DC for Quad break

Hello All,

Over Quad break I went on a road trip adventure with my friends Amy and Briana. it is my intention to use this blog for many of my travels. For that reason, I am posting a very brief account of our travels here. I hope you enjoy it!


Ok, Wednesday night at 2 am I gave up looking for the passport and texted Amy and Briana saying sorry, driving to Canada was a no-go, but I would meet them at 8 am like we planned anyway.
I went next door to their apartment in the morning and Briana had just gotten out of the shower where she had made a new plan: her sister lives in Philadelphia and her aunt and Uncle live in DC. She figured we could go visit them. Amy and I both said it sounded good. In 15 minutes we had our stuff packed, another 15 and we had gathered up all of the non-perishable food we had. We switched cars with Meg for the Prius and were on our way. And then we called Briana's aunt and sister! Fortunately they both said we could stay with them.

Thursday around 4 we got to Philly and hung out with Briana's sister and the 8 friends she lives with. They have a very fun casual scene going on. We got to walk down Baltimore Avenue during their "Dollar stroll" and get a five course meal for five dollars!

Friday we drove to DC. Briana's aunt and uncle took us out to dinner and to see the monuments lit up at night. After that the three of us went out dancing. The next day we went to the Museum of American History, Capitol Hill, and to see the play Shear Madness at the Kennedy Center (bought the tickets 20 min before the show). Sunday we got up, had a balanced breakfast and drove and drove, and drove.

A quick update from Southern Jordan

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been a few days. The hotels we've been in have all been
charging for the use of their internt and I have just been skipping it.

Things have been great here. I feel like I've gone from seeing places
I've always wanted to see to seeing place that I never thought I would
see. The beautiful mountains around Sela (pictured below) or the ones
we saw in Wadi Ram are great examples. It really was just
breathtaking. Like being in an Omni movie.

Yesterday we saw Petra and that really was amazing. There were some
good pictures taken there, don't worry. I have to say honestly I've
been feeling a little out of it. Given, with all the hiking I'm
definitely in the best shape I've every been in. However when we came
south on Tuesday a few of us (4-5) caught a cold, and while I'm
definitely getting better o just don't have the fight in me that I had
before. Still, it's getting better. I'm drinking tons of water.

There is so much more to say but I'm going to skip to the formalities
and hope to talk to all of you lovely people in person when I get home.

Tomorrow is our last day in the field. Sunday we are back in Amman for
our exam. Monday we go backthrough customs to Israel and spend the
evening in Jerusalem. Tuesday we fly home. There is a rumor that we
have a five hour lay over in London and I am determined to break out
of the airport and walk around a little. Then it's home again home
again (jiggety jigg).

I can emphasize enough that I have had an amazing time. Still I'm
getting ready to get home. If at least to move at a slightly slower
pace and speak the same language as the people around me. I know I
will miss all this when it's time to leave though.

Please be patient with me while I'm adjusting. I know food and time
change will be something, but I think the pace of life will be the
biggest change. I basically haven't gotten a phone call or text
message in over a month. None of the people that I need to talk to
have been over three floors away from me in about a month. And of
course, I've been dressing a little scandelously if my knees were
showing. All these things will take a little time to transition, but I
will be very happy to have some long talks, so plan on that.

I hope all is well with you and yours.

Love,
Lauren

Big views on tops of Sela in Jordan

Some time to relax

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Mawe <Lauren.Mawe@gordon.edu>
Date: June 14, 2010 2:26:26 PM GMT+03:00
To: "lauren.mawe.adventuresaround@blogger.com" <lauren.mawe.adventuresaround@blogger.com>
Subject: Some time to relax

Hello everyone,

Only on week left! This all continues to be amazing and really out of  
this world. However, it is getting long and I am getting ready to head  
home. Yesterday should be a good example.

