The Dead Sea, and Masada, and Other Stuff

~ Highlight of the Day: Floating in the Dead Sea! ~

 

Today was our last bus field trip. Kind of bitter sweet. We're so close to the end. . . Well, here's pictures from the last couple days:

 These are the kumquats from the tree on the 8th floor. . . at least I think they're kumquats :)

 

 This was taken from the top of the YMCA tower in West Jerusalem. I'm not sure what the building is, but it's a cool one! I'm going to miss domed structures when I get back to the States.

These are spices for sale at the souk in West Jerusalem. Part of me wants to get spices, but another *probably wiser* part of me points out I'd probably never figure out how to cook with them. . . 

 

This is the siege ramp that the Romans built when conquering the Zealots at Masada. It's huge, and frankly one of the most impressive things I've ever seen. I still remember building one of these up our swing set one winter after my parents visited Jerusalem and told us all about it :)

This is the zig-zag path leading up to Masada. Thankfully we didn't have time to climb it, and instead we took the tram! Some of us decided to run down it. I was not one of them.

This is me in the Dead Sea! You can look at pictures all you want, but until you're actually in water that's 30% salt, you'll have no idea what it's like. It's the weirdest thing! Kind of gross too - it's almost like the water's thick and grimy, and everything you touch becomes like that.

We drove to En Gedi after swimming in the Dead Sea, which was perfect because we then got a chance to swim in the fresh water spring and rinse off. Water falls are pretty great, even if they are really cold!

We ended our day with Qumran, where they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. I think the cave in this picture is cave # 4. . . but I'm not sure. The scrolls were hidden in the caves by Essenes who lived in a settlement at the top (where I'm standing and taking this picture), and were living there at the time of Christ.

 

Well, I've got a paper due tomorrow, and another one on Thursday, not to mention three finals on Thursday and Friday, so I'm going to go study/fight off sleep!