Wow it's hard to believe that this trip is nearly over! I thought our excursion to Europe would never come! And now that is has the temptation is to start talking about home and summer and how we all will have to readjust to the US. Those will all work out somehow and right now all of us are trying to stay focused on the present. And as far as presents go, Athens is a pretty sweet one!
We all made it onto the bus at 2:15am to leave Nazareth and get to the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. Leaving Israel was a bit of a hassle, but no one was scarred too horribly. (it wasn't really that bad.) Our flight to Athens was short and mostly full of sleep. I loved watching the Mediterranean give way to the landscape of Greece. This truly is a beautiful land!
Our days here are very nice and relaxed and I think we all greatly appreciate that. Both days have been run in similar fashion. We all meet at 8:45 to go to a site (the Aeropogus, the Olympic Stadium) for a lecture from our leader for an hour or so. Those lectures always focus on Paul and the changing church as Paul travels through these lands and are always hilarious because our leader is so enthusiastic! Then we are all given a worksheet to fill out by 6:00. It involves traveling to a bunch of famous sites and reflecting on a scripture passage or some other thoughts. Through this we have all pretty well learned the downtown area of Athens and have seen most of the famous sites. At 6:00 we discuss our findings and share our insights. The evening is then free to eat and do whatever until the process starts again.
I'm pretty sure that everyone's first meal in Athens was adamantly not kosher. I had pork and it was mixed with cheese. None of us have had pork of any kind for 3 months and meat cannot be mixed with cheese. I have had ham or pork or bacon every meal since and it's lovely.
Let's see, the Acropolis. The scaffolding was a bit disappointing, but it is awesome to imagine that hill in its prime! The Parthenon is apparently being reconstructed or something after a piece was removed and replaced. It has reminded all of us of the temples we saw in Egypt, mostly Karnak and Luxor. I wish we all could enjoy these sites for what they are instead of doing constant comparisons, but I suppose that is the nature of a trip like this.
We've seen the ancient Agora and a church dedicated to Paul and the Temple of Hephestus and the Tower of the Winds. We've also discussed how the Christian church was influenced by the Athenian senate and how our democracy was started here in Athens. Basically, we've been amazed at how much those stoics thought about as they stood around trying to perfect life. Unfortunately, life still isn't perfect even in Athens.
This morning was the commencement of the first ever Christian Movement Olympic Games. I'm sure it'll be surprising to hear that the only people who qualified were 30 students from the USA. Needless to say, we swept the podium. It was only one team event involving running across a square to answer questions about stuff we've learned the last week. We actually got a few spectators! Winners got a laurel wreath and my team was far from winning. Too much fun!
Well, my time is about up. I have to go share my insight of today with the rest of the group. First though, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, APRIL!!! I'm sad I can't be there to celebrate with you, but at least I could share port of my day with you. Have a most excellent day today, sister!
Only 11 days left.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Fauzi, Nazareth and other amazingness
It's been a while, but I actually have time to write now! I can't catch up on everything, but I will be able to share a bunch of stories! I am sitting at the one computer in the Fauzi Azar Inn in the old city of Nazareth about 12 minutes walking from Nazareth Village. We have this ridiculous line for this one computer, but I'm not getting off until I'm done.
So we had a few more days on the kibbutz after I last posted. Not too much happened, in relative terms. We finished our interviews and papers and discussion groups. We wrapped up our lectures and Hebrew lessons. Daniel, Aaron and I finished up our time with the dogs cleaning kennels and painting chairs. Overall, I was ready to go. The free time and Jordan River and hammocks and flourish of card game playing was excellent, but if I had to choose my least favorite spot this trip it'd be the kibbutz.
So now we're in Nazareth. Our days are spent mostly at Nazareth Village, a 1st century village in the heart of the modern city of Nazareth. It's really quite random. The church owned this land for many many centuries when someone sold it so they wouldn't have to pay taxes on it. Not too long ago people bought it and started constructing a working 1st century village! It's not a full village, but it's crazy how large it can be in the middle of a city!
