The Kevolution: Israel

Staying up all night- visiting my favorite spots and travels-o-fun

2006-06-06T19:41:00.000-12:00

In my quest to stay up all night this is what i did- aside, of course, from talking to people and pondering.

First was a final trip of to the Holy Sepulcher. This place is really just beautiful- although the sign might not prepare you for it. So i guess there are inadequate signs outside Jordan.
Try as i might, i could not get a picture of this thing without someone in front of it. Picture of sepulcher with person + photoshop = picture of sepulcher without person.Being that i was in the church a bit late and they were closing it down, there were some doors open which every other time i visited were shut. I assume an unlocked door/gate to be one i am meant to enter.
after taking a picture of the open gate, i turned and saw this which is the bottom of traditional Golgotha.
They soon invited me to leave, not because i was trespassing but because i would be as soon as the church closed. The picture below shows the inauspicious front of a terribly ornate and important church. Notice the door half closed.
So back i went to my hotel for a final sit on the terrace. This is my view: from left the Tower of David, David's Citadel, the King David Hotel with the YMCA tower coming up behind it and finally the city walls. I have quite enjoyed being able to sit on the roof of the place i live. I haven't been able to do that since my time at the YL house.

About 20 hours after waking up i caught the shuttle over to the airport. True enough- they will ask you a lot of questions (including "did you get to know any Arabs?"). A few hours to get through security, four hours to Frankfurt, 5 hr layover, 10 hrs to Denver, an hour through customs and i'm home. It was quite a trip, there is more to say, i could probably fill books that would fill the world (or at least a small room), but you have to ask me to get more because i am done with this blog.

I want to thank you for reading my ramblings, i hope you enjoyed them. If you want to post any comments you should, i have enjoyed reading them. I look forward to catching up on what has happened in your world.

Home safe. blessings.

Amman - Museum - Medeba - Mt Nebo - crossing the Jordan - no sleepi

2006-06-05T07:57:00.000-12:00

So i woke up this morning in Amman: my last day away from home, sort of. This is the last full day away, yet somehow waking up i was still over 48hrs away from home. Go figure- who came up with time zones anyway?
Above is Amman, Jordan, built up around the ancient theater that seats 5000.
These columns formed the Temple to Hercules - so of course they were huge. Old and gigantic, story of my trip. Just a note, the girl in the orange skirt is full size.
Continuing on Jordan's underselling their stuff- this unsuspecting museum holds some of the oldest statues of humans (6500 yrs old), ancient skulls and some of the Dead Sea Scroll. Security is less than tight, many of the artifacts are not even encased, and though pictures are not permitted they proved to be a less than daunting task. I will not post any, because i abide the laws and did not take any. I cannot speak for all patrons of the museum.

Off to Madaba- or Medeba- pretty much you can put whatever vowels you want in any word so long as you get the consonants in the right order. You can also pronounce anything however you choose, assuming you can look like you know what you are doing.
Medeba is an important city throughout history. During the Byzantine era (Roman), someone decided it would be a neat idea to use a giant mosiac map as a floor covering, showing all of the Roman empire. I dont know why people have stoped such decor. I certainly want a map (60x20 ft) covering my space. The extant portions of the map prove both accurate and informative to scholars today. Pictured below is Jerusalem. Different colored buildings indicated different uses, as do symbols and scripts-just like maps today!This is where we had lunch. Pretty.
The final stop on our Jordan tour- and really Israel tour as well- was Mt Nebo. This awesome sign again provided by my host country. This one is well aged: you cannot fake rust.
This is the view Moses had after wandering in the desert for 40 yrs. Interestingly we tend to think Moses was able to see all of the Promised Land... but an effect of the heat is fog. I always want to know what is layed out in front of me and for some reason i think such a perspective is due me- this expereince might lead me to think otherwise.

I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
-Deuteronomy 32:3-4

From here we crossed from Jordan into the West Bank and on to Israel, so technically from a country into hot nothingness before finding ourselves back in a place recognized by the UN. We arrived back in Jerusalem just in time for dinner back at the Gloria.
Some of my companions will stay a few day extra in Jerusalem, some are on to France, Germany, England... i am happy to be headed home. A lot can be accomplished in three and a half weeks of traveling. More can be accomplished in 5 or 6 weeks... but i miss you guys... so i'm coming home.

And now i am trying to stay awake until 1:45am when i will catch the sharut (shuttle) to the airport and begin my long-day-and-a-half-of-perpetual-sunlight-travel.

Yea!

Long walk through Petra - constant photo opportunities - Edom - and to Amman - swim - sauna - steam - swim - sauna - hot tub - swim - fountain coke

2006-06-04T08:53:00.000-12:00

We started the day walking down from our hotel, through the city and into the Siq which leads to Petra (meaning rock, made famous by the Indiana Jones movie).

The canyon grows deeper and deeper: my companions lend some scaling for you.

Petra was the religious center for the Nabateans who we ran into before (see ramblings near the Dead Sea). They were the infamous desert traders: the only culture who knew how to cross the desert without shriveling up from a lack of water. This canyon was their religious progression annd these (below) were small alters for their ceremonies.

The money shot of Kazneh (the Treasury). And another with some camels. Donkey and camel rides are quite popular through Petra as the walk is tiresome and both animals are funny looking.

You can just barely see a girl in a yellow shirt - this one is big too.

Some have suffered much more from wind erosion. All these monuments date from about the 4th century bc to 1st century ad.

There was an optional hike (but who would pass it up) to a high alter. This is the view from up there, about 5ooft above Petra.

A Wheaton student in front of me, being hounded by a little old woman selling trinkets on our way down the back side of the hike - they are everywhere.

A heck of a necropolis. There is a family sitting in the bottom right corner eating lunch and a man standing in the right corrodor for scale. You can click on the picture to enlarge it. This one is almost 100ft high, and quite wide.

This is the view from inside one of the tombs. No matter what you saw in Indiana Jones, these rock facades have only small tombs inside them going back 15-30ft.
and how do one's feet look after a few hours in Petra?

From here we went to the Edomite capital city. Again, if this place was in the states we might treat it differently - this is the signage/security Jordan provided.
Here is an Islamic shepherd, feeding his animals on a 4000 yr old ruin while praying.
This city was much bigger than Jerusalem of the day, but this one fell.
And some companions of mine, standing on old rocks. Yea!
We stayed the night in Amman which is Jordan's largest city, about 2.5 million. When the international banking commnity left Beruit due to war, much moved here to Amman which is why it looks so western. I have no pictures, but i did go swimming in the Best Western's pool. Who would have thought there would be a Best Western in Jordan-or a metal detector you would have to pass through to get in? i know now.

