23 May 2011

My alarm clock went off much too early this morning. My body is craving some time to rest and refresh after a long trip in Turkey. But in Jerusalem, sleep is overrated. There is far too much to see and far too much to do. Like visit the Negev, which is what we did today.

The Negev can be defined as the southern deserts of Israel. We began the field trip by stopping at a couple of Bedouin settlements, one recognized and one not recognized. We began in a small settlement known as Lakiya. While there, we had the opportunity to interact with a few Bedouin women and learn about their lives, where they came from, and their livelihoods. Many Bedouin women are weavers. They make rugs, pillow cases, table runners, and more. We had the opportunity to watch the weaving process at work. Raw wool is spun singly and doubly, dyed, and spooled. Women then take the spools of wool yarn and begin weaving the rugs, the pillow cases, the table runners, and other items. It was amazing to see the entire process at work. It generally takes 8-10 hours to produce one squared-meter. It would take me 8-10 years to produce that much! I ended up purchasing a throw-pillow pillow case. It is beautiful, and I am excited to put it to use! The next Bedouin settlement we visited was one that is not recognized by the government. This means that the settlement is illegal, that there is no electricity or running water, that the people do not own the land. We were there briefly and had the opportunity to observe an Arabic literacy class that was being taught to five or six Bedouin women. This service is supported by the LDS church and is part of the BYU Jerusalem Center’s humanitarian aid. The church offers literacy classes across Israel for many Bedouin societies, helping them to better their lives in hope that they will obtain jobs and better means of income. It was fun to visit the Bedouin towns and to see the ways that they live. It would be very difficult for me to live that way, to rely solely on the land, to have next to nothing.

As always, we spent far too much time visiting the first two sites. Rather than go over time, we skipped visiting the modern city of Be’ersheva. I was disappointed but at least we still got to visit Tel Sheva. The modern town of Be’ersheva is the place of the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Tel sheva is dated by most archaeologists to 900-700 BC. It includes a casemate wall and a large underground water system. A four-horned altar was uncovered and reconstructed from stones found on site – the original is now in the Israel Museum. It was quite warm at the site, but that did not stop us from walking around for an hour and learning about the ancient site. It was built like a fortress, like most other cities during this time, with a well on the outside of the walls. Inside we were able to view the foundation of a “Broad Room” Temple.

Tel Arad is a fortress mound similar to Tel Sheva. It was originally an ancient Canaanite city located below the current site. The fortress was inhabited by Israelis up until the 7^th Century A.D. when it was captured by Arabs until its destruction in the 8^th Century A.D. It hasn’t been inhabited in since. The tel is home to a temple where altars, a hewn monument, a stone basic, and articles of worship were found intact. It was a cool site, I have to admit, but we had very little time to wander around.

The bus ride back to Jerusalem passed by the Dead Sea. It was a beautiful view. I saw by Kymberly Stone, as usual, She read Catching Fire as I wrote postcards and letters to loved ones. It took over two hours to return back to the J.C. I hate to say that the amount of time spent on the bus did not bother me. The time spent on the bus in Turkey will never be rivaled. I will no longer whine about a ride on a bus ever again! After F.H.E., I did my laundry and started homework. I believe it is time for once to get to bed before eleven o’clock at night. That is my goal. After all, tomorrow is another day full of adventures in the beautiful city of Jerusalem.