Jerusalem!

November 18-21—Jerusalem!

After church, we drove to Jerusalem. We stopped at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. It actually is an entire area of land dedicated to the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust, as well as those who tried to help the Jews during that time. There is a grove of six million trees planted just below the museum. Each tree dedicated to each holocaust victim. We walked through the children’s memorial, made up of five candles and twenty mirrors. However, when you walk through, because of the mirrors, it looks as if candles are burning from floor to ceiling. The children’s names, ages and place where they lived were announced as we walked through the memorial in both English and Hebrew. There are several gardens and memorials throughout before you head into the museum that are dedicated to various holocaust victims and those who helped or tried to help the Jews. We were only given 45 minutes inside the museum…I could’ve easily spent a few hours there. The most moving section, for me, was the hall of records. As you walk into this circular room, there are binders which hold all six million names of those who were killed in the Holocaust. From Yad Vashem, we headed to the Manorah (sp?) that is located behind the Knesset (the parliament building). We checked into our hotel around 8pm.

We left the next morning at 7am for Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall are located! The Dome of the Rock is pretty incredible. We had a lecture by there about the history behind it. Then we headed down to the Western Wall. I loved the western wall. We were there on Bar Mitzvah day. We saw men in their traditional robes and the 12 year old boys reading from the Torah. The female members of the families were on the women’s side of the wall, standing on chairs, cheering and throwing candy on the men! It was so interesting! There were several other people there to pray and many people write their prayers on slips of paper which they stuck into the crevices of the wall. It is a very holy place to the Jewish people. From there, we drove to the Garden of Gethsemane. However, it closed at noon, we were not able to go inside. WE then headed to St. Peter’s Church, where Peter denied the Christ the third time. We saw where Jesus was imprisoned for a short time. We then went to the Garden Tomb. We were able to see Golgotha, which now lies above an Arab bus depot, then we saw the tomb, and then we had a lecture about the last week of the Savior’s life. What was so cool about the area around the Garden Tomb were the pavilions set up around the tomb for different groups to do worship services. So as we were walking through the garden area, people were singing and worshipping in all different languages. I loved that! Our group went from the tomb, back to the Western Wall to go into the tunnels being excavated behind and under the Western Wall! I had no idea…and I can’t imagine digging those out either! WE had to walk through the Arab quarter at 9[m at night through the narrow streets of the Old City. We were suppose to have an armed guard with us, but none of the guards even followed us! We made it to our bus alright, thankfully!

On Tuesday, our guide took us to the city overlook, which is just across the way way from Dome of the Rock. We went to see the Pools of Bethsada (sp?), and there is a church called St. Anne’s church with amazing acoustics! A couple groups of the kids sang hymns and then we all sang a few hymns together. Our tour guide told us how lucky we were that no other group came in during the 30 minutes we occupied the church. Usually it is very busy. From St. Anne’s Church, we took a tour through the Old City. We stopped at the place where Jesus was tried, scourged and where the crown of thorns was placed on his head. We could see the inscriptions in the stone of the games the Romans played with him there to mock him. As we walked through the Old City, it was really quite interesting. There were mostly vendors, which we did get a little time to shop there, we saw how they transport food. We saw a guy riding a donkey and people balancing big trays of things on their heads. Some people had carts and they attached a small tire and chain to the back. As they went down the steps, they would put their foot on the tire to use as a break! In the afternoon, we went to Palestine. Someone told me to put a ring on my left finger because it would lessen any problems I might have with the men there. I joked with John, who was sitting with me on the bus, that I was now his pseudo-wife if anyone approached me. I didn’t have any problems though. There is a huge wall being built between Palestine and Jerusalem. Apparently, it has already lessened the amount of violence. Our bus driver and tour guide could not go into Palestine with us because it is not safe for them. So we had to board another bus which took us through the checkpoint and into the city of Bethlehem. The people of Palestine rely heavily on tourism. We saw a church where supposedly Christ was born. What is interesting about this church is there are three different churches inside. Armenian Orthodox, Catholic, and….oh..I can’t remember the third! But you walk into this huge hall and at the front of the hall are the three quarters. We walked down into an underground cave to the spot they believe Christ was born and we sang a few Christmas songs. What was scary about being in the church were the armed guards with their fingers on the triggers….eek! As we drove out of Palestine, there were two murals on the wall. If you analyze them, they can be a little unnerving. When we stopped at the checkpoint, two armed guards boarded our bus to “check” us. They had their gunpoints up and their fingers close to the triggers…it was quite an interesting experience. The kids were a little freaked out, I guess I was a little as well! We were very happy to be back on the other side! We were dropped off at our hotel a little early so that we could pack up for our early morning departure to the airport….3:30am was the time we needed to be on the bus. As we went through security, we were questioned three times about the group we were with and our belongings. My bag did not meet the security requirements because I was carrying a book. They did not open my bag, they simply asked me what book I was carrying, where I got it, and when I bought my suitcase (which I thought was a little random). I passed after answering all those questions. I'd rather have them be extremely thorough, than let stuff slip. We flew to SLC via Vienna and JFK. Total travel time, from the time we left for the airport….30 hours!

