Ramadan!

Today has been an interesting day. I didn’t do much this morning except for study and do homework. But this evening we celebrated Ramadan. We had a speaker come and tell us about Ramadan. That was really interesting. (Right - me in my galubia for Ramadan, holding a glass of one of the traditional drinks made out of almonds. I didn't like it, but at least I tried it!) I didn’t realize that the Muslims fasted in that month because traditionally in the month of Ramadan the Quran was revealed to the angel Gabriel by Allah. Then over the next 23 years of Muhammad’s life, he was given the Quran verse by verse. I’ll have to check on this for sure because I might have heard it wrong, but I think the speaker said that the Quran was not written down until after Muhammad died.
The fasting serves several purposes. One, it is good for your health. Two, it makes you a better person by teaching you self control. Three it makes you a better believer because you are following the fast that Allah set forth. And four, it makes a better society. I think this last one is because better people with better health who have stronger faith behave better towards those around them. I think there was another thing that Ramadan fasting improves, but I don’t remember what she said.
She also talked a little about Muslim women. That was interesting. It seems that women have the same kind of status in Islam that they do in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: that is misunderstood. (Left - here is our Ramadan spread). She says that women are held in high esteem and are treated well under Islam. The Islamic civilization was the first civilization to give women rights. Then some of the governments have corrupted it and degraded women. So basically Islam doesn’t degrade women, but governments and society do.
After that, we had an excellent dinner. It was very ethnic and very delicious. We had two special drinks. One was made of prunes, the other from almonds. I didn’t really like either, but I tried them. We also had dishes that I wish I could remember the name of. I really enjoyed it. We had assigned seating, so that was fun and interesting.
Next, we had a dancing lesson. We learned this dance called the Devka (spelling?) that is a traditional Palestinian dance. It is a kind of circle dance or line dance. You hold hands and there is a leader who directs the dancing using a few basic moves. It has become more professional in recent years, but it began as street dance for weddings and other celebrations. It was fun, but very exhausting.
Tomorrow we have our Ancient Near Eastern Studies Midterm and its going to be a beast! Hopefully I will do alright, but I will probably know before anyone has the chance to read this (due to time differences and things like that).
I didn’t have my camera with me, so pictures will be forthcoming as soon as I get copies from the people I asked to take pictures.

City of David

We went to the City of David today. The City of David, the original city of Jerusalem, was a small enclosed settlement of about 15 acres. (Right - On the northern most part of the City of David looking south. It is hard to visualize such a tiny city when Jerusalem has spread and grown so much since that time). That is tiny. For those of you who have been to BYU, BYU's campus is 560 acres. Other than that, city blocks in the US range from 5-10 acres. So depending on the location, the entire City of David could have fit in 2-3 blocks. Can you imagine? And that housed about 2500-3000 people.
That was really interesting. There is a national park on part of that location, though there is still a Palestinian village there. We got to see a 3D movie about the settlement of that area that was interesting. (Left - layers of settlement on the Ophel Ridge where the City of David was located. The wall jutting out on the left is the Hasmonean period wall. The stones in the dirt are part of the Canaanite walls. The pillar standing up is part of Ahiel's house. This is thought to have been from the time just before Babylonian captivity. If this picture reached a little to the right, you would be able to better see stones from King David's time thought to be filler from under his palace). Then we walked around and saw area G where several layers of settlement are visible starting with Canaanite walls all the way to Hasmonean walls (just before Rome conquered Jerusalem).
Our next stop was Warren's Shaft. (Right - looking down into Warren's shaft. This is where the people would come and lower buckets to draw water). Warren's shaft is most likely the "gutter" that Joab and his men climbed up when King David wanted to conquer the Jebusite city that was built there. It was built as a way for the inhabitants to get water without exposing themselves. The water source, the Gihon Spring, is really low on the hill, outside of the city wall. In order to get water, they had to leave the city wall, until this shaft was carved. Then the people could walk down a tunnel and use buckets to draw the water.
Nearby we entered Hezekiah's Tunnel. Hezekiah's tunnel was carved before the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem. Hezekiah was worried that the water supply was out in the open and would be easy to poison or attack. So, he had two teams work night and day for about 7 months carving a path from the Gihon Spring to what became known as the Pool of Siloam. That is the pool where a blind man was told by the Savior to go and wash to get his sight. We walked through the tunnel. (Left - at the entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel). At one point, the water was up to mid-thigh, but most of the way it was only up to my knees. The tunnel is very narrow. At points my shoulders were brushing the edges as I walked. Luckily, the water wasn't too cold.
At the other end, we got to sit on the steps that once led to the Pool of Siloam. Nearby were some Roman stairs that once led from the western wall of the temple to the pool. Those are stairs that most likely the Savior walked on. That was really cool. Most of the places where we walk here are several feet above the level were Christ would have walked, but in that instance we were able to walk on the stones where He would have walked.
We just had a short, half-day field trip, but I feel like I saw a lot.

