So, Wow It's been a while since my last post, sorry to all you dedicated followers. I've been busy with classes and independent adventures; however, since it's been a while I have tons to talk about, so grab a coffee cause you might be reading a while.
So, I got back from our last field study and had literally no time to relax before the stress of homework and class jumped on my shoulders. I had an exam in my Physical Settings class, a Mid Term exam in Hebrew, and an exam coming this Thursday in Rabbinical thought and Literature; needless to say, the times are getting busy here. The week went pretty well considering how much work I had to do; however, time went by pretty slow as much of my homework was not as enjoyable, or appealing as homework usually is.
Thursday was cookie night, and it was fantastic. You know that cookie night is coming when you wake up Thursday morning and smell the sweet aroma coming from Dr. Wright's home at JUC. The thought of cookie night was in my head all day. After dinner some friends and I played the game loaded questions, which is a good game to get to know other people better, and it was a good time.
After playing loaded questions cookie night finally arrived and we hung out on the JUC roof, ate cookies and watched fireworks being shot from the Old city, it was beautiful. I had been looking forward to the weekend because there was nothing to do, no field studies, no homework...the perfect weekend. So I took advantage and went on an Independent adventure. Friday after class I went hiking to the Mount of olives. I brought water and extra Pita bread I was ready to go. Well, friday was hotter than ever so my water bottle, which held about a litre, was gone in like 30 minutes. I was about half way to the mount of olives when I ran out of water, and I still had to climb it, not good. So I stuggled up the mountain, enjoyed the view and began walking to a small shop to get water. As I approached this small shop (looking like I had spent the last week in the desert -sweaty-stinky-dehydrated) the shop owner came to meet me and said "you look hungry my friend". I looked at this guy like he was crazy and said "no I'm thirst, give me water". So I bought water (sweet nector from heaven) and drank like all of it immediately. This was my first day of the weekend.
Saturday I did the same thing, went hiking, but I began at the garden tomb. This is the other site believed to be the place of Christ's burial. It was very nice, but Archaeological evidence disproves any idea of this being Christ's grave. I spent the rest of the day hiking through the New, and old city. Saturday night I went to the Hynom valley where there is an old Archaeological site and put my Indiana Jones on. I began kicking some dirt around just curiously trying to see if I could find anything. Well, I found tons of broken pottery, but that's nothing special. I went further in the site then and found some tombs, so I dug a little bit there, and I found something, something that is of some serious value. Anyways you'll have to wait til I get home to see it. The rest of my weekend was good to........alright I'll tell you what I found since you're getting edgy in your chair wondering what I could have stumbled across. I found a stone about the size of half your palm. The stone is special however, it's made from a special type of rock and has been shaped into a cutting or shaping tool probably used by people from the Bronze age. I showed Dr. Wright my find when I got back to JUC and he confirmed what I originally thought, it was indeed shaped and used long ago. So...I got lucky and found something that turned out to be pretty cool. It's not the Arc of the covenant, but, well I'm still working on that one.
This weekend coming up is the second last field study and we're going to galilee so I'm pretty pumped. Nothing much else going on here till then, but I will be sure to record all my adventures for you so that you can read back home in the cold of what's becoming winter...while I'm enjoying 30 degree weather..ok I'll quit rubbing it in...until next time , Shalom.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Some of the greatest times of your life are when you can sit in silence and just experience God. This is what I experienced this past week. As I sat and read my Bible and spent time with God there was a closeness I experienced that was amazing.
This weekend was our first 3 day field study which brought us to many cool places. The first place we stopped was Sataf which is a small village outside Jerusalem. There we learned about the Hill country and what the "American Dream" would look like in Biblical Times. We saw some springs that were really cool. 2 springs to be exact that were created by Romans. One spring was in a small tunnel (kinda like Hezekiah's tunnel). We had no lights so we were walking blind into this tunnel and into a big room where the spring was, it was a terrifying experience (no it was cool), but we were really nervous walking through this tunnel. From there we went to the Phillistine Alluvial plain where we learned about Samson and the interaction with the Philistines, it was interesting. We finished our first day at Beer Sheba where we saw the remnants of an old city. We learned about its destruction as well by Romans. The new city of Beer Sheba was beautiful and reminded me of Florida, palm trees and warm nights, it was great. We also hit the mediteranian sea which was really cool. The highlight of the second day was seeing Arad and the ongoing excavation. The Archaeologists were excavating a temple there and found the Holy of Holies, but they found 2 big stones at the site which means the temple was to 2 Gods, Baal and the one true God.
Finally, the best part of the entire trip for me was Masada. Masada is a huge fortress by the dead sea built by herod the great. There were a couple palaces on Masada including a Thousand Gallon Cistern, it was huge. Masada was destroyed by the Romans, and there is a big theological debate as to the details of the destruction. I'd love to discuss the details so ask me when I get home, or back to Kuyper, it really is cool. Anyways we finished the day by Swimming in the Dead sea and David's Spring it was refreshing and a fantastic way to end a fantastic trip.