We had the day off to relax and study before our test\quiz we had  
today (Monday). We got to go to an awesome English speaking  
international church Saturday night. Sunday morning we did a little  
shoppig then relaxed for a while then studied. Then Ben, Josh, Debbie  
and I decided we wanted a break from hotel food and with the help of  
the Hotel Concierge we ordered two pizzas from Little Caesars. We  
couldn't order drinks but the Concierge told us about a super market  
that is under ten minutes away from the Ramada. We walked there  
together and then, for the first time in a month, I set foot in a  
supermarket. It was like Christmas. We bought all the junk food. Soda,  
chips, cookies and of course chocolate. There has been a lot of great  
food but the chocolate especially has been missing. The whole  
experience was so rejuvinating.

After that we had a power study session which was really pretty  
excellent then we went to bed.

Today we had the quiz which did go very well even though it was tough  
to ajust to a professor different from Dr. Phillips    . The rest of  
the day will be spent in lectures. Tomorrow we are going south for  
four days. It sounds like there is going to be some really cool stuff  
including seeing Petra!

I hope that everything is well state side and I will be back there  
soon. I am excited to catch up.

Love
Lauren

Some time to relax

Hello everyone,

Only on week left! This all continues to be amazing and really out of
this world. However, it is getting long and I am getting ready to head
home. Yesterday should be a good example.

We had the day off to relax and study before our test\quiz we had
today (Monday). We got to go to an awesome English speaking
international church Saturday night. Sunday morning we did a little
shoppig then relaxed for a while then studied. Then Ben, Josh, Debbie
and I decided we wanted a break from hotel food and with the help of
the Hotel Concierge we ordered two pizzas from Little Caesars. We
couldn't order drinks but the Concierge told us about a super market
that is under ten minutes away from the Ramada. We walked there
together and then, for the first time in a month, I set foot in a
supermarket. It was like Christmas. We bought all the junk food. Soda,
chips, cookies and of course chocolate. There has been a lot of great
food but the chocolate especially has been missing. The whole
experience was so rejuvinating.

After that we had a power study session which was really pretty
excellent then we went to bed.

Today we had the quiz which did go very well even though it was tough
to ajust to a professor different from Dr. Phillips . The rest of
the day will be spent in lectures. Tomorrow we are going south for
four days. It sounds like there is going to be some really cool stuff
including seeing Petra!

I hope that everything is well state side and I will be back there
soon. I am excited to catch up.

Love
Lauren

Theater in ruins!

Hi guys,

A few weeks ago I was geeking out about the London Theater trip around
Dr. Phillips. She asked me say the few things I (enthusiastically)
knew about Greek and Roman Theater when we were at Caesarae Phillipi
in Israel. That led to the two of us organizing a staging of Jesus
healig the two demoniacs in Matthew 8 at Gedara in Jordan today. The
enactment was complete with singing chorus. I nobly took a place among
the chorus of pigs however. We got to rehearse our little production
only once and at least for me, it was an honor to put on some sort of
show that was meaningful to our audiance in a place where so many
performances have taken place over thousands of years.

Later in the day we went to the brand new excavation of Capitolas
where only the theater has been excavated, but no reconstruction has
taken place like we see at most sights. With a little convincing from
Corey, I actually performed my Constance monologue from King John that
I learned for Voice and Scene studies. Certainly, it was not the best
performance of that monologue by a long shot. I got my lines a little
garbled in the beginning but I'm so glad that I did it, and that I had
a monologue I could used. The acoustics and staging area were great,
and just beautiful to look at. It definitely goes on my list of
"Things to do in life".

So things are great. I am starting to get ready to go home though. We
are just tripping over paottery shards these days. Tomorrow we are
only visiting one sight, Gerasa, then goig back tothe Ramada and
probably to church. Sunday is a free day and Monday is a quiz and
lectures. So we have a bit of a break which is great. There is so much
great stuff here. There are so many unexcavated sites. I want to be
fully excited about them. That is still happening most of the time.
The break will be good though.

I'm looking forward to catching up with you all in realy time in a
week and some change. I hope all is well, and thanks for reading! It's
great to get to share this craziness with people.

Love,
Lauren

The beautiful rugged tels of upper Gilead (Mahanaim?)

