Easter and Galilee

Sorry it took me so long to post this and sorry it's so stinkin' long...I hope no one feels obligated to read it. I don't have my camera with me either, but pictures are on the way.

Well, it is officially the close of the most memorable Easter Sunday I have ever had. Except, possibly for the time when the Easter bunny found us at the gas station when we were on a road trip…that was cool. Almost as cool as this year’s Easter.
This year for Easter I didn’t dye a single egg. There were no eggs benedict for breakfast, no Easter baskets full of sweets and goodies, nothing pastel blue, pink, or yellow decorating my surroundings. Let me just tell you what my Easter DID consist of…
At 11:00 pm the night before Easter Sunday, a group of probably 30 of us headed out in sharutes (taxi-van type things) for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to attend the Easter midnight mass. Yes. I attended the Easter Midnight Mass at what is considered by many THE most Holy site in all of Christianity. It was so stinkin’ cool. I’ve always wanted to attend a midnight mass, or any mass for that matter, and I was not disappointed. It was surprisingly less crowded than I ever imagined it would be, however we still had to stand at the back of the crowd. At 11:30 an organ started playing, filling this huge cathedral with the dark music you hear on Medieval-type movies with monks and knights and such. A procession of monks came walking to the front, wearing the brown monk robes with the hoods and ropes around the waist. Everyone stood up and we started to sing in Latin. (They had handed out little booklets with the words and notes for the songs). Then for the next hour and a half we did this sort of call and response thing where three monks would sing a line and we would all repeat them. Throughout all of this people were lighting candles, saying prayers, and touching the sepulcher.
One of my favorite parts was when one of my roommates next to me tapped my shoulder, and, motioning to the monks with her head, said “The one on the left is hot.” HAHA! 19-year-old BYU student from America checking out the monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre! So golden. I thought it was pretty dang funny. At the end, they had this procession where they handed out candles to everyone and walked around the church in a big circle. My roommate swore to me that the “hot” monk looked at her a few times and that they definitely made eye contact. All I could think of was Nacho Libre and Jack Black singing, “We could break our vows togethhhhher! No, no, no, no, no, no way Jose! Only if you want to…”
One of my other favorite moments came when we walked out of the Church and were standing in the outside courtyard waiting for our group to catch up. There were people from all over the world there and there was this total European young guy looking at us girls. Finally, he walked right over to me and my friend Anne, who was still holding her burning candle. When he got to us he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, and without saying a word, merely motioning with his cigarette toward the candle, implied to us that he would like to light his cigarette with her prayer-symbolic, Easter worship service candle. She didn’t say a word, or even change her facial expression as she held up her candle and he leaned forward, lit up his smoke and turned and walked off. Let me tell you, we got a good laugh out of that one.
So we got home around 1:00 am and we had to get up 3 hours later to go to the Sunday services at the Garden Tomb. Yes, the Garden Tomb—very possibly the place where Christ was buried and rose from the dead. We walked to the tomb as the air around us was just starting to turn from gray to a pale bluish, pinkish, purplish color…perfect for Easter morning. Guys, the Garden Tomb services were so cool. Can I tell you, the Evangelicals know how to celebrate! We walked into the Garden to Christian Rock music about Christ’s resurrection. When we got inside, an elderly gentleman saw us and, motioning toward the front of the Garden, said, “You young kids can go sit on the steps in front of the tomb…there’s still some room there.” I was grateful for his suggestion and felt like one of the little kids at baptisms who walk so importantly to the front to have a better view. And then it began. This rad, little, old, and energetic British man got up to the pulpit and welcomed us, then invited us to stand and sing. This was a celebration! I loved it! We rocked out to the Christian Rock singing about Christ’s resurrection and I was very touched by the Spirit. It’s a different way of praising—different than anything I’m used to—but it was still praise to God nonetheless and the Spirit honored that and was present. I love how into it the Evangelicals get, raising their hands, smiling, closing their eyes and really feeling it. I felt like I was allowed in to watch their personal and intimate communications and relationships with Christ. It was very touching. The rest of the program consisted of speakers, more singing, and then finally the end sermon. I think my favorite line out of the preacher’s sermon was when he said, “People call this place a garden tomb. But it’s more like a hotel where 2000 years ago a traveler stayed for the weekend on his way to glory!” Choice. It was so wonderful though. I’m so grateful I got to have these incredibly unique and special experiences this Easter.
