NEW PICTURES ADDED!!!
I know that this is so long, so I broke it up into peices for you to read throughout your day!
Well I have probably slept for twelve hours last night and this afternoon, and so I feel very ready to tell you all of the things I did and saw yesterday during our field study, “Jerusalem Approaches.” Th
is field study basically took us all over looking at Jerusalem from different cardinal directions, and after an eventful day, we did just that. I would like to mention that another reason I haven’t written as of yet is that I lost all of the pictures that were on my camera from yesterday, and needed sometime to think about that. So where do I begin. Jennilee and I woke at a balmy 5:15 in the morning, that’s still yesterday in your time, and grabbed some quick showers. We threw down breakfast and walked hastily over to the bus which was leaving at seven. Thankfully we weren’t the last one there, which is pretty typical for me because I am too busy putting on foundation to look at a clock, but Jennilee keeps me in line. The following events are broken up to make reading easier for you, any pictures are stolen from other students and Jennilee:
is field study basically took us all over looking at Jerusalem from different cardinal directions, and after an eventful day, we did just that. I would like to mention that another reason I haven’t written as of yet is that I lost all of the pictures that were on my camera from yesterday, and needed sometime to think about that. So where do I begin. Jennilee and I woke at a balmy 5:15 in the morning, that’s still yesterday in your time, and grabbed some quick showers. We threw down breakfast and walked hastily over to the bus which was leaving at seven. Thankfully we weren’t the last one there, which is pretty typical for me because I am too busy putting on foundation to look at a clock, but Jennilee keeps me in line. The following events are broken up to make reading easier for you, any pictures are stolen from other students and Jennilee:LOOK OUT #1
The bus left firmly at seven, and I don’t think we left anyone behind. We drove to the south of the city to a look ou
t which I believe was up on the Water Shed Ridge, but I can’t be sure because we saw so much and I usually refer to my pictures to see where we were and again they are lost in space somewhere(s). The scene was lovely, it was still cool in the early morning and a haze covered the top of the hills, in the distance the rising sun was reflecting off of the golden dome in the distance. From on these various lookout you can see the whole city, and things that are written in the Bible about its geography just make so much more sense to me now. We pointed out some geography including the fact that you could on a clear day see the dead see, and got back on the bus, where are bus driven Muhammad was ready to take us away. Funny about this bus driver, he was smoking all day, and it’s Ramadan. Well at least he didn’t eat.
The bus left firmly at seven, and I don’t think we left anyone behind. We drove to the south of the city to a look ou
t which I believe was up on the Water Shed Ridge, but I can’t be sure because we saw so much and I usually refer to my pictures to see where we were and again they are lost in space somewhere(s). The scene was lovely, it was still cool in the early morning and a haze covered the top of the hills, in the distance the rising sun was reflecting off of the golden dome in the distance. From on these various lookout you can see the whole city, and things that are written in the Bible about its geography just make so much more sense to me now. We pointed out some geography including the fact that you could on a clear day see the dead see, and got back on the bus, where are bus driven Muhammad was ready to take us away. Funny about this bus driver, he was smoking all day, and it’s Ramadan. Well at least he didn’t eat.THE HERODIAN
So we packed our passports for the next part of the trip and headed for the wall that was put up between Israel and Palestine just a few years ago. I guess it was the best solution for them. I pondered having to go to a check point every time I wanted to leave my town, and then
remembered that some people do not have permission to leave Palestine ever and must stay behind said wall until they get permission. Fortunately we just held our passports in the air, a blessing considering some buses are not allowed in the country. Our next stop I believe was the Herodian. Cindy had mentioned it looked like a volcano, but I couldn’t figure out why that would be in this area. As we approached and she explained I started to understand. Alright, basically Herod the Great was a maniac. One of his favorite things to do other than kill his favorite wives and sons out of Paranoia was to build structures that changed the shape of geography, i.e. bring 
water where there was no water, flatten a hill, etc. In this case he took a hill that was already high and took dirt from the hill next to it and made it even higher, resulting in the highest hill in the area, even higher than the holy of holies. Of course that is what he wanted. So now think of the hill as an actual volcano with the funnel or the volcano in the middle. In the funnel area he builds the castle, and then puts up four huge towers making the mountain even bigger. This resulted in some awesome views of his entire empire. That’s right you could see the dead see, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and even Moab. We were basically in King David’s backyard. (Real shepherds with real bleating sheep!) We also stopped to see King Herods tomb which was just below the top and facing Jerusalem. I think my favorite part was when Cindy was telling us about the story of Ruth, and how they could see that Moab was green from where they lived. We left the hill by this tunnel built by these settlers during one of the wars.
