Emily's Reel: day 1

This blog needs a soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9nqxLDSd5o

Read on!

How much adventure can one week hold? I threw my second week of April onto the scale. The needle spun around a couple times– landed on: A LOT.

Here we go:

The Jordan trip took up Saturday to Tuesday. Back in Jerusalem on Wednesday and... well, Wednesday was one of those days that went MIA. Next thing I know, it's 12:30AM and I'm crawling into bed. My eyes shut just in time for my alarm to off.

Check the clock.

What time is it?

ADVENTURE TIME!

What does adventure time look like?

The Jesus Trail! A three day, a 37.643 mile hike from Nazareth to Capernaum.

At 5:15 AM, with packs full of food (most notable: Cheerios. I love Cheerios.) and not enough clothes, five JUC’ers start walking to the Central Bus Station.

Hiking buddies:

Mitch!

Krissi

Robbie

Dan– He’s helped me fill this blog in with a few of his photos. Thanks bro!

The bus ride was the tetchiest part of the trip. I got off to a bad start at the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem– there was a crush of people waiting to load onto our bus to Afula. One of those folks shanghaied the Arizona I had in the side pocket of my pack. Jerk! Jesus says love your enemies, Emily’s flesh was telling them to go choke on Iced Tea. Jesus Trail, here I come.

Considering how, in the past, people have had difficulties making connections, we managed things pretty well. We did nearly miss the Nazareth bus– the driver whipped in and whipped out– but Robbie flagged him down and we ended up getting to Nazareth around 10AM, nearly two hours earlier than anticipated.

One of the first guys we saw in Nazareth. Promising start!

We checked out the church in Nazareth with our extra time. It's my favorite church in Israel so far because of the art in it. The architecture was meh, but the details... from the floor tiles, to mosaics from all over the world lining the walls– they all had different twists that were very engaging, playing with color, forms and materials. It wasn’t theologically appealing, but I enjoyed the expressionistic side of it.

Pieces lining the walls.

USA representing! again- theologically, not so much.

Probably my favorite moment of the day: while wandering the church grounds, these ladies asked us for a picture with them! We looked that good (reference Mitch)

And then it was time to get started. The hunt for the trail began. Once it began, it never really ended. These three days felt more like a scavenger hunt than a hike. Big kudos to the guys for their scouting techniques that kept us on the not-so-straight-or-narrow the whole time.

Brace yourselves. With a name like the Jesus Trail, I can only promise many awful puns through this entire narration.

Fazul Azar Inn– starting point.

I spy: something.... awkward!

(Actually, let’s not play that game. There are too many things to choose.)

Before we hit the trail: shout out to Moose! For the few who don’t know him, please fix that quickly and go to Gateway. Till then, Moose is a hiking veteran who has known me since I was a bump in momma’s belly. He gave me a fantastic hiking pack for Christmas (in October) and I got to legitimately* use it for the first time on the Jesus Trail. I baptized it on this trip [in sweat!]. Thank you!

And there we were. Following the trail! Spirits high! Life is good!

and 50 yards later....

Stairs. Lots of them.

First 5 steps: I’m excited I’m excited I’m excited!

20 steps later: I’m going to make it!

10 steps later: I’m still pretty excited.

8 steps later: I’m going to make it, but I won’t be excited.

2 steps later: I might not make it.

2 more steps later: Why am I doing this?

Hundreds of steps later: What is the significance of my life? Why am I here? Who am I? What’s the purpose in living?

After much wheezing, trial and tribulation- the TOP!

Whew

And on our way to Cana.

Robbie had this bag of crackers tied to his pack the whole time.

We lost the trail in Cana. Packs off, brows wrinkled, two scouts sent out and the rest of us praying for a multiplication trail markers. That didn’t happen, but in our moment of confusion, a local man came up to us. Struck up conversation, gave us water and sprite. Arab hospitality- I’m packing it in my suitcase.

He gave us directions to the church in Cana– the traditional site where Jesus turned water into wine (traditional, therefore most likely incorrect). We decided to just check the church out and along the way the Jesus Trail appeared again.

Mosque in Cana

Looking back over Cana and Nazareth (I think).

We kept trekking. The goal was to call it a night at a campground near Kibbutz Lavi.

B.B., dressing us as usual.

The campground was hard to find. Together with a German couple we'd met on the trail– Suzie and Gino (They were traveling together, but with "hot topic" status? A source of much mystery and speculation. I'm going to start a lot of rumors and from there let the truth spring up)– we started hunting for the campground.

Trying find the place in the dark... I was frustrated. It involved some perilous highway crossing,. Krissi’s life flashed before my eyes once, but she scurried across the road before the truck scurried over her. Lots marker hunting. Confusion. Gino was trying to help us with his more detailed map, but it was getting dark and I was feeling the 4 hours of sleep, a gazillion stairs, 15 miles of trail and not enough Cheerios in my belly at this point. I couldn't bring myself to care whether or not we found the site. I was so thankful when the guys agreed to give up and crash in a relatively flat spot.

We found a decent area, cleared the rocks out of the way (for the most part) and called it a night.

We didn’t bring a tent. Just rolled out a tarp threw some sleeping bags on top of it.

Overall a successful first day! A long day though– I think the hardest one for me. Fifteen miles is a typical day hike in the Adirondacks, but this was my first round with a 25+ lb pack. It was definitely more rigorous for the feet. But, it was worth it all because it meant that over a third of the trail was behind us and we had time to enjoy the best yet up ahead!