When we got back from the Garden Tomb we left for Galilee. On the way, we stopped at Megiddo and Sephorris. Megiddo is supposedly where Armageddon is going to be. Armageddon—har Megiddo—literally means “the mount of Megiddo.” It’s a huge tel (archeological mound) that was destroyed and rebuilt 25 times back in the day! It was a key location because it guarded the Jezreel Valley, a very important valley for industry and enterprise because it connected the Mediterranean Sea to inner Israel and the Jordan River. It was really cool…there were shards of pottery from back to the Iron Age just lying around everywhere! Brother Draper talked a little bit about the last days and read from Revelations a bit and it was crazy to imagine it all happening on the peaceful plains surrounding these ancient ruins.
After Megiddo we stopped for lunch at this falafel place that was probably the best falafel I have had so far. And it was practically a dinner show. The guy making the falafels would tap his tongs and throw the falafels up in the air, or behind his back, or under his arm and catch them in the pita! It was really cool! I wish I had gotten a movie of it, but I didn’t think of it. It was sweet.
From lunch we headed to Sephorris which is known for it’s incredible ancient mosaics. They believe it was a Jewish city, but it is extremely Hellenized, complete with a cardo and Roman theater. The mosaics were incredible. There’s this one that’s known as the greatest Mosaic in the world called “The Mona Lisa of Galilee.” She was beautiful. I couldn’t believe something could be portrayed that beautifully through a mosaic. The ruins of the synagogue also had a mosaic floor. One part of it showed the sacrificial scene with Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah. The cool thing about it was that next to the figures of Abraham and Isaac there were two little pairs of shoes…they had their shoes off because they were on Holy ground. I had never heard of that or thought about that in reference to that particular event. It was neat.
And then we drove to Ein Gev. Guys, you can’t imagine how beautiful Galilee is. It’s absolutely fantastic. Unlike during Jesus’ time, the Galilee is now a quiet little sleepy area with one major town (Tiberias) and the ancient ruins of others. We got in close to sundown and we immediately headed for the sea to skip rocks and watch the sun go down. It was so gorgeous.
Ein Gev is a wonderful resort. Our little bungalows are about 100 feet from the sea. There are palm trees everywhere. The mountains are in the background the opposite direction from the sea. They are covered in green like the ones in Hawaii. There are these what we like to call “banana chairs” along the beach that hang like hammocks…they’re kinda hard to explain, but they’re huh-mazing! Anyway, after watching the sun set on the lake we ate dinner. After dinner I headed out and nestled into a banana chair and watched and listened to the sea. Tiberias on the other side of the sea is a small collection of twinkling lights that are reflected in the water. When you look up you see the stars shining brightly through palm tree branches and it’s balmy and warm, even at night. I sat there and listened to the frogs croaking and the crickets chirping and I could almost imagine it during the time of Christ. I’m sure the frogs were there and the stars shined just as brightly at that time. I can see how Jesus would have fallen in love with this place and why he would come here to think and pray and find solace. I can understand why he would spend lots of time here and live with Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee…it’s so peaceful and its beauty is indescribable.
The next morning I woke up early and went out to read my scriptures overlooking the Sea as the sun came up. You have no idea what it’s like to read about Christ’s ministry while overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It gets me teary-eyed just typing about it. After breakfast we hopped on the bus and headed to the boat. We got on the boat and headed off for the other side of the Sea. It was so funny—the boat’s crew of three men in blue and white striped shirts, who could hardly speak a word of English, blasted the star-spangled banner while raising the American flag on the boat. We stood with our hands on our hearts singing the national anthem in the middle of the Sea of Galilee! Haha! I hadn’t seen an American flag or sang the national anthem for so long that it actually was really nice. After that, the captain let me drive the boat which was pretty sweet. Then when we got out into the very middle of the Sea, we stopped the boat and had a little class devotional. Brother Draper taught us about Jesus and Peter walking on water and about Christ calming the stormy sea, both of which took place on the Sea on which we were sitting at that very moment. It was AWESOME. Then we sang “Master the Tempest is Raging” and had some time to meditate as we continued to the other side of the Sea. It was probably my favorite part of the day.
The first thing we did on the other side of the lake was to go to the Jesus Boat Museum. Yes, it is called The Jesus Boat Museum and you can go find out about it at jesusboat.com I wanted a hat that said Jesus Boat on it, but they didn’t have any. Anyways, it was really cool. They found this boat that dates back to 1st century AD, Jesus’ time. They show a movie on the process of discovering it, moving it, and then preserving it and you get to see the boat. Pretty dang sweet.
