove to a Bedouin camp in the middle of Negev deserts. The Bedouins are people who survive living in the middle of the desert and live in tents and whatnot. Even though the camp we went to was more of a tourist attraction rather than a real Bedouin camp, we still got the experience. When we first arrived, you would never guess what we did. WE RODE CAMELS!! Now that’s something not everyone can say they’ve done! They sat two people per camel and there were four or five camels all attached to each other by a rope in a row. I rode with my friend Brittany and our camel was like the grandpa of all camels. He not only looked old, but he thought he was too good to walk in the line with the other camels, so walked to the side the whole trip. We decided to name him and thought George would fit well. For some reason, that turned into Jorge (sounded out like the Hispanic version of George) and we figured that since most Hispanics have 4 or 5 names anyway, so should our George. SO, his full name was Jorge Gonzalez Luis Lopez. Or for short, George Lopez. =]  The only downside to the camel ride was that the camel behind me seriously had rabies. It was like coughing up loogies (spelling?) and foaming at the mouth and almost spitting on my leg! Luckily, it never happened. After riding the camels, we set up our things in one of the tents at the camp and went to a meeting. One of the leaders at the camp talked to us about the Bedouin culture and we got to taste Bedouin tea and coffee. The tea was amazing; it was made of dates! Definitely not expected. The coffee on the other hand…ugh! I had to shoot it down because it was so bitter! I think that’s how pretty much all coffee is here though. Their culture is so interesting! For example, they believe in polygamy and can have up to 4 wives, and whenever you stay at a camp, if they give you a full cup of tea it means that they don’t like you and you aren’t welcome to stay – very different than any of us are used to. They served us dinner not too long after and it was incredible! Probably the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been on this trip. They served us a huge bowl of rice with lamb kabobs and different sauces and toppings with homemade pita bread, they all made that night. Yummm! After dinner, we were taught a number of Israeli dances by our bus driver. His name is Moti and he used to be in a professional Israeli dance group. So fun, but surprisingly tiring! A couple people took videos, so those should be interesting to watch! Not much else happened that night, but it was okay because it had been a busy day. That then leads me to our next day – Thursday.

Tuesday, Jan 27

Wow… I can’t even tell y’all how awesome these past few days have been… I know three days is a long time to go without blogging, but the past two days (not including today) we weren’t in Jerusalem, so it was kind of impossible. To start off Tuesday morning, I woke up really early and couldn’t go back to sleep. So…instead of trying to fall back asleep knowing it wasn’t going to happen, I went onto the roof/balcony of our house that overlooks Jerusalem to just be alone and with God. When I got up there it was pitch black except for the streetlights that were on around the city. Of course, that was also because it was only 5 in the morning. So as I was watching the sun slowly rise over the city, God was speaking to my heart. I haven’t written in a while, and everyone who knows me knows that I love to write, especially poetry. What God was speaking to me wasn’t necessarily poetry, but it was precious to my heart.

“I watch this city as it sleeps in peace

and the sounds of reality slowly arise.

As the birds chirp their good morning symphony

The Lord speaks softly and calls me by name.

‘Julie, my daughter, my beautiful bride,

I move these clouds just as I move your heart.

You are in my home, my love and my land,

Breathe in the air, for it is I that you breathe.

Just as I have given this city rain,

I have given you peace in the depths of your soul.

I love you more than you can even fathom,

So love me in the way I have always loved you.’

The horizon appears slowly as the sun awakes from sleep.

The sky has changed from black,

To a rainbow of blue and orange.

Then an added yellow, purple and bright pink

And the sounds of a new day that has finally come.

I say through morning brisk and the distant church bell’s song,

‘good morning sweet Jerusalem, a new day has come.’”

Anyway, I just felt like I should share that with those who know we the best on this world… Once the day truly got started, we went to the big city of Tel Aviv and I loved that place! It’s the second largest city in Israel and is one of the most populated. It was pretty easy to see why, I felt. It was really modernized and had a cosmopolitan lifestyle, and of course was on the coast of the Mediterranean. We first went to the supposed tomb of Samuel, and then the Simon the Tanner’s house. By that time, it was time for lunch, so we ate schwarma at this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was so yummy!! I can’t remember if I had eaten schwarma before, but I definitely think I liked it more than falafels. =]  Something random to add: when we were walking on the street, we passed by a cave with fruit bats! Weird, right? And then we had walked to a Roman statue in the middle of the city and while looking at the Mediterranean Sea in the distance, there was some random old guy who looked like he tanned for at least 30 minutes a day doing yoga in the middle of the park. He was putting himself in positions no man should ever be in. *shiver* haha! ANYWAY, after eating, we went to Tel Aviv University to visit the Diaspora Museum on the campus. It was about the history of Israel and the scattering of the Jews among the nations. Since we were going to the Arab market after the museum, we were all pretty quick going through all the rooms! Haha! The market was so much fun! I bought some really cute stuff =]  I love experiencing all the aspects of these different cultures…it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The market was only a couple blocks away from the Mediterranean Sea, so once everyone who was in my group was done shopping and walking around, we went to the Med. Unfortunately, the part of the sea we were on was all rocks. So we weren’t able to stick our feet in the water, but we stood on the rocks and looked out on the horizon of the beautiful sea. We left not too long after that, which ended up being a good thing because being sick and walking around all day in cold winds without a jacket isn’t a good combination!