I learned so much from this trip and it has made me thirsty for more knowledge and understanding about that area of the world! I have been asked to return in May as a chaperone, and again in October for the peace conference. What I enjoyed most about the trip was digging! I loved it. It was so interesting! I thought I worked hard, but after being there and doing manual labor...I need to improve on my work ethic skills! I also enjoyed getting to know the people I had the oppportunity to travel with, especially the kids. They are a good group of kids, and at times they probably saw me as the "bad cop" a I enforce the standards and rules set for them, etc....a lot of it was more to keep them safe and ensure them a good experience, but they were a lot of fun and I look forward to working with them in the future!

Last Two Dig Days :(

November 16 and 17
Yesterday, as I was getting off the bus for the dig, Elan (our bus driver) asked me if I had a hat. I told him it was in my bag and he said, “No, wait!” He went back in the bus and came out with a Coca-Cola hat in Hebrew ! He said, “Me, you! Me, you!” How sweet is that! It is by far the coolest thing I have ever gotten on a trip! I worked at the entrance of the columbarium. From 8-5, we filled buckets with dirt. We found some cool bones and pottery pieces, so that was fun. I really wasn’t in a good mood yesterday and Bishop Walkenhorst kept singing songs to cheer me up! It was really quite funny. I wasn’t really sad or anything, just ornery and tired. The bishop started singing to me because I told him that I needed an attitude adjustment! When we returned from the dig, Elan’s family met us at the kibbutz and ate dinner with us. John and I took them some of the children’s clothes we brought over to donate to the Bedouin sheik tomorrow. They were so grateful. We took pictures and Elan went to the bus to grab me and the bishop (who had joined us) a Coke…a coke a day saves your stomach when you travel internationally…just FYI for those of you with sensitive stomachs! Then this morning, Elan came up behind me and said, “Marla, you need water!” He opened my bag and put a bottle in there. What a good man! So kind and caring!
Today was our last day on the dig. I’m so sad! As hard of work as it is, I want to come back and do it again! I feel like I learned so much from this experience and it really changed my perspective and regard for people of the ancient times and also for those who excavate ancient ruins. We dug in the morning and then after lunch, we took a tour of all the sites on the excavation site—the ‘domestic/courtyard’ area, the columbarium, and the horse stables. Then we went to see another columbarium where we had to climb down a 10 foot hole (with the help of a ladder). So apparently there were stairs once you were halfway down the ladder, but because I am a little scared of heights, I didn't even hear the guys tell me that! Then we went to two chapels finished last spring—(one with a mosaic floor which is covered in sand to protect it from vandalism). Then we closed the Olive Press and Ritual Bath with sandbags. So picture a steep set of “stairs,” 10 people lined up (all but two are guys—I am one of the “but two”) and we tossed sandbags down the stairs and stacked them….I have never tossed sandbags before, but after that experience, I realized that I need to start lifting weights again! It was pretty fun…better than the bucket chain! We got together for a group picture with the archeologists and left the site for 6 months (if I go back). Tonight we had dinner at Mike and Sharon’s. Mike was so saddened by our leaving that he started to cry! He told us how much he would miss us and he hates goodbyes.
Tomorrow, we drive to Jerusalem. I am very excited about this part of the trip and to see all these sites that I have heard about my entire life!

