Adventures in Israel, part 10

Day 10

I’m back in College Station, going through my first day back in the US kind of on autopilot.  I forgot what overcoming jet lag is like!  I wanted to share our last day in Israel before my memory gets too fuzzy though.  It was cold & rained on us for most of the day so I didn’t take many pictures or very good notes.  We saw so much that day though!  We walked from our hotel into the Old City of Jerusalem—because of the Jerusalem Marathon most of the streets were closed off.  But also because of the marathon it seemed like us & the runners were the only ones in the city!  We had to stop a couple of times to wait for runners to pass us before crossing the street so we got to cheer them on.  We saw runners in their dry fit kippahs & tzitzits (hats & tassels—they weren’t really dry fit, but wouldn’t it be funny if some Jewish company made them especially for running?) & we saw two guys from Texas—one wearing Texas flag running shorts (I wonder if any other country or state makes running shorts out of their state flag—we didn’t see any others!). 

I hate running but even I have to admit Jerusalem would be a cool place to do a marathon!

We went to the house & room believed to be the upper room where Jesus & His disciples ate the last supper.  We learned that in Jewish culture the guest of honor would sit on the first or second seat of the left hand side (if you’re looking at the tables with both ends closest to you) of a U-shaped table in this room called a triclinium (3 table room).  Traditionally, the most important other guests would sit next to them & on down the line. John & Judas were next to Jesus & Peter was probably at the very end.  Passover dinner was traditionally eaten on Friday night (beginning of Sabbath) but Jesus & the disciples ate on Thursday night, then Jesus took His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, Judas came to betray Him and by Friday noon when the high priest would have been offering the sacrificial lamb for Passover, Jesus, the Lamb of God, died.  The temple veil tore from top to bottom (like a Jewish father mourning the loss of his son would tear his clothes) and the need for the sacrificial system to cover over sins was no longer needed because Jesus’ sacrifice took away the sins of the world. 

We went from there & walked through the streets of the Old City to the Western wall of the Temple Mount.  The area is separated—about 2/3 for men & 1/3 for women.  We went underground into the tunnels under the western wall.  The tunnels show the last 2,000 years of levels of street levels & buildings of the walls of the temple & area immediately around it.  We learned that the western wall is the closest in proximity to where the Temple stood so that’s why it’s such an important area for the Jewish people to come pray.  There’s a little section of the wall that can only be accessed through the tunnels & it’s the nearest place you can be to the Holy of Holies.  I think technically it’s on the women’s side, so it’s also a covered area for women to come pray.  There were some women down there—Jewish and Muslim women.  The tunnels were super narrow (most of the tunnels we climbed through were narrow—I don’t know why I’m still surprised by this!).  We saw two different models of the temple & topography of the land under it while underground—both were so helpful!—did you know that Herod took the top of the mountain (don’t even know if it has a name since Herod destroyed it) next to Mt Moriah in order to build a bigger platform for the temple?  Seriously, that guy!  And also, those stones they used to build the walls were seriously big!  One we saw underground weighs more than a loaded 747 airplane!  Holy cow.

We had a few minutes waiting for the rest of our group to finish the western wall tunnel tour, so some of us got to go up to the wall.  There were women with their heads against the wall, some were reading Scripture, some crying, some rocking back & forth praying.  The only thing I could think about while next to the wall was how thankful that I do not have to come here to be near God.  How thankful I am that Jesus provided full access to the Father & through His sacrifice for me—I don’t have to do anything or go anywhere or follow any rituals to earn God’s favor or love.  It made me so thankful! 

That feeling of thankfulness continued while we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  This is one of the possible sites for Jesus’ crucifixion & burial.  This place had such a sad feeling to it—so many people were worshipping the site—lots of people lighting candles, kissing the stone on the floor, & burning incense.  It was sad to people who are lost trying on their own to find God.  It definitely motivated me to pray for these people who are so clearly seeking that they would turn to the only one who will satisfy them.  And so so thankful for God’s grace!

Ma doing the tunnel!

In front of the Western Wall--it was so cold!

We walked through more market areas (so so crowded!  Muslims going to pray, Catholics doing the Via Dolarosa, Jews getting things done before Sabbath, & us trying to stay together!), ate some falafel for lunch (the best one I’d had yet) and did some shopping.  

Market place around noon.

Then we went to the Garden Tomb—the other possible site for Jesus death & burial.  This place was so different from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  We had a jolly British man named John lead our group to an area of the garden that overlooks a cliff that resembles a skull.  John is a Christian & it was so great to hear someone say how it’s not this place that matters but it’s the fact that Jesus did die & that He did raise again!  That it’s not the place that deserves worship, it’s God.  He showed us how this area & this tomb are very, very similar to what’s described in the Bible.  We got to go inside the tomb where on the door is written, “He is not here, He is risen!”  We took communion as a group & sang some hymns.  A group near us was singing hymns in another language.  I’m so glad we ended our day with this place! 

At the Garden Tomb

Indeed!

We went back to the hotel then, to get warm & then ready for dinner.  It hailed outside as soon as we got inside!  We went to have dinner at the American Colony Hotel—the house of Horatio Spafford who wrote the hymn It Is Well.  He & his wife moved to Jerusalem to start their lives over after losing their daughters.  It was a really cool place—and we saw the hotel note paper where he wrote the original version of the song. 

Went back to our hotel—in bed by 11pm.  Wake up call at 2am the next morning.  In the hotel lobby with luggage by 2:45, left for airport in Tel Aviv at 3:30.  Our flight left about 7:45—all our security stops went smoothly & our luggage weighed in under 51 lbs!  But just barely!  Flights were long but on time.  It’s good to be home!  I have one more meeting this evening & then I can go to sleep!  Yea!  Thanks for sticking with me the last 2 weeks!  It was a really great trip & I highly recommend going if you ever get the chance!


