My Birthday in Galilee [Thursday, October 18, 2012]

 This is John, Katie, and I spelling out COC which are the initials of our church, Church of the Canyons. This is at an aqueduct near Caesarea.

This past week, the group and I were in Galilee. We spent one night in Nazareth, another night camping on the Akhziv Beach, and 5 nights in Galilee at the En Gev Holiday Resort. My birthday occurred on day 5 of our Galilee trip, but day 3 of actually staying in En Gev.

At the beginning of the day we hiked through the Nahal Zevitan, but best of all we cliff jumped for like an hour and it was so much fun! On the hike up to the cliffs where we jumped, I tripped so many times, but thankfully I always tripped onto a big fat rock so I didn’t plummet over the side of the cliff. Cliff jumping was a birthday present in and of itself. I loved it so much and just took advantage of every moment. There was a small cliff and a medium height cliff and both were fun to jump off! I loved the thrill of falling through the air!

After cliff jumping, I, surprisingly, wasn’t worried about my hair being crazy messy and frizzy so when Zach asked me for my hairtie, I gave it to him and watched him do a funny ponytail. Katie and I made sure it looked presentable haha. We ate lunch by the place we were originally supposed to hike. They made Em (Emalee, my roommate) and I go first in line. It was both of our birthdays together! I turned 20 and she turned 21. We both agreed that it was nice to have another person with the same birthday as you because everything is so much less awkward because you get to do the awkward things that people make you do together.

I almost fell backward out of my seat at the picnic table at lunch. That would have been bad. They had lunchmeat sandwiches and nutella. So yummy! We also went up onto a tell that day but I’m not really sure what the name of the tell was. I was super tired but I was also having a ton of fun! After that, we went over and tubed down the Jordan River. The above picture is Claire, Katie, and I right before we tubed down the Jordan River. When going down the river, my tube got caught in a tree at the beginning and I went under and came up coughing like crazy. I’m glad I didn’t die. As you can tell, weird scary experiences were a big part of day.

After we got out of the Jordan River, we went over to a spot that was pretty close to where we got out and we ran off the cliff right by into the water. It was so much fun! It was the first time I have really run since I got hurt. Sure it hurt but I have missed running soooo much! I went off four times and each time was just more fun!

When we got back, I swam in the Sea of Galilee with some people than got out to get ready for dinner. I also was able to play cards for like 5 minutes somewhere in there. We packed our lunches for the next day before heading off to our dinner. I was so thankful for our food in Galilee. It was such a blessing!

At dinner, I sat across from Em with the Montoya-Ortegas, Abe, and Zach closeby. That night they have ice cream and coffee for our birthday and Em and I had so much fun! After the party with everyone, the girls pulled us aside for a special birthday party that they had planned for both of us. It was one of the sweetest things ever! The party had yummy goodies and every girl just said things that blessed both of us! I loved my birthday and later that night we swam in the Sea of Galilee again! Galilee was amazing and I love IBEX. Sure there have been times where I’m not on cloud 9 here, but for the most part I just love all the experiences and I love sharing it with everyone! This week we had 2 days of classes and today was our 1^st of 3 days of archaeological excavations. Today one of the archaeologists told me that it must not be my first time excavating and was surprised when I told him it was my first time. I was shocked because I totally thought I would be failing at the archaeological digging, but he thought I was doing really well! Yay! It will be a fun week!

This is Kaitlyn and I last week in Caesarea Philippi which is where Peter witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God!

Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur [Sunday, September 16 to Tuesday, September 25, 2012]

Okay so now that there is a small lull in life here at IBEX, I am excited to blog again. I’m going to try to blog more consistently but life has been crazy over the past week or so. It started on Sunday September 16 with Rosh Hashanah. We had a free day and then at night was when the fun started. We ate hot dogs and yummy food such as apple crisp down in IBEX park before going up to the Miklat to watch the second half of Fiddler on the Roof. After Fiddler, I was really craving some good food and the tradition here is to eat apples with honey on Rosh Hashanah, so we decided to get John’s knife and clean it so that we could cut up some apples and have a Rosh Hashanah party! It was so much fun! Then I stayed up talking with a few of my friends and just having a good time! It was such a good day!