November 15

This morning, I sat through a four hour lecture about the history of Israel starting in 1914. Wow. What an eye opener. I now understand a little more why there is so much conflict in this area of the world and why some of the people in this area of the world hate Americans. It was very insightful. I also figured out the exact location of where we are digging. We are right smack inbetween the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The width of the land between the west bank and Gaza strip is pretty small. We are about 2 miles from the perimeter between Palestine and Israel, and probably about 10 miles from Gaza. I haven’t felt threatened at all and it amazes me that I’m pretty much a sitting duck and have not felt nervous about it once. Before digging this afternoon, we cleaned the pottery we found last week. We took buckets with the pottery, filled them with water, grabbed a basket and brush, and scrubbed the caked dirt off of the pieces. I was pretty slow and one of the archeologists had to help me finish my bucket. Cleaning pottery helps the archeologists look for certain patterns and characteristics to date the pottery. Then we went on the dig in the afternoon. We were all assigned new areas. I am now working on the entrance to the columbarium….that’s the thing where pigeons and other animals were kept (right now it is underground). Michal (pronounced Me-kal) is my new “boss.” She is a year younger than me and a grad student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. We’ve had a couple opportunities to chat about different things, and it has been fun getting to know her. I'm excited to work with her. Our group had to clear out all the weeds, boulders and dirt to make the main entrance, and while doing so, we found parts to a bottle, some glass and an oil lamp. I also found some baby scorpions under a rock…they are so cute when they are the size of the tip of your finger! Today is Women’s Day in Israel and we were invited to a “Ladies Night” at the kibbutz….NO MEN ALLOWED! That’s what our guide told us! Anyway, there were women who were selling things they made or there were different businesses selling their items, we could eat food and later they are having a performance, but since we have to be up at 6am, most of us left. We dig for four hours on Thursday, and anywhere from 6-8 hours on Friday and Saturday. Tonight, Big Mike from the bistro (where we eat our dinners) cooked me a sirloin steak for bringing him skittles! Because it was so dang good, I ate the whole thing and tomorrow he is cooking me a filet! The filet costs 100 shekels, which is about $25...and I'm getting these two steaks for two bags of skittles! I can't wait! Good food for a hard day’s work!

November 14

Today we visited the ruins of Ceasarea which was built by Herod the Great. The town was literally on the beach. We learned about the city in the theater, which faces west to honor Rome (most Roman theaters face north so the sun would not be in the eyes of those inside during performances), and then eight of the students here sang at the floor level of the theater so we could see what the acoustics were like. We were given a little bit of time to explore the beach, collect seashells, and dip our feet in the Mediterranean, then finished learning about the significance of this port city, which is now a major tourist attraction. Herod seemed like a smart guy…too bad he was so power hungry! We also visited Natanya Academic College in Natanya. Nantanya is unique because it is the only school in which the students from the three main religions represented in Israel attend, together, in harmony. There are 4,000 students enrolled at the university and many are immigrants to Israel. This will be the location of a peace conference for teens which will be held there in October of next year. I will help train those students who will be teaching seminars at the peace conference by teaching them about public speaking, how to facilitate discussions and how to teach the material they have to learn for this conference. I may also be part of the executive team that will help the program director in the planning process. From Natanya College, we ate lunch at a mall. A school bus full of children came in after us and one of their teachers was carrying a rifle. I’m not sure the reason, but someone told me that children in Israel are a commodity and are protected….again, not sure if that is the reason. It was interesting and different, but then again, I’m in a completely different culture with different customs, experiences, etc. We finished off the day by going to Tel Aviv, mainly the old town of Jaffa. There’s a promenade and as you walk up to the top of it, there’s a wishing bridge where you are suppose to put your hand on your astrological sign (which are carved on each side of the bridge) and make a wish….I was a party pooper and did not do this…plus I was late for our lesson about Jonah, and then Peter, from the Bible. During this little lecture, we had several distractions. The Evening Call to Prayer (I’m not sure if that’s what it is called) came on..that’s where the prayer comes on over a loud speaker. Then there was an amazing sunset and with that there were about four groups of migrating birds that flew overhead! Oh, and I can’t forget the 6 month old baby we have along with us as she babbled and made her noises…then the four newly wed couples who came up to get their pictures taken! Our poor lecturer! From this point is a beautiful view of the coastline of Tel Aviv. It is gorgeous! Bishop Walkenhorst, his mom, John Paskett and I were taking pictures while the group was heading back to the bus and we lost our group! John and I were running around (John did most of the running) trying to figure out where they were. In the meantime, Bishop made friends with a taxi driver who was checking something in his car! We did end up finding them after looking for about 15 minutes. Even though Tel Aviv is a nice city, it’s probably not the place I’d want to get lost in.