Inside the narrow Hezekiah's Tunnel. Here you can see the water mark from when the water was up to mid-thigh. I was standing on my tiptoes at that point, too. Jade and me in Hezekiah's Tunnel. It is not straight, but twists and turns in the hillMe being a fountain in what was once believed to be the Pool of Siloam The real Pool of Siloam with me sitting on the steps leading into the pool The Roman steps leading up into the city

Armenian Quarter

This week is a crazy week, especially in regards to what is happening in my classes. So much so that I made the conscious decision to stay in a study all day yesterday. (Left - While walking to the Armenian Quarter, we passed by an open doorway that looked intriguing. We stepped inside. I think it is a monastery, but it is hard to know sometimes). By doing that, I felt justified in going out to the city with a group headed toward the Armenian quarter of the Old City. There we went to a museum that was interesting, but small and not well kept. I did learn some interesting things about the history of Armenia and the Armenian people.
Next we went to a church, the church of St. James. Apparently according to tradition James, the brother of Jesus, was killed there and the apostle James was beheaded there as well. It was beautiful, but also blackened from burning incense. (Right - the Armenian Museum is in this large and beautiful building, but there are about two rooms of information, most of which was pictures, paintings, and posters). That is how the inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is as well. It is really sad that these beautiful paintings have been ruined by using smoke over the centuries.
On the way back, the weather took a interesting turn. It started raining on us. By the time we made it back to the center, I was soaked to my bones. In fact, I got wet through three layers of clothing! It was rather cold.
Tonight we had a forum speaker, Dr. Seballa, a member of the Palestinian Parliament. (Left - inside the Armenian Museum). It was interesting to have a Palestinian view on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. He doesn't seem too hopeful for peace, though he wants peace and wants to work towards it. He says that the Israelis say they want peace, but are not willing to do what is necessary to actually have it. It will be interesting to see what will come from the most recent developments and plans in the future.

Armenian Church of St. James I think this picture shows well the blackened Church of St. James - the ceiling used to be whiteInside the Church of St. James during a prayer service

Crazy and Fun Day

Today has been an amazing day. Once again I wasn't planning on doing anything, but before classes were over, I found myself part of a group headed to West Jerusalem. (Right - Shaelee and Mindy in front of one of the shops that we purchased things at). Since today is Friday, we can't be in East Jerusalem before 3pm, and so we have to take a taxi if we are going to leave the center. We decided to go to the Jewish Open Air Market and then hit Ben Yehuda Street for some shopping.
After class, and after a lightning fast lunch, we headed upstairs for our taxi. We drove to the open air market. There we did a little shopping. I bought 2 skirts and a scarf. Others bought similar things. It was a lot of fun.
After some time there, we headed to Ben Yehuda Street. A lot of the shops were closed down because it was getting late (aka 3pm and everyone was leaving to get ready for Shabbat) but we found an open shop and bought some bags. Then we headed back to the center. (Left - me on Ben Yehuda St. with a Kosher Burger King sign in the background. I have one with Bethany, the other girl who was with us and that is the only picture I got of her, but I look fat in it, so I used this one instead). It was nice to leave the center, to be out in the city, especially after being inside for so long.
Later, after dinner, we held our Talent Show. It was amazing. I knew we had some talented people in our group, but I didn't know how talented until tonight. We had music acts, dancing numbers, poetry readings, spoofs, skits, comedic announcers, an art show, and the grand finale, a talk show put on by my roommate, Lauran. They were all amazing numbers and I was entertained the entire time, even though it lasted 3 hours. Everyone participated, even if they didn't sign up. Those who didn't sign up were put into groups to do some improv skits. Those included the faculty. I danced the Hula and I was really nervous, but despite some technical difficulties, I made it through. I wish I could share the entire night with you, or at least some clips from each of the acts, but since I can't do that, I have put a link here to one of the presentations. It is a preview to a new show called The JC.
So yeah, that has been my day. It was great.