On Monday, we had a Land and Bible test which I was very relieved to get done. After the test,

On Tuesday, we had women’s Bible study and I am just thankful over and over again for the blessing that the older women in IBEX are to me! Then since it was our day, my room cleaned the bathroom! We had some classes and then because there were no tests in the imminent future, we played volleyball after dinner! It was so much fun! Sadly, I hurt my knee and so I’m just hoping it gets better soon and that nothing is seriously wrong with it.

On Wednesday, we did a field study in Benjamin. We went to places like Emmaus Nicopolis, Nebi Samuel, Jericho, Michmash, and many other places. Also, Jericho is the lowest city in the world! I was excited that we could go there! It is also where Joshua and the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho in Joshua 6 and God caused the walls to fall down. Also, We were able to walk up many stairs near Jericho and go to an old Byzantine church. The way that we got to those stairs is the best part! We rode in the Jericho Cable Cars(pictured here)! It was such a blast! I absolutely love the random exciting things that happen here!

On Thursday, I had a day that was pretty full of classes. But, it was my two favorite classes: Regional Studies and Jewish Thought and Culture! Though I absolutely love all my classes here, those are the best because they are so interesting and exciting! Regional Studies is the advances hiking class that 18 other students and I are in! There are only 6 girls in the class, so it is pretty exciting to be one of them! They are the girls pictured below.

On Friday, we had Land and the Bible class plus a quiz! I was glad when that was over. Then, we played Ultimate Frisbee, had Chapel Band practice, and Kabbalat Shabbat. In other words, we had Shabbat dinner and had chapel!

On Saturday, we went to church in Jerusalem and went to the Old City afterward.

On Sunday, we had a Regional Studies hike all day and it was also daylight savings here so we got an extra hour of sleep. This hike was so cool because we were able to go back to a place that we had briefly seen on Wednesday. This picture is of the girls in Regional in the possible site for Rachel's(the wife of Jacob) burial. We walked from Geba to Ein Parat. We were able to walk through the Pass which is mentioned in 1 Samuel 14 where Jonathan goes up and defeats the Philistines. What was really cool is we reenacted something like unto what that battle would have looked like. I was a Philistine. The coolest part is we did what Jonathan did which was to walk from Geba and through the Pass. It was such a cool experience. Right now, almost the entire group is on a continuation of that hike (09-30-12) but because of my knee I had to skip out on this one. I hope to go on all the other hikes throughout the semester! Also, Ein means spring, so at Ein Parat we were able to swim in the spring and there were a bunch of fish in there who nibbled our toes! It was so much fun!

On Monday, we went into Jewish Thought and Culture and something was weird. Usually our professor is there quite early and he was not there, nor did he come within the first 15 minutes of class. Then, they announced that he was sick and there would be no class. I really hoped that he would be fine because he is such a sweet man, but I was very thankful for a day off from class! I utilized my time to get some studying in! On Monday night, we had a lecture from a Rabbi who told us about the Documentary Hypothesis (JEPD), which is a 4 author theory as to how the Pentateuch was written. He explained to us why it is no longer a credible hypothesis. By the way, the Pentateuch is the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Then afterward, we went to reception and got ice cream!

On Tuesday, we had Women’s Bible study and one class, Land and the Bible. Then we had lunch and I went back to my room to get some studying done. We cleaned the dorm (it was my room’s day to clean) and were very happy to have a clean wing again. Once this was done, we changed out our towels and sheets. As I was changing the cover on my comforter, I realized that I had put the comforter in the sideways and so the cover was too long. I thought about fixing it and the next thing I know, my roommate waking me up for dinner! The nap felt so good!

