Galilee: Day 8

July 18

This was the start of a four-day field trip extravaganza. And the final stretch for being in Galilee. We went around the Jezreel Valley, starting at Mt. Tabor, which is one of the possible sites for the Mount of Transfiguration. Getting to the top of the mountain (or very large hill?) was an adventure. The buses would not have made it to the top, so we had to get into vans that would take us up to the top. We soon figured out why the buses couldn’t go. Switchbacks the whole way up. I had seen a weird knob on the steering wheel, and its purpose soon became apparent. Rather than using both hands to turn the steering wheel, the driver just grabbed the knob and used that to turn the wheel when we went careening around the corners. I’m really glad that I don’t get carsick… because that was hard on even me.

Up at the top, we got to go into the church, and all 40 of us crammed into a small chapel off to the side of the main chapel. There was a mural of Moses on the ceiling, and we got to hear the history of the site, and then sang a couple of hymns, all the while dying because the door was shut and 40 kids use up a lot of air really quick. Then they cut us loose, and we got to see the rest of the church and the grounds before we got back on the crazy vans for another exhilarating ride down to the buses.

this was just a photo op that i couldn't pass up.

this is my typical field-trip uniform.

i try so hard to look cute... but practicality has prevailed over looks...

;)

Jael killing Sisera... the first temple worker. (Read Judges 4)

Ha ha ha.

Our next stop was a complete miracle. The pictures I got don’t do it justice, but the fact that we got to go and even see the church at Nain was amazing. They used to be able to go and see it, but the monk that they used to go through passed away, and they never knew what happened to the key. So our amazing director Brother Huntington did some fantastic detective work and managed to find out who had the key! They haven’t opened the church for a while, and one of the windows was broken, so there had been birds inside, but there were some simply beautiful paintings of the Savior raising the young boy in Nain from the dead. The church was very simple, and it may or may not have been the actual city of Nain (that seems to be the consensus here… it may or may not be the right place…) but there definitely was a very sweet spirit there.

On to Megiddo! And six-chambered Solomonic gates!

Megiddo was a very crucial city in history. According to Tutmose III, “the taking of Megiddo was as the taking of a thousand cities.” According to the legend, he wanted to attack the city, but he knew that Megiddo’s army would be waiting for them at either of the large passes leading to the city. However, there was a smaller pass that let out right onto the city, but only one person could go through at a time, and in order to get through, they had to dismantle their chariots and carry them through. The story tells of Tutmose dismantling his own chariot and carrying it on his back, and leading the rest of his army through. They came out, and paraded in front of the city gates, and eventually took the whole city.

Megan and Hollie are Tutmose... 

pickin on poor little Me-giddo.

Archeologically (and bibilically) speaking, we are able to link the city of Megiddo to King Solomon, and the fortifications that he made to the city. In the Bible, it talks about Solomon refortifying the cities of Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer. We got to see 2 of the 3 on this trip. Solomon had a very distinctive style – his gates had 6 chambers, when most others only have 2 or 4. We even got to sing a song about it.

After Megiddo, we went to a kibbutz that has an amazing mosaic “carpet” (tile floor), with a big zodiac in the middle. We then went to Gan Hashelosha, where we got to spend the next few hours swimming in a natural spring. 

They had fish that would eat the calluses off your feet. I decided that I wasn’t a fan. And I stayed away from the shady water after that point. (It wasn’t that bad, but I don’t really like the idea of things nibbling at my feet… especially when I can’t see them.) And I’m barely getting over my fear of sharks in swimming pools.

Back at Ein Gev, we got back with enough time to make one last finale of playing in the water… we learned a new game. It’s kinda like Simon says, only it’s called “Harry says” (In honor of the movie that came out while we were in Galilee). You could apparate cast spells on other people, and each had an action… so much fun! (I think I sense a new pool tradition coming on…)

So we were supposed to go to Tiberias on the 14^th, but we got back so late from our hike that it didn’t make sense for us to go. We went for home evening tonight instead. We didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time there, but we got to see a light show, eat ice cream and walk up and down the boardwalk for a bit before getting back on the bus and heading back. 

i love my roommate.

i know you are jealous about how awesome we are.

