Monday, November 25
We woke up super early to drive to Galilee today! On our way
there we went to Bet Shean in the Jordan River Valley. We had fun there. Our
friend Sean kept welcoming us to his house and he was pretty funny about it.
A lot of us went and saw Catching Fire last night so it’s at the front of our minds which was made evident when my religion class walked in to the amphitheater there and saw the other religion class down on the stage. Alex from my class kissed his three middle fingers on his left hand then held them up and a bunch of others joined in and then the majority of the other class returned the sign. It was an awesome moment. We feel like some top secret rebellion combination. It’s hilarious. We do the mockingjay call and hand sign all the time. At this site we had a lot of free time to just wander which was amazing. I went with Kirk, Nichel and Alex to find the ruins of the public toilets. That’s all I really wanted to see there. It was fun. We sat down on them and I wondered how many other naked butts had sat there too. Gross. But it was my favorite part.
Everything else was your typical ruin site: columns knocked over, rocks in a pile, partly ruined mosaics, more rocks in a pile, a few rocks that aren’t in a pile but once were, a amphitheater and more rocks. But really, I do enjoy these sites. We walked all around in a big group and then AJ and Alex and I ran to the top of the tel (manmade mountain of dirt) and stood by the random burnt tree on the edge that reminded us of the lightning tree in Catching Fire. Of course we did our Hunger Games routine and then sprinted back down the hill. We even followed this older lady around that reminded us of Mags. Such a fun time! Then we got on this mini train thing that was exactly like a ride at Disneyland that takes you to the other side of the park.
I could not believe how much fun we had on that dinky train. We were like little kids and giggling all over the place at how much fun we were having. It was the Jerusalem Disneyland ride and we loved every second of it! There was a massive McDonald’s nearby that looked so good. I think it’s all kosher here too which is a great time.
A lot of us went and saw Catching Fire last night so it’s at the front of our minds which was made evident when my religion class walked in to the amphitheater there and saw the other religion class down on the stage. Alex from my class kissed his three middle fingers on his left hand then held them up and a bunch of others joined in and then the majority of the other class returned the sign. It was an awesome moment. We feel like some top secret rebellion combination. It’s hilarious. We do the mockingjay call and hand sign all the time. At this site we had a lot of free time to just wander which was amazing. I went with Kirk, Nichel and Alex to find the ruins of the public toilets. That’s all I really wanted to see there. It was fun. We sat down on them and I wondered how many other naked butts had sat there too. Gross. But it was my favorite part.
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| CJ, Nichel, Kirk, me and Karren |
Everything else was your typical ruin site: columns knocked over, rocks in a pile, partly ruined mosaics, more rocks in a pile, a few rocks that aren’t in a pile but once were, a amphitheater and more rocks. But really, I do enjoy these sites. We walked all around in a big group and then AJ and Alex and I ran to the top of the tel (manmade mountain of dirt) and stood by the random burnt tree on the edge that reminded us of the lightning tree in Catching Fire. Of course we did our Hunger Games routine and then sprinted back down the hill. We even followed this older lady around that reminded us of Mags. Such a fun time! Then we got on this mini train thing that was exactly like a ride at Disneyland that takes you to the other side of the park.
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| AJ, Jamie, Jordan and Alex |
I could not believe how much fun we had on that dinky train. We were like little kids and giggling all over the place at how much fun we were having. It was the Jerusalem Disneyland ride and we loved every second of it! There was a massive McDonald’s nearby that looked so good. I think it’s all kosher here too which is a great time.
Then we drove on the bus over to Nazareth. We saw a few
synagogues and churches here. We saw the church that worships the immaculate
conception of Mary and the annunciation. There are murals of it from tons of
different countries and it was fun to see all the different styles. It was a
gorgeous Latin looking church.
We had an amazing lesson there about Mary. Mary is incredible. Before I came out here I was told in a blessing to study the life of Mary. I have learned so much about her and I think we all need to consider not only the incredible things that Christ did and that miracle, but also remember Mary and think about what she has done. Think about how she must have felt. She knew exactly what the repercussions would be and the way she would be treated, yet she CHOSE to do it when she said in Luke 1, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” She had so much trust in God. It’s incredible! Her experience is something that no other human being has ever gone or ever will go through. It’s incredible that her son Christ went through something that no other person has ever gone or ever will go through. Christ has his free agency as well to perform the atonement. He had the incredible example of his mother to help him. Mary is an amazing woman of God that I think needs a little more attention than we give her.
We also visited a synagogue here that claims to be where
Christ stood up and testified that he was the Son of God and the people
rejected him. Then we went back to the church about Mary and a bunch of us
girls found a nice, shady spot and took a nap. It was so relaxing and needed.
