Days 3/4

For the millions of viewers that we have, I am sorry that I did not post yesterday! I seem to have a bug in my system, but at least my migraine is leaving. So needless to say, I did not post due to being exhausted from that.

Anyway, The sites we went to yesterday were the Elah Valley, Beth Shemesh, and Maresha. I know that sounds like a bunch of information right now, but I will explain it later soon! The Elah Valley is the land in which David had his showdown with Goliath. This was so interesting, because it is nothing like I ever imagined. When I think of these types of scenes from the bible, I tend to think that it is an arid and deserted area. Not really. It was really lush, and the mountains were really not that huge. None the less, it was a perfect place for a biblical deathmatch with it's flat terrain and low hills!

The other area that really stood out to me was Meresh. It took me back to when I was five, aspiring to be a paleontologist and trying to dig up dinosaur bones in my backyard! Yes, I am a nerd. Don't worry, that phase did not last long =) But it was fun because we got to unearth shards of pottery, bones, and I found something that looked like a fish hook. Jackie claimed that she beat me, I am not so sure about that. We got paid with a box lunch, and that was good enough for me. I aspired to be an archeologist at one time as well, but found that it was not social enough for me, so it was very exciting to do this.

After the dig and hauling up the dirt and rocks, we were given the option to go spelunking in a cave that has had minimal contact with our world, or go through an unearthed site. Of course I chose spelunking! It was so much fun, and I am glad that I did not get stuck!!! That would be hard to explain to the parents.

Today I woke up ten minutes before I was supposed to be down stairs! I felt really bad, but it worked out because I got down stairs before I got left behind. It took us a record breaking 3 minutes to get to our first site... Ashkelon. We entered Philistine country. I never knew that they were Europeans. We had to wear hard hats, which I thought was sort of peculiar. Until I smacked my head into a low stair case! Then Hal laught at me and told me that it was good I had it. Much of it was outside, and had a few tiers to it. Once I get pictures, I will try to post them.
Seeing the Mediterranean was awesome. We were able to run in there and touch the water. It was too cold to swim though. However, when we got to the Dead Sea, that was really interesting! It was still really cold, but I jumped in anyway to see what it was like. MY EYES!!!!!! That's all I can say to describe it. It definitely stung a bit. But I think I found the cure for halitosis, which is the sea water! The part we were in did not seem like the Dead Sea. Usually I think of mud-banks and murky water, and it was not like that at all. It was very rocky, and sort of clear. But I swam for 10 minutes or so and then got out due to be really cold. But it was close to 80 down there.
There were a few highpoints in between being sick. The dig was great since there is nothing like that stateside. I wish I could remember more, but I am definitely not feeling good. Hal telling a story about how he took a leopard corpse to get taxidermy work done to it cracked me up! I guess he put it in his station wagon and drove around with it. It created a hilarious mental picture, and was a story that I wish I could have come up with!
One of my fellow students blessed me by loaning me money as well, which was very humbling and kind, I will pay that person back asap. I hope that I will feel better tomorrow, and I will write a most substantial post then. Until then, have a great day!

Jason