First days in Jordan

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was the first day adventuring aroung Jordan. Amazingly, it
was pretty cool out. I heard it was 27 degrees Celcius. The cooler
weather gave me extra energy.

We went to the ancient ruin of Rabbah which is in Ammon, the capital.
There was a small museum there that we spent some time in. That is
always excitng. We got to see a lot of the details we don't get in the
field. Plus art is always exciting.

After that we saw some of the ancient watchtowers around Ammon,
including one that seemed to have some Israelite housing with it. All
kinds of good stuff.

Today we are going south for a two day trip. It is sad to leave the
beautiful Ramada, but we hear that the small family hotel we are
staying in is very nice.

The pace here is just a little slower than in Israel, a d I think we
are all grateful for that. We are leaving at 8 instead of 7 and 7:30
on the morning and we get more time to climb around the ruins. I have
the thistle-pricks to prove it. It's a lot of fun.

Jordan does not get a lot of tourism (though that is changing) and
while it was nice to go from national park to national park in Israel,
I feel like we are really getting a taste of what Jordanian life must
be like.

Hope you all are well. I can't wait to catch up with you all.

Love,
Lauren

In front of the Dome of the Rock on Sunday

In Jordan!

Hello everyone,

I'm happy to tell you that this post is coming to you from Amman
Jordan. We took a bus to the border and then went through security
which looked like a happy RMV. It must have been the conveniece store
attached to it that was keeping everyone happy.

From there we drove in the bus to Bethany beyond Jordan. Man, I
thought it was hot in Israel! We started comparing it with the hottest
days in Israel (Herodian, Massada, came to mind).

We saw the Jordan river and I dunked my hat in it to cool off.
Especially now in the summer with a lot of the water being
circumvented for agriculture the Jordan River itself is not too mighty
and a little swampy for that. Still, it is a powerful place to remeber
a lot of significant events. (Joshua and the Israelites going into
Israel, Elijah being taken up to heaven, and then of course John the
Baptists ministry and the baptism of Jesus).

After trekking around there we came to our hotel, the Ramada in Amman.
It is so nice. We have a beautiful room with a huge window, mini
fridge and hair dryer among other things. It feels like a vacation
spot. After trekking throught the dusty tels it is very welcome. Still
we are going to be workig hard. We have been joined by ten graduate
students and it looks like the course is going to be fast. Dr.
Phillips is leading a map filling in session tonight and we haves ture
all day tomorrow.

All good stuff. I hope you guys are well.

Love,
Lauren

Off to Jordan

Hi everyone,

Today was our last full day in Jerusalem (we will be here for an
afternoon on our way out at the end of the Jordan trip). Most of us
who are staying stayed up last night to see off the people going home.
They are having a long day of traveling and are probably still in
their lay-over in Brussels as I'm typing this. It was sad to see them
go. I've been getting excited for Jordan and the people going there,
but I didn't realize how much I would miss the awesome people we are
carrying on without.

Today a group of us went up to the Dome of the Rock, which we hear is
the oldest mosque in the world. We weren't allowed to go in, but
walking around Temple Mount was really cool. Then there was a nap and
lunch. Joanna, Andrew and I went to the artist colony just down the
hill from JUC. There was a lot of cool stuff that made me very happy,
but it was all way out of our price range. We had fun looking around.
I did some laundry and chilled for a while. At dinner we got to talk
with Dr. Wilson a little more and we got our itineraries for Jordan!

It looks like we will be very busy and we have homework for every
night (including tonight!). I'm glad though, it's good to stay busy
here and I do want to see as much as I can. It sounds like our group
of twelve will be joined by ten graduate students. It also sounds like
we will be staying at the Ramada in Amman most of the time. Apparently
it's pretty snazzy. I will be keeping an eye out for wifi and I will
try to keep you guys up on what is happening each day. Typing out the
itinerary would be too much of a feat. Tomorrow we are crossing the
Allenby bridge and stopping at a place along the Jordan where John the
Baptist probably ministered.

That's all for now. I've been very tired today, but I'll be going to
bed soon. I hope you all are well.

