Tuesday November 30, 2010
Today was awesome! We first went to the Castle of Ajloun. At first when our tour guide was talking about the castle I was completely castled out. Our teachers are significantly more exciting than our tour guides. I started wandering, and didn’t stop. Castles are the coolest things. There are so many cool secret rooms! I eventually caught up to hear the coolest part. We had the best view of the valley at the top and we found out we were looking at the upper Galilee! We were so close to the border of Israel. We could see Mt. Tabor, Mt. Hermone, Gilead mountains (gen 32) Elijah the Tishbites “traditional home town, Gon Hosh Losha (swimming hole, giddeon got army down to 300 people), Bet Shean, Nazareth, being in the land of Manasseh where Lehi’s ancestors were from.
We may or may not have moved a gate and wandered in places we probably shouldn’t have been in. Also, we may or may not have been lead there by one of our teachers (Which made it two times better) Bad idea, we had a TON of people (NOT our group) come join us on accident. They had been excavating in the area, and we got some sweet pictures/videos. We saw a bunch of catapult balls that were once used, and super super heavy.
Someone that worked at the castle had a scary medical emergency; luckily we had 2 doctors and 9 nurses with our group. They took care of him until the Ambulance came while he writhed in pain. We called later and found out the man had returned home okay suffering from slight problems that didn’t really make sense, I hope he’ll be okay long term!
Next was Jerash, and old Roman town around 1st century BC/AD. It was pretty cool, but we’ve seen some cities like this before… It was… an experience. We did get to hear some men playing the bagpipes in a really cool acoustic Roman theater.
Jabbock river lookout was where Jacob wrestled with an Angel before going back to fight Esau. Gen 32:22-26ish. This is actually an amazing story as he knew half of his family could be killed, and had to separate them.
Being in a land that is under the reign of a King is so different. There are pictures plastered everywhere with the Royal family everywhere. Each place we go has a picture of the king Abdula II and his family.
Jerash
1. Explain how inhabitants of Jerash became successful in relation to the King’s highway and the northern end of the trade route.
They controlled the upper end of Kings’ Highway
2. Give a description of the Decapolis.
‘Decapolis’ means 10 cities. Decapolis cities: philadelpha/gadera/scythopolis
3. How many churches from the Byzantine era have survived in Jerash?
At least 15
4. Why did Jerash decline?
Persian invasion, Arab-Muslim conquest, earthquake
Aside from the bagpipes... that kind of seemed out of place..... we did the Waka Waka again!
We went to a delicious lunch with pitas the size of large pizzas, with other meat.
We also sat on one of the longest tables I have ever seen!
Jabbok River
1. What two regions are split by the Jabbok river?
N&S mountains of Gilead
2. Give examples in several time periods of how the Jabbok served as a natural border.
Before the Israelites’ arrival it divided the kingdoms of Sihon and Og
3. Explain what happened with Jacob near a ford of the Jabbok river.
He crossed the river and sent his family first . Wrestled with an angel
We got back to the hotel and had free time to wander. We wandered to the grocery store, whoa what a cultural experience. It would be so different moving to a different country with a family. We get stared at everywhere we go in Arab countries. They seemed so excited that we were at the grocery store. On our way there I felt so lost it made me miss my dad. He’s the absolute best at navigating his way around cities and finding cool things for us to do. He plans so many fun trips for our family and constantly amazes us with his ability to get us around, and figure out disastrous situations completely calm. I needed him last night! Then we walked a little further down the street and saw a few super nice cars, which also reminded me of him. I was missing him too much by this point and got some oreos (his favorite) and thought of him with every bite. I miss that man. He’s the best.
Jordan is known among the JC kids for their cheap DVDs. I’m talking super cheap. $1.50 for a movie, and good movies too! We got a couple and headed back to the hotel to watch How To Train Your Dragon. I had a blast hanging out with Aly and Jordan!
Am I relieved that you are with the group you are??? When I hear how remote this country is and many of the other places you've visited, I breath a sigh of relief that you are with the greatest youth, teachers and they have wonderful strict rules!!??!! Yup, I'm a mom.
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