We got some ice cream on our way back, which I successfully smeared all over my
sunglasses. Of course.
We had an amazing lesson there about Mary. Mary is incredible. Before I came out here I was told in a blessing to study the life of Mary. I have learned so much about her and I think we all need to consider not only the incredible things that Christ did and that miracle, but also remember Mary and think about what she has done. Think about how she must have felt. She knew exactly what the repercussions would be and the way she would be treated, yet she CHOSE to do it when she said in Luke 1, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” She had so much trust in God. It’s incredible! Her experience is something that no other human being has ever gone or ever will go through. It’s incredible that her son Christ went through something that no other person has ever gone or ever will go through. Christ has his free agency as well to perform the atonement. He had the incredible example of his mother to help him. Mary is an amazing woman of God that I think needs a little more attention than we give her.
Then we drove to Mt. Arbel which is the beginning of the
Rift Valley and looks out over Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. It was an
amazing and breathtaking site. The cliffs were huge and I dangled my feet off
the edge as I looked at everything. We had another great lesson there and lots
of time to sit and ponder. I need to do more of that. It was a beautiful
mountain and the Sea of Galilee is gorgeous!
After that we drove to our little holiday resort kibbutz on
the Sea of Galilee and ate dinner. After dinner there was a football game on
that we watched and I hadn’t realized how much I missed football and fall. It
was so nice and made me miss home, fall, tailgating, leaves and football. I
guess I’ll come back and it’ll be winter…weird. It’s so hot here still. We
skipped rocks on the beach after that and had a good time talking together.
Tuesday, November 26
We woke up and had such a good breakfast. The food here is
incredible. It’s a nice break from the Oasis, although we get fed like kings
and queens there. My favorite was this chocolate cake. It was so sugary and
rich and I ate my entire body weight of that cake. Best part of waking up! Then
my religion class went on a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee while the other
class did classes at the kibbutz today. We’ll switch off tomorrow and they’ll
do the field trip we did while we do classes. The Sea of Galilee was so calm
and peaceful this morning so it was hard to imagine a raging tempest as we talked
about Peter walking on the water and Christ calming the Sea. It was a great
lesson and I have a lot of respect for Peter.
As we got to the other side of
the sea, we pulled up next to these boats full of African pilgrims that were
dancing and singing and having a fun time. I danced down the dock as we walked
past and a few of the people danced with me. They were so funny! We went to a
museum right there and saw an ancient boat that they dated back 2000 years ago
to the time of Christ. It was a pretty cool boat.
Then we went to the Mount of Beatitudes. It was soooo hot and I was dying of heat. The church was gorgeous and there were tons of flowers and palm trees around so it looked like Hawaii. It was beautiful.
We sat down in the shade and Brother Belnap was teaching us some good stuff but I couldn’t tell you anything about it because one of the Nigerian groups that was right next to us started screaming and dancing. We watched them for a little bit and learned that they were performing exorcisms. I’m not gunna lie, it was terrifying. The screams and everything was scary, but how often do you see that?! Then we went to Peter’s Primacy where Christ fed the multitude. There was a pretty beach there and then we went to Capernaum.
I
was having a hard time paying attention by this point because it was so hot. We
went inside the church to see the ancient floors and there was a fan there that
rotated so I just stood in front of it and rotated too. I thought I was
brilliant til Jamison came up and pulled the knob thing so it stopped rotating
and I could just stand still. Good thinking.
We finally made it back to the
Kibbutz just in enough time to throw on our swimsuits and go swim in the Sea of
Galilee. It was pretty nice water and the sunset was gorgeous. I got thrown in
by Sean and Nate. Then I played paddle ball with Brooke for a while before I
came back and showered before dinner. After dinner everyone had class and I
went to nursing class. It was a long night and when we got out I found some
friends and we tried to sneak up on people and scare them. After that we just
laid in the hammocks and talked until we went to bed.
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| James and I |
Then we went to the Mount of Beatitudes. It was soooo hot and I was dying of heat. The church was gorgeous and there were tons of flowers and palm trees around so it looked like Hawaii. It was beautiful.
We sat down in the shade and Brother Belnap was teaching us some good stuff but I couldn’t tell you anything about it because one of the Nigerian groups that was right next to us started screaming and dancing. We watched them for a little bit and learned that they were performing exorcisms. I’m not gunna lie, it was terrifying. The screams and everything was scary, but how often do you see that?! Then we went to Peter’s Primacy where Christ fed the multitude. There was a pretty beach there and then we went to Capernaum.