(this is kayla, nutmeg and me at megiddo)

dan and i in the water system underneath megiddo

meg, me, brittni, jeehee and dq (dallin)

scary toilet at swimming hole gan hashelosha...

Galilee: Day 6 and 7

July 16

We got to go to the branch in Tiberias for church. I think we have been spoiled for views this semester… the house that is the branch building overlooks the Sea of Galilee. Best. View. Ever. (It is only really comparable to the view from the JC...) 

emily, sharla, megan, amber, me, kayla and ariel outside the branch building in tiberias

We had one of the best testimony meetings I have ever been to. I practically fell off my chair, because I knew that I had to bear my testimony, and I kept scooting closer and closer to the edge. Finally, it was get up or fall on my rear and get really embarrassed.

On the way back from church we stopped by the northern Jordan River baptismal site. There are two supposed places where John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ – one we already went to when we were coming back from Jordan, and this one, called Yardenit. 

We got back in time for dinner (with the hottest waiter alive… which just made dinner that much more fantastic) and then we had a devotional. I had to give a thought for the devotional, so I spent most of the morning reading the scriptures and thinking about what I have learned from and about my Savior Jesus Christ while I had been here, and more specifically what I had learned while I had been in Galilee. Ariel and Robert also got to give their thoughts, and we also got to hear some amazing musical numbers. This group is so musically talented… sometimes it makes me sick! (Not really… I just get super depressed when I think of how lousy my piano playing compares… but it really does inspire me to be better!)

Day 7: July 17

Today was another class day – mucho notes and lots of learning crammed into 3 hours. Not to mention a small-ish room with debatable AC at times… but I wouldn’t trade a minute of it! After class, (surprise!) we went to the lake! The best part about coming in the summer semester is the fact that we get to swim ALL THE TIME. We had several epic games of tunnel tag in the water, and pretending we were jellyfish and letting ourselves sit and be tossed with the waves.

Some of us went out to the buoys and talked for a bit. I could still touch, so I would basically bob up and down with the waves… some of them were more predictable than others, so sometimes I would end up getting a mouthful of water. It brought a whole new meaning to James 1:6.

We had another class with Dr. Chadwick before he had to head back to his dig at Tell es-Safi (biblical Gath). We went their earlier in the semester before his dig started for the summer. Yeah, you head me right… I’ve been to where Goliath grew up.

We had a kickboxing class taught by the ever-capable and talented Kerry Allison McNeil! The problem with working out here is the fact that you sweat even when you walk outside. (I don’t think that I could ever get used to it.) So when I got back later than night, I looked like I had just gone for a swim. But when you feel healthy you don’t care what other people think! ;)

Galilee: Day 5

July 15

On the road again… I just can’t wait to get on the road again…

Today’s field trip was to Gamla. You know that little scripture, “a city set on a hill cannot be hid”? Well, Gamla is one of two cities that would have been visible across the Sea of Galilee while the Savior was giving the Sermon on the Mount. 

me and nutmeg... you can see gamla in the background.

The other was the polis (a large city) of Hippos. You would have been able to see (or at least know the location of) both of these cities if you were sitting on the other side of the lake. There isn’t much left of those cities now… and unfortunately, there was a little thing called a “war zone” that used to be here. I thought the banana plantations looked pretty harmless, but I guess that my parents want me to make it home safe, and that getting blown up while trying to hike up to Hippos wasn’t really a wise option. So we nixed that plan.

But Gamla was awesome! I’ve always had this really weird fascination with ruins… I think it is the 5-year-old in me that has dreams of becoming a famous archeologist that comes out at these places.

At Gamla, we learned the meaning of hiking uphill both ways. We also learned what it would feel like to be a Dr. Seuss character. 

here we have a who-zit and a whats-zit.

but these two are acne free!

But one really important thing about Gamla was the synagogue. After the Romans defeated the city (which was a Zealot stronghold during one of their rebellions) 4000 Jews were killed, and the other 5000 jumped to their deaths. The city was never rebuilt, so we actually got to go and sit inside of the ruins of a 1^st century synagogue. In Matthew 9, it talks about Jesus going “about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” If the Savior really did got “to all the cities” he would have gone there. And he probably did. So the house that we saw, the stones on which we sat, probably knew the Savior. And if they could talk, I wonder what they would have to say to us.

