The last post was polished up for class, but if I'm being honest, yesterday was miserable. Don't worry, today was much better. Here is my back-of-the-journal entry.
Today was...challenging. I am trying to staypositive, but I admit that I am encountering obstacles. Yesterday, I woke up at 5:30 Texas time. I'm still waiting to go to bed at 9:00 Israel time. Thankfully, I had a barf-bagless day, but my tummy is feeling pretty delicate after something like 14 hours of flight. Luckily, my time-zone math was wrong about a 12 hour from NYC to London. Only 6.
Tired and hungry, we arrived in Tel Aviv. We took a walking tour of the Old City of Jaffa, the port city where Jonah fled from God. It was sweltering. We learned about the layers of former cities that make up the hill, "tel" in Hebrew, on which Jaffa sits. (I'll leave out here what you already know)
The traffic here is terrifying. The streets are built for camels and...well maybe oompa loompas because they are tiny. Speaking of tiny, two other girls and I have two twin beds to share tonight. I am hoping for the energy to have a better day tomorrow. On the bright side, hummus is pretty tasty!
Now, before you or I begin to question my coming at all, I should tell you about today. I have seen AMAZING things. First, we took the bus to Caesarea. About 20 years or so before Jesus's time, Herod built it to be a luxury seaport. He had a palace, the hippodrome (a chariot racing ring), a temple for Roman gods, and a theater. Over centuries of erosion from the Mediterranean Sea and being conquered and built on top of, it is incredible how much remains. There are still tile mosaics from the floor of the palace and ornately carved pedestals completely intact. The Theater is still used today. In fact, it was used today by our own Dr. Shaw. Mickey had him sing from the stage to us on the top to show off the great acoustics. Because there were no ancient microphones, the theater was carefully situated facing the ocean so the breeze would bring the sound forward into the crowd. I even learned a new word. Vomitorium is the little hallway where people come into the theater and then spread out into their seats. I wish I didn't feel so much like vomitori-ing so often on this trip...planes,buses,weird food...
We also visited Acre, or Akko, a crusaders' castle. We walked through a busy market, tried new foods, and walked through a tunnel. We came to Haifa, where Mount Carmel is and saw the beautiful Bahai Hanging Gardens. They are unbelievable. I could go into great detail, but I am very tired. It is 4:30 here. I'm going to get some rest before dinner.
Jacob I'm working on choosing the best place to get your dirt. Registrar's office, I tried really hard..but I pretty much ate a poptart and watermelon for lunch. Mom, Dad, Kelb, Megan, I love you, be home soon.
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