When we're there we mostly to manual labor. They are always building and it all takes a tremendous amount to human labor with all hand tools. They are planting trees and getting ready to put a roof on the weavers house. So people strip bark and carry logs and dig trenches and a ritual bath. It's all tough. We love it though! Basically it means you get to hang out with a small group of friends all day!
I like the fact that anyone who works where tourists walk must be in 1st century clothing. So those that do have sandals and robes and everything. I appreciate the strictness even though it means my glasses create a problem. So far I've stayed out of the tourists eyes, but when I can't I'll have to take off my glasses whenever a tour group comes by. I find it quite interesting that of all 30 students I am the only one with glasses. Oh well.
The rest of our time is spent on our final 3 credit class of the semester involving the Christian movement through the Mediterranean. Linford has a masters degree class studying here and they all have to give sizable lectures. So we've learned about the Roman Empire as compared to modern day Israel, travel in the 1st century and the Jesus Trail, the religious elite and their lifestyle, and rebellions and resistance of the 1st century. Tomorrow we learn about food and eating in the 1st century. With that last one we also get a meal, which ought to be unique. I've been enjoying everything!
All I have to say is that Google Earth is amazing! We've had too much fun with it these last few days! The presentation on travel used Google Earth to show the routes in Israel. Before and after the lecture we just took turns fooling around and showing each other where we live. I'm definitely going to use Google Earth the describe all my travels for the last 3 months!
Also as a part of the travel lecture, we walked to Zippori from Nazareth yesterday. We were the first group ever to walk any portion of the Jesus Trail, but soon many groups will be traveling it! It's still a rough path, but tons of fun to hike! That leg took about 2 hours and there was a bus to drive us back to Nazareth after we were done at Zippori, but 5 of us forgo(ed? forwent?) the bus and hiked all the way back. I'm so glad I walked it all! Conversation is so much better walking than taking a bus. It's completely worth the effort!
At the Fauzi we mostly just play card games, laugh an outrageous amount, wait for the shower, and read/write. Rook, Euchre, Up and Down the River, Checkers, Briscola (and Riscola and Ricola and Trinity), Scum, 31, and probably more. There is also a 1500 piece puzzle going together. On top of that we had a paper due at the start of this week and one due on Saturday. It's been so great!
I have way more stories to tell, but I can't tell them all! I'm really looking forward to telling so many stories when I get home! Most days I don't want to go home and I'd rather stay here and live more stories to tell, but occasionally I just want to be home right away to tell all my stories now. 3 weeks is all that's left and I'm afraid it won't be enough.
Random facts that most people don't care about: I'm actually leading our trip's NCAA bracket and if UCLA can pull off the win then I'll get like 15 euros! Sun burns have been a problem and I'll have a pretty fantastic farmers tan when I get home. I've recently had a stretch of days where I kept singing Clay Crosse songs, mostly "I Will Follow Christ." Today the song was "A Place Called Grace." Liberal Arts beat Computer Science in a Euchre series. I keep having Texaco moments like in 4th grade. (Maybe only Darrel will get that one.) Oh, and life is really good!
So we had a few more days on the kibbutz after I last posted. Not too much happened, in relative terms. We finished our interviews and papers and discussion groups. We wrapped up our lectures and Hebrew lessons. Daniel, Aaron and I finished up our time with the dogs cleaning kennels and painting chairs. Overall, I was ready to go. The free time and Jordan River and hammocks and flourish of card game playing was excellent, but if I had to choose my least favorite spot this trip it'd be the kibbutz.
So now we're in Nazareth. Our days are spent mostly at Nazareth Village, a 1st century village in the heart of the modern city of Nazareth. It's really quite random. The church owned this land for many many centuries when someone sold it so they wouldn't have to pay taxes on it. Not too long ago people bought it and started constructing a working 1st century village! It's not a full village, but it's crazy how large it can be in the middle of a city!