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| This boat made me want to go wakeboarding SO BAD!!! |
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| Capernum |
Wednesday, November 27
Breakfast was a bummer, not gunna lie. Although they had the
delicious granola, there was no chocolate cake. I didn’t know what to do. We
had class after breakfast for two and a half hours and then I worked out with
Nichel and sat by the beach to read until we had class right before lunch. It’s
so nice to just sit by the Sea of Galilee and read scriptures or take a nap. I
love it here! I am so blessed. We had class and lunch and then I went straight
out to the beach again. I was skipping rocks with AJ and Alex and as I was
walking along the shore I almost stepped on a huge crab! AJ picked him up and
we put him in a hole on the sand. We ended up naming him Richard Parker and
built him his own tidal pool. He’s the cutest little thing. Richard Parker is
so full of life and scared me a lot when he’d get too close to the edge of his
hole. We finished the little pool for him and put him in there and he was
beyond happy! He ran all over the place and never tried to leave. We spent two
hours making this home for him and then we stayed out for another two hours to
watch him play in his new house. Everyone started coming down to the beach and
they all wanted to meet Richard Parker. Well he had had a stressful afternoon
and was exhausted and dropped multiple times so Alex and I started becoming the
overly protective parents and asking people to give him his space. AJ was the
absent father that moved to Mexico and only visited when we told him that
Richard Parker wasn’t doing too well…he got dropped on a rock. But he bounced
back and we saw him later that night after the sun went down running along the beach.
We love him. Me, AJ and Alex are his parents and we all felt so much love for
that little guy.
As I was watching Richard Parker swim around, a horrific
battle broke out. All the guys that were swimming were grabbing every girl and
throwing them in the water no matter what. Girls went in the sea in skirts,
sweatshirts, jeans, etc. It was a dog eat dog world and I was trying to sneak
out when Nick found me. I had my swimsuit on because I’m always prepared. I
even wore it to class so I could immediately sprint down to the beach. But I
had a skirt and shirt on over my swim suit and honestly had no desire to get
in. So I sprinted as fast as I could from Nick but he and AJ cornered me. AJ
tackled me and then Ryan came and helped carry me to the sea where they dunked
me, skirt and all. I wouldn’t go down alone so I dragged AJ in too. It was a
hilarious time!!
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| Sea of Galilee |
I hurried and showered then went to the bar at our kibbutz
to watch them light the Hanukah candles. Then they gave us doughnuts that were incredibly
delicious. Then half of us went to a restaurant that serve fish from the Sea of
Galilee that they call St. Peter’s fish. I was literally handed a plate with a
whole fish on it and had to work my way through everything to get it out. But
it was pretty good.
I split it and a pizza with Makena so that evened out all the fish taste. Alex and I pretended we were the royalty at this castle and had a fun time there. Then we drove over to Tiberius, across the Sea. We got ice cream and I had to ask some guy that spoke Hebrew to translate the ice cream wrappers so I knew what I was getting. We had some free time to wander around the city but I got distracted writing a pooem that I then read for everyone on the bus ride back. After that, Alex and AJ and I ate some ice cream while we watched X Men and then went to bed.
I split it and a pizza with Makena so that evened out all the fish taste. Alex and I pretended we were the royalty at this castle and had a fun time there. Then we drove over to Tiberius, across the Sea. We got ice cream and I had to ask some guy that spoke Hebrew to translate the ice cream wrappers so I knew what I was getting. We had some free time to wander around the city but I got distracted writing a pooem that I then read for everyone on the bus ride back. After that, Alex and AJ and I ate some ice cream while we watched X Men and then went to bed.
Thursday, November 28
Happy Real Thanksgiving!! I am grateful for the chocolate
cake they had this morning. I missed it so much yesterday. We went on a field
trip to Gamla and Beitsaida. Gamla was a forever long and humid hike up and
down mountains and across a road (which I still don’t understand why we didn’t
drive to that point and then start hiking instead of hiking and finding a road
and hiking past it…oh well). This place had some catapults and the oldest
synagogue ruins. It’s a city of about 9000 that lived on this massive hill and they
were defeated and some fell off the side of the cliffs to their death. It had
breathtaking views and was gorgeous despite the heat. On the way down the hill
I started collecting skipping rocks and ended up taking the wrong trail because
I was distracted and so far behind Michael and Nichel so I went down a random
path and hiked so much further than I wanted to. But I did find good skipping
rocks! This place reminded me so much of Lord of the Rings. All I could do
while I hiked was sing the theme song and look for Orks. After the hike a bunch
of us sat around and talked about the food we missed from America. I’ve got
quite the list of food that I’m dying to eat when I get back!!