November 13

Today we left Tiberius and drove to Nazareth. The city itself is quite dirty, though the Old City was really cool to see. On the way, we learned a little history about the Olive Tree, Jesus’ mother’s hometown (Kanna), and we were given a comparison between Nazareth during Jesus’ time and Nazareth today. There’s also a ton of Roman history in this area, obviously, but its just been really fun to learn about it here and see the influence in the old buildings. We then drove to the Jezreel Valley where more battles have been fought than any other place in the world. We drove to Megiddo, where the Battle of Armageddon is suppose to occur. We walked through some ruins and we got to walk down into a water cistern where there was a secret tunnel leading into the city from some springs! It was pretty cool. From Megiddo, we drove to Mt. Carmel and had a lecture about the Biblical significance there. Then we went to Haifa….which is beautiful! We saw the building that was hit by rockets launched from Lebanon two years ago. We also saw a Behai’i Moseleum, we were not able to go inside, but the botanical gardens and the view was AMAZING! Haifa is right on the coast of the Mediterranean. You can see Lebanon from there too!

Kibbutz

A kibbutz was a community where those who live there contribute their share to the community and in return they were given 3000 shekels to live on for the month. The problem was, some people wouldn’t work, so those putting in their fair share were working for those who were not doing anything! There was a school in the kibbutz for the children. There was also a “baby house,” where all the children, starting at age of six months, slept in one room. Two people would always be watching the babies. This was done so the parents could sleep through the night! This did not last since kids did not stay through the night, they would simply go home or wouldn’t want to go sleep in the baby house. If someone came to live at the kibbutz, that family basically had three years to prove themselves, then the people would vote on whether or not you were allowed to stay and live there. Now people come there to rent homes until they are able to establish a place of their own.
We are staying in the kibbutz in Ben Gal’on, which is 30 minutes from the excavation site. We are housed in studio-like apartments, which has four beds and a bathroom. We eat breakfast at a cafeteria and dinner at “Mike and Sharon’s Bistro,” which is a restaurant, but also the name of the people who own it. They are from South Africa and have four children. Mike and his wife cook the food, so we have homecooked meals everyday! Mike LOVES skittles, which are not sold in Israel. Because he makes the best fillet steak in Israel (according to him), we are making a trade…my skittles for one of his filets! Wednesday night I’ll be eating steak while everyone else is eating something not as wonderful!

Tiberius and Sea of Galilee (11.11 and 11.12)

Yesterday we had church at the kibbutz and then we left for Tiberius, which is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. On the way there, we stopped at some ruins from the Roman-Byzantine time period. When I walked into the theater, the first thought that came to mind was, “I wonder how long it took to dig this out!” I definitely have a lot more appreciation for ancient ruins and a greater appreciation for those who excavate them! We wandered on our own for a bit and it was really fun to just go off, take pictures, look at the different styles of the architecture and layout. Because I was by myself, I had a good time setting up timer, pushing the button and running as fast as I could to get in the picture! It was actually really fun, though some other tourists looked at me funny…oh well! We drove through the city of Jericho and stopped at a mini-mart that was by the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point in the world. Um…I road a camel in the parking lot…for free! I did give the guy a tip. I had to. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to ride a camel again! I felt kinda funny, but it was pretty fun. We also stopped the spot of the Jordan River, where right before it flows into the Galilee, where many people believe that Jesus was baptized. Then we went to the hotel for dinner.
This morning, the first thing we did was take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. After cruising for about 10 minutes, the driver stopped the motor and raised an American flag next to the Israel flag. We said the Pledge of Allegiance and then they played our national anthem as we sang along. The whole episode gave me goose bumps (I don’t cry, I get goose bumps!). It was really cool…I don’t know how to express the experience in words. We then had a brief testimony meeting. We were taken ashore and from there we drove to Mt. Hermon where Jesus conferred the keys to Peter, James and John and then Jesus was transfigured. There were some ruins of a Roman cathedrals which the Romans built in places they felt was holy. We also went to Capernaum and then to the Mt. of the Beatitudes. Our tour guide took us there so late that we could only spend an hour there. We had a short informational meeting about the significance of Beatitudes, then we had to leave because it was closing. I was sad. I wanted to spend more time there. It was very humbling to be in places that are so significant to my beliefs. I honestly don’t really know how to explain it. When we returned to the hotel, Bishop Walkenhorst, John and I went walking in the streets of Tiberius. As we were walking, we heard shots….we thought they were gun shots from a pretty big gun! We were a little paranoid, but also dumb enough to stand out on the street like all the other tourists and look around to see where the shots were coming from! We started asking people on thee street and three different people told us that they are fireworks shot off to celebrate weddings and other things….though we didn’t see any fireworks, we concluded that if they were gun shots, everyone would probably be running for cover! It was fun to watch these two dads shop for souvenirs for their children. I found a place that sold the cutest skirts! I won’t tell you how much I bought, or how much I spent, but I got a screamin’ deal! The bishop and I spotted McDonalds…I rarely eat McDonalds at home, but it felt so good to get chicken nuggets, a coke and a hot fudge sundae!!! Another couple and I walked down to the same area (located on the water front)with a group of kids and watched them shop for trinkets and such. It was just a really fun atmosphere, and though the day was rushed, it was a good day!
Here’s some info about life in Israel. Children near the country’s borders start school at age 3, while children in the big cities start school at age five. After high school, every person is required to serve in the army, men for two years and women for 18 months.

