Day 18: Our Last Field Study

Today was basically our day to do whatever we hadn't done yet! (Which is really a lot of things...but we tried to hit a few more hot spots). Aubrey basically planned a great day for us.

First, we headed out to Samaria! This was a really neat opportunity that groups usually do not get to do. We drove up Mt. Gerizim. On our way up the mountain, we passed through a small Samaritan village. About 1/2 of the entire Samaritan population lives here (which is only 300 people!) They also have a place where they perform sacrifices during the Passover. That was interesting to see... I didn't realize that people still do that.

When we reached our outlook, we had a great view of Tirzah. This was also the location of ancient Shechem, and where the well of the Samaritan woman was. Down in Tirzah, we could also see Palestinian refugee homes. It definitely looked like a very crowded area where lots of turmoil occurs. This was not a place for us to go down and see...too dangerous! Aubrey taught us about the ancient city of Shechem. We read from Genesis 33 about how Jacob bought land here. In general, we also talked about the region of Samaria, and how Ahab built a temple to Baal here. The thing I enjoyed most about this site was when we read the blessings out loud from Gerizim. These were from Deuteronomy 27, 28, and 30. We were at the spot from where the tribes read them! How cool is that.

After our time in Samaria, we made our way over to Shiloh in the remote hills of Ephraim. We read from Joshua 18-22, about how the Isralites brought the Ark of the Covenant here! Crazy! We had a while to explore the land. That is always lots of fun! The land was nicely terraced, and we could see multiple hills and valleys for miles on end. We also found a tunnel thing that I crawled through...definitely got a little dusty! There was a beautiful almond tree there that was in bloom as well. And lots of poppies everywhere!

We had our last field lunch : (. I am definitely going to miss the pita and hummice!

After Shiloh, we were on our way back to Jerusalem. We made a stop at the Holocaust museum. I had previously been to the one in Washington D.C., and was looking forward to how this one would be different. We were given 2 hours to walk through the museum; although this first seemed like a lot of time, I am sure we could have used more! I definitely went into this museum with a different perspective as I better understood the situation with the Jews in Israel, and how the Holocaust is directly related to this. There were lots of videos to watch, including interviews of Holocaust survivors. The museum was great to see, but definitely a sober way to end our day.
Here is a picture of the Taylor group, along with Aubrey and Vernon.

Tonight for dinner, a few of us Taylor students decided to go out into the Old City! We went to this restaurant called "The Gate" and tried shawmalah which is this turkey thing with veggies and spices and stuffed in a pita. It was pretty delicious!

This evening, we had a meeting with Dr. and Mrs. Wright, the head directors of this program. They provided us with some delicious treats, and talked to us more about JUC and its history. Dr. Wright came to Israel for the first time on the same trip that I am currently on..."during the Iron Age II" he says. They have been living in Israel for the past 13 years or so, and their son currently goes to Taylor!

For the remainder of the evening, a group of us began studying for our final exam tomorrow. We have to be able to read a variety of passages from the Bible and match them up with certain routes/geographical features, etc. It is going to be difficult!

At this point, it is time for bed! Thanks for following my blog!