JORD!

Liz, me, Koryl. Just sitting on a lonely bench
in Petra

me and Lizzy -- you can see the famous treasury
from Indian Jones through the way!

Sometimes you experience so many amazing things in life that you know it couldn't get any better....but then it does! Traveling around Jordan last week was phenomenal. The places we visited and learned about exceeded my expectations once again -- one of my favorites was Petra.

Petra is a city made out of the rock in the mountains...the sand stone. If you have ever seen Indiana Jones, then you have a basic idea of what it's like. I thought that the only thing in Petra was the treasury that you see in Indiana Jones. We all started running in full excitement when it barely came into view through the small passage. We took a lot of pictures and even paid 5 dinar to get our picture taken on a camel. After that a small group of us with my professor, Brother Huntsman (by the way, he has a pretty charismatic blog that he apparently updates quite frequently if you ever want to take a look-see. It's huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com) explored everything that we possibly could in the small amount of time that we had to be there. We hiked up to the High Place and met a little Bedouin lady who sacrificed us all. And by all I mean Tyler, Liz and me. She showed us her little baby, Muhammad. She then wanted us to climb on top of a big rock that was used for ancient sacrificing so she could pretend to sacrifice us while we took a picture. I didn't know what she was trying to do at first...so I might have been a little nervous climbing up that rock with the Bedouin lady...knife in hand and all, but we survived.

We looked through many various tombs of sorts...We just explored every NOOK and CRANNY that time allowed. After our lunch break, we began our trek up the steep, rocky mountain to the monastery. Most people took a donkey up the mountain, but we weren't allowed to do that for safety reasons. I wouldn't have done that anyway...I barely trusted my own two feet, let alone a donkey being led by little boys. At the top, we sat and looked at what I called a Spectacular View! I wish everyone could have seen how beautiful it was to look over the mountain-like wall that secured the city of Petra in ancient times.

I do love a good camel ride...even it if it IS in Petra :)

I don't think I meant to smile for this one

On the way out we had to really speed walk because we were running really late.... and it was a long way to the buses. We got to ride horses about a quarter of mile at the end, which was WAY fun. I almost forgot how much I love riding horses. It was a great way to end a very fulfilling, adventurous day in Petra.

Another favorite place we visited was Jerash. It was pretty comparable to Ephesus minus the hundreds of tourists. You'd think that someone would get really tired of ruins and then traveling to see more ruins...and that might be true, even for me...but the ruins in Jerash were remarkable! It felt more real to me, in that I could actually imagine people living there. I guess you can do that anywhere, but Jerash came to life for me. Maybe it was the intense gladiator show we watched prier to seeing the ruins. Yep. A live gladiator show. It was really funny and I laughed out loud practically the entire show. At first I didn't understand the humor and just thought they were being serious. I felt bad for them when everyone was laughing at them....but I eventually caught on and realized that it was SUPPOSED to be funny.

Lacey, me, Michael-Sean, Kaleb standing next to the river, Jordan.

I think one of the major highlights was the last place we visited. The Jordan River! We had a special devotional by the river where Christ was baptized. It was a particularly good experience. I sat there by the river and tried to imagine what it was like when that special event had taken place. I thought about what happened afterwards...how that was the beginning of Christ's ministry and how the people followed him. As I left the riverside....I guess you could say that I had a renewed desire to follow Him too.

The gospel is amazing. Learning is wonderful. Experiences are good too....put those all together and you     are mightily blessed. That's how I feel right about now!

Aubrey, Tyler, Shannon, me, Lacey, Liz, and Adam

the High Place

me, Tyler, Liz

The Adventures Crew: me, Allyson, Justin, Papa Hunts, Jeff, Liz, and Tyler

me, Tyler, Liz....just a little excitement!

a view of the city

Kaitlyn, gladiator, and me. This guy was the funniest. 