Love,
Lauren

Last days in Jerusalem

Hi everyone,

There is always so much to say and only two thumbs to type it out
with! We are wrapping up our time in Jerusalem and all of Israel.
Thursday we went to Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Memorial (as Dr.
Phillips said, it's hard to return to life as usual after that), and
the Israel museum where most of the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept. We
finished our field study at the Garden tomb, a secondary place where
people think Jesus may have been crucified and buried. We got to spend
some time in worship there.

Yesterday, Friday, we had our last exam in Israel, which went fine.
The. There was a small "certificate ceremony" and airport security
briefing. That was mostly for the benefit of the people leaving
tomorrow (Sunday) but it was helpful to know. Being officially done
with the Israel Seminar there was a lot of laughing and hanging out in
the evening. We played BananaGrams and I got to introduce some people
to my Indie music. We also saw Dr. Wilson! He is here giving some
lectures and he swung by the Knight's Palace to say hi to all of us.
It was really nice to see him.

Today, Saturday, is a free day for all of us. The people who are not
staying on for the Jordan extention are leaving at 1:30 tonight.
Naturally we are all staying up. We heard that Dr. Wilson was giving a
talk at a church today, so we decided to go over and listen. It
actually turned out to be a church service (it is the Sabbath after
all). After taking three classes with Dr. Wilson I had never heard him
give a sermon. His words, and message on pereseverance, as well as his
perspective really blew me away. Several of us said that it was one of
the best sermons we had ever heard.

The service ended too late to go to JUC for lunch so we walked over to
a highly recommended Filalfel place and ate in the sun. By 1:30 or 2
it gets pretty hot here, so seeing as we had nothing else we needed to
do we came back to the hotel to rest and in some cases blog.

So now some reflections: Jerusalem and all of Israel is just like my
best picture of it. The air is warm and dry with a smokey oregano
smell. Everything is built out of old white limestone. People brush
past speaking English and Hebrew, Arabic, French, Spanish, Japanese
and Korean. Everywhere you walk thousands of pilgrims and pillagers
have walked before you. The shops are full of colorful fabric and
shiny metal tea sets and hookahs and dust from shoppers trapsing in
and out. All the signs are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

The city has changed me, even though I don't quite know how yet. It
seems like under this bright sun (and there are almost no clouds here)
surrounded by white limestone, while we have been soaking in UV rays
we have also been soaking in the stories of our forefathers in faith.
Men and women that God was faithful to. A lot of times I've felt that
as I've walked around this land, God has been walking next to me. It
is kind of like his home town after all.

I have walked around here and listened to the stories of the Bible in
their locations in space, and listened to my teachers, and generally
been out of my own cultural context. I walked around Yad VaShem and
saw the degredation of dignity and hope. I realized that I want to go
to the place of pain and be a light, or carry the light I've been
given. Take it for what you will.

It's been a significant trip already, but I'm glad to have two more
weeks in Jordan. I'm excited to get to steep in Middle Eastern culture
a little more and see some more ancient sights. In Jordan we will have
a Jordanian teacher, the Dr. Phillipses will just be along for the
ride. There will be 12 of us staying on for that portion. We will
leave Monday morning. I will be vigilantly looking for wifi spots.

I miss you all and am thinking about you lots. Thanks for all the
comments, emails and notes on facebook to let me know that people are
reading these crazy rants. Expect more when I get back to the States!

Love,
Lauren

Four days in the Galilee

Hi everyone,

Four days in the Galilee have been amazing. I swam in the Sea of
Galilee almost every night after the day was over. We walked around
everywhere. Chorazin, Capernaum, Sepphoris and so many more. I'm sorry
I didn't write you a daily email, but again, I was swimming.

We stayed at a resort and Debbie and Ashley (the two people on either
side of me in the Dead Sea pic) had a villa to ourselves. There were
six beds and a full refrigerator.

We spent our days trekking around, visiting tels and hiking up and
down cliffs and hills. We got to take a bout across the Sea of Galilee
(really, it's a lake, Israelites were not sailors). In the middle we
cut the engines and just drifted. The stillness was incredible.

