We were out of the Golden Gate Hostel with all of our things outside of the Damascus gate by 5:40. Today we are leaving Jerusalem and headed north to Nazareth. We looked funny with our rolling bags walking up Al Wad and out of the Market. The older men already had our 5 little Italian Job cars parked outside ready to go.
Weston, Sarah, and I were in the lead car with Tim. We needed to get out of Jerusalem early to beat traffic. In all of Tim's previous tour groups, he has never rented 5 cars. What we did today was a victory because nobody knows how to get out of Jerusalem or where to go without him. We could not afford to get separated. The brutal driving style here makes it even more difficult. The cars had to get through the lights together as a unit, and not let any other cars between us. Each car had a walkie-talkie and we stayed "bumper-to-bumper" (as Tim and Gary like to yell)! It was a lot of flooring it and then stopping fast. Intense. If the unit needed to change lanes, car 5 would get over and block for the others to move over. It was a blessing that we didn't get in any wrecks, separations, or have mechanical trouble. We only had one incident where one of our middle cars exited the traffic circle too early. The rest of us just drove in circles, got dizzy, and waited for our lost car to come back.
We drove through Tel Aviv north to the Mediterranean coast at Caesarea. McDonald's almost happened today, but it was closed when we got there. It doesn't open until 10 AM. What kind of McDonald's doesn't open until 10? It was funny to see everyone really excited ..and then really disappointed. The Caesarea State Park was absolutely beautiful. Caesarea was an ancient port town where Herod had a chariot racing stadium and a theater right on the beach of the Mediterranean where people from all around the world would visit for festivities. The area is fixed up to look like a resort now right among all the ruins.
The chariot racing stadium was my favorite part. It was huge, and still intact.
Caesarea is where the stone with Pilot's inscription, the first archeological proof of his existence. Weston and I went to the beach in front of the track and found piles of the best seashells I have ever seen. The beach was made of them, and we couldn't stop picking them up. We even got in trouble for being late getting back to the cars.
An aqueduct running along the beach was right outside of the city.
The next portion of my road trip was spent in the party car. Gary's car.
We sang some silly songs, and made up new verses to the old lady swallowed a fly song. Middle eastern style.
There was an old lady who swallowed a camel. What a mammal, to swallow a camel!
There was an old lady who swallowed a sheep. She shoved it down deep, and swallowed a sheep!
and the car favorite:
There was an old lady who swallowed a goat. She opened her throat, and swallowed a goat!
The Robbins' taught me a song i have never heard before. It was my favorite. Led by Gary of course.
I must have been deprived as a child. This is how far we got with it:
And on that buckle
was a little speck
the cutest little speck
that you ever did see
Well.. the speck's on the buckle
and the buckle's on the belt
and the belt's on the mite
and the mite's on the feather
and the feather's on the wing
and the wing's on the bird
and the bird's on the branch
and the branch is on the limb
and the limb's on the tree
and the tree's on the seed
and the seed's in the dirt
and the dirt's in the hole
and the hole's in the ground
and the green grass grows all around, all around. And the green grass grows all around!
Our next stop was Har Megiddo, or Armageddon. It is a 7000 year old city on a hill in north Israel that has been conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt 12 times throughout history. Megiddo was on a trade route from north to south and must be conquered to have control. There were many battles all the way into the 20th century here, and according to Biblical tradition, the final battle will take place in the valley below.
Har Megiddo had a large cistern under it too.
Dan-the-Man caught us a friend! He was trying to blend in to Dan's hand.
Bet She'arim National park was our next stop. This is where many priest's of old were buried. It is also where the Sanhedrin met. Bet She'arim had the best tomb we have been to so far. Many ornate stone coffins.
North Israel is like a different country than the south. Everything becomes less of a desert and more green and lush as you go north.
The last stop of the day was Bet She'an, a city of the Decapolis (a group of ten cities) only 30 kilometers from Jordan. Its is the only city of the Decapolis in Israel. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, making a large Tel (a mound made from a city rebuilt on top of itself many times). Bet She'an is also a city where 20,000 jews were slaughtered within an hour after the time of Jesus. The ruins are Roman-style. It had a great street intact lined with columns.
The theater is very intact, and it seats 7000. The acoustics were amazing. We could hear Tim when he was standing on the ground and speaking in a normal voice from the top seats.
The city was complete with bath houses. Only for men of course. They had fires that would heat up water and make the rooms steamy.
Sam, Rachel, Elisabeth, Amy, and I ran up to the top of the Tel. Hot day. Bathing in sunscreen and still getting burned.
We are staying in Nazareth for the next two nights at a beautiful convent. I don't know how Tim gets these hookups, but they are great.
Gary is beautiful too.
Nazareth is a hillside town spread out along the hills. Tim gave us 20 shekels to go eat out on the town on our own. Most of the kids went to eat shawarma and falafel again. It's a good thing that shawarma and falafel are yummy, because it is seriously all they have in Israel. Not really, but seriously. I promise you, we TRIED to find another type of food restaurant but every single one was a falafel and shawarma place. At least 12 in a row down each side of the street. No mexican, italian, chinese, just shawarma and falafel. We had some good lemonade full of leaves and other chunks.
After we came back from eating, we went up on the roof of the eight story building that the nuns live in. It was a great view. On the way down, the elevator stopped abruptly a few times and started making loud banging noises. It finally said that we were on the first floor, but the doors wouldn't open. 7 kids stuck in a tiny elevator (it said on the sign it could carry 8). Nobody freaked out, but it was very scary. Weston started trying to open the hatch at the top. Then we heard some nuns on the other side of the door speaking a European language. We tapped on the door and said help. They asked us what language, and Rachel said "English! Please go get the Americans!" Then all we heard was them speaking in different languages again. I began to think about how we might need to make a system for taking turns sitting down, because there wasn't enough room for us all to. We were packed like sardines, and it was getting hot fast. Amy led us in a prayer, and asked God to get us out quickly and that we know He is with us. About two minutes later a nun got the door open. We cheered, and there were lots of worried-looking nuns standing around. We said thank you, thank you, thank you to all of them and gave them hugs. If we had been on a higher floor and gotten stuck, or if they hadn't heard us calling, or if this had happened on the jankier elevator in Cairo, this situation would have been so much worse. The elevator was about a foot higher than the level of the floor when we got out. It was definitely broken. Thank you for getting us out God.
One little detail that was humbly left out of the elevator incident.... As the elevator began to initially show signs of problems on the way down, Stephen thought that it would be fun to begin jumping up and down on the elevator....what a fearless man.
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