We went down to dinner; this is an important dinner for two reasons. First, it was made by our administrative assistants so it was chili and cornbread with honey and other amazing foods, and second it was the last meal we would have before eating after sundown the next night. After sundown on Tuesday the holiday of Yom Kippur started, which is a day of fasting and remembrance. It is the day when in the Jewish mind the book of life is closed. This means that they are repenting of their sins and it is their last opportunity to try to make things right with God in hopes that their name will be written in the book of life for the next year. The concept is that if you die in that year, then your name was not written in the book of life and you did not repent well enough of your sins. It is quite different from the book of life that our names are written in. I am so thankful for that!

For the IBEX student body, Yom Kippur has been a day of fasting and prayer while we remember the goodness and faithfulness of God. I personally have been reminded of dependence upon God and have been thankful for His constant provision in my daily life. He is so good! Even if He did not provide, He would still remain good. Also, through my knee being hurt, it has constantly been humbling me and teaching me dependence upon the Lord. I have never really had an injury and I am quite independent in many areas of my life. I truly believe that God has been and will continue to teach me dependence upon Him through this injury and throughout the remainder of my life!
ps. these are my roommates and I! They are great! This is when we were getting ready to go onto the Temple Mount on the 12th of September!

Shabbat! Fiddler on the Roof! [Saturday, September 15, 2012]

Today was so great! We stayed on the Moshav and had Church with the congregation that meets here! It was really nice to go to another Church too! We had a wonderful service and learned about God’s peace and provision. After Church, they had jam at the back so we were able to take a small jar. The cool part is that earlier this week, we were given honey and now we have been given jam! It is super exciting! YUM!

Well after a little bit we were called down to IBEX Park for lunch and we had pizza! It was so yummy and it was fun to just hang out with friends! At lunch they had bananas and I was so excited because that is one of the things that I have been craving! It was soooo good!

After lunch I headed down to the library to get some studying done! It was actually the first time that I had studied on Shabbat because we are usually gone the whole day, so it was interesting to do work. After studying we went to dinner which happened to be later than expected because the caf did not want us in there at that time, but it was so good and we were stuffed afterward.

Then, one of our professors had invited us all over to his house for dessert and games so we walked a ways to his house and had a great time there and played a fun trivia game! Sadly, the other team won by one point but we were neck and neck the whole way!

When we got back to the Moshav, we went to the Miklat for Saturday Night Live and watched Fiddler on the Roof! I had so much fun singing along to the songs with my friends and having an amazing time! We only watched half the movie and tomorrow night we get to watch the second half! Also, tomorrow night starts Rosh Hashanah, so we get to have a BBQ and ring in the New Year! I’m so excited for our first Jewish Holiday and also to watch the second half of Fiddler which happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies! It is so exciting to watch it in Israel as well! I have been trying to read some of the Hebrew words in the movie, but failing. Well after that, we just hung out for a little while before heading to bed! Thankfully we have a free day tomorrow and then the holiday starts! Yay! And goodnight! =]

-Susan

Beach Day!! [Friday, September 14, 2012]

[a group of us at the Pasta restaurant in Tel Aviv]

It was a great day! Arguably one of the best days of the semester so far! We started the day by getting on a bus and going to the city of Jaffa. This is where Peter, through the Lord’s strength, restored life to Dorcas and where Jonah got onto a boat to go in the opposite direction of Nineveh. So there were a few interesting things that happened there. We took some picture of the sea and saw a Roman Catholic Church as well. After that, we got back into the bus to go to Independence Hall which is where Israel was announced as a free state in 1948.

Once we took a picture in front of that building, we made our way over to a market where we would be having lunch! We went to an Italian restaurant called Pasta Bestah. That was our best attempt at reading the sign in Hebrew. We think the Bestah may mean Fresh. So like Fresh Pasta. But the food was amazing! I got fettuccini with Coconut Milk and Curry sauce. I completely downed the food and scraped my plate! After that, we just walked around the market and saw a lot of unique items for sale. They all looked pretty cool! Once we met up after the market, we walked to the beach.