Eliza, Lizzy, me, Justin, and Liz at the start of Jerash

me and Liz in Jerash

my Jordan roomie -- Whitney!

me and Lizzy on top of Mt. Nebo. It was so bright that it
got whited out.

Liz, me, and Allyson..Mt. Nebo

Thomas and me! This is where John the Baptist was beheaded

the great monastery!

H E Z E K I A H ' S TUNNEL

just a tunnel for exploring

Do Not Enter  signs

About to walk into the tunnel
Don't EVEN make fun of my turban thing on my head.
You are allowed to wear stuff like that in Jerusalem
probably. :)

Finally! The long-awaited field trip to Hezekiah's tunnel took place only yesterday. It is located in the City of David which is just outside the city walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah was a great king who rose above the influence of his idolatrous father and became favored of the Lord. With the prophet, Isaiah assisting him, he suppressed idolotry and reconstituted temple services. After quite a long time being attacked by the Assyrians, the city was delivered during King Hezekiah's reign of 29 years. He lived an extra 15 years after he plead with the Lord to extend his life. I think Hezekiah had good intentions, or so he thought, for having the desire to live longer....but as we all know... desiring something that is not in accordance with the Lord's will...always turns out in disappointment. Hezekiah accused the Lord of unjustly taking his life, which tells me that he had little understanding of or faith in the joy of the Lord in the spirit world. He developed spiritual tunnel vision (See what I did there?) becoming so obsessed with his desire to live that he lost an eternal perspective. That's why it's important to 1) don't argue with the Lord. 2) Keep an eternal perspective! Anyway, I really like the story of Hezekiah... It reminds me a lot of the story of David -- how somebody who truly loves the Lord and is diligent and obedient falters when it counted the most. It's heart-breaking to me. 

me, Kelly, and Jolls walking through the tunnel. 

However, the tunnel he built is pretty amazing! I couldn't believe we were exploring a tunnel...a real tunnel that was built in 700 BC. This tunnel brought the waters from the Gihon spring inside the city into the pool of Siloem. (That is the pool that Christ healed the blind man!) The tunnel was also built for defense against the Assyrians. They had people working on it from both ends, just chipping away at the limestone until they met each other. The whole tunnel is 533 meters long.


 The whole place felt like a ride at Disneyland or something, except...it wasn't! I remember walking back onto the street after it was over and feeling like I had just gone through a time machine. Walking through Hezekiah's tunnel took me waaaay back to ancient times. I think it would be fair to say that it was one of my favorite field trips so far.

Got a little wet!

The Sea is Red All Ready to Snorkel

Elyse, me, and Amy 

I had never been snorkeling...let alone in the Red Sea! Now, mind you, the sea isn't red at all, but it is actually the most beautiful blue one could even imagine. I probably said that about the Mediterranean, but the Red Sea was almost a teal color and so refreshing. I also learned from this trip that snorkeling might possibly be one of the most intriguing adventures I have ever experienced. I have seen aquariums and had a little fishbowl growing up...but I have never actually swam with the fish -- not just regular fish, but beautiful, humongous, little, flat, long, colorful, and maybe even poisonous fish! It was just like swimming inside a massive aquarium.  My favorite fish was called the Parrot fish. They were really big and had so many different colors -- just beautiful fish all around!

Before we left I walked around searching for just one piece of coral that I could take with me, and I did! I found two really cool pieces of coral that I thought would work great for a little souvenir. Well, as I was walking back up the hill, one of the workers stopped me and said, "Sorry, you cannot collect...you cannot collect, Rivkah." At first, I thought...what the what the? He knows my name? I finally remembered that I was wearing a necklace with my name in Hebrew. He thought it was funny to see my reaction, but he still made me put the coral back. :/ All well! I'll have to be more sneaky next time! :) 

Hurrah for Israel!

