Finally! =)  I don’t know about you, but I’ve been dying to write (I hope you’ve been dying to read.)  I guess I need to manage my time better so I can do this more often.  It comes down to priorities (Doesn’t it, Mom =) ?)  So, here, I go.

Before I go on to write about Jordan, I have to recall something I wrote during our Land and Bible trip to the Negev.  At one point in our travels, we stopped in the Wilderness of Paran.  There we all got off the bus, which was shut down to aid in the silence, and split up and went off to find a place to sit and spend some time reading Deuteronomy 8.  My friend Steve who had been here last semester told me this was one of the most life-changing parts.  I don’t know how I forgot this when I was writing before, but this was such a key, insightful time for me.  I read over Deuteronomy 8, then went on to journal some thoughts: (You might want to read over the passage to know what I’m talking about.)

When I look back at the times in my life that have been what I would consider times in the wilderness, I can agree with Deuteronomy 8.  Everything that God has done/allowed has been with a purpose and that often being to allow me to see Him even just that much clearer.

Vs. 7 – His plans for my future are good!  He is planning for my future abundance – IN HIM!  O, self, do not forget where you’ve come from or what you’ve experienced; do not forget your own unworthiness and God’s mercy.  Keep Him ever before you so that when God brings you to the fruitful, peaceful place, you will not forget Him.

Remember, O soul, how He allowed you to know nothingness, emptiness, hunger, pain, fear, thirst, and loneliness so that you could truly know how He fulfills all your needs.

What a sad and horrifying thought!  Verses 19-20 talk about what would happen if I turned from the Lord.  I would be destroyed.  Honestly though, reading that, all I can see is the pain that would cause Him.  He’s given me so much – He’s shown me so much of Who He is.  How could I deny Him?  How could I hurt the One Who has only ever shown love to me?  Yet I do, don’t I?  Every time I show no interest in loving or getting to know Him, every time I choose myself over Him, my own will over his divine plan.

This all gets very wordy, very much like I seek to somehow be profound…. I’m sick of revolutionary moments with no lasting change.  I‘m sick not really caring, of lying to myself, of propping myself up to look alive and eager when my heart is not in it as it should be.  Lord, give me the heart to love You first and foremost.

 

            Jordan added to this heartfelt cry to go deeper with the Lord by taking the lack of luxury we have here in Israel to a completely different and deeper level.  We couldn’t drink our tap water.  We couldn’t always use the bathroom for a lack of toilet paper, and when we could, the bathrooms were “squatty-potties” or they reeked.  The bus reeked too, as the bathroom we “conveniently” had there had not been emptied since who knows when and the smell only grew worse with each passing day.  We were parched.  Neither the restaurants nor the hotels provided water with meals – it’s a scarcity in such a dry land – and we were often too cheap to buy more than a cup-worth for each person.  We couldn’t eat.  The stomach flu that ravaged a good number of us stole our appetites, drained our fluids, and replaced it all with nausea and weakness.  We couldn’t stop for that.  The trip went on, the hiking too, and we made it work.  We had to.  We got blisters.  We got cuts.  We got bruises, and we ached.  We continued walking and although right now, to you, this trip may seem like the last thing we could ever enjoy doing, I can honestly say we would all look back on this time with fond and pleasant memories.

            Yes, it hurt.  Growing often does.  You can tell when a child is growing because of growing pains.  In the same way, Jordan stretched us in new ways that challenged us individually in areas we needed to grow in.  They were growing pains.

            For myself, it’s when I’m taken from the luxuries of what I would normally call necessities, when I’m taken from my normal state of health that I so easily take for granted, and when I’m thrown into situations where I lack the essentials – just some decent food, a drink of water, a real shower – that I’m forced to acknowledge my priorities or lack thereof.

Day One: We began our trip to Jordan in Israel at the edge of the Red Sea in Eilat.  We packed up our bags, loaded the bus still wet from snorkeling, and headed to the border.  After a good long wait and a trip through customs, where the guard stopped Tiffany just to flirt with her, we made to the other side, where we split into taxis, and enjoyed an exciting trip to the mouth of Petra and to the Edom Hotel.  When I say “exciting,” I mean “completely foreign.”  Randomly, as we drove the hour plus to the hotel, we’d see the other taxis from our group pulling over to the side of the highway and everyone piling out and piling back into a different taxi.  We stopped at a gas station, and after Bill haggling for a cheaper price, boarded 10 people into an 8-person bus.  The taxi driver’s wife was there and rode with us.  She wore a complete berkah so even the tiny slit just for her eyes was covered and the front of her face was easily mistaken for the back of her head.  However, when the taxi began to move, the cloth was moved away and pinned back so her whole face was showing.  Our taxi driver insisted on blasting his music and to our surprise, his wife danced (as much as you can sitting down).  Bill remarked later that he’d never seen such an affection Muslim couple.  It was rather interesting, rather foreign, and rather confusing.  An hour later, with our hotel.

Although we weren’t with an official guide, we dropped off our bags and went to Petra, where we spent a few hours walking around, experiencing a little bit of Jordan and Arabic-speaking people (amongst a great number of tourists like ourselves) and gazing in wonder at the temple fasod and the “monastery.”

Although we didn’t talk then about Petra and its historical particulars, Petra was the Nabatean capital.  Carved from the rock, this place formed a wonderful defense against attempted invasions as the rock bottle-necked into what is called the Siq (crack), not allowing for an army, no matter how large, to make its way to the center of the capital except by slow and almost single-file walking through twisting corridors of no quick retreat.

We didn’t discuss the Biblical stories involved with Petra, but later I read that it is known that some people believe Petra to be the location of Old Testament Sela.  This is only based upon the root of the word “Sela” which means, “rock” or “cliff” and with that reasoning, it could just as easily be placed somewhere else.

I really liked Petra.  This seems like an obvious reply to such a well-known historical location that most tourists seek to visit.  However, in honesty, it wasn’t the rocks that made me enjoy our time there.  It wasn’t the temple fasod or the monastery, although both were amazing works of architecture that boggle my imagination.  It wasn’t the Siq, which towered high above with reddish rocks that made it a photographer’s paradise.  I loved the culture that spilled into the canyon and followed us up the path, offering us rides on carts, donkeys, and camels for only one dinar; that asked us to buy postcards as they held them in their teeth and snuffed in their runny noses; that sat selling goods they couldn’t even name yet or tried to talk to us as their ripped pants fell off their tiny bodies; that sat on the edge of the road in the dirt as if the area was not dirty and rocky but a nice patio where they could sit and enjoy their hookah; that fought training a stubborn donkey to walk on in obedience to commands; that stared and spoke about us and to us in their rolling Jordanian language; that chased runaway donkeys barefoot across the rocks and dirt and down the stairs we labored upon.  Suddenly, I was learning how uncomplicated life really was once removed from our advanced technology, materialistic pursuits, and perfection-minded and germ-conscious societies.

Our hotel stay went well.  Although we ran into a minor complication with one of the girls’ rooms’ sliding door not locking and a man in the lobby showing too much interest in finding out which room those girls were in (Jared and John took that room instead), we were able to enjoy a peaceful evening.  We watched Indiana Jones (the one dealing with Petra, of course) that night – it was my first time ever (okay, go ahead…laugh) – and I laughed all the way through.  Somehow I had thought that the Indiana Jones movies, no matter how unrealistic I was expecting them to be, were atleast supposed to be serious.  I was wrong, and I got a good number of laughs from watching the ridiculous movie.  My favorite part is when Indiana and his dad are tied back-to-back and going around and around on the rotating door between a room engulfed in flames and a group of armed Nazis working on a secret mission.  Classic.

Day Two:   There’s a lot I could say here about the exact course we took – the King’s Highway – and why that was key to the narrative of the Israelite’s trek to the Promised Land.  However, to most of you, that would be nothing more than a boring recitation of facts, so I shall spare you that drudgery.  The best parts are often the least academic anyway. =)

We stopped at multiple places throughout the day but some of my favorite memories (minus the smell, of course) were the moments we spent on the bus.  The view was amazing.  As we slid through the Jordanian towns, we passed open-air markets selling fresh vegetables, good fruit, and raw meat hanging with the head, tail, and even some fur still intact.  *gulp*  Welcome to a third-world country.  We made our stops along the way, read the Bible passages, and felt the personal excitement of walking in the shoes of the patriarchs, of Ruth and Naomi, and of the millions of other Israelite people rescued from Egypt and now headed to the Promised Land.  We stopped for pizza.  What a joke!  LOL…. Okay, it was okay.  Not really.  To me, as a part-Italian girl raised in New York, the pizza was awful, but it was a nice break from the kosher life we’d been living (I had chicken on my pizza.)  I ate only a little bit, then fed my second stomach (Jared).  

