Kyle's Expeditions

I made a new blogspot named "I Discover Life" idiscoverlife.blogspot.com. Let me know what you think of the name. I welcome suggestions =]

Is it dead here or is it just sea?

Last Friday, Tom Meyer, a fellow student at JUC, mentioned to me that he shrewdly obtained a free pass for him and three of his friends at a spa in Ein Gedi, right off of the coast of the Dead Sea. Tom is a journalist and a phenomenal Bible verse quoter; he used the former to his advantage, telling the people that he may do a review of their spa if they allowed him to come for free with three friends. It worked very well. When we arrived, he pushed to get a free meal as well. He said to the manager, Moshe, "Do you want to see a magic trick?" Taken by surprise, Moshe agreed and was shown a magic trick involving the number 4016. At the end of it, Tom said to him, "I'll teach you the trick if you give us free lunch." It was a failed attempt, but hilarious nonetheless.

Tom, Craig, Joel, and I started our day in the luxurious, sulfuric bath inside the resort. It smelt absolutely terrible. However, all of those failed attempts as a child and young adult to float were finally redeemed. The water was warm and thick but not anything beyond what you would expect water to feel like. Mind you, this is still just the indoor pool. We journeyed to the beach, where the excitement truly began.

You ever wonder what it would be like to see snow on the ground on a hot day? To be able to make snowballs and play in it? Well, that is nothing like the dead sea. It is more like a sheet of bumpy, jagged ice, ready to do nothing more than to pierce your heel at the drop of a step. "Hey, let's go in without our sandals on, it won't be so bad under the water," we thought. Yeah, right. It was just as terribly painful under the water; the glossy, hardened salt was still bumpy and hit pressure points that I did not know existed. Once I put my sandals on, it was smooth sailing, almost literally. It is a challenge to stand up without treading water with your arms. Ridiculous isn't it? The lukewarm water plunges your body into a more relaxed position, almost as if it is saying, "Take a load off, welcome to Lay-Z-Sea." I loved it. We took many pictures that you should view on facebook. It was an absolute blast, despite the painful beginning.

We went back up to the resort after our floatatious fun and soaked ourselves in Dead Sea mud. It was in what resembled a cauldren, filled with this ugly brownish gray muddy water. In the bottom of it was gobs of sludge that we intentionally grabbed to get the full experience. Hey, we had to make sure to exfoliate our skin, right? We showered off and moved on.

We had a lunch, for which, by the way, we did end up getting a discount. It was delicious, even with the sulfuric stench lingering in the air. Alright, I'm making it sound worse than it is. You get used to it rather quickly. After lunch, we just hung out and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The salt really was like snow in some places. You could pick it up and play with it. You couldn't make a snow ball, and you really wouldn't ever want it to be thrown at you in a clump, but it was beautiful. For the pictures, just get facebook or go on your existing facebook and check it out.

It was truly such a tremendous blessing. I have never dreamt, or even dreamt of dreaming of such a blessed opportunity. God is good in the good times and the bad times. Fortunately, I had the "good times" today. Please pray that I rejoice in God's goodness even, and especially, in the bad times.
Grace and peace.

Stars and Bucks

Orthodox church buildings do not cease to amaze me. My "History of the Church in the East" class ventured into the Old City Jerusalem to observe Orthodox Churches. First off, the mosaics absolutely captivated me, putting me in complete awe. Particularly the Church of Holy Sepulcher (go figure). The supposed site of Golgotha was overcome with the beautiful mosaics scaling the walls and arched ceiling. Below, near the stone that they claim Jesus was buried on, there is another mosaic of the death and resurrection of Jesus. I looked carefully at this one, recognizing that there had to be detail even to the point of shading in order to effectively depict the colors of a robe and everything else. Simply awe-inspiring.
We went on to less extravagent looking sites, but equally spiritual. We visited a Coptic church father who was a multi-lingual, human encyclopedia (there are quite a few of those here). He gave great insight on the many misconceptions of the Coptic church, though I will have to research it myself to be able to explain any of it. You know how you sometimes here something, and you remember your reaction being one of affirmation and agreement, but you don't necessarily remember the content to which you agreed? I get that a lot haha. We also went to a Syrian Orthodox church building, but that was a little harder to follow. The father was less fluent in English, still impressive, however.

Today, Ben, Jodie, Molly and I went to Ramallah in the West Bank for a little visit. It was one of those random spontaneous events that I'm so fond of. When we had arrived, I instantly felt that I had just entered the wrong section of West Philly, only the guns were actually visible, and they happened to be AK-47's. I quickly became accustomed to it, as if I had a choice, and walked on with my friends. There has recently been some deadly activity in Gaza, which affects all of Palestine - including Ramallah. Stores were closing early in case of demonstrations, but we found this out later.

