May with the Moores in Jerusalem

The Moores came to town for 10 days in May. I was wonderful to have them come and visit. Heather brought four children: Rose, Dana, Kara, and Kaelin. Rose had her 6th birthday while she was here. We tried to visit as many sites as possible, and eat local foods. After a big day of touring we watched some Disney movies.

Kara played in a volley ball tournament. The students asked her which high school she played for. She said she was only in 7th grade. She could play as well as the college students.

Kaelin played some basket ball pick-up games with the students. His heighth made him fit right in.

Rose and Dana went on several cat hunts. They liked to find and feed the kittens around the Center. The kittens were very elusive until they brought real meat. The cats are pretty wild, but if given a chance they can be tamed.

I've been spending waaaaay too much time on this blog. I probably need a tutorial. I'm just going to post some photos and give up on the organization. Hope you enjoy seeing our time togehter.

This is the arrival board at Ben Gurion Airport. We always stand around anxiously awaiting our guests. It is usually about 45 minutes after the landed time that they finally appear. But we always come early just in case....

This is Rose saying a little prayer at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth

Rose on the balcony of the Jerusalem Center


Our dinner at the Tent Restaurant in Bethlehem. Dana's face shows her 'delight' in trying different foods.

A picture still on the doctors' door in the Jerusalem Center. There really are two doctors here.

Rose on Masada, with the cable car in the background

Kara and Kaelin at the Dead Sea applying mud. We know of a spot where you can get the mud along the shore line. It is a bit gravely, but it does the trick.

Kara at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth

Kara's name in sea shells on the beach along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Kaelin's first shawarma on Ben Yehuda Street. We had falafels too.

Kaelin floating in the Dead Sea. Can anyone do anything else?

Kaelin in his pit at the Sea of Galilee

The mother of the group.... HB Moore

Kaelin at the Garden Tomb

Grandpa and Rose

Dana in the 100 acre woods

The family at the Garden Tomb. President Hinckley said he prayed for the Peace of Jerusalem.

Dana at the Garden Tomb

The cats being fed. You had to be careful, because they would bite and scratch.


A random cat making sure he can make a quick get away from strangers.

One of my favorite stained glass windows. It is in the chapel at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

A view through the fence of the Anglican School. Heather, Shoshauna and Scott attended this school for a year in 1987-88.


King David and his harp, very close to the Upper Room in Jerusalem

A photo in honor of Sam Brown on Ben Yehuda Street. The girls bought bagels because they didn't want falafels or sharwmas.

A before picture on Ben Yehuda Street


An after picture on Ben Yehuda Street

The Moores standing on the spot where we gathered for Spencer's baptism in January 2010.

The Dome of the Rock

Balcony of Galilee Branch, overlooking Sea of Galilee

We made it through Hezekiah's tunnel.

Resting along the way at Tel Dan


The pistachio tree at Tel Dan. We often have 80 students posing in this tree,

Mt of Beatitudes Grounds. If I were ever to become a nun, I would like to be stationed in this spot.

Baghdadi's store in East Jerusalem. He still remembers all of us and gives gifts to the children.

March to April 2010

We have been very busy these past two months. We spent 11 days in the Galilee area and 4 days in Jordan. Because I've already blogged about these two trips, I'll just include some speciality shots.

This is SKB "guarding" the students' belongings while they are frolicking in Gan HaShlosha, a warm springs park.

SKB and GOB on an overlook in Jordan.

The New King Hussein Mosque in Jordan. It is a very stunning structure. The mosque and the grounds are probably about 4 times the size of Temple Square.

Petra is always beautiful. We can see Indianna Jones at every turn.

Al-Jazzar mosque in Akko.

It is the last photo taken with my new camera. I dropped it with the lens fully extended on a stone floor.

I tried to live without a camera for a few days and finally realized that I had to replace my camera. I called one camera shop and was quoted a price of 2200 NIS. That is about $600.00 I'd paid $350.00 for the camera in the US. I tried another camera shop and received the price of 1800 NIS. So I now have another new camera, but it was more expensive.

Another photo of the Jordan River.

It was so nice to have our grandson Spencer baptized here in January. It is the most beautiful section of the Jordan River. Much of the river is just a trickle now because so much is siphoned off for irrigation pruposes. But this section of the river has been preserved.

A bird.

A goose.

A bird that came to feed her young.

This was above our porch in Galilee. One of the peaceful things about the area of Galile is the sound of birds. The "each cooing dove" refrain keeps running through my head. We don't hear traffic or loud music. The main sounds are birds and waves at the shore.

Cats.

These cats are much friendlier than Jerusalem cats. Jerusalem cats have probably been mistreated. If you hold your hand out to them, they'll hiss and scratch you. The Galilee cats rub against your legs, purr, and beg for food.

We have not been pleased with our hotel accommodations in Petra. We are looking for an upgrade for the next trip. This is the ceiling of our bathroom. It fell down during the night. The next morning we had lots of stuff on the floor.

For some reason we have antagonized the women in this photo. She is the only National Park employee who gives us a bad time when we bring students to her Park. I thought I'd snap a photo of her as she was telling our faculty member that he couldn't bring in the students because all of them didn't have their ID's with them. But, as always is the case, she finally relents and lets us all in. We have already paid for their National Parks' Cards, but she thinks that we are trying to sneak in additional students because some don't have their ID's on them. This happens EVERY semester. Maybe we'll bring her brownies next time.....

This is a church in Cana.

It is the first time I've visited Cana.

And, of course, Cana has lots of souviner shops.

Here is a typical photo of some of our students.

I took more than 1000 photos on the past two trips. Luckily, I'm only including a few in this blog. When I take photos of the students I email them to them. It has helped me to get to know the students better.

Makhtesh Ramon - A Crater

We visited Makhtesh Ramon with the faculty and service couples. We've been to the crater many times with students, but Kent wanted to go down into the crater. We hired guides and vehicles to take us. The crater was in the pathway for the ancient spice trail. We were able to see where the caravans crossed the crater and ascended the side. Kent had travelled to this location with the filming crew for Journey of Faith and The Golden Road.

Here is a more complete description of the site:

"Makhtesh Ramon is a geologists’ paradise with fossils, rock formations and volcanic and magmatic phenomenon dating back as much as 220 million years. The Ramon crater began forming when the ocean that covered the desert began to move north. Water and other climatic forces slowly began to flatten the curve on top. Much later, the Arava rift valley was formed and the rivers began to change their flow. As this occurred, it carved out the crater. The crater is about 1,650 feet (500 m.) deep. Some rocks at the bottom of the crater can be dated back 220 million years. A black hill in the north, Giv'at Ga'ash, was once an active volcano. Also, vertical dikes of magnum which squeezed upward through fissures can be seen at various spots through the makhtesh. The lowest spot in the crater, Ein Saharonim, contains its only natural water source. From the visitor’s center, it is possible to get a spectacular panoramic view of the crater."
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Ramon.html

A view of the crater floor. Imagine hundreds of camels travelling through here.

A look-out spot on top of a peak.

The camels made trails through the valley that are stream beds today.

We climbed from down there to up here.

Our group striding out

This is the route the caravans took to get out of the crater. There is actually a switchback trail.

The vehicles were very sturdy. I doubt that our guide's wife rides in his vehicle.

Our mode of transportation

Our other mode of transportation

Our guide.