Jordan Journal 7/14/12-7/15/12

[Jerusalem trip!!!!!]

7/14/12- Saturday night
     So Thursday us JBU kids planned our Israel trip. We also had class that night which was really good! It was about God being great and good then a bit on the trinity as well. Friday morning we left on the bus for Israel. The border was insane! There was a long line to get on a bus that took us twenty feet across the border but took an hour to cover that distance. Then there was lots of security in Israel. We then had to find a taxi to Jerusalem. Israel is so different from Jordan! Topography, humidity, and people. Nobody is friendly and you can definitely see the mixture of the Jewish and Palestinian cultures. Our hotel is right outside Herod's gate of the old city. Really great spot! The old city itself is amazing!! Houses tower above walkways and tin roofs block out the sun so it seems like you are underground at times. It's so dark that you hardly notice when you go into a tunnel (and there are a lot) or outside. There are also shops everywhere. It would be really interesting to live in there. [For those unfamiliar, as I was, with the sections of the old city, it is split into four districts and, as a whole, takes only about half an hour, maybe an hour, to cross from one side to the other. the four districts are the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Armenian quarters]. We finally were able to explore the old city Friday evening. We wandered through the Christian quarter and were able to see the the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was absolutely incredible!!! [This church is placed both were Jesus' tomb is believed to be as well as the mount where he was crucified (which has really strong evidence for both)]. It is a massive building and you can really feel the tradition there. I nearly broke down crying when I saw the spot where Jesus died. It was all just a very emotional experience and I'm glad God gave it to me. That night we watched Hercules then went to bed around midnight. Saturday we got up at seven and into the city at nine. (as a side note, I bought a chess set the night before). We walked around the Muslim quarter then saw the wailing wall during the Jewish Sabbath! It was a little sad to see all the Jews worshiping there though with me knowing they are missing the messiah... The temple mount was closed too. We wandered towards the Jaffa gate and I bought a silver candlestick holder depicting Jerusalem for a wedding gift for Robbie and Ariel on the way. After falafels for lunch [which are amazing on the street by the way], I took a nap in the hotel then we decided to go to Bethlehem. We found a taxi to the border, which we didn't know existed. Apparently Israel put up a huge wall to separate the Palestine state from Israel. Another tour guide offered to take us across the border and on a tour, then back to our hotel. He smuggled us across because Luke and I didn't bring our passports [well we didn't know we were crossing a border].  He showed us a lot of graffiti along the wall and a really nice shop. It was an elaborate building with lots of old artifacts, necklaces, and olive wood carvings. He told us that the Christians of the city carve the, (apparently Bethlehem is predominately Christian) so I wanted to support them. Oddly, there was a really nice peace in there. I wasn't pressured to buy anything and everything just seemed nice and legit. God is good. After that we went to the Church of the Nazarene which was beautiful! Our guide kind of rushed us through since it was so crowded though. We then went back to the hotel then walked through the park of David to the pool of Siloam. We walked around looking for it for a couple hours only to find it locked then had to walk across the old city back to the hotel. Such a long walk for no pay off and a lot of grumpy people. Once we finally got back to the hotel (with no deaths!) we calmed down a lot and got along the rest of the night. We all hung out in my room till bed time. I'm so tired but I need to journal. still missing my friends but I'll see them soon. Tomorrow we head back to Jordan. I'll miss Jerusalem...

7/15/12- Sunday night
     Today was great but super stressful. Nice morning, left for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at 8. We rushed along and I had a fun time being tour guide to different people [For some reason I knew more about the church and it's stories than the the rest of the group. I guess I explored it more the first time]. Then we got lost in the Jewish quarter as we tried to find the temple mount. Sadly the line to reach the temple mount was longer than the time we had, Back at the hotel, we checked out at 9:30 then our tour guide from yesterday picked us up at 10:00. We saw the Garden of Gethsemane and two possible locations of Jesus' ascension. We also saw a great view of the entire old city and the dome of the Rock. I also sat on a donkey named Peter. We headed off towards the border with a quick stop in Jericho which ended up lasting an hour and a half. We saw the supposed sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed (the tree is over 2000 years old) and the spring of Elijah. The border was, again, nuts. Took a bus to security, got my knife taken away, then more waiting, then a bus, then more waiting, then it took an hour to get our passports in Jordan [they took them on the bus]. We then took taxis to Irbid then a bus to Hartha. Made it back at 6:00. Made it just in time for dinner =) Luke and two of the girls stopped at McDonald in Irbid but my group was to tired and just wanted to get to the school.  We had vespers at area E [the spot of our food fight] but that day was so long that my brain was fried and I didn't understand anything. Hung out on the roof for thirty minutes just thinking about what God wants from my life. I would love for God to tell me what to for but He wants me to trust Him with that secret so I will. One reason I want to know is to see if I'll be going over seas or not. I'll trust God because His plan is sweeter and greater.