When we're there we mostly to manual labor. They are always building and it all takes a tremendous amount to human labor with all hand tools. They are planting trees and getting ready to put a roof on the weavers house. So people strip bark and carry logs and dig trenches and a ritual bath. It's all tough. We love it though! Basically it means you get to hang out with a small group of friends all day!
I like the fact that anyone who works where tourists walk must be in 1st century clothing. So those that do have sandals and robes and everything. I appreciate the strictness even though it means my glasses create a problem. So far I've stayed out of the tourists eyes, but when I can't I'll have to take off my glasses whenever a tour group comes by. I find it quite interesting that of all 30 students I am the only one with glasses. Oh well.
The rest of our time is spent on our final 3 credit class of the semester involving the Christian movement through the Mediterranean. Linford has a masters degree class studying here and they all have to give sizable lectures. So we've learned about the Roman Empire as compared to modern day Israel, travel in the 1st century and the Jesus Trail, the religious elite and their lifestyle, and rebellions and resistance of the 1st century. Tomorrow we learn about food and eating in the 1st century. With that last one we also get a meal, which ought to be unique. I've been enjoying everything!
All I have to say is that Google Earth is amazing! We've had too much fun with it these last few days! The presentation on travel used Google Earth to show the routes in Israel. Before and after the lecture we just took turns fooling around and showing each other where we live. I'm definitely going to use Google Earth the describe all my travels for the last 3 months!
Also as a part of the travel lecture, we walked to Zippori from Nazareth yesterday. We were the first group ever to walk any portion of the Jesus Trail, but soon many groups will be traveling it! It's still a rough path, but tons of fun to hike! That leg took about 2 hours and there was a bus to drive us back to Nazareth after we were done at Zippori, but 5 of us forgo(ed? forwent?) the bus and hiked all the way back. I'm so glad I walked it all! Conversation is so much better walking than taking a bus. It's completely worth the effort!
At the Fauzi we mostly just play card games, laugh an outrageous amount, wait for the shower, and read/write. Rook, Euchre, Up and Down the River, Checkers, Briscola (and Riscola and Ricola and Trinity), Scum, 31, and probably more. There is also a 1500 piece puzzle going together. On top of that we had a paper due at the start of this week and one due on Saturday. It's been so great!
I have way more stories to tell, but I can't tell them all! I'm really looking forward to telling so many stories when I get home! Most days I don't want to go home and I'd rather stay here and live more stories to tell, but occasionally I just want to be home right away to tell all my stories now. 3 weeks is all that's left and I'm afraid it won't be enough.
Random facts that most people don't care about: I'm actually leading our trip's NCAA bracket and if UCLA can pull off the win then I'll get like 15 euros! Sun burns have been a problem and I'll have a pretty fantastic farmers tan when I get home. I've recently had a stretch of days where I kept singing Clay Crosse songs, mostly "I Will Follow Christ." Today the song was "A Place Called Grace." Liberal Arts beat Computer Science in a Euchre series. I keep having Texaco moments like in 4th grade. (Maybe only Darrel will get that one.) Oh, and life is really good!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Again, no time
Sorry, I still don't have time to write much. Easter was indeed wonderful and this week has been full of thought, work and a healthy dose of relaxation! I have just finished my Pastoral Assistant application for next fall and I registered for classes. For those who care: New Testament Studies: Paul; Colloquium: Cities; Colloquium: Sex, Death, and Politics Reading Genesis Philosophically (that needed the whole title); Speech; Interpersonal Relationship Skills; Biblical Theology of Peace and Justice; hopefully Chamber Singers; and guitar lessons.
