Coming back from Egypt was a slap in the face...within 4 days (Tues-Fri) we had 24 full hours of class! I couldn't stand it. In addition to that, we had two quizzes, one midterm and a 14-page paper due! We were going stir crazy...so consequently we kinda went crazy with the web cam during class.
TEAM ACE. Our intramural volleyball team at the Center. We are kind of good, but most importantly, we LOOK good. We all happened to get Egypt football jerseys while we were there. What a coincidence. It makes us look pretty intimidating and sometimes it throws off the opposing team, and sometimes it doesn't haha...but we still take pride in our matching-ness.
For this field trip, we toured around the Shephelah, or low hills, of Israel. Here we are atop Tel es-Safi (Biblical Gath of the Philistines). It's not open to tourists or even the public, but we got to spend an hour or so on it because Dr. Chadwick (our Ancient Near Eastern Studies Professor) is heading up the excavation there! Personal tour from the guy who knows the most about this area = sweet. This is a sign which points to the four other prominent Philistine cities: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gaza. Other places we stopped along our field trip route were Maresha, Lachish, and Beth-Shemesh.
Every free day and field trip day we get the SAME lunch. It's not that bad actually. We make our own pita sandwiches (choices of filling: meat, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes or tuna) and get two pieces of fruit, one little cucumber with two little cherry tomatoes, and either chips or a candy bar. It is just so classic, we had to take a picture.
The Elah Valley aka battleground for the fight between David and Goliath. Our class decided to role play a bit and so of course I got to be Goliath while little Sabrina Muhlestein played David. Don't worry, we didn't actually act out the whole thing (especially the fall of Goliath part ha). Afterwards, we all got a chance to pick up stones in the dried up creek bed, which is most likely where David found his five smooth stones, and sling them out towards where Goliath and the Philistines were most likely standing. Cool cool cool.
This was a fun night- Arab culture night. We were able to get two of the professional reciters who do the call to prayer all over Jerusalem, to come to the JC and recite/sing, a sura, or chapter of the Qur'an as well as the salat (prayer the Muslims recite 5 times a day). It was such a unique experience; they never do that for anyone else- "just the Mormons" :). After a legitimate Arab dinner, we got a little groovy and mastered some Arab folk dance moves! I might demonstrate when I get home if you are lucky...
After a long, long week of classes, we walked out of the lecture hall and to our surprise, found a couple drops of water on the glass doors! IT HAD RAINED!! There hasn't been a drop since last year's rainy season, which is Dec-March. But the first rain is special for this year because apparently there was a bit of a drought last season. So there was plenty a cheer heard by all....that and some crazy rain dances. A perfect end to a long and stressful week.
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