Addendum: {realized at 3am this morning (3/19) when I woke up (after taking one Ambien at 9:30pm & before taking another at 3:45am) that I hadn't added this & I wanted to}


Definitely my biggest takeaway from this trip are the feelings I had at the Western Wall--I don't have to come here.  It's a blessing to get to come to Israel & see the real places (or regions at least) where the Bible took place, but I don't have to come here to be any closer to God or earn God's favor.  And this makes me so grateful & makes my understanding of God's grace deeper & sweeter.  I understand better what a HUGE deal it is that God provided direct access to Himself through Jesus.  And I don't have to go to or through anyone or anywhere to talk to or deepen my relationship with Him!  Praise God!  

Adventures in Israel, part 9

Day 9

Brrrrr rabbit!  It was cold, rainy & windy today!  We were like that kid in A Christmas Story—so many layers!  I wore my Northface Denali jacket over a rain/wind breaker, over a fleece vest, over a fleece pullover.  I layered according to size.  And wool socks, and an earwarmer/headband, AND Smartwool socks stuffed with handwarmers for gloves.  And I was very content. 

Today we went “off the beaten path” according to Naomi—to do some not so touristy things & try to get some things done in spite of the weather.  We drove west & then south—the area between the coast & the mountains—really looked like the Texas hill country—green hills, short shrubs, mixed in with pine trees, olive trees & lots of purple & yellow wild flowers.  We drove to Bet Shemesh—the area where Samson was from & the area occupied by the Philistines during that time. 

So cold & windy!

Then we drove thru the Valley of Elah (mountains run  north to south here & valleys run east to west)—the valleys were ancient roads across the country from east to west.   We drove to the Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park—where we went into an archeological dig area at Tel Maresha.  We met with an archeologist (who has been digging there 26 years!) who invites groups to come “dig for a day”.  This whole area is chalk stone—much softer stone than the limestone of the mountain.  People who lived in this area dug quarries underground & used the stone to build their houses.  Then they used the quarries as “basements”.  Tel Maresha has about 5,000 caves all dating back 2,200-2,300 years ago.  The caves are all in units containing several rooms.  We went in unit 169—I could see 8 or 9 rooms in the unit we were in & it went on further than I could see or we were allowed to go.  We got to spend a few minutes digging—everyone got tools & buckets.  The archeologist showed us what they do—how they dig & put dirt in the buckets—sometimes not even looking at what’s going in the buckets since they’re going to sort it back above the ground.  Mom & I had fun not caring about what we were putting in the buckets.  We found two pieces of pottery & what we are sure is a piece of bone while we were digging!  Unfortunately they don’t care about pottery unless it’s a major piece or has writing on it.  One guy in our group found a super old coin!  Everything underground (or potentially worth something) stays at the site though.  It was so fun!  And nice to be underground & out of the wind!

We dig Israel!

Not caring what's in my dirt.  :)  

Then we drove back thru the Valley of Elah (we weren’t able to stop by the brook & get stones because of the weather & we’d probably run out of time since the dig site was so fun!) to lunch—McDonald’s or Aroma Coffee.  We had Aroma—eggplant sandwich & Portobello mushroom sandwich—yum!  And coffee—felt so good to hold something warm!

We then drove back to Jerusalem & spent the rest of the afternoon in the City of David—walked through some ruins of what was probably King David’s palace & learned some history of this city & it’s connection to Jerusalem—it’s just south of the walls of the Old City.  From there a few in our group walked through Hezekiah’s Tunnel (very narrow & water up to your waist) and the rest of us walked Warren’s Shaft (very narrow but dry!).  I’m really not sure who Warren is or why he built this tunnel but I am thankful he did.  I’ll look him up later.  It was dark & the stone was slippery in some places (thank goodness I had two headlamps!), but it was fun to do! 

Look how narrow this tunnel is!

But we are happy because we have headlamps!

Then we saw the Pool of Silom where Jesus healed the blind man with his spit & some mud.  Tomorrow there’s a marathon thru Jerusalem so the roads are closed & we’ll be walking!  Another day for layers!  Tomorrow’s also our last day here!  This might be my last post, tomorrow night I should probably pack!  Here’s hoping everything fits & is under 50 lbs!  I’m bringing back all kinds of treasures—spiritual & physical!  :)

Adventures in Israel, part 8

Day 8

We started our day early today to try to get to the Temple Mount—we were super modest & super not religiously affiliated.  We waited for almost 2 hours (I honestly didn’t check my watch—I just know our goal was to get there about 8am & we left about 9:45am).  The security gates to get in close at 10 & at 9:45 we were still too far away to make it in.  We decided to leave & try to beat the crowd (since they were all waiting for the Temple Mount) to some other site in the Old City. 

We cut through the western wall (the wailing wall) area—we did have to go thru a security gate to get into that area, but since we were ahead of the crowds instead of behind we had no wait!  We’re coming back to the western wall in a couple days so we didn’t stop, but walked through the Arab Quarter streets & shops and then down the Via Dolerosa to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic man in John 5.  The pool is next to St Anne’s Church—built in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus’ parents.  Catholics believe that Mary was immaculately conceived & so this beautiful church is built to honor her mother.  The church has amazing acoustics!  When we walked in there was a group singing Amazing Grace.  When they finished we sang the Doxology and as soon as we were finished another group immediately started singing Fairest Lord Jesus in German (I think it was German) and then said the Lord’s Prayer in German.  So cool to hear the nations worshipping God together!

