East Again

Ashkelon, Grid 20 (snake tower on the right)
These flowers were chest height on me!

It has been a while since I posted last, and part of the reason is that we were away over the past weekend with no internet. We were on a fantastic field Study in the Shephelah, coastal plain and Negev, and stayed in Arad.
I really enjoyed the trip, most the places we went to I had never gone before, and even the places I had felt new in many ways, because I learned new things, and saw things I had missed before. Plus, it is fun to go with a smaller group of people whom you have come to know, and who really care about the religious significance of Biblical sites, as well as the history. I am so thrilled to be starting to understand the geography some, admittedly I still have a lot to learn, but I have come a long way in knowing where cities are, and what the terrain is like, and how it affects the way life transpired in the ancient, and even modern world. I also think that I'm becoming a bit more familiar with the old testament, because we not only read it a lot, but come back to it. Its also fun to learn about historical events, and then realize the Bible also records it.

Beach at Ashkelon.

I was glad we went to Ashkelon, it was fun to be back after digging there for 4 weeks in 2014. Unexpectedly, Dr. Wright had me "lead the tour," which was a fun challenge to see how much I remembered. Afterwards I split off from the group and headed back to Snake Tower/Grid 20 where I was working. It was very overgrown since that grid has been closed since 2014, but being there brought back memories. Before leaving we got to go swimming own on the beach as the sun set, and even though it was cloudy it was warm enough to enjoy.
The next day we got to hike through wadi Zin, farther south in the southern Highlands. It was stunning! I could have hiked around there all day, but our stop was only about 1.5 hrs.
On the last day, we went to Masada. Instead of taking the cable car or snake path up, we approached from the western side, and took a trail following the Roman Siege Ramp. It was so windy that morning, that we could lean into it. We lost our balance just standing on top several times because the gusts were so powerful! It was really fun, I don't think I've ever felt such strong wind, except maybe on Mt. Democrat in Colorado over 10 yrs ago. The cable cars were closed, so we had the site mostly to ourselves for the first couple hrs, but later the sun came out and the wind died down, and we took the snake path down the Eastern side

Wadi Zin

As is true of most experiences in life, I learned some things along the way which weren't on the syllabus, so to speak. Its easy to slip into bad habits of carelessness towards others when you're having fun, but thank goodness we have Jesus as a teacher and example of humility and love. I really love being able not to just learn history and archaeology and Bible, but also to be experiencing some great places with people, and learning more about life along the way.
That was last weekend!
Today is a holiday for me for several reasons. First and foremost, it's Mom's Birthday, an even if I'm not there to celebrate with her, I'm certainly remembering her lots! She is the best mom in the world, and so much of who I am is because of her. I can't wait to celebrate again when I get Home.

At Masada with Susannah

The second reason this is a holiday is because it's the first true weekend I've had in several weeks. The past four Sundays I've had field studies, and so it feels good to have three full days free ahead. And, of course, tonight is Shabbat dinner, which always feels like a celebration or weekend.
Finally, today was the Jerusalem Marathon! Early this morning they were blasting music outside the school, and thousands of runners passed not too far by. Several of us went down to the staring and finish lines to cheer on a couple guys who ran in it. After I got through kicking myself for not signing up for the 10k, I enjoyed it. The whole heart of Jerusalem was shut down, no traffic and instead thousands of people, many from all over the world. That's also why we had no class today, our Archaeology professor wouldn't be able to reach the school.
I'm really thankful for these three days to just enjoy the events taking place here in Jerusalem. There is so much more that we saw on our field study, and some of the photos are on Facebook. I need to blog more to keep up with all the events! I'll be posting more on Sunday, if not tomorrow also.