(Almost) The Rest of Galilee

This post'll be pretty heavy on the pictures, but I'm pretty sure you prefer it that way anyway. Honestly, that first field trip was the best one we went on, and even though all of the other ones were awesome, they just didn't really compare. We did see some very pretty places, though! So, here we go!

Day 4: Class, napping, relaxation, fish dinner
The highlight of this day was definitely going to the kibbutz for a fish dinner.

This is my fish:

This is my fish after I finished with it:

It was pretty good, with salt.

Day 5: Gamla and Qazrin

See those ancient ruins on the left side of that hill? That's Gamla:

By the way, my picture's so much cooler and prettier than the one on Wikipedia. It makes me so glad that we came during the spring! Anyway, it's in the Golan Heights, and the name comes from the word gamal, which means "camel" (see it's shape?). Now, I could've walked down to see the ruins, but there was also the option to go hike to a waterfall, and (is this horrible of me?) I've seen a lot of ancient ruins recently, so I chose the waterfall route. I'm really glad I did, too--spring was in full bloom, and the wildflowers were so pretty!

See? Beautiful.

A GQ photo.

Me sitting in the pretty flowers.

I don't have any good pictures of the waterfall, though.

Next we went to Qazrin, and it was okay. Not as fun as Gamla, though. There were some ancient ruins there, and we saw a really cheesy movie about a rabbi-turned-apostate who came riding into town on a horse, on shabbat which is like a rabbi driving to synagogue (both of which are really really bad). That was pretty much it. It was quite the movie. I don't know if it's just Israel or if all tourist movies are like this, but I've never seen so many horrible, cheesy movies in my life. It's great :)

Day 6: Shabbat at Tiberias
Did you know there's a branch at Tiberias? It's tiny--and I really mean tiny--but it exists. That's where we went for church on Sunday. It's held in this Italian-style villa place (and I've been kicking myself over the fact that I didn't think to bring my camera), and the room where they hold Sacrament Meeting overlooks the Sea of Galilee. We didn't stay for Sunday School or Relief Society because that would've really strained the branch's capability (10+80=a lot more than they're used to!), but I really enjoyed Sacrament Meeting. You know those wooden things that hold the hymn numbers? Those were pretty cool, because they had four of them--one for each language spoken in the branch (English, Russian, Spanish, and Hebrew). There actually weren't numbers in the Hebrew one, since there isn't actually a Hebrew hymnbook yet, but they still had the wooden number-holder up there (what are those things called, anyway?).

On our way back from Tiberias, we stopped at Yardenit, which is a traditional Christian site of the baptism of Christ, and where most people who are baptized in the Jordan River nowadays go. I don't know how I'd feel about being baptized there--I mean, it'd be cool, but there are some massive fish! Bro. Huff baptized his daughter there years ago, and said that he almost forgot what he was saying in the middle of it because the fish were nibbling at him.

Oh, so they had all of these signs hanging up with Mark 1:9-11 translated into different languages, and this was by far my favorite one:

I guess this is a real language, and I have to wonder--is there a bible translated into Pidgen? Because I want it!

Day 7: Class, naptime, more relaxation :) (these days were awesome!)

Day 8: Jezreel Valley Field Trip

Okay, actually, I lied--this really was a cool field trip. It started with us going to Mt. Tabor, which is probably the Mount of Transfiguration (the other possibility is Mt. Hermon, but it's out of the way and really tall and covered in snow, and I just think Mt. Tabor is more likely). There was a church there that we went to that had little chapels to Moses and Elijah on the sides, and we talked and sang hymns there and had a little contemplation time. The taxi drivers who drove us up and down were insane, though! The road that goes up the mountain is really zig-zaggy with all of these hairpin turns, and the taxi drivers have driven that same route so many times that they like to see how fast they can take the turns. The first taxi driver even had sound effects and hand-actions--I kind of wanted to tell him to put his hands back on the wheel, though I guess he knew what he was doing.

A cool stained-glass window.

Whitney, contemplating.

This sign was next to a cafe near the church. I really liked it :)

Next we went to Nain, which is where Christ healed the widow's son. I wish I'd taken some pictures there--I don't know why I didn't. Nain is a smaller, out-of-the-way town, and it's kind of a smaller church which is kept by a Palestinian family. If you ever want to have a good discussion on spiritual insights to be gained from the miracle at Nain, talk to me. It's such a great story of Christ having compassion on the "little person" who maybe doesn't feel like they have a big or important place in the world.