We then left the Old City and drove outside the city a bit to Herodyon—the mountin Herod had moved to it’s current location.  Seriously!  This guy!  The vision he had to building—and all to honor himself!  Imagine if he’d been a Christian, seeking to honor God!  He had this mountain built & built into it & on top a palace for himself that he planned to be his burial site.  From the top you can see Bethlehem.  We climbed into the cisterns & tunnels built by Herod & then Jewish Zealots—holy cow I can’t imagine building those!  And also holy cow was it COLD!  We all layered up like we were going skiing!  Seriously—I think the 3 jackets I wore were the same layers I wore the last time I skied!  The wind was blowing so hard that flags were flying straight out—completely perpendicular to the ground.  Oh my word was it cold! 

Bethlehem behind us...you can't see it since we are wearing almost everything we own!

We drove from Herodyon to have lunch at a rich Kibbutz.  A kibbutz is a like a Jewish commune—first built when the Jewish people we able to come back into Israel—communal living & sharing of all salaries, food, possessions, etc.  Very few are still operated that way, most are privatized now.  This one we had lunch on had built a hotel—a very nice one—with a cafeteria-style restaurant.   Mom & I both had the salad bar—Israeli salad bars are so good!  Hummus, olives, chick peas, tibule (??—like cous cous), lots of veggies—so good! 

From there we went to Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Museum.  It’s hard to imagine evil like that.  There was a good quote at the beginning from a German essayist (I need to look him up, I’d like to know more about him), Kurt Tucholsky, “A country is not just what it does, it is also what is tolerates.”  As dark & hard to see as it was, the entire museum is a long hallway with rooms of pictures, videos & artifacts on either side—at the end of the hallway—you can see it the whole time—is the light & when you walk out the doors at the end you are almost overwhelmed with the contrast that the forest—trees, flowers & the sun—are to the darkness you’ve seen inside.  A good picture of hope and that God’s chosen people have endured throughout the dark times they have suffered.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to this site, but I’m glad I did—it was the first time I’ve really seen as much about the people who helped Jews during this time—whether one or thousands.  It is a good reminder to be an advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.  There was another quote—I’m not going to get it exactly—that was from a German pastor that said basically, “What was happening with the communists didn’t affect me so I didn’t speak up, what was happening with the socialists didn’t affect me so I didn’t speak up, what was happening with the Jews didn’t affect me so I didn’t speak up.  And when something did affect me, there was no one left to speak up for me.”  The end was a round room with a very high ceiling & a low floor that housed hundreds of books of records & pictures, documenting any information people will share about a friend or family member who died in the Holocaust.   It was powerful, that's all I can say.

 

We then raced through the Israel Museum & Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept.  It was closing so we were in a super hurry!  The room where the copy of Isaiah is kept is shaped like a giant clay pot just like one the scrolls were found in.  The scroll even had a huge handle in the middle—you can’t take pictures inside.  Google it.  Outside is a model of Jerusalem as it would have been in the time of Christ.  It was neat to be able to see where we’d been & walked & how it would have looked to Jesus.  While we were looking at it a bird landed on the model....looks like a monster bird attacking the city!

Monster bird invasion.

  

I feel like we’ve been running all day!  Goodness we’ve seen so much!  Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain & be colder—high 52!  Ergo I probably will not walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnel—with waist deep water, I don’t think tomorrow is the day for that!  Alright, it’s time for dinner & then bed not too long after that!  I think I’ve gained my weight in hummus while I’ve been here.  Oh my goodness it’s so good!

Mazel!  {we were moving so fast today I didn't get many pictures....sorry!}

Adventures in Israel, part 7

Day 7

Shalom from Jerusalem!  We began our day reading Psalm 122—one of the Psalms of ascent as we drove up to Jerusalem.  We left the wilderness, & drove north along the Dead Sea—looking across (if we could see through the haze) we would have seen the mountains of Moab.  We passed Masada & En Gedi & at Jericho turned left—as we rose in elevation, we started seeing more trees & plants.  We were on the road the Good Samaritan would have been taking in Jesus’ parable.  We saw lots of sheep and their shepherds—we learned that shepherds lead their sheep in circles around the hill to the top—not straight up since they would develop too much muscle that way.  In Psalm 23 David describes this—“He leads me in circles [in the Hebrew] of righteousness.” 

We stopped at a gas station to use the potty & there were two men with camels giving rides in the parking lot.  All the children rode & some of the adults.  Mom & I did not.  Too high & too smelly.  And holy cow do camels have weird knees. 

We drove to & stopped at Wadi Qelt—a wadi is a valley between hills.  Super cool view from the top!  Hills as far as the eye can see!  Several Bedoin men & boys greeted us there, ready to display their merchandise.  One little boy would just come up & say “candy!”  Mom gave him chocolate & he said, “caramel!”   The Bedoins are nomad people who live in houses & communities made of whatever material they can find—previously they lived in tents.  They were sure ready for us! 

Wadi Qelt--not a great pic, but you can see how the hills go on & on!

We continued up to Jerusalem from there.  Jerusalem is a busy city!  Our first stop was the Mt of Olives.  Then we walked down the Dominus Flavit (the path Jesus walked down on Palm Sunday).  Our next stop was lunch & shopping.  A Christian man owns a shop that sells lots of olive wood products & antiquities.  He invited us to have lunch in his shop.  Smart business move!  I think we all bought lots!  He had coins & pottery & other things dating back to the time of Abraham.  I thought I might want a widow’s mite coin but when I learned that they started at $300 & went up to the $1000’s I decided against it.  It’s so small I might lose it before getting home! 

