Geography Field Trip

We had our first field trip! It was all about going to places to get grand views of the city and the areas around. It was great because we could view places in the West Bank we aren't allowed to go.

The first stop was Nabi Samwil- a cenotaph (tomb without the body) for the prophet Samuel. It was a Crusader building that is now a mosque and synagogue. From this view we could see Gibeon and the Valley where Joshua made the sun stand still!

the cenotaph for Samuel- the woman section with Hebrew woman worshipping.

AWESOME

i love love love these bookshelves

Next stop was Dier Mar Elyas to see the tomb of Rachel, the route Lehi took to leave Jerusalem and Bethlehem!

Lunch with the girls

Augusta Victoria Church of the Ascension was up next. It was built by Kaiser Wilhelm II and named after his wife. It was spectacular! It reminded me very much of Europe. It was beautiful and it inspired Rachel and I's quote of the day "Who needs men when you have architecture?" hahaha. We sung hymns in the chapel and went up the tower for a mini lecture.

up the bell tower

funny story:

Rachel and I were wandering around admiring the chapel when we put in our headsets.

we could hear Dr. Mulestein start his lecture.

.........at the top of the tower.

we looked at each other in surprise and dash to the steps to the tower.

we stop and look up.

whozah.

sssssooooo many steps winding over and over!

aaahhhh!

we laugh and bolt up.

all 225 steps in less than 3 mins.

as we wind our way up i felt like Maria from 'Sound of Music' being late and running to up the bell tower/convent.

get it? haha

and at the end we had to scurry down fast because the bells were about to ring and we didn't want to be 2 ft. away when they started to clang.

Last stop was a close up view of the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. We were on one side of the Kidron Valley looking across to the Dome of the Rock. On our side sprawled a Jewish cemetery. At first I didn't understand what it was- it was all one color (the color of the earth) with all these boxes. And instead of flowers they put rocks on the grave.

Favorite moment: a group of Orthodox Jewish men came to pray over a grave. It was just such a touching, classic Jerusalem moment. To see the men snaking around the graves, contrasting the graves with their black clothes, with the Dome of the Rock as the background = Perfect!