And who new fountain coke would taste so good after three weeks of its absence?

6am Bus - Jordan Border - Pella - Gadara - Jerash - Jabbok River - 9pm finally at the hotel in Petra - dinner and a swim

2006-06-03T08:43:00.000-12:00

This morning was an early one. We had to be on the bus at 6am, and since nobody would make breakfast before six they gave us sack breakfast - good thinking JUC. Our first trip was over to the Israel-Jordan border up. Crossing over between two less-than-friendly-nations is a bit tricky and sometimes can take four hours, luckily it only took us 2.5. Walking over to our new bus, as our Israeli bus couldn't make the transition, we found our new bus driver was named the same as our previous (Omar). We also made friends with our Jordanian Tourist Police Officer who is required to be with us at all times, our government appointed tour guide (also required, and not free) and his boss. Our tour guide was much more energetic (i.e. he actually got off the bus at every stop we made) when his boss was with us for the first day by comparison to the second and third days where he was more apt to stand by the bus and smoke with the driver.

Jordan!

Our first stop was Pella. We had to cross under some barbed wire and through a hole in the fence to get to the ruins- which i came to understand was fairly typical for Jordan.

Next on our trip came Gadara

Gadara, like the Galilee, was the site of major volcanic activity back in the day so much of the ruins are black basalt. Never thought i would see giant Roman columns made of basalt but they were beautiful. As was the all basalt theater.

After Gadara was Jarash- the most well preserved Roman city anywhere. Also known as the City of a thousand columns, and you can see why.

The column capital below and left is about 10ft across, the columns are some of the tallest that have been found. The bottom right is the cathedral left from when the city came to be a Christian one in the 4th century.

We next traveled south to the Jabbok river which flows from Jordan into the Jordan river. You could smell the river from about 30ft even though there was a significant wind. There are few waste disposal laws in Jordan, and if there are actually any they are not enforced- reasons why drinking this water will kill you. Upstream from this picture is where the industrial waste gets thrown into the water!
Jabbok, for those of you familiar, is where Jacob wrestled with the angel and took the name Israel. There was a shepherd here to, apparetly the animals have gotten use to the polution in the water. I wonder what happens to human who eat sheep who drank toxic water?!

And finally the Jordan sun setting over what looks like construction work, but is actually finished. Everything here is cinder block construction, and none of it looks complete with rebarb sticking out everywhere. Our stick frame house seem awful nice.

At about 9pm we reached our hotel in Petra (mind you 15 hours after we got on the bus) and we were just in time for dinner. Then we swam in the pool. Dont know why, but the hotels that we are staying at in Jordan are considerably nicer than where we stayed previously. I'll take it. And my single room- which i got because the number of guys was odd - fantastic!

sleeping - Holy Sepulcher - giant lunch - and commence to Jordan

2006-06-02T08:51:00.000-12:00

This morning i slept in- and it was good. Then i listened to some music - and it was good. Then i walked through the old city - it was calm and thus, it was good. I spent some time in the Holy Sepulcher as many of the picture i took the first few days might have been eaten by my sd card in my camera. Luckily i got better pictures today than i had gotten before. Here they are...
above the sepulcher
some cool candles- the amount of stone work in this place still blows me away. Every niche and corner is ornate and beautiful.

that is neat

After the church, i walked a few blocks away and saw a sign advertising roof top coffee- maybe i should move here. Below is my empty coffee cup - which was good - and you can see the two domes of the Holy Sepulcher behind the Islamic minaret. Finding myself back at the hotel i went with some friends to find local food- dont worry, we were successful. And the local lunch is gigantor- yum yum. Lamb and chicken on skewers, humus, pita, rice, many indistinguishables of varying yuminess, and good service.

From here we met back at the JUC for the exit/traveling/graduation meeting. Sad but the time is almost over, and we will all go our separate ways. There were many directions for interacting with the shuttle drivers to the airports, security in the airport and whatnot. We then received certificates of completion and cried (okay, i didnt cry, but someone else probably did).

The schedule from here is this: those traveling to Jordan will need to be on the bus at 6am (boo); we will spend the next three days in Jordan; those not going to Jordan will have another free day in the city and most will leave for the airport at 1am.

so after our little commencement ceremony, i commence to Jordan. ready to be hot, thirsty and looking at really old interesting stuff.

Jordan Preview - some shopping - scary taxi - Sabeel - and the office

2006-06-01T08:49:00.000-12:00

To prepare for the impending trip to Jordan, we had a Jordan Preview: this means sitting in class, learning about the geography, learning about the death-water from the tap and some other local customs so as not to offend and cause international incident. This got me excited for the trip over the Jordan, but also a bit sad realizing most of our group is not going.

From there i had a "hamburger" at the school. It is sad when other cultures, which you are trying to experience, poorly immitate America. Some people swore the hamburgers had meat, others had the distinct taste of vegeburger- i think mine was half and half- or more specifically 1/4 vegge, 1/4 meat and 1/2 unknown becuase the first half did not engender eating the second.

After that my favorite pasttime, shopping. If i give you something, at least act like it is fantastic because i likely suffered a lot of haggling and sifting through touristy junk to find it for you. Im just kidding... but seriously...you know what i mean.

Our last globalization lecture took place tonight across town at the Palestinian Liberation Theology Center. aka Sabeel. We rode in taxis over- which i hadn't done before over here and do not hope to do again. Crazy drivers- at least when our bus driver is in heavy traffic i know the other people in the little sedans (which is all there is here) are scared of us. Now i am in a smal sedan- hmm. Here is my picture. I'm not going to get into liberation theoloy here, nor the distinctions of Palestinian Liberation Theology, but rest assured it was a different perspective than i heard elsewhere. If you are interested, just ask.

After Sabeel we walked around the city, saw some religious folk, saw some old walls, some street vendors, heard some Muslim calls to prayer (which has been compared to the sounds of animal torture, partially because the speakers around the city are so loud and probably blown out), smelled/heard a lot of diesel engines, smelled some good food and some bad food... normal day in Jerusalem.