Gamla also had one of the best views ever. It was incredible. We hiked all the way up to the top, and then as far out on to the promontory as we could before we were leaping from rock to rock like a bunch of mountain goats. We finally gave up, took some awesome pictures, and then headed back. 

i don't want to be the commander that tried to attack this city...

but you have to give kudos to the roman commander that did take the city! 

On the way, Dan and I took a little detour and decided to stop by and see the olive press. Just a quick look, and then it was another hike back up to the bus. I think the hike back was worse. But we survived, and there was a glorious bathroom that awaited us at the end!

From Gamla, we went to Kursi. Even though we didn’t get to go to Hippos, this city played a bit of a role in the story of the devilled ham. Hehe. (i.e. the story of the devils that went out of the man into the herd of swine). Kursi was located in the Decapolis, and so they were not predominantly Jewish. This explains why there was a herd of swine nearby. Christ was walking through the area and met a man that was possessed by many devils and was living inside of the tombs in the hills. Jesus cast out the devils into the swine, where they ran down the steep hill (it’s not a cliff) and drowned in the sea below. The place is lovingly deemed today “piggy hill” in reference to its claim to that Bible story.

After the field trip, we got back to Ein Gev, and then we left again to go float the Jordan River. When they said “float” I assumed that they meant “in single person tubes down the river,” which kind of confused me when they told us that we were not supposed to get in the water… we got to the river, and it turns out that they were rafts. Like the kind you go white-water rafting in. That made a little bit more sense. Did we stay out of the water? Maybe for like 2 minutes… until we got around the corner, out of the view of the management. Then it went into a full-scale war. Cries of “boarding party!” and “attack!” were coming from all directions, and no one was safe in their own raft. I got kidnapped, and never quite made it back to my original raft. (They actually ended up with only 3 people in that one… and the people in it were so tiny that they just zoomed down the river!) My new raft was all for attacking… we managed to get 9 people in it at one point… right before we started sinking.

Note to self: even though I had a swimsuit on underneath, the white shirt was NOT a good idea for this outing. Especially since I only have a limited number of clean clothes for this trip.

We ended the day with a visit from our favorite ancient near east teacher… but I don’t think we could give him the attention that he deserved… we were all wiped out. I think this is actually one of the nights that I managed to get to bed at a somewhat decent hour. Scratch that… I still got to bed late, but this one was earlier than most. 

Galilee: Day 4

July 14

Another day of class! They stuck us down in the basement somewhere… and sometimes the AC would work… and other times it would not… which made it very difficult to stay focused at times. But I most definitely am not snoozing off in class! I just have to go back and review my notes after class to make sure that I remember everything. Lunch was usually uneventful. Breakfast was great (I really couldn’t get enough of the granola… oh how I’ve missed it!) and dinner was always fantastic, but lunch was kinda bleh. Uneventful. Usually it was just something to get out of the way so that we could get out and go play in the water.

On this free day though, we got to go on a hike! :) The higher powers of the JC have connections, and they know a guide that likes to take groups on hikes up into the Golan Heights to a waterfall. (Don’t worry mom and dad… we didn’t go wandering into any mine fields!) When the guide walked on to the bus, I think we all giggled to ourselves… here is an old skinny guy with a big, poofy white beard, scraggly hair and socks that went halfway up to his knees. But we weren’t laughing long. Especially when we were all huffing and puffing to catch up to him the entire time. No joke. Old guy dominated us. My favorite comment was, “it usually takes people in typical BYU condition 40 minutes to walk out of here.” And what does that mean? Haha, I guess we’ll never know! I think it was kind of a diss... can he do that??? 

But the hike was gorgeous! We walked to the waterfall, and the dimwit that I am, I decided not to wear a swimsuit. However, this did serve me well in the end, because it meant that I had built-in AC for the entire walk back. It might have been easier to swim with a swimsuit though…

We were pushing it getting back to Ein Gev, and where I took the shortest shower of my entire life (and I washed my hair with soap) and ran the whole way to the bus. I was NOT going to miss dinner.

