Israel #4

9/6/07 7:45am TLV //12:45am BOS
Didn't get much sleep due to cochroach incident. Talked to Chris til 12:30am in the lobby of hotel because too scared to go back to my room. Back in room finally, I watched this awesome British reality TV show called "Ladette to lady" till 1:10am. Tossed for awhile, hearing creepy noises and feeling creepy crawlies. Woke up at 6am. Today is going to be rough. Ate good breakfast: french toast, poppy seed croissant, and cocoa spread (like nutella without hazelnut) on homemade bread. Lots of carbs. Stole some cocoa spread to bring home. When walking to the bus, I saw two peacocks!! wild peacocks!! not in a zoo!! :) very cool!! makes up for the cockroach incident--almost.
Jordan River:
We head to the Jordan River. There is a place called Yardenit, which is a baptismal site on the river. This river is where John the Baptist and Jesus, among others, were baptized. Yardenit says is not far from where Jesus was baptized. Well not far means 120 miles away. The reason for this is because the actual place Jesus was baptized.. one bank of the river is on Jordan's territory and the other half is Israel's. Yardenit is MUCH safer because the river is fully in Israel's land. So we get and I reaffirmed my baptism in the Jordan River. Water felt amazing after being in the sun for just the few minutes I was. No wonder baptisms were so holy! very wonderful experience. water clear and beautiful... however there were tons of fish in the water (because it's supposed to be living water) and they bite!!
One thing about some of these sites: they are almost tourist traps like in America. Completely exploiting some historical and beautiful to make money. The baptism part was very inexpensive ($6 for renting a robe, towel and receive certificate). But the gift shop-- terrible! makes me ill! And so many people are actually buying some awful junk... like my tour guide says: made in China. I understand buying authentic stuff, like statues carved of olive wood. But buying a little jar of "holy" water from the Jordan? C'mon!
On the bus, old guy behind me yells out "I want some Southern Fried Chicken!:" He tells his wife he doesn't like this Israeli food. He has liked everything on the tour except the food. He didnt eat any breakfast because his french toast was cold. All he ahd was cereal. "At least they can't ruin cereal," he says. UGH UGH UGH!!!! [And you'll hear more about this guy later.]
Bet She'an:
Next we go to one of the ancients cities of the Decapolis, Bet She'an or Scythopolis. (On the way, we drove along the Jordanian border with Israel.) Bet She'an is one of the best preserved cities in Israel. After being destroyed in an earthquake in 749 AD (the city lies in the rift valley between the African and Asian continents), everyone was afraid to go back, so no one went back to live or build there or destroy anything. So far only the downtown area has been excavated (1/10th of the city), surely there is more waiting to be unearthed! Older parts of the city, that date back to as far as 5000 BC are on top of a HUGE mountain, which of course I climbed. The city became Egyptian in 1600-1200 BC, and Israel was defeated in trying to conquer it (1 Samuel 31), the story where the bodies Saul and his sons were hung on the walls of Bet-She'an. King David later took over the city but it was destroyed by the Assyrians in 732 BC.
Below the mountain, is the New Testament city dating from 333 BC to 749 AD, built by Alexander the Great. He liked the liocation, at the end of the Jezreel Valley (Meggido was on the other end), on the Via Maras which connected Israel to the trans-Jordan region, so there was lots of traffic and merchants.
The area was absolutely beautiful, definitely one of the best things we have seen so far. The ruins were so intact, it was amazing. You could really picture yourself in an ancient town, in the temple and the ampitheatre... and the best.... the latrine!! The public latrine is where most people went to the bathroom. You did you business right next to other people, men and women, into a stream of running water beneath the seats. And you would use a leaf with a twig attached to it. I got lots of pictures! :)
Sad News: There was a McDonalds on the next mountain over that you could see and had to try not to get in any ancient ruins pictures. UGH.
Qumran:
Next we drove about an hour to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. On the way, we passed an Israeli checkpoint (with soliders with guns) (I took a picture even though you're not supposed to). The tour guide asked why we thought there still needed to be checkpoint even though this land belongs to Israel now. And the guy behind me said, "Because Arabs have guns!" Seriously, the overgeneralizing of an entire group of people is still starting to anger me. grrrr.
We see soldiers, and Arab bedouins, and Palestinian villages, as we pass from the Galilee region to the Dead Sea/Jerusalem region. The vegations starts to die out, everything looks so dry... we enter the desert lands. The grass is wispy and a dry tan/yellow color. Trees are sparse, and the land is much more rocky and sandy. The landscape changes very quickly.