Back at the Gloria some people played cards. Tony Michael and i enjoyed an episode of the Office (British style) to get a little fix of media.

the Garden Tomb-Yad Vashem-Israel Museum-Italian Food-Cards

2006-05-31T08:25:00.000-12:00

Today comprised a more "modern Jerusalem" day. Being that most of the old stuff we looked at had been excavated or moved before we looked at it.
first came the Garden Tomb (aka. Gordon's Calvary). This site became one of the possible places for Jesus' death & burial. It fits some of the necesary geography, and is really pretty, but not probable.
The first reason some folk thought this might be the place was because of an apparent skull in the rockface. This photo was taken in the mid-ninteenth cenutry.
As it appears today
Also lending some creedence to this theory was the discovery of a tomb nearby. It is a rolling stone tomb and well preserved.
I think many protestants (and americans in perticular) would prefer this to be the historic site. This because it isn't encapsulated in a church building- there is a garden around the site. Granted there is a Muslim cemetary atop the hill and a bus station just in front of it. But many of these sites would be different in the states- there would be beautiful grace everywhere, large parking lots with shuttles to the site, nicer cafes and gift shops where you dont need to barter. But i am in the middle east, things are different the the traditional sites were treated as the dominant culture desired at the time. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a terrific example of this. It is surrounded by buildings actually connected to it. The purported hill the tomb was in has been cut away (originally the bedrock forming a grotto/sepulchre) and the church surrounds it. Many people today prefer a less formal/institutional place such as the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb, however, lacks the persuasive tradition that the Holy Sepulcher holds from the 4th century. Also the skull in the rock has deteriorated in the last century in a half to being hardly recognizable compared to the earlier picture. Now imagine how much a rock face of soft limestone, such as that of this hill, would have deteriorated in 2 millenia. It is widely believed that the clef, where the skull now appears, was cut into the hill during the crusades for better access to the city. That the pictures in the 19th century appear to look like a skull is impressive, however the hill would not have looked like that in Jesus' day. Also the tomb dates significantly before Jesus. Though we cannot know with certainty where the crucifixion happened, between the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb evidence leans toward the former. To their credit the Garden Tomb workers would never claim this to be the spot, no matter how much they infer it 'looks' like it could be right. Either way we aren't going to find the body, so it doesn't much matter i guess.
All else aside the garden is quite nice.

On to Yad Vashem. This is Israel's Holocaust Museum. We were only able to spend a few hours here which is not nearly enough.
The buildings are wonderfully done. They are fairly recent, mostly concrete and sterile preparing you for what is displayed inside.
The name of the museum comes from Isaiah 56:5, "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name … that shall not be cut off." A memorial and a name being Yad Va-Shem in Hebrew. As always, it is difficult to learn about the holocaust. There are so many horrible stories of what was done and with so many silent spectators. The Hall of Names is a large cirular room with shelves several stories high containing names and short biographies of two million victims of the holocaust; there is room for all six million. It is overwhelming to see the binders and binders of names in this room- difficult at best to react.

From here it was on to the Israel Museum. Most everything of importance that has been excavated in any of the sites we have visited is stored here. There is a large display for the Dead Sea Scrolls: unfortunately there are no pictures allowed in the museum (as in Yad Vashem), so i have none. Now that i saw a bunch of really old stuff- mostly rock, some early metal.

We returned to Jerusalem and a goup of us decided to skip dinner at the Gloria and find some italian food. It was one of the most entertaining dinners in recent memory. We sat outside, ate some wonderful kosher italian food and were entertained by a singing, joking, gun weilding proprieter from Roma. He talked to us for at least thirty minutes and was great fun to interact with- he also made some darn good food. He'd been to the states a few times for Disney world and said he enjoyed it. Dinner is always a highlight in my life- no one should eat alone, and dinner should last at least two hours. Someday my world will exist outside my head, maybe you will be envited to enjoy it with me, then you will see how nice it is in here.

Someday i'll get a picture of him from one of my companions, but i dont have one now. The story will have to do.

Sleeping in, shopping, a museum and a night time lecture

2006-05-30T06:34:00.000-12:00

So we had a free day today, which meant mostly people slept in. We are really getting to the point in the trip where everyone is tuckered out and wanting to gear up for a final push. So instead of walking around the city before it wakes up as i did week one, i missed breakfast and layed in bed.

Commence shopping: boo. You know i have a distaste for shopping in the states, and the old city shop full on makes me wanna vomit. Every shop you step past you here, "Hello my friend, come and see my shop, you don't have to buy, only one dollar" interestingly the $1 price isn't anything specific, just whatever you happened to be looking at. I was able to make it to a spice shop where the owner was very kind - most every shop will offer you water, juice, tea, coffee... and then run down the street to get it for you. When we came up to the shop though the owner's neighbor's boy was watching things. He claimed to be 14, but didn't look over 8 (which was confirmed by my fellow travelor's who are acustomed to the little ones of our species). Anyways, after the owner's prayer time ended he returned. It is interesting that from Muslims from all over the see go both to the Damascus gate and the Temple Mount to pray- still towards Mecca- which is mostly south of here. Point being, i got some sweet spices- hopefully someone will be able to do something useful with them in the state (Boyd? Alicia?, i am looking in your directions).
Then we got some kabob in the old city- bardered for that too.

After lunch we took a tour at the Tower of David Museum- ironically not actually David's tower in location or building. It did provide some nice views of the city and a brief overview of the history of Jerusalem. I realized in this time how much i have learned, because i already new most of what the museum meant to teach. Kevin 1. Tower of David Museum 0.

We had another nightime lecture by a guy who runs a church planting mission in Jerusalem- interesting fodder for our card games afterward at the hotel. After a few weeks, i have become comfortable in this city. Of course this feeling is coming just as the trip is winding up. Maybe i'll come back another time, we'll see.

Boat Ride across the Galilee, Tiberias, the Jordan

2006-05-29T08:49:00.000-12:00

Last night was a bit ambivalent in my world: on the one had i was very tired and my room was air conditioned yet at the same time my feet were in the sea, hanging out with friends and watching fireworks across the Galilee where i will likely never be again. I take our time here not to be uncommon for the Israelis, and they have some sort of celebration about every thee days with fireworks. So i stayed up for a while with some folk and then enjoyed the ac. It is hard to believe i have spent the last three weeks with people whom i have never met, and i've only emailed a few of you. It feels like at the same time our trip is coming to an end, so are many of these relationships. Not that i dont like them, but my tendency has taught me that some friendships are just seasonal. Of course we are getting to the time where people are starting to suggest post-israel-trip parties and the like, most of which will never materialize. But that is good and healthy, there is only so much kevolution to come: that is before the movement catches on internationally.

Today began with a boat ride across the Galilee. I'm not really clear why, but they raised the American flag and played the National Anthem. It was wierd. They also had some typical-Israel-tourist-garbage, but i refrained.

Once across we got to see "the Jesus boat." This thing sank sometime in the first century, likely in one of the Jewish revolt which partially took place on the Galilee, and was found a few years ago. It was preserved by the mud which encased it. There was a long process of digging it out and preserving the wood so it will remain as is.