In the meantime, we went to a place that Ben was ecstatic about: Stars & Bucks. I kid you not, it was named Stars & Bucks. The name, as well as the signs (colors and all) plastered all over the place, were a complete knockoff of Starbucks. Ben let us know that it had been sued by Starbucks, but as he said, "What is Starbucks going to do? Come to the West Bank and say, 'Hey, you stole our name, we're sueing you." Good luck Starbucks. I bet your corporate executives and stock holders would love the West Bank. Anyway, I bought a massive ice cream sundae, unknowingly I might add. My friends bought some hooka, which, if you do not know, is flavored tobacco. It was pretty cool looking - basically, it's a bong (I don't care what they say, it looks like a freaking bong) with an apple on top covered in tin foil. After being nagged to smoke some, I finally ... ha! yeah, right. I don't smoke. We were sort of chased out after being there only 20 minutes. That's when we found out that everybody was closing up for the day at 3:40 in the afternoon haha.

We left and went on to the Shuuk (an outdoor supermarket with a thousand people shouting at you "Asherah!" meaning ten sheqels). I didn't buy anything there, but it was intense. By the way, there is a hair style here that I have dubbed, "The Metro Mullet." It is as hideous as it sounds.

Well that's it for another blog. I hope that you enjoyed. I miss you!

I have to confess my addiction to music

It has been so long since my last post that it is ridiculous! I guess my only excuse is that I am a lazy bum, and I know that if I post something, I want it to be worth your time. I have had a crazy past two weeks. On Tuesday, Craig and I met up with a fellow PBU student, Doug, who is actually teaching in a school here. We hung out with him in the Old City, on the Eastern Hill, known as the City of David. When we about to part ways he offered to bring us to dinner at his friends' apartment. I was somewhat hesitant to oblige because of the test I was going to take the next morning in Physical Settings. But hey, an I going to live like this is the last time I'll ever be in Israel, or what? So we went and had a kosher meal in a Jewish home. It was absolutely delicious. I also met a man named Duncan, a believer who happened to be living with Doug just below the Jewish family. He later told us that he lived in Galilee and offered for us to come over sometime. Talk about a sweet connection. He seemed like a cool guy regardless of where he lives. After dinner, against my better judgment, we watched Amazing Grace, an absolutely incredible movie! This was Duncan's idea, and he proved himself to be quite knowledgeable on the surrounding political context of the movie.
I ended up doing rather poorly on my exam. I might not have a thorough knowledge on the land of Samaria, but at least I do know how the abolishment of the slave trade came about. I am not worried about the grade anyway; I will pass, that is what counts when my transfer credits will not carry their GPA into my home school haha. Rock and Roll!
The weather has been absurdly beautiful in Jerusalem. As a result, I have been spending a lot of my time outside, walking through the Old City and making friends with the people there. I have also become deeply acquainted with white chocolate. Oh my goodness it is delicious. They have ice cream bars here with a solid bar of white chocolate in the center of a layer of milk chocolate ice cream and another thin layer of white chocolate. It is by far the best ice cream bar known to man. I have been trying to embrace the culture here as much as I can, but mostly with my appetite. I thoroughly embrace the great food here.
I have to confess my addiction to music. Alright, its not that bad, I could live without it if I wanted to. Isn't that the typical excuse of an addict? That's okay, I love good music in beautiful weather. There is something about the smell in the air, mixed with the comfort of the warmth of the sun, and topped with a well-written song that I just cannot get enough of. It is like a rush of endorphins into my inner-most being. I sound like a hippy, minus the drugs. Which reminds me, I had some white wine while I was eating with the Jewish family. It was still unappealing to me, but it was better than the stuff I drank on the plane over here.
Well, I love and miss you all. I hope you are all doing well and that you are constantly seeing God's grace being poured out into your lives!
Grace and Peace!

The Land of Benjamin

(A look over the Judean Wilderness)

Jericho is a paradise in the midst of a barren land. The oasis lying just north of the Dead Sea is a refreshing sight for desert-sore eyes. The sturdy palm trees are in bountiful supply throughout city of Jericho. We first overlooked the Judean wilderness just off of the Ascent of Addumin, allowing us to view the vast sun-scorched senonian limestone hills. I was reminded that as a child I assumed limestone was green; it is an honest presupposition - limes are green. But this land was a pale stone color. The monasteries in the land enticed me, giving me a desire to seek dependence on the Lord as they were forced to have. I was astonished at the beauty of the oasis in the Wadi Qilt as we arrived in Jericho. As we considered the strategic location of the city in accordance with the rest of Canaan and