Some of my favorite stops that day were Bozrah, capital of Edom (directly mentioned in Psalm 60:6-12, Deut. 2:13-15, and Numbers 21:11-12); Bab Edh-drha, where we talked about Abraham and Lot’s separation as each chose an area of land to call their own (Gen. 13:10-12); the Arnon Canyon Mouth, a short stop just to take pictures; and last but not least, the Wadi Zarka Ma’in.  There we hiked up the river in the warm water that came from Herod’s hot springs at Callirhoe.  That was quite the experience, as ‘The Three Musketeers” (…even though there were four of us…) (Corey, Clara, Rachel, and I) climbed rocks, jumped from place to place, and trudged through mud to avoid getting too wet.

            We stayed at the Black Iris Hotel that night, and it was a rather interesting experience.  We arrived at the hotel in shorts, having come directly from the hot springs; however, from the moment we walked into the hotel, it was clear that our dress needed to change.  I had forgotten to grab my bathing suit and towel in the bottom, storage area of the bus, so Peter and I ran out to grab it.  As Rachel later said, I should have just sent Peter or one of the other guys.  I’ve never felt so vulnerable in shorts and a t-shirt.  Apparently I have hot knees!  LOL…just kidding.  I was wearing long basketball shorts, so I strategically made them longer – suddenly ghetto shorts didn’t seem so bad – but nothing kept the eyes of the Arab men from looking me up and down like I was some sort of merchandise.  Gross.

We had chapel that night in my room.  That sounds strange but let me explain.  Rachel, Noel, Clara, and I shared a room.  First of all, let me describe this room.  We had four beds.  That was a plus.  However, we had full-length mirrors on one wall, and somehow I don’t feel like the paper-thin curtains did much to conceal what happened within our room.  We had a bathroom, but the shower head had no way to hook to the wall, so you had to hold it up above yourself to get wet.  I was third to shower, and the hot water was gone by the time I got there, so I enjoyed a refreshingly cold shower…. with no bathroom light.  That decided to die right before I turned the water on.  So, with the door (which was really just an accordion-style separation-thing) cracked and freezing water, I experienced another “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto” moment.  Another adjustment: no electronic device we had for drying, curling, or straightening of our hair was worth risking to see if the power current in Jordan was the same in Israel (which is double the power of those in the US).  Thus began our weekend of reprioritization, humility, and focusing on the internal rather than the external.  I’m telling you; when you come to a place where fixing the external is either pointless or impossible (we felt like it was both), it’s much easier to narrow in the root of a lot of prideful, vain, and self-conceited motives behind our actions.  Suddenly, all you can see if your intention because the circumstance that makes you uncomfortable is unfixable and your attitude must either rise above the situation or dwell on it.

            Back to chapel in my room.  Because our room was big enough to house four people, we had a lot of space for the 20 people in our group to merely sit and do chapel (We also had a balcony outside we could have used if need be.)  Bill spoke to us, and one of my most fond memories is turning out the lights and letting Jared (who’s a little camera-shy when doing serious stuff but not when he’s being ridiculous) and Deborah (who has an angelic voice) to serenade us with solos.

            Day Three:  We were packing up in the morning when Clara made a discovery.  My bathing suit and shorts, which I’d hung on the thick balcony the night before had been blown off the wall and onto a smaller roof.  I thought they were both lost.  However, by hanging out the window and using a lamp (yeah..don’t ask), Corey thankfully was able to retrieve them.  From the hotel, we went to the Madaba Plateau, stopping first at Machaerus.  There we read the account of John the Baptist being beheaded (found in Mark 6:14-29, Matt. 14:1-12, and Luke 9:7-9) as well as acted it out.   This was hilarious.  Bill asked who wanted to reenact the scene, so I offered to play Herodias, Herod’s evil wife.  Bill chose Corey to be Herod, and I picked Clara to be my daughter Salome.  John Glass was, of course, John the Baptist.  We laughed a lot, and afterward, for a long time, Clara, Rachel, and I enjoyed calling me “Mother,” Clara “daughter,” and Rachel ”the Nabatean woman” (the Nabatean princess and Herod’s wife before his adultery with Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife – Wow!  What a soap opera!) 

We made a good number of other stops along the way including Dibon where discussed the Mesha Stele, which was found there in 1868, and Mt. Nebo, where Corey read to Chelsea about the pools of Heshbon from Song of Songs 7:4.

We took a walk that night from our hotel as we waited for dinner (in Jordan, we ate dinner around 7pm every night).  I remember specifically that Noel and I did not want to go.  Of course, we did; but honestly, I wasn’t sure I could make it the full 2-mile walk to our destination without getting sick.  I was so hungry, so thirsty, exhausted, and nauseous, but we figured we’d give it a shot.  We walked towards the Ammon Citadel, but we didn’t make it.  The walk was longer than we thought, and after a quick bit of shopping for a cheap Coke, the group turned and headed back.  We almost got lost (I actually wasn’t lost!  I knew where we were! Lol) and overall enjoyed a pleasant walk back, during which we passed a high-security, White House-looking building (about which the security would only tell us it was “government”), during which we almost got to go inside a mosque (but didn’t…rats!), and during which Peter and I had a deep discussion on the random topic of the moment (I leave it out to protect the innocent).  In case you didn’t know, Peter and I butt heads a little and enjoy pushing each other’s buttons – bad combo…lol.

Day Four: Day four began where the night before had attempted to reach: the Amman Citadel.  Ammon was the capital for the Ammonite people and is a present-day museum.  This citadel is remembered as the place where Uriah the Hittite was sent by David to his death after David and Bathsheba committed adultery.  There I read 2 Samuel 11 for the group, and we discussed how David’s sin resulted in more deaths than just that of Uriah and David’s baby.  It resulted in the many deaths of Israelites soldiers who were also serving with Uriah.

            From Amman, we entered the region of Gilead and continued to the city of Jerash.  At Jerash, we looked at and discussed the temple of the false god Artemis, goddess of nature and hunting.  Called Diana by the Romans, her deity was threatened by the true authority and deity of Christ.  There, we paused at the oval piazza, walked down the South Colonnade Street, looked at the cathedral and the Nymphaeum, and went into the sanctuary of Artemis.  We finished off our visit by sitting in the amphitheater and listening to bagpipes and drums.

            Sukkot, also called Deir All, was another key point in our travels.  Here we discussed various events including what is found in Genesis 33:1-17, when Jacob and Esau are reunited.  Jacob built booths there – thus the name “Sukkot” – and Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there as a memorial in order to remind future generation of the part the Jews living on this side of the Jordan had as chosen people          We attempted to travel to Penuel/Mahanaim but ran into some trouble with a narrow road, an unhappy bus driver, and a lot of water under the bridge (literally) over which we needed to pass.  Proceeding from there on foot to the edge of the stream, we paused and read Genesis 32 about Jacob wrestling the Angel of the Lord as well as acted it out (with Bill as the angel and Corey as Jacob).

From here, we proceeded to the Jordan/Israel border crossing, where after two-plus hours, we made it safely back into the country of Israel.  We went through customs and passport control rather quickly, actually, but for some reason, we sat on the bus (or rather, goofed off on the bus) for two hours while yet only 50 feet from being inside Israel and on our way back to Yad HaShmonah, still 2 hours south of the border. 

John and I had a lot of fun at the border crossing.  We were sitting on the bus on the Jordanian side – you first go through Jordanian passport control, etc., then the same thing on the Israeli side about 250 feet away – when John asked me if I’d try something.  The guard, fully armed with some sort of automatic, was making his way down the aisle checking passports.  Quickly, right before he got to us, John and I switched passports.  I was in the aisle seat, so the guard took “mine” first.  He flipped through the pages to get to the identification/picture page, looked at it, looked at me and John, then chuckled and handing John his, took mine from John and checked it.  He proceeded down the aisle still chuckling at our antic.  That went well on the Jordanian side, but we were warned against doing it on the Israeli side where things are much different and security is tight and unwavering.  When we finally got through all the checkpoints, we said goodbye to our plush, reeking bus and hopped onto a cramped bus that fit exactly twenty of us and left some luggage sitting in the aisles between the small rows.  We had a great ride back, as Corey, Praus, and I discussed our families and our various upbringings (Cornelius “Corey” is Russian, and Praus is Brazilian) and as John and Bill joined us in playing “Two Truths and A Lie.”  My favorite round was when I said something to the affect of “I’ve trained racehorses,” “My relative was killed by the mafia,” and “I have a tattoo.”  There was quite the discussion on this one as each argued that various ones seemed improbable.  Praus said, “There is no way Miss Bricks has a tattoo.”  John thought that at first but was then convinced by the other two that that was actually a possibility.  He eventually decided that the lie was the death of my relative by the mafia.  His reasoning: how did I know?  Corey and Bill decided that I did have a tattoo and chose one of the other options as my lie.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember which ones (I think the racehorse “fact” was from another round actually, but…)  I had a lot of fun with that one…. Which is the lie?  You tell me.