After Nain we went to Beth Shean, which also used to be known as Scythopolis. It was a very Hellenized town, and though it's not quite as big as Jerash was in Jordan, it still has some cool Roman ruins--you know, columns, theater, bathhouse. The works.

Gan Ha-Shelosha was up next. I don't think it has any historical significance, but it did have a SWIMMING HOLE! It was a little bit windy, so I guess it wasn't the best swimming weather, but at least the water was relatively warm. There were these tiny fish that would swim around and kind of suck on your toes (which I didn't really mind, though I couldn't keep myself from kicking them away whenever they did it--it felt so weird!), and there was a waterfall that we sat under for awhile that felt kind of like a back massage. There were also way too many local guys wearing speedos, or just plain underwear. Is this an international thing, or do U.S. guys wear Speedos all the time, too? Because I've never seen so many Speedos in my life--Gan Ha-Shelosha, Tel Aviv, Eilat, the Dead Sea... anywhere where we've been swimming, guys have been wearing speedos. It's just gross! :P

Finally, we went to our last stop, which was the Bet Alpha Synagogue. There, we watched another cheesy movie and looked at the mosaic inside (which is kind of different because it has the zodiac sign and pictures of people on it, which show a mixing of Jewish and Greco-Roman culture--technically, synagogues should NOT have pictures of people or pagan symbols inside). Afterwards, we finally got back to Ein Gev.

Oh, and I can't remember exactly which day this happened on, but I bought a two-hour internet card to use while I was there, and on one of these days I checked my email and found out that I GOT INTO THE ILLUSTRATION PROGRAM!!! (I was excited about it, in case you couldn't tell.) So, fall semester I officially start my art classes! It makes the prospect of going back to classes in the fall again a lot easier to handle!

I was originally going to post all of Galilee on this post, but I've had it UP TO HERE with Blogger and stupid formatting problems, so I'll be back soon with another post. I don't know whether it'll be before or after I get home, though (which happens this Thursday!), since I'll probably be keeping myself busy this week fitting in everything I want to do before I go. Then I guess I'll have to catch up on everything that happened after Galilee--snorkeling in Eilat, Palm Sunday, floating in the Dead Sea... shoot, there's still a lot left! Oh well, I'll catch up eventually ;)

Galilee--Days 2 and 3

Let's dive right in, shall we?

The first full day at Galilee was very nice. We kind of had an every-other-day schedule worked out with our field trips in Galilee, so half of the students would go to class one day while the other half went on a field trip, and then we'd switch the next day. My group had class the first day, so after going to New Testament that morning, we pretty much had the whole afternoon free to nap (which I definitely did! I was so tired!), play around in the water, walk along the beach, and basically just relax. It feels like we've been on the go so much this semester with field trips and classes and exploring the city, so this free time was a much appreciated novelty for us.

The next day, we went on the best field trip ever! It was packed, but it was sooo good! Basically it went down like this:

Sea of Galilee
The first thing we did was go out on a boat into the Sea of Galilee. There, we talked about Jesus walking on the water, and Jesus calming the storm, and we sang "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me" and "Master, the Tempest is Raging". The Sea of Galilee is so interesting to ponder about. It bore witness to so many beautiful miracles during Jesus' life and was the source of several of the apostles' livelihood, but at the same time it was also the source of trials and terror for the Lord's anointed. Sometimes I wonder what the apostles thought as they looked out over the Sea of Galilee, and what it might have represented to them. Anyway, it was a great opportunity to think about Christ, and the challenges in my own life, and how looking to Him can help me overcome them.

Mt. of Beatitudes
There was a beautiful spirit to this place--almost like a temple. Some members of our class put together thoughts on some of the beatitudes, and one of them particularly stuck out to me for some reason: "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." It's probably because my desire to learn more about the Gospel has become more of a hunger and thirst-type feeling as I've been here, and when I've gone searching for it, I really have been filled. I don't know, that's what was on my mind while we explored this beautiful place.

Tabgha
This was a pretty short stop, but it was the location of the loaves and fishes miracle, and it has this mosaic there that's featured in souvenirs all around the Holy Land--mugs, coasters, wall hangings, you name it. So we talked about that miracle, and then we took pictures of the mosaics, and then I took pictures of the candles because I'm weird like that. Moving on.