After lunch we went to the Garden of Gethsemane.  Naomi negotiated so that our group could go in a private area of the garden—no one else was there but our group.  After some time there we walked across the street to the main section of the garden with the 1000 year old trees, attached to the Church of All Nations—again, the Catholics got dips on the site!  Beautiful mosaics in the church!  There’s a sign outside the church that says, “Please no explanations inside the church”—apparently the church in Corinth isn’t the only one with too much talking in church! 

Mt of Olives, overlooking the eastern wall of Jerusalem

In the Garden of Gethsemane

Super old, fat olive trees

We then went to the western wall of the Temple Mount—so cool to be in an area that dated back to Christ!  You could see where shopkeepers would have been selling sacrificial animals, we saw the stone that Jesus had probably been tempted by Satan on (it had been on the top of the Temple Mount—when we saw it today, it was on the ground….those dang Romans & their destruction of the Temple!).  We then walked around to the southern side of the temple & sat on the steps that would have led up to the Temple.  Surreal that this is where Jesus was.  The Catholics got beat out by the Muslims on this site.  We didn’t go in the mosque that’s now there, but tomorrow we are going to the Dome of the Rock—where the temple stood.  Naomi told us that since this is such a serious area we cannot take Bibles, have any Jewish or Christian jewelry on & have to dress extra modest.  We have to go thru security in order to get in.  It’s supposed to get cold tomorrow & be rainy so it won’t be hard to be modest!  :)

Southern temple steps

We have an early day tomorrow—leaving at 7:40am, so I’m off to sleep.  Though I probably don’t need it at this point, I love how well I sleep after taking Ambien!  I can see how people become addicted!  Shalom!   

Adventures in Israel, part 6

Day 6

Oh my goodness, I’ve just been floating in the Dead Sea & let me tell you it is the coolest thing EVER!  If I hadn’t loved Israel up to this point I would love it now!  Floating in it is really unbelievable—you can’t NOT float! 

We started our day by driving about 10 minutes north to Masada—a wilderness fortress built by Herod the Great—did this guy do anything but build things?  It seems like all he did was build fortresses & cities to make himself greater.  Masada was really cool—it’s a fortress build into the side of the rock.  We had the option of riding a cable car up to the top or climbing.  We were warned the climb could take up to 40 minutes.  Most of us opted to ride—pretty sweet to get to see the aerial view!  The climbers arrived about halfway through our tour of the fortress out of breath & sweaty.  I was glad I hadn’t climbed up!  From the top you can see so much!  The Dead Sea, Roman siege camps surrounding Masada, water routes from floods—and pretty much everything else.  Amazing how much has survived because of the dry climate of the desert!   We walked all through Masada—I am convinced Rome survived & conquered as long as they did because they knew how to live while at war—bath houses (complete with steam rooms/saunas) walls & floors decorated with mosaic, water cisterns & store rooms to hold up to 3 years worth of supplies.  If under siege they would be as want for nothing!    One of the things I’ve enjoyed most on this trip is seeing how people in ancient times lived—it helps me understand when reading the Bible or historic books if you can picture them in your mind.  I enjoyed that about Masada but…they came to a very sad end.  I wouldn’t want to live in that time, nor would I want to live in the desert…it was getting very warm when we left, about 10:30am.   Whew the sun was hot!

On the cable car, going up!

Masada

We drove from Masada just a little bit north to the Oasis of En Gedi—the caves where David hid & secretly cut off a piece of Saul’s robe when he was going potty in a cave.  We were told there are 3 waterfalls.  The first is accessed by an easy path.  The second was a little more difficult to do & the third was even more difficult.  Mom & I kind of only planned to go to the second but there were so many school groups there that is was easier to keep climbing to the third waterfall than it was to turn around & go back.  The path made a loop so only if you went to all three did you not have to turn around & re-trace your steps.  Seriously there were hundreds of kids there!  Most were boys—cute little Jewish boys with the long hair around their temples—some almost down to their elbows!  Seriously!  When we got to the first waterfall the pool was full of little boys swimming—and their teachers trying (with very little luck) to get them out!  Fortunately we got ahead of most of the kids at that point.  We got a bit of a head start to the second waterfall but they were climbing that path like little mountain goats (the ibex—mountain goat—is the symbol of the Israeli national parks—these kids—get it—kids?—could jump from rock to rock just like them!).  We were being pursued like Saul pursued David!  We made it to the second waterfall without too much trouble & with all the kids behind us, decided we had to keep going!  Fortunately there were handrails built into the rocks at some points & enough rocks around that you could hold on to—sometimes we were crossing little streams of water, but we did it!   We made it to the third waterfall!  Even mom!  She was major Aztec warrior woman!  It was pretty cool!  Some of our group (cough, cough--Brian Fisher--cough, cough) got in trouble from a little Jewish man for jumping in the pool of the third waterfall.   Hey, they earned it—it was quite a hike & very warm! 

A serious trek!  Didn't stop Mary Nelson!

We made it!

The hike back to the base was easier—downhill at least!—but still some work!  We could look up & see more school children climbing up.  Lots of teenage boys also imitating the ibex & running around, swimming in the pools, jumping from rock to rock (some of them in their underwear!).  This was our first time to see so many other groups at the same place we were.  But I guess it’s like us going to the Alamo—part of their history. 

