Day 11: Dead Sea Field Study

Today was definitely a full day with a lot of fun-filled events! I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Let me explain...

Our first stop was Masada. We drove through the beautiful desert to get there. Masada was a buffer zone of the Judean Wilderness. Herod had built this site as a security and guard for the eastern frontier. Herod definitely made quite the resort for himself...complete with a swimming pool and lots of bath houses. The Romans conquered Masada in 74 AD, and we climbed up the Roman siege ramp to get to the top of the fortress (that took about 10 minutes). At the top of the mountain, the fortress was beautiful and extended far out along the land. From the top of this site, we were also able to see the Dead Sea! (You can see it in the picture of me and Mal). After exploring the ruins, we walked down the other side of the mountain on the "Snake Path." This took about 45 minutes. Long, windy, and rocky. Crazy. Some people were using this path to get up the mountain...I don't know what they were thinking. Our legs were definitely shaky as we were getting closer to the bottom of the mountain.

Next stop...the Dead Sea! (lowest place on earth) We stopped at a more touristy location. Not many people there though...again, it's the winter season. The beach was pretty rocky, and not very long. The rocks along the water were all crystalized with the salt. They were beautiful! Finally, we began walking in the water! It was a lot clearer than I had expected, and not very cold. We walked in and then just kind of sat back when we were deep enough...and there we were...floating! Aubrey warned us that it is not the best idea to put your face in the water because your eyes will burn...in some cases, people have gone blind. It was funny to basically sit in a chair in the water with your feet floating. You could turn over on your stomach, but then it was hard to not put your face in the water. Trust me...it was a crazy feeling. And a lot of fun! The hardest part was swimming back towards the beach as we had drifited a ways. You couldn't really use your legs because then you would splash people. Not a good idea. Finally I found a method...definitely a good upper body workout! We looked pretty funny. When we got out of the water, our bodies were really slimy. It was pretty gross. Even after rinsing off, I felt very salty! But my skin was oddly smooth at the same time.

Lunch...any ideas what we ate?

The next stop we had for the day was En Gedi. This was an absolutely beautiful site! God's creation is truly a blessing for all of us to enjoy. En Gedi was the site where David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but instead he cut off part of his robe. This may have happened in any of the caves that I had passed. We walked along streams and waterfalls. There were also rock badgers (they looked like baby bears) and imeks (deer like animals) wandering around. They were definitely immune to us humans as we were able to get really close! I really enjoyed En Gedi...it was probably one of the most beautiful sites I have ever been to.

Last stop of the day...Qumran. Here is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found! It was amazing to see the places where the archaeologists discovered many of the books of the Old Testament. What amazing historical evidence of the Bible! The craziest thing about this site was that I basically scaled a mountain! We climbed up super high along the rock and rubble, and went in a couple different caves along the way (Try and find four people in the picture! We are right in the middle). We got to a peak and the view was incredible (all views are incredible in Israel...I think I say that every time). We made sure to make it down before it got too dark. Basically, we were hiking for about an hour and 20 minutes.

After Qumran, we were on our merry way back to Jerusalem! Home sweet home. I didn't realize how much I had missed JUC.

Although we were exhausted, we ate dinner quickly and then headed back to the King of Kings church where we attended last Sunday. We participated in the young adult ministry. It was really great to talk with the people there and get to know them better. I also met a lot of people from the States! A wonderful message was given on forgiveness, and then we had an incredible time of worship. I absoutely LOVED it.

After church, we walked a while in the New City. Definitely a hoppin' place! We found gelato....mmmm.

It is now 1:33 AM and I have finally finished uploading everything! The trip we took was absolutely amazing. Tomorrow is another free day, and our Taylor group along with Aubrey and Vernon are walking to Bethlehem! (It is about a 5 mile walk....uphill most of the way). One of the guys on our trip has an Uncle who lives there and is cooking a meal for us, and is going to give us a personal tour of the city. I'm looking forward to it!

Anyway, I think I am one of the last people awake now. Time for bed! God is continuing to be faithful and is blessing me so much on this trip! No injuries...sickness...etc. Hope all is well! Talk to you soon!