Life is good here! Thanks for all those that wrote comments and for the emails and facebook stuff. I'm sad to have missed the reunion of friends in Corning over Easter, but Darrel gave out extra hugs so that helps a bit. We have a NCAA bracket battle going on over here too, so I am connected home in that way! We even get ESPN here at Afikim, so we did get to watch some games! Ok, no more time. I'm done.
Life is good here! Thanks for all those that wrote comments and for the emails and facebook stuff. I'm sad to have missed the reunion of friends in Corning over Easter, but Darrel gave out extra hugs so that helps a bit. We have a NCAA bracket battle going on over here too, so I am connected home in that way! We even get ESPN here at Afikim, so we did get to watch some games! Ok, no more time. I'm done.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Tomorrow is Easter!!
I am doing wonderfully well here at Kibbutz Afikim! I don't have time to write hardly anything before I get kicked off this computer, but I have to at least write something! We've been learning more Hebrew, working around the kibbutz and actually doing schoolwork for once. Tomorrow we are blessed to be able to have a sunrise service for Easter on the bank of the Jordan River! One of us will actually get baptized too! It'll be a great day! That's all for now!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Last day in Jerusalem
It's sad. In less than 3 hours we will be leaving Jerusalem for the rest of the semester. I hope to come back some day, but it won't be for a while and who knows how it'll be politically! I guess Tony Blair wants Palestine to declare independence right now as a first step to the peace process instead of waiting for peace first. I'm not sure what'll happen.
We are off to the Galilee for the next 2 weeks. We'll be living and working at Kibbutz Affikim, right on the Jordan river, about a mile south of the Sea of Galilee. I'm not sure what all that will entail, but I do know that in the next two weeks our projects and papers and presentations are all due. That'll be a lot of work, but it's all extremely interesting stuff!
Thanks for all the comments on my last blog! The mysterious event of Thursday night was our meeting with Mordecai Vanunu. He's the one who leaked Israel's nuclear secrets to the world. He has spent 18 years in prison, 12 of which were solitary confinement. He is currently restricted to Jerusalem and it is illigal for him to speak with foreigners. Oops. He loves speaking with foreigners! There could be problems from that, but he refuses to be quiet about what he has seen and experienced. I was blown away by his story! He's a great man in my opinion, but certainly very dangerous.
I'm not sure what all the comments about the pictures were of, but yeah, there were some really sweet rocks to climb! The cliffs at Qumran were especially fun! Paul Wirght, our guide just pointed at the cliffs and said "I'll meet you in the cave that looks like Ohio in 10 minutes." So we went!
A bunch of us were able to ascend to the Temple Mount this morning! The times are confusing because the mount is closed around the Muslim calls to prayer which happen many times a day. So I was up there for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately they wouldn't let any foreigners in the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque. Still I got to see what this whole conflict is all about. In the midst of the massively crowded Old City of Jerusalem is a vast elevated expanse of open air with a few buildings and tons of stone. It's Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, the mount of Muhammed's ride and ascention, the mount where the Messiah will return. Some even think it is the site of the Garden of Eden. Wow.
Yesterday was Palm Sunday! I went to East Jerusalem Baptist once more and then walked for hours and hours as part of the Jerusalem Palm Sunday processional. It started at Bethphage on the eastern side of the Mt of Olives and ended in the Old City at St. Anne's. Palm branches, olive branches, flag, banners, guitars, singing, clapping, dancing, praying, monks, nuns, bishops, priests, people from all over the world, languages like I have never heard! It was incredible! The unity of the Christian faith is impressive! It's a diversity that is completely foreign to Judaism and Islam. I'm proud to be a Christian!
On Friday we were given one assignment and all day to do it. We went to 4 sites in Jerusalem and read and reflected on the story of this week from Luke--The Upper Room, Gethsemane, the High Priest's house, and the Garden Tomb. I chose to go by myself and adored every minute! Passion week has never been that much of a big deal to me, but being here, living here, walking the streets, seeing the story, the whole thing has come alive! Jesus walked and taught and died and rose again right here! So amazing!
