Hi again. Now I am no longer writing from Israel, but from my home office in Canada. Many things have happened since I last made an entry.
To keep up with daily reporting, I need to go back to last Thursday, our last day of digging. It was a bitter-sweet day in a way: sweet because the hard work and pain was coming to an end; and bitter for the same reasons. It was great to get dirty, sweaty, and work through the pain of broken blisters, tired back, and the like. Yet, it is also good to have rest from that.
That last day of work started with a call for wheelbarrows, as many heavy stones that another site had excavated had to be cleared. I went with and we lined up like dump trucks waiting for our load. What a load too. No wonder the wheelbarrows are so banged up, and I felt it after that in my back and shoulders. One girl, Steph, got her finger caught under a rock in the process, and ended up blacking out for a time. The trooper she is, she was back at it soon enough.
Then after breakfast, Dr. Schuler took those of us who were not coming back on a tour of what I believe is referred to as the South West church. No excavation has been done on this site yet, but next year he has been given the go ahead to get at it. This too would be a beautiful site to work at, with a stunning view. If anyone is interested, maybe let me know, because I think Dr. Schuler is going to be in need of a good sized crew to keep working at the North East church, and start at the new site.
Our next interuption came as a result of photo taking while our group was together. After this, there was still about 15 minutes of work that could have been done, but the group wasn't dispersing to their areas. Instead, we began taking things down for the weekend and putting them away, so that nothing disappeared over the weekend. That night the virtualdig site was down, so no chance enter a blog.
Friday saw us up and at em, leaving for our adventures in Jordan. This involved a border crossing, which was by no means simple. I had no troubles, but others did, and you can read about some of that in other blogs. This is when I saw soldiers with machine guns, - and once in Jordan, a manned tank, under a sun shelter, ready to go.
We met our guide, Sammy. Also, on our bus was a Tourist Police man. We drove to Jarash, an ancient and excavated Roman city, and saw the typical features that come to make up Roman cities, including things that are at Hippos. The Temple pillars were still standing, as they were earthquake proof. Sammy proved this by shaking one of them, and sure enough, it was built to flex. The city, like the others we had seen, was severely damaged in the same earthquake of 748,
The scenery in Jordan was much different than Israel, in that homes and businesses were very basic. They are all cement colors, and have rebar sticking up all over the place. The conculsion I and some others arrived at was that was for later expansion, should another level be added later. Pictures of King Hussein were in no shortage. He must spend a lot of time in front of cameras, with many different poses. Mosques were as plentiful there as churches are here.
Our next stop was Mt. Nebo, where Moses died, seeing the promised land, but never entering it. The scenery was magnficent, in spite of heat haze, and we could see Jericho, and the Dead Sea, as well as the Jordan Valley. This is no "big hill." It is a mountain.
Then we went to St. George's Church in Madaba, where we say a Mosaic map of the Holy Land, dating from early years. The detail was excellent, even though it is an ancient map, made as a floor mosaic. This was an Orthodox church, and there didn't seem to be many churches anywhere.
We then drove the long distance to Petra, where we checked in late at a hotel, eating supper at 9pm, before going to bed. The next morning, Sammy took us by foot to the entrance of the park, down the siq, first seeing the Treasury, which is amazing. Even more amazing in my opinion is the Monastary, which is through the city, and up 1000 flight of stairs. Words cannot do these sites justice. There were people all over selling everything to tourists at outrageous prices, but willing to barter. Also they were selling donkey rides, camel rides, chariot rides, and horse back. By the time the day was over, I had walked 17 km, over difficult terrain. I returned to the hotel by 5pm, - exhausted.
The next day, Sun, July 13th, we went to Amman, and visited the Citadel, Amptitheater, and a few Archeological Museums. The bus broke a spring, and needed some repairs that left us stranded at a street corner in Amman. Once that was taken care of, it was back to the border crossing, where we had a series of unexpected delays, before finally catching another bus back to the Kibbutz. We were very late, missed supper, and had many things to do. For me, this including leading the Sunday worship service for the group. Unfortunately, it wasn't out at the Sea, but in one of the dorms, as night had fallen. Good byes were said, as we started packing, for our next day adventures.
This now brings us to the day of our departure, Mon, July 14th. 10 people were leaving, - 2 Americans and 8 Canadians, - and caught a bus from the Kibbutz to the airport in Tel Aviv. We put our luggage in storage there, and caught a bus to Jerusalem, standing room only for the half hour ride. At the bus station, we decided to take a taxis to the top of Mt. Olive. A fist fight between cab drivers broke out in front of us, as they argued with each other about whose taxis should take us. Wow.
Once at the Mt, we saw the church that marks the spot where it is said Jesus ascended. There is even a foot print there. Then we saw the place where it is said Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer. I suggested that we pray it there as a group, which we did. Then we made our way down, taking in a beautiful view of the city, including the Temple Mount, and the Dome of the Rock. Our next stop was a the Garden of Gethsemene, and then into the city, to the Western Wall.
I went up the wall, perhaps thinking to say a prayer for world peace there. No sooner had I walked up to it than a Jewish man came up and welcomed me. He asked me where I was from. He then asked for my mother's name, my wife's, my children's, - so I told him their first names. He had me put my hand on the wall, put his hand on my head, and another on the wall, and started praying in Hebrew, ending with "Amen" which I too was to say. Then he wanted money - for the children, or something like that. I went to give him some coins, but he said no, paper. I told him I could only give coins. He said he could make change. I said do you want these coins or not. He took them. I left. I guess I bought a blessing. The whole thing was "creepy" and I was glad to leave the wall.
We took a lunch break, and then on through a market area, where you can buy anything. Then we made our way down what was thought to be the Via Delorosa, though it wasn't. Then we went to St. Anne's church, and the pool of Bethsadia, where Jesus healed the crippled man. Then we went to the church of the Holy Sepulchure. What an amazing building. Some of it dates back to Constantine, and I believe a lot of it to the Crusasders. It covers what is believed to be Mt. Calvary, and Jesus' tomb. It was filled with pilgrims, many deeply moved to see the special sites. The priests that run the church move people through quickly, giving others the chance to bow down and venerate. This too was something I could not get into, as I could see many others were. Perhaps it is because of our teachings, and beliefs that objects aren't holy, but God is. Others in our group may have felt different than I did on that.
We had a time for a bit of shopping, and then a long march back to the bus station. There we caught our bus early, so as to have seats back to the airport. Checking in and clearing passport control and customs is quite the process. Once more I had no trouble, but others in our group were called aside, and some had their bags searched. However, we all made our flight.
The flight went faster because we had been up 20 hours by that point. Sleeping on the plane was no problem. We went through customs in Toronto, said good bye to some, and then on to Edmonton. Dave Kalmbach met me, and before long I was back home. I had to have some heat on in the car, as the temperature was only 13 degrees. Wow, does that feel good.
Perhaps I will still make more entries to share some further reflections on the whole adventure. D.S.
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