Sunday and Monday

Sunday and today were both pretty filled days! Starting on Sunday, we went to the Israel Museum and learned all about the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was awesome! I think the coolest piece of information I found out was how the scrolls were actually found. Two Shepard boys were throwing rocks in caves trying to get their sheep to come out, and they heard one of the rocks break something on the inside of the cave. So when they went to investigate, they found the scrolls, but had no idea what they even were. After passing through the hands of a number of people, the scrolls were finally put in the right place, and I got to see them! There were a number of different scrolls there that they had found; the complete book of Isaiah, and parts of the books of the Temple Scroll, the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, the Pesher Habakkuk Scroll, the Community Rule Scroll, and the Thanksgiving Scroll. It was amazing to see the actual REAL hand written scrolls right in front of my eyes... the handwriting was so perfect and everything was perfectly spaced. Only someone with extreme patience could have that job, I think. After that museum, we went to where the famous Menorah is, right in front of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, basically. The Menorah was so pretty and had such amazing detail. On it are scenes from different stories in the Bible, which I will put a picture up of tomorrow with its description. We didn’t get to go into the Knesset, but the outside architecture was different, being designed after the tabernacle. When we left there, instead of going to the Rockefeller Museum as planned, we went to the birthplace of John the Baptist – Zachariah and Elizabeth’s home. Like most of the sights here, there was a Catholic church built over the actual spot, but inside of the church was a small nook built inside of the actual house. It was way cool! Connecting with this time in the Bible, we also went to the place where Elizabeth and Mary met when they were both pregnant, during the period where all the babies were being killed (vague, I know.) Once again, a church was built there, but I do have to say, it was a gorgeous one.

Today, we started out our touring by going to a cave that was mistakenly found in 1968, filled with stalagmites and stalactites. I don’t really know how to describe them, but they’re way cool looking. (Look it up!) Next we went to Bet Shemesh, the place, or near the place, where the story of Sampson and Delilah occurred, and the exact spot where the Philistines returned the Arc of the Covenant to the Israelites after taking it into captivity. From where we were standing, we could see the Valley of Sorik, which is where Delilah is actually from. Keeping on with the cave theme, we then went to two Sidonian caves where Phenesian people would place their dead. Morbid, I know, but the artwork and Greek writing on the walls made it a little better for me. Supposedly they were all original pieces. But who knows for sure. =]  The last caves we went to were called bell caves because they looked like bells. Creative, right?! These caves were pretty incredible though…they were completely made of limestone and at the top of each of the caves were holes. Whenever these caves were made, the person/people would start at the top and carve their way down and pull out all this limestone to make this ginormous cave. This was one of the funnest and most uneducational parts of the day. =]  Along with walking all through out these caves, we took group pictures, sang “This is the Day” as we heard ourselves echo, and played ring around the rosy. Some memories I’ll never forget. The last place we stopped was one of my favorites – the Valley of Ela, where David slew Goliath. To have our lesson, we sat along the edge of the brook where David chose his five smooth stones. In front of us was the actually valley itself, behind us was the hill (it looked more like a mountain to me) where the Israelite army stood and hid from the Philistines and Goliath, and to the northeast of us was the hill where the Philistine army stood. You could almost see the event playing out in your head as you were sitting there. This was definitely an “A” spot and to be there was an experience like no other.

Well, that’s all for these past two busy days! I’m off to bed in the city of peace! Good night!

Sorry it's been a few days!