Above is what the boat would have looked like.

From we came to the tourist baptismal spot of the Jordan river- it seems wrong to make fun of any sort of baptism, so this paragraph will be short. What i love about the Orthodox church is that they dress so cool- in fact most the religious sect dress way more stylishly than Protestants.

Finally we stopped at Bet Shean, Bob's dig (seen above in official tour garb). He was very excited about bringing us all here. It is a funny combination of Roman and Jewish city. Some big stones as you can see. And from atop the tel you can see a McDonalds- i dont remember ever being as tempted by McD's like i was this day.

Waking up in Ein Gev- Upper Jordan, Tel Hatzor, Tel Dan, Ceserea Philipia, Banias and Qasrin

2006-05-28T06:11:00.000-12:00

Woke up chilly- so i got that going for me, which is a first since since being over here.

Today was a bus trip circling Ein Gev and coming back for one more night. Our first stop was just a quick photo opportunity of the Jordan River (not particularly the interesting part of the Jordan), and so here is the photo.

From here we went in a string of old cities, which may sound redundant if you have been keeping up on the blog but we are still going strong. Key in all these cities are presses - wine and oil. They grow a lot of grapes, and a lot of olives. so here is "the best preserved press" in the country.
What is amazing in all these cities is their placement. Knowing the geography that i do now, they are mostly strategic and make sense, but they are also in the middle of nowhere. All the water needs to be piped in by aquaducts and tunnels, neither of which are easily done.

This afternoon we came up one of the most important cities in our trip, Dan. The largest city of the Northern Kingdom, Dan was a welcome change as you can see. There are many important archeological findings i can bore you with another time, but this sweet stream and some cold water was unbelievable after weeks in the desert. The nearby Banias (or Panyas, or Banyas) also has water flowing so we stopped for lunch.

Coming along the Northern edge of Israel, bordering with both Lebanon and Syria, we have an overlook. Israel is so small, it seems at any point you can see the Mediteranian or Jordan, at times Lebanon or Egypt. From here you can see Lebanon on the right, a white UN camp in the center and Jordan before you.

Likely the most beneficial portion of this trip is finally seeing all the things i have read about for so long. What everyone tells me after visiting this place is you cannot process before coming back. It is not until you start reading and studying and explaining your trip to people that you realize how much happened. My head is full. After a semester of hard studying, it is difficult to start an intensive 6 credit hour class. But that just means that all of you can process with me and learn. All that to say this is a first century house. What is interesting, for me at least, was the part that was "under construction." With the majority of building happening around here is in stone, they used and had developed totally different tools than we are accustomed. Look around the picture, find the sawzall jj

Nazareth, Beth Saida, an overlook and the Galilee

2006-05-27T07:32:00.012-12:00

So waking up in Nazareth was funny. Our hotel use to be a church, but is now close to a youth hostel. The view was fantastic, overlooking Nazareth which is actually built in a valley, but the rooms were quite small. And that was only two people in a three person room.

Most travelors skip over Nazareth, there really are only two churches of not and almost no ruins. This might seem strange considering the prominence of Nazareth in Jesus' life, but remember there are very few stories actually occuring in Nazareth. The picture above is from the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, of course a highly ornate church. This one is built atop the well used in the first century- and so the well that Jesus and his family would have used.

The next church was a Roman Catholic Church, also of the Annunciation. Since there are so few biblical stories occuring in Nazareth, these churches commemorate Mary and the 'annunciation' of the angels to Mary concerning Jesus. On the bottom level of this church, built in the 60s, is a remains of a first century home (above).

The second floor allows you to look down onto the ruins from above and also any services currently happening in the church. We came in during a mass, not in english, and had a bird's eye view. Beautiful use of space, largely open creating and causing you to walk a ways in silence and stillness from the streets.

From here we came through Tabgha, Capernaum and Bethsaida on our way around the Sea of Galailee. These are all key cities in Jesus' life and ministry, but they are names that most skip over while reading in the Bible.

Tabgha is the church commemorating the multiplication of the fish and the loaves of bread. Above is one of the most famous mosaics in the world, perhaps you recognize it.

Capernaum is mentioned often in the Gospel with much of Jesus' teaching happening in the synagogue here. And Bethsaida is the home of Peter, Andrew and Philip. I would love to post some more of these pictures but i have been fighting with computers, and for inanimate objects

From here we started our trek over to Ein Gev. The Galilee use to be one body of water, combined with the Dead Sea, and is now connected by the Jordan River. This picture is from an outlook approching the Sea of Galilee with the north shore on the left side of the picture, and our hotel is on the far side of the sea. It was so exciting for us after weeks of desert, to be able to swim in fresh water. Galilee is the lowest fresh water lake (about 700ft below sea level) and quite fun to play in. And actually, since the water was so fun, my camera never made it to the beach. Our hotel had it's own little beach, which we used to the full, and the common less than spectacular food with the exception of one fantastic dessert. We also enjoyed air conditioning these two nights and i played freeze out with my roomates who ended up in the other room because they preferred a bit more heat.

Cesarea Maritima, Mt Carmel, Megido, Tel Jezreel ending in Nazareth

2006-05-26T05:41:00.000-12:00

This is the outer walls of Cesarea Maritima- another city of Herods. Unbelievable how much the man built. and if i was him i might have built a palace here too.

this is the foundation below his palace. you can actually see the outline of his swimming pool, circa 30bc mind you.

So a top experience in this trip has been eating out. All the places we have gone are top notch, not touristy. This sometimes takes some effort, especially in Jerusalem, but it is worth the extra walk. Here is a little place we found on the mediteranian (which is the blue stuff in the background). i had some sort of frozen lemon lime drink (alcohol free or course, only 11am) and everyone else had good food which i got the leftovers of.

Unfortunately our meals at the hotel and on the bus have been less than spectacular. I'm not going hungry, but i am certainly looking forward to breakfast in the states. Over here warm/hot milk, wet eggs, instant coffee and shrively hotdogs are considered breakfast. And we have had egg salad about four times in the middle of the desert- neither of which are/were/ever -will-be appealing. Unless i am unclear, i need some breakfast buddies- you know who you are, and you know where we go, so lets get it done when i am back.

This is a monestary we unitlized as an overlook on Mt Carmel. From here you could see Nazareth, the Galilee and a bunch of other stuff too. And tonight we arrived at Nazareth, the place Jesus grew up. It is now a large town, mostly Jewish. We are at a hotel at the end of town and walk down a long hill (and later up that same hill) to go adventure in the town. Certainly one of the more run down towns we have visited, lots of trash everywhere and a bunch of kids running around. We did a little tallent show tonight inside our group, it was fun to see everyone do stupid things. Also impressive to see how many inside jokes have been formed in the last two weeks (which bus riding will do). Not amazingly funny, except for Dr Hess fencing- that is good stuff.

