The Sea of Galilee

It has been a week since we have returned from Galilee so I guess a blog post is necessary. It was a great 10 days and we spent our time touring around Northern Israel and working on our tans at the beach. WE stayed on a kibbutz called Ein Gev in 4 person bungalows that were right on the shore of the Sea (which I discovered is not a sea, but a lake). We had class/beach time every other day and then the other days we went on field trips. These included going to the Mt. of Beatitudes, Mt. Tabor, Mt. Carmel, Tiberias, Capernaum, Bathsaida, Gamla, Nazareth, etc., etc. Most of these field trips were either sites that were biblically significant or archaeologically significant. It was extremely hot and humid so it made for some great delirious bus rides and bonding times in between sites! Since my blog has pretty much just turned into a photo feast with very little writing, here are some pictures of some of these sites and a few other treats for your enjoyment!

Mt. Arbel

Church on Mt. of Beatitudes

View of Tiberias

This is what I looked like for most of the bus rides

Bahai Gardens

Cisterns at Caesarea 

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee

Dinner at a local fish restaurant

Gamla

View of Golan Heights from Gamla

Kursi

Bungalows at Ein Gev

Mt. Tabor

Megiddo

Gan Hashelosha, natural Springs

Our furry friend at Gan Hashelosha

Eilat of Fun!

Hello!!!

So I realize it has been a while but we are leaving for Galilee on Monday so I figured I would do a post before I am completely cut off from the internet and blogging world! Last post, we left off on the Jordan trip. Since then, we have gone to Yad Vashem, a Holocaust memorial, snorkeled at Eilat (pronounced "a lot") which is on the Red Sea, celebrated Christmas on the 4th of July in Bethlehem, mingled with some students at Bethlehem University, went to the Church of the Nativity, and went to Shepherd's Field. It has been a very busy few weeks but amazing nonetheless! Then today we celebrated the 4th of July in true American style with a BBQ at the Jerusalem Center. We had cheeseburgers, steak, chicken kebabs, hot dogs, corn on the cob, french fries, potato salad, and peach pie. It made me realize how much I miss American food! Here are a few pics to help you get the idea... 

Oh and if you need me in the next 12 days or so I'm sorry but I will be relaxing by the Sea of Galilee! Look for a new post then!

Eilat

Jess, Lauren and I with some Bethlehem University students

Our tasty lunch in Bethlehem 

Entrance into the Church of the Nativity

The supposed birth place of Christ

One night we went to dinner in West J-Ru and after we were determined to get enough money for the taxi home by performing our amazing music on the streets. We got 10 Aragot (or 3 pennies in US Dollars). Pretty pathetic!

Everyone decked out in snorkeling gear at Eilat

Shepherd's Field, Bethlehem on the hill in the distance

Shepherd's Field

Yad Vashem Memorial

Yad Vashem Children's Memorial