March 9

Number Three! Wow, I can't imagine what is worse than Number Two...

Went to Bethlehem, which was really interesting. Not because its the town where Jesus was born or the like (not into that stuff... not sure why), but because there is a wall separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem. For all you who think building a massive wall between Mexico and the US is a good idea, go see one first. I have always been opposed to a wall, now even more so. Lame.

1) Yeah.

2) Panoramic of the Herodian ruins, one of Herod's palaces.

3) Tunnels under the palace.

4) Some protest graffiti. I hesitate to call it graffiti... It was all over the place near the wall. Truly incredible.

5) This image is particularly interesting, even if I don't understand all the subtly imagery in it.

6) More.

7) Nice.

8) And then to the Israeli side (the previous were the Palestinian side)...

9) What an odd contrast.

10) Bus was boarded and passports checked on the way back.

11) Sergio, our guide for the week. Guy was pretty interesting.

12) The Temple Mount portion of a scale model of Old Jerusalem. This was pretty sweet, the model was HUGE!

13) See what I mean!

- KS
Matthew 9:37-38

March 8

Second day! This one was a bit more of a free day, conference registration wasn't until later that day, so we could do what we wanted. To Old Jerusalem it is!

1) Market.

2) See above.

3) Hahaha, Shalom Y'all. See how 'Americanized' some of these places are. Freakin tourists. Oh wait...

4) See above minus 1. A lot of closed shops, as this was the Sabbath. Was interesting to see the Sabbath laws lived out throughout a whole country.

5) See above.

6) Stair way.

7) Dome of the Rock. Honestly, a pretty ugly structure. The solid gold top is impressive though, which is probably why they only show that part of the dome usually.

8) Guards. Twas pretty sweet seeing guys all over the place with M16s... And guys with rifles on top of buildings over looking the Market. Nice.

9) Jesus' house!

10) Camel ride - John Ritchey edition.

11) Camel ride - Kyle Selph edition.

12) Dr. Sanders arrive safely!

More on the way!

- KS
Luke 5:29-32

March 7

First day actually in Israel. Saw sooo much.

1) The Dead Sea. Unfortunately we didn't get to go there. Lame.

2) Coconut farm!

3) Olive tree up on Mt. Arbel. Man do I wish we had mountains in Elgin. Heck, I would be happy with hills.

4) The Team (sans me) on Mt. Arbel over looking the town of Magdalena.

5) Israel Flag. On a boat. On the Sea of Galilee. That isn't really a Sea. Its more a lake. You can see across the thing. Barely qualifies as a lake.

6) Massive flock of Jewish seagulls flew around our boat, posing for the camera as they flew by. Rock.

7) Synagogue in Capernum.

8) Olive Tree. Word.

9) Donkey. You thought it was something else, didn't you?

10) Jesus' olive press. Really, it was. Er, wasn't.

- KS
PS - Am I the only one that always messes up the word verification the first time? I must be a machine.
Luke 2:20

March 5 - Israel Baby!

The Team thus far... Alicia Fish, Amanda Groves, Kyle Selph, John Ritchey and Prof. Keith Krispin. And me. But I don't take pictures of myself ;)

So, it looks like I will not be able to update you all everyday, it costs about $10USD for 60minutes of interweb or $100USD for the week. Thats a bit too much...

I will say that this has been quite an experience so far... Some good some bad :). To me, its almost more interesting being in a different country, a different continent that throws me. The "being in the Holy Land" hasn't really hit me as much as being in such a different culture.

But, the first bad thing happened after our first flight. I left my little sister's stuffed kitty on the plane. I took a shot of it on the plane and then put it up in the over head bins. Well, they are deep and I am short and I thought I had everything... I am going to call the airline and see about picking it up in the lost and found on the way back. Blast.

And then we got to Tel Aviv and the Airline didn't bring my luggage. Sweet. I did get it tonight, so all is well now, but still was a little frustrating. A well, life goes on!

Well, that is all. Much love to all, and be looking for my ginormous picture vomit when I get back.

Oh, and for those expecting responses to emails, apparently my phone is not working properly at the moment. I am going to try and get it sorted out, my battery has been dead for a while.

Out.

- KS
John 20:29

March 4

So here is the fam.

Figured it would be an appropriate set for before I leave the country.

Me.

Eric.

Maggie.

Rachel.

Mum.

Dad.

Check back here over the next few days, I am going to make an attempt to post while in Israel, lets see how that goes.

- KS
Matthew 6:25-34 (Haha, really appropriate for tomorrow...)

March 3

So I ended up staying up all night to work on my stuff.

I only got about 70% or so of my manual done. Sucks. But there was soooo much information to process through. Should have freakin started it days ago.

And so I then had to put together a 20 min message in about 2hrs. I made the mistake of getting a coffee in the morning. Being usually slightly anxious before I speak (especially if I feel unprepared) + No sleep + Coffee = I felt really sick.

But I was hungry, so I turned to Saltines. I love those things. So good and you can eat them even when you feel sick :).

So strange that after only a 3 hour nap, I feel like I have so much energy.

- KS
Luke 4:1-12

March 2

Blazes, I almost forgot to post today.. 

Went downstairs and stole the souls of my cats and dog, they are such willing subjects ;)

I have way too many things to do before I go. 

I leave for Israel in 3 days. 

Wow, I am sooooo excited. 

BUT, I have to get through all this crap before I go. Suck. 

Sorry I don't have any more-compelling pictures today, those will come soon enough :)

Out.

 - KS

2 Chronicles 34-35