Zedekiah's Cave and Sephardic Synagogues

Good news! I actually went out into the city today! I surprised myself because I've been feeling so tired the past couple of days and have had a hard time waking up in the morning. (Left - outside of Zedekiah's Cave, also known as Solomon's Quarry). In fact, I didn't want to get up today. I figured after class I would go back to bed and sleep for awhile, but instead I went out.
I'm really glad I did, though. It felt so nice to get out of the Jerusalem Center. Besides field trips, my stints in the emergency clinic, and my ultrasound visit, this was my first time out of the center since before Egypt. It was such a relief.
We went first to a place called Zedekiah's Cave. It cost 10 NIS to get in. Then we went exploring. (Right - me inside of Zedekiah's Cave). Most of the places were well lit with paths, but we managed to find a little place to the side that went up and down where not many people have traveled. Sometimes we were crawling through tight spaces. (Left - Standing on the Roman Main Street in the Old City). It was really fun, though we got very dirty (I'm sure you can tell from the pictures if you pay attention). We even found a place that said do not enter. There were skulls painted on the wall. We didn't go down there, though it was tempting. We figured the skulls probably meant there was poison gas down there or something like that. Plus, there were cockroaches and spiders down that hole.
After that, we decided to go do something else. We decided to find the synagogues in the Jewish Quarter. As we were walking, we saw the Cardo. I had never seen the Cardo before. It is the Roman main road that was part of the city during Christ's time. We went down there and walked on it a little. It has been reconstructed, but a lot of it was the original stone (from what I understand).
That didn't take long and we were once again off to find the synagogues. (Right - one of the Sephardic synagogues). We found one and went in. In our group there were two girls and two guys. We didn't realize that the entrance to this synagogue was for men only, and went in. There was a rabbi or someone inside that shooed us out. He told us to go around, but we couldn't find another entrance. But, I did get a look inside.
Then we went to a group of 4 Sephardic Synagogues dating back to the 16th century. Those were interesting, but we had to pay 5 NIS each to get in. (Left - While walking around the Old City, we saw this staircase which a lot of people were coming down. We decided to see what was up there and headed up. It just went onto the rooftops, but we could see holy sites for the three major religions in Jerusalem. We could see the Dome of the Rock, the Hurva Synagogue, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Besides that, we could see the Russian Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. It was very interesting. It was a nice little rest stop). I don't really think it was worth it. There wasn't much to see, but oh well, it was still interesting.
After that, we walked through the Old City to get some lunch. I had my second falafel and it was much, much better than the first. (Right - while walking around the Old City, I wanted a picture of this street. I asked my traveling companions to show their faces and this is what I got. From left to right: Danny, Ashley, and Rich). It was actually really good. After our quick lunch, we contemplated going to see something else, but we didn't have as much time as we would have liked, so we came back to the center instead. I was pretty wiped out by the time we got back, so it was probably a good thing. I still need to take it easy so I don't have a relapse.
P.S. I had my Ultrasound report translated today and I am stone free!! Let's hope I stay that way!