*I also used the hiking pack as a carry-on for the plane to Tel Aviv... Great life decision. Watching security’s look of confusion, transforming into frustration as they wrestled with straps and buckles. I told B.B. this morning that I wasn't vindictive, then I remembered this story and now I'll have to tell him that I lied.

Homestretch

We're hitting that time when "last" and "final" are going to start defining a lot of things in my future posts. I'm not ready. But, there they are anyway, unwelcome adjectives– I went on my final Physical Settings field study last week.

Wrapping up my studies on the land of Israel in Jordan!

Having a field study in Jordan shifted the rhythm of our studies a little bit. We spent a significant amount of time on the bus, accompanied by both a police officer and a Jordanian tour guide, as required by Jordanian law.

I decided immediately I did not like our tour guide, James. He was dismissive of Dr. Wright. The first and final strike for Emily. It worked out well for me, I happily spent more time exploring the ruins than I did with my listening ears tuned into the details.

Jordan has some incredible ruins. They surprised me– all along I'd been envisioning Jordan as a glorified beach, except no ocean. And camels instead of whales. When I actually stepped across the border, it looked just like!!!!!! Israel.

No a big difference, at all. Maybe more burkas. And a significant Roman footprint. Our first day there we stopped at the ruins of Umm Qais. The Sea of Galilee was just visible in the background.

Lunch time view

The Theater

Andrew demonstrating just how cozy those seats were at the top. (He's not exaggerating either, they were quality- original LA-Z-BOY.)

We wrapped up the day on the Tel of Ramoth Gildead. Not much to see-- except Camels! In their natural habitat (shout out to my dad.)

We stayed in Amman the first night. Exploring the city was so much fun. The guys were jazzed to find Mountain Dew in a grocery store near our hotel. I was excited to be in a Jordanian grocery store. I wandered around the aisles, pretending I could read arabic thinking "Oh dang. I'm in a grocery store. In Amman. Real life is such a great place!"

Walking back to the hotel, Matt T. (now a legend in my mind, after this moment) spotted a Planet Donut from a distance. It takes a keen eye to scope out these opportunities. We all, like moths to a flame, walked towards that neon sign. We got there just in time, or maybe the man behind the counter just knows college kids well– we got a free box of donuts! And that's how I fell in love with Amman.

The next day we spent a little time in the Roman ruins of the city.

Spotted these at a museum in Amman: my next project when I get behind the wheel again. I can see it now: spinning up some of these, arm them with baking soda and vinegar. Prime equipment for 9- 11 year old boys...

Recipe for a great summer.

Our next stop was Jaresh: City of 1000 pillars. It was a Roman decapolis city... basically it had a lot of architectural fluff to impress the bedouins. (If only I could major in oversimplifying...)

Hippodrome at Jaresh

Tops of the pillars at Zeus’ temple

Theater

Running SloMo through 1/16 of the pillar population

After Jaresh, we peered from a scenic overlook of the Jabbok River into the landscape of some biblical sibling rivalry. It was the general area of where Jacob was afraid Esau was going to wipe him out (Gen 32 and 33 tells the story– it has a happy ending unlike many sibling rivalry stories. Just ask my sister.)

The Jabbok river.

Transjordan is Esau territory– he inherited the southern region of Edom. Petra-land!

For some reason, I didn’t take traditional photos of Petra. The camels.... The treasury... they didn’t make it on my memory card. All is not lost, if you want to see that stuff, watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Meanwhile, I did get a photo of this guy.

My hiking buddies for the day!

Dr. Suess landscape.

Petra was beautiful, but in a different way than the Adirondack scene. The whole southern region reminded me of the states in the south-west. It was like being in Arizona with a bedouin twist. There was no greenery– no trees or grass. No rivers or streams. Just rocks and sand and lots of dust in your teeth at the end of the day. The sandstone at Petra though... what a color palette.

We spent the last night right next to a Nabatean castle– the largest one in Jordan. We started off our last day there. It was a rainy morning and the whole castle was shrouded in fog.

Prime exploring environment.

We began our way towards our final stop at Mt. Nebo.

Stopped to look into the Arnon Wadi along the way.

Mt. Nebo, where Moses had his glimpse into the promise land– the land he was forbidden to enter.

We wrapped up our final day of our final field study with his view.

Looking towards Gilead

The tip of the Dead Sea, with Judean Hills in the background.

We had our last lecture in the field on Mt. Nebo. Dr. Wright brought us back over the months we’d spent exploring Ancient Israel, from Dan to Be’er Sheba. Then he turned our minds towards plane tickets and summer plans. Pointed us towards home.

I wasn’t ready for that. I forgot that I still had a month left to say goodbye as I listened to Dr. Wright speak, feeling uprooted– like I was hopping on a plane tomorrow. After we took the last of our notes, I walked around the edge of the lookout, sick to my stomach.

I'm thankful now for that time to look back over the places I’d been– to think back on all the things this semester has held... what an incredible time to have tucked away. It’s been a good, good season. I’ll miss this so, so much. But it’s been worth it, I am willing to bear the goodbye pinch. And these next few weeks I have left is a good time to start saying goodbye and slowly swinging my mind into United States mode.

I'm gearing my mind towards Upstate New York. It's the homestretch.