Arriving back at Yad HaShmonah around 9:30pm, we ate dinner in the reception – it was so good to see good rice, schnitzel, and cucumber/tomato salad. Scattered around the floor, filthy from our travels and not bothering to even wash our hands, we dove in, and as I looked around I began to notice how much this trip had really changed us all.  There we were, still dressed in the same clothes we’d worn a few days ago and a few days before that and pulled crumpled from our bag that morning; donning the same sandals we’d worn every day through mud, water, and dust, the blood from our blister joining the other stains there; our hair in dire need of a washing; our hands dirty and gross yet handling the food we now ate; ourselves, scattered around, sitting on the dirty floor – it seemed clean to us in comparison – amidst bugs and ants and random spiders we would have avoided before, leaning against tables, walls, each other; exhausted yet perky and smiling.

As perhaps you are beginning to see, Jordan was an amazing trip, about which I had heard much from former-IBEX’ers and during which I learned more than I ever could have anticipated.  Throughout the trip, God allowed me to learn not just more information about Biblical events and characters but also about my own life and His amazing character.  Various times I was tired, sick, thirsty, and hot; but we went on as if unaffected by our circumstances.  It was amazing to see firsthand what one can put up with when one must, but it was also neat to learn what is important – truly important – versus that which we might consider necessities but which we can truly live without.  Accommodations, food, clothing, medicine, cleanliness – it all takes on a new light after our trip to Jordan, as we personally dissected it all to discover what is eternal and what is not.  Suddenly, lines of “I’d never do that,” “I could never live that way,” or “that’s disgusting” were left behind, replaced by a overall desire for common comfort, needs met, teamwork, and corporate growth.  Besides the individual passages we studied at the actual locations of the events, verses like 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee”, have come to mean something a little more personal after this trip, during which I was reminded of just how perfectly God’s promises fulfilled all needs.  Called “stretching” by multiple members of the Regional class, the Jordan trip confirmed for me once again the Truth of the Bible and helped me refocus on what is truly important and focus on the heart instead of the exterior.

 

 

P.S.  In case you didn’t already know, maps in Israel are East-oriented.  In other words, as our maps in the US would be held so North is facing up or ahead of us, in Israel, we hold the map so East is facing forward.  We’re all used to it now, so that it’s hard to even look at an Israeli map if it’s not facing that direction.  My mind has adjusted to the “move right on the map = going south” instead of going East as we would in the States.  I only hope this directionally challenged mind of mine will fix itself when I return the US, so I won’t think we’re going west from Syracuse to Binghamton.  Oi Vey!