Yad Vashem, Mt. Herzl, and MLR Institute

Today has been an interesting day. We went on a field trip to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum here. It is the largest Holocaust museum in the world. (Left - Yad Vashem. It is a lot larger than it looks from this picture. We didn't even see a third of what is there). We had a guided tour through the museum that was very interesting. I learned a lot of things that I had never heard before. I wish we had had more time to just look around, but I may go back. One of the best stories that I heard was about the country of Denmark. The entire nation pulled together to save the Jews in that land. Eventually, they had to smuggle them out, but when those Jews returned to Denmark, they returned to their locked homes that had been cleaned, gardens tended, pets fed, and even silver polished. (Right - View of Jerusalem from the end of Yad Vashem). One religious leader said, "I do not know what a Jew is, I only know what human beings are." I like hearing more about things like that. I also didn't realize that some Jewish prisoners revolted. In Auschwitz, several people smuggled in (don't ask me where they hid it) dynamite and when enough was collected, they bombed one of the crematorium. Other revolts happened, though not everyone was able to do so.
The last thing I saw was the Children's Memorial. (Left - entering the Children's Memorial. The pillars that you see on the left represent the lives cut short). That was amazing. 5 candles are used to produce quite an effect. The memorial was dedicated to the son of one man and one woman. This little boy had been gassed at one of the death camps, but both parents had survived. They had two more children after the war, but never forgot that little boy. 1.5 million children were killed during the Holocaust. Those who could prove that they were 15 or older were more likely to survive, but younger than that were killed without thinking.
After Yad Vashem, we had lunch and then toured Mount Herzl. (Right - Me and Bethany on Mount Herzl). That is a cemetery/museum named after Theodor Herzl, one of the founders of Zionism. His body was moved there after the State of Israel was created. The main Independence Day Ceremony is held there every year. Other political leaders are also buried there. It was interesting, but by that time I was ready to be done.
When we came back, I had to leave to go to my ultrasound appointment. (Left - checking in for my ultrasound appointment). That was interesting because I have never had an ultrasound before. The hospital (called M.L.R. Institute) doesn't have signs in English. I felt so confused. The woman at the desk didn't speak English, but was able to point us in the right direction. Luckily the woman at the desk in the Ultrasound section spoke English. But the nurse who came to get me to take me into the room for the test didn't. She had to demonstrate what she wanted me to do. It was quite amusing. Luckily the guy who came to do the ultrasound spoke English.
The results (as far as I know) are that nothing is wrong. But, it is hard to know because the paper they gave me is all in Hebrew. I have to take it to the office tomorrow to see if that is the official report, or if it just says that I had an ultrasound. I think I am fine because I have been pain free now for 4 days and nights. I think I will stay that way. I am drinking lots of fluids and that should hopefully mitigate. But, it was definitely another adventure.
I will add more pictures later because I am hungry and haven't had dinner yet.

It's raining, it's . . . snowing?

For the second time since I have come to Jerusalem, the unusual has happened, though the first time it happened while we were in Egypt. If you haven't guessed it by now, I will tell you. It has snowed! We have been hearing that it was going to snow for the past couple of days, but last night it happened. I woke up this morning, hurried to look out the window, and was happy to see snow! It has been snowing all morning though now is beginning to taper off. The Dome of the Rock is covered in snow. (See above and right). It is quite a sight.
On a different note, last night I went to the center's Basketball Tournament Championship Game. It was a game between The Dream Team and The Zealots (I know that means nothing to you, but names of people would mean just as little). It was quite exciting. The Dream Team was up the entire first half, but it was close the entire way. (Left - Davey flying during the half-time show). Then the Zealots pulled ahead after the half-time show to win a stunning victory 76-68. It is hard to cheer at a game where you know all the players. I have to admit, I was pulling for the Dream Team, but I always cheer for the underdog. (Right - the game got intense toward the end of the second half!)
I also wanted to share a quote with you that Brother Draper shared in our Old Testament class. It is from a paper called "The Weight of Glory" written by C. S. Lewis. I really like what C. S. Lewis has to say. He very well articulates things. Here it is:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."
-C. S. Lewis "The Weight of Glory"

Another Adventure

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Today has been an interesting day for me so far. Last night I was woken up by another severe pain, reminiscent of the one I had on Tuesday, but in a different location. I was going to let it slide again, but my roommates convinced me to call President Heyes. He told me to take a couple of Tylenol and see if that would help. I did so, but I couldn't get back to sleep and 30 minutes later I felt like it wasn't getting any better. So, once again my roommates convinced me to call President Heyes. I did so and I decided to go back to the clinic. A little after midnight, President Heyes called to let me know that our driver was there. We headed up to the garage entrance where he was waiting. Sister Galbraith joined us. The weird thing was, by this time the Tylenol had started to kick in and I felt silly for having made such a big deal out of it, though when the pain was at its strongest, it was just as painful as Tuesday morning. Still, we decided to go since we had made the arrangements and everything.
It turned out to be good that I did go. When we arrived, we had a little time to wait before I was seen. They repeated the same tests as the first time and then put me in a room. The results came back and the doctor came in to check on me. He had me stand up and he started tapping on my back. When he got to the point where the pain had been the strongest, it hurt. That is how he decided that I have a kidney stone (or possibly multiple). He said that the first time was probably a kidney stone as well, but that it must have passed with the help that I got.
Well, that wasn't too much of a surprise because President Heyes had talked about kidney stones as a possibility since the first visit and I have a history of kidney stones in my family. He had a nurse give me a shot of pain reliever (in the rear. I haven't had one there since kindergarten! And sorry, but no pictures!) and they gave me some pain pills to take later, basically Tylenol but with codeine. The doctor also said I need to go in for an ultrasound, but since I was there in the middle of the night, they couldn't contact my insurance to see about it. So, sometime, I don't know when, I will have to go in for an ultrasound. In the meantime, I have a prescription to fill and a few more of my Tylenol/codeine pills.
Right now I feel fine, though there is still a slight ache where the pain was. People keep asking me how I feel, so I guess I don't look fine. But I will be. I also have to keep drinking lots of fluids because dehydration can aggravate and cause kidney stones. Other than that, I'm glad to have an answer and a way to keep myself out of pain!
I have learned a few things from this experience. The first time, I was in pain so long I went to the clinic. The second time, the pain didn't last as long, but lasted long enough to get me where I needed to be to find a solution. Sometimes in the smallest ways (that can even make us feel silly, like I did for making such a fuss) the Lord helps us along so that we can have the things that we need. If only that was a lesson I could keep learned!

