Jerusalem never ceases to amaze me! Yesterday we took our first fieldtrip of the semester.  I feel like I'm back in kindergarten with fieldtrips, sack lunches, and the eager anticipation of the first day of school.  All I need is recess :) For our fieldtrip we went to seven overlooks around the city.  I am stunned by how much we were able to see! At the palace of Saul we were able to see both the Mediterranean and Dead Seas, all of Jerusalem, and into the West Bank. From the south end of the city, we could look into Bethlehem and Jordan.  It surprises me how close all of these sites are together.  I had always figured that Bethlehem was far away from Jerusalem, but in reality it's no more than five miles.  From a hill behind this old monestary, it's possible to see the Church of the Nativity which is built over the site of Christ's birth.
I cannot believe that I am living in a place where all of these wonderful events happened.  I saw so many biblical sites yesterday:
The Nativity
Saul's Palace
Burial of Rachel
Jericho
Moab (Ruth)
Gethsemane
Gibea
Where Abraham bound Isaac
Bethlehem
Land of Ephraim
Gibeon
Mary and Martha's home
Old city of David

The Jerusalem Center (JC) is the most amazing building in the world! This is the most expensive apartment I'll ever live in, haha :) From almost every room there is a view of the Old City and East Jerusalem. The staff here is amazing.  We have great security that vigilantly monitors our safety.  Whenever we come home they are there to meet us at the lower gate. I feel like I'm an ambassador :) Our kitchen staff keeps us soooooo well fed! They have the best use for pita this world has ever seen: French toast! I was baffled when I realized that my French toast was pita, haha. Oh Jerusalem, I love you!

Pictures are coming!! I took almost 100 yesterday!

4 comments

  1. Holy shnikies Angela! I guess I didn't realize how real these places really are. I mean, we make educated guesses at BoM sites all the time. But that stuff is actually still there!! You are so incredibly lucky! But it sounds like you know that and that you are completely taking it all in. Good to hear :) Love you! And be safe ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's so crazy to be here! I'll be walking around and all of sudden I'll be at this amazing site and be like 'Whoa! something super awesome happened here!' The stones that Christ walked on were brought to the surface in the Old City!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am very glad to hear that you have security there. That makes us feel better about your safety. Do the security guards follow you on your tours too? Too bad you can't bring back that kitchen staff. That would be awesome. Take some pictures of the JC and your apartment. It sounds cool. -Sis. Fincher

    ReplyDelete
  4. The tour guides don't usually go on out into the city with us, but they monitor where we are. They are going to Turkey with us, though :)

    ReplyDelete

© Angela Lopez 2014. Powered by Blogger.

Instagram