Jordan - Day One

Well friends, our field study days have ended and we finished our series of trip with a four day journey to Jordan. It was such a fun trip to be in a more "middle eastern", arabic speaking culture. Jordan is 92% Muslim and we experienced their culture in the food that we ate and in the people we interacted with. There were many Bedouin (tent-dwelling farmers) communities we interacted with and experienced. It was interesting to see elements of a third world country clashing with the first world in Jordan. We were required to have a Jordanian tour guide and police man on the bus which also added to our experience of the middle eastern conflict and how the relationships stand because of it. The land in Jordan is almost identical to that of Israel and almost mirrors the geography on the other side of the Dead sea. We saw many thing in Jordan and I'll let the pictures tell the stories on our first day.

Jordanian farmer turning his tractor around next to our bus

A view to the Sea of Galilee from the Eastern side at Gedara

The Theater at Gedara...made of Basalt when the ones in Israel are mostly limestone

A beduoin sheep herd being held in with a tire fence. A shepherd watched from the side to protect the flock

The beduoin tents...they were located on a hillside right next to a modern apartment building

The sunset at Ramoth Gilead

There was a Starbucks in Amman...the capitol city of Jordan. It was such a fun treat to get to go to Starbucks for a little taste of home

A group of us took a couple taxi out to the store and made sure to buy our Jordan starbucks mugs!

Happy Birthday to Sarah!!

It is my sister's big birthday today! Love you and wish I could be there to celebrate!!!
Happy 26th Sarah!!

Eilat!

The time had come for the girls and I to get off campus and spend some time away. We rented a little Hyndai Getz, affectionately nicknamed the "baby g", and I had the pleasure of driving us down to Eilat. The little tourist trap of a town is at the very southern tip of Israel just bordering Egpyt and Jordan. We was so nice to sit by the beach, read, and rest over the past weekend. We did have a bit of an adventure when we got pulled over for speeding 20 minutes from town....I didn't have a clue what the speed limit sign was, or what it even looked like. The cop started yelling in Hebrew when he came to the window and I politely asked for English. He then seemed to become friendly enough and asked me if I knew the speed limit. He then checked our papers and told me to get out of the car. At this point I thought we were in over our heads, but he merely wanted to show me his radar and fill me in on what the speed limit signs looked like. Apparently I had confused what I thought was the sign telling us what road we were on, 90, when it was actually the speed limit, 90 kilometers an hour. He then attempted to take down my license number, which he only wrote down half of it, and then had a hard time writing down my name in Hebrew. We were told by his partner, "if you loose control out here, only death". At any rate, death did not take place and we managed to make it there and back safe. The water was cool but the sun was very hot....it was a great weekend!

The Red Sea and Jordan off to the distance

Red Sea close to sunset with Egpyt off in the distance

Ashley, Me, Jenna, and Natalie

They had a fish restaurant there named, "Boston" and this little boat sitting outside....so funny

Home from Eilat

Well…we got back from spending the weekend at Eilat last night. We spent our days laying by the Red Sea and soaking up as much reading as sun. Coming home last night was like coming home from a vacation when you are dredging the work that has to be done and preparations for a new week. I decided I would not be very productive out of sheer sun induced exhaustion, so I cracked open a book and called it a night. Coming home we also got news that we have no hot water in the bathroom. Showers are now less than fun. This of course complements the rats we found in our personal toiletry drawers last week. Add of all these scenarios together and you have me wishing I were returning home to Seattle last night instead of our enchanting Jerusalem. I’m beginning to recognize that the comforts of home are so very comfortable. I was reminded as I was attempting to shave in a cold shower that people do so everyday. A rat in the bathroom is really nothing in comparison to some of the horrors people all over the world face everyday. I should be thankful to have running water, nice shampoo, and a weeks worth of clothes sitting in my locker upstairs. Still I find myself spoiled by the treasured comforts of living far more than comfortably in America. Sitting in a coffee shop in Jerusalem trying to get some Hebrew homework done, Joni Mitchell has been playing overhead and I’m curiously shocked that she’s even playing, and even more that people know the words to sing along. It’s a little piece of home even though home feels far away today. I am so enthralled by the lessons learned here and I’m confident I will not even know how much I have taken in until I am acclimating to life back in the US. After reading the news about people in Gaza being attacked, their electricity limited, and also about the innocent Israeli’s suffering the attacks of the Palestinians in Gaza, I am reminded that none of us are really ever home. Home being a place of comfort, far from any fear, a place of rest. I’m convinced our home isn’t anywhere but in the grasp of His grace. The ultimate home not becoming a reality until we’re there with Him in the truest Holy city.

More on Eilat to come….

Happy Halloween!!

Living so close to Salem, Massachusetts last year it was hard to miss Halloween when people were decorating their houses as if it were Christmas. This year had brought so many new learning experiences and changes living in Israel...and forgetting about Halloween is one of them. I knew the crazy holiday was coming up but it slipped my mind until a friend of mine reminded me this morning. It turns out we are having a bit of a halloween party on campus tonight which is promising pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. I'm looking forward tasting a bit of the autumn season in a cup of hot apple cider and am appreciating the relief of the newly cooler weather. It doesn't cool down much until evening, but it is much appreciated. At any rate, enjoy the candy and celebration of the fall season. We're doing our best to remember it isn't perpetually summer, but I'm sure my plans to go sit on the beach and swim with dolphins at the Red Sea is not helping such a cause. Oh well, when in Rome...

World Series Champs!!!

Well folks....although this blog has been swept with messages about Israel, the Red Sox swept the Rockies and have clinched the WORLD SERIES!!!! Too bad I couldn't be in Boston for the big celebration but what a great thing to wake up to this morning!!!!
HURRAY FOR THE RED SOX!!

Galilee 4

To start our fourth day of field study in Galilee we stopped at the ancient remains of Sepphoris. This town was the mid point between Nazareth and the outlying cities. It would not be inaccurate to assume that Jesus spent time in this city the building of it would have needed many workers. Of course this isn't in scripture but it would make sense that the Roman would have drawn on the communities in the surrounding neighborhoods to help build the city. Because they drew on people from many different areas to build the city, we can assume that Jesus would have come to understand other cultures and languages from the the people he encountered. Even if he was not part of the building of the city, it was still a major urban city and a bit of a crossroads for many on the way to the Sea of Galilee and located near Nazareth. This is interesting because it helps us understand how Jesus may have grown up and the things that may have influenced him as he ministered to people later in his life. His ministry was in an area that was extremely urban, highly international, and drew many different kinds of people. His upbringing and growth as a person most defintiely affected how He ministered to others. That is also so true of us. How we grow, develop, and change affects our relationships and care of others and Jesus would have understood this too.

Also at Sepphoris are the "mona lisa" mosaics of the day. They are called this because they are so well preserved and show us the syncritism of the culture during those days. Next, we went to Bet Alfa where we saw some similar mosaics from a synagogue and then went to the "Garden of the Three". The garden is a place that Time magazine called a top 20 of places to go out of your way to see. It was a fun park to swim in the natural spring water from the three major springs flowing through the land from Mt. Hermon. To finish the day we went to Beth-Shean/Scytopolis. Beth-Shean was an Old Testament city where Saul and his son were slain. Scytopolis is a New Testament city that has been very well preserved and had fun things to see. Here are the pics:

Mona Lisa at Sepphoris

Mona Lisa at Sepphoris

Garden of the Three

Jenna and me at the springs

Bet Alfa mosiac of the Abraham and Isaac story

Aerial view of Sctyolopis from the hill of Beth-Shean

The theater at Scytopolis

These pillars are along the main cardo (road) at Scytopolis