We're Dead

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Another last :( This past Sunday we went on our last fieldtrip out of Jerusalem. We began the day by going to Qumran, the place of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I have seen the scrolls in the Israel Museum so it was pretty neat to see where they were. It was a lot different than what I had pictured in my head. Qumran is literally in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea what those people were doing in the middle of the desert, but I am so glad that they left us with so many records.
From Qumran we drove the coast of the sea to Masada. This was the last strong hold during the first Jewish Revolt against the Romans. Masada is set on the top of mountain that looks over the entire valley. It was an amazing view!! One of my favorite things about Israel is that you can see for miles. We have spent a lot of time looking all the way to the horizon. It's wonderful. This has been one of the hottest days on the program so our administrative leaders approved us to wear shorts...it was glorious!
Before we went to the Dead Sea we stopped at En Gedi. This is where Saul rested while searching for David. The site is absolutely gorgeous! There were waterfalls all over and we were allowed to swim for a while. It was a wonderful relief from the hot hot sun.
The last stop before going home was the Dead Sea. We were all super excited to jump in. It was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced! No matter how hard you try to sink you simply can't. The water just holds you up. You can stand straight up and your shoulders and most of your chest will be above the water. There were a few draw backs to the Dead Sea. Since there is so much salt the water begins to sting for a little while. After about twenty minutes I couldn't take the stinging anymore and I got out. As I was swimming back to shore a little bit of the water splashed up into my eyes--also unpleasant feeling. The water just stings, everywhere. Despite this, the Dead Sea was a definitely a highlight. I'm so glad that we got to stop :)