After that, we headed to the Mt. of Beatitudes. Of course, there’s no way of knowing if that’s really where it was, but it commemorates it at least and anything’s possible. There’s an octagonal church there that was actually built by Mussolini. He was being accused of being non-Christian by many and so built this church to commemorate the Mt. of Beatitudes. Funny. It was beautiful up there though. There was a gorgeous view of the Sea of Galilee and the surrounding mountains. We had a great lesson on the Sermon on the Mount by Brother Draper. It was really nice.
We made our way to Tabgha after that. It’s a restored 4th century Byzantine Church that is famous for a mosaic of the loaves and the fishes. We had a brief lecture there after eating lunch and then headed for Capernaum. Capernaum was cool. There’s a Franciscan church there that is built over the remains of what they think was very likely Peter’s house where Christ lived for a while. In the church is a large glass area in the floor where you can look down into the living room of, supposedly Peter’s house. They actually have pretty good evidence that it was Peter’s house. Can you believe that? The ruins were cool there. There was a synagogue and apartment-like living quarters, all about 100 feet from the Sea of Galilee. It was AWESOME.
When we got home from our fieldtrip we had dinner and then a huge bonfire. After that I talked with my Galilee roommates for like 2 hours and it was really fun. Yay.

The next morning we woke up and had three hours of class outside under the trees overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It was an incredible class period. I wish all my classes for the rest of my life could be overlooking the Sea of Galilee. In our short breaks we had every so often we leg wrestled, had handstand contests and played Red Rover. It was the ideal class setting. Man though, our lecture that day was so inspiring. We talked about the calling of the Twelve Apostles and then started on the parables. We talked about the prodigal son for a long time and I was very touched. It’s like my eyes are being opened here to parables I’ve never heard before. They’re still the same parables I’ve learned about my whole life, but they’re being taught to me in a completely unique and splendiferous way. It’s amazing.
Anyway, after class our class got to go swimming in the Sea of Galilee for three hours. Usually Ein Gev has a buoy rope and a lifeguard out during the summer every day, but they don’t usually open it up until after Passover which is in April. So the JC worked really, really hard to get them to allow us to have one swimming day while we’re here. And let me tell you, we did not take our one day for granted. We did synchronized swimming, chicken fights, throwing, whirlpools, Frisbee, waterby, dunking contests, mud fights and just about anything else you can think of. It was a BLAST! I also swam some laps which felt SO GOOD. Although, I’m paying for it dearly today. I haven’t used those muscles in so long that I am extremely sore. It’s pretty pathetic. But it felt really, really good. It was good times.
That night we had a two hour class for Ancient Near East from 7-9. For our opening song we sang “I looked out the window” but here’s the lyrics we sang.
“I woke up this morning and what did I see,
Date palms growing on the Sea of Galilee.
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,
Date palms growing right before my eyes.
I can take an armful and throw them into the sea.
The DREADED DEADLY undertow will bring them back to me.
It wasn't really so, but it seemed to me,
Date Palms growing on the Sea of Galilee."
It was pretty dang rad, I’m not gonna lie. For all my future years of primary service yet to come, I don't think I'll ever be able to sing that song the same again.
It’s so hard to get anything done here though. After class everyone just goes crazy and stands outside doing fun things. So after class I ended up doing my T-Rex impression for a bunch of peeps and today I don’t have a voice. Haha. But oh my gosh…one of my guy friends, Matt, has this creepy walk that he does and it’s pretty much the funniest thing I have ever seen. Please, please, please remind me to show it to you when I get home. It’s the bomb-diggity. I finally dragged my sorry self to bed because we had a fieldtrip the next day and it was so stinkin’ cool!
Okay guys, Gamla. Gam-flippin’-la. It’s my favoritest place we’ve been here so far. I felt like I was in Hawaii, Lord of the Rings, and the Lake Country of England all at the same time. It was GORGEOUS. Okay, so Gamla is this Greek city built on the top of a hill called the “camel’s hump.” It’s so narrow and steep, but 9,000 people lived on it back in the day. Anyways, it was taken over by Jews and became a Jewish habitation until the Romans came. The Romans were known for their cruel, harsh brutality. So when they started coming towards Gamla many of the people would rather kill themselves than become captive to the Romans. Consequently, 5,000 people ended up just throwing themselves off of the cliffs of Gamla so as to not be taken captive by these heathens. IT WAS SO COOL. You cannot believe the landscape there…absolutely breathtaking. I love, love, LOVED it.
