Another day in the City

So here I am in an espresso bar in Jerusalem with three girls. What more could a guy ask for? Haha but seriously the time here goes by at warp speed. Yesterday we went on another adventure around Jerusalem. Talk about exhausting. From 7:00 am till noon we walked over hill and over dale, then again from 1:00 until 6:00 we did a somewhat less intense version through the old city. If you want to hear all that we did and learned I'm posting it between these ***'s... if not just skip this section (ps this was written for an assignment, so if it's lame, whatever).

**********************************************************

Well, our adventures on this Sunday were many, so many in
fact it is no easy task to recall everything that was learned and experienced,
and by the end of them we our bodies were nearing the point of exhaustion. Our journey first took us to the Jewish
quarter where we looked at what was entitled the “Broad Wall.” This wall (which we only saw a small portion
of the remains) was built by Hezekiah when the Assyrian invasion was
imminent. Unfortunately he relied on his
new fortifications rather than on the power of the Almighty, and it almost cost
him his kingdom. After talking about the
archeological significance of this wall, we walked along the outside of the
wall of Jerusalem
to a spot which overlooked the surrounding countryside. From this spot we could see the Mount of
Olives (which was only one of the many mountains which surround Jerusalem, which one of
the Psalm’s of assent clearly brings to our attention. We could also see the valley where the Hinnom
and Kidron valleys met, and the original spot dubbed “Mount Zion.” After surveying the countryside we traversed
many steps leading to the remains of a retaining wall and a small house. In this area many seals of documents were
found, showing that this could have been the site of a prophet’s house or a
royal storeroom. After sitting and talking about this site we
proceeded to one of the highlights of our tour: Hezekiah’s Tunnel. This was the tunnel that King Hezekiah dug
(directly before the Assyrian invasion) to divert the water in order to keep
the waters of the Gion spring within the limits of the walls around the
city. On our way to this tunnel we went
through the tunnels in the rock which the Jebusites would have used to get
water, and the way that Joab entered and surprised the keepers of Jerusalem enabling David
to conquer the city. We entered the
tunnel and walked for about 20 minutes *even though the sign said 45 minutes at
least). It was completely dark in the
tunnel, and we often had to duck to keep from bashing our heads on the
ceiling. When we exited the tunnel we
went to the tombs on the western hill.
The tomb we looked at was probably the tomb of the father of Kiafus the
high priest who condemned Jesus. After
walking an eternity back for lunch, we set out once again, walking to the
alleged place where the last supper took place.
After some discussion we found that this could not have been the actual
place where the meal took place, but it did serve as a good reminder of the
event that happened there. From there we
proceeded to this museum where we learned all about some artifacts from long
ago and saw some depictions of the temple and such during the time of
Herod. We watched some videos, which
were geeky at best, then went to the southern wall of the temple mount. I fell asleep here, but I know we talked
about the arches where the animal sacrifices would have been sold. Then we sat on the steps which would have led
to the temple and talked about the significance of their setup and the image of
walking up to the temple, and how pure one must be to enter so close to the
presence of God, and even that God would confine Himself to the point of
dwelling among his people. After
finishing with the temple mount we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
which is the alleged site of both the crucifixion and Jesus burial and
resurrection. It is interesting to note
the fact that the church itself is just as divided by factions as the temple
mount is by Muslims and Jews. A site
which should be shining with Christian example is simply blending in with the
rest of the city of Jerusalem. After exploring the depths of one of the
tombs in the church, we went and
overlooked the city, then we went back and ate dinner.



**********************************************************
and so, believe it or not I was tired this morning (and last night). I fell asleep at one point while our professor Cindy Parker was talking, and almost again during class with Dr. Wright today. It was kinda sweet talking about Egypt and all that... but I was so tired. Matthew was AWESOME again. I learn so much in that class... lemme see if I have my notes on me... well I don't, but I do remember talking about the improtantce the phrase "the Kingdom of Heaven" and how Matthew is a gospel written to the Jews and how importnat (then) it was for Jesus to go to Sini and preach the torah (which he does frist thing when he starts preaching in Matthew). Then I had physical settings, and we talked about the things needed to live as a civilization... then I found out that we are learning about rocks next...yikes.

here are some pictures for waiting so long and reading this boring thing... oh and I went running through an artist colony or whatever, and it was beauitul.

While those pictures are updating let me just tell you some interesting tidbits about my life. Be forewarned these might not be what you want to hear, so as one Jess Samples once said: read until it becomes a thing that is not edifying for you. thanks Jess ;).

I am having trouble keeping all of the things I am learning in my mind. Since in most classes (most of which I have at most twice a week) we have 2 tests (midterm and final) and maybe one paper, I don't really have a chance to go back over information, since I'm trying to experience as much as possible and in the mean time keep up with current assignments. I just hope its all sticking in there somewhere so that when I have a chance to took back o n it I will be able to. Right now I am supposed to be studying for my greek quiz tomorrow (or wednesday we'll see when we take it). It's so much information, but I think its coming back. Hey feel free to send me an email sometime guys. It's nice to hear from home.

Well I had more but I think I'll do some greek now... t hose pics I promised aren't uploading so ... be patient I'll get them up when I can.

Cheers