I know this is long overdue. Sorry it’s taken me long! Things have been crazy busy with working on a week’s worth of homework on top of my normal week’s work as a reality of our trip to Jordan… but enough about that. =)
A few Tuesday’s ago, (wow, I am far behind), we all boarded the bus early and proceeded south to the Negev. Unfortunately, because this was so long ago, I don’t feel like this is going to be very good, but please hang in there with me. =)
We headed south and stopped at Qumran, where the Dead Scrolls were found in 1947 in one of the many caves there. We first took a tour through a museum there, then went and climbed up into some of the caves and took lots of pictures. =)
From there, we went to the Ahava factory. Ahava is a company that takes the salt and mud from the Dead Sea and create wonderful products for the skin. The salt, water, adn mud from the sea make wonderful, healing cosmetics that unfortunately, cost and arm and a leg. It’s at a place like this that you realize how limited your budge is. =) We did have fun though, making our way through the store trying out samples. The guys were the funniest, of course, as they put on lotion and facial crème with anti-aging qualities. Lol
From here, we went to lunch at the Dead Sea itself. We only had about 50 minutes to eat lunch and swim, so most of us didn’t actually swim; but those who did – mostly the guys – were ridiculous as they dunked their whole bodies and ran yelling off to the showers to wash off their skin from the stinging water in their eyes and on their faces. Lunch was great, though, as we had tuna sandwiches/peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (a delicacy here for us..lol), Pringles, apples/oranges, and a candy bar (eaten thankfully by my 2nd stomach =). )
Boarding the bus again, we headed off to Masada! Masada was really cool! Perhaps you’ve watched the BBC movie Masada that retells the Roman besiege of the mountain held by a small group of rebelling Jews. (We watched that movie the night before we left for the Negev, and it was neat to go to where that historical event happened.) In case you don’t know the event that happened there, let me explain: in 73 AD, three years after the destruction of the temple by Titus, the Jews were besieged there by the Romans for three years. The Romans, in an attempt to conquer them, built a huge ramp up the side of the mountain using both labor by the Roman soldiers themselves and Jewish slaves. When they finally reached the top, they rolled their siege ramp up the ramp and ramped the walls of the fortress. To protect against the ramming, the Jews built an extra-fortified wall by creating another wall of wood within the wall the stone to absorb the shock of the ram. That worked to protect against the ram, so that there was still a wall after the rock had been obliterated; but did not protect them against the fire that the Romans set to it. The Lord was good and for a large part of the time, He shifted the wind to turn against and ignite the ram itself. However, that did not last long, and at one point, the Jews knew they had one evening left before the Romans entered into their fortress. As only a few hundred people, they had no choice but to either fight and die or sneak off during the night. Either way, they felt they would be humiliated and defeated before the Romans. So, that night, under the direction of their leader Eliazar ben Zakkai, all the Jewish men killed their families then drew lots to see who would kill the men. Ten men killed all the men, then one man, Eliazar, killed the rest of them and finally, himself. The next day, when the Romans came in, they found them all dead, and although it was a victory in one sense, the Jewish were victorious in that they would not subject themselves to the rulership of the Romans. I disagree with the Jewish thought, of course, that suicide was the solution, but it was an interesting and very sad event.
Masada is 300 ft above sea level, which doesn’t seem so tall when you write it down as a number, but walking up the side is quite the hike. The record time it has taken an IBEX student was 15 min for Matt Wright’s brother David and 20 minutes for one of my wingmates back at school Michelle Harbour. It took me about 40 minutes because I was just walking along and talking with John, and Lindy and Clara would have beaten the record if they’d raced officially, but we all just had fun and took pictures and yes, sweat and paused for breath. LOL… wow, writing it all down like this makes us all sound like a group of wimps, but it was quite the hike. John and I decided not to stop much – if at all – because it only makes it harder to start up again. We were quite happy to reach the top. =) Some of us, including Randy and Phyllis and Molly who had a sprained ankle, took a cable car up instead of climbing.
Once on top, we looked around at the remains of the fortress, looked down at the areas where the Romans were camped, and eventually made our way down the Roman ramp looking at remains of the wood from the Jewish fortified wall. Quite the experience. =)
We went to Arad next. There are actually three Arad, – Biblical Tel Arad, a modern Arad, and another Arad (just to make things more confusing – not really, I just don’t remember much about the 3rd one). Tel Arad is important to our study of the Land and the Bible because of an archaeological finds there – a 4-room, Israelite house; an Israelite fortress dating to 2000 BC (the time of David); a fake temple – and the fact that here was the earliest record of an actual town. Here the Israelites were opposed by the king of Arad on their way to the Promised Land (Numbers 21:1-3, 33:40).
We stayed at a youth hostel that night. We were a little worried when we saw a large group of Arab higschoolers arrive that we wouldn’t get any sleep that night, but in all honesty, it turned out to be a great night of crazy fun and lots of great memories. Why do I say that? Lol…well…. I’ll get to that in a little bit.
After a dinner of chicken (what else?) and corn schnitzel (like a chicken nugget …. with not chicken), we walked around downtown Arad which was more dead than any area we’d been to so far. There wasn’t much to do – or so we thought at first – as we had the hardest time finding a coffee shop. At one point, we thought we’d found one and it turned out to be a bar (Thanks, Sara!). Rats. We did end up finding some really cool multi-colored pillars on which we took tons of pictures, so that was nice. Other people did end up finding an ice cream/coffee shop, so that part of the night did end up being a success.
Returning back to the youth hostel, we were surprised to hear a ton of loud music coming from a lounge area on the hostel “campus.” It was the group of Arab teenagers having a “dance.” I say dance with quotations because as we began to see, Arabs don’t know how to dance. They’re dancing is more like freestyling – okay, side note, I DON’T know how to dance, so maybe I shouldn’t talk =) – with no real dance moves, just a lot of clapping, arm movement, and even a barking sort of noise. After a while of watching from a distance, they came out and asked us to come in. It was the most hilarious thing! We sat and watched, then clapped with them, then showed them some moves – Daniel did the worm across the floor as well as did a one-armed cartwheel, the guys did the “icebox” move (not even really a dance move), Praus lifted Matt onto his shoulder copying what the Arab boys did with a younger boy in their group, Whit jumped off Daniel and dove into the arms of a group of our guys, and we showed them how to do a swing dance move. The kids were ecstatic, and we all had a lot of laughs. I got to talk to a young Muslim girl – arg…I can’t remember her name – and I exchanged emails with her. It seems like it could be a really neat opportunity to keep in contact with her.
On Wednesday, we went and saw a huge well. LOL..what a way to start the day. I just was looking at my pictures, though, and I loved this well for this reason: 400 ft. deep, this well was surrounded by a fence to make sure no one fell in. Randy threw a few rocks into it, and we listened and waited a good few seconds before it hit the bottom. I loved it. I have to say – sorry, Mom =) – it was one of those places I would have loved to “go” to the bottom of, so I could see if I could climb out and what it would be like to sit at the bottom and try to get out of.
We sat at a temple to a false god there in Arad and discussed the events there. We also saw and talked about the temple we saw there to the true God. As much as the intentions of the people who made it may have been good, the Bible commands that no temple was to be built outside of Jerusalem. Therefore, the men of Arad were in sin when they built it.
After another short ride on the bus and a surprise stop at McDonald’s where Randy treated us to a coffee or ice cream (I had my first whole McFlurry ever), we arrived at Beersheva where we donned dorky construction hats according to the rules (and we never figured out why we had to wear them) and looked at another altar there that was built to God against the rules of the covenant and acted out a sacrifice.
After this we got to go Ben Gurion’s kibutz hut, where he lived the latter end of his life after retiring from being the first prime minister of Israel. Everything there was left just as it was the day he died, and there we saw his 5000-book library, just one fifth of the books he owned (the other 20,000 are in Tel-Aviv).
Following this, we went hiking in Nahal Zin, the southern border to the Promised Land. This was a neat hike through a gorgeous valley and up the side of the mountain. We met a large crowd on the way up, so we had a very long wait to actually get up to the top. So, what happens when you’re stuck somewhere with nothing to do but wait? Sing! As we waited over 40 minutes to get up, we enjoyed a wonderful serenade by Matt, Whit, Daniel, Jared, John, and Praus. It was hilarious, and our fellow travelers, Arabs and Israelis, enjoyed it as well. =)
For the rest of the day we learned about the Nabatean Spice Route, took pictures on a fake camel caravan, goofed off at an old Crusader church, and spent the night at a small hotel where an American CBS reporter (I forget which one) was staying that night as well.
Thursday was a lot of fun as well. We made a good number of stops, my favorites being Hai Bar, an Israeli zoo (we saw hyenas, caracal, bats, jackels, porcupines, ostriches, etc) and the model of the tabernacle, a full-scale model (we listened to a Messianic Jewish lady tell us about it). We stayed at a really nice, 6-floor hotel that night – it was quite fancy compared to anything else I’ve seen in Israel.
I forgot to mention a key point here that definitely added to the excitement of the trip – I had the stomach flu. Actually, a few of us had it. We couldn’t eat much at all, and every time we tried to do something really active – hm…Isn’t that what we were doing all day? – we felt like we were going to barf or pass out. As time went on, it just got worse and worse until I could only eat a few forkfuls at meals.
After dinner (or lack thereof), Randy, Phyllis, Rachel, and I took a walk down to the Boardwalk. It felt like I was in a resort or something, the area busy with tourists and shops and even a small carnival area where you could be slingshot into the air (Daniel and Tiffany did that). Our first stop was the Eilat Mall, where I bought some granola bars for an IBEX-alumnus friend back at school. Then, we went to Aroma, the Israelite version of Starbucks (there are no Starbucks in Israel), and Randy treated us to a drink (I got an iced coffee…mmm!)
Friday was our final day in the Negev, and we started the day by going snorkeling in the Red Sea. =) Swimming in the sea was cool (in more ways than one) but I have to say I wasn’t too impressed with snorkeling. Perhaps it was because I was still wrestling with my cough and couldn’t breathe right; perhaps it was due to the few mouthfuls of water I accidentally breathed in; or perhaps it was because of the waves that were constantly moving us about. Either way, snorkeling was fun in that we got to see coral, all sorts of fish, and jellyfish; but I would have rather left the snorkel itself onshore and just used the goggles. Students in regional studies class got to snorkel first, and after about a half hour, we got out, got dried off, and proceeded to the Jordanian border.
I’m going to finish this blog here. I’ll write the next one soon, but I don’t want to bore you with any more this time as I fear I’ll lose some people. I don’t feel like I’ve done a great job capturing just how cool this trip was. It can’t be captured in a blog, no matter how long, and definitely, it’s one of those moments when I’m at a loss for words to describe it all. However, it could also be that I’m having a hard time remembering it because it’s been so long since the trip and I was sick so I know I missed a lot of it mentally. All of that plays into this post, so forgive me if I just bored you to death. =)
Until next time, …. L’Chaim! (to life!)

P.S. I’ve been able to Skype with my family on Sunday afternoons (for them – Sunday around midnight for me), and it’s been quite a big blessing. Even if my webcam is funky and doesn’t always work, it’s such a welcome treat to see and talk to my family. =D Love you, guys!!!!!

P.P.S. As I eluded to in my note, I’m thankfully over my cough! Finally!

P.P.P.S. Random comment: I’ve discovered I’m not a very patient person. SURPRISE!!! lol. Anyway, I’ve been noticing, I’d much rather jog somewhere than walk. I was thinking about that this afternoon as I jogged somewhere that that’s how I am about life, always rushing to the next stage, not taking enough time to smell the flowers in each time. One day this time in my life will be passed and will I look back and regret that I ran through it instead of took the time to enjoy the place God had planted me at that time? May I not ruin my time on earth rushing ahead of God’s perfect timing. May I be completely content and wholly satisfied to “bloom where [I've] been planted.”