Jerusalem Day

2006-05-25T08:53:00.000-12:00

Okay, so as promised, Jerusalem Day.
We had another free morning today which meant sleeping in until 8am (which is not actually sleeping in), breakfast at the hotel and a little walk over to the King David Hotel. Now the King David is not the type of hotel i can afford to reside, now or likely every, however they do allow my kind in for coffee. So i headed over there with Dr Hess and a few other students. We sat in the courtyard which is just lush and talked about many things, figuring out the world and what not. The hotel is particularly interesting because it was the site of 1946 bombing: it seems impossible to escape history/tension in this place. It is obvious that most folk in seminary, as well as those who have gone to seminary, are not the normal patrons of this cut of hotel: they have jewelry on display in the lobby.
Conveniently next to the King David is the Hebrew Union College, one of the places where Dr Hess has studied in Israel. He hadn't been on the campus in a few decades so he took a little trip through nostalgia and we humored him. It was quite interesting to go into there museum on campus where they have some archeological finds and whatnot. Dr Hess was kind enough to give some impromtu lectures on a few of the pieces: it is so fun when someone finds an area of interest with such passion. Though i'm not inspired to dig old rocks out of the ground, i do want to find that love somewhere.
At the end of the lit day we had a lecture from Gershon Nerel (Dr of course) who has lived in Jerusalem most of his life. He is the foremost expert on Jewish Christians in this country (Jewish Believers in Yeshua, as he calls the movement). He has an interesting perspective on the whole thing. Avoiding words like church, conversion and refusing the label or affiliation with any denomination. A very kind man, soft spoken, happy and enthusiastic. It was a bit difficult to concentrate though as celebration for Jerusalem day was begining...

As we tried to walk back to our hotel from the JUC campus the road was blocked. In fact they were seting up fireworks just on the other side of the Jaffa Gate from our hotel, we would not be able to walk back the normal route before midnight (and it was about 9pm). At that point the idea of walking over to the Wailing Wall became more of an option, but those of you concerned with my safety will be glad to know i did not go. While i haven't heard of any incidents there that night, and in fact a few of my friends went down there and said how exciting it was, this is a strange holiday.

In the pictures top picture you can see our view of the crowds walking around in the streets from our hotel roof. the next to pictures i took at about 7pm of the street in front of our house. The next i stole from the internet, it is looking back from the wailing wall. And the final pictures are obviously of fireworks, the roof and folks you can see in the pictures are friends of mine sitting on another balcony of our hotel.

And can someone tell michelle to use the computers, really in put the firework pictures up for her benefit/jealousy. Back to the point, this holiday is only celebrated by the Jews in the country. The city was not meant (as of the 1948 UN decision) to be under Israeli or Jordinian control, but this holiday celebrates the 68 war in which the Jews took control of all of Jerusalem. All the people you see in the pictures above are Jews, in fact people come from all around the world to celebrate this day, hence the mass of traffic and tour buses and every other kind of transportation.

At dinner our prof Bob relayed a little story to me of his walk up to the hotel. He saw two guys, with skull caps, obviously drunk and ready to enjoy the celebration. While they were walking down the street they stopped in front of an arab man who was messing with his cell phone, sitting on the curb. The two men went over to him and started mocking him. When he didnt responded they started kicking him, "gently." Bob explained, as he lived over here until about 4 years ago, that many of the arab have just learned not to fight back. Everywhere around there is Israeli police and military, and they will arrest the Arabs for such behavior. Again, not my story or explanation, but there are racial/religious/nationalistic overtones and tensions everywhere. I feel safe, but everyone here likes americans. We give them guns, spend our money in their restruants, hotels, gift shops... they dont want anything to happen to us.
Of course they do want our money. The tourist price is quite a bit higher than the local price. I was out in the old city today buying some little things, and you barter down to usually about half of what is originally offered- which seems like a silly system until you watch tourist inept (and sometimes unaware) of the batering system.
Which reminds me, if there is something specific you want you should let me know if you haven't already. But i really hate buying stuff here. Every shop has all the same poorly made crap. Muslems selling cheap crosses and Christian shops selling skull caps and prayer mats- it is all business.

Masada, Dead Sea, En Gedi Waterfalls, Qumran

2006-05-25T06:35:00.001-12:00

Today was another classic day of more than you can process in a single day. We started out at Masada which is one of the most famous spots in all Israel. It is built atop a mountain that borders the Dead Sea. The view above is from the eastern side from which the Romans built a 300 foot siege ramp over three years to conquer the Jews that were holding out. On the western side the drop off is 1300 ft. The mountain top has been occupied by a number of groups over the years, starting about 1000bc until 300ad.
Looking North

and looking east toward the dead sea

Then we actually got to the Dead Sea. Unfortunately i do not have a picture of myself in the Dead Sea as yet because, well, i was in the sea, but i do have this one. And good news for all you out there, my denseness floated! It was in the end an odd experience. Not something i would like to do every day, however if i ever drive by the Dead Sea again, i will probably float again. It is a disgusting feeling getting out and just being covered by salt, like you have never sweated before. It was just strange.

Next came the falls of En Gedi. Again this is an Old Testament site, likely where David cut Saul's robe in the cave if you are familiar with the story, along the eastern edge of the Dead Sea. What will stick with me from this experience was all the water after all the desert. Today was the hottest day i can remember...ever. There was a short period on the bus where our air conditioner broke and we had to stop for inspection- we were all drenched. I just sat and watched the water pour out of my forearm. Just unbelievable. Anyways, hiking up the canyon next to a spring and passing three waterfall along the way! So so great.

Then we got up to the top and ran into a tour guide who came originally from the US. Check out his hip above.

Finally was Qumran. I put up a picture of myself because all the people i am traveling with told me i wasnt getting any pictures with myself: so here i am.

For those of you unfamiliar, this is the community of the Essenes and where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Little is known of Qumran, and in some sense the Scrolls as well. Most tour groups see the remains of the Qumran society as well as the first cave found from across the little valley shown above, luckily my tour guide some of the other caves as well. Looking at the picture above, you would never guess which cave we went into.

There is no identification or security at all, but we went into the cave in which the most important manuscripts were found.

