Happy BIrthday Mom!

I know I am a day late but the internet went out last night so I was not able to post a blog. But Mom I want to tell you happy birthday and I want to thank you for being such a great influence in my life and supporting me throughout ths journey and all other experiences. I could not have asked for a better mother and I know that I will forever be indebted to you. I hope your birthday was wonderful and I hope you enjoyed Dad's cake!
Well, sorry again for keeping you guys waiting. But these past two days have been packed with field trips, visiting tells, and sloshing our way through underground tunnels. Yesterday we went to a few Biblical sites, the major one being the site where David slew Goliath.

Once again our acting skills are coming out, lindsey and I make up Goliath and Emily is David. We got actual sling shots and practiced for a while. It took a while to get the hang of it and there was an Asian tour group that also stopped for a bit and I think they left when all of us pulled out our sling shots. Ooops

We also went to the hometown of David, Goliath, and Samson. I would show you pictures of the rocks but I will save you from the boredom of looking at rocks.A t one of the locations we got to go through several tombs of local kings are wealthy landowners. This is a picture in one of the tombs, so a few of us started a trend and a "field trip uniform" that consists of khaki pants and white shirts, we call ourselves the "plain white tees" and so here is the group pic from yesterday:

yesterday was really long, an 11 hour field trip adn it was HOT  but I don't mind it because the bus rides are always a highlight and no matter where we are something funny occurs. Our teacher just has this natural gift for bring in the spiritual side to wherever we are and it is so exciting to be in the locations of the Biblical stories!
Today was probably the best field trip thus far, we went to the City of David (which is the original Jerusalem where Melchizedek, Abraham ,Isaac, Lehi, Isaiah, and other prophets lived). Before the Babylonians attacked during the first temple period they built this system of underground tunnels to attach the water from the Gihon spring to the west side of the city. This tunnel is still flowing with water today! At the start of the tunnel you jump in waist high to freezing cold water! Luckily the level drops as you move your way through but that initial jump sure does take your breath away.

These pictures were taken during the low tides or after the tunnel trip but as you look at a few of their pants you can see the water level marks. We all had to bring our own flashlights because when there was no artificial light it was impossible to see your hand in front of you. For a few hundred meters we played "chicken" to see who would be the first to chicken out and turn on the lights. I was not the chicken but it was one of the guys. He did have a mild excuse because he kept hitting his head on the ceiling. Before the tour we got to watch a 3-D movie about the tunnels. The Israelis are obsessed with little tour movies and they are the cheesiest movies you will ever see, most of the time people fall asleep during them or just laugh at them.

Here we are prepared with our glasses on to watch the movie. After the tour we went and looked at the city ruins where we saw.....

The Pool of Shiloam where Jesus healed the blind man with mud and spittle. 

(Try and guess what we are doing in the picture)

This is the location where Isaiah met with Ahaz and the general area where he gave the famous prophecy of Christ being born to a virgin. 

 And some ancient toilets. Look for the rock with the hole in it.

Today was an overall success and I just had the chance to skype with Emily and my niece Cecilia which made my day :)