it was hot and then some...

today was our official first day of touring. i will highlight the day with some pics because, they are basically the best way to convey what happened!



this is the site of hazor, which southern excavated some of a couple years ago... first site of the day.



this was a huge cistern to store water inside of the city. it is a big deal because not many places had cisterns inside the city walls. it was really deep and really cool, a great relief after being in the sun. there was no water in the bottom because the water tables are low, but it was dank enough that there was condensation on the hand rail. it smelled really funny too. it is insane to think of what those women did to get water. the original stairs are very small and steep and slant downward. it was like thigh master 5000 trying to get back up. all of us were winded.



this is golan heights. the town with the mosque in the distance is in syria. this is the closest i will get to syria until my passport expires 7 years from now. the un controls the part in the middle with all the white buildings. we passed some syrian bunkers from when syria invaded israel trying to get control of the limited water source.



the israeli army was doing a training exercise and campout on the way back from golan heights. it was crazy. there were tons and tons of tanks!



this is me with a remanent of a pillar from banias. banias is near caesarea phillipi. it had the temple of pan and other things like courts of nemesis and sacred goats and even one for dancing goats. this place made things click for me in a Bible story. this area was inundated with pagan religions, specifically worshiping pan, the god of chaos. this is the place where Jesus healed a little boy with epilepsy, which back then was thought of as a manifestation of pan. it is in this area where Jesus asked peter, who do they say i am? BAM! Jesus conquered and overthrew pan by healing the boy in an area that fully believed in pan. talk about discrediting. take that pan!



these are some pictures from tel dan. it was actually pretty lush there. they have a beautiful reserve with a river that comes from a mountain so it is super cold and it feeds the jordan. there is a big city ruin here with a huge city wall that is super cool! they also have an altar that they reconstructed and it is huge. this is the place were jereboam (i think) set up a gold calf for people to worship so they wouldn't have to go to jerusalem. the last picture is a gate made of mud bricks that they think dates back to the time of abraham!



i ate an authentic falafel! it was really good! i had a super fun table and it felt really good to sit, eat, drink cold water, get to know people and cool off.



that's lebanon. also the closest i will get to this country with my current passport.



this is the sea of galilee, where i am staying.



a bunch of us went swimming in it to cool off after our long hot day.





you see those red marks on my leg? well they are a battle scar. as i was getting out after swimming, i was trying to not stop on rocks, and succeeded for most of the way in. but i put my knee down one time and BAM!

I GOT PINCHED BY A CRAB IN THE SEA OF GALILEE!!

it was the weirdest, grossest feeling EVER! i don't recommend it. i screamed 'WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!' and bolted and flopped and tripped my way up the rest of the way to shore. it must have been a sight to behold.

p.s.

for all you wawonians

one year ago, today, this is what my leg looked like after darebase....



talk about an initiation



but my my. look at how well time can heal wounds.