here comes the sun!

here comes the sun! doo doo doo doooo

here comes the sun, and i say

it's alright!

just another few weeks at the jc, and life is good :)

synagogue to welcome in shabbat

Isaiah 60: "You will not need the sun for light by day, nor the moon for radiance, ADONAI (Elohim) will be your everlasting light, your God shall be your glory. Your sun will never set; your moon will not wane; ADONAI will be your light forever, your days of mourning will end."

-From the Siddur (prayer book)

Hezekiah's Tunnel 

1/3 mile of awesome. 

dark? not dark enough! 

why? because i rocked the head lamp!

"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth... He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam... He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."            (John 9:1-7)

Pater Noster

Chapel of the Ascension
...apparently that is Jesus' footprint right there. ;)

"And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." (Luke 24:51)

amphitheater at Hebrew University...site of the re-enactment of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. brought to you by Susan, MJ, Amy, and Brooke!

....oh they say when you're married in June!

located in the Garden Tomb...
if there is anything i have learned while being here, it's that we all need to pray for the peace of the Holy Land.

Tel Aviv!

before heading off to Jordan we decided to take a quick trip to Tel Aviv!

the sun was shining, the ocean waves were flopping onto the beach, and Brooke was busy getting tan!

bike riding along the coast..... i'd say that it's at the top of my awesome list! 

jess. our oregon coast biking trip MUST HAPPEN!

little boat overturned on the beach...KODAK MOMENT!

adventure is out there :)

as my friend Charles Muntz said in Up...

"Adventure is out there!" 

so i'm out searching for it!!

with all but two of my classes ending next week, you'd think things might start to slow down....that's definitely NOT the case! if anything life is moving faster and faster, and i feel like before i know it i'll be sitting in the salt lake airport wondering where the time has gone! 

what do you do when you visit the tomb of the kings? you pretend to be zombies of course....

ice city! ice, ice city!

what better way to spend a blazing hot day in Jeru?

COMPLETE WITH ICE SLIDE!

walking the 14 stations of the cross with the Franciscan monks on a friday afternoon...












guess who came on a tour to israel?


that's right folks! jon schmidt! he gave a performance for us at the augusta victoria church of the ascension...

hearing his "love story meets viva la vida" and thinking of coldplay's lyrics "i hear jerusalem bells a ringing" 

brought the lyrics to life a bit...

as well as his "tribute" written for his deceased sister, and thinking of the resurrection of Christ at this very spot... a powerful night!

so back to my childhood.... it's off to the ZOO!!!! the biblical zoo in fact!

basically i'm the new steve irwin---CRIKEY!!

zoo  would not be complete without a giant ark.

Yad Vashem: the Israel Holocaust Museum

fittingly followed by Herzl's grave, the founder of the Zionist movement

the separation wall--meant to divide the palestinian territories from israeli controlled land... quite controversial

a nice break--gelato in west jeru! happy birthday priscilla!! :)

highlight of my weekend though.... EILAT!!! snorkeling in the red sea. 

yes, i'm legit ;)

neot kedumim: the biblical landscape reserve

in short, we get to go back in time to experience biblical life. 

including herding animals with absolutely no brains... stupid animals... i don't know how david did it.

making zatar from hyssop... no mom, it's not drugs.

and making our very own pitas and lentil soup!! as i can't go to mccall this year, this outdoor experience helped quench my thirst for camping!

not quite sure what the ropes course had to do with the biblical theme...but it was fun anyway! especially to see j rowdy tear it up! best. prof. ever.

the night was made complete by a triple date with karen and the pinto bean

a light festival in the old city....lights everywhere! 

life is good.

“Somebody ought to tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit every minute of every day. Do it, I say, whatever you want to do, do it now.” 

Michael Landon

in the land of studly men.

Billionaire-genious-philanthropist-playboys like Tony Stark? Or maybe green-angry-violent-indestructible-hulks like Bruce Banner? What about thoughtless-proud-hammer-weilding-demigods like Thor? Maybe I'd prefer the polite-cryogenically-frozen-super-soldiers like Steve Rogers?

Are the Iron Mans, Hulks, Thors, and Captain Americas of this world real? Are there any real men anymore? 

Studs.

Well....some more than others :)

Men like Joshua...taking down whole cities. Men like Samson...well he was all brawn and no brains, so maybe not so much... But men like David! Taking down the beast Goliath when so-called men like Saul cowered in fear...

Do real men exist?

Maybe. Just maybe. ;) 

This last week or so I have spent exploring the lands of these hero men. 

First stop: Jericho. 

Herod's winter palace

And the walls came TUMBLIN DOWN!


"And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour." (Joshua 6:2)

Elisha's Spring

"And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land." (2 Kings 2:21)

Jericho: the oldest city of the world!

.....get it! old! knee-slapperrrrrrr

Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene

Shavuot at sunrise 

The Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif

The perfect place to meditate.

And while desparately searching for more heroes.... I got hungry. Giant apple??

More hero country??? The Sorek Valley: home of Samson. After all...he 

was sooooooo strong. Just a little dense...

"And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine."  (1 Samuel 17:40)

(Brook at the Valley of Elah! Followed by some intense stone-slinging!)

"And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him..." (1 Samuel 17:49-50)

(Tel Azeka overlooking the Valley of Elah)

David = Stud....at least for a time right?

Location of the Lachish Letters. 

Blake = Assyrians

Brooke = Israelites

too bad the Israelites lose Lachish....

Ancient olive press!

Tombs. YEAH we're zombies!!

D-wight. Pics in every tomb we see.

So..... 

I searched throughout Israel, and I finally found some real men. 

THE AVENGERS!

boo-ya!

best. day. ever.