In response to an unspoken (but implied ) request by one of my readers (why do I feel like I’m writing an article?) I’m writing an update that is theoretically supposed to be shorter than the last few I’ve written. Actually, to be completely honest, I’m more writing this now because tomorrow morning we leave for a 6-day trip that, combined with all I will write here, will result in a note that NO ONE would read because of its ridiculous length. I have to say thank you right now, though, to those of you who do read this. I hope it’s all making sense and not boring you. If they’re anything you want me to talk about regarding Israel let me know. I don’t want to be too repetitious but would like to keep these interesting. 
Last Thursday night, as I mentioned in my last note, Cassandra, Savannah (instead of Jenessa), Lacey, and I worked in the moshav restaurant. We began in the kitchen for Ammi “polishing” then Lacey and I were moved to serving in the conference room for Karami. After a while Lacey moved back to helping in the kitchen and I continued to work in the conference room with an Israeli girl name Gi’reet (well, that’s how you say it). Karami kept forgetting that I didn’t speak Hebrew so after a few reminders, I just gave up and tried understanding what he meant by the few words I do know and learning as I went. It was lots of fun, and after finishing serving, tearing down, and resetting everything for a 60+ person banquet the following day, I returned to the kitchen to clean up from the bereat (circumcision) celebration going on there and reset everything for breakfast the next day. It was a big celebration, and after a lot of hard work we finished it off by enjoy some of the great dessert out back. John Glass came and enjoyed it too (Nice timing, John. Don’t work; just come for the food. Lol) Oh, and we got to wear the cool aprons while we served. We felt rather official. Lol They finally let us go around 11:30pm after which time I went straight to the miklat to study for my Land and Bible quiz in the morning. After a while, I fell asleep there listening to the others there studying the information I needed to know, and I actually did pretty well on the quiz. Yay!
On Friday, we had morning classes then packed up and drove an hour and a half to En Gedi and the Dead Sea! There we set up camp, which basically consisted of a 15’ x 15’ tarp on which we sandwiched our sleeping bags together so each person got about a foot and a half of sleeping space. Then we all changed and went swimming in the Dead Sea!!! It is simply amazing! It really is just like I heard – I did float! In fact, it’s like wearing floating devices on your limbs so that it’s hard to pull your feet under water, hard to maneuver, and hard to walk. It tastes awful! I resisted the dare to lick the water (sorry, Corey!), but I did accidentally get some in my mouth – ick! Some people got it in their eyes and they either had to rush out to rinse off in the shower or cry it out.
After floating around for a while, we went over to the mudpits where we covered ourselves in the black Dead Sea mud. The mud is very smooth and supposed to be very healthy for your skin. Whit was the best in that all of his body including his lips, ears, and eyelids were covered and his blonde hair stood out against the black. Jared looked like Superman in his Venom outfit, and Corey gave himself a big nose, big biceps, and a gross beer belly with a deep belly button. Amazingly it wasn’t hard to get the mud off. We climbed back into the Dead Sea (and blackened the water) then rinsed off in the powerful, cold, outdoor showers.
We returned to camp wet and smelling like salt to enjoy our bag-dinners of a turkey/cheese sandwich, chips, an orange, pretzels, and cookies. Very soon after the guy started the bonfire, which we all gathered around, for the sun was going down and the temperature dropping.
Praus led us in some worship songs for about 45 minutes, during which time we competed with the other campers in the area who insisted on blasting their Arab and/or Hebrew music from the stereos in their trucks. Abner then led us in a short talk which resulted in his sending us out in small groups to find a quiet place and either spend some time in prayer as a group or split off and spend time alone. My group (Jared, Molly, John, Noel, and I) headed off towards the shore and decided on splitting up, so I spent about 20 minutes sitting, thinking, and praying on the literal shores of the Dead Sea. It was an opportunity of a lifetime.
To be honest, it was a powerful time of silence. I prayed a lot. I desired God to speak to me. I desire to hear His voice, to hear something profound, and to be powerfully convicted, torn with the Truth, or overflowing with joy. No. Not now. There was only silence.
I prayed. I searched my heart for some hidden sin. I poured out my heart before the Lord. Did you ever feel your prayers bounce off the ceiling? Imagine now a ceiling so close that the words can barely leave your lips. Such was my time there.
I remembered 1 Kings 19:11-12, which says ‘So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD ” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.” I listened for His still small voice, His gentle blowing. I longed for it. He didn’t speak. He was silent.
That kind of scared me. I desired Him, and I was sensing more than ever how much I needed him.
Noel called out that our 20 minutes was over and we should head back. I got up to go and only then did I feel as if the Lord spoke to me reminding me of Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God” and how awful life would be had He not saved me. I could barely stand 20 minutes of His silence let alone living my whole lifetime removed from Him. Even now as I write this I remember when Jesus was on the cross and the Father turned His face away. Talk about scary!
When we returned to the campfire, Abner spoke on using the time we have in the dessert to honestly evaluate our walks with the Lord. He shared a personal story of a friend who walked away from the Lord and challenged us to stop lying to ourselves about where we are with God and to look honestly at ourselves to see where our desires really are. Are you noticing a pattern too? =) The more I learn the more I realize how little I desire God as I should now “deceitfully wicked” my heart is. More and more I see how I live out the first part of Psalm 37:4 (“Delight yourself in the Lord…”) and how merciful God is in blessing me despite my lack of merit.
We sang a few more songs then enjoyed some cookies and milk (mmhm).
Speaking of cookies and sweet things, this is sort of a side note, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth – never really have. I’d much rather something salty or spicy. Yes, I like chocolate but rarely do I have it. As a result, every time one of the faculty gives us sweets – “post quiz treat” or Bible study goodies – I end up giving it to one of the guys. Finally Jared came up to me and said, “Ashley, we need to make a pact.” Lol….therefore, pretty much any sweets I don’t want, Jared gets. Lol. Back to Friday night…
Afer cookies and milk, a small group of gather on the sleeping bags and talked about our plans for the next year and listened to Abner tell us his two biggest mistakes in life: “not going to DisneyLand his freshman year” (long story – it had a lot of repercussions) and “not marrying Johanna earlier” (they had almost a full year engagement!).
Around 11:30, we hit the sack and were up by 6:30am – the sun rises early over the Dead Sea. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, packed up, and headed off on our hike.
We hiked up the mountains next to the Dead Sea, a steep mountain that led us up to the spring at En Gedi where David stopped while fleeing from King Saul. Abner spoke to us about the conditions when he was running, and we spent some time reading Psalm 63. We didn’t appreciate the spring as much as David would have because the weather when we hiked was perfect while it was scorching hot when David ran from Saul. Even last semester’s IBEX’ers understood his plight better as they climbed the mountain in 100-degree temperatures.
We continued to hike over the cliffs and along the edge of the mountains on our way to the dry canyon pass. However, the canyon was so full of water (flash floods are a problem in the wadis – valleys – in Israel) we couldn’t make it through, so we turned around and found another way to our destination, Nahal David, where we enjoyed swimming, climbing up waterfalls, and jumping into the natural pools. Actually, I didn’t personally swim. After all, who would have been taking pictures?
A random fact from Israel – not too random actually ‘cause it’s what we had for lunch following our time at the waterfalls – is that turkey is called pastrami here. There’s another name for bologna too, but I can’t remember it right now. After lunch we headed back to Yad HaShmonah.
Sunday was our free day. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do – go to Tel-Aviv, go back to the claustrophobic caves at Maresheth-Gath, etc. – and eventually gathered a group (Molly, Noel, Jared, James, Karen, and myself) who decided to go to Jerusalem, eat a falafel, then spend the afternoon doing homework at Christ’s Church. We did, and it was a lot of fun that ended with a crazy and very memorable bus ride back. The bus driver was going to drop us off at the wrong place, so Jared talked to him and he agreed we could get off a later point. Then the driver proceeded to step on the gas and whip around this hill-community without doing much slowing down. Molly made a comment: “We’re gonna go flying off this mountain” just before he hit a speedbump without slowing down. The older lady on my left went flying a good foot and a half into the air not holding onto anything, and I’m sure I flew up too – I just don’t know how much. I collapsed against the window dying laughing and even the driver was laughing. He was ridiculous!
I could go on… there’s always more. However, it’s 1:36am, and I have to be up at 6:30 (arg..) so I should go.

Have a wonderful day, and Lord willing, the next time I’ll be writing will be about our trip to Masada, the Negev, Eilat, and Jordan!!!!!!! =)

PS. Regarding the title, that says it all. They really are great.

To be honest, writing all of this seems a little overwhelming right now. Well, “overwhelming” is not quite the word, but I feel like I have a lot to catch up on! I’m not saying I don’t want to write – what I would give for a day with no homework and free time to sit and write! – but when I look at my list of homework I should be doing – studying for my Land and Bible quiz on Friday, reading out of my two textbooks for Life of Christ, working on my Regional Explorations reading or report which is work 10% of my grade – I feel guilty sitting here and doing what I love.

I’m going to do it anyway because in the future I want to remember what I did here.

Let me start way back at last Tuesday.
Tuesday morning was Bible study. I love it. We look forward to it and rejoice at its coming. We’re discussing faith.. I think I’ve told you this before. Oh, well.  It’s worth saying again. It’s great!
[I’m really looking forward to breakfast, by the way…]
Tuesday evening was Mug and Muffin night with Becky and the IBEX wives. We ate muffins, monkey bread, and scones and had a nice little “girl talk.” Basically, the ladies opened themselves up to discuss the topics girls want to discuss but find it awkward to ask about. My favorite part was actually after the meeting when Shelsy and I got to hang out and talk to Stephanie Schlegel (one of the wives) about some deeper questions.
Funny story: When Chelsea first heard about the event, she thought it was called “Mug and MuTTin.” A few days later, she found out she was wrong. lol

[Caitlin: I know…701 BC, Sennacherib defeated Assyria.
Ashley: No.
Caitlin: Sennacherib defeated Babylon.
Ashley: No. … 701 BC, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, conquered King Hezekiah at Lachish. In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered King Zedekiah of at Lachish]
I have to say right now that it was after 11 sometime when that conversation above happened, and I include it for the chuckles that you may (or may not) have. We laughed; we roared actually.