Hey y’all! These past couple days have been busy with travel and such, and I have been pretty tired at night, therefore why there is no blog for the past two days. So! I’m making up for it now. On Thursday, we had a 3.5 hour drive up to the highest point north in Israel; Tel Dan. Throughout the drive there, it felt like we were literally driving through the Bible. We passed by the Bedowin deserts, the first original inhabitants of Israel, and which is known as the land of milk in the Bible because they were shepherds and their animals, such as camels, goats, sheep, etc., produce milk. We also passed by Jericho, which is called the land of honey because of their agricultural abundance. It’s also known as the world’s oldest city, the lowest city in the world, and the oasis in the desert. Almost the whole drive, we were alongside the Jordan River – Jerusalem’s longest border. And obviously, we also passed by the country of Jordan and the West Bank. Something I found out that some of you might have already known is that the West Bank isn’t actually on the west; of Israel, that is. Geographically, it’s on the east of Israel, but west of Jordan. Pretty interesting… We saw the Moab Mountains east of the Jordan, and it’s highest point, Mount Nebo, where Moses is buried. Then we passed through Somaria, where Mount Gilboa is located, which is where King Saul took his last stand in war and afterwards David cursed the mountain saying that it will never see a drop of rain again. What really got to me about that is when looking at Mount Gilboa, it seriously looks like it hasn’t gotten any rain in forever. It was very bleak and dry, which shows the realness of these stories in the Bible. We also passed by the Sea of Galilee, which I found out is the only body of water that’s below sea level and has fresh water. Next to the Sea of Galilee, we passed through Tiberius, and Migdal, the city where Mary Magdalene lived. When we finally got to our stop, we went to the nature reserve in Tel Dan. This was pretty cool because I didn’t remember going there when we came to Israel about 5 years ago with Uncle Robert, until we got to the top and were at the spot where the golden calf was placed as an idol and animal sacrifices were made. Then I remembered and got really excited! It’s so cool because I remember a lot of places we went to 5 years ago, but I never remembered the history and now that I’m learning all of it, it makes all the sights and stories that much better and more worthwhile! After the reserve, we went to Ceaseria Philipi and learned about all that went down there, and after ate lunch at a Druse falafel restaurant. It was amazing!! My first falafel since I’ve been on this trip so far =] Our last stop was the Golan Heights. Like before, I didn’t remember this sight until I was actually up there, and when I got out of the bus pretty much started freaking out. It was coffee in the clouds!! I got a little emotional at first because I was just thinking about the significance of that spot and seeing the pictures in my mind of us cousins with grandpa in the coffee shop…but it was really cool to be back there. I didn’t have any coffee, but being there was good enough for me. SO FINALLY, after all that, we drove the 3.5 hours back and finally came back home.

On Friday, we didn’t really do anything too interesting. We decided that Fridays and Saturdays of each week were going to be chill days since Shabbat begins on sundown on Fridays and ends Saturday nights. But we did have two people come speak to us, John and Calev Myers, a father and son that run a church here in Jerusalem for Messianic Jews, if I’m not mistaken. They just had a word for us and wanted to speak to us about the culture here and gave us a small sermon. After that, we were free for the rest of the day and I went to the open market strip. I know that’s not exactly what it’s called, but it was pretty cool. SUPER busy because everyone was getting stocked up for the weekend since everything would be closed for over 24 hours, but it was a neat experience. That night, Dr. Hemby, one of the professors here, gave a Shabbat service and afterwards we had a time of worship. During this time, the Holy Spirit was completely surrounding each of us and moved in a huge way. Many people were spoken to and it was an amazing time of worship and prayer.

Today, Saturday, since it was Shabbat, we didn’t do hardly anything. The day was laid back, which was nice for a change, and the only thing we did as a group was go to a church service held by the Myers, who had spoken to us the day before. It was a great service, but was a little difficult to connect to since everything had to be translated.

So, that’s it! This first week has been truly incredible and I’ve grown not only in my knowledge and understanding of the land and it’s history, but spiritually as well. I’m excited for all the new adventures next week holds!

I walked where Jesus walked

Today was the first day we used the bus and it was a nice commodity to have. =] The first thing we did today was go to the Mount of Olives. I found out that it is considered the holiest of the three mountains in Jerusalem, the other two being Mount Zion and Mount Moriah. If anyone has ever wondered after looking at a picture of the M.O.O. why there are so many freaking graves, I finally found out the reason today! I just tried looking up the verse in the Bible real quick and couldn’t find it, but what the main overview says is that those who are buried at the foot of the Mount of Olives will be the first to be resurrected when Jesus comes back. I think the thing that blows my mind the most is that when looking at the cemetery from straight on, it looks like a field of rocks. Now that should say something about the numbers of graves. The cemetery is separated into 3 different sections – 1. Jewish, 2. Christian, 3. Muslim (also known as the Kidron valley) – and when looking at the area, it is pretty obvious to see the separations. The reason we went to this cemetery in the first place was because we were walking down the Palm Sunday Road.

