Posted by glovin33 on April 14, 2008
Today was probably the busiest days so far, and one of my favorites. I feel bad saying that because today have very little to do with biblical stuff, but it was really fun.
We did some girly thing at the AHAVA store. Which was some cosmetics or spa something…..i was busy making fun of it, so I didn’t get a hold of it till later. Anyway, We went on to Masada. Which if you don’t know the story, it’s pretty cool, but I think Andy told it. What I found cool is how they held out for 3 years with rain water and stored food. Amazing. But it was hotter than a mother—–out there. I’m surprised no one over heated.
Anyway, we went to Qumran. Another sect that handled the Romans in their own way. But they were a bunch of fruits living in commune where the women lived separate and the men were crazy. It becomes more and more apparent where sexism came from the more I’m here.
My favorite part was swimming in the dead sea. I covered myself with dead sea mud. Gave myself a good case of mud butt. It felt great. Your skin gets all slimmy and it looks a lot like something I left in the toilet, but my skin is soft now and it was a lot of fun just floating around with no effort. I’m really glad I have Andy here or I probably wouldn’t have gotten to go. Only 5 people from our group went in. It’s a shame too cause it was a life time opportunity. Just lift your fit and sit in the water and you can read the paper your so sturdy.
We also went to Jericho. It was different than the other places we went to, but everyone in the group was tired and crabby so we didn’t get much time there. Poor. Very poor. You’d step off the bus and kids would bag for money. Shacks everywhere. Rubble and garbage as far as you could see. It’s part of Palestine so it is having a rough go at it and we had to go through another military checkpoint with giant guns.
This day is busy. Very busy. Very fun and eye opening.
I know your all looking forward to a poop update, so I won’t let you down. I love Hummus, but Hummus doesn’t love me. I’m pretty sure Andy is about to kill me because of the constant gas attacks. For some reason, I just can’t stay away from the chick pea. Mmmmm…..chick pea…..
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Posted by madtrippin on April 14, 2008
Today we headed out to the desert. First we went to the Ahava factory. Ahava is really high end skin care products made from the minerals and mud from the Dead Sea. I’m pretty sure that was for the ladies of the group.
After that we went to Mesada, which is where a Jewish sect of about 900 called the Zealots holed up against the Roman army for 3 years (year 70 AD). The settlement/palace was built on the top of a mountain by Herod as an escape from the Romans (which he never even visited) and only accessible by a crazy climb or cable car. Because it was so remote, the ruins are fairly well intact. The photo is of the remains of the ritual bath area.
On the way out, Gabe and I spotted another mullet. We could take hundreds of mullet shots every day, but this one was funny because he was wearing a sailing hat.
By the time the Romans were almost able to enter the city, the entire population (aside from 3 women who hid in a water cistern) were dead. The men had taken care of the women and children and then killed each other. One of the remaining women killed the last man. This is where we get the term “zealot” – from this Jewish sect.
We then went and saw where the area the dead sea scrolls were found – Qumran. It was found in a cave (pictured) by two Bedouin (sp?) shepherd boys by accident. They had lost their sheep and were throwing stones into the mouth of a cave to kill time and heard one stone crash into a jar, so they went to investigate and found the scrolls.
Next we went to the Dead Sea for a dip. Of our group of 16, only 5 of us went in. Because I went in, I didn’t get in pics. My dad did and I’ll try and get those up before I get back. The experience was awesome. You float with zero effort and in as little water as 16 inches.
As I mentioned in the entry about Ahava, the mud and minerals are used for skin care. The water feels slippery or oily. The mud is ultra-fine and you are supposed to smear it on your skin with positive effects. It definitely exfoliates and your supposed to feel the effects for a few days after your swim.
We then went to Jericho, which is a Palestinian area. It was interesting because it’s not a very popular place for tourist. We saw a famous 2000 year old sycamore from the story or Jesus and Zacheus.
Finally, on the way home, our bus just about died. The air conditioner crapped out, the bus sputtered to a stop and black water started pouring out of vents in the ceiling. Eventually it got up and running and we limped back to the hotel.
Posted in Israel | Tagged: ahava, bedouin, bus trouble, cable car, dead sea, dead sea mud, dead sea scrolls, float, herod, jericho, jesus, mesada, minerals, mullet, palestine, palestinian, qumran, ritual baths, romans, sailor hat, shepherd, skin care products, swim, sycamore, zacceus, zacheus, zealots | 1 Comment »