We left En Gedi & came back to our hotel area for lunch.  We got sandwiches from Aroma Coffee—like Israeli Starbucks.  Mom & I both had eggplant sandwhiches—so good!!  We then walked back to the hotel (I wish I had a pedometer on this trip to see how far we’ve walked!) to change to go to the Dead Sea.  We walked down (it’s just across the street from our hotel) with the Coyle family & another couple.  We got there before most of the group & I’m glad!  The water was cold when we got there & so we had to force ourselves to get in—none of us in our little group had been there before—but after a few seconds I decided I just had to make myself do it & boy am I glad I did!  There’s truly no way to describe it—you just float!  So cool!  We floated on our backs, on our stomachs (Superman style), rolled from front to back, bobbed up & down, did water aerobics & everything else we could think to do while defying the laws of normal water!  The rest of our group got there after a while & it was fun to bob around, laughing at how cool this was together!  We stayed in for almost an hour & then got too cold.  Mom & I came back to get clean & dry.  Our skin is so soft after all that salt water!  Like a natural exfoliant!  Neither of us opted to do massages or facials at the hotel spa.  I think I would have fallen asleep & missed it!  We decided just to play in the Dead Sea & then relax till dinner.  After the day we’ve had we need it!  But oh it’s been fun!

And...she's in!

Just floatin' in the Dead Sea!

Superman!

Tomorrow we go up to Jerusalem!  I can’t believe we’ve been here almost a week!  And only 4 nights left!  OK, going to post this & then go to dinner.  And then hit the hay!  Mazel!

Adventures in Israel, part 5

Day 5

I’m sitting on the balcony of our hotel, looking out over the Dead Sea—what a difference a few hours drive south makes!  Galilee was so green & this area is so brown!  It’s like the central Texas hill country verses the deserts of West Texas.  With a giant salt lake though! 

We started our day driving south along the Jordan River.  Naomi said, “everyone look left—there is the Jordan flag, that’s Jordan!”  We drove along the border—on the right—Israel—it was green & hilly & Jordan was not.  Israel got less & less green as we drove south though.  We passed by a prison right outside my window on the bus—I could have reached out & touched the barbed wire—Naomi said, “this is a very serious prison—you don’t want to go there—it’s where the Palestinian terrorists are.”  Say no more, I’m convinced I don’t want to go there! 

We stopped at Herod’s Spring—not the king Herod, but the spring mentioned in Judges 6-8 where Gideon told his army men to get a drink & if they lapped like a dog they were told to go home & if they cupped their hands to drink they went in to the battle.  The funny thing to do there was so kneel down like you were drinking.  A little Old Testament humor.  :)

Drinking from Herod's Spring

We then drove to Bet She’an & walked around in the cold, cold wind, seeing the ruins of the city built by the Greeks around 300BC.  We got to sit in the theater, walk through the Roman bath house & other ways the Greeks & Romans were obsessed with outer appearance—the culture Jesus came into, telling them that God doesn’t care about the outer appearance, but cares about the heart.  The ruins of the Greek’s city were built at the base of the Tel—the more ancient city—our guide gave us about 30 minutes to talk around before leaving & my mom & I decided to climb up to the top of the hill—holy cow it was further than we thought but we made it!  Mom almost didn’t but I made her.  We didn’t come half way across the world to stop half way up the hill!  The view from the top of the hill was worth it!  But we were so worn out & concerned about making it back in time that we forgot to look for the Egyptian ruins from when they had been in power!  Oh well, next time! 

On top of the Tel of Bet She'an--see how windy it is!

After Bet She’an we continued driving south to Qumran to the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  It just continued getting browner & hotter the further south we drove.  We drove thru the West Bank area & Jericho but did not go in to Jericho since it’s controlled by Palestines & our Jewish tour guide couldn’t go with us.  And they make it a hassle to go in.  No hassles for us—on to Qumran where they don’t care who comes in!  But while we were passing Jericho all I could think about was how miserable it’d be to march around a city 7 times or have to be out in this desert at all for an extended period of time! 

In Qumran we learned about the Essenes who lived there & copied scrolls all day.  They were big on ritual cleansing (duh—it’s so hot & dusty, I’d turn getting clean into a ritual as well)!  We saw the ruins of their settlement & the caves where they hid their scrolls when they fled from the Romans after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70AD.  I can’t wait to see part of the Dead Sea Scrolls when we’re in Jerusalem!  If you turn 180 degrees from the Dead Sea Scroll caves—there’s the Dead Sea.  Crazy—all that water but it doesn’t give life to anything!  We learned it’s salt content is 34%.  The Mediterranean Sea is only 3%!  Crazy.  Can’t wait to float on it tomorrow! 

There's the cave!  Can you imagine living here or shepherding sheep here?

As we kept driving south to our hotel on the southern part of the Dead Sea the mountains around us kept getting taller & we kept getting lower.  All the hotels at the Dead Sea are on this southern part—a little “oasis” in the desert.  Palm trees, flowers, plants—but only right around the hotel.  Brown, brown, brown everywhere else! 

Tomorrow is a half-day of touring & then an afternoon of play by the Sea!  Mazel!

Adventures in Israel, part 4

Day 4

Whew!  What a day!  I had to look back over my notes just now to see where we even began today!  We drove about an hour this morning to the northern most area of Israel today—to the city of Dan in the Dan Nature Reserve.  Almost the entire way up to Dan the roads were lined with fields of crops—olive trees, cherry trees (so pretty with their pink & white blossoms!), almond trees, avocado trees, orange & other citrus tress & wheat fields.  Tons of hairpin turns!  Our bus driver is a rockstar. 

