Galilee

Once again I apologize for my lack of blogs towards the end of my time in the Holy Land. I have finally gotten to my post about Galilee after being home for a week!

Towards the end of July we headed up to the Northern end of Israel for a 10-day trip to Galilee. We stayed at a kibbutz on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and while there we attended classes, went on field trips, and spent as much time as we could playing in the Sea. Some of the places we visited include Capernaum, Caesarea Philipi, Gamla, Hazor, Dan, Beth Shean, the Mt. of Beattitudes and Tiberias. The 10 days that we spent at Galilee were amazing and I had a blast!

Our first stop was Caesarea Maritime on the coast of the Mediterranean


Ancient Aqueduct
Tel Megiddo
The Church of the Anunciation in Nazareth
Synagogue in Nazareth
This is a sign we saw in Nazareth. Apparently we are all losers.
This is the boat we rode across the Sea of Galilee on
Sea of Galilee
2,000 year old fishing boat found in the Sea of Galilee
Mt. of Beattitudes Capernaum
Kursi. This is where Christ put the legion of devils into the swine.
We ate a fish restaurant with fish caught fresh from the Sea of Galilee. I was too chicken to order the fish for myself, but tried some of it and it was actually really good.
Galilee roomies! Katherine, Jenna, Kristen and Me!
This was a fall that we hiked to on one of our free afternoons
Everybody act like Jonah!
We saw some Russian basketball players at the Jordan river on Shabbat and asked them if we could get a pic
This was our apartment for the trip
Jenna's and My room
Hooray for apartment 127!
Me and Dan at Tel Dan
Me, Jenna and Brother Skinner at Caesarea Philipi
This is how we feel when we are at the Gates of Hell... right behind us
This may just look like I am missing half my arm and awkwardly leaning my body against the wall but in reality I am shooting an arrow at Nimrod's Castle.
The Kibbutz we stayed at was right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee
Akko
El-Jazzar Mosque in Akko
Hookah shop in Akko. Hookah is what everyone in Israel smokes.
Crazy kids jumping off the wall into the sea
Sunset on the Sea of Galilee

Bonfire on the beach with Tiberias in the background across the Sea.
I like this picture because Jenna is in one of the classic field trip positions.
There were cactus plants all over
There was this circle at Mt. Carmel that pointed to all the notable places in Israel.
Bahai Gardens in Haifa
I really don't know what we are doing. I think that we were just sick of the traditional poses.

Blogger Block

I just want to apologize for not updating my blog. After we got back from Galilee, the internet seemed to have took a turn for the worse and so I haven't been able to upload pictures. Still, no excuse for not writing anything.

These past few weeks I have just been trying to soak up every second that I have left here in Jerusalem. Now we are down to one week left! I can't believe how this summer has flown by. I have learned and grown so much and I am so grateful that I have had this opportunity.

This week we are all back in study mode. We have two finals and a paper left before we are all through with our school work. It has been hard for me to focus on my studies, but I hope that I can pull out some decent grades. I have been procrastinating my study time and so tonight I am going to pay the price by setting up camp in the Shekel Shaq, or some other study room, with my gummies, liter of Coke and Ali Baba candy bars. Wish me luck!

Other news includes our field trip to Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, and the Dead Sea. Out of all the places that we went, I would have to say that our time at the Dead Sea was the most fun. We floated on top of the water (it feels to strange!) and took exfoliating mud baths which left our skin feeling nice and smooth.

Life here in Jerusalem has been great and I wish that all of you could come and experience this Holy Land for yourselves. I can only hope that when I get home I can sufficiently represent the significance, history and beauty of this land through the sharing of my experiences here.