Another field trip day, although this was only a half day when we got down to it. There is so much to see, it’s really nuts how much history is packed into this area. Most of the sights today were actually post-Jesus history, but a few exciting places that had to do with Jesus too.
We started this lovely day with a visit to Gamla which was a very important place during the first revolt before the temple was destroyed. This is a city that really it set atop a hill, with a very steep approach on all sides but one, and even that is pretty bad. SO they built this wall on that side to keep people (Romans) out and they stayed safe for a while. Well, the Roman’s got ticked because there are two wadi valleys that are on either said that create the sheer cliffs that surround the city, but when the Jewish revolt because, the Jews in Babylon (the majority at that time) would migrate to the Galilee area through those valleys and help out, so the Romans had to take them out. This place was where Josephus was a general here too, and so the story goes that the Romans took the city so they could control the immigration and then they took all of the women, men, and children and tossed them off the cliff they lived next to. A depressing story, but a great view of the valley and a great breeze to keep you cool even when it’s hot outside. So there was that story.
The next stop was a place called Qasrin that is a somewhat restored Talmudic village. The restored sections of the ruins are neat because they have put together a house from the time that the village existed. This was cool to see the house that people would have stayed in and the way that they would have lived. It is a very humble place to live in, and it really just struck me how home would have been a place for the intimate family to be. We have so much room now a days, and I just think that we could be so much closer to one another if we didn’t have so much physical distance between us in our own homes. We also found this little thing that was used to crush something-or-other, it was this big cylindrical stone like a rolling pin with a big handle like the old lawn mowers from back in the day. We had a fun time using it to crush things. I think that the pomegranate was the best thing to crush, it squished everywhere!
The next place that we went was a place to commemorate taking over the Golan Heights from Syria. It was a little sad, but also kind of cool at the same time. I mean, we were only a few yards from an active mine field, but then we would hear the stories of the kibbutzim that would get destroyed over and over again, they would then rebuild the place, and then the missiles would come again. It was quite the story to hear about. There were also a few bunkers that were still there from the 67 war and while I didn’t go inside them (the entrance you had to crawl on your belly to get in and I didn’t want to get dirty) I have an eyewitness account of one of my friends that did go in, “It was cooler than the outside, and it smelled bad” said Josett the wise. So there you have it. Bunkers are cool, but stinky.
Our last stop was a place called Kursi, which is the alleged spot where the swine were cast into the sea after being possessed by the legion. There really isn’t much there, an old church ruin, and a gate… yeah, that’s about it. It was cool to read about the account though, that was until our teacher told us that he didn’t think this is where it happened... but I guess that it’s all conjecture anyway, so I can believe what I want.
The field trip was one thing, but the fun part of the day was really the trip to the Jordan River. This was no academic trip, it was for rafting!! We got to go about 3 km down the Jordan River in either kayaks or rafts and so I got with my buddy Kendel and went in a kayak. Unfortunately this partnership didn’t last long because we had quite the time on the river and it wasn’t long until we were overturned by some rafters. This started things, and all I know is that the next 2 hours ish was spent trying to make sure that everyone was as wet as possible! We had people that would pull up beside another boat and then jump over in an attempt to pirate it away from the original owners; there was capsizing, splashing, and general fun as we drifted down slowly. I mean, it’s not like there are rapids or anything, so we had to have our fun some other way! It was a little bad because the water got really shallow all of a sudden sometimes, and people would get thrown into the water and land a litter sooner than they would have liked or expected, but no one was really hurt, and so all is good. Myself I jumped into the water to try and help take over one raft that was being really stubborn, and I thought that it was deep so I just jumped feet first in, and the water was only about 1 ½ feet max… so I think that I have some bruises on the bottom of my feet now from that.
At the end of the rafting there was a little area that you could kind of swim in, so while we were waiting for the bus, a few of us went over there to have fun. A few of us decided that while it might be a little sacrilegious to fake-baptize ourselves there, we did dip ourselves 7 times to make sure that we didn’t have any leprosy! Oh the fun times that we have. I also had a little miracle of my own in the Jordan. I was playing with one of the Emmitt kids, Will, who didn’t know how to swim. I decided to put him on my shoulders to give his a ride where he could be safe, and when I put him up there, I lost my sunglasses. These are way important to me, I can’t deal with the sun, and so as they sunk away and went with the current, a few people tried to get to them, but they were lost. I handed off Will for a little bit so that I could look (more like feel with my feet) and about 30 sec. later and against all odds, I found my glasses! I was so excited and everyone called it my Jordan miracle. I personally hope that when we go there for the spiritual aspect of the FT I will have a different miracle, but for now, this was fun.
Anyway, that was about it for me. I had tons of fun, I took a nap, and I feel good. I am ready to get up early and read my scriptures on the beach and then get to class and learn some more! Have fun everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment