Petra

Yesterday I went to Petra which is a city made completely carved out of stone. We saw the Treasury which is a HUGE building carved out of stone, and they shot it thinking that gold would come falling out of it. It was soooooo cool. I got to ride a camel it was the greatest experience of my life. It was so cool you would sway when it went slow and bounce when it went fast. Then we started wrapping it up and I convinced my dad to take a horse ride with me, and the guy who got me on the horse could not catch up with me. It was so awesome. Petra is so cool I’ve posted a picture of the treasury. Last night we are stayed in a fancy hotel in Jordan, and tonight we are going home. :D

Jeep Safari and "Little Petra"

Today we went to a safari through the desert in the back of a pickup truck. IT WAS SO FUN. We got to climb sand dunes, and we had lunch at a Bedouin camp. They had a couch around a fire pit it was so cool. after lunch I climbed up a giant sand dune it was to tiring, but so awesome. After that we went to Little Petra which is a tiny city carved out of stone then we went back to are hotel and had lamb with yellow rice.

Going to Jordan

Today we packed up to go to Jordan, but first we went to Masada. It was were the Jewish people hid from the Romans, but the Romans knew they were there so they built a ramp up to Masada, which is super high. When the Romans got up there the Jewish people were all dead. Then we switched buses, and went to Mount Nebo, which is where Moses looked out into the desert and could see the Promised Land, but did not go to it.  It took us so long to go through the border because Jordan is so protective. Then we went to see some mosaics and went to a tiny museum. Then we took a 4-hour bus ride to the hotel and the hotel is really nice, like super really nice. For dinner I had lentil soup with Greek salad with fried fish and French fries with sweet ketchup. Jordan is so weird I fell asleep on the bus, and when ever I would wake up I would look out the window and all I could see was desert that’s it only desert.       

Friday and Saturday In Israel

Friday we went to Grotto in the Church of Nativity, and saw the manger and where Jesus was born which was awesome. Next we went to a Bedouin Village and had lunch there, which was my favorite part of the day. Then we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which was weird and also cool. Today we went to Galilee. First we went to Nazareth and saw the Roman Catholic Church of the Annunciation, that was also really cool.  Next we went to Capernaum where we saw Peter’s house. We also saw a 4^th century synagogue which is like a 4^th century church. After lunch we went on a boat in the sea of Galilee. Tonight we are still staying in the same hotel in Bethlehem.

Saturday we went to the Mount of Olives I could see the entire Old City of Jerusalem, and it’s so cold up there. Then we hiked down it into the Old City, but we stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane which is where Jesus sweated blood and prayed to take the cup from him. Then we hiked the whole way down, and walked through the Old City. Next we went down to street level in Jesus time. After that we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher again and saw some cool art and mosaics. Then we went to dinner which was a Bedouin restaurant called the tent I had  a mixed grill which is like lamb mixed with beef  with a side of chicken. After that we said bye to the part of the group that was not going to Jordan. Now we are packing to leave Bethlehem tomorrow.

Churches, Ruins, Museums, and Other Stuff

Yesterday we went to the Church of the Nativity. That has two churches Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Next we went to Herodium, a palace of Herod the Great. Also, tradition says that his tomb lies there, it was so fun to climb there even though it was only stairs. Also we went to the Israel Museum, where we went to see the Shrine of the Book, and that is where the Dead Sea Scrolls are held it was sooooo boring. We also saw a small model of Jerusalem in Jesus time, that was kinda cool . Lastly we met with a Jew that lived in America a long time, but then moved to Israel that was kinda interesting. We are still staying in Bethlehem.