Post #10

We have had tons of tests lately. I managed to do awesome on the Jewish midterm, but I somehow always fall short on Old Testament quizzes. I don't why this happens. I am not Jewish, and therefore should not be such an expert in Jewish history; it is also interesting to note that a lot of Jewish history is the Old Testament. Something is missing here.


I know that I am not getting anything for Christmas. This of course does not mean that I don't have a list. I would be happy to post it should anyone feel inclined to buy me presents!

Hezikiah's Tunnel

Our feet inside the tunnel.

Our field trip today was so fun, almost to the point of being disnyland-like. We went to Hezekiah's tunnel dug during Hezekiah's rule to bring water 1700 feet from the Gihon Spring inside the city walls.

There is still water in the tunnel, at some points enough to reach up to mid-thigh. The ceiling height varied, sometimes it was like a vaulted ceiling, and other times I was completely hunched over.






Me and Cait, pre-tunnel.

hey family

Here's some pictures from the last month or so. In no particular order . . .






Here's a chariot race in the hippodrome at Caesarea Maritima. This is where Peter baptized Cornelius.


















In Akko, a port city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.













Sometimes we get bored on Shabbat. I call this one "sitting on a pot in the Biblical Garden."















In front of the center on Shabbat.

















Katie and Emily picking olives. I was there too. In case you're wondering, no, Emily does not have a mustache. That's just an olive branch.














A group of us in the Old City. We love everything Jewish.

















Channeling Goliath at the Elah Valley.












Sunset in Tel Aviv.










Eating shawarma in West Jerusalem. I'm surprised i put my food down long enough to even take this picture.

Egypt and the Exodus

Hello! We are back from Egypt, and I could not be happier about that. We saw the pyramids, the temples of Karnak and Luxor, King Tut's tomb, Muhammed Ali Mosque, etc. We rode camels and took a Faluka down the Nile. Last, but not least, we climbed Mt. Sinai, aka, the Mount of God.We sanitized our hands an average of fifteen times a day, avoided Egyptian water like the plague, and carried toilet paper always. All in all it was a fascinating, disgusting, and exhausting trip.

• We could only eat rolls and rice or vegetables and meat served steaming hot. Needless to say, out of frustration with the available food I completely stopped eating before the end of the trip.
• There is a reason you always see African kids covered with flies. They are EVERYWHERE, and they treat you like a rotting carcass.
• If you have nice things like cameras or ipods, you don't want to leave them on the Egyptian side of the Taba border because Egyptian security officers like those things too.
• If the toilet has a seat, you're lucky; if the bathroom has soap, you're luckier; if you can get out without paying, you're luckiest
• Even if the camel owner or merchant tells you something is free there is always, ALWAYS a price. Don't take a picture of their camel. You will pay for it.

We had a really good time but basically we moved so fast that trip is a blur! Here are a few of the best pictures.











Me drowning in the never-ending desert.








Me on top of Mt. Sinai at sunrise.

Kapparot

There are a lot of things I should write about, but I'll just tell you about one cool thing that we did today. This evening marks the start of Yom Kippur, aka the Day of Atonement. As a celebration of the holiday a small number of ultra-orthodox Jews participate in a ritual known as Kapparot. In this ritual, a man takes a chicken by its feet and swings it around over his head while reciting a prayer. The prayer goes something like this . . . "This chicken is taking all of my sins, this chicken will now suffer for my sins." The chicken is then slaughtered and either made into chicken soup or donated to the poor.

Although many prominent rabbis decry the practice as inhumane and superstitious, there are a few who still practice it. Today we had a chance to see the bloodbath. This morning at 5:30 a group of us left the center headed to the Me'a She' arim--an ultra orthodow neighborhood in West Jerusalem. Below is a little taste of what we saw. We had to be very careful about taking pictures, but I managed to get a few.

These are pictures I took before and after the ritual. I took pictures with a different camera for most of the morning. I will post those when I get ahold of them.

This is the sign we saw when entering the city.

"To women and girls who pass through our neighborhood we beg you will all our hearts . . ."
It then defines acceptable clothing. "Closed blouse, with long sleeves, long skirt--no trousers, no tight fitting clothes."

This is a guy who was selling chickens in the city. We felt a little nervous about asking for this picture since we were considered quite unwelcome in the neighborhood.







Man with chicken.

In the the stairwell at Abi-Samwill. Some crazy Arabic text message I received.

Me and Katie by the side of the road. Oh, and some goats.

holidays, holidays

Things are pretty razy in Jerusalem this week. Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) is today and tomorrow, and today marked the beginning of Ramadaan (one moth fast period for Muslims.) This is an exciting time in the city, but it brings with it some securtiy restrictions. For example, we are not to eat, including chewing gum or drinking water, in any Muslim areas. Also, there will be some cool celebrations at the Al-haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) tomorrow, but we are not allowed to go because the expected crowd is 200,000 or more.

Today was our first field trip. We saw the cenotaph of Samuel, the city of Bethel, the Herodium, etc. Oh, and I also saw the wall separating Israel from the West Bank. Scary? Yesterday a very friendly Armenian Priest gave us a tour around the Armenian Quarter including the upper room and Domition Abbey.
Things here are crazy but very fun!