The whole bus ride home, I was so captivated by the scenery out the window. We were driving along the path that Lehi and his family most likely traveled into the wilderness, which is always fun to think about. Egypt was only a few miles down the coast and then the mountains of Saudi Arabia were incredible in the distance. Then as we drove along the dead sea...the moon was big and orange and reflected onto the water. It was incredible!! Such beauty all around me all day every day when I'm in Israel. I wish everyone could see it too!

Me and Rebecca. The mountains in the back are on the African side!

Lost Photo

This is from when I went to Turkey. A couple of us
dressed up and got our picture taken while we were in the
Basilica Cistern. I finally got all the pictures from it!

TEL AVIV

We had another little trip trip to Tel Aviv and it was wonderful! Of course. The water was warm and clear, just like I remembered from the last time. We stayed a lot longer this time and watched the sun set somewhere..."beyond the sea... somewhere, waiting for me..." ha I love that song. I am proud to say that my team in beach volleyball dominated with a very flat volleyball. I think once Lacey hit herself in the face and fell to the ground ended it for everyone. We all just laughed so hard and didn't have to energy to play anymore. Anyway, we had a lovely time, luckily, I didn't get sunburned like I did last time, but...I did find a crab claw. Just one. I think Amy kept it as a little souvenir. Love the beach!

The Med Crew:
Marianne, Amy, Justin, me, Aubrey, Lizzy, Lacey, Adam, Shannon, Jeff

Some Sunset Action

Marianne and me

Lacey, me, and Shan

This is what I love

A Lovely Time

Diana cutting Samson's hair: Courtney
Samson: Jeff Perry
Samson's Hair: Rivkah
Samson looks like a rockstar!

We went to Shephlah for our Monday field trip and got so see a lot of neat places. We spent some time in the valley where Samson lived and even reenacted the story! I got to play the role of "Samson's Hair". Best part ever played probably. :) We saw the valley of Elah where David killed Goliath with his sling shot skills. In that area we learned how to throw our own stones with sling shots. It's harder than it looks!    David must have had lots of practice. We saw some giant bell caves as well. We sang a bunch of hymns and enjoyed the thick acoustics. Then everyone made me sing "O Mio Babbino" AGAIN -- I still don't know the words. I tried to get out of it by maybe singing a hymn instead, but they said no. They wanted opera! Maybe I should learn my lesson and learn the words to that song sometime.

Courtney, Leslie, Natalie, and me with a view of Elah

It's that time of year...the harvesting of the olives! There were so many olives to pick. Mary (my roommate from Canada) and I had a pretty efficient system going. It was so windy which made it hard to keep our bags from flying all over the place and trying to put olives in there one by one. We decided that we would get more done and much quicker if I stood on a chair picking the olives with Mary below me holding the bag wide open for me to drop the olives. We had a wonderful time! Soon we will press the olives with the ancient stylistic equipment. Jerusalem is so amazing.

Mary and me harvesting the olives!

OLIVES and Koryl, Lizzy, Rachel, me, Mary

West Jerusalem during Sukkot, a Jewish holiday. Usually the
streets are packed, but it was a ghost town! It's like
this on sabbath too!

Amy, Katie, Kaitlyn, me, Allyson and the Dome of the Rock

Random Jeru Posts

Grindin up some Hyssop

Tyler wants to bite my ear. I am holding a little baggie of Hyssop.

Me and Kelly with our freshly ground Hyssop

Another Ted photo. I wish I'd kept him!!

and....almost got up there. It was a good effort

Chillin at a very old library with Jeff Perry and Tyler

Our snails, Leroy and Trudy

Sometimes you look so cool in sunglasses

O Jerusalem

Kaleb and me....and some wind!!

T-R-O-Y that spells TROY! (That's where we were!)
Me, April, Ben, and Amy

It's Rebekah at the well! (We did a
reenactment of Rebekah
drawing water from the well
for Eliezer and his camels) It's technically a Cistern. Cisterns
are filled at the top with rain water, wells are filled
from the bottom. 

A little view of Jeru!

My special friend, Tyler.