i love israel!!!

Yesterday, Shabbat, was a BEATUTIFUL day!!! Check out my pictures on my picture page to see... In the afternoon I went on an optional walk to a spring on Kibbutz Tzuba with two Jewish History teachers, Ruven and Shira. Ruven has lived on Tzuba since 1979 and has discovered much of the archeological evidence on the kibbutz. The spring on Tzuba was where everyone bathed until the 1950's and the water is amazing.. we drank out of it. Ruven also uncovered the oldest painting of John the Baptist in a cave in Tzuba!! There are pictures of the tunnel we walked through also!!

Today in Jewish History we began studying the period of the Second Temple. We had a Babylonian festival and had to dress up like Babylonians!! We had amazing food like hummus, pita, israeli cookies, all different juices, etc... .yumyumyum...!!!

And, now i'm going to sleep!!! Shalom!

On Monday evening we went to the Commissioner's Palace, (the British Commissioner), which overlooks all of Jerusalem.  We could see the 3 main valleys, the Mt. of Olives, the walls of the Old City and the new dividing wall. For dinner, we went to Yehuda St., not the same as Ben Yehuda.

On Tuesday, we had a half day Tiyul in the City of David, or Old Jerusalem. This was the first time we saw the Old City in the day and it is amazing!!!!!!!! Of course, this was a learning trip, so we brought all of our notes and learned about the rules of the Kings Saul, David, and Solomon. We also saw the different parts of Jerusalem. Within the old city there are 4 quadrants and we always walk through the Armenian section. We also were very close to the Arab section  of Israel which is definetely the poorer and less built up area.

The weather here has been crazy. It was supposed to snow yesterday, but instead we just had hail. But, it has been cold, actually probably colder than home is now!! It's been a very hard week with trips and then a huge Jewish History test this morning. I studied for 4 hrs. last night and the test was 3 hrs. long this morning!!!

For Shabbat, our group split and went to three different congregations. I went to a community outside Jerusalem that doesn't really have an actual synagogue, just a small building where a few people pray, but they have a rabbi and it was an interesting service. It actually reminded me a lot of services at home, except pretty much all in Hebrew!!

Tonight, I went to the infamous Friday night activity of the club on the kibbutz. It is a hang out area for teens on the kibbutz, so basically it's a dance partayyy!!!! and there are strobe lights and such, so we dance until about 1:30 AM or so. It's a lot of fun and there are Israelis there that are my age.

Today we went to Sataf, an ancient agricultural area right near Kibbutz Tzuba. This is where terrace farming began. From the top, we had a clear view of Hadassah Hospital where Sharon is currently, and of the surrounding area. We climbed through the well area which was a tunnel about 2 ft. by 2 ft... a little tight!! The landscape is beautiful as the almond trees blossom, and everything is turning green.

 After Sataf, we returned to Tzuba where we hiked into some areas we hadn't been before. I have mentioned the Arab village before that sits right near Tzuba and we walked so that we could see right down to it. It was on that ledge where Saul became King of Israel. We also climbed in one of the burial chambers that Ruven, a jewish history teacher here, found.

Immediately after lunch, we drove into Jerusalem and went to the Commissioners palace which is where the British were stationed. There is an amazing view of Jerusalem from there with a clear distinction between Eastern and Western Jerusalem. We saw the separation wall and could pick out other land forms and buildings such as the Mt. of Olives, The Dome of The Rock, and Mt. Zion.  After spending time there, we went to Ben Yehuda St. to shop. Don't worry! We were given specific areas that we were allowed to be in!!

We just had a commander from the army talk to us about Gadna, the week long army experience. We are going in the end of February and will be introduced to the Israeli Army, techniques, et c...

oh yeah, and everyone, please look at my picture page  http://israeleie.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album01 because it is easier for me to upload pictures onto there and label them!

Thanks!!

Today we travelled to the Tel Gezer, located in the foothills between the Judean Mts, and Tel Aviv(&the sea). This Tel contains remnants of ancient Canaanite civilization and is in the area that Abraham and his family lived. The Canaanites were very talented people for the time and lived right on roads so that they could trade with other civilizations.

The trips are part of our Jewish History class, so as we go, we take notes and learn about the area we are visiting. The weather has been really nice here-around 60 and sunny-except it is cloudy and drizzly today. There's not much else to tell!!

Yesterday I had the most amazing experience of my life. We went to the Kotel(Wailing Wall, Western Wall) around 18:00 as it was getting dark.  We entered the Old City in silence and could hear the Muslim call to prayer and the Orthodox Jews praying. We stopped above the Kotel and did Havdalah, overlooking the Kotel and the Dome of the Rock. The Kotel is divided into two sides, one for women and one for men. There were many ultra-Orthodox Jews praying at the Kotel and chanting, but it was hard to see the mens side. We had 20 min. to spend by the wall, of course in silence. There were many notes and small crumbles of paper stuffed in the wall, carrying messages from the many visitors and those who believe when the Messiah comes, they will get their messages. It is hard to describe the power of the Kotel and the constant rumbling of chants and prayers. We walked backwards from the Wall because it is not alright to turn your back on it.                                     After the Kotel, we went to a mall, Malcha I believe. And, had the BEST Felafel!!!!!!!! OMGoodness it was amazing and my first taste of real Israeli felafel. There were dried fruit and nut stands, candy stands, somewhat like a market!! It was fun and of course we had to go through security to enter the mall and had Nir, our security guard in the mall near us.