In simpler news there were one-month-old kittens at the hotel living
under one of the villas. We got to pet them. I ran out of sunscreen on
Monday and bought another can of spray sunscreen, but it doesn't srpay
out a sun-protecting mist it actually sprays out white sunscreen. I
was not pleased about that, but I've been coping. Also I brought to
pairs of sunglasses on the trip and was lending one of them around and
the other day they broke. The guys who accidentally broke them
graciously gave me money for a new pair, so keep an eye out for my new
Israeli sunglasses in upcoming pictures!

A quick note: I hear that there has been some political tension with
Israel and I do t want you guys to worry. I've been hearing more of
the story but honesty if no one mentioned the news life wouldn't be
any different. Dr. Phillips is very intentional about keeping us out
of tense areas and honestly things are very localized here. Life
really has been unchanged by any of the events you've been hearing
about. Unless you've been listeningto the weather. We definitely hit
110 the other day (Tuesday?) in Galilee.

That's all for now. I love and miss you all. Thanks for anything you
dis to make this trip happen. I'm really having the time of my life
out here.

Love
Lauren

Shopping in Jerusalem

Hi guys,

Today we are back in Jerusalem in the beautiful Knight's palace hotel
(which is owned by the same people as the Gloria). We had an exam this
morning which seemed to go pretty well. We'll see what the score is
tonight!

In the afternoon we had some free time. This was basically our last
significant chunk of free time in Jerusalem, so we hit up the market
for some bargaining. I got some pretty good deals. It's very fun to
argue prices out, once you get the hang of it. I think it's going to
be hard to accept set prices when I get home!

Tomorrow we are goig up to Galilee for four days. Once again, I will
be looking for internet access but I can't make any promises. So, if
you don't hear from me before next Thursday, it's because i'm swimming
in the sea of Galilee!

Talk to you all soon!
Love,
Lauren

day three in the Negev and another day off

Hi everyone,

It's Friday and I'm back at the JUC. Yesterday was our final day in the Negev (the desert region in Southern Jerusalem). In the morning we went to Masada, which was amazing and really hot. There are some places in Israel that have been much smaller, and closer together than I expected. Masada is not one of those places. It's huge and very high up. So naturally we hiked all the way up the remains of the Roman siege ramp, and all the way down the "snake path". I slipped on the way down and bruised my hand, but it's a good story worthy wound I think. I was glad I got up there. There is basically a whole city on top of that hill, and there were some first century frescoes and mosaics still intact. The story of the place is very powerful to say the least as well.

After Masada we went to the Dead Sea! I had been anticipating that a lot, but in the moment it didn't feel like a momentus occasion. You just walk into the water pretty normally and when you go to swim your knees kind of shoot up to be parallel with your shoulders. I was able to tread water and then stop treading, basically just standing in the water, with nothing but salty ocean under me, and have my head and shoulders completely above the water. While we were swimming around we happened to notice a sign giving the temperature. It said that it was between 43 and 45 degrees. Celcius. so yeah, When the picture below was taken, it was about 110 F. I guess we worked up to that.

Afterwards we got to swim in the mercifully cool pools of En-Gedi and we got to spend about 10 minutes at Qumran before the park closed. I got some good pictures though.

Today we have a day off to do laundry and study.

I hope you are all doing well, thanks for the comments.

Love,
Lauren

After swimming in the dead sea today (Thursday)

Piece of Phillistine Pottery

Day one in the Negev

Hi guys

I know this is coming to you late, so don't worry about the time
marked on this.

On Tuesday we went to a couple mounds which used to be ancient cities
(tels) namely Beth Shemesh and Lacish. We got to looks around for
pottery shards which was really fun. They are everywhere, just lying
on the ground. Most of the pottery was from the crusade period but I
actually found a piece of pottery from the Phillistine era at Beth
Shemesh! It was just chilling on the ground and I scooped it up.