That evening we were spectators at the Western Wall as Jews from all sects brought in the Sabbath. It's difficult to explain, but I'm so very gald we could see that. Then for dinner we had a Christianized traditional sabbath meal. That also was amazing! If it happened every week I'm sure it would lose some uniqueness. Once in a while with friends and family is great though.
Last night, we had an EMU Palm Sunday service at the Basilica at Ecce Homo. It was powerful. Things didn't go as we planned them. Some of the songs weren't quite right and the order of service was a bit off, but God was there. The place and the day, what we'd all been through and where we're all going, brought us together. We had communion and allowed for a very long time of sharing. We celebrated Jesus' entry and looked ahead at the pain that is to come. The songs ended up meaning more to me than I had expected. It was great.
Ok, I really shouldn't write any more or I won't have anything to say when I get home! But I do have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER!! I know I'm a day early, but there won't be internet access on the kibbutz. I'll be thinking of you all day tomorrow! And I'll be praying for a fantastically wonderful, incredibly awesome day for you! Yay!
We are off to the Galilee for the next 2 weeks. We'll be living and working at Kibbutz Affikim, right on the Jordan river, about a mile south of the Sea of Galilee. I'm not sure what all that will entail, but I do know that in the next two weeks our projects and papers and presentations are all due. That'll be a lot of work, but it's all extremely interesting stuff!
Thanks for all the comments on my last blog! The mysterious event of Thursday night was our meeting with Mordecai Vanunu. He's the one who leaked Israel's nuclear secrets to the world. He has spent 18 years in prison, 12 of which were solitary confinement. He is currently restricted to Jerusalem and it is illigal for him to speak with foreigners. Oops. He loves speaking with foreigners! There could be problems from that, but he refuses to be quiet about what he has seen and experienced. I was blown away by his story! He's a great man in my opinion, but certainly very dangerous.
I'm not sure what all the comments about the pictures were of, but yeah, there were some really sweet rocks to climb! The cliffs at Qumran were especially fun! Paul Wirght, our guide just pointed at the cliffs and said "I'll meet you in the cave that looks like Ohio in 10 minutes." So we went!
A bunch of us were able to ascend to the Temple Mount this morning! The times are confusing because the mount is closed around the Muslim calls to prayer which happen many times a day. So I was up there for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately they wouldn't let any foreigners in the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque. Still I got to see what this whole conflict is all about. In the midst of the massively crowded Old City of Jerusalem is a vast elevated expanse of open air with a few buildings and tons of stone. It's Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, the mount of Muhammed's ride and ascention, the mount where the Messiah will return. Some even think it is the site of the Garden of Eden. Wow.
Yesterday was Palm Sunday! I went to East Jerusalem Baptist once more and then walked for hours and hours as part of the Jerusalem Palm Sunday processional. It started at Bethphage on the eastern side of the Mt of Olives and ended in the Old City at St. Anne's. Palm branches, olive branches, flag, banners, guitars, singing, clapping, dancing, praying, monks, nuns, bishops, priests, people from all over the world, languages like I have never heard! It was incredible! The unity of the Christian faith is impressive! It's a diversity that is completely foreign to Judaism and Islam. I'm proud to be a Christian!
On Friday we were given one assignment and all day to do it. We went to 4 sites in Jerusalem and read and reflected on the story of this week from Luke--The Upper Room, Gethsemane, the High Priest's house, and the Garden Tomb. I chose to go by myself and adored every minute! Passion week has never been that much of a big deal to me, but being here, living here, walking the streets, seeing the story, the whole thing has come alive! Jesus walked and taught and died and rose again right here! So amazing!
That evening we were spectators at the Western Wall as Jews from all sects brought in the Sabbath. It's difficult to explain, but I'm so very gald we could see that. Then for dinner we had a Christianized traditional sabbath meal. That also was amazing! If it happened every week I'm sure it would lose some uniqueness. Once in a while with friends and family is great though.