This weekend was our first 3 day field study which brought us to many cool places. The first place we stopped was Sataf which is a small village outside Jerusalem. There we learned about the Hill country and what the "American Dream" would look like in Biblical Times. We saw some springs that were really cool. 2 springs to be exact that were created by Romans. One spring was in a small tunnel (kinda like Hezekiah's tunnel). We had no lights so we were walking blind into this tunnel and into a big room where the spring was, it was a terrifying experience (no it was cool), but we were really nervous walking through this tunnel. From there we went to the Phillistine Alluvial plain where we learned about Samson and the interaction with the Philistines, it was interesting. We finished our first day at Beer Sheba where we saw the remnants of an old city. We learned about its destruction as well by Romans. The new city of Beer Sheba was beautiful and reminded me of Florida, palm trees and warm nights, it was great. We also hit the mediteranian sea which was really cool. The highlight of the second day was seeing Arad and the ongoing excavation. The Archaeologists were excavating a temple there and found the Holy of Holies, but they found 2 big stones at the site which means the temple was to 2 Gods, Baal and the one true God.
Finally, the best part of the entire trip for me was Masada. Masada is a huge fortress by the dead sea built by herod the great. There were a couple palaces on Masada including a Thousand Gallon Cistern, it was huge. Masada was destroyed by the Romans, and there is a big theological debate as to the details of the destruction. I'd love to discuss the details so ask me when I get home, or back to Kuyper, it really is cool. Anyways we finished the day by Swimming in the Dead sea and David's Spring it was refreshing and a fantastic way to end a fantastic trip.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
So, some friends and I decided that it would be cool to go out on a camping trip. A couple guys had planned a place to camp out and had organized the details so everything worked out nicely. So on friday after class we headed out for En Gedi and the dead sea. From JUC it was about a 45 minute hike to the bus station. Now, Friday was Yom Kippur, a Jewish Holiday, so the streets were crazy. We were walking fast trying to catch our bus weaving through crazy crowds, it was a crazy experience. When we got to the bus station I felt like I was at the airport, it was cool. We had to go through security, and there were signs showing the bus departure time and which gate to go to. Anyways, after just over 2 hours on the bus we arrived.
The beach at En Gedi was, well...there was no beach but there was a sandy or rocky camping area. The dead sea was 200 feet from where we were camping it was kinda surreal. After setting up camp we went for a swim or a "float". The water was shallow for the first 5 to 6 feet then there was a drop off. At the drop off we turned to face the shore and leaned back...and we were floating....it was so crazy! With no effort you floated feeling like you were on the clouds, but you look down and all you can see is deep water...so weird. We tried all these different positions we stood up and floated, we laid on our chest, and our back, it was cool. Now I have to say right now I had been warned that farting was unpleasent while floating, but I did anyways...not on purpose. Needless to say, my mother was right again..I regretted it.
That night was probably the best night I've had in Jerusalem. It was really warm I had my shirt off all night and it felt great. The night was a constant temperature of about 30 degress, it felt good. We met 3 guys from Israel there and they gave us stew (which was incrdible), tea, and we talked all night. It was so fun.
The next day was hiking day and it was the most beautiful place I have ever been. We hiked along a high mountain desert ridge and then entered a forest area into an oasis with waterfalls, and cold pools, green trees. The hiking day was great. We got back home Saturday night, and crashed since we were all exhausted.
This weekend coming up we have our first 3 day field study and we are going back to the dead sea, but also to Masada and around the area. Anyways, time to study hebrew so until next time.
The beach at En Gedi was, well...there was no beach but there was a sandy or rocky camping area. The dead sea was 200 feet from where we were camping it was kinda surreal. After setting up camp we went for a swim or a "float". The water was shallow for the first 5 to 6 feet then there was a drop off. At the drop off we turned to face the shore and leaned back...and we were floating....it was so crazy! With no effort you floated feeling like you were on the clouds, but you look down and all you can see is deep water...so weird. We tried all these different positions we stood up and floated, we laid on our chest, and our back, it was cool. Now I have to say right now I had been warned that farting was unpleasent while floating, but I did anyways...not on purpose. Needless to say, my mother was right again..I regretted it.
That night was probably the best night I've had in Jerusalem. It was really warm I had my shirt off all night and it felt great. The night was a constant temperature of about 30 degress, it felt good. We met 3 guys from Israel there and they gave us stew (which was incrdible), tea, and we talked all night. It was so fun.
The next day was hiking day and it was the most beautiful place I have ever been. We hiked along a high mountain desert ridge and then entered a forest area into an oasis with waterfalls, and cold pools, green trees. The hiking day was great. We got back home Saturday night, and crashed since we were all exhausted.
This weekend coming up we have our first 3 day field study and we are going back to the dead sea, but also to Masada and around the area. Anyways, time to study hebrew so until next time.
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