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