On a more somber note, last Wednesday, we went to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum. I have to say it was the most sobering event of the trip. As we walked through the museum amidst Jewish people, watching footage, seeing pictures, and looking at recovered personal effects, I felt so much sorrow. Perhaps it’s because I’m known as one of the few of us IBEX’ers who actually have a Jewish background, perhaps it’s because I’m living amongst Jewish people, perhaps it’s because Israel is more than “some other country” to me now – I don’t know why exactly, but walking through Yad Vashem, I felt the offense against the Jewish people during the Holocaust so personally! I’ve never felt the hurt as a result of the event that I felt last Wednesday. At one point, I ran across a wall with the pictures and names of various Nazi officials, and I had to walk away. Did I feel a bitterness towards them for what they did? No. Did I hate? No, but I hurt. My heart ached, and looking at them left me wondering in disbelief how one human could do it to another. We then moved into a different part of Yad Vashem, into The Children’s Memorial. Inside, the room was completely dark with only electric candles lit for every child killed in the Holocaust. There were millions of candles. Over loud speakers, came a voice naming off the children’s names, their age at their death, and their place of origin. Before we’d entered, Randy had told us to note one name of our choice and hang onto it as we stood in the memorial. He said it would help us feel it more personally. I chose Abraham-Isaac Fastag, who was from Anvers, Belgium, and died at the age of 14. I also looked up Bricks in the database and found numerous Bryks, Briks, and Brycks in places such as Lodz, Kielce, and Lubin, Poland.
When we boarded the bus to go to lunch, then Yad HaShmonah, Randy gave us a little time to share our thoughts with him and the other students. Corey began with a quote he saw at the end that summed it up for him: “Not quite living but not quite dead.” (I’m quoting that from memory so that may be a little off.) I followed him and shared with them what God was showing me. My heart was broken. I ached for the people, the Jewish people, the innocent, the men forced to live like dogs, for Abraham-Isaac Fastag. Yet, I found myself reminded – reminded or learning? – of how much sadder it was to be the person, the people, who committed these atrocious acts. I was angry with them, but in fact, my heart should also break for them. It did, as I realized how sad they were and how deceived. After that, I spent a little time, silent and crying for both the victims and the perpetrators. That night, we watched Schindler’s List together in the miklat, and once again, we were reminded of the precious value of just one life.
We ate lunch at a large, 3-story mall. Randy gave us 20 shekels each. It wasn’t much but it got me a falafel that I could hardly finish it was so big and with one extra shekel, a bottle of water. Rachel and I spent some time talking and walking around the mall. I found something I want to get you, Dad.
From all I can remember, Thursday was a normal day – classes, homework, and random other tasks I can actually do because I don’ t have any afternoon classes. One of those tasks was cleaning the miklat. This is somewhat a frustrating task, as no matter how much I clean that place, it is constantly producing record amounts of dust-bunnies and dust-pans’ worth of dirt.
Friday morning we arrived at Regional Studies class all ready for our hike only to find that Bill had a pinched nerve in his back that kept him from being able to walk and move correctly let alone hike. So, instead, he sent us on our individual, student-led hikes. We split up into small groups and divided up the available hikes. My group included Praus, Whit, Lindy, and myself. We originally wanted the hike that had numerous caves on it, but another group claimed it and we were “stuck” going to Ein Limon (Lemon Spring). (Can you really be “stuck” hiking anywhere in Israel?! It’s Israel!). I have to laugh thinking about this hike because none of us four are great with directions. In fact, Lindy and I told the guys right at the beginning of our trip that we were both awful at directions, so we had to depend on them. They weren’t too worried, but you should have seen Lindy and I packing our backpacks, joking that we should take an inflatable blanket, a roadflare, and other things we’d need if we were caught out on the trail after dark. =)
We thought we were doing pretty well as we walked our first 15 min walk to Abu Gosh. There we were supposed to find the old police station and make a right there. The guys were supposed to have listened while Bill gave us directions to this location, but as it turned out, none of us remembered much except that we had to take a right and another right (the second right being hard to find) and eventually we would come to the highway and an underpass underneath it. We had to call Bill. After all, none of us can read Hebrew. =) We all try and a few of us are better at the aleph-bet than others of us (myself being part of the “others of us”). Lol We all felt kinda stupid calling him after 15 minutes, but after that, things went a lot better. We proceeded through the underpass, found a nice place to eat lunch, and dangled Lindy over the edge of the cliff to retrieve two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches Praus dropped over the edge and which were now dangling from a barbed-wire fence that hugged the face of the drop-off. (She accidentally dropped them further down, but it was okay because they were more easily retrieved that way.)
As we went on, we faced numerous forks in the road, walked through someone’s yard; climbed around in an abandoned/under-constructi