At the Dan Nature Reserve, we hiked up to the Dan River springs—one of the 3 sources of the Jordan River.  The hike was beautiful—so green with tons of foliage in bloom!  As we were walking thru the thick trees & vines, suddenly (I wasn’t expecting it!) there was the ruins of the ancient city of Dan!  It was like walking thru the jungle in Lost & all of a sudden you find the Dharma Initiative.  Ok bad example, but equally shocking I’m sure.  J   We learned about the tribe of Dan & how they settled here around 900BC because they weren’t able to conquer the people of the land they’d been given.  And we learned how Jeroboam set up a place of worship there that followed several of God’s designs for the temple but missed the mark & worshiped false gods because they were too lazy to go down to Jerusalem to worship where & how they were commanded to.  It was easy to think “how could they do that?” but even as we were walking down from the ruins thru the rest of the city, several members of our group cut thru some of the ruins, straying from the main path.  I didn’t see it happen but could hear our guide telling them to stay on the path, not to take the easy path.  Hmmm…how quickly we forget. 

Hike up to the city of Dan--yes, that's my momma in a ball cap!

Leaving the ancient city, we saw the seat where the king would have sat—issuing decrees & judgments to people at the city gates.  Like Boaz met with the elders of the city at the gates before marrying Ruth.  Super cool.  I sat on the king’s seat.  Felt very royal.  :)  Also cool to see how the gates represented power & authority—we were about to visit Caesarea Philippi where we’d see this illustrated as well!

On the way out of Dan we passed by what’s called Abraham’s Gate—the oldest gate in the world!—it’s made of mud bricks & was seen by Abraham (hence the name) when he passed thru Dan in Genesis 14.  Holy cow that’s some good mud!

Sitting on the king's seat at the city gate!

After Dan we drove east to Caesarea Philippi built by Herod Philip (one of Herod the Great’s sons).  I really didn’t know anything about this city—it’s a huge rock cave & wall & had been a center for worship of the god Pan who was very gross & required human sacrifice.  This area was sometimes referred to as the gates of Hades.  This is the region where Peter responds to Jesus’ question to who people say He was in Matthew 16 with, “You are the Christ, the Son of the LIVING GOD!”  Not dead, gross gods like Pan.  And Jesus says to him, “you are Peter (rock) and upon this ROCK I will build my Church & the gates of Hades will not prevail against it!”  In your face, Pan!

Katie & I at Caesarea Philippi

Lunch was at a Lebanese restaurant at Caesarea Philippi—falafel or chicken pita.  I had falafel & mom had chicken.  Both were good.  We saw lots of Israeli families picnicking & hiking since it’s both Sabbath & the Purim holiday.  One little girl (like 4 years old) was dressed like Snow White! 

We then drove north west to a place called Nimrod’s Castle—a fortress built by Muslims in the 12^th century & later occupied by the crusaders.  Super cool—felt like being in Europe!  The view was amazing—it looked like Ireland—green, rolling hills.  So pretty!  

At Nimrod's Castle

Around that corner behind me was a secret tunnel!

Climbing down in the secret tunnel--it's only that bright in there because I had the flash on--it was very secret!  

After the castle we drove south into Golan Heights.  We drove through a ski resort area—who knew there were ski resorts in Israel?  Not me!  This part of Israel felt very different from the other places we’ve been.  I don’t know near as much history as I should but it was easy to see the destruction of the wars fought here.  We drove up to Mt Avital-Mt Bental Nature Reserve—it’s on the rim of a volcano & is the site of an old military bunker.  It had been Syrian & then Israeli.  It’s not in use now, so you can climb down into the actual bunker area—super scary!   It was pitch black!   Thank goodness I carry a headlamp in my purse!  The unrest in the area was made very real to me as I was walking down from the height of the mountain back to the bus & passed two men in casual clothes—jeans & t-shirts—but one had a machine gun slung over his back.  I had to do a double take as soon as I passed them—sure enough—no uniform or any kind of military insignia.  Naomi, our guide, told us later that the Israeli military here are on orders to carry their weapon with them at all times.  This guy was probably out for a hike during the holiday but had his weapon ready.  Driving back down from the mountain we passed lots of fields with warning signs of the dangers of landmines.  Naomi said these are left from war in the 1960’s.  The only things allowed in those fields are cows.  Poor cows.  None exploded while we were driving by.  Luckily!  We also passed by several military bases & saw some drills with tanks going on as well—this is where they train—always ready in case Syria or someone else attacks. 

In the Golan Heights--that's Mt Hermon (the skiing mountain) in the background.

In the bunker of the military base--it was pitch black in there!

Thank goodness I am Rick Nelson's daughter & carry a headlamp with me!

We crossed a small section of the Jordan River on the way back south to our hotel in Tiberius (Galilee)—it was only maybe 15-20 feet across & not very pretty & Naomi reminded us that God chooses to use the small & lowly things to be important—like the Jordan River or Bethlehem—it’s not the place that is worthy of worship, but God.   

What a day!  This is our last night in Galilee.  We go south tomorrow to spend the next two nights at the Dead Sea.  I am super pumped to swim in it!   That might be tomorrow!  Woohoo!  This hotel we’ve been at has been incredible! Some of the most amazing food I’ve ever had!  I kind of hope our next hotels aren’t as good—I don’t think I can eat like this for another week!  Oh but it’s been so good! 

Alright, I think that’s all for today.  It’s been a great day!  

Not sure what the internet situation will be tomorrow.  I will take good notes & post when I can--this is helping me remember all that I've seen & done!  It's been so much!  Mazel!