Can you guess what we ate? St. Peter’s fish. No, I didn’t find any money in its mouth, and even though I thought of pretending, I didn’t have any shekels. But, I did manage to get a kiss.

After dinner, we watched the sunset again, and then headed back to our “home” to get a little R&R. (Really? You believed that?) 

don't judge... i know i look like a homeless beach bum.

that's what happens when you spend all day at the beach. duh.

Galilee: Day 3

July 13

Field trip!

This was probably one of my favorite field trips. (I’m pretty sure that I say that about every field trip… come to think of it.) We left Ein Gev at 7:45 and went to the actual kibbutz to catch our boat. Yes, our boat.

We got to ride a boat across the Sea of Galilee. :) But a trip to Galilee wouldn’t be complete otherwise! We got to stop and had a devotional in the center of the lake. We sang “Master the Tempest is Raging” and “Jesus Savior, Pilot me.” I love how much we sing here… one of my favorite lines, that will forever more bring to mind this view:

Master, the terror is over,

The elements sweetly rest;

Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,

And heaven’s within my breast;

Linger, O blessèd Redeemer!

Leave me alone no more;

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,

And rest on the blissful shore.

Another cool fact I learned: (whether or not this is true I’m not completely sure) The hymn, "Master the Tempest is Raging" was originally written as a conversation between the apostles and the Savior when he fell asleep in the back of their ship. Today we sing “the winds and the waves shall obey thy will,” but some versions have it written as “my will.”

When we landed, we went to see the ancient Galilean boat that was discovered and is not displayed in Nof Ginosar. This is the type of boat that they apostles would have used when they were fishing for a living.

I don't know if I would trust it...

Our next stop was the Mt. of Beatitudes. In addition to the beautiful grounds, which we were specifically told to help in the “unkeep” of, (I told you they don’t know how to spell here…) 

...it was absolutely gorgeous! The grounds were beautiful, but this was one of the places that I struggled to envision the events described, more because there was so much modern influence (and a wall was blocking my view!) 

The hills below the church there create a natural theater where the Savior could have very easily taught a large crowd, and his voice would have carried in either direction, whether he has been uphill or downhill. 

But there was a very sweet spirit there. We got to talk to one of the nuns that is there, and she gave one of the sweetest testimonies that I have ever heard about the Sermon on the Mount. She talked about the Beatitudes as a guidebook for our lives. It tells us everything that we need to live – it starts out with how we should act as individuals, and then it tells us how we should interact with others. If we do those things, we will have happiness in life, and it will draw us closer to our Savior. In my own study, I looked up the definition of “beatitude” and it means, “supreme blessedness or happiness.” I’ve been thinking about happiness a lot lately. It seems like so much of life is focused on finding happiness. Not on creating happiness. The most lasting happiness comes from within us, and our righteous choices. I read this fantastic article in the Ensign this month. My favorite quote was, “The Savior specifically prayed that God would not take us ‘out of the world’ (John 17:15). ‘In this world your joy is not full,’ he taught, ‘but in me your joy is full’ (D&C 101:36). True happiness and satisfaction are found only by turning away from the world and coming to Christ.” (Be of Good Cheer: Choosing Happiness, Camille Fronk Olson).

nutmeg, emily, kayla, me, ariel and kristi!

I don’t think that I’ve ever learned so much in a single day… or sweat as much either. Our next stop was at the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, the traditional (though probably incorrect) site of the feeding of the 5000. This is the site of the mosaic of the 5 loaves and the 2 fishes. (I have to admit, I had never quite made that connection!)

in the courtyard of the Church of the Multipication

the fishie mosaic. 

i'm thinking about putting it in my kitchen when i get a house...

After Tabgha, we went to the church of St. Peter’s Primacy. Inside of the church is a rock with the title, “mensa Christi” which means “the table of Christ.” This is supposedly the rock on which Christ fed his apostles breakfast and told Peter to “feed my sheep.”

mensa cristi

Do you think this day is done? NO!

