A Month of Adventures

So yeah...it's been a month since I wrote last. Not that any of you were terrible affected by this since you all have many other, better things to do, but I wanted to stay on top of this for my own sake as well. So what's been happening since I last wrote a month ago? TONS!!!

Two weeks ago was midterms time and I also had a ten page research paper to do which I conveniently did not start until the week before it was due. All in all I wrote about 20 pages in 6 days, plus the research for the one paper. Two take home midterm and research paper=death. My paper was for my Modern Israel class and I decided to do it on women suicide bombers, which was so interesting and so heartbreaking at the same time. So the whole week I was locked in the library reading about suicide...very conducive to a healthy mindset. But it's over now so I'm happy again.

The field studies we've been going on are so incredible and so far we've gone on two multi-day trips, one to the Negev and one to the Galilee. Growing up in the Midwest and New England doesn't really prepare you for miles and miles of desert hills stretching as far as you can see in all directions and it was so incredible. We also did this hike up out of a dry river bed and it was literally climbing stairs carved into the side of the cliff. I felt like Frodo and Sam climbing the secret stairs into Mordor in Return of the King except it was prettier and not quite as steep. It still felt hardcore.

Then we went to Masada and Dr. Wright had us climb up the siege ramp the Romans used to attack the city during the Jewish Revolt. It was huge! By the end of it I was very tired and I had a newfound respect for the Roman soldiers. All I can say about Masada without going on for three pages was that it was beautiful, Herod was insane, and I could've spent all day there. Then we took a gondola down (thank goodness!) and had ice cream at the bottom.

The Dead Sea was even more amazing! It's about 10 times as salty as the ocean and because of that you float. I knew that, but experiencing it was so cool. You literally don't have to do anything, and it takes effort to swim or stick your feet down. It finally was able to put my feet straight down underneath me and I just bobbed there like a cork, no treading water necessary. The downfall is that since it's so salty, it'll dehydrate you if you stay in too long, and if you have a cut it burns. I also unfortunately swallowed a mouthful and my tongue was tingling for about half and hour afterwards. Gross but fun!

Our trip to the Galilee was amazing as well. We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (that's what the picture is from) and learned about ancient fishing techniques, visited Capernaum, spent the night in Nazareth at an old monastery, went to an old army base on the Golan Heights, saw one of the springs of the Jordan River, and climbed down the Cliffs of Arbel. No big deal. There was so much green and flowers and cows everywhere and I loved it!

And then I went and saw Hunger Games with Hebrew subtitles and it was so good. I am currently reading the books now instead of doing my homework.

It's nice to be back in the normal swing of things and do normal life for a few days until the next adventure, though.

All you need is love

So there's this school across the valley from our campus, we think it's an art or music school, and instead of having a bell to signal the beginning and end of class, meals, and other events, they play a little bit of a song. The Beatles song "All You Need is Love." It sounds like a lovely, creative idea until you realize the implications. One section of one song played every hour or so all day long every day. Agony. I'm not even that much of a Beatles fan to begin with (sorry Kelly), so it's even worse.

On the bright side it has sparked quite a bit of fun on campus. This was posted by our student life coordinators on our JUC facebook page and anyone who loves Bible and ancient history will understand how much I love this:

"On the 9th of Av in 70 C.E., Titus and the Roman army marched upon Temple Mount and destroyed the Second Temple as a response to the fact that the temple priests had positioned a loudspeaker at the Place of Trumpeting and were blaring the 60’s B.C.E. popular rock song “Raq Tsarich Ahavah” every time the Jerusalemites needed to take a miqveh bath during the day. After burning the temple, they discovered that the priests, who lived in the Upper City, also had loudspeakers positioned in their homes on the eastern edge of the Western Hill, where they continued to play the same song at least 30 times a day, when they needed to take their miqveh baths. So, after besieging the Upper City for a month, Titus and his army invaded the Upper City on the 8th of Elul and buried the priest’s loudspeakers under more than a meter of destruction."

Love it!