All the way across the sand and to the water all I could think about was that I was about to enter the Mediterranean Sea! Could not believe it! The water was a warm 86 degrees and there was a huge sandbar so we could walk/swim over to some rocks and jump off! It was so much fun and we just enjoyed ourselves the whole day. We played games, volleyball, ate an amazing meal, and worshipped the Lord! Starting out Shabbat with Chapel on the Beach was so much fun! It was an amazing day and I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of it but I still stayed up and skyped my parents and hung out with friends! Great day! So thankful that we had a day off to just go to Tel Aviv and swim! Feeling so blessed to be here! Honestly, life here right now is so peaceful! I know that the news is saying crazy things and there definitely are crazy things going on, but we are on a secluded little campus having our Shabbat right now! It is an amazing country to be studying abroad in! Thank you for your prayers!

-Susan

Our third week in Israel! [Monday through Thursday, September 10-13, 2012]

Hey! So I know I haven’t posted for forever, but I am still here and alive! :) This week on Monday and Tuesday was mainly a day of classes and reading and library and studying. It has been a crazy week that came to an early end! It is Thursday night and the weekend for us because tomorrow is Beach Day! On Wednesday, which was yesterday, we went on a Jerusalem New Testament hike and saw many important archaeological sites and also visited the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock was really cool to see! It was a long day and it has definitely been a long week. Women’s Bible Study was Tuesday morning of this week and it was like exactly what I needed to hear. I had just been talking with my roommate about devotions that morning and then our topic in Bible Study was devotions! So funny and cool! God knew exactly what I needed to hear. It is a wonderful reminder to meditate on the Word of the Lord! It is definitely amazing to be in the Holy Land, which is the context of that Word, but if I am not in the Word then it is no good! So that is exciting and I am so glad to be with people who have the same desire to love and serve our risen Lord!

Today which is Thursday, we had a quiz in Archaeology and it is really interesting to learn about excavations and other such things that have taken place in this land over hundreds of years, but I must admit that I am glad the quiz is over. It is nice to just relax and breathe without worrying about information leaking out of my brain.

I am daily blessed by the relationships I have made in IBEX and love spending time with each and every one of them! I am truly happy and thankful that I can say that! We have an amazing group and all of us have been talking about Beach Day all week! Everyone is going: the IBEX group, our professors, their families, and maybe even other people! Cannot wait! God has richly blessed each and every one of us! Hodu l’Adonai ki tov!

-Susan

Shabbat and Regional Studies Hike Day [Saturday and Sunday, September 8 and 9, 2012]

                                             [this is Ein Limon which many of us swam in]

So Shabbat was so fun! We went to church and sang worship music in Hebrew. One of the coolest things is singing worship songs in Hebrew! Especially when English lyrics or Bible verses are there so you know what they are singing! I just love being able to worship with people of other cultures! It reminds me that God has chosen people to be His own from every tribe, tongue, and nation. We also sang My Jesus I love thee in English!

After that, Amy, Catie, and I helped out in the Children’s Sunday School classes and it was so fun! I also loved getting to know the Sunday School teacher who was originally from Holland.

After Church, we went into the Old City and I was in a group with Katie, John, Micaiah, and Jason! It was so much fun! We just wanted around everywhere and made it into every quarter :D At times I definitely felt like we were doing a warm-up hike for our Regional Studies hike the next day! I was able to buy a wrap-around skirt in the Old City which I am so excited about! I have been hoping to find one so yay! I really love Shabbat and it is interesting because our days get mixed up since we usually go to church on Sunday. I definitely have to remind myself multiple times that I don’t have class the next day!

After that we had Saturday Night Live! And this time we went to the Schlegel’s (one of our professors) and had burgers and fries and everything yummy! It was so good! Then, we played games and had dessert! It was such a fun night!

