The Sea of Galilee.....

 Where do I begin...? The first day we headed off in our buses to the Galilee. The first stop was at Bet She'an this is where King Saul lived (and also where Jesus Christ Superstar was filmed, I have never seen the movie) Well, I had to be selective with my pictures so I didn't post pictures about a lot of the places but I tried to pick a few good ones.

The next stop was at the Nativity Village which was a rebuilt/  re-enacted village that was supposed to represent a typical village during the time of Christ. Not going to lie it was a little cheesy but you got to appreciate people that dress up and act like they are from the 1st century.

 The one cool thing about this place was that they had rebuilt a synagogue that was popular at this time period. We go to a bunch of tels and ruins so it is hard to imagine what it really looks like but this helped me visualize it better.

 Afterwards we went to Nazareth, the first stop was the Nazareth Synagogue where Christ preached. He came here after he was tempted by the Devil three times. It was here that he began his ministry and declared that he was the Messiah.

 The Church of the Annunciation was a church that was built to commemorate when the Angel appeared to Mary.  There was really cool artwork here because countries from around the world donated their version of the annunciation and they are hanging up around the church. This is the front facade of the church

 This is the inside of the church

 The next stop on the way there was one of my favorites, it was on top of Mt. Arbel. We had this magnificent overlook of the Galilean area. Behind me you can see Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Gnessot.  And of course the Sea of Galilee. It was super windy up there which was quite refreshing considering I had already sweated a gallon.

 The next day was our first free day. We were split into our two classes so we would switch off everyday and either have a free day or field trip day. We got the first free day. These are pictures of our resort and beach. On free days we had 3 hours of class in the morning, lunch, and then endless hours out on the beach! It was so nice to just relax on the beach and play in the water. It was the warmest water that I had ever stepped foot in. It was bathtub warm water!

 We would pull out our chairs into the water and just sit there talking. When the other class came back we had the largest chicken fight battle that I have ever been to. I am not going to lie I am really aggressive when I am in a chicken fight and I beat a lot of people. Good times.

 

The Next day we started off with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. So gorgeous. We stopped in the middle of the Sea and had a little devotional about when Peter walked on Water, the stormy seas and Christ sleeping, and also feeding of the 5000. It was an unreal experience to read those stories and actually be on the sea. 

Jess Sloan and I taking an engagement photo on the sea.

 This is a picture of us at the Synagogue at Capernaum. Capernaum was a great spiritual experience because there was sooo many events that happened here:
Healing Peter's mother-in-law
Raising Jairus' daughter
Man with Palsy lowered in the roof
healing the Centurion's servant
The Calling of Matthew
Christ eating with the publicans
The women who touched the hem of Christ's robe
And many many more.....
Christ preached in this exact synagogue!!!

This is us right in front of Peter's house. So this is the location of where Christ would have stayed and also where the man with Palsy was lowered down

 The rest of the day we went to other main sites where Christ spent his ministry, the main one being Chorazin. There are not any good pictures because at this point we were drenched in sweat and dying. 

The next day we had class in the morning and then we went on a hike to some waterfalls. We were right on the Syrian border edge. They were sticklers about staying on the path because it was an old mine field. living life on the edge.

 We stayed at a Kibbutz which is a community where all things are shared (think law of consecration style) but they did have a resort where we stayed. One night we got to go a restaurant. This was the sunset every night. 

 This is Gamla which is typically thought of as the "City upon the Hill" and if you are a history buff then you will appreciate that this is where Josephus lived.  It was quite the hike to the area but it was worth it.

 This is the over view from Gamla

 The next day was Shabbat, so we went to the Tiberias branch. Wow, I wished that I attended this branch every week. It was a house on the Sea with the prettiest overlook.

 Then we went to another baptismal site on the Jordan River. We got to dip our feet in the river and cool enough for awhile.

 I forgot that we went to the Mt. of Beatitudes. This was such a beautiful site, a little oasis. Everything was so green and the church was beautiful! We read the Sermon on the Mount and had a devotional. The sweetest nun came and spoke to us and it was so inspirational.

 I feel like I am skimming over so many things but I think there is only so much blog you can handle. No worries over the next few days there will be more posts.
Shabbat Shalom!

O, Galilee

 Hey hey hey! I just arrived back home to the JC! I am happy to be home but I am going to miss the Galilee soooooo much. It was quite possibly the best 12 days of my life. I won't give away any details because I will post over the next few days about what happened.......

We have midterms tomorrow so I need to study and I am planning on going to bed at 9:30 tonight so I don't have time to make a real post but these are just some previews for what is to come.

I just can't wait to tell you guys about the Galilee.

The Galilee topped the charts though for being the most:
1. Spiritual experience
2. sweatiest I have ever been
3. Hottest I have ever been
4. most tired I have ever been
5. and the Funnest/funniest times of my life.
Well I love you all! And talk to you tomorrow. And I hope you all enjoyed the Harry Potter movie. I am super jealous that I haven't seen it yet!!

Garden Tomb

 Yesterday for the Sabbath I went to the Garden Tomb

 We spent like a few hours just studying, reading, and enjoying the gardens

 Linds and I in front of the tomb

This is the door walking outside of the tomb

So here is some good news and some bad news. I leave for Galilee in the morning and we will be gone for 10 days. We won't have any internet access so my blog will be on hold until I come back. I'm sorry and I know that you will miss me but I promise when I get back that I will catch you up on everything :) have a great week and here are a few pics from the past 2 weeks!