In the afternoon we got to swim in the Mediteranean. Oh man, it was
the best swim of my life. After a week of climbing hills and treking
around in the heat it was so good to swim. The sand was fine the water
was the perfect warm temperature with very little seaweed and the
waves! They were sometimes big and it kind of beat you around a
little, but it was so fun to just be in the ocean, with all my
classmates.

In the evening we came to the hostel we will be staying at. It is
actually really nice. There are five beds in the room but only three
of us with two sinks, a shower and a mini fridge!

I was dead tired by the end of the day. It was great.

Love
Lauren

Day two in the desert

Hi everyone,

We just completed our second day in the Negev. Man, I thought I was
tired in the city! We've done a lot of hiking around. I had to bust
out my big sun hat today. We were warned it would be hot and sunny
here so I thought I would save the hat for that. It was a big help.

We visited a few more tels (Tel Arad and Beersheba) and I found a few
more cool pot shards. Dr. Phillips says that these are probably only
from the Arabic period which is no big shakes around here, but they
are still around 1500 years old, so I figured showing the to you all
ought to be a priority.

So yeah, lots of hiking. We took a couple hiking trails today
including one trail through part of the Wilderness of Zin. I'm
drinking toms of water and applying SPF 70 at least twice a day.

When we came home there was a three inch bug on my pillow but one of
the boys got him for us. I wanted to take a picture, but it wasn't as
funny when we weren't sure if we would get him or not. Other than that
there are just lot of cute kittens around!

Hope all is good with you all. I'll be back in Jerusalem tomorrow night!

Love,
Lauren

A restful day

Hi everyone,

I reallybshould be asleep right now but I wanted to get a post outto
you because of impending temporary changes. I'll get to that in a
minute.

Today was really nice. The test was good, it was fair. It wasn't too
tough or too easy. I did pretty well on it too. It's good to have that
first marker behind us all.

In the afternoon I went to the Rockefeller Museum with some other
students. It was fun to walk around and enjoy the structure of a
museum in addition to enjoying being able to place the stuff I was
seeing in a wider context pretty easily.

After that I went with a few people and walked about half of the
rampart wall around the Old City. Climbing around the different levels
and getting to see the different fortifications was really fun.

After that there was dinner, some organizing, and desert with the
president of JUC which was casual and too short!

So things changing: for the next three days (Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday,) we will be on a field trip covering all sorts of things
south of here. I hear that we are going to get to swim in the
Mediterranean and the Dead Sea(!) and see the Jezreel Valley where
David is said to have fought Goliath. I'm really excited about all of
it. However, we will be stayig in a hostel and I don't know how the
Internet access is going to be. It hasn't been hard to get wifi here
in the city, but I dot know what it will be like out in the Hill
Country. So this is the heads up. I'll try to be in touch but if I'm
not look forward to pictures of students encrusted in salt on Thursday.

Things are great in general, I'm glad to be with a group that gets
along together so well and I'm ready to get on the road and off to
more sites and adventures after two days of rest (relatively speaking).

I hope you all are well. I'm thinking of you often.

Love,
Lauren

Week 1 completed

Hi everyone

Today we have our first of three exams in Israel, showing we've gotten
through the first third of the material here. We've been assured the
test will be managable, but Phillips isn't one to give out easy As.

Yesterday I got up early with some people (as you saw) and went to the
Church ofthe Hily Sepucher again for their Sunday morning services.
There were services going on everywhere. Catholic Latin mass, an
Arabic Coptic service, then a Catholic mass in English and what we
think was an Armenian orthodox procession and Mass. All of them going
on one on top of the other in different chapels and venues. You could
walk around and take your pick.

After that I did feel like going to one standard English speaking
service so I joined the group going to St. Andrews Church of
Scottland, where the Phillips' went regularly when they lived here. It
was lovely especially since this Sunday was Pentecost (makes sense
after Shavuot) and we were in the city where it happened, keenly aware
of the language barriers here.

After that I caught some lovely filafel and generally spent the
afternoon taking it easy with my classmates and studying.

Oh! In the evening we did get to take a tour of some Jewish
excavations around Temple Mount. That was great, all of the things
regarding Temple Mount have been my favorite so far.

