Jerusalem

To the Galilee!

23 March 2009
This lovely day was the departure day for the beloved Galilee trip where 11 days of pure goodness were spent. The Galilee is about 100 miles north of Jerusalem maybe. There is the big beautiful Sea of Galilee, which is also called Lake Tiberias or the Kinneret. We stayed at a Kibbutz, a Jewish community thing, where there was a little resort type thing. The kibbutz was called Ein-Gev and it was right on the beautiful beach. 
    
To start our long day, we got on el bus-o at 6:30 and drove to Caesarea Maritima. As soon as we got off there I went to use the loo, because that’s what I do everywhere we go. You never know when there is a toilet around so you’ve got to use it whenever you can. Plus I drink lots and lots of water which quite often makes me have to go pretty badly. :) 
    
Anyway, when I walked out of the bathroom at this site, it smelled like fetal pigs in the air. It took me straight back to my high school freshman biology with Mr. Eller and dissecting fetal pigs. Good times, good times. Mr. Eller is one of the greatest teachers ever, definitely. The smell of fetal pigs however, not so good. I don’t know why it smelled like fetal pigs either, but that’s what I thought of.

Caesarea Maritima was a port on the Mediterranean built by Herod the Great way back in the day. There were more Roman ruins, since Rome had lots of control over the Holy Land way back then. But I didn’t really care about any of the ruins. All I cared about was the Mediterranean! Oh my oh my I need the sea.

As soon we were done sitting in the ol’ amphitheater I went down and put my feet in the water. Yay! I was so happy with my little toes dancing in the water. It was the best.
When we were done learning about the place and listening to Brother Huff’s many great wisdom, we had free time to go wander around. Yay! I headed straight to the beach. There wasn’t much sand; it was mostly all baby little shells. I loved it so much. I sat there by myself having a lovely reunion with the beach. It was glorious. Along with the cutesy little shells, I found some sweet Mediterranean beach glass for my dearest sister, who I am so excited to see soon.

I was sad when we had to get back on the bus because I didn’t want to leave the beach but luckily our next stop was at a beach too. And this place looked like Hawaii beaches. We stopped here because of these ruins of a big aquifer or something. Hmm… not really sure. All I cared about was the water and the sand and the sunshine and the happiness. 

Kara and I miss Hawaii’s beautiful beaches very much, especially Kara I’m sure, since she not only goes to BYU-H but since she’s Hawaiian too. She’s a pretty cool girl. Yep.

I can’t help myself from getting the water. After a while I just let my skirt down and got the whole bottom half wet. Then when I got on the bus, I was all sandy and wet, my favorite.

You must take jumping pictures everywhere you go. It took us like ten tries to get a decent one though. Classic.

I don’t know where this pose came from, but my legs are out of control.

Next we went to Megiddo, where the future apocalyptic battle and also where 26 layers of ancient cities have been found. This is also where Kara and I took pictures of yourself as you can see.
I took pictures of some little shells I found on the beach too as I sat atop Tel Megiddo overlooking the Jezreel Valley. 

Also while I was sitting there in the wind listening to Brother Brown tell us all sorts of good things, I found a ladybug! Yay! This is the first of my many future ladybug friends for the Galilee trip.

Then we took pictures of what it might look like at the Battle of Armageddon before the Second Coming. We like to take pictures. 

Nazareth was the next stop, the place where Christ grew up. We went to the Church of Annunciation first, where a bunch of different nations created a depiction of the immaculate conception. They were so beautiful. Wow. Wow. Actually, the entire church was incredible and so huge and amazing. 

Indonesia

Croatia

Ukraine

The next church was dedicated to St. Joseph which was great because usually Joseph, Mary’s husband, is forgotten about. But was a remarkable person, being the husband of Mary and helping to raise Jesus. Churches are fabulous.

After that we went into the Nazareth synagogue where Christ makes his grand announcement in front of all of these people he knew and tells them that he is the Messiah. He is the Messiah that Isaiah speaks about. The people reacted by saying that how could this man, the son of Joseph the Carpenter, be the Son of God. But they were wrongo big time.
  
By the way, the kind of carpenter that Joseph was was really more of an artisan. He knew how to work with all types of media and do all types of things. He didn’t do just strictly wood. I think that carpenter is just one of the many meanings from the original translated word. 
   
We left Nazareth and finally made it to the kibbutz, where I ate some yummy yummy soup. Mmm…. I love soup. Makes me excited for Holly girl’s vegetable chowder when I get home. 

1 Comment

  • Reply Michael Farnworth 13 April 2009 at 14:35

    Chelsea you are a great blogger and with all the pictures… it just doesn’t get any better. You are having the trip of a life time and you are embrassing it all. Good for you and continue having the time of your life.

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