Last night, we had an EMU Palm Sunday service at the Basilica at Ecce Homo. It was powerful. Things didn't go as we planned them. Some of the songs weren't quite right and the order of service was a bit off, but God was there. The place and the day, what we'd all been through and where we're all going, brought us together. We had communion and allowed for a very long time of sharing. We celebrated Jesus' entry and looked ahead at the pain that is to come. The songs ended up meaning more to me than I had expected. It was great.
Ok, I really shouldn't write any more or I won't have anything to say when I get home! But I do have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER!! I know I'm a day early, but there won't be internet access on the kibbutz. I'll be thinking of you all day tomorrow! And I'll be praying for a fantastically wonderful, incredibly awesome day for you! Yay!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Now at Ecce Homo
Ecce Homo is a convent type thing (Sisters of Zion) in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. I almost feel like I could throw a stone onto the Temple Mount from the balcony! It would be more like 2 really good stone throws away, but the Dome of the Rock is so close. To make this story a sad one, I have to say that there is a chance that we won't be able to get onto the Temple Mount at all this semester. With the recent violence it is very difficult to get there, but our leaders are working on it. Maybe I could just jump from rooftop to rooftop and then climb the wall! Maybe not.
Thanks for all the updates people gave me! Snow would have been lovely for some of the really warm days last week, but now it has cooled down a bit. It's a bit sad to know I couldn't be home for Spring break to see my family and friends (and friends that live at my house like family!), but I guess since I'm here and since Darrel couldn't either then I'm ok. I can't wait to hear your stories, bro! And yes, "11 Minutes" totally is not my style. I'm a bit surprised I read it all, but in the end I'm glad I did.
This week has been mainly for studying Judaism, but we've done other things as well, like play Rook and Mafia and Euchre and Cranium. Yeah, we have been given some free time. It's usually lectures and/or field studies from 8:30am to 4:30pm, then free time until the next morning. A lot of free time was spent swapping stories from free travel or playing games. 2 nights ago, we were able to celebrate our leader's birthday! That was so much fun! Last night, Brent and I made a return trip to Sarriots and this time we brought 5 others with us. Laughs and games and food and music and Fawlty Towers for 4 hours meant we had to wake the night guard at Ecce Homo to let us back in. Oops.
Brent and my final days at Sarriots went well to say the least! It was an amazing way to spend the last 2 days of that week. On Sunday we even go to have a church service in the garden of their church and have a potluck afterwards! I loved it all! There was a very happy reunion as all 30 of the EMUers finally came back together again.
My favorite part of Ecce Homo is the layout. It seems random as layers have been added on top of others. So a lot of the hallways are open-air rooftops with many great views and there are a lot of sets of stairs. All the guys stay in two large connected rooms with "cubicles." Each one has a bed, desk, closet, lamp, and sink. Sound and light all run together and make it possible to know what everyone is doing even though everyone has their own space. It works for me!
We've had a plethora of lectures on all sorts of subjects: Hebrew, Jerusalem, historical Judaism, the Holocaust Museum (Yad Vashem), the history of Isreal from Israeli eyes, David's Tower, the current Jewish state, and Jewish religious customs. The speakers have had very interesting personalities! It is difficult to not be engrossed in what they have to say. I've learned quite a lot as some missing puzzle pieces have finally been revealed. I can't say what we are doing tonight because it has one of our leaders quite nervous about the ramifications. I think it'll be even more fascinating than the rest of the week has been!
I think that's about it. There are new pictures on the EMU website to check out. I'm in 7 of them and one of the captions actually mentions me by name! There's my proof; I am actually here in the Middle East!
Thanks for all the updates people gave me! Snow would have been lovely for some of the really warm days last week, but now it has cooled down a bit. It's a bit sad to know I couldn't be home for Spring break to see my family and friends (and friends that live at my house like family!), but I guess since I'm here and since Darrel couldn't either then I'm ok. I can't wait to hear your stories, bro! And yes, "11 Minutes" totally is not my style. I'm a bit surprised I read it all, but in the end I'm glad I did.