Again there is so much that happened today, three of the most well known places currently in Israel packed into one day. I cannot explain the feeling of Masada- knowing the history of David camping there, Herod, the Jewish stronghold, Roman garrison. There is so much history contained in these places and our time is programmed so extensively there is little time to process it all. I am really excited to tell you all more of these stories when i get home. After we got back to Jerusalem, and found ourselves in nice accommodations, we got to relax for a bit. On the morning off i made it over to the famous King David Hotel, where i can afford esspresso but nothing else, and sat in their courtyard. I am beginning to feel at home over here. It really is a safe town- many people have commented never feeling safer. The lack of English is always a bit unsettling, but everyone is very kind to Americans (though they are not always kind to one another). The next post will begin with Jerusalem Day, a celebration of the unification of Jerusalem after 67 war, which seems to be a more politically/religioulsy/ethnically charged version of July 4th or Cinco de Mayo. The computer is dying, and i am tiring, night night.

Back from the Desert

2006-05-24T09:14:00.000-12:00

We are now back at our hotel in Jerusalem after a three day tour of the Negev Desert. Our guides advised these would be some of the hottest day, or at least regions, we would see. The guess was that the temperature would rise about five degrees per day, they low balled that one. Today was unbelievable, but more on that later.
Our days have been spent wandering around really old stuff, much of which had to be uncovered by an arecheologist at some point or another. It has proven quite handy to have the three guides with us: Dr Hess from my school; Carl from Western Seminary in Portland; and Bob Mullins who is our actual 'professor' for our time. Bob spent 12 years at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, working on his doctorate when time allowed and digging at nearly every site we have visited. Both the other gentlemen have also studied and dug in Israel as well.

Left is an outlook in the countryside overlooking the valley where David killed Goliath. As we have entered into more and more of the Israeli Parks, the ground are quite nice. You can see the benches constructed overlooking the valley containing Hebrew accounts of the event. Though the language is quite foreign, most signs are displayed in Hebrew, Arabic and English so getting around isn't difficult.

These are bell caves where the top soil becomes hardened over the years and some (with a bit of time) cuts a hole in the ground. Eventually they carve out more and more creating the ginormous caves, sometimes creating a series as seen here. I should have gotten a picture with more people for scaling, but you get the idea.

We also spent a fair ammount of time at several different tels. Tel simply means hill in both Arabic and Hebrew but in archeological studies specifically designate a series of cities/garisons/forts which have been built on top one another. The specific one above has been excavated 10 layers deep dating back about 5 thousand years.

Then we went for a hike through a canyon which i cannot remember the name of currently

This is a shot where from the window down the hall from my hotel room. I woke up this morning just a short bit after sunrise and got this picture of the dead sea. The hotel in Arad was great (especially dinner) and we were all a bit sad to leave, luckily when we got back to Jerusalem our rooms had changed into the newer annex of the hotel. Much nicer.

I'm spent, i will hopefully find some free time in the morning to fill you in on today- i have a lot to tell but am too tired.

The Hessinator

2006-05-24T08:13:00.000-12:00

oh yeah, breaking down walls, having a good time.

Here is D. Hess atop a reconstruction of an alter.

And another one with Tony and i on a hike this afternoon.

You know, taken out of context he must seems so strange...
It is a blessing to sit underneath all these profs here. Just trying to soak it up

ps. does anyone get the above reference besides my sister?

Sunday

2006-05-21T06:01:00.000-12:00

Today was a bit shorter of a day. We had the morning off (which we are all a bit tired from the 7am class/bus-lectures) and so i slept until 8 this morning. Last night was the big night for Jerusalem. The Jews observe the Sabbath friday at sundown until saturday sundown, which makes Saturday night a giant celebration. It was unlike anything that i have ever seen. I, with a few friends, drunk some brew and watched the people. All ages were out with activity picking up about 10pm. The diversity of this city is something different than i have ever experienced- Korean Christians singing, capoeira, many a yarmulka and so much else. In this city everyone is identified by their dress- different sects of Jews dress distinctly, as do the Christians, luckily all Americans wear shorts to distinguish ourselves. The excitement and celebration was palatable, i wish i could explain it better or somehow show you.

Anyways, I woke up this morning and made the short trip over to the Dome of the Rock. Access is limited to none-Muslims, and sunday 7-11am is one of the few times people allowed even onto the Temple Mount. Again, interesting diversity (this is inside the Temple Mount, near the Mosque)...
So i almost made it into the shrine this morning. I walked up, quite casually i might add, behind some Muslims and as they in order took off there shoes and when it came to my turn i did the same. I was able to take one of my shoes off, place it on the ground, and loosen the other before i got yelled at. At times they let anyone into the Dome, but it seems to rely heavy on the big-man-beside-door's discretion. I couldn't determine exactly what he was saying, as we experienced a bit of a language gap, but it was definitevely negative in tone. Even without entrance to the Dome of the Rock or the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Temple Mount was impressive. After viewing the area and walking around its retaining walls several times, it was good to be atop. It is hard to imagine encasing a mount as they did with large walls and then filling in the area to form a level 35 acre platform... but i did enjoy standing on it.

On the left is the view east off the platform, looking through the arches unto the Mt of Olives. The gold onion shaped domes of a Greek Orthodox Church and the spire of the Lutheran church atop the range.

Right is the famed Wailing Wall, which is just the western retaining wall of the Temple Mount. The entrance we used walks up a long path of scaffolding, after metal detection, and puts you up on the surface.

After getting back we sat in lecture for about 6hrs, ate some dinner and now need to pack for our trip down to the Negev (large southern desert) for the next few days.

thanks for reading, and since you are i can probably and honestly tell you i love you and miss you

-k

part man, myth and legend

2006-05-20T08:14:00.000-12:00

now many of you have heard of my prof who came with me (Dr Hess) and tales about him being the smartest man to ever live, or near there. so i have a tale for you...

the height of kevin's intelectual career.

While walking atop the city walls of Jerusalem we came upon the Damascus Gate (pictured below). We all pondered whether or not the roof would colapse under our weight because the surface was undulated. No one could come up with and answer, so i thought some more and had my moment of brilliance: thus began my 45 sec of being smarter than Dr Hess. So to end my upper hand, i walked over to him and said, "is the roof shaped like this to prevent water from standing on the surface?" He looked at me and said (and this is a fairly direct quote), "yeah, that would make sense. you know i have wondered about that all my life, and you just told me." He walked away, and my time knowing something Dr Hess did not was over.
ps. he was not posing for the first picture.

20 March 2006

2006-05-20T04:42:00.000-12:00

Today we went to St George's Monastery, Jericho, driving up the Roman road to Emmaus, Upper and Lower Beth Heron, and High Point of Gibeon. I'll leave you with some pictures along the way, but i'll try not to bore you.