 Herodian Palace

 Church of the Nativity

 Bethlehem

 Emily and I are sharing our headset in Bethlehem

 Sambooki aka the BEST BAKERY EVER. spent like an hour there today people watching and eating pasteries

Rob and I may have gotten into a little water fight on the walk home...all of the locals were laughing at him and even a few guys pretended through water on him as well. Clearly I won!

See you in 10 days! I love you all.

Tel Aviv part deuce

On Tuesday a group of us returned to Tel Aviv.

Our decision to go was made on a complete whim, the night before around 12:30 we had this brilliant idea to go to Tel Aviv for our free day. 

Most people decided to stay in and study for the two finals we had the next day in our Judaism and Ancient Near Eastern Class but we thought why stay inside and study when you can go to the beach?

No worries Mom and Dad I still did fine on my final

 Some of the boys decided to go all out and get henna tattoos. Adam thinks that he was getting a stallion. We had to break the news and tell him that it looked like a "My Little Pony" horse

Right before we got in the buses to go home they also got the urge to jump in the public fountain in the middle of the busiest round-about. Luckily the bus came before the police did.

All I have to say is:

S-U-C-C-E-S-S that's the way you spell success

Happy 8th of July!

Happy Eighth of July! 

 Tonight we celebrated the fourth of July just a few days late...

But we got to enjoy some American food which almost brought me to tears because I have missed it.

 mmm.... the first hamburger in 3 years! loved every bite.

 After dinner we spent the night doing fun games, above is a few friends (not sure what they are doing) but it was a constant party. Listened to good classic music that got us all into the spirit and brought us back to our good ole' American rowdiness! Dance party

 Sparklers!!

 3-legged races! Jess and I dominated the first race but our reigning championship failed when we tumbled to the ground

 Sunset Photo

No Lindsey is not Pregnant just a bad photo, I didn't notice until right now

 Roommates!

 Face Paint

If you couldn't tell from the first pic but Linds and i got face paint that says I love USA and we each have half of the heart. sups cute

We were all in need of some American spirit, it is hard to miss the fourth of July but tonight was one of the greatest celebrations that I have ever had on an Eighth of July! 

I am so thankful for the country that I do live in and the freedoms that we have! Being here we are constantly surrounded by wars and fighting. There are tons of people that are denied rights and it saddens me that there are still people in the World who are void of basic rights. I just know that I am that much more thankful for America.

I like it Eliat

On Sunday our entire group went to Eliat, which is the southern most part of Israel, and it is known for its impecable snorkeling. I was quite impressed at the reef, the only downer was that it was really windy so it was a little mucky in the water. 

The bus ride down was very long (like 5 hours) but it was worth every minute. We have gotten so used to bus rides that we have plenty of games to go around. 

Here is the group photo. I am on the far left

Katherine this one is for you:

And here are some extras:

 Matching sunglasses:

It was a nice distraction from school and relaxation from finals (which I just took my last final for Judaism!! wooo)

Eliat is on the Red sea so of course I was able to part it and save the children of Israel... well, maybe not this time but it was good enough to swim and snorkel

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I know I am a few months ahead or behind, whichever way you think about it..... but today we celebrated the Birth of our Savior.

We went to the Church of the nativity which is a multi-religious church that commemorates that area where Christ was born.  It was a rough start because I got "shushed" by the priest for laughing but once we got away from the his death glare it got better. Here is a picture of a Cathedral with a beautiful stained glass window portraying the birth.

  we got the entire chapel to ourselves because there was not a lot of tourist,  so we sang Christmas hymns and had a mini devotional

The church is built over the grotto so you walk down a few steps to the underground shrine. It was so toasty down there that we could only last a few minutes before we had to go up and get air and they were starting mass but I got this picture right before. It is a gold star which is typically thought to be the birthplace.

Then a few steps away is the traditional manger which is where another shrine is located (and then the next room is the stable). I am not really sure how it all works out and how they know the specific different locations of each one. Especially since I thought it was an all-inclusive deal but I guess they just want to spread the love all over. 

This is the manger where he rested after the birth.

Here is the stable and also the location where the angel appeared to Joseph to tell them to go to Egypt

After a long process of going through the separation wall we went to a shepherd field that overlooks Bethlehem. We had a musical devotional and a spiritual devotional at the overlook. This is what Bethlehem would have looked like when Christ was born, it had natural terracing with lots of trees and shrubs. While we were there we actually saw a shepherd and his flock roaming the area. Many shepherds actually keep their sheep here by night.

So the field trip uniform has really caught on and it is the new fad. Check out everyone today in their "plain white tees"and this is only half the group!

But happy fourth of July to everyone, I am not going to lie but I am a little sad that I am missing the fourth ( which includes all of the chips and salsa, BBQ, and hamburgers) but at least we celebrated another holiday. This friday the center is throwing a fourth of july bash for us so at least we will get a little slice of home. Being here on the fourth has made me appreciate being an American that much more. I am so grateful that I do not live in constant fear and that I am not restricted to confined areas. I thought of all the Palestinians who are not able to leave the area of the West Bank or Gaza and how they are constantly fighting with the Israelis.  We are so lucky to live in a country that we are free and have a democracy. Another cool thing that we realized today is that this is the and of our old and original fore fathers and it is a unique experience to commemorate the sacrifices they made for us. 

Well everyone be safe out there and enjoy the fourth of July!