Adventures in Israel, part 3

Day 3

It’s 5:15pm in Israel as I’m typing this.  We just got back to out hotel after a full & busy day.  I ate a fish with it’s head still on it today.  I saw the “river rats” at the Jordan River that the Duggar girls warned me about on 19 Kids & Counting.  I’m drinking a glass of pomegranate wine & my mom is talking to my Aunt Libby about baby Henry Rhodes Matthews who was born this morning (or yesterday…not sure with all the time & day changes).  What more could I ask for?  This has been a good day!

We started our day by driving north to Mt Arbel.  Nothing significant happened there but it was a great place to start the day!  We hiked up to the top & looked over the cliffs over all of the region of Galilee.  We saw the city on the hill that Jesus was probably referring to on the Sermon on the Mount.  Across the Sea of Galilee we saw the Golan Heights.  I felt like I was at the Grand Canyon (but greener) looking over the cliffs & trying not to fall off.  Super pretty! 

On top of Mt Arbel

Driving down the mountain we saw lots of olive groves, fruit trees & grain fields.  Israel is so green!  It’s easy to understand why Jesus used agricultural & farming terms in His parables!

We drove through Magdala where we saw excavation sites for “Mary of Magdala’s Hometown”.  We drove from Mt Arbel to the base of the Mt of the Beatitudes to Peter’s Primacy--where Jesus commanded Peter, "feed my sheep".   I’d shed my outer layer while on Mt Arbel & when I got off the bus at Peter’s Primacy I hear everyone say…”where’s Holly?  This is a holy site!”  I know, I know!  I’d already re-layered!  Goodness, sometimes it's hard to be holy.  Holy site=covered knees & shoulders.  Peter’s Primacy is on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, where most Bible scholars believe most of the Jesus’ ministry took place.  Why?  Because this is where most of the fish are & Jesus called fishermen to be his disciples, so this is the area the fishermen must have been!  God is so smart!  The Sea of Galilee is beautiful!  This morning it was so calm & peaceful—hard to believe there could be a storm there!  We learned later—while on a boat on the sea that storms are more prevalent in the afternoon.  While on the water we could look around & see almost every place Jesus’ ministry took place.  How small this region is surprised me! 

Peter's Primacy--I'm so holy!  :)

Katie Coyle & I on the Sea of Galilee

After our boat ride we went to Capernaum—the city of comfort.  We saw the synagogue where Jesus performed miracles and saw the Catholic Church that sits on top of the Byzantine Church that sits on top of Peter’s house.  (How did the Catholic Church get dibs on building on top of all these places?)  They know it was Peter’s house because there was a group of Christian’s who lived there consistently for 300 years after the time of Christ.  They met there & had to expand & even tear down some of the walls because the gathering got so big.  The first home church!  Maybe we should tear down part of the Martin’s house to be more like the early church!  Just kidding.  :)

Synagogue at Capernaum

Then we drove east across the Jordan River & started going south into the Golan area.  We saw where Jesus cast the demons out Legion into the herd of swine.  We went to Ein Gev Fish Restaurant who must have the monopoly on serving lunch to tour groups—it’s the place where you eat the fish with it’s head still on it.  It’s Talapia, aka St. Peter’s Fish.  I just tried not to look at the head.  It wasn’t too bad.  I only ate the middle.  Getting too close to the head or tail kind of weirded me out.  I mostly loaded up on pita & hummus. 

St Peter's Fish

Then we drove south west to the Jordan River to Baptism World—super cool to see people of every tribe, tongue & nation getting baptized where Jesus did!  I didn’t get baptized—several people in our group did—to be honest, I’d decided not to do it when I saw the 19 Kids & Counting episode where the Duggars go to Israel & the girls talk about how gross the river rats are.  We saw some & decided they are nutria.  So gross.  And HUGE cat fish!  I just knew as soon as I would get in the water one would bite my toe.  I was close enough to the Jordan!  It was awesome seeing people get baptized though—and hear all the different languages & people around us!

Jordan River nutria.  Gross.

Whew…almost done…ok after the baptisms we drove back north—making a complete circle of the Sea of Galilee in one day—back to our hotel.  I’ve now heard all about little Henry—my cousin-in-law, Oak is a rockstar from what I’ve heard!  Congratulations to Oak & Adam!  Henry is precious!

Tomorrow—the Sabbath—we’re staying mostly outdoors.  Nothing holy.  I’m thankful—it got warm today—it’s hard to be holy when it gets hot outside!  :)

Shabat Shalom!


PS I'm not proof reading this before posting.  Sorry for any typos or things that don't make sense.  Do your best to figure out what I mean.  :)

PPS My mom's & the other woman's suitcases were at the hotel when we arrived last night!  PTL!  

Adventures in Israel, part 2

Day 1

After 3 days, 4 cities, 3 countries, 1 bottle of hand sanitizer & 1 Ambien….we arrived in Israel! College Station to Houston to Miami to London to Tel Aviv.  The flights were long but good.  London was misty & cold.  I looked for Adele but did not see her.   All 48 of us arrived in Tel Aviv minus 2 suitcases.  My mom’s & another woman’s.  There were several other people on out flight whose luggage hadn’t made it.  Grrr British Air!  We filled out all the paper work (guess who helped speed up the process by getting a stack of the forms & pens & passing them out to people in line so they didn’t have to wait to get to the counter to start filling out the lengthy form….this girl!  They were so ready to hire me.) & left with faith that the luggage would be delivered to one of the hotels soon. 

We immediately boarded a bus & headed west to Joppa!  The distance was short but the traffic was bad & so it took a while to drive through the city.  All of a sudden we saw water ahead of us!  The Mediterranean Sea!  We went to Simon the Taner’s house where Peter raised Dorcas/Tabitha from the dead in Acts 9 & then was given the vision of clean & unclean animals soon afterwards.  Funny note: the house is privately owned now & so under the handwritten sign “House of Simon the Taner” is the family’s name.  There’s also a small hole in the door with a camera lens pointing out.  Don’t mess with these people. 

