When in Unfamiliar Territory, Find Mickey D's...

I found wireless internet at a McDonald's here in Israel so I thought I would update you really quick about what we've done so far. It probably won't be as detailed as usual, but I will do my best under the circumstances.

We arrived at the Israel airport at about 12 p.m. A few of us girls looked ahead of us to this gorgeous Israeli man who was holding up a "HUG" sign. Whitney took advantage of the situation and hugged him, though she knew exactly what the sign referred to. We thought this beautiful man was our tour guide so all the girls almost fainted with excitement. He was tall, dark-complected and muscular. His teeth shined a bright white and his eyes sparkled when he spoke. When we went to thank DiMy for 10 days of absolute bliss, she informed us that he was simply the airport travel agent who would introduce us to our tour guide. Sad, sad day. We soon met Avner though, who is a tall, lanky man with a sense of humor and a good spirit. We all love him!

We went to Caesarea upon arrival, where we were first introduced to the vast sea, with its powerful waves and crystal blue color. You could literally be looking at some of the ancient ruins and a wave would rise up high and spray you like a killer whale at Sea World. You could smell the salt from the water and I was just mesmorized by the whole atmosphere and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks.

One of the neat things from this site was the stone that had a carving mentioning Pontius Pilate-- this was a neat feature because it is the only non-Biblical reference to this man, proving that he did it exist. We checked out King Herod's palace and his swimming pool, which now presides in the sea. We also entered Herod's large hippodrome, where they had chariot races and other activities. They even had a metal model set up where you could get your picture. Danielle and I put on our chariot-racing faces and took a pic.

After Caesarea, we went to see the Roman aqueducts, which were used to bring water 16 miles to the city. These sat right on the beach, so we played around in the water and enjoyed the sand. Take a bunch of kids from dinky Arkansas and sit them on a beach. Excitement and chaos always results.

Day 2: I LOVED Dan. We went on this nature walk, where we walked across bridges and large stones across streams of running water. Our guide, luckily, was very respectful to the peace and tranquility this part of the world offers and let us kind of enjoy the ambience without constantly chattering. I have to say that I underestimated the beauty of Israel. I pictured the stereotypical Israel: Desert. Camels. Desert. More Desert. It is so green! There are lush hills and full trees and bodies of water. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of desert, but I am so glad I was introduced to what else this country has to offer. Another wonderful thing this country has to offer is scorpions. Our guide pulled one out and some of us got pictures with it. Most just had it on their hand, but I decided to show off and had him place it on my nose.

The perfect ending to the nature walk on this day was the Banias waterfalls. Also known as Caesarea-Philippi, this place had churches carved into the side of a cliff in honor of the god Pan. This was neat, but it wasn't until we made it to the waterfalls that I was in complete awe of God's creativity. You could hear the sound of the falls as you climbed up the mountain, but it wasn't until you felt the mist from the waterfall itself-- that you felt this sense of wonder. I could have sat there for hours, but Avner soon clapped his hands, motioning for us to get a move on.

We went to some Israeli bunkers on top of a volcano later in the evening. The guys, of course, were more impressed with this-- but I enjoyed seeing the old military equipment and they even set up metal dummies showing what the soldiers would have done from certain spots.

To end the day, we went and saw the Jordan River. We waded in it and sang "I Went Down to the River to Pray," one of my favorite spiritual songs. Every time I hear it, I picture myself walking to the sway of the song carrying a water basin down to the river. Call me strange. Mid-picture-taking, Sarabeth started screaming and splashing because someone told her there were leeches in the Jordan and Sara Montgomery touched her foot to make her think it was a killer leech. It was hilarious!

A new (and soon to be omitted) part of the trip was going to the Israeli Diamond factory. Though it was beautiful, it was like sticking a starving kid in a candy store and saying, "You can't have any!" I saw a necklace for $77,000! Wow.

Day 3: NAZARETH, WHERE JESUS GREW UP! We started off this day by climbing up the mountain that is traditionally known as the spot where the Jews tried to drive Jesus off the side of the mountain. We went up there, read some scriptures and took pictures. The view of the town below was amazing from this heighth.

After this visit, we made a stop at the Church of Christ in Nazareth and worshipped with them. Once again, it was an emotional experience for me. They sang in Arabic (this is the Arabic part of Israel, not Hebrew) and we sang in English-- yet it blended beautifully together. Mr. Myhan preached about being courageous and mentioned the fact that they face many trials because of their faith. Many of them nodded their heads in agreement- it hit me that these people are part of the 2% minority of Christians. He encouraged them to keep the faith and persevere. Afterward, we visited with them briefly over dessert they had fixed us before we had to head on our way. They were so gracious and eager to be with us-- imagine worshipping a Savior who lived in your very town!

We went to the Church of Annunciation, which is built on the spot where the angel visited Mary to tell her that she was pregnant with Jesus. It was an elaborate building, with mosaic depictions from countries around the world displaying their version of Mary's story. When we left, Avner let us be a part of an Israeli celebration that was going on outside of the church. People were dressed up, music played everywhere-- it was neat to be a part of the hustle and bustle.

More updates later-- the laptop battery is a/b to die! Love ya'll