After their house I totally thought I was going to be heading off to bed. However, when we came up to our dorm, the whole group was outside. We ended up playing a game of nighttime Sardines in the Biblical Gardens! It was so much fun, despite the fact that my partner and I were the only ones not to find anyone haha. But two of the three times no one found the hiding person, so it wasn’t too bad of a track record! After that I did some homework and went to bed!

On Sunday, we woke up and went to breakfast then went down to the Miklat to make our lunches! I quickly got packed for our Regional Studies hike (I love that class!) and went over to reception to meet with the group! During the hike, we saw places like Kiriat-Yearim, a hill that supposedly had caves from the time of Bar Kokhba, Ein Limon(Lemon Spring) which I swam in, a British fortress, Tsuba Spring, a vineyard full of yummy grapes, and Sataf which was another spring. It was so fun and I enjoyed every minute of our 7 hour hike!

After the hike, we came to a restaurant as we were waiting for the bus to pick us up and Bill treated us all to Magnum bars! They were amazingly yummy! I think I have found the best kind even though it was just my second!

The bus came and picked us up and took us back to the Moshav where we actually ate a really good dinner and had really funny dinner conversations.

Once dinner was over I went back to my room to clean up after the hike and then studied until late. Once it was late, we went over to the classroom where our professor was hosting a football game watching party and watched the last part of an epic Minnesota Vikings game where they won in OT! Yay! I came back and went straight to bed! It has been a great past two days! I’m loving my time here and keep remember how blessed I am that God has allowed me to come and study in this amazing land!

Shabbat Shalom! [Friday, September 07, 2012]

Tonight Shabbat started! So, we have church tomorrow morning! But today we had Land and the Bible class at 8:00 am and then I spent the rest of the day in the library. I am going to Italy for travel study break, but right now the hard part is finding good ticket prices. We were going to book them today but couldn’t find any, so we will be looking again soon! Lunch was an hour later than usual, but it was partially American food! So yay!

After Lunch, I went back to the library and studied until it was time to get ready for Shabbat! At 6, the whole group and staff went to the sanctuary (kind of like a replica of a tabernacle) and took our group picture!! So exciting! Then it was dinner and chapel! Chapel band had our first opportunity to lead worship and it was fun! I hope we did well :) but from what I heard it was good!

Chapel was so good and we talked about Isaiah and did some word analysis and saw that the idea of the root springing forth is seen throughout Isaiah and throughout the Bible. It is seen in Jesus coming forth from the rod of Jesse as well as the Word of the Lord coming forth out of His mouth. It was a lot about connecting Scripture and seeing things that we had never noticed. It was also just really cool to read verses and remember that God is Creator and He created the world with His words! He is all-powerful!

After chapel, a bunch of people from our group went up to reception and got ice cream! It was so yummy! And then we went down to the Miklat and played a game called King Elephant! It was quite fun! Once that game was over, it was definitely time for sleep! I’m so ready to get a good night of sleep! Shabbat Shalom!

-Susan

Thursday, Longest class day of the week! [Thursday, September 6, 2012]

Today was a fun day! I was able to do homework and turn in a paper and be in class for 6 hours. The day started off with Regional Studies Class followed by Biblical Archaeology for 2 hours. At lunch, we had a dorm leaders meeting (Yay, for some reason I along with three others in the group were selected to be dorm leaders, but I’m excited!) and it’s just so much fun getting to know the professors and staff better! Then after lunch, we had 2 more hours of Archaeology class.

After class, I was able to go to the library and study for a while and then go to dinner. It was pretty good and they had dessert which is very rare in the caf. After dinner, we had chapel band practice and I’m super excited for it. Hope it goes well and that God is glorified! I am so encouraged by my fellow students and their love for the Lord! God loves us more than we could ever deserve and in Him we have been forgiven! Yay! Well that was today! It was a fun day and tomorrow is mainly a library study day until Shabbat tomorrow evening! Goodnight!