After dipping our feet in the lake, (some getting a little more wet then others… hehe) we went to Capernaum! The name comes from the Hebrew: Kfar Nahum, which basically means “the city of Nahum,” although there is no link to the prophet. Capernaum is the hometown of Peter, and was referred to in the New Testament as “Christ’s own city.” After he was rejected at Nazareth, he spent most of his time preaching, and Capernaum was as close to a real home as he got. One great thing about Capernaum was the synagogue. Everything here is made out of black basalt stone… which is quite different from the white limestone of Jerusalem. Anything other than the basalt had to be imported into the Galilee. So we saw a white limestone synagogue from the 5^th century that was built on an earlier 1^st century synagogue. We got to look out at the streets that the Savior would have walked down (like in Matthew 8 and 9).

Another story came to life to me here. The story of the man with palsy being lowered through the roof of the house, because there were so many people there to listen to the Savior preach very likely occurred at Peter’s house. I’ve been to an extremely likely location for Peter’s house! There have been many additions to that site, you can see where Peter’s house might have originally stood, but it has been covered by subsequent churches. The most recent church was actually literally built over the top of the ruins. It kinda looks like a spaceship.

the rocks in the middle were the first church built there, you have to look inside of it to see the remnants of the original wall of the house that it was built around/over. then other churches were then built around (the wall up close) and above (the weird black stuff at the top of the pic)... i think it looks like something off of independence day...

The last stop of the day was Bethsaida (actually I lied… we went somewhere else first.) On the way to Bethsaida, we stopped by the Bay of Parables. This little bay has some unique properties… if you stand (or sit in a boat) and speak towards the shore, your voice is amplified 8 times. They don’t know if this is the location where Christ taught from the boat, but it is really interesting to think about! 

jarom, ambird (amber), tashara (up top), kristi, and me!

Now, on to Bethsaida! Bethsaida was the hometown of Philip, Andrew and Peter. One of the three cities in the “ecclesiastical triangle” (an area of the Galilee where the Savior did most of his preaching and miracles) we got to walk on its ruins. One of the interesting points to see was the “fisherman’s house,” where they found evidence of fishhooks, nets and other tell-tale signs of people involved in the fishing business. Being from this city, Andrew and Peter had a very high likelihood of either living in this house, or of knowing the owner intimately. This trip has the constant effect of opening my eyes to little details that make the stories in the Bible make more sense. The fisherman of the New Testament weren’t a bunch of illiterate hicks. They were businessmen, and even though they might have gone around barefoot at times, they weren’t stupid. While we were there, we talked about how the Lord doesn’t call stupid people. He qualifies those he calls, but we have to make the most of what we have been given.

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Meditations on food.

Sack lunches = interesting. 

We all spent a little time analyzing our sandwiches… the peanut butter and jelly was good, but the jam-to-pb ratio was a little off. Especially in relation to the amount of bread we were consuming. The tuna sandwich was bomb. Mmmmmm. Still don’t know how I felt about the fruit though. I have come to realize that even though the fruit here is typically smaller than the ones that you find in the states, they are much tastier. I still don’t like smooshy apples though. So I wasn’t completely sold. 

Galilee: Day 2

July 12

We only had one bus while we were up in Galilee, so half of the group would stay at Ein Gev and have a half-day of classes, and the other half would have a field trip day. 

isn't this just the best view ever? it's a wee bit hazy... but from my front door you can see the sea. har har. 

this is what happens when i get bored waiting for ariel...

Our first day was a class day… which might have been a little more difficult considering the only thing that was on our minds was the beach that was about a 5 minute walk away.

Another interesting thing about the place that we were staying – Ein Gev is actually a kibbutz, that has a hotel as part of its commercial enterprise. So that being said, we ate in a kosher restaurant. I’ve never really been exposed to anything like that before… at least not to the extent that it was here. Breakfast was always dairy. (Not that I’ve even seen bacon in 3 months.) You know the weird health-nut I can be… they had the Best. Granola. Ever! Anyway, moving on. The rest of the day was fairly predictable. We got in the water right after lunch, and didn’t get out until 6. I think my hands are still recovering from the “prune-ing process.”

Later that night, after dinner, we had a bonfire for everyone. Not that it was even a mite cold… the one drawback of Galilee was the humidity. Every time I stepped outside, I felt like I had just been misted. Gross. But we put up with the things we love right?! 

yeah niffer. that's right.

(niff's the one on the left. sharla, lizzie and ariel.)

the water was really low... it usually goes up to that palm tree, or the bottom of that line of rocks on the hill. 

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this one really doesn't need much explanation.

Galilee: Day 1

July 11, 2011

For anyone that knows me, you realize how much I love my sleep. I really like my bed, and sometimes the only way to get me out of bed is to pretend that there is a natural disaster… (even though I have been known to sleep through fire alarms.)

We had an early start, with breakfast was at 5:30, but my entire apartment slept in late, to be rudely awakened at 5:45 (and we were supposed to be on the bus by 6!) It’s a good thing that I am not a procrastinator… or I would have been really stressed. But how hard is it to pack when you only have 4 pairs of pants, 2 skirts, and a week’s worth of shirts that you like to wear?! I pretty much just moved everything from my closet to my bag. My problem with packing for trips is that I pack them, thinking that I will enjoy wearing everything, when the reality is I like comfort. Give me hanes v-necks any day! Even though I look like a slob.

Sorry mom, I know you did your best to make me grow out of the whole t-shirt stage… it came back with a vengeance!

The ride to Galilee differed from the way that they usually take student groups – we got to ride up the Jordan river valley to the Sea of Galilee (aka Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias). Techically this is in the West Bank (ooooooh!) But it was drastically different terrain from the Judean wilderness that we have been growing so used to seeing. Seeing green plains was definitely a sight for my sore vegetation-deprived eyes!

Our first stop as we made our way up to Galilee was Bet Shean (aka Beit She’an… you will notice that they don’t spell things the same here. And I’m pretty sure that they don’t even try to spell the English correctly either.) Also called Scythopolis, the earlier Canaanite city that was located on the top of the tell moved down to its base. [I realize that I might have been a little remiss in your education of archeology… a tell is a giant hill. What is cool about these hills is that they are composed of different destruction layers that have been built one of top of the other. We’ve seen a lot of tells. And you will see more too. No worries!] Bet/Beth Shean was the only city in the Decapolis that was located on the Western side of the Jordan River. So we talked about the probability that Christ came and preached here when he was visiting the cities of the Decapolis. An earthquake in 749 brought about the end of Beth Shean, and it never recovered. 

And of course, we had to get the typical jumping pic. 

And riding on the fallen columns.

Our second stop was in Nazareth. Even though today it is the largest city in northern Isreal, in the 1^st century, it was a little hillbilly town in the hills (some people say that the population would not have exceeded 480 people). The word Nazareth actually means “branch” in some interpretations, which might be related to the prophesy of Isaiah 11:1. We started our visit walking through a museum in which they tried to recreate what life in ancient Nazareth would have been like, and as a gift at the end, we each got our very own Herodian-era oil lamps! 

After we left the museum, we went to the Church of the Annuciation, which was supposedly built over the home of Mary. Many nations contributed murals which were displayed outside in the courtyard, and others were in the upper chapel area. I don’t really understand what the American artist was thinking… but considering it was the 60s…

It just makes me think – tinfoil?

1st century Nazareth

synagogue at Nazareth... built on top of the 1st century one

Finally, our last stop of the day was Mt. Arbel, where we got our first real view of the Sea of Galilee. I’ve officially stopped trying to take pictures through the windows of the bus. No matter how excited I get, I never ever ever get good pictures. And it just makes me sad. So I’ve decided to give up, and just enjoy the view. And then you get these babies!

don't look down dad...

We finally got to Ein Gev (pronounced “ehn-gev” not AY-EEN gev…)! Which was to be our home for the next ten days. This was one time when I really wished that I had not packed a duffel bag… we got to stay in adorable little cottages, but they just kept… going… forever! I can’t say that I was farthest person from the front desk… but it felt pretty darn close! I was 4 away from the end.

The first thing we did (seeing as it was only 5:30, and the lifeguard went off duty at 6, and dinner wasn’t until 6:30…) was to get in the water! Best. Feeling. Ever! Especially after a super hot day in the sun. Oh sweet bliss! I think we were all just giddy that we were finally here. In the Sea of Galilee!

We all sat and watched the sun go down as a close to our first day, a perfect end if you ask me!

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we had to write a paper about a service that we did for someone else in our group.

this is how much i am loved.

by the way, she's my roomie.