Playing Catch Up

 Well, I started out strong at the beginning of the trip but then kind of ran out of steam at the end.  So get ready for blog overload because I'm home and have lots of free time now! I decided that the opportunity to experience the country of Israel and its culture was too rare to pass up. I'm really glad that I didn't.    

Our first stop on day 6 was the ancient city of Masada (pictured above) which means "the stronghold".  Interestingly enough, the city is at sea level despite its appearance of being a tall mountain.  This is because the Dead Sea is the lowest place on Earth and is located approximately 1,350 feet BELOW sea level! So really, climbing to the top of Masada just makes you break even.

  

The story of Masada is quite fascinating.  Essentially, the city was built by Herod the Great and served as a fortress to house the Jewish people who were living in rebellion of the Roman empire.  When the Romans arrived to take control of the fortress, the inhabitants decided that suicide would be preferable to slavery and everyone except for 2 women and 5 children killed themselves.  When the Romans finally broke in, they found the place eerily silent and realized what had happened.  Would you have chosen suicide or slavery if you were in that same position?  I'm pretty sure I would have taken my chances with slavery but it's really hard to say...

 The siege ramp pictured to the right was built by the Romans on the side of Masada to assist their chariots and weapon systems to scale the side of the mountain.  This is the view from the top of Masada looking over the side of the wall and down on one side of the ramp.  This was the shortest side of Masada and therefore the easiest to scale.

There are two options for getting to the top today.  The first is a cable car ride.  The second is a long hike with lots of stairs.  I chose to ride up on the cable car and hike down on the trail.  I think I got the best of both worlds that way!

After Masada, we drove down the road a little way to a small oasis.  In the middle of the desert expanse was a small stream fed by a waterfall coming out of a mountain!  What a surprise to see fresh water in such a desolate place.  All around the water there were plants growing and animals living.  We hiked the trail up to the top to see the biggest waterfall in Israel.  It was worth the hike!

Hiking made us very hungry!  I had to snack on the bus ride to lunch because I couldn't wait to eat and there was a lot of traffic. Then, before we were allowed to eat, we were herded into a small store full of souvenirs and told to shop.  We all milled around inside and picked out some items made out of olive wood to purchase.  Once we had all bought something they brought out pizzas and we stood around eating and chatting for our lunch break.  When they finally unlocked the door and let us back out onto the bus I left with a magnet and three other beautiful reminders of my trip.  It was a funny way to accomplish the task of souvenir shopping but I suppose it was pretty effective.

 I don't have a good picture of our next activity (Hezekiah's tunnel) because it involved hiking through a dark tunnel with only headlamps for light and sloshing through a few feet of water on the ground!  So instead I have this picture (on the left) of myself with a friendly police officer who was standing near our bus on the way out of the tunnel.  We had an option of hiking through a dry tunnel or a wet tunnel but I had brought my water shoes with me and of course also my sense of adventure so I picked the wet tunnel.  It had been chiseled out of stone and was not very tall in most places so we had to duck down and carefully watch our heads while we walked.  Most of the tunnel was also only wide enough to walk with your arms down at your sides.  This was definitely not an activity suitable for the claustrophobic!  But I'm a big fan of caves so I loved it!!!

Directly outside of the tunnel was a small pool of water called the Pool of Siloam.  This pool was the place where a blind man was healed in the Bible.  Honestly I cannot remember anymore who it was that actually put mud on the man's eyes in Jerusalem and then told him to go wash so that he could see again, but honestly it doesn't matter.  The man who was healed couldn't see the person responsible either!  All he knew was that his life had been changed in a real and dramatic way in the name of Jesus and that he would never be the same again.  After his transformation, he lived his life as a living testament to the power of Jesus Christ in his life. Some people didn't believe he was even the same person.  Not everyone has that kind of a testimony but each and every one of us should truly not be the same as we used to be after being saved by grace!  May our lives not ever be the same again.  

Our first night in Jerusalem was Thursday but it felt like a Friday night because everyone was out on the streets celebrating the end of the week.  Shabbat, or the Jewish Sabbath day, starts every Friday night at sunset so the people have their "Friday" on Thursday.  The streets were busy, the shops were all open, there was music in the streets and everyone was excited. It was really cool to be a part of that!  There's nothing quite like pretending to be a local when you're a tourist.  Its in blending in that you truly get a taste of the culture in a place.