-Susan 

Dead Sea Scrolls and Shopping [Wednesday, September 5, 2012]

Today was so cool! We went to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and saw a huge model of how Jerusalem looked in 66 A.D. The above picture is of the Temple, Temple Mount and fortress in the model. We also saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other artifacts which are housed there. I must admit, it was so exciting to see the scrolls that so many people talk about and that are from so long ago! After the museum, we headed over to a park and had pizza delivered. It was so amazing! They had Domino’s pizza with spicy pepperoni and another with feta cheese. It was so good (and non-kosher)!!!

After lunch, we headed over to a marketplace and shopped around for a couple hours before heading back to the Moshav to relax and eat dinner. The shopping was fun but unfortunately I was unable to find anything worth buying.

After dinner, it was library study time and thankfully I got a lot done! Tomorrow is a full day of classes, but I’m excited for the classes that I have! Having three classes is like a full load of homework right now, so it will be crazy when the fourth class starts. But, I’m also really excited to get that Jewish Thought and Culture started next week! Well today was so much fun! Going into Jerusalem just never gets old! I can’t believe that we just get to go into Jerusalem! Thankful for all the opportunities that are afforded us while we are here! Also it has been so much fun developing relationships with all the people in our group! They are such a blessing!  Hodu l’Adonai ki tov! [Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!]  :)

-Susan

Fun Day at the Moshav. [Tuesday, September 4, 2012]

Today I got up, got ready, and went to breakfast! I was so excited because it was a free day and also because Bible Study started! Bible Study was so much fun! Five women that are either professors’ wives or secretaries host it and we just introduced ourselves today and talked a little bit about Godly advice. Then, we got split up into groups of 2 or 3 students per leader for a smaller prayer group which will meet each week! I’m so excited for the people in my group and I’m excited for what we will learn! After Bible study, my dormmates and I cleaned the bathrooms and our rooms, and we are so happy that everything is clean!!

Once the room was clean my roommate Christine and I were just innocently sitting in our room doing our homework and all of a sudden I heard her squeal. I looked over and there was a massive wasp just flying around in our room. We both screamed and ran from the room! We went over to the boy’s dorm and one of the guys told us that wasps like to be outside so we should go open our window. The only problem was that we had to open the window from the inside and the wasp was inside our room. I decided to go into our room and got most of the way in but ran out when I heard a loud buzz (I couldn’t see where the wasp was). We went and looked at our window from the outside and were able to locate the wasp. I told Christine to stay outside and let me know if it came toward me. We succeeded in opening the window but when I went back outside, I realized that the curtain was in the way of the wasp so I would have to go back inside and move the curtain if we wanted to get this wasp out of our room. It was scary knowing that it could sting me but I moved the curtain back and thankfully it quickly found its way out from behind the curtain and out the window into the open air. We closed it up and GOODBYE WASP!!!

Once this craziness was over, I headed to the library for some quality study time which lasted until dinnertime. Once dinner was over, I went up and talked to some people then played volleyball for a couple hours! I figured I had earned it after a long day of doing homework in the library. Actually for one of the games, John, Jonny, Zach and I played on a team against four Israeli’s from the Moshav and beat them! We were so excited!!! Yay!

When we walked back from volleyball, there was a line dance session going on outside by dorm and so we joined in and had so much fun! We proceeded to have a fun night of hanging out and going on walks, and I am just enjoying spending time with all the people in our group! The Lord is teaching me to live well for Him and to shine His light in every way possible! The topic for my prayer small groups is boldness and my first thought was that I am a pretty bold and crazy person, but honestly the one thing that I need to work on regarding boldness is the boldness to share my faith! I’m so excited for what the Lord is teaching me and has already taught me with the daily interactions with His Word and with fellow believers! Thank you for your prayers and thank you for reading this as I get to have this awesome adventure!

-Susan