November 18th Jesus Died for You and Me.

Today we did a lot of touring. It was our last day, so we had to fit in all the rest! The first thing we did was go to the Mt. of Olives where we looked out over the ancient and new city of Jersusalem.

Jerusalem

Then we began walking for the rest of the day. Throughout the day, we followed the places where Jesus walked carrying the cross. We stopped at many churches...but one of my favorites was the one at the Garden of Gethsemane. Also the one named St. Anns. Here, groups took turns singing and the acoustics were absolutely amazing. Our group got to go, and we sang a few songs and a lot of the tour groups after said that they wanted us to sing more because it was so beautiful.

Garden of Gethsemone

In one of the churches...

Cutest guy we've seen in far too long...

got a close up...yup :)

My favorite part of the day was going to the place where they think that Jesus was crucified. Our tour guide here was very short and to the point, so I was able to pay attention and really know and understand what he was saying. We walked into a garden that was near the supposed "skull of golgotha" and then had a tour. The place where he would have been crucified is actually now a bus station which I found ironic. In the ancient days, they would have taken Jesus to just a common place to be crucified, somewhere where everyone would be and could see. Today, it's a bus station where many people go every day, and it's just a common place. That was really interesting to me. Then lastly we ended up where the tomb that Jesus would have been buried in...there really aren't any words to describe the feeling and significance of this...so I'm not sure I even want to try...

Skull of Golgotha

In front of the tomb

This is how we ended the day, and after a few songs, we were back on our way to the hotel. We had to wake up at midnight (again) to get to the airport in time because it took a really long time to go through security. Once I was through, I skyped Jordan from back home :)

When we landed back in Greece, it was cool weather, which was so nice to feel! It feels like real fall/winter now and I absolutely LOVE it. I got back to the Artemis and found a package from home and I was so happy, it pretty much made my whole entire day :)

November 17th Hezekiah's Tunnel

This day was actually one of my favorite days. The first thing we did was go to where Hezekiahs Tunnel is, and we got to go into it and walk the whole distance. I absolutely loved this. Dr. Manor was behind me so the whole way through he was explaining everything to me, and Ashlee was in front of me a long with some of the guys and since we were at the end of the line, we got to walk slow and we sang songs and the acoustics was really beautiful in it. The water was about up to my knees at some points but apparently some times during the year it could be up to our hips...so I am glad it wasn't that high.

skylar and i matched coincidentally :)

After that we went to the Temple Institute where they were telling us that they are trying to rebuild the second temple that was destroyed by the Romans...I didn't really know how to respond to the tour guide because she was so passionate about what she was talking about but it totally went against what we believe as Christians. But it was definitely interesting to hear her view.
 
Then we had PIZZA! That was wonderful because we hadn't in a really long time and we were all getting sick of the same food. Also, this pizza was good :)

Then we went to the Whaling Wall. This was definitely an interesting cultural experience to say the least. We got to go on the Women's side of the wall. Some of us went up and prayed, but I just sat down in the seats and talked to God. I wasn't really sure how to respond because I don't necessarily agree with all the religious aspects that are brought upon the wall...but I just did my own thing while others did theirs. I noitced that you are not supposed to turn your back on the wall, so when you walk away from it, you have to walk backwards. That was really interesting. Then we had a tour guide of the whole inside.

My favorite part of the day was the Israel Museum. We were let go and got to look around it by ourselves for about an hour. I wish it could have been longer. This was without a doubt, hands down my favorite museum in the whole entire trip of being overseas. I saw a nail that was driven through a heel, that would have been like Jesus' crucifixion. And then there was a whole side of the museum that was art! I went over to  that section and was there for the remainder of the time just looking at the art and thinking about my interpretation of it. It was my favorite thing...

November 16th, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

Today we went to Bethlehem. Here, we went to the Nativity Church where supposedly is the site where Jesus was born. Crazy, huh? Yeah...well the crowds thought so too. There were so many people crammed into this small space and people were really rude. Basically we stood in line for over an hour trying to see the site in the bottom room of this church. It was crazy. Americans are actually really polite compared to the rest of the world. We keep our space and wait our turn. Europeans? Not so much...but never the less we got to see it! Here's a picture.

After all of that, we went to a store in Bethlehem that sold a whole bunch of Olive Wood products :) I don't want to spoil what I got for some people so I will just say that I really liked this store and got a lot of souvenirs! Just hope that they don't break in my suitcase...

Later this day, we went to the Valley of Elah where supposedly David fought Goliath. Dr. Manor and Gill re-acted the scene while Dr. James read from the bible. I got that on video...haha. Then we all chose what we thought was "the stone" that killed Goliath.