St. Peter's Primacy
This was a church dedicated to Peter, though I can't quite remember the significance of its geographical location--maybe you can Google it. Anyway, the acoustics of the church were great, and we sang several hymns there, including "Abide With Me", "We Thank Thee, Oh God, For A Prophet", and "How Great Thou Art". An older couple came in while we were singing "How Great Thou Art," and I guess they knew the hymn because they started singing with us. I wanted to stay there longer, but too soon we were moving on...

Capernaum
...to Capernaum. And it turns out that Capernaum was my favorite place we've ever been to, ever, so I was okay with that. It's interesting, because it visually wasn't that distinct from anywhere else we've been--Capernaum's not inhabited anymore, so pretty much there were a lot of old rocks, and I'm afraid that by this point old rocks have kind of lost their charm. But I just remember us sitting in that ancient synagogue where Jesus gave his "Bread of Life" sermon, and imagining the scene in my head as my teacher described it to us. Just the day before, Christ had fed the large multitude with only a small number of loaves and fishes, and I'm sure he and his message had never before been so popular and well-received. However, he soon perceived that many of them were following him for the wrong reason--they wanted him to be around to take care of their physical needs, and he was sent to fulfill a much higher purpose. He must have known how hard the next day would be, when he would have to disappoint them and let them know that he brought spiritual relief, not temporal--he spent much of that night in prayer. The next day, he taught them. He taught them in that very same synagogue in which I sat of how he was the Bread of Life, sent from heaven to bring everlasting life to all who would believe on his name... and they rejected him. One by one, they got up and left the synagogue, because they were looking for a physical Messiah, not a spiritual one, and they couldn't handle his words. In the end, only a small group was left. I imagine Jesus must have felt somewhat despondent
when, in the end, he turned to the twelve and said, "Will ye also go away?" Then Peter--faithful Peter--answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

Capernaum made me ponder, because really, his question is addressed to all of us: "Will ye also go away?" Something about that story just tugs at my heart, and makes me want to be a little bit better in my life, so someday I may be among the ones who didn't abandon him. The experience I had at Capernaum is one of those that I'll be able to look back on and draw strength from for the rest of my life, and I'm so grateful to have been there.

Leaving for Galilee

*sigh* This has nothing to do with Galilee, but as I'm sitting here typing on my blog I can smell the food being cooked for Ramadan dinner tonight, and it smells reallllllly good. I mean, I just ate my sack lunch, and it was pretty good (though I'm wondering how many more things they can stuff into our tuna--corn, onions, green peppers, red peppers, cucumber, random unidentifiable stuff, and I think I detected carrots today). Still, if the JC smells like this all afternoon... it's going to feel like a long time until dinner :P

DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY

We left the Jerusalem Center at MUCH too early an hour (breakfast was at 5:30, and I definitely didn't make it to that!). Thankfully, we had a couple of hours to sleep on the bus (theoretically, at least--those busses are quite uncomfortable) before stopping at Caesarea Maritina. The port was a major building project of one of the Herod's (I think Herod the Great, but there were kind of a lot of Herods so I'm not entirely sure), and it's where Agrippa said that "almost" Paul persuaded him to be a Christian, and where Paul set off on a boat to go to Rome. There were some cool ruins there, including a rather large theater, though I think most of it was actually a reconstruction. We had some ponder-time by the Mediterranean Sea, and then we were on the bus again.

Our next stop was Megiddo. I'm not sure if all of you know the significance of Megiddo, so let's see if this helps: Megiddo is the same as Har Megiddo, which means "Mount Megiddo" in Hebrew, and Har Megiddo gave rise to the term Armageddon. So Megiddo's where everything's gonna go down. The weirdest thing is, you can really see how it could happen! Surrounding the small mountain are acres and acres of flat, fertile fields, and even though they're beautiful and green right now, you can see how the armies of the world would have room to eventually battle it out. Definitely a depressing thought, especially considering how pretty the area was.