So we packed our passports for the next part of the trip and headed for the wall that was put up between Israel and Palestine just a few years ago. I guess it was the best solution for them. I pondered having to go to a check point every time I wanted to leave my town, and then
remembered that some people do not have permission to leave Palestine ever and must stay behind said wall until they get permission. Fortunately we just held our passports in the air, a blessing considering some buses are not allowed in the country. Our next stop I believe was the Herodian. Cindy had mentioned it looked like a volcano, but I couldn’t figure out why that would be in this area. As we approached and she explained I started to understand. Alright, basically Herod the Great was a maniac. One of his favorite things to do other than kill his favorite wives and sons out of Paranoia was to build structures that changed the shape of geography, i.e. bring 
water where there was no water, flatten a hill, etc. In this case he took a hill that was already high and took dirt from the hill next to it and made it even higher, resulting in the highest hill in the area, even higher than the holy of holies. Of course that is what he wanted. So now think of the hill as an actual volcano with the funnel or the volcano in the middle. In the funnel area he builds the castle, and then puts up four huge towers making the mountain even bigger. This resulted in some awesome views of his entire empire. That’s right you could see the dead see, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and even Moab. We were basically in King David’s backyard. (Real shepherds with real bleating sheep!) We also stopped to see King Herods tomb which was just below the top and facing Jerusalem. I think my favorite part was when Cindy was telling us about the story of Ruth, and how they could see that Moab was green from where they lived. We left the hill by this tunnel built by these settlers during one of the wars.The THRESHING FLOOR
Next we visited a real threshing floor, or at least it used to be. This was cool because Cindy
explained the story of Ruth and Boaz and the boys played out the scene. Here you can see the boys uncovering eachothers feet!
Next we visited a real threshing floor, or at least it used to be. This was cool because Cindy
explained the story of Ruth and Boaz and the boys played out the scene. Here you can see the boys uncovering eachothers feet! BETHLEHEM
My first impression of Bethlehem was that it sure did house a lot of garbage. No one cares about that here though. Even in the churches, if something was put up 1000 years ago, it is still there,
no matter what it is. So we drove into Bethlehem and made our way up a hill (go figure) to Nativity Square. We headed into the Church of the Nativity so we could all see and touch the rock where Jesus was born. This like everything in the area probably wasn’t the actual rock, but it was nice to remember the birth. I even bought one of those candles and said quick “thanks for coming Lord.” We did not have much time at the church but it was so beautiful in there. I hope the situation to go back remains open. We then left Palestine through the wall, but this time we all had to get off the bus and physically had to go through the check point. The wall was littered with graffiti protesting the wall. It is so moving to look at it.
My first impression of Bethlehem was that it sure did house a lot of garbage. No one cares about that here though. Even in the churches, if something was put up 1000 years ago, it is still there,
no matter what it is. So we drove into Bethlehem and made our way up a hill (go figure) to Nativity Square. We headed into the Church of the Nativity so we could all see and touch the rock where Jesus was born. This like everything in the area probably wasn’t the actual rock, but it was nice to remember the birth. I even bought one of those candles and said quick “thanks for coming Lord.” We did not have much time at the church but it was so beautiful in there. I hope the situation to go back remains open. We then left Palestine through the wall, but this time we all had to get off the bus and physically had to go through the check point. The wall was littered with graffiti protesting the wall. It is so moving to look at it.
RAMAT RAHAL
Our next stop was Ramat Rahal, which has become somewhat of a huge kibbutz for tourists. It
has a pretty nice pool which I hope to visit soon. We went to see the remains of a palace there. The coolest thing other then the view was the HUGE pile of pottery shards that we picked through. I hope everyone I know likes pottery shards because they are a rather inexpensive (free) and cool gift from the Holy Land. See they date things with the pottery, but other than that it’s pretty much useless. It was around this time we got a call about the incident, but we will talk about that later in a different blog seeing it will be a careful explanation to keep you from worrying about me. Lunch was good, basically pita and hummus, like always.
Our next stop was Ramat Rahal, which has become somewhat of a huge kibbutz for tourists. It
has a pretty nice pool which I hope to visit soon. We went to see the remains of a palace there. The coolest thing other then the view was the HUGE pile of pottery shards that we picked through. I hope everyone I know likes pottery shards because they are a rather inexpensive (free) and cool gift from the Holy Land. See they date things with the pottery, but other than that it’s pretty much useless. It was around this time we got a call about the incident, but we will talk about that later in a different blog seeing it will be a careful explanation to keep you from worrying about me. Lunch was good, basically pita and hummus, like always.HEBREW UNIVERSITY
I think our next stop was Hebrew University to the look out. To go to this school you have to speak fluent Hebrew and know Latin! So lets just say I won’t be heading there anytime soon. Anyway this was my favorite view because we could see the whole platform of the temple mount, which I haven’t seen yet. The other
awesome part other then the wind that wouldn’t let up, was the camels that were there that I guess you can ride. We just stopped and gave them camel kisses! Cindy pointed out the Eastern Gate that is sealed up along the wall. She said that in the late 80’s it had just rained and the air was really clear. So a JUC student decided to take pictures in the morning. He walked all the way along the wall to this gate to take some pictures. This gate was probably filled up because of the prophesy of the messiah coming from the east. This current filled up gate is actually a later gate however and not the original gate. So this guy walks up to the gate to look around, but because the ground was wet from the rain he fell through the ground and into a tomb underneath. Once he got over the original shock of falling into a tomb and realized he could get out of the tomb, he took some pictures of what he saw there. Some of these pictures were of the original gate of the wall! He was so excited he ran back to the school to get a friend and his camera, but by the time they got back the hole had been filled in with cement! (This is probably because the gate is touching the wall connected to the Temple Mt, and the Muslims for sure don’t want any proof that this wall ever had anything to do with Christianity. I don’t even want to think of all the things that they know that we do not.) Any this guy took the only pictures we have of this older gate, and they have been published in a few magazines. This place is so shady!