Then we went to Beitsaida which had a pretty cool gate. It
looked like a pile of rocks to me, but Brother Belnap was fascinated by this
gate so I just acted like I was too. He did give a good lesson about gates
representing the process of bringing someone from stranger on the outside to
now a friend and family member. We talked about hospitality an d how Christ is
the keeper of the gate. It was a good lesson. I found a bunch of little leaves
that looked like mini Hershey’s kisses. They were yellow so I convinced a few
people to eat them by telling them they were mini lemon Hershey’s kisses.
Whoops. We also found a small turtle at this spot and AJ and I named him
Richard Parker 2 (Squirt for short). We put him in a water bottle and he is now
in Karren’s sink with a bunch of water and leaves and some salad I stole from the
restaurant. I think he’s happy. I’m not too sure what turtles eat…
When we came back we went to lunch and then decided to
celebrate Thanksgiving in Galilee by CANOEING THE JORDAN RIVER!!! It was such a
great time!!! I was in the canoe with Karren and we had massive splashing
battles with Alex and Sean and had to help Emily and Ross when they flipped out
of their canoes. We had so much fun! The river water itself was pretty gross
and I hated thinking about what nasty stuff was being flicked on me and that I
was sitting in, but the area around the river was gorgeous. It was straight out
of a movie it was so pretty!! We did find another crab by the base of a tree we accidentally ran into. He was pretty big and white. I got him onto my oar after a lot of work, but then realized I didn't think that plan through all the way because canoeing with a crab in the boat didn't seem like a good idea but as I contemplated what to do with him he jumped off the oar to commit suicide and I never saw him again. But those few seconds together were enough for me to name him, and you'll never believe what I named him. Richard Parker 3. What a crab.
On our way back we snuck up on Nate and Ryan to try to splash them. Note to self: never do this again. They caught on really fast and Nate picked me up out of my canoe (against the rules) and put me in his and Ryan’s canoe!!! Karren just paddled around for a little by herself while I fought with all I was worth to tip their canoe (against the rules). It wasn’t working and I was losing stamina so when Beck y and Alyssa pulled up next to us in their canoe I immediately bailed ship and joined their canoe (against the rules). I then convinced them to help me tip the guys over (against the rules), seeing as they had kidnapped me from my original canoe and in the process of trying to flip them over…we flipped ourselves (against the rules). So now we had three girls swimming around this nasty water with a sinking canoe, two guys proudly paddling around in their perfectly floating canoe, one girl paddling in circles all by herself, and a partridge in a pear tree. It was impossible to get the boat on shore by ourselves and we couldn’t drain the water or do anything so the guys came and helped us and then we all got back in our original canoes after being water logged and made it to the end in safety. So much fun! I was already wet so I swam across the river to the rope swing and went off the highest spot and got so much water in my head I got a headache. But I did it so it was worth it! Then I was trying to help Ryan on to shore but I stepped on a branch that broke and ended up dropping him back into the water which was rather unfortunate because the shore line was covered in branches that jutted out so he got a nice stick slap across the back. I felt bad, but was it revenge for the kidnapping…the world may never know. They gave us some delicious tea after we got back and then we came back home to the kibbutz for dinner and to light another Hanukkah candle and doughnut. It was such a great day!!!
On our way back we snuck up on Nate and Ryan to try to splash them. Note to self: never do this again. They caught on really fast and Nate picked me up out of my canoe (against the rules) and put me in his and Ryan’s canoe!!! Karren just paddled around for a little by herself while I fought with all I was worth to tip their canoe (against the rules). It wasn’t working and I was losing stamina so when Beck y and Alyssa pulled up next to us in their canoe I immediately bailed ship and joined their canoe (against the rules). I then convinced them to help me tip the guys over (against the rules), seeing as they had kidnapped me from my original canoe and in the process of trying to flip them over…we flipped ourselves (against the rules). So now we had three girls swimming around this nasty water with a sinking canoe, two guys proudly paddling around in their perfectly floating canoe, one girl paddling in circles all by herself, and a partridge in a pear tree. It was impossible to get the boat on shore by ourselves and we couldn’t drain the water or do anything so the guys came and helped us and then we all got back in our original canoes after being water logged and made it to the end in safety. So much fun! I was already wet so I swam across the river to the rope swing and went off the highest spot and got so much water in my head I got a headache. But I did it so it was worth it! Then I was trying to help Ryan on to shore but I stepped on a branch that broke and ended up dropping him back into the water which was rather unfortunate because the shore line was covered in branches that jutted out so he got a nice stick slap across the back. I felt bad, but was it revenge for the kidnapping…the world may never know. They gave us some delicious tea after we got back and then we came back home to the kibbutz for dinner and to light another Hanukkah candle and doughnut. It was such a great day!!!
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