on house in an Arab village; made a wrong turn and had an Israeli hiker turn us around and point us in the opposite direction; and yes, reached our destination. =) I have to say our destination was only a part of the hike. It wasn’t the highlight nor was it spectacular, although the water ran from inside the rock tasted amazingly. The pool it ran into was small and kinda gross, and the handful of Israeli guys around it, some not so fully dressed because they were swimming, forced us on our way after only a short visit.
There were two ways back. If we’d turned around and proceeded the way we’d come, it wouldn’t have taken us very long. However, where’s the excitement in that? We would have known where we were going! =) So, we proceeded farther down the nature reserve trail, knowing that it would eventually lead us to an Israeli village, then to McDonald’s (non-kosher!…not that any of us had money…), where we would have to find the other underpass to return to the opposite side of the highway and find our way back to Yad HaShmonah. We found our way, after numerous forks in the road that we discussed and decided on, and even ran across a dead horse/mule/pony complete with eyeballs, a hoof, and some remaining hair on the top of its head (kinda gross). We also created our own Ein Clementine out of a clementine from Lindy’s sack lunch and one of the large puddles on the road. Lol…that probably sounds rather random to you, but we had a lot of fun, laughing and joking around the whole time. Seriously, put the four of us together, and it’s a serious party!
We took the wrong way back after we stopped at McDonald’s for the 4 ice cream cones for 10 shekels deal Praus treated us to. We were supposed to cross the highway, but we didn’t realize that and walked along the highway for about 35 minutes, enjoying a varying amount of walking space and laughing as we discovered too far down the road to turn around that we were definitely going the wrong way. Oh, well. We made it before dark and treasure great memories from it.
On Shabbat, we went to the assembly here on the moshav. It was a good service. The speaker taught on Psalm 37, which I thought was interesting because that was the passage I had chosen that week to meditate on. Particularly, he spoke on delighting in the Lord. I was really convicted because often I think incorrectly regaring Ps. 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I’ve focused too much on the second half of that verse. Here I was desiring the blessings of the Lord, yet I was so convicted that I have failed in delighting myself in Him. How much do I delight in Him if I’m not even faithful to talk to Him daily, to spend time in His word, to delight in His ways. I am not consumed with Him as I would be with something that I delight in. How much does He consume my thoughts, my conversation? When was the last time I was found delight in being in His presence and sharing with Him, dwelling on His character or learning about Him? I do not delight in Him as I should, so how can I claim the second half of the verse as if I do. I’m still convicted, and the Lord is graciously helping me reprioritize my life, not so I may reap the benefits of the second half of the verse, but so that I may truly glorify Him as He deserves.
Following the service, we went to the Old City (Jerusalem) split up into teams with 100 shekels to spend. This event, called BargainMaster, challenged us to find the best deal for our money by haggling and good shopping. My group (Matt, Brittany, Lacey, Joe, Tiffany, Daniel, and myself) had a few options but they weren’t something we all wanted to do, so we continued looking around. We eventually haggled and purchased a jeanie lamp for 30 shekels (down from 39), bought and enjoyed some Cokes and a cappuccino at Christ’s Church café, and bought snicker bars to eat later as we shared our little BargainMaster skit. After we’d returned to the moshav, we met in the miklat with the rest of the groups to display our purchases and defend why they were the best deals/purchases. One group bought 2 kilos (somewhere between 3 ½ to 5 pounds) worth of chocolate; another group bought 7 shirts for only 70 shekels and spent the rest on snacks; another group bought a fish for IBEX and named it Dog (because they’d first wanted to get a dog and also because “dog” is “fish” in Hebrew) as well as a glass vase for it, food for one whole year, and rocks and decorations for the bottom of the bowl; and the other group split up the 100 shekels and bought individual souvenirs. We went second and to prove why our group was the best, Daniel appeared in extremely tight pants, an open vest (no shirt), and a turban-like wrap on his head – our jeanie. He held our jeanie lamp and explained how our group had haggled for the lamp then rubbed it. Then, he explained, he had come out and granted us three wishes. The first we’d asked for was coke and fellowship (what we’d enjoyed at the café) and the second was for him to get up and explain our day to the judges (which he was doing right then). Then, he explained to them that we’d promised him his freedom would be our last wish. Suddenly, Matt yelled out that he wanted candy. The rest of our group joined in until finally I specified that I really, really wanted a Snickers bar. Poof! Out of our shirt sleeves and pockets, we pulled our Snickers bars and enjoyed them. =) Although all the judges agreed we hadn’t gotten the best deal, Abner gave us his “pity” vote. Since he was the final voice and the deciding voice, we won. =) We all laughed, because we all knew we didn’t have the best deal, but oh, well, we’d had a lot of fun.
On Sunday, we had our first work day here at IBEX. We met at 8am and split into three groups: Abner’s Animals, Becky’s Beasts, and Bill’s Bums. Abner and his two helpers worked on rewiring and working on the computer network here in the library and email room. Becky’s Beasts went with Becky to Jerusalem to help a lady move into her new home. Bill and his bums worked around the moshav doing various things like working in the Biblical gardens and weeding the volleyball court. I was actually assigned another job. Cassandra and I worked in the restaurant kitchen. We began by cleaning off the tables in the restaurant. Then Ammi, the manager, told me I was to work with the pastry chef David. All that morning I worked with David making carob/coconut balls, pies, turnovers, bars, and other kosher pastries for the next few days at the restaurant. It was hard work as the trays I had to lift were almost as long as I was, but it was so much fun! I learned a lot about how different Israeli kitchens are – for instance, how they clean (or don’t..) – how to make various desserts, and even how to communicate with people who HARDLY speak any English at all. David and I got very good at communicating with hand motions and one or two words. It was also funny because Cassandra and I are the two here with IBEX with some sort of Jewish background, and once he found that out, Artur, one of the restaurant workers, was trying to convince us to make “aliyah,” which means to recognize Israel as your homeland and move here and become citizens.
After lunch, David was done for the day so I joined Cassandra in cleaning up the dining room, setting up for the next meal, and “polishing” dishes and silverware (basically, we wet it and dry it again to remove water stain that result from air drying). It was really fun. When the new shift of restaurant workers came in around 3ish, we left because we could tell that they weren’t really wanting our help anymore. Most of the rest of the IBEX’ers were done with their work too, and we then began preparation for the work day barbeque: cheeseburgers, potato salad, chips, etc. Randy, Phyllis, and the other IBEX families made a mean meal, and we all walked away stuffed! Then, we all went to the miklat to watch The Fiddler on the Roof.
Monday was school. Boring. Lol Jk. The week started off on a great note with my God-given determination to be wiser with my time and to put Him first. Thankfully, I was able to spend time in the Word in prayer that morning and to focus on being wise with my time and not wasting goofing off on Facebook or just goofing off in general.
Tuesday was Bible study, but you know all about that. I could say it again, though…. Lol
I love Bible study.
Yesterday was our Land and Bible field trip to Shephelah. Wow! This was definitely THE best Land and Bible field trip ever!! Over the course of the trip, we stood in the valley where David killed Goliath, discussed Samson in the place where he slew 1000 Philistines, visited the hometown of Micah the prophet, climbed around on our stomach in pitch-black tunnels so small I had a hard time getting through, ate lunch in a Roman theater, visited an underground pigeon-holding business, stood at the place where Sylvester Stallone filmed Rambo 3 (lol…I’ve never seen that movie but you might get a kick out of it if you have), and sat in a tomb where they filmed the death and resurrection scenes in the Jesus film. Again, it was by far the best Land and Bible field trip we’ve gone on.
Today is Thursday. I had Life of Christ at 8am, Regional Explorations at 10:30, lunch at 12:30, then various tasks this afternoon. It’s been a busy day, and I’m happy I’m keeping to my schedule. You should see me, Mom. You’d be very proud. =) I feel like I’m doing well this week in managing my time and getting all I need to get done accomplished. My schedule for the rest of today:(It’s 3:17pm now)
3:30pm – clean the miklat
Between 5-5:30pm – study and email
5:30pm – dinner
6:15pm – mandatory student meeting with Abner regarding this weekend’s camping trip
6:30-9pm – work with Cassandra, Chelsea, and Jennessa in the restaurant for some banquet they’re having
9pm-12am – homework
12am – bed time!

Well, it’s time to go. Gotta keep to my schedule .

I hope I didn’t bore you again with this long post.

P.S. Regarding my note title, it’s a line from Josh Gracin’s song “I Want to Live.” I was listening to it as I cleaned the miklat – yes, I’m posting this after I did that… I’m still on-schedule! – and was convicted on how easy it is to “love” with selfish motivation. I love to be loved, I love to be popular, I love to look righteous. When was the last time I loved for the glory of Christ, loved with such abandon I was willing to risk all? When was the last time, if ever, that I loved “like I ain’t afraid to be alone”?

So, some may say that I should be working on homework, but honestly, I’m getting frustrated every evening when I want to update my blog or write to my family and I can’t because I’m about to fall asleep walking back to my room and getting more than 6 hours of sleep with this awful cough before getting up at 7am is a slightly more prudent.

It’s been a week since my last update, so here we go:

Tuesday….
Hang on, I have to look back at my calendar.

Tuesday was Jewish Thought and Culture….all four hours of it. It’s an interesting class – don’t get me wrong. *I pause to look over my shoulder. My prof is sitting about 10 ft from me*  It is interesting; however, it is also long and some of it I already know from learning some basic Jewish traditions with my dad.

Who knows what we did Tuesday night. Probably homework.

Wednesday was a ton of fun. We took an Arab bus early in the morning from Yad HaShmonah past Jerusalem into Benjamin, the West Bank. I say “Arab” because we normally take an Israeli bus but we were going into Palestinian territory and we wanted to avoid as many rocks getting thrown at our bus as possible. Lol…more on that to come.

Our first stop was the high place of Gibeon, where we had a wonderful view of Israel! Then, we proceeded into the wilderness, and what a bus ride it was! We came to boulders in the road blocking the way up the hill, but we didn’t stop. The bus driver just went in between the boulders and wove us through the wilderness road, around crazy turns and blind curves – even around a curve that was kind of overhanging the road because the rain had washed out some of the supporting dirt under the concrete. It was amazing, and I wish I’d gotten pictures of that spot, but we made it up there safely.  Once there, we looked down over a deep rift and St. George’s Monastery. It was gorgeous and I wrote in my field report: “As a writer I love secluded places. They challenge my mind and offer silence and character that breed imagination and produce plots and characters. The land of Benjamin did just that and helped me understand in a new way the powerful purpose of God’s calling various prophets and specifically John the Baptist and His Son Jesus into the wilderness. The silence and solitude affords greater opportunity for man to hear the voice and instruction of the Lord.”

I love Israel because it doesn’t matter where you go, you always feel the affects of being in the Middle East. Even as we sat listening to Randy lecture looking down over the Benjamin wilderness with it’s cavernous valleys and it’s single visible spring, Arab salesmen waited for him to finish then proceeded to try to sell us Arab headwear, jewelry, and postcards. Everything is shekels and “you’re welcome” and “I give you good price.” 

We went to Old Testament Jericho after that. That was neat. It was amazing to walk around the remains of the city and learn how small the city really was. I’ve always thought Jericho was huge – all the Sunday school pictures showed it as huge! – but in actuality, it only took us 12 minutes to walk around the base of it. It was neat even then to think about the Israelites walking around the oldest fortified city in the world and even as we blew our small, souvenir shofars (horns) to meditate on the power of God tearing down the whole city. We then stopped and sat and listened as Randy clarified a few things and shared with us a few other Biblical events that happened there as well, one of them being Zaccheus and the sycamore tree.

There were cats there in Jericho…and puppies too. There are cats all over Israel actually – I think I’ve seen about fifty cats since I’ve been here – but the puppies were the first I’ve seen. There was a whole litter, and Lindy, our animal lover, was tempted to go see them closer (they were stuck up in a crag of the rocks about 50 ft from where we were walking).