First was St George's pictured just above in the Wadi Qelt ('q's without 'u's make sense here). This monastery is Eastern Orthodox and built in the 17th century but the site was founded about 480 but destroyed and abandoned by the Persians in 614. Really a beautiful place and quite a hike down, which made the the hike up purely aweful. In the picture you can see a small cross across the valley, and that is where we started.

(above are candles holders hanging from the ceiling)

The monastery is beautifully decorated and the monks are quite nice, as i guess you would expect of monks. I dont think i ever truely understood an oasis until i came to this country. There is desert for miles and miles, and then there is one spring, and palm trees everywhere. Also preserved in this monastery, and on display, are the bone of many of the monks from its first years of existence which i personally feel is a bit creapy.

All day we were driving on a bus (7am-6pm), interesting the majority of the time you can still see Jerusalem or the Mt of Olives which has three distinct towers. The whole country is so small, and especially narrow right where we are, that we have yet to be more than a day's walk away.

The other big stop for our day was Jericho. Though Jericho is known as the oldest city in the world, so we went and looked at some old bricks. There are two sets of ruins of note, one from just around the bc/ad transition and the other from the stone age . The former are pictured above, note the 'housing' surrounding the site. At Jericho we find ourselves back in the West Bank where the feel is much different than Jerusalem. East Jerusalem has a distinct European feel where the Old City is largely religious and tourist: in neither is there significant poverty so far as i have seen. The West Bank, however, requires you to pass through security (such that will not allow many folk from the West Bank) and is separated by a large and growing concrete wall. It is a difficult place to visit. While the site above is not on most tourist trips, it has great archeological significance, and from the time we got out of the bus we were followed by local kids. Two yr high boys offering us rides on donkeys, and about five younger kids just begging for anything. Some of them live in the shantys you can see in the above picture. I cannot imagine living in such a place, and several times a day groups like us get of a huge air conditioned bus all carrying cameras and bliggin things. Some of our group (not ones not from my school) were complaining about the kids and telling the kids that they themselves were poor college students. Granted they are a bit of a nusannce and make it more difficult to listen to the prof when they are begging and grabbing anything of yours that is shiney or loose, but what else can we expect them to do? There were a few in my group (Mike and Amy) that choose not to walk over to the site and instead to talk and visit with the kids. Another (Jessica in the picture above) who is arguably more given to kids than i, played with the kids and was talking for quite some time on the bus about their smiles. It is a difficult situation and cannot simply be fixed by tourists emptying their pocket upon everyone who asks for a shekle, but it seems that there would be soemthing to do.

below are some other pictures, arguably as heart rending as the ones above. The place we stopped to eat was in the desert east of Jerusalem where Jesus is said to have been tempted: hence the temptation theme. Sorry Boyd, i didn't have money for the place mats. gag me

Friday: Bethany, Pater Noster, Eye Drop Church, Gethsemane, Church of All Nations, Herodian, Church of Nativity...really a lot

2006-05-19T05:51:00.000-12:00

I have the wrong card for my camera with me so i am skipping a few days, but i will come back and update them.
Our day started a bit earlier than i am accustomed, 6am breakfast and 7am bus ride. I got out early trying to get you some updates but i couldn't find an internet cafe open that early. Then i couldn't find coffee (which i have yet to have a good cup). Then i scrambled over to the school's computer lab to find their internet was down- oh well.
So i boarded the bus and was in Bethany by 8:30. Bethany, of course, is the home town of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. It is the site of many events in the Gospels including the ressurection of Lazarus which is now commemorated by a church. It was a beautiful and simple church. The town itself is fairly run down, and even more so as the country doesn't seem to come to life until 9am at best, but the little church stood in stark contrast. There are a few parking spaces outside and you enter a small iron gate into a garden. Past the garden is a chapel, kept by a priest, that was whelming. Breathtaking mosaics of Jesus' happenings in Bethany and simple Catholic decor. I'll update a picture tomorrow of this. The geography is impressive, Bethany lies just on the east side of Jerusalem two miles across the Mt of Olives. The east side of the hill begins the desert region and the contrast from a largely green Jerusalem is distinct.
Next on the trip was the Pater Noster found atop the Mt of Olives. There is a tradition holding that Jesus taught atop the Mt quite often and this particular church displays the Lord's Prayer in over a hundred languages.
Following down the Mt is a church supposedly modeled after a teardrop and commemorating Jesus weeping over Jerusalem just before his final entry to the city. Though i cannot see the semblence of a tear, the church is captivating and the surroundings beautiful.
At the bottom of the Mt are several places of note. First is the Garden of Gesthemane. The exact placement of the garden is difficult. Gesthemane really only means olive press, so it refers to an olive grove containing a press. There are several possible sites but the most likely is commemorated and contains a cavern (now a Catholic space) which contains some remains of a press and fits other more complicated necesities. This might be a good time to not the tradition that follows many of these places. As Israel has undergone many changes of power in the last three millenia, many sites have been refurbished, destroy, covered, razed ad naseum. Sites like the last few mentioned are 'traditional sites' and these usually flow from some eveidence somewhere along the line but we can never be sure.
Alongside this garden is a possible burial place for Mary, Jesus' mother. It is distgusting how quickly i am breezing through all this.... After following a long set of stairs into bedrock, you find a tomb, hewn in the rock and with monumental decoration.
Next we move to the Church of All Nations, sitting alongside the previous two at the bottom of the Mt of Olives. This structure is overwhelming. Inside it is enormous but dark. The use of light, especially in the entrance/exit creates a surreal and mystic space. Really beautiful, i will do my best to come back here.
We then took our bus outside what has become normal and into the West Bank. This trip i have felt quite safe, though constantly out of my element. Many teenagers with many guns (Israelis are required to join the army, both male and female at 18, and must carry their weapons in and out of uniform) but checkpoints, security and metal detectors abound. The passage to the West Bank is different. The standard of living drops (especially due to current politics) and the demeanor is different. It is here we enter into Herodian, on of Herod's great buildings set atop a mountain and the cite of much turbulence. From the picture above, i can turn around and see the northern end of the Dead Sea. Recal Herod died in 4bc and this construction is from that time. History you can touch and walk around...
Our final stop this afternoon was in Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity. Again the exact spot cannot be proven but as a fellow traveler quibbed, "we're at least within a few hundred meters, Bethlehem is not that big." This church is one of the oldest, build under Justinian in the 6th century and never razed. It went through some mild changes with the Crusaders and under Turk rule, but the church largely remains 14 centuries later. In the first picture you can see a large Justinian column opening, inside a later Crusader from door and what the Turks finally caused the door to be which is only about 4ft tall. Underneath the church's alter is both a cave where Jerome translated the Vulgate in the late fourth century and the basement of the house of Jesus' birth. This second picture is the door that leads down into the bedrock. The columns are supposedly the original from the original church built under contstantine's rule in the early 4th century: beautiful marble columns of various length with paints to top them. Want more pictures, i'm sure you can find them online. My hours is up. peace- k