After Gamla we went to a Talmudic village called Qasrin. It was cool because archaeologists have rebuilt it as it would have been back in 4th century AD. We got to tour a rabbi’s house as it would have been and see the synagogue and all. It was really neat.
They took us to a supermarket on the way home and I did something really bad. I have no self-control. I bought a bucket of ice cream with another girl in the program and we ate the whole thing in 15 minutes!!! It was disgusting and glorious all at the same time. I felt pretty dang gross for the rest of the day, but man was it tasty. We couldn’t stop laughing either, so it was a really funny image. There we were, the two of us sitting next to eachother on the bus holding a bucket of ice cream between us, spoons in our hands, chocolate dripping down our chins, laughing like maniacs. It was pretty hilarious. Good memory.
When we got back I ate lunch, took a nap and then attempted to catch up on homework. ATTEMPTED. I thought once we were down to 2 classes it would be easier to stay on top of it, but oh how was I wrong. We have three class periods of New Testament at a time, each class period’s reading taking me an hour and a half to do. It’s a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding. I’m learning the Bible like never before. I love it so, so much.
That night for dinner we went to the Fish Restaurant and I had my very first St. Peter’s Fish. They bring out a whole fish on a platter, eyeball and all. It was amazing! And surprisingly delicious. Quite the experience. I loved it.
After fish they took us to another supermarket where I bought bran (my new all time favorite cereal…I’m seriously an addict now, I can’t get enough. I seriously think I’m becoming an old person… “gotta have my bran” Haha.) The store was totally like a Safeway though…it made me so homesick for Safeway. I LOVE SAFEWAY. Mmm. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to Safeway. Yay.

Today was great. We had class for three hours in the morning and then we got to go on this absolutely incredible hike in the Golan Heights. Oh my gosh…the Golan Heights are so, so beautiful. I couldn’t get over it. Not a lot of people live there, so it’s a lot of just beautiful landscape that’s luscious and green. Wow. I wish I could describe it. Anyway, we hiked in for about an hour. Our guide kept stopping along the way picking all kinds of plants and flowers for us to eat and pointing out cool things about the world around us. Our hike ended in a waterfall and swimming hole that was freezing cold. But I, being the girl raised at Northern Californian beaches, was the first girl to brave the cold and dive in. It was cold, but so beautiful. I would float on my back and just look up at the stunning beauty surrounding me. Oh man. I loved it there. Good, good stuff. Our guide, though, had it in for me. I think it started when he was telling us about the wild pigs in the surrounding area and I stated loudly that I really wanted to see one and asked if there was some kind of mating call or something that we could do to entice them to us. After which I started to snort and choke out noises loudly, hoping to attract the pigs. He laughed with everyone else but I could tell he thought I was a weirdo. Later, on our way back, when we were scaling up the side of a cliff, he was standing at the top with the kids who had already climbed all the way up. So there I was, spread eagle on the side of cliff, looking for somewhere to grab and he says, “Hey, see the girl in the red shirt? Try to hit her in the head with a rock.” I didn’t hear him say it, (people told me that's what he said) but I definitely felt the rock hit me in the head. My lovely roommate had pelted a rock at my head and had uncannily good aim. Everyone just laughed, but no one cared that I could have easily been knocked off balance and crashed down to a terrible and excruciating death! Haha. It was pretty funny though. Happy day.
And then, if that wasn’t a good enough day, when I walked into dinner everyone shouted, “Heather!!! You got a package!” Yes indeed, it had finally arrived and let me tell you, I was more than a little excited. Everyone asked what was in it and laughed as I shouted with unmistakable joy, “Deodorant and Pepto-Bismol pills!!!!!!!!” Haha. Along with a bunch of other wonderful things. Mom, that was the best…thank you so much. Those dark Cadbury eggs were HUH-MAZING. Thanks a bunch.
Right now I’m sitting in my bungaloo with about 10 girls next to me watching Enchanted. We just had a wrestling match/pillow fight, dance party and were serenaded by a bunch of boys with a ukulele. We joined them for a while and went and serenaded our teachers…it was fun. Good times.
Could life be any better? I don’t see how it could be, unless all the people I love and enjoy were here to experience it all with me. By-the-way, I would love to hear a shout-out from anyone reading this…I keep finding out all these people who are reading this and it makes me so happy! This is such an amazing experience that I just want to share it with everyone! Sorry the writing is sloppy and if it’s boring, but anyone and everyone is welcome to read! If you’ve got a minute, post a comment so I can know who’s sharing this awesome experience with me. Let me know if you have any questions. I’d be happy to answer or clarify anything. Love you all!