This week has been mainly for studying Judaism, but we've done other things as well, like play Rook and Mafia and Euchre and Cranium. Yeah, we have been given some free time. It's usually lectures and/or field studies from 8:30am to 4:30pm, then free time until the next morning. A lot of free time was spent swapping stories from free travel or playing games. 2 nights ago, we were able to celebrate our leader's birthday! That was so much fun! Last night, Brent and I made a return trip to Sarriots and this time we brought 5 others with us. Laughs and games and food and music and Fawlty Towers for 4 hours meant we had to wake the night guard at Ecce Homo to let us back in. Oops.
Brent and my final days at Sarriots went well to say the least! It was an amazing way to spend the last 2 days of that week. On Sunday we even go to have a church service in the garden of their church and have a potluck afterwards! I loved it all! There was a very happy reunion as all 30 of the EMUers finally came back together again.
My favorite part of Ecce Homo is the layout. It seems random as layers have been added on top of others. So a lot of the hallways are open-air rooftops with many great views and there are a lot of sets of stairs. All the guys stay in two large connected rooms with "cubicles." Each one has a bed, desk, closet, lamp, and sink. Sound and light all run together and make it possible to know what everyone is doing even though everyone has their own space. It works for me!
We've had a plethora of lectures on all sorts of subjects: Hebrew, Jerusalem, historical Judaism, the Holocaust Museum (Yad Vashem), the history of Isreal from Israeli eyes, David's Tower, the current Jewish state, and Jewish religious customs. The speakers have had very interesting personalities! It is difficult to not be engrossed in what they have to say. I've learned quite a lot as some missing puzzle pieces have finally been revealed. I can't say what we are doing tonight because it has one of our leaders quite nervous about the ramifications. I think it'll be even more fascinating than the rest of the week has been!
I think that's about it. There are new pictures on the EMU website to check out. I'm in 7 of them and one of the captions actually mentions me by name! There's my proof; I am actually here in the Middle East!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Home in Jerusalem
I know this will never fully compare to home in Corning, but it is incredibly nice to feel at home here in Jerusalem! The Sarriots have been kind enough to allow Brent and I to crash at their home for a few days as we finish up our week of free travel. It's more than I could have dreamed of! I would have been content with a bed, food, and a shower, but they piled on a computer, TV, plenty of books and movies, excellent homecooked food, laundry, and great company with a full load of laughs! I couldn't ask for anything more!
Free travel technically started on the 1st, but I, and most of the other EMU students, stayed at JUC so it hardly counts. The first day of real free travel was the 2nd. On that day 16 of us found ourselves in Istanbul! Now, it was a bit more planned than that, but we were all still a bit shocked when we finally got there! Exiting Israel was a tad bit difficult, but entering Turkey was no problem.
We stayed at the Golden Age Hotel near Taksim Square in Istanbul, about a 45 minute walk (once we learned the way) to the old city sites. Besides walking a whole lot, I didn't really do too much in the city. This week was more for relaxation than for tourism. Still, I made sure to go to the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Archeological Museum, Grand Bazaar, and Spice Market.
Our first night in Istanbul provided a surprise! We could hear the sound for quite a distance, but no one could quite grasp what exactly we were hearing. Then we saw it! It was a gigantic football stadium, pounding as the fans cheered on their Basiktas team! We walked around 3/4 of the fence outside the stadium trying to get a peak in at the action, but were constantly pushed on by the hundreds of police officers lining the fence. (Funny thing: although we and dozens of other people couldn't watch the game through the fence, a lot of officers were ignoring the spectators and just watching the game through the fence. That must be a nice shift to have!)