We arrive at Qumran and eat lunch at the expensive tourist trap restaurant. Ate chicken and rice and salads and watermelon. Pretty decent. And then I bought some soap made with dead sea minerals. Then we visit the Museum.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a Bedouin boy in 1947 in a cave here at Qumran.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were written by the Essenes, a group of Jews who moved away from Jerusalem about 4 BC and settled in Qumran. Qumran is literally just a bunch of mountains and caves in the desert, Very barren, very hot. So our tour guides asks what could make you motivated enough to want to move out here from Jerusalem. The Essense withdrew from Jerusalem for religious reasons, because they thought it was unclean. Isaiah 40 is a passage that could be interepreted as "prepare in the wilderness the way of the lord." So they moved to the wilderness. They were ascetics, and did lots of ritual bathing and purity. The wrote all kinds of manuscripts. In 68 AD, the Romans slaughtered them; hours before, they hid the scrolls in pots in caves. The scrolls include books of the OT, the Apocrypha, and works by the sect. Much of the biblical material matched our modern day bible, which is amazing and miraculous to say the least. The Dead Sea Scrolls are basically the same bible Jesus would have read 2000 years. (one interesting note: John the Baptist may have been as Essene.
The site of Qumran is amazing. This is also one of the best things I have seen here! We went up the caves... I didn;t go all the way because I was wearing flip flops, but this would be a great hiking site... must do next time! Saw their latrine, and ritual bathing sites, and aquaduct, and other remnants of their community. Again, so intact, and so beautiful. The views of the Dead Sea were unbelievable.
While climbing to the cave, I had an interesting conversation with a man about how the Earth is young, around 7000 years old to be exact. He had read a book that he believes has all the scientific answers supporting this. 1- An element has been discovered that has the half life of 30 minutes, which proves the earth was created quickly. 2- Evolution can't be possible because if you change one of our chromosones, we would no longer be able to exist. 3- a fossil was found in texas of a man's footprint inside of a dinosaur's footprint, proving dinosaurs lived with man. 4- when you are looking into the stars (astronomy), you are not looking back in time, but are looking God stretching the universe and stretching time (Job says this). I really did think everything he said was interesting... but I like how he picks and chooses what science he likes. He beieves the half life of the chemical but not of discovered dinosaur bones? It was interesting and he wholeheartedly believes it. He says the world is simple, and whenever a theory becomes too complex, it moves into the realm of fantasy. This is the exact opposite of what I believe... that God created so many very intricate and complex systems, some we will never understand. This guy seems to think everything is simple and we are meant to know all the answers.
Dead Sea:
Next we drive to our hotel on the Dead Sea. It is 75 miles long and 12 miles wide. The Dead Sea is 33% salt, which is 10 times the amount in the ocean. Silver will turn black in it, and your eyes will be completely irritated and you will float.
There is no plant or animal life anywhere near it because it is so salty. Currently, the Dead Sea is disappearing, because of evaporation (elevated by global warming) and the dam. According to tour guide, most people arent concerned because there is no life there. There is an interesting prophecy in Ezekiel that when the messiah comes, fish will appear in the Dead Sea.... which is a great symbol of resurrection and life coming back anew. By the way, this is also the absolute lowest place on earth, at 1200 ft below the sea level. Sad news: Burger King is here, and their billboard says: The Lowest Place. The Highest Taste. EWWWWWWWWWWW! :)
On the bus, we saw a sign for a gas station that said 12 NIS a litre. A woman said, we think gas is expensive in America, but really it isn't. But I remember when it was 25 cents a gallon" And everyone nodded their heads and reminisced on how great it was back then. But sadly no one ever remembers other countries when they make comments,.. they only think of their life and their land, and their experiences, but not anyone elses. It's so sad.
Our hotel, Novotel, is great. Very new .. I'm on the 7th floor.. which equals... NO COCKROACHES! Also a very cool pool outdoors, and whirlpools indoors... and the best: a pool with water pumped in from the Dead Sea. I went in it to practice before going in the actual Dead Sea, which I will be doing tomorrow AM. you seriously FLOAT on top of the water; I cant even describe to you how cool it is; no where else on earth does that happen. You can float on your back or stomach, or sit upright like in a chair, only you are in water. It is amazing. And I can't wait to do it in the real Sea!
Also at the hotel is a spa service... so I got a pedicure... though now I wish I got something more creative, like a mud wrap. Oh well.. maybe next time :) My feet do feel really nice now!!
Dinner was another hotel buffet... I had more lamb kabob- seriously its my favorite, with rice... and some salads (tabouleh with pomegranite seeds), and yummy desserts!
Now it's bed time and I will sleep amazingly well because I am exhausted!