Yesterday was our very first field trip. This was a geography field trip where we visited five lookouts over the city of Jerusalem and surrounding towns. First, we started at the Mar Elyas Monestary. We hiked up a hill behind the monestary and were able to see towns in all directions. Most significantly was the town of Bethlehem. After a good description of the biblical events and history of this spot we sang "O, Little Town of Bethlehem". It was simply amazing. I cannot even describe the spirit that was there during that song. Also, atop this hill
was a real life shepherd. He had a whole bunch of sheep and he let some people hold his lamb for pictures. The lamb was way cute, but I didn't hold him for fear of diseases or something of that sort. We then were able to go inside the monestary and see all of the intense iconography within the building. The walls were covered with paintings of Elijah and above paintings of Christ. I love to see the differences in the many types of worship that occur in this, the Holy Land. The hill was also probably the stomping grounds of David of David & Goliath.
Next, we were able to go to the Haas Promenade which is an overlook on the South side of the Old City. From this, we could see most of the East City and Bethany. It's amazing to see where I know my Savior walked. It really helps me to know him better.
Thirdly, we headed East to the Mount of Olives where we hiked a tall tower in a Lutheran Church of the Ascension. We could see to the Eastern wall of Jerusalem where they are harsh about letting people come into the city. This has caused several problems for people seeking
medical assistance & on occasion babies have been born at this wall. We also got to explore the church. This church was much brighter, but still had many paintings in the place of worship. On clear days, in the tower, you can see to the Dead Sea from here. It wasn't clear enough yesterday, but we did see the Judean wilderness from this tower.
Next, we overlooked the city from an ampitheatre East of the Old City. We could see the Kidron Valley, the entire Old City, Getsemane, a Jewish cemetery, etc. Here, we discussed where Solomon's temple would
have been and where the city was that he ruled over. This end provided us with a great view of the South-Eastern corner of the Old City where the Muslim Dome of the Rock is located. This is a greatly disputed piece of land because the Muslims claim it and the Jews want it. It's caused a great deal of contention between the two religious groups.
Lastly, we visited Nabi Samwil, which is a Mosque/Synagogue on the Western side of the city. This lookout was over the Western wall, which has been built to separate the West Bank from Jerusalem. This overlook was built because they believed this is where the Prophet Samuel resided, but apparently that's a new discovery and not necessarily valid. It's also significant because it overlooks the old city where Gibeon used to be. This was
interesting because there were old ruins and this was an abandoned mosque. There were a ton of ruins here that we were able to explore and we were also allowed to go into the synagogue basement of this building. It was interesting to see how different faiths worship.
Shalom.
So, today was an amazing day in Jerusalem... as per usual. One thing that made it extra special is that I found a B.A. Diet Coke today. :) It tasted even better when drinking in the Old City. Today began with a Diet Coke and proceeded to a day shopping in Jerusalem. As with most of my friends, I bonded with some friends while shopping. It was great. Then, on the way back we saw two horses running up the street. That's one crazy thing about this place--random horses roam the streets. They eat the trash that lines the fields. It's pretty insane, but I like it. It adds to the adventures.
This is a picture of me overlooking the Jewish (Western) portion of the city.