Initiation into "The Dig" (First two days!)

November 9—The Dig, Day 1
How do I explain this to someone? If you have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, there's a part in the middle of the movie where they are digging for the ark with shovels, buckets, jeeps, etc...that's as close of an explanation to what I am doing over here as I can think of. I start out clean as a whistle and not even 30 minutes into it I am covered head to toe in dust and dirt. This morning we got up at 6am, ate breakfast and at 7:15am took a 30 minute bus ride on the back roads to the excavation site of Beit-Lehi. We can see the Westbank from the excavation site...we joke that we are in missile range (Mom, don't worry, I'm very safe!). The size of the group is 41 people and over half are kids ages 13-18 years old. The rest of us are adults who are supervising the kids. This is an excavation of an ancient city that existed in the 5th-8th century. The site is located by about 20 miles south-west of Jerusalem. Most of the excavation is happening underground, where several rooms have been found. I am working on the only site that is at the surface level. The archeologists think it is a living room type setting where the people did everyday things. There are four perfectly round, shallow holes on one side that could have been used for cooking. Today, we uncovered the top of either a door or archway (at least that's what he hope it is, but what do we know?!) Hopefully tomorrow we will dig down far enough to figure out what it is. I worked on a corner with Heather Murphy of Preston, Idaho. We are the same age, so it has been fun to get to know her. Our corner started out as a dirt hill, and by the end of the day, after removing several rocks and boulders, filling several buckets of dirt, and with the help of many other people who came over later in the day, we got down to the top of the bedrock of the room. I also helped work on the top of the archway looking thingy or door with my bishop, Kevin Walkenhorst, and John Paskett, who lives in my neighborhood. After moving the first boulder, I made a new friend…a scorpion came crawling out of the dirt! It was really quite cool. We put it in a bucket and it was not very happy. It positioned itself in “fighting” stance, if that is even the right phrase for it, though it had nothing to attack inside a bucket. I’ve never seen a scorpion in real life! There are also biting ants…eek! Overall, it is hard work. I can’t remember the last time I’ve labored this hard! But its fun, it feels good, and the soreness is that good kind of soreness that lets you know you had a good, long day’s worth of work…plus it is way fun digging around in the dirt and being covered head to toe in it! On this site, several inscriptions have also been found in some of the caves that are being excavated. They are not publicizing these inscriptions until a later time in fear of vandals ruining what has been found.

November 10, The Dig-Day 2
I’ll be honest, filling buckets of dirt really isn’t all that fun, unless you have some motivation. Our motivation….finding out that there’s more underneath the dirt and trying to get to the bottom of it…no pun intended. We found part of an oven and what looks like to be a water trough going down into that opening we uncovered today. I was working on the wall and the far corner of the room…how exciting. I found nothing worth telling, though I did 90% of the work over there by myself! It was actually really fun to find the bedrock, the pottery, unconvering the stones in the wall, etc. The archeologist in charge of our excavation area is Ben from Virgina. He is working on his Masters degree here in Israel. He’s a great guy to work with. We all really love his dog, Kasha. ) Except, I accidently hit her with a pick today...I don't think she likes me anymore! She hangs around as we are digging and sometimes, and when we are working hard, it’s nice to have some company. Bishop Walkenhorst helped me a little today as well, but everyone was trying to work so fast to work on the three new things we found in our area, I just kept to my little corner to get that done! We worked from 8am-5pm. Our bus driver, Elan, is a very smart man. After a day of carting around the diggers, he bought an air compressor (I think that’s what it is), and he blows the dirt and dust off of us before we get on the bus. It’s fun to see how dirty we get in a day! We are now done excavating until next Thursday. Tomorrow, we will drive up to Tiberius, stopping at some historical sites on the way. Monday we’ll take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and then go to the Mount of Beatitudes along with other historical sites in the area. Then on Wednesday, we will drive to Ceasarea.