11 July 2011

Galilee, here I come.

I had a rough night last night. I was so afraid that I would sleep through my alarm and miss the bus that I kept waking myself up every hour or so. When 5:00am finally rolled around I jumped out of bed, quickly changed my clothes, washed my face, and pulled my hair up into it's customary messy-bun. I then commenced packing. For those of you who do not know me very well, I am the worst packer known to man. Normally, I can barely fit five days worth of stuff into a small suitcase! But miracles, of miracles, I fit eleven days worth of stuff into a small suitcase! I was so proud of myself; I nearly called my mom to share the news with her.

The buses left the Jerusalem Center at about 6:30am in the morning. I fell asleep within five or ten minutes of getting on the bus; what else would you expect? Our first stop was to Beth Shean. Beth Shean was an important "crossroads" city throughout ancient times; in the Roman, New Testament, and Byzantine eras, the city was renamed Scythopolis and was a political and cultural center. Situated near the junction of the Jezreel and Jordan Valleys, this elevated city guarded two trade routes: the Patriarch's Way and a route northwest to Akko. Beth Shean was important throughout the Canaanite and Old Testament eras, containing four Canaanite temples. Egyptian stelae and reliefs show that New Kingdom pharaohs controlled the city prior to Philistine and Israelite conquest. It was at Beth Shean that Saul's and Jonathan's decapitated bodies were displayed after their armies were defeated by the Philistines. After the Israelite destruction, the Ptolemies built up a new city: Scythopolis. During the Roman period, it functioned as the capital of the Decapolis. It contained many facilities typical of a Roman metropolis: theater, amphitheater, odeon, bathhouse, Cardo, temple, and nymphaeum. While there is no mention of Scythopolis in the New Testament, it is likely that Jesus stopped there on His journey through the Decaplois on His way to Galilee. It was fun to wander around the city; Roman architecture is just beautiful! Kymberly and I chose to climb to the top of the tel in the hot sun to see the remains of an Egyptian temple. There wasn't much of the temple left, but the view from the top of the tel was beautiful.

Our next stop was at a place on the edge of Nazareth: Nazareth Village. The site was set up as a sort of tribute to the Nazareth that would have existed in the First Century AD. It reminded me a lot of Neot Kedumim, a site we had visited earlier in the semester near Jerusalem; we didn't participate in or have any hands-on experiences, though. We mostly just listened to our guide and took some pictures. It took me a bit to connect why Nazareth was so important, why I should care what life was like there 2,000 years ago, but then I remembered something. Mary and Joseph were both from Nazareth; Jesus Christ grew-up in Nazareth. This epiphany opened the experience to a testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and of the reality of his life. From this site, we entered into the actual city Nazareth. What once had been a small farming village nestled in the hills of Lower Galilee is now a thriving metropolis with traffic like you would not believe. We slowly made our way through the streets to Basilica of the Annunciation: a basilica to commemorate the announcement of the Christ Child to the Virgin Mary. The Basilica of the Annunciation was built in the mid-Twentieth Century AD by the Roman Catholic Church, preserving the remains of former Crusader, Byzantine, and Christian churches and synagogues from the Third to the Twelth Centuries AD. The current basilica is home to art work (mostly mosaics) donated from countries around the world of the Madonna and Child. It was fairly dark inside the basilica, as most are, but it was beautiful. The architecture, the art work captured my eyes and camera lens quickly.

We left Nazareth bound for Mount Arbel, located on the east of the Sea of Galilee, just north of Tiberias. The only biblical reference to Mount Arbel is found in Hosea 10:14, using it as a symbol of Assyria's destruction of the Divided Monarchy of Israel from 733 to 722 BC. The caves in the northern clifffaces were used twice as military hideouts; the first time by Judah against the Seleucids in 160 BC. The sane caves were used by the Hasmoneans when / !6 Gerid the Great tried to consolidate his power over his tributary realm in 37 BC. After the Sexond Revolt in 135 AD, Arbel became a Jewish center, featuring a yeshiva as well as a synagogue. Mount Arbel provides a vantage point of most of the Sea of Galilee and its surrounding cities and ports. The view was beautiful; the wind was blowing. It was definitely the wrong day to wear a skirt! It was constantly flying up; Maralyn Monroe (or Betty Boop, even) would be so proud of me! I ended up getting a popsicle on the way back to the bus; it was a great choice!

The buses pulled into the Ein Gev Resort - our living quarters while in Galilee - at around six o'clock in the evening. The resort is owned and run by the Ein Gev Kibbutz one kilometer up the road. So beautiful. I am staying in a two room bungalow with Wayna Chow, Elise Beckstead, and Ashton Graff; it's going to be a blast! I am sleeping on the top bunk and sharing a room with Elise; I practically jumped onto the bed to secure it as my own! I haven't slept in a bunk bed for years. Dinner was delicious. The first thing you see when you walk into the dining hall is dessert, so obviously we all got dessert first! My mama would be so proud of me! With dinner over, we met as a group for Fanily Home Evening...on the beach!! Hahaha. :) I ended up sitting on the ground, leaning up against Jarom's legs as he tickled and massaged my back; nothing could have been better. A short thought was shared and we all dispersed.

I gathered up my scriptures to sit on the beach and read while watching the sunset. Can you think of a better way to end a day? Galilee is absolutely beautiful. It is going to be an amazing ten days. I can feel it.Galilee, here I come.