Then right next to here, Bet-shemesh which is Dr. Manor's favorite because he is the feild director of the excavators of this site. Also, Monica excavated here a little bit one summer so that was really cool too! Then we went down in the cistern and sang some songs. It was wonderful!

November 15th Lenoardo DiCaprio

Our first stop this morning was Mt. Presipus where Heather gave her presentation. Then we went to the ruins at Megiddo which honestly was cool but really boring to me. I couldn't really concentrate at all today for some reason...but then we got to go to Cesearea Maritima which was so beautiful! It was right by the sea and we were there around sunset :) You won't actually believe this, but we saw Leonardo DiCaprio there with his girlfriend. We didn't actually see his face because he was walking away and his body guard (girlfriends dad apparently) told us to back off. But all of us got pictures of the back of his head!

Then we had a break to take pictures by the ocean :) This was my favorite part of the day!

November 14th, Church in Nazareth

Journal entry (in my writing journal): "...We are having church with a real church of Christ church in Nazareth. They are of the Palestine Nation, but they are Christians, not Muslims. I am so excited to be here because first of all I LOVE visiting churches because it makes the people so happy and it's amazing to find people like me all over the world! And I miss doing that every year on camping trips. Also, we haven't been to church in a while. We have had communion and singing but hadn't visited a church yet. Also, it's amazing cause when we sang here, we sang in English, and they sang in Arabic at the same time! I loved it! We also sang my favorite song 'It is well with my soul'!"

After the service, they gave us food and drinks and we fellowship ed with the church there for a while. Then we headed off to do some more touring. We went to many different churches, including; Church of Annunciation, and the Church of the Wedding. That one sticks out to me the most because it is the supposed place where Jesus turned the water into wine!

For lunch, I got a some traditional Israel food called Schnitzel (i think). It was ok, but not my favorite :)


Then we went to Bethesda, and later the Mountain of the Be attitudes, which was absolutely beautiful. Once we were done, we headed back to the hotel and I worked out again! Then Ashlee, Kalie, Sam K and I watched a movie!

November 13th Sea of Galilee

Honestly, today was an off day for me. I was really homesick and emotional today and it was a long day of traveling. First, we saw a little of the ancient city of Jericho. Dr. Manor was really excited about this, and gave us a little tour guide. There wasn't much left of the ancient city, which is always kinda frustrating because it is hard to envision what the city was like. It takes a lot of concentration. On the bus ride, I did Skylar's hair, which was actually really fun and it turned out great!

Jericho

Skylar's hair :) Notice the braid...one of my summer hair styles

Then we went to Phillipi Caesarea, which is now known as Banjas. It's located on right by a mountain, and it is really pretty. The water here runs into the Jordan River. Gill did a presentation using Ashlee and it was really funny.

Me and Sky

The demonstration...i honestly don't remember what it was about.

beautiful.

 
Then we traveled to get on a boat that took us across the Sea of Galilee to our hotel. At this point in the day, I was really emotional and almost cried on the boat...it was sad. But we sang church songs and danced a little on the boat. Then when we got to our hotel, we actually were staying here for more then just one night and that was nice to hear. There was also a gym at this hotel, so right away I went to go use it. Monica was in there too, and we had a really good, deep conversation while running! That made me feel so much better and I was in a way way better mood for the rest of the trip.

on the boat

November 12th, End of Jordan, Beginning of Israel

Today was our last day in Jordan and we went to Mt. Nebo where Moses saw the Promise Land and God told him that he wasn't going to be able to actually go into the Promise Land. Then we went to the Jordan River where Jesus was said to be baptized...this was really neat and special. Sometimes I find it hard to really grasp the fact that I am in these special places...like a lot of times it doesn't really hit me until later. I don't like that...but I honestly think that it is because we are doing so much, everyday that it's difficult to constantly appreciate it until I really think about it.

View of the Promise Land from Mt. Nebo

In front of the Jordan River

Apparently it was "pop your collar day"

After we were done in Jordan, we headed back to the Israel border but this time it wasn't as bad and we didn't have to wait as long, even though it was still a while. Then we met Gill, our Israel tour guide. Immediately, he was very friendly and very talkative which can be a good and bad thing. We learned a lot but it was almost an overload. The first thing that we did was go to the the Dead Sea! We got to float in it! It was really really weird feeling and I tried to stand up but the density just pulled my legs back up...it was really funny :) After that, we did a little tour of En Gedi, and called it a day!