Also off this road was the Garden of Gethsemane. I love this place and it’s significance and today I was really hit hard. More than half the time I was there, I just sat and wept. I cried about how deeply Jesus loved us and how even though he was betrayed and hurt by his closets friends, He never once stepped away from the will of God, His father. The words “let your will be done” really came clearer for me than they ever have. I’ve said that I would give everything to God and not let it affect me and whatnot, but I honestly never truly have. Jesus did. He put His pain and the heaviness of His heart into His father’s and didn’t let it interfere what He was on earth to do. That’s what I need to do.

After the Garden, we went to St. Peter in Calicantu; the Armanian church that is the supposed sight of the dungeon where Jesus spent His last night alive on earth, mentioned in Psalm 88. The dungeon was cool and all, but what I truly enjoyed was the pathway of stone beside the church. It was the remains of the pathway that led from the top of Mount Zion all the way to the top of the Mount of Olives, where it is written that Jesus was taken and walked on after He was taken captive in Gethsemane, brought to the dungeon, and then to His crucifixion the next morning. Jesus walked on those stones. I walked on those stones. I walked where Jesus walked.

The last places we visited today were the first neighborhood that was built outside of the walls of Jerusalem, build by Sir Moses Montefiore, and a promenade where we ate a picnic lunch looking straight out onto and having a perfect view of the city of Jerusalem. It was pretty incredible.

Well..I know I wrote a lot today, but it was an exciting one! I hope y’all don’t become bored with what I write, but if you do, please please let me know! =] Goodnight

a long day of walking!

Today was a day filled with lots of walking and so much history that I felt my brain was going to explode! We did a walking tour throughout the city of Jerusalem - both the old city within the walls, and the outer, more modern Jerusalem. Our tour guide for this week, Kenny, is probably one of the most knowledgeable human beings I've ever met! He talked literally nonstop the entire tour. He's a pretty interesting guy too.. he's a cajun Hebrew, born and raised as a Jew in Louisiana, and moved to Israel as part of the Zionist movement, and now lives in a Kibbutz. I don't know the exact definition of what a Kibbutz is, but what I got out of his explanation was that it's an Israeli settlement that can have a range from 15-1000 members, and has a big sense of community. Anyway, one of the places we went today was the Tower of David Museum. It took a while to get all the way through, but was way cool. I just tried to upload a picture I took of a view from a high point from the museum, but it won't upload.. =[  So I'll just have to give a description. In the picture, it shows part of the museum, the Tower of David, the city walls, and the first neighborhood built outside of the walls of Jerusalem. It's pretty cool.. I was also going to put a picture of me standing by part of the city wall. Just by looking at me compared to the wall, the size of the wall is crazy! Unlike anything I've ever seen! After that picture was taken, we went through Jaffa gate and into the old city. While inside the old city, not only did we walk around and go to the museum, but we got to walk on the top of the wall around Jerusalem! It was one of the coolest things ever. To one side, there was the old city and to the other, the new. Towards the end of the tour, we went and saw the upper room and King David's tomb. But, Kenny said these places weren't exactly 100% accurate, so more than likely it wasn't actually the upper room where the last supper was held and the holy spirit came down, and it wasn't King David's real tomb. Haha! Oh well, it was still cool to see. 

Overall, it was a long but informative day. I wish I was able to upload these pictures, but I guess I'll just upload them on Facebook when I have time next. =]  As for now, I'm going to attempt to go to bed. It's a little past 1AM here and unfortunately, I'm not a single bit tired.. I'm about to try to conquer the huge monster on my shoulder named jet lag. Please pray that I will get over it very soon!

I love all of you very much! Night!

Shalom Shalom

I'm finally here! Woohoo!! It's around 11PM and my 5 other roommates and I are still getting all of our stuff organized. Even though the room is only meant for 4, it'll just force us to become closer faster! haha Surprisingly after a total of 2 days of traveling, I'm not tired.. I slept all but an hour of the 12 hour flight from Newark to Tel Aviv. I've made a lot of friends already the short time I've been with this group, which is a relief. The girls I'm staying with are really fun. After the hour bus drive from Ben Gurin (I might have spelled that wrong) airport, we arrived at our house. We had a meeting, dinner and then a group of about 10 of us went for a walk. We went to a coffee shop and it was so much better than starbucks! (sorry Jess =]) It felt pretty comfortable walking around the city, the little that we did. I didn't really feel scared or out of place..other than the fact that we were one of the only groups of people speaking english. haha Overall, it's been a pretty good day! I will put up pictures of the room and the building tomorrow when I'm all unpacked and situated. Tomorrow starts our days of travel and learning!

Leavin on a jet plane

So it's 4:57 AM and I'm finishing up last minute items before I leave! My mom, Matt and I are leaving at 5:30 for the airport because my flight is off at 7:30...an early start to a very long day. I cannot wait to tell y'all about all my fun adventures! Pray for safety and I'll update when I get to the Holy Land! Much love.