After two days of travel...but happy to be at the Mediterranean Sea!

Then we drove north along the Mediterranean Coast to Netanya to spend the night.  Our hotel room balcony looked out over the Sea.  Beautiful!  Dinner was AMAZING!  Pita bread, two kinds of hummus, olives, lamb, chicken, vegetables.  All my favorite things!   So good! 

Dinner was quickly followed by showering, taking Ambien & SLEEPING!

Day Two

PTL for sleep!  We both slept well & were awakened at 6am by a wake up call!  Breakfast at 6:45, on the bus at 7:45.  Ready for a big day!  

We drove north to Caesarea—a harbor town built by Herod the Great (not a great guy—he was the Herod who killed baby boys trying to kill baby Jesus—but a great architect!).  We walked around the artificial port city, a theater, horse/chariot race track & saw the aqueduct he has built to bring fresh water in.  Great builder!  This is the port city Paul sailed from to make his appeal to Caesar.  Super old stuff.  A coffee shop was playing old school TLC--I don't want no scrub....   Super funny. 

Theater at Caesarea

Then we drove north again to Mt Carmel.  Along the Mediterranean we saw fish farms.  Made me think about Thanksgiving 2010’s family excursion to the fish hatcheries of South Texas.  My dad cannot say he caught all these fish like he tried to claim in Texas.  While at Mt Carmel we went to the top of a monastery & looked out over the surrounding area.  Talk about cities on hills—none of these places can be hidden!

Next up: Lunch!   Bonnie, I don’t know what you were talking about—falafel is delicious!  Pita bread, fried chick peas (hummus), pickled hot pink & neon veggies?!—what’s not to LOVE? 

Next we went to Megiddo & learned what tel means.  A tel is basically a city built on top of the runins of another city, built on top of the ruins of the previous city, etc.  Twenty five layers have been found at Tel Megiddo.  Walking around the city is like walking through a site where a house is being build—you see the outlines of things.  One of the coolest parts was seeing where the stables had been & some ancient mangers were still there—stone mangers.  There’s not much wood in Israel but there’s a lot of stone!  Jesus was probably placed in a stone manger when he was born.  The mangers we saw were about waist high, but only several inches deep at the top so that a horse wouldn’t have to lean too far down to get food.  I know the manger in Bethlehem were Christ was born was probably not just like these but it was so cool to be able to think that this could have been just like Jesus baby bed.  :)  Our guide, Naomi, made the point that mangers are feeding troughs and that this is how Jesus, the bread of life, came into the world.  Side note: Our guide Naomi is wonderful!  She is a Messianic Jew who was born in Israel to Messianic Jewish parents & has lived her whole life here.  She’s so knowledge!

Manger--I'm guessing the horse isn't part of the original city.  :)

The end of our time in Megiddo was spent climbing down into the water system of the city.  The spring’s source had been covered up so that the city’s residents could go underground & climb through a tunnel to get water without being seen by enemies or outsiders.  Totally like climbing through the 3^rd Tunnel between North & South Korea—only this tunnel was about 2 feet taller than my head, was shorter in distance, had better handrails & was better lit.  Also no little Japanese women stopped to laugh at me because I was too tall to fit in there.  But otherwise I totally had flashbacks to Koreapalooza 2011.

Climbing down....

Climbing out!  That's water on the sides.

OK getting tired, so going to wrap this up.  We drove North East to the Sea of Galilee through Nazareth.  We didn’t get out, but got to see that it’s a much smaller town—combine the Texas hill country’s hills (but a bigger & rockier) and the way towns in Dallas/Ft Worth area or New England all run right into another town—that’s kind of what this felt like.  One minute we’re driving through Nazraeth, the next minute we were in an Arab town, then another.  I’m sure they all have names, but I don’t know them.  Lo siento.  We missed getting to Mt Arbel by 3pm (which was the plan since they stop letting people in at 3) so we re-routed to the Mt of the Beatitudes.  Saw the Church of the Beatitudes where they love the Pope just as much as Jesus.  We then planned to go shopping at a “nice shop” owned by a Christian who exports a lot of his goods to the US.   My dad totally would have loved this—while on the way to shop we detoured to go check out a boat—the Jesus Boat—2000 year old fishing boat that was discovered on the Sea of Galilee.  Really cool.  Google it. 

Church of the Beatitudes

Jesus Boat

By then it was 5 o’clock.  We headed to our hotel—the Scots Hotel—“on St Andrew’s Galilee”—you know, Andrew the Scottish apostle.  The waiters & bel hops wear kilt like aprons.  The hotel is beautiful—google it.  Dinner was AMAZING.  Good thing we walked a ton today & climbed up about 400 steps because I am eating a ton!  It’s so good!

Surprises so far: Israel is greener & more agricultural than I thought.  The food is awesome.  Sometimes your best shopping is done when you have to detour to go check out a boat.  Well, that’s not a surprise.  J

One other funny thing—so we’ve seen people at the hotels wearing costumes like bunny ears, or clown wigs, etc.  Our guide told us today that it’s the Feast of Purim—when reality changed for the Jewish people—so during the feast people dress up like American Halloween.  It’s pretty funny. 

Great day 2, ready for bed!  Well, really, I’m ready to get online & check out the new iPads!  Then bed.  And dreams if iPads.  And getting on the Sea of Galilee tomorrow!  Fish with the head still on, here I come!  

Mazel Tov!