More Pictures

in the Musicians tomb on Shfelah field trip
slinging rocks in the Elah Valley where the battle of David and Goliath took place
at Tel es-Safi (Philistine Gath of the Old Testament)
all wet at the end of Hezekiah's tunnel
Hezekiah's Tunnel--knee deep in water
The Church of the Nativity commemorating the site believed to be where Christ was born.
Me and Robert at the Tent Restaurant
in the chapel at Bethlehem University
the Dome of the Rock
pressing the oil out of the olives with the screw press
squishing the olives
Seder Meal (Passover)
picking olives
what a view. View from the Observation Deck at the Citadel of David
the Dome of the Rock

Egypt Pictures

the sunrise on top of Mount Sinai. so pretty
The mountains of Sinai
the sunrise on top of Sinai
at the top of Mount Sinai. We made it!!
Mountains of Sinai
Mohammad Ali Mosque in Cairo
at Hard Rock Cafe in Cairo
on the overnight train
Sunset on the Nile
The Nile
Luxor Temple
columns at Karnak temple in Luxor
Lehi family picture on the Falukah
Camel Rides in Luxor
Hatshepsut's Funerary Temple
Hatshepsut's Funerary Temple
Ramses II statue in Memphis
The Sphinx and the Pyramids
The Pyramids of Giza
Holy of Holies of an Israelite Temple at Tel Arad

More Israel fun

So its been a while since I last updated this. I'm not too good at this blogging thing. Last Sunday we went to Eilat, the Israeli port on the Red Sea, which was 4 hours away and went swimming and snorkeling. It was fun. Monday October 18, we went to Yad Vashem the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem for our field trip. It is the best Holocaust Museum in the world. It was quite the day going to the museum and Mount Herzl but the museum was not as graphic as I thought it was going to be. The last room in the museum hit me the hardest. There were pictures of people who had died in the Holocaust on the dome ceiling above and then there were rows and rows of bookshelves with binders which contained the names of people who had died in the Holocaust. There were also a couple shelves that were empty symbolizing the 2 million people that had died that they did not have the names of. 5 to 6 million people died in the Holocaust. It hit me how big that number really was when I was looking at those bookshelves of binders. We also through a separate part of the museum that was dedicated to the children that died in the Holocaust. It was a room with lit candles and mirrors that made it look like the candles were without number.

Tuesday we got to participate in pressing olives. Last week I got to pick olives off the trees at the center. It was fun. The center has old contraptions that were used to press olives in Old and New Testament times. The center has a beam press, and a screw press (invented after New Testament times.) I will have to put up pictures of them because they are hard to explain.

Wednesday we had a forum. Our speaker was a Palestinian Peace Activist. I learned so much from his lecture. The issue here has many dimensions and will take effort to obtain a compromise on all the different issues.

Thursday my Hebrew teacher brought in a Torah scroll from before WWII to show us. It was pretty cool to see. The Hebrew characters written in calligraphy were beautiful. My teacher said that it can take up to 6 years for a scribe to write one copy of the Torah because the scribe must go to a ritual bath every time he writes the name of God.

Friday we learned some Israeli dances. It was fun. We learned lots of different dances. Some with religious symbolism and others were line dances. It was a workout but fantastic.

So I was called as a seminary teacher last week. Amberlea and I teach my Old Testament teacher's daughter. We had our first lesson today. It was great.

Well its been a busy week. I'll try to keep more up to date in the future and I will put up pictures within the next couple of days.

Another week in Jerusalem

We hit the ground running as soon as we got back from Egypt. School is really busy and I can't resist going into the city as much as possible.

Monday I went to the Western Wall with some people to see the Bar Mitzvas that take place Monday and Thursday mornings. We also saw people carrying around their lulavs for the Sukkot, the festival of the tabernacles

Wednesday morning I went to the western wall to see the festivities of the Hoshana Rabba, the last day of Sukkot. It is the day that they pray for rain to come during the winter months. There is also a traditional beating of willows on the ground. I went into the city in the afternoon. We went to Dormition Abbey which is a Roman Catholic church and is where they believe Mary went into eternal sleep. We also went through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and saw the Sukas (little huts) that people had put up for Sukkot. It is in remembrance of the children of Israel's years of wandering in the wilderness. They eat all their meals in these Sukas during this week of Sukkot. I also went to the Church of the Redeemer which has a tall tower that has a great view of the city.

Thursday I went to Omar's and bought a olive wood nativity set. I also saw David's Tomb and Absalom's Pillar.

Friday I went to a Jewish synagogue for the friday night service to welcome in the Sabbath. It was a neat experience.

Its been another busy week and hopefully I will be able to upload pictures again soon.

A Dream Come True

I finally have some free time today to update my blog.

So I was in Egypt last week and it was the trip of a life time. We left Sunday September 19. We drove south and stopped at Tel Beersheba and Tel Arad. At Tel Arad we saw the ruins of an Israelite temple. That night we stayed at Kibbutz Keturah which is a utopian like community of Jews that all pool their money together to support the community. It was fun to stay there and learn a little about their community. They took us to the sand dunes which were so cool. The sand was so soft and it was fun to roll around in it.

Monday September 20, 2010: Today we went across the border to Egypt and arrived in Cairo after a full day of driving. We stayed in the Oasis Pyramid Hotel. in Giza. After dinner we went to the sound and light show at the pyramids which wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.

Tuesday we went and saw the pyramids. They were huge. We got to go in the second pyramid built by Khefra. We went through a short tunnel and into the burial chamber. Next we went to see the sphinx whose face is Khefra. Then we went to the papyrus factory and they showed us how to make papyrus. It was pretty cool. We also went to see the Zoser's stepped pyramid and the large statue of Ramses in Memphis. Then we flew out of Cairo into Luxor.

Wednesday we went to the Valley of the Kings and saw the tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IX, and Tutmosis III and King Tutankamen. They were really cool with colorful hieroglyphs and Egyptian paintings on the walls of Ramses III tomb. Then we went to Hatshepsut's Funerary Temple and saw Pit 33 where the papyrus of the Book of Abraham was possibly taken. That afternoon we went on a falukah ride across the Nile and rode on Camels.

Thursday we went to the Karnak temple which had the most amazing columns. We also went to Luxor temple. That night we went on an overnight train back to Cairo.

Friday we went to a couple churches and synagogues in Cairo and the Egyptian museum where we saw the mummies of Ramses II and Hatshepsut. We also saw the mask and treasures of Tutankamen. We had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and to the bazaar and then had sacrament meeting at the hotel.

Saturday we went to the Cairo Citadel and saw the Muhammad Ali Mosque and al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque. We traveled the rest of the day through the Sinai Peninsula to St Catherine's cathedral which is at the base of Mount Sinai. On the way there, we stopped at Marah, Elim, and Rephidim all oasises that the children of Israel stopped at for water on their way out of Egypt. We spent the night at the Morganland hotel there.

Sunday we woke up at 2 am and climbed Mount Sinai. We were there in time to watch the sun rise. We had a little lesson with our class and then went back time. The mountains were incredible and it was neat to be on Mount Sinai. We drove back to the center in the afternoon, stopping for dinner at a different Kibbutz which had delicious food.