Saturday night

Note: Before I even get started today note that I will not use the term supposedly. Most, if not all of the things I mention here should say "This is the place where so-and-so supposedly did this or that."

Today we started out with a delightful breakfast on top of the Mount of Olives and started our tour from the top. We first walked by the Chapel of the Ascension, where Jesus ascended to Heaven (supposedly...ok just that once). We weren't allowed in though and so we kept going to view the Temple Mount from the overlook. We continued down from there to the Dominus Flevit church. Also known as the Church where Jesus wept. Following a winding path down some more we walked past the many tombs on the Mount of Olives and past the Church of Mary Magdalene. We continued down to the Garden of Gethsemane and sat under the shade of some of the oldest olive trees alive today. We also saw the rock where Jesus prayed while the disciples slept.

We looked into the Church of all Nations where a Catholic service was being held, it was lovely. Then we visited the Tom of the Virgin Mary, the first site on my trip thus far that was pretty commercialized, it was rough but visually brilliant. This is one of the many places where the Virgin Mary is said to have been entombed.

After that we took a rather hard walk straight up the hill back to our hotel where we rested for an hour before leaving to find our new hotel, the YMCA Three Arches. A very lovely building designed by Arthur Louis, the architect of the Empire State building!

We paused only briefly before heading out to the Old City, a 10 minute walk from our hotel. Entering the Jaffa gate we walked directly into the bazaar. From the very entrance it is beautiful and dizzying with the variety of smells, sounds, colors and peoples. We were called to every few feet by shop owners wanting us to look at their wares. Having decided to just look today and buy tomorrow we just took everything in.

We met a few friends from the dig for a mid afternoon snack and drinks in a hotel cafe that we reached by a tiny door in the bazaar, hardly recognizable as a hotel entrance. The cafe on top of the hotel overlooked the skyview of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock. It was beautiful up there in the shade with the breeze blowing to keep us cool.

We then went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which was built around the place where Jesus was stripped, nailed to the cross, and where he hung. This last bit is surrounded by a brilliantly colored shrine where people continually passed to kneel and kiss the rock. In the church there are many important sites such as tombs and other important places and the big importance, the place that took us a twenty minute wait for 15 seconds inside is the Holy Sepulchre, the 14th station of the cross where Jesus was laid to rest and returned to life. We waited and then entered a low doorway and knelt by the slab of marble was Jesus was to have been laid. It was a moment for great reverence and I felt it there. This also is a truly indescribable moment of our trip and I will leave it at that.

We left there and explored the bazaar a little longer and then headed to the Western Wall for the closing of Sabath. We observed the rituals and watched people and it was a lovely time. We watched the sun move across the wall and finally disappear into shadows and then slowly headed back through the closing bazaar towards the Jaffa gate, ending our day with dinner at the YMCA restaurant.

What a day....what a day.

Sabath in Jerusalem

Internet access at the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem...what a city. Oh dear, the last 30 hours have been interesting, this will be a long one:

Ok, so first we had a 3ish hour bus trip to Tel Aviv, the bus filled up with lots of soldiers, all carrying big guns and then people lined the aisles to stand for most of the trip. What a unique experience. So we finally get to Tel Aviv and I say goodbye to my bus companions, Mari, Jamina and Tommy and get into a taxi headed for the hotel and my momma. Unfortunately I was so distressed about leaving my friends and going off on my own that I agreed to 120 shekels and the taxi ride was barely ten minutes long...well live and learn I guess, I got there safelty.

Mom and I caught up as we strolled down the road to a small but lovely sushi bar. We had tempora, a big bowl of fried shrimp, fish and veggies. It was pretty tasty and then we went back to our hotel and went to bed about 9:30pm...we'd both had long days.

This morning we drove to Jaffa (Joppa), which is really part of Tel Aviv. This is where Jonah got swallowed by the sea monster (or where the story is based at any rate). We had a lovely time walking around tiny art galleries at this important Biblical port. We also went into St. Peter's cathedral which was lovely. After lunch on a porch overlooking the Mediterranean Sea with the wind on our faces with walked down to the beach and put our toes in the sand. A big wave came and got us both a little wet but it was worth it.

We then "went up to Jerusalem" (Ah yes Bible dork I know) We got a little lost on our way into town and almost ended up somewhere we shouldn't be. Unfortunately we arrived in Jerusalem right at the time where Muslims are going to pray. We drove around the walls of the Old City but we were not able to get to the Mount of Olives, where our hotel is located, and were directed away and went through the City of David. Fortunately we found a tour guide (of sorts) that took us to see St. James's grave, Yad Avshalom (or the Tomb of Abshalom), Hezekiah's tunnel (which we did not go through yet), and the Pool of Siloam (where Jesus healed the blind man). I stepped into it (it was ok!) and it was so cold that my feet were numb. It was out of the way so there weren't any other tourists there! It was a fantastic way to spend our time while waiting to be able to go up to the hotel.