Spam comments

I've been getting a few spam comments lately, so I've adjusted the comment settings to see if that will make a difference. I don't want to discourage actual readers of my blog from posting, but I don't want people posting links to pornographic websites from my blog. So, only registered users will be allowed to post on my blog. If that doesn't get rid of it, I will have to go to comment moderation. So, if you've been commenting and aren't registered, I'm sorry but you will have to register to comment and no anonymous comments will be allowed anymore. Sorry about that, but some people like to abuse the system!

An Israeli Adventure

WARNING: This posting is not for the faint of heart. Read at your own peril! To not spoil the surprise, don't read the captions until you've read the story.

Well, I had quite an adventure today. I was woken up this morning at 5:45 am by severe abdominal pain. I tried to make myself feel better, but I couldn't get comfortable. No matter what I did, I was in pain. I also had severe nausea that caused me to spend time in the bathroom hoping that something would come out and relieve my suffering. I don't want to get to graphic, but I did puke a couple of times, though it didn't help at all. I was just going to suffer it out, hoping that it would get better. I tried soaking in a hot tub to relieve the pain, but when even that didn't work, I knew something had to be done.
Finally around 8:25 am I decided to call our resident doctor. He came to look at me and told me that there really wasn't anything we could do, but if the pain was enough, we could go to the clinic and see what they could do. (Right - an Israeli nurse starting me on an IV. See the jackets? I was really cold). I was in so much pain, I agreed. He made some arrangements and around 9 am we left for the Temen Emergency Clinic in West Jerusalem. We took a shrute and I was never more relieved to arrive some where in my life. We had to wait a few minutes to check in, but during that time I had another vomit attack. We tried to make it to the bathroom, but the nurses and attendants weren't very helpful. I kept it in for about 2 minutes or so and we were almost to the bathroom when I just couldn't. I didn't even feel bad about it, though vomiting usually makes me cry because I feel gross. I got it all over my hand, a little in my hair, and even a little on my clothes, but it was mainly watery, so no big deal.
Anyway, now that I've grossed you out enough, I'll move on to my next adventure. I had to give a urine sample. I told the nurse that I didn't know if I would be able to do that since I hadn't been able to get anything out all morning. But, I had to try. I got a few drops and the result showed that I was dehydrated. I didn't understand the rest of the results, but that was the main thing. (Left - Me feeling better with the IV working its magic, but I was still cold!) It was dehydration brought on by gastroenteritis (look it up if you want to know more about that) more commonly known as stomach flu (though not related to influenza). The severe pain was a muscle spasm caused by the dehydration. But because of the pain, I was vomiting thus leading to a potentially never ending spiral without help.
Next, they started me on an IV. It was a saline solution with medication for the nausea and muscle spasm. I tell you one thing that is horrible to hear from a doctor or nurse: "Oops, sorry!" Yeah, that was what the tech said when he was starting me on my IV. I think he just missed the first time, but he didn't do too bad. They started me on a drip and it took a long time before I started feeling better, but eventually I did. I guess with IVs people tend to get cold. I got very cold. (Right - I have to drink a lot of fluids. This was just one group, but I have had much more than this!) At first President Heyes and Sister Galbraith (don't worry, I wasn't alone - these two service adults came along for the ride) tried covering me with the jackets we had, but I was still cold. I finally asked if they had a blanket and President Heyes went to find out. The doctor had to have someone go look for a blanket because she didn't know which ones were clean. (By the way, on my tests it had me listed as a VIP. That made me feel special). Finally, after what seemed like a long time (which was probably only 10 to 15 minutes) I was brought a blanket. That was so much better. After the first IV finished, they wanted to get another sample, but I didn't think I could give a better one yet, so they started me on a second one. I slept for awhile during those two and that felt so nice because I was actually warm and not in pain. By the time the second IV was almost finished, the doctor came back to see if I could give another sample. That time went a lot better. I rested and waited while they tested it. It came back a lot better and the doctor said I was ready to go but that I would have to drink a lot of fluids and not eat normal food for awhile.
So, now I am on a liquid diet. Besides my 2 liters of saline solution, all I had today was a bottle of grape soda drink (not really carbonated) a can of Exotic Fanta and a can of Sprite (both opened to let the fizz out), and then two bowls of chicken broth. (Left - You can't really tell very well from this, but my bruise started turning purple. I thought I would give an update on that since I had room). I feel very full (j/k). I'm not sure if I will be able to eat anything tomorrow. We have to ask the doctor. In one week I have to give another sample to make sure that everything is alright.
That is my Israeli Adventure for today. I missed one class today, but at least I feel so much better. By the time the second IV had finished, my pain was almost gone. At least by then it was tolerable (just a dull ache). Since then it has completely gone. So, yeah. I have a couple of pictures that President Heyes took at the clinic, and I will post those here as soon as I get them from him. Hope you enjoyed hearing about my adventure, but remember, I warned you!