We had lunch in Bethlehem (great lunch stuff that Becky (IBEX staff) put together for us including a sandwich, an apple, chips/crackers, carrots, and some sort of dessert) and some of us bought falafel for only 5 shekels (great deal!). We then walked around and looked at the shops, bartered and bought various souvenirs. I didn’t buy but I went bartering with a few of the girls Shelsy and Danise and we had a few laughs regarding the way the shopkeeper tried to sell us his items: “I give it to you for half price, because I need the money” and “My mother hand-sewed this” and “I give you good deal because you are good people”….. “What is your name?” lol…. Honestly, so far, Bethlehem is one of my favorite places in Israel. Honestly, there is a church over the spot where archeologists think Jesus was born, so you completely lose the historical, authentic feel that you would have looking at it without candles, incense, and masses going on behind you. However, the city itself was really neat to walk around in and observe. It is a less-friendly city than Jerusalem and less safe, but I liked it just the same.

They drive crazily in Bethlehem. Actually, let me rephrase that. They drive crazily in Israel. The streets are narrow, and the drivers seemingly inexperienced, so you have to watch your back and your neighbors’ backs so you don’t end up run over.  Don’t worry; it’s not like we’ve had any really close calls. I’ve only been pulled out of the path of an oncoming call a few times. Lol. Honestly, they are crazy but you learn to watch out for them.

After Bethlehem, we drove to the Herodion, the remains of one of Herod’s many palaces. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all ornate and amazing, but the view was. From the top of the tel (manmade hill), we could see huge portions of the country and understand why Herod would choose such a location for his palace. We ran across some huge cannon balls and went down into a cistern while there too. From there, we went to Solomon’s pools in another area off of the Way of the Patriarch’s (a general north-south pass). There we had to make sure to “mind the gap” (as Randy would say it) because it’s a rather unfriendly area where friends of IBEX have run into trouble before (someone got their car burned and rolled into the pools while they were off having a picnic). We took just a short time looking at the gorgeous pools, and I have to say, all the trees and green grass reminded me of Colorado or something (not that I’ve been there…  ). Lol – definitely not the Middle East.

Thursday, Valentines Day:
Many of you have asked if we celebrate Valentine’s Day over here. As a whole, Israel does not. However, we at IBEX did. 
Let’s just say our Valentine’s Day started on Wednesday night when one of our girls (who shall remain anonymous) made a Valentine’s for one of our guys (who has also remain anonymous) to resolve a bet she’d lost a few weeks earlier.  We were in the miklat as she made it, completely with pink and flowers and vine and hearts and a real flower on the front and lipstick kiss next to her name. She didn’t kiss it, but the one who did shall also remain anonymous – let’s just say I had to put the lipstick on him for him and it was awful. lol

On Thursday, the guys began the day with using the cheesiest pick-up lines on Rachel, our IBEX volunteer. LOL…. The lines ranged from: “Is your dad a thief? ‘cause someone stole the stars and put them in your eyes” to “If you were a McDonald’s sandwich, you’d be the McGorgeous.” The day went with about ¾ of our guys making comments like that to her until it culminated into a short skit at dinner. LOL…Rachel said it was the most memorable Valentine’s ever.

On Thursday night, we hung out in the miklat, studying together for the Land and Bible test we had on Friday morning. We studied and goofed off and even got into some really good spiritual conversations with topics ranging from drinking, whether or not darkness was created, how long a Christian can go without sinning, the possibility of Christians being jealous without sin, whether or not girls should get tattoos, the difference between academic knowledge and wisdom, did Jesus ever make a mistake and still not sin, etc. It was great. Matt initiated a lot of the conversation and it was basically he and I and Lindy and a few others I can’t remember right now.

Friday was classes. I feel like I don’t talk about classes a lot. They are great, I promise. I just don’t know how much you’d like to hear about the Byzantine period of history, and the 6 parts of the Mishnah. Let me know if you want more academic news. 

Friday night was Kabbalat Shabbat, as always. That night we had a family who moved from Washington to Israel in October with us. The husband and wife brought 10 of their 13 kids ages 28 to 3. Wow, now that’s a large family. Mr. Rojas spoke for Friday night chapel and the family sang us a few songs. They were really cool. I especially liked their 28-yr old daughter Sarah and their 25-yr old daughter Renee. They seemed pretty cool. Their younger girls were really cute too.

We went to their church on Saturday. It was interesting and definitely not the best church I’ve ever been to. The pastor talked rather generically and I think he used one verse the whole time to speak on the topic of respect and prejudice. Oh, well.

From there, we went to a non-kosher pizza place in Jerusalem, which was amazing, then walked around and bought Jewish scarves.  That is certainly a story. Savannah and I found scarves we liked. They weren’t at Shaaban’s shop, where we like to buy things because he gives IBEX a great deal, but they were what I wanted, so paying 20 shekels didn’t seem too bad to me. After all, that’s a little over $6 for a nice scarf! Well, Jared was with us, and knowing that Shaaban would have given it to me for 15 shekels (about $5) he wouldn’t have it. He told me to offer 15. I told him I had, but had been turned down yet was still willing to pay 20. He told me no. I don’t take that price. I fight for my 15 or I walk away. Inside I was thinking “but I want this one…” but I didn’t argue. When the kid shopkeeper came back, I argued for only 15 shekels but he wouldn’t listen. Finally, Jared offered for 2 for 30 shekels (still 15 each) but he wouldn’t agree. So, Jared said we should walk away. Reluctantly, we did. We were about 10 feet away when the guy agreed to two scarves for 35 shekels. Jared said I could get it (lol) so Savannah and I walked away with very cute scarves – I’m wearing mine now – and I haven’t forgotten that I need to pay you back, Jared. 

I love that aspect of this group. We are like a big family. It’s not uncommon for me to look over and someone’s wearing my sweatshirt and I’ve worn a few different people’s sweatshirts, coats, socks, etc. It all blends together after a while.

Back to bartering, life here in Israel involves a lot of bartering. On Wednesday, when we were in Bethlehem, we stopped at a store where that sold ornaments and nativity scenes and various other extremely expensive souvenirs made out of olive wood and a stone that is native to Bethlehem. I was talking to one of the sales people about something I was looking at, and John came up behind me and stood with me to make it more intimidating and help with the bartering process. We laughed afterward when he realized what he was doing in a store with set prices and no ability to barter. Lol..oh, well. I appreciated it.

On Saturday night, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we played Battle of the Sexes. It wasn’t the board game (that’s a stupid game) but our own rendition complete with guy vs. girl competitions. One of the most competitive games involved getting our whole group on a small mat and sending up one representative to get specific instructions from Bill. Then the person had to run back and give us instructions. Whichever team got the task completed first, won the match. It was hilarious and we got great pictures.  I have to say the funniest part was our outfits. The girls wanted to do something fun, so we used our scarves and wrapped up our heads like Bedouin women and all wore black shirts to match. The guys, on the other hand, went all-out. By the time they were done, two of them (Daniel and Whit) were wearing shorts too short for them and four others (Matt, Peter, Jared, and Joe) were wearing girl pants (two of which were mine and another was my roommates). It was awful and hilarious as the same time. LOL. I don’t think I ever want to see those guys in hip-huggers again. Lol

On Sunday and Monday, we did one of my favorite parts of this trip so far: excavations.
Early Sunday morning, we got up and boarded the bus for the City of David on the south east corner of Jerusalem. Once there, we worked with an archeologist and his team of 40 people digging up lots and lots of dirt, pottery, and bones. We all walked away dirty, sweaty, and sore, but honestly, it was so fun. The first day Chelsea and I worked with two Israeli guys. A-al was a 24-yr old Jewish guy, and Leo was also Israeli, but he was definitely a seeker. In fact, he wasn’t even bothered by the Muslim guy who was doing his prayers towards Mecca about 25 feet from us. He found it “fascinating” or something like that. Overall, the days there were amazing. The physical work made me realize more and more how much I like hard labor. First of all, I feel healthier. Secondly, I feel justified to sit and write in the evenings if I’ve worked hard all day. We’re allowed to go back and work there anytime we want. Of course, we’d have to put in a full day’s labor. A good number of us want to go back and work there. We loved it. I learned a lot too. I know that sounds silly but I did. Most of it had nothing to do with excavation but it is always good to learn things.

And yes, I do have a new phrase, or rather, one word that continues to stick: “Oi.” Yesterday I said it after I had to lift a really heavy bucket in the bucket line while excavating (we made a conveyor belt of people to move buckets of dirt out of the excavation area). One of the Israeli guys looked at me and said, “That was a Jewish ‘Oi!’” I explained that I say it at home. He asked if I was Jewish and I said I was on my father’s side. He laughed and then had to tell the people near him in Hebrew that I said “Oi” and that I was Jewish….random. lol

Well, I’m off for now.
I hope I didn’t bore you with my life here. =)
Until next time,
laila tov.
(good night)