The Southern Steps leading up to the Temple wall.  Back in the the day there would have been a gate at the top of the stairs that would open up into the temple courtyard

This past weekend was so great.  Friday, which I wrote about previously was an amazing day.  Besides having class from 1:00-3:30 I'm sure Fridays will always be great.  Every Friday is ultimate frisbee day followed by a Shabbat (sabbath) meal and worship.  Saturdays here will always be different.  Some Saturdays we'll have field studies, fun trips, and the days I will certainly enjoy, nothing planned at all.  This past Saturday was one of those.  So we took it upon ourselves to find something fun to do.  We took a Sherut, a small bus, so small we actually had to take two, to a beach in Tel Aviv.  The Mediterranean Sea was amazing!  The water was insanely warm.  I approached the water with that feeling of uncertainty having no idea what the expect.  I inched my way forward just barely enough so that a wave would wash over my foot.  As that happened I was just amazed.  The water was like bath water and so then I went running into the sea.
Other than being at the Mediterranean, it was a typical day at the beach.  Playing frisbee and laying out.  Since we were at the sea there were a few more things to do like wash your mouth and throat out when salt watered splashed into your mouth and body surf when a huge wave would come in.  There was also this rock island a ways out into the sea and I decided I would swim there.  There were voices yelling over a megaphone from the beach, but hey, I didn't know what they were saying.  They could have been yelling at me, but I continued.  It was pretty awesome, then on my way back I realized there was a sandbar all the way from the rock island back to shore!  I think the beach guards didn't want people out there, but there were plenty of people ignoring them and enjoying the sand bar and rock island.
Sunday was our first official field study.  It was titled "Old and New Testament walk of Jerusalem."
The day started with breakfast at 6:00am and ended with dinner at 6:00pm. Yes it was a long day.  It was soooo cool though.  THe first half was stories from the Old Testament and visiting those places that we read about in scripture.  Our first main stop was Robinson's Arch.  This was an arch that connected a marketplace outside of the temple.  The marketplace was where people would do their shopping and preparing for their annual sacrifice.  That was really neat.  We were actually in an archaeological dig site and saw several things that relate back to OT and NT scripture.
It was really lame, however, when I got separated from my group. lol. I missed a few things but luckily it was close to lunch so I just met back up with my group on campus.
After lunch was super hard because everyone was tired and full.  We were acting like middle school students. lol.  We were all tired but talkative and less attentive.  But as we were walking through the Old City we were passing some ice cream shops and I yelled out "time for a break!?" So after our treats we continued on.  One of my favorite spots was the city of David.  Another really awesome spot was the Southern Steps.  Its just a staircase leading into the temple.  The Psalms of Ascent, Psalm 120-134 all refer to this site.  We read lots of scriptures as we sat on the Southern Steps and that is why I enjoyed that place so much, not to mention we were sitting.  We went to other awesome places too like Zedekiah's tunnel, the Pool of Shiloh, the Pool of Bethesda and some church that is dedicated to Jesus' grandma. But i actually missed that one when i got separated from the group.

Kidron Valley and Mt. of Olives

Well I've been writing this over a period of like 24 hours. so i can't remember if i've said everything i've wanted to say, or if i've said too much and repeated myself.  So i'll be done now.
I hope you are enjoying my blog

Robinson's Arch. Its hard to see, but at the top right corner of the picture there is some extra stones protruding from the wall, that is the beginning of the arch.  Below the temple (just beyond the big wall on the right) is the market place.

 

 

Zedekiah's Tunnel