I'm happy to report that so far I have not been sick at all and barely
sunburnt at all. People have been impressed with how well I have
retained my pasty-ness. After a whole week I did have a moment of
missing movies, tv (and the Glee finale!) and YouTube, but with so
much going on around us, it's hardto look back and miss that stuff for
long.

That said, I do miss you guys, and I'm thinking about you all the time.

Love,
Lauren

Walking to Church before the market opens

Jericho and beyond

Hi everyone,

Today we went to the ruins of Geba and Jericho which were really cool.
Actually it was very hot and sunny.

We also got to spend a little time out in the Judaen Wilderness having
a moment of quiet time. There are some important people who have spent
time fasting in the wilderness, and it was awesome to get a tiny
picture of what that would be like. The parable of the Good Samaritan
was also said to take place on the route between Jericho and
Jerusalem, which we got to drive down.

In general week one has been incredible. I can already tell that it is
changing some of my perceptions of the Biblical narratives in the Old
and New Testament and I can't wait to share that all with you.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we have a free day. I think that I'm going to go to
a few church services and walk around the city with people. I'm hoping
to go back to the church of the Holy Sepulcher for an early service.
We will see how it goes. Jetlag is my friend.

Well, I miss you all and will write again soon.

Love,
Lauren

Oh large tourist driven town of Bethlehem...

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, Friday, we toured the beautiful mountains around Jerusalem
and got to spend some good time on the Mount of Olives. We visited a
church that commemorates the spot where Jesus prayed.

We then went to Herodian, the recently discovered ruin of the Palace
Herod built for himself. It was complete with a sauna and theater back
in the day and was one of his major fortresses.

Bethlehem was tough. We went there later in the day and there were a
lot of tourists apparently with tour buses people aren't really buying
souvenirs anymore and the economy is suffering. It seems like people,
and in this case my group included, just run in, take pictures and run
out. It's sort of a shame.

Still, I'm learning a lot. Today we are going out to the Central
Benjamin Plateau and maybe Jericho.

Thinking of you all, talk to you all soon.

Lauren

At the Temple steps

Hi everyone,

A few quick things here. First off, sorry the times are weird on
these. In addition to the time change my emails don't always send
right away, so there is some weirdness there. Also, I apologize for
typos, I try to re-read, but I am sending all of this from my phone!

Today (thursday) we went to Hezekiah's tunnel and got to walk through
it. It was awesome. You could see (and touch) the chiseling in the
walls from the 700s BC. It was awesome and fun. It was also great to
be short. Some passages were just the perfect size for me and no more.

In the afternoon we went to the Southern side of the Temple Mount
(around the corner from the Western Wall) in the first century there
were 5 entrance ways to the temple area and 2 of them were on the
south side. That side of the Temple rampart wall was almost completely
destroyed but the steps are still there. As Dr. Phillips said if there
is anywhere that we really seriously know that Jesus walked it is
right there. That was really exhilerating. There were a couple neat
pieces of archaeology pointed out, which I can go into tons of detail
about at home.

Now I'm back at the hotel ready for dinner.

Don't worry mum, I'm wearing sunscreen. :P

Love,
Lauren

At the Temple steps (on the south side)

Thursday morning

Hi everyone,

So it's thursday mornig here. Yesterday, after going to the Western
Wall for Shavuot I took a nap then we went to the church of the Holy
Sepulcher, the place where Jesus traditionally was crucified, and 70
feet away buried and rose from the dead. Heavy begins to describe it.
There are a lot of church traditions clashing in that spot, which is
sad.

After that we had class most of the day. We couldn't really travel
around the city because it was mobbed with Hassidic and Orthodox and
some Reformed Jewish people going to the Western Wall.

To answer some of Mom's questions: the food is great. We've eaten
almost all our meals at the Gloria hotel or JUC. I think we have sort
of American/middle eastern cuisine going at both locations. I had
French toast this morning. Anyway, it's been really good and I've been
really hungry.