I think our next stop was Hebrew University to the look out. To go to this school you have to speak fluent Hebrew and know Latin! So lets just say I won’t be heading there anytime soon. Anyway this was my favorite view because we could see the whole platform of the temple mount, which I haven’t seen yet. The other
awesome part other then the wind that wouldn’t let up, was the camels that were there that I guess you can ride. We just stopped and gave them camel kisses! Cindy pointed out the Eastern Gate that is sealed up along the wall. She said that in the late 80’s it had just rained and the air was really clear. So a JUC student decided to take pictures in the morning. He walked all the way along the wall to this gate to take some pictures. This gate was probably filled up because of the prophesy of the messiah coming from the east. This current filled up gate is actually a later gate however and not the original gate. So this guy walks up to the gate to look around, but because the ground was wet from the rain he fell through the ground and into a tomb underneath. Once he got over the original shock of falling into a tomb and realized he could get out of the tomb, he took some pictures of what he saw there. Some of these pictures were of the original gate of the wall! He was so excited he ran back to the school to get a friend and his camera, but by the time they got back the hole had been filled in with cement! (This is probably because the gate is touching the wall connected to the Temple Mt, and the Muslims for sure don’t want any proof that this wall ever had anything to do with Christianity. I don’t even want to think of all the things that they know that we do not.) Any this guy took the only pictures we have of this older gate, and they have been published in a few magazines. This place is so shady!MT. OF OLIVES WALK
I know what you are thinking, all of this in one day? But yes there is more! Thank you for hanging in there with me. So now we started our walk down the Mt. of Olives. Our first stop was
a church that housed some old bone boxes, one of which had the foot of someone who had been crucified in it. The garden there was beautiful. Continuing down this route, which is the route people take on Palm Sunday, we eventually hit the Church of the Nations. I think I will mention that this whole mountain is covered in white stone tombs, so that part of the story when Jesus says the rocks will cry out takes on a whole new meaning. So the Church of the nations boasts the traditional Garden of Gethsemane and the church is built over the traditional rock where Jesus cries out to 
God. This church was my favorite spot in the city thus far. The Olive trees in the garden are some of the oldest on the mountain, and so lovely. The church is called the church of nations because of all of the countries that gave money to see it be built, the U.S. included. The stain glass windows are alabaster in shades of blue and purple from Egypt and Jordan. The glass is barely transparent, leaving the church in a constant state of evening all day long. As you walk through the doors a sign reminds you, “silence.” I sat in the church, so much more beautiful without the gaudy decorations of the older churches, with mosaic covering the floor and the ceiling. I sat and read the account of John 17 and prayed silently to myself. Now we are coming to the end of the day. We walked down the hill into the bottom of the Kidron valley. There we stopped to 
see Absalom’s monument and some other structures carved right into the bedrock! The fun part about these what that there was a rope hanging from a hole in the monument, and up went ten of the students into the old tomb. It was a lot of fun to watch, but of course I have no upper body strength.
So that was my day, It was a blast, and I hope you enjoyed reading through this.
Love you, Claire
I know what you are thinking, all of this in one day? But yes there is more! Thank you for hanging in there with me. So now we started our walk down the Mt. of Olives. Our first stop was
a church that housed some old bone boxes, one of which had the foot of someone who had been crucified in it. The garden there was beautiful. Continuing down this route, which is the route people take on Palm Sunday, we eventually hit the Church of the Nations. I think I will mention that this whole mountain is covered in white stone tombs, so that part of the story when Jesus says the rocks will cry out takes on a whole new meaning. So the Church of the nations boasts the traditional Garden of Gethsemane and the church is built over the traditional rock where Jesus cries out to 
God. This church was my favorite spot in the city thus far. The Olive trees in the garden are some of the oldest on the mountain, and so lovely. The church is called the church of nations because of all of the countries that gave money to see it be built, the U.S. included. The stain glass windows are alabaster in shades of blue and purple from Egypt and Jordan. The glass is barely transparent, leaving the church in a constant state of evening all day long. As you walk through the doors a sign reminds you, “silence.” I sat in the church, so much more beautiful without the gaudy decorations of the older churches, with mosaic covering the floor and the ceiling. I sat and read the account of John 17 and prayed silently to myself. Now we are coming to the end of the day. We walked down the hill into the bottom of the Kidron valley. There we stopped to 
see Absalom’s monument and some other structures carved right into the bedrock! The fun part about these what that there was a rope hanging from a hole in the monument, and up went ten of the students into the old tomb. It was a lot of fun to watch, but of course I have no upper body strength.So that was my day, It was a blast, and I hope you enjoyed reading through this.
Love you, Claire
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