Another lazy day

I don't really know what to say here. I am still kind of sick, so I've been sleeping a lot. The real reason I decided to post here is because I wanted to show you my bruise from the field trip we had a few days ago. I mentioned that we slung stones in the Valley of Elah; I don't remember if I mentioned that I was hit by a stone slung by someone else. It was a huge stone and obviously really hurt. It has turned into a nice-sized bruise. The real pain goes deeper, though. Its been hard to lift my arm, though that is getting much better now. Basically the size of the bruise is the size of the rock that hit me. Now I know how Goliath must have felt! Just kidding, but now I really can get a t-shirt that says: I was stoned in Jerusalem! Yeah, that will be funny. Anyway, I have a lot more appreciation for the pain of a stoning after this. And that was just one stone!

5 Valleys and 1 day

We went on another field trip today. I'm still getting over my cold, so I was a little worried about it, but it turned out really well. (Left - Tel Bet Shemesh). where an ancient fortress guarding the Sorek ValleyWe basically toured the valleys of the Shephelah, the hill country. There are 5 valleys, Aijalon, Sorek, Elah, Guvrin, and Lachish. We didn't actually go to Aijalon, but we went to the other 4. We began our trip at Tel Bet Shemesh, was. That was pretty interesting. Bet Shemesh is also the city where the ark was returned to after the Philistines captured it. Next we went to Azekah, a fortress city in the Valley of Elah. (Right - Tel Bet Shemesh). The Valley of Elah is where David fought Goliath. We reenacted that famous battle in the valley below. Next was a place called Mareshah in the Guvrin Valley. There were a lot of interesting things there. We saw a Dove Cote. That is a place where people kept and raised Doves. It was underground. There was also a mansion built on top of a huge cistern. I can't imagine one family having a cistern that big to itself! We saw a family burial. Inside of that is a picture of a three-headed dog. It was very interesting. Finally at Mareshah, we saw the Bell Caves. I guess there is one place inside there where a Rambo movie was filmed. That is just what I was told, anyway.
Our next stop was Tel Lachish. That was really interesting. (Left - The Valley of Elah). We saw the siege ramp built by Sennacherib when he took the city. We also saw the palace complex. It was huge. Our final stop for the day was Micah's cave. It is a huge complex of caves built to hold doves and also as a place for secret rituals. That means that the entrance was very tiny and so were the passageways. It was very fun to explore, though. I didn't have a flashlight, so I stuck with people who did. We all were filthy by the time we were done, but we had fun. That is one of the reasons why I am surprised I did so well. With all that climbing in and out and around and wherever, I'm surprised I wasn't completely wiped out by the time we got back to the center.

Behind me between the trees is the city of Gath, home of GoliathSlinging in the Valley of ElahDove CoteFunny sign at MereshahThree-headed Dog in the family tomb at MereshahInside the family tomb at MereshahTel Lachish

Entrance to Micah's Cave

P.S. I finished typing my entries for Egypt, I just have to add pictures, which of course takes a long time. I did post one entry already, and I finished adding the pictures of the JC. I hope that is enough.