I'd love to say more about clothing, but I'm running out of time. I
will say I seem to have hit a good medium-conservative position. I
could have pushed it, but it's better not too.

Got to go, love you all,
Lauren

What I did this morning

So it's 7:45 am here and I've already had an awesome morning. Today
(and last night) is the Feast of Weeks or Shavu'ot. It celebrates God
giving the Law to the People, and also the sacrificing of the first
fruits of harvest. Here people celebrate by going to the Western Wall
and reading the Torah through out the night and day.

The Western Wall was part of the parameter wall around the Temple
built by Herod from 20BC to 20AD. The stones building it range from 4
tons to 40, and as the Romans were tearing down the Temple they
basically got to this part and decided it wasn't worth it. It's been
cleaned up since then. Apparently people don't really call it the
Wailing Wall anymore because times have changed and Israel possesses
more of the city. There is still some crying there, but there isn't
the rising and falling moanig that I heard about.

We got to go up to the wall yesterday, which was really very powerful
for me. We heard that people would be gathering there for the festival
and that if we wanted to get in we'd have to go around 4 in the
morning. So I basically didn't question question if I was going or not
I was just going. A group of about 6 of us got up at 3 (jet lag helped
take the edge off) and walked over. It wasn't crazy when we got there
but by 5:30 it was getting really busy. There were a lot of men in
different complicated traditional dress, little kids running around,
and women in long skirts. People were singing and talking, mostly in
Hebrew and English, chatting, reading, and praying. It was chilly that
early. We could have worked our way up to the wall, but we had been
there the day before and we didn't want to impose, so we just sat back
and watched people move around.

It's incredible and unreal to be here. I want to remember this forever.

The wailing wall at Shavuot

Morning in Jerusalem

Good mining everyone,

Today is the first day of classes in the old city. Yesterday, after
checking in to our very nice rooms we ventured out and wandered around
the city with the Dr. Phillipses. We visited some street shops owned
by old friends of theirs and did have the best filafel around. I guess
I like pickels.

We also got to see the Western Wall or wailing wall, from a distance.
It was fairly quiet there at the time. Apparently tonight (Tuesday
night) into Wednesday is a festival, Shabbuot or Pentecost. So a ton
of people will be pouring in there soon.

By the afternoon we were all hot an tired and went back to the hotel
for an ice cream and some rest. We struggled through to dinner at the
hotel, which was wonderful, and then I zinked out from 8pm to 6:45.

Time for class. I'm thinking of you all. More adventures to follow.

Love,
Lauren

The update here

Israel is awesome. It's everything I might have dreamed it would be.
It's dust and warm like a smokey tea and there are lots of limestone
buildings. Apparently there is a lot of wifi around, and there
definitely is in the hotel lobby.

The flights went really well. The food was good, I slept sufficiently,
and got to watch several free movies. Basically I was in my element.

Now we are waiting for the hotel rooms to open (though no one is
sleeping on the couches yet!) then we will explore the city and
Jerusalem University college (JUC) where we will be holding our
classes. Then it's dinner, bed and class at 8 am tomorrow!

I'm just in awe of everything here. It's an amazing place to be, and I
hear it only gets better. I'm excited that you will get to here about
it!

Talk to you soon,
Lauren

Live in the Gloria hotel Jerusalem!

In London!

Well, I've successfully made it to London and I've never been so
tempted to deviate from the group plan. We are in a three hour lay
over and we have had some time to shop around a little. Aparently
there are rumor that there will be delays due to stikes later in the
week we got here too early! I want to see some theater!

All the same, the trip is going really well so far. The group is
really awesome, we get along really well. The flight here went pretty
smoothly and I slept a lot. I'm a little concerned now because my seat
number for the next flight is 22K! I'm pretty sure I'm in baggage. We
will see.

That's all for now. I'm glad to be traveling again. Talk to you soon!

Lauren

Test 1

Hopefully this the way I will do all of my blogging. I really should
be asleep right now. Really really.

hey!

So, I'm heading out in 5 hours, I hope this works!!

love,

Lauren