When that was done we headed up and up and up the Mount of Olives to the very top where our hotel overlooks the temple mount and the Eastern wall of the Old City. Wow wow wow...That's all there is to say. We are staying in the Mount of Olives hostel which is small but great and very clean and safe. We headed out for dinner pretty quickly and ate in a great little back alley palestinian place and I had lamb kabobs.

Then we went walking and went to the lookout which looks over the Mount of Olives cemetery AND the Temple Mount. (Pictured above) We watched as the sun went down over the Old City and heard the prayers from the temple on a loudspeaker so that the whole city could hear...it was an amazing feeling just watching the sky get darker and feeling that wonderful night air I keep talking about and listening to prayers. Wow...it just is almost indescribable, it was beautiful. And then the song "The Holy City" popped into my head and then I kept singing it under my breath. Wow...what a place, what an amazing place. I will leave you with the lyrics, much love my dear family and friends...

Last night I lay asleepingThere came a dream so fair,I stood in old JerusalemBeside the temple thereI heard the children singingAnd ever as they sang,Methought the voice of AngelsFrom Heaven in answer rang"Jerusalem, Jerusalem!Lift up you gates and sing,Hosanna in the highest.Hosanna to your King!"And then methought my dream was chang'dThe streets no longer rangHush'd were the glad HosannasThe little children sangThe sun grew dark with mystery,The morn was cold and chillAs the shadow of a cross aroseUpon a lonely hill"Jerusalem, Jerusalem!Hark! How the Angels sing,Hosanna in the highest,Hosanna to your King!"And once again the scene was chang'dNew earth there seem'd to be,I saw the Holy CityBeside the tideless seaThe light of god was on its streetsThe gates were open wide,And all who would might enterAnd no one was denied.No need of moon or stars by night,Or sun to shine by day,It was the new JerusalemThat would not pass away"Jerusalem! JerusalemSing for the night is o'erHosanna in the highestHosanna for evermore!"

Last Dig Day

I'm sad to be leaving but truly I'm done digging. It has been a long couple weeks here and especially the sickness, it makes work a lot harder and I have to take more breaks so I feel useless much of the time. We finished up today and cleaned a little, they will finish cleaning next week and cover things until next season which is 2010.

I'm off to my last lunch at the kibbutz, kind of a relief really, and then a bus ride to Tel Aviv to meet my Mom!

Wednesday Evening

Wow, what a day it has been!

Today has been very full, this afternoon after lunch (which sadly were left-overs from last night) Mari and Greg and I headed down to Banias, a river that flows from very near here into the Jordan. It was about a 15 minute hike from the kibbutz. http://www.jafi.org.il/education/noar/SITES/banias.htm for more information. It is the hottest day since we've gotten here, not my speculation, a true account, and down in the river valley it was so much cooler and the water was so cold that it numbed our legs. I body surfed a little in the not so rapid rapids. It was beautiful down there, like a different world. The trees shaded the area and all that we could hear was the roar of the water, it was beautiful. The trees are full with spiderwebs and cocoons that make everything seem a little dreamy. Wow...what a country.

After pottery washing this afternoon (my last!) we took our Wednesday day trip...this time to Tel Hazor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Hazor if you want to check it out). It is to the south of the Hula Valley what Tel Dan is to the North, in antiquity if one was booming the other was small and vice versa. There is an enormous temple right in the center that faces East, they aren't sure why.

We got back just in time for dinner, our last supper together. I feel pretty distressed about leaving. You understand, we have been for three weeks spending all our time together. We eat together, play together, work together, sleep together (not that way!), and pretty much everything. It's very strange. We've become such a part of each other's every day life.

After dinner tonight we had a going away party. David bought us ice cream, cakes, baklava, Mt. Hermon wines (both red and white) and some other sweet treats. The twenty-five of us ate together under the stars over-looking the Golan Heights/Lebanon. What a beautiful place, and man, I'm going to miss the nights, it's beautiful out and the air...I know I've said it before but I can't get enough.

Well kids, I may write tomorrow, I may not be able to. Next stop, Tel Aviv to meet my delightful Mommy. I'll update ASAP. Much love!!

Wednesday afternoon

This morning I went to the work site and felt pretty good the whole time. After breakfast though I came back with Eva and Jason (the supervisor for the pottery) to label pottery.

Imagine trying to write with a felt tip pen on thousands of year old pottery that is dirty. It sucks...Eva and I are convinced that there is a portion of Hell dedicated directly to pottery labeling. Not only is it rather difficult but it also makes this terrible scratchy sound. Woah...what a crappy time.

Today there was an exchange of hostages, don't know if you heard about it in the news. It was between two Israeli soldiers and many Lebanese soldiers, both of the Israeli soldiers were deceased : http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/16/israel.swap/

It's a pretty big deal here and the woman that was watching the news with me kept saying to me "Ugly world...very ugly world we live in." Hmm...it is strange to be somewhere where these things are real and in your face. Jason said that while on the one hand it's a good thing that Israel will do anything to get their soldiers back, it can also create some pretty bad negotiations, like the one here. Check out the news story for details.

Actually looking back over my blog I feel convicted about my comment on pottery labeling when I've got things so good. It'll really put things in perspective I suppose to look around myself more often. Well I'm off for now...

Tuesday Evening

For dinner: Tuna stuffed pepper...never a shortage of tuna here in case you were wondering.

The days are a touch shorter now and the nights are a bit cooler...not cold by any means you understand, just cooler. I've only been here two weeks and I can tell the difference. Hoping for a full day of work tomorrow.

Much love..

Tuesday afternoon

Weird...I'm almost done here in Dan and I feel in some ways like I just got here. I also in some ways feel like I've been here forever. Woke up this morning feeling pretty good and went out to dig. I was fine, but moving slowly to take care of myself.

I found out, though everyone else did yesterday, that there was a fire at Dan over the weekend. It burned 15% of the Nature Reserve, though not in any of the sections that we were digging in. The fire took out the mill down by out water supply stream and quite a bit of forest. Eva even found a dead chameleon that she took to and brought it back to our site to keep it close (it's pretty gross at this point). It's pretty tragic to see, where it was so dark going to get our water for the day is now bright even early in the morning. It's a little heart-breaking. And there was some talk about the fact that the locks had been tampered with so that the fire trucks couldn't get in...I'm not sure exactly the case, but there it is. David did say that he could see a wall now that was hidden, the silver lining.

I made it pretty well until breakfast, and ate a lot since I was hungry, but then faded for an hour and had to quit at about 10ish. They brought me back to the kibbutz at about 11 am and I slept until lunch. Today for lunch we had tuna stuffed artichoke, not bad actually. I am trying to get back up to speed but it's taking awhile. I feel frustrated with my body for failing me.

Since I haven't yet given you these links, if you want to know more about what I'm doing here are some sites, the first is a wikipedia description and the second is the dig site. Much love!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Dan

http://www.findadig.com/digs/tel_dan

Monday evening

Though there are some question as to the nature of my sickness I'm pretty convinced that it is sun poisening...7 hours in the sun while hiking is not great for the body...well my body at any rate.

I am feeling almost 100% now but do not have any energy. I feel fine and then I walk to the dinner hall and have no energy left to eat. I ate some potato's and rice and a few bites of meat...maybe hamburger, not sure. I was told to eat some sugar and that might help. Any other suggestions for energy would be helpful.

Not a lot has happened today, just rested and went to pottery washing and dinner. Listened to a lot of music and rested on my bed a lot. We have a new roommate, Aubri, who just finished her freshman year of college at San Diego State. It will be different than just Mari and I for sure.

Just wanted to check in. Much love...

Monday last week of dig

Oh my faithful fans...you may have noticed that I did not blog yesterday, trust me there is a good reason.

The last 36 hours have been...well at the very least rough. I left you as we were going to dinner Saturday, we got in the bus and I was feeling a little sick to my stomach. We landed on going to dinner at a coffee shop that also served sandwiches and pasta and I ordered some linguini and lemonade. I wasn't feeling well and Tommy (he's one of the area supervisor's) suggested that I go and put some cool water on my face which I did. That didn't really help much and I was feeling dizzy and sick to my stomach. We cut dinner short (everyone got to eat, well not me, but we didn't stick around) and they brought me back.

I will spare you the terrible details of my sickness but for the next twelve hours it was bad news and poor Mari had to take care of me. She's seen me like no one except my family has before, but she was lovely and caring. At 6 in the morning she went and found Tommy who brought me Immodium and cooked me up an electrolyte compound of boiled water, lemonade, strawberry banana juice and salt. It was so gross, but I tried to get some down.

To mix things up, Sunday is the day they clean and so we were kicked out of our place at 7:45 am and I sat on a bench waiting with Tommy while everyone else went out for coffee.

When Tommy and Greg's room was clean I went in to lay down and thankfully stopped getting sick about that time. I mostly slept for the next 5 hours while Tommy worked on his PhD proposal. As a second kicker, we were supposed to change rooms, because so many people left. So Mari, Eva and Nick moved all of our stuff and also brought me back some (almost) pedialite type stuff, which was gross but not quite as bad as the other. At 1pm Sunday I ate part of a peice of dry bread and then slept again until about 3:30pm.

Then Mari and Eva came to take me down to our new apartment. It wore me out just walking a few hundred feet and I slept on an off until about dinner time. Mari and Eva had gotten me some pretzals and taken some peanut butter from the office and I ate two peanut butter pretzals, about all I could handle. I didn't go to dinner but they brought me back some bread and white peaches. I ate one of the peaches and drank a little water and then fell back asleep for the night about 8:30 or 9pm. I slept through the girls getting up for work this morning and woke up at 9 am feeling mostly normal and very hungry.

I ate a peach and several peanut butter pretzals and then felt a distinct desire to get out of bed. So I came up to the office to blog about my crappy 36 hours (haha...no pun intended). At any rate...what a bad day. I'm hoping to take it easy today and be back to work tomorrow.

It is not fun being sick away from home...well loves, off I go...I need more rest for the time being.