days 2 &3, in one blog

2006-05-18T22:50:00.000-12:00

Backing up a few days...
We spent our second day in lecture as the morning passed and walking around the old city in the afternoon. There is again so much that we saw, but the most impressive was Hezekiah's tunnel. Built about 3 millenia ago, this tunnel was constructed to divert water from a spring outside the city walls into the city in case of attack. The tunnel is about 1600 meters long, 18-30 inches wide and between 4 and 6 feet tall. It is truely an engineering marvel. To add to that, they started digging the tunnel from both ends and met in the middle. No one is really clear on how they accomplished this- wow! When the tunnel was found there was only about one foot of depth and the guys crawled all the way on their back. Today the depth of water is about up to your knee.

The mosque on from the southern side of the Temple Mount.

One of the oldest bathrooms you will ever see. This is in the City of David, today located south of the Old City, with building dating from about 3000 years ago. The city itself was about 10 acres, housing maybe 100 families. These were likely only the more prominent Israelites fo the time, with the majority living out in the fields. This house probably was that of a scribe, priest or other administrative city official. On the bottom right, you can see a stone with a hole, thus a bathroom.

Me in Hezekiah's tunnel
The tunnel in front of me...
This is where the tunnel lets out, excavated back to the pool of Jesus day. This is known as the pool of Siloam, where the blind man washed his eyes.

And this is a picture of the dome of the church commemorating Jesus' activity at Bethany, specifically the resurection of Lazarus and his interactions with Mary and Martha.

Thats all for now, the next update will likely have some more cultural info. Thanks for reading Ma.

Day A

2006-05-16T11:58:00.000-12:00

So we are now done with our first complete day, and we have many tired Americans. The time change wasn't so hard for me, especially because i only slept two hours the night before i left and about an hour on the plane. The first night sleep was glorious and i woke up before i needed to.

So my roommate and i took a walk around the city, knowing just enough to make it back to the hotel. This is a shot of a street in the Jewish Quarter which in a few hours will be a market. The shops are all closed and you can see the locks on each set of doors. Remarkably there is no cat in this shot, they are everywhere. And my legs are getting tired from kicking.
On the right is JUC campus, looking out over East Jerusalem. This is where we eat lunch and the computer lab is under the stairs.

After breakfast we headed over to JUC which is built into the Old City walls build by Suleyman the Magnificent in the 16th century. Our professor was delayed leaving the states, he was lecturing at the Smithsonian (typical), and weather on the west coast kept him in Washington DC. We spent the first few hours orienting in the classroom, making final registration arrangements and learning some general things about our surroundings. We ate some lunch and set out for a quick (5 hr) tour of the Old City. It takes a bit of time to grasp you bearings around here, but things are coming along. The Old City is quite small and i only takes about two and a half hours to walk around the city walls.

There are so many sites to see and tell you about, but there is so little time. On the left are the remains of the Pool of Bethesda, which was covered by a Roman temple, then covered by a Christian church before being razed when Moslems took the city. Interesting.

Anyways, i need to go. i will try to get back by a machine soon
-kevin

pictures

2006-05-15T09:03:00.000-12:00

I'm finally at the internet cafe- and the computers are fast enough for some pictures!

The view from the top of our building at night. You can see the gold of the Dome fo the Rock as well as the two domes of the Holy Seplucher on the just before the tree on the left. The tower in the fore is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.
Again looking out across the Old City.
We found some chairs and brought them out. On the left of the horizon you can see the top of Jaffa Gate.

I'm here

2006-05-15T06:56:00.000-12:00

Just a second to spare right now. I made it here in just under a day of traveling- wahoo!
After many a lines through airport security, apparently hand wands are more popular form of metal detection over here though not the preference of my fellow travelers, we made it into Tel Aviv.
My initial impression is this- it is a real place. Driving from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem was not a mystical experience, or even really awe inspiring. A friend put it best a few days ago- Tel Aviv actually exists. We are so use to hearing about these places and now i see them. City walls dating back many a century, churches and mosques everywhere, everything is old stone- very litle drywall i'm finding.
In my free hour before dinner i walked through some backs streets and found my way over to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which is just a few minutes away. In fact, you can see both that and the Dome of the Rock from our hotel roof. Hopefully i will be able to find a computer which allows me to put up some pictures, but not this one apparently.
Anyways, the church was intense. So many people, dressed so different than i. I wander through the cavernous church for about 40 minutes and realized i would need much more time. Everywhere you turn there was another staircase up or down, then another, then something behind glass, then some incense, and finally some people speaking another language.

that's it for now, more to come

Prologue

2006-05-13T07:18:00.000-12:00

So here i am. It has been a while since i have seen or spoken to a number of you so i thought i would catch you up. I graduated from high school, then college and found myself at Denver Seminary. Just two days ago I finished my last final for my masters degree and though you might think i am graduating, you would be mistaken. I have a thesis/project yet to do hopefully this summer/fall, but that all depends on my proposal being accepted in the next few weeks. I do have one last class to take, which is why you are reading this to begin...

24 hours from now i will be sitting in Chicago with a group of people i don't yet know- on our way to Israel. The last class i have is an intercultural immersion so i tracked down 'the most interesting city' and it turns out to be Jerusalem. The class is run by Jerusalem University College which there is a link to on the left. So that is where i will be for the next month keeping myself busy with wicked thick coffee, little pieces of food with funny names, maps and looking at some really really old stuff.

As i spoke to a number of you about this trip the idea came to me to keep an online journal. Not only is a journal required for the class, but i figure this will allow any of you who are interested in my adventures to know quite a bit about what i am doing and where. And for those of you whose patience is already waning, you can skim and i wont even know it. My hope is to put an update every so often, with any luck you will be able to see pictures and read all the hilarity involved in going to a country that speaks several languages before english.

I dont know i have anything else to let you know about at this moment. Any thoughts and prayers are coveted as always- health, travel, safety, learning, finding really cool places for dessert and like. For now though i need to start packing.

cheers, k

ps. i am well aware that memoirs (especially blogs) are the most self indulgent and arrogant literary genre, however i firmly believe my life is funny/painful/ironic enough to keep you entertained while i throw in clips from Israel.