Soon we were on the bus once more and headed to Nazareth. Nazareth, as my religion teacher puts it, was a "tiny little podunk hick-town" in the days of Jesus, and most people were so poor that they actually lived in caves. In fact, we saw one of those excavated cave-homes while we were there, and it was certainly a humble little dwelling, giving new meaning to the words "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" We first went to a church called... well, I can't really remember what it was called. Church of the Anunciation, maybe? Anyway, it had pictures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus that came from countries all around the world, and those were cool. The one from the U.S. was... interesting. It was more of a sculpture, really... I don't know, I'll put up the picture. We also went to the Synagogue Church, so named because it's built on the spot where the ancient synagogue stood where Jesus read messianic scriptures from Isaiah and claimed that they had been fulfilled to his neighbors, and they rejected him and tried to kill him. We sang "Jesus of Nazareth" and "Jesus, Once of Humble Birth" there, and then we were on the bus again (I hate busses) and finally on our way to Ein Gev.

Ein Gev is a kibbutz located right up against the Sea of Galilee. The water was glass-smooth when we arrived--deceptive, really, because I never saw it that way again for the next two weeks. Very pretty, though, and perfect for rock-skipping for those so inclined. To our relief, we found dinner at the kibbutz to be exceptionally good, especially the soup. The little bungalow-things we stayed in were pretty cool, too, even though I pretty much slept in a closet. I mean, not literally, but I roomed with Sharon and she would agree that it was tiny. My other two roommates got there first, so they picked the beds in the big room with the better view. I can't blame them, really, and I hung out there often enough that it didn't really matter. I would've slept in a cardboard box, as long as it was next to the Sea of Galilee.

Ne'ot Kedumim and a Pizza Party

Place names around here are so weird, and I really can't spell them that well. Anyway, the day before we left for Galilee we had a field trip to Ne'ot Kedumim. It was a cool field trip, though I feel like it might have been appreciated more if the timing had been better--we all had a ton of stuff to do to get ready for Galilee! It was still fun, though. It kind of reminded me of elementary school field trips--there was a guide who took us from station to station, and we did things or learned about things that were relevant to daily life in Bible times. For example, we herded sheep! That was really fun, though really hard, because sheep can be pretty stupid sometimes. We were divided into three groups and had to make the sheep perform certain tasks. We all had to take them around a circle of stones that represented a watering hole without letting them into the "water" (all of our sheep drowned). Then our group and another group had to try to separate the sheep and the goats. Our group never quite figured that one out, so I don't know how the other group managed it. Their's was a short-lived victory, though, because they couldn't figure out how to make the sheep to move. Somebody yelled out that "you have to whack 'em!", so first tentatively, then with greater vigour, they began hitting the sheep with sticks (don't worry, no sheep were seriously harmed during this field trip). Well, the sheep moved--in fact, they started running, right past the "watering hole" and down to the edge of the field, with students running after them, yelling for them to come back. That may be one of my favorite memories of this trip :)

There were also some other stations. In one of them, we ground up some spices that we picked from trees growing in the area. Later on, we made pita bread, and sprinkled the spices on the bread. We also drew water from a well and discussed the implications of Rebekah's offer to draw water for the servant and the camels (because that would have been a TON of work!), and we met with a Torah scribe. We also saw pomegranate and fig trees, and discussed something about wheat and barley (I can't remember what--I was really tired), and I think they advertised burnt wheat or something as a really good snack? Anyway, it was a cool field trip, but like I said, the timing could have been better.

Most of us were exhausted by the time we got back to the JC, but I (and many others) still hadn't withdrawn money for the Galilee trip, so up to Jerusalem we went. Then some friends of mine mentioned that they were going to Shabban's to buy some Jesus sandals, and that sounded like a good idea, so I wandered around the city a little longer. Then, when I was well and truly exhausted, Mike said, "Do you want to go to West tonight to celebrate Matt's birthday?" and I said "Of course!" A few seconds later, I wondered why I'd said that, because all I really wanted to do was eat dinner, put on P.J.s, and curl up on a chair in the computer room, maybe making a popcorn run at the Shekel Shack sometime that night. I'm glad I went, though. Matt, Mike, Eliza and I went to a pizza place, and I haven't had good pizza (or any pizza at all, really) in a long, long time, so it was amazing. I mean, I'll be happy when I'm back in the U.S. and can order non-Kosher pizza again (pepperoni pizza is definitely not a hot item or even an option on pizza menus here), but it was still good. So was the mac and cheese. Then we went to a gelato place, where we hung out, talked, listened to the music playing in the store, and ate gelato (though I assumed the last one was implied). Of course, I eventually came back to the Center and realized that I still wasn't packed and my laundry wasn't done and my religion paper wasn't written, but apparently I made it through okay, so it was worth it.