On our second night 8 of us set out from our hotel to walk to Asia. After walking for 2 hours we had gone far enough to learn that walking across the bridge of the 2 contintents was actually illegal! Where's the fun in that? It wasn't a worthless trip though. We had a blast exploring the city and talking! The next day we took a ferry to Asia and had dinner there satisfying our bicontinental asperations.
Yesterday, we got up around 5:00am to catch our bus to the airport to fly back to Tel Aviv. Getting into Israel came with some difficulties, but in the end we all must have passed our short interrogations because we all made it in! It took a little work to find our hostel and it wasn't a real nice one, but it was right on the beach so the complaints were cut short. An afternoon on the beach for me meant the finishing of "Shadow of the Hegemon" for me. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of Tel Aviv. 10 of the EMU students are staying 2 more nights, but I feel much better in Jerusalem with Brent and the Sarriots.
So today was a day of travel. Bus to the Central Bus Station. Then bus to Jerusalem. Then taxi to the Aroma Cafe where Mrs. Sarriot picked us up to drive us to their home. After all that it was amazing to relax! I started reading "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho and watched 2 episodes of "Fawlty Towers" and "Gladiator" for the first time all the way through. I've also unlocked all the songs on my mp3 player that have been unplayable for the last 2 months because they were in a different format! Everything is going well here!!
How about some Spring break updates from home? Any good stories to tell?
Free travel technically started on the 1st, but I, and most of the other EMU students, stayed at JUC so it hardly counts. The first day of real free travel was the 2nd. On that day 16 of us found ourselves in Istanbul! Now, it was a bit more planned than that, but we were all still a bit shocked when we finally got there! Exiting Israel was a tad bit difficult, but entering Turkey was no problem.
We stayed at the Golden Age Hotel near Taksim Square in Istanbul, about a 45 minute walk (once we learned the way) to the old city sites. Besides walking a whole lot, I didn't really do too much in the city. This week was more for relaxation than for tourism. Still, I made sure to go to the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Archeological Museum, Grand Bazaar, and Spice Market.
Our first night in Istanbul provided a surprise! We could hear the sound for quite a distance, but no one could quite grasp what exactly we were hearing. Then we saw it! It was a gigantic football stadium, pounding as the fans cheered on their Basiktas team! We walked around 3/4 of the fence outside the stadium trying to get a peak in at the action, but were constantly pushed on by the hundreds of police officers lining the fence. (Funny thing: although we and dozens of other people couldn't watch the game through the fence, a lot of officers were ignoring the spectators and just watching the game through the fence. That must be a nice shift to have!)
On our second night 8 of us set out from our hotel to walk to Asia. After walking for 2 hours we had gone far enough to learn that walking across the bridge of the 2 contintents was actually illegal! Where's the fun in that? It wasn't a worthless trip though. We had a blast exploring the city and talking! The next day we took a ferry to Asia and had dinner there satisfying our bicontinental asperations.
Yesterday, we got up around 5:00am to catch our bus to the airport to fly back to Tel Aviv. Getting into Israel came with some difficulties, but in the end we all must have passed our short interrogations because we all made it in! It took a little work to find our hostel and it wasn't a real nice one, but it was right on the beach so the complaints were cut short. An afternoon on the beach for me meant the finishing of "Shadow of the Hegemon" for me. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of Tel Aviv. 10 of the EMU students are staying 2 more nights, but I feel much better in Jerusalem with Brent and the Sarriots.
So today was a day of travel. Bus to the Central Bus Station. Then bus to Jerusalem. Then taxi to the Aroma Cafe where Mrs. Sarriot picked us up to drive us to their home. After all that it was amazing to relax! I started reading "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho and watched 2 episodes of "Fawlty Towers" and "Gladiator" for the first time all the way through. I've also unlocked all the songs on my mp3 player that have been unplayable for the last 2 months because they were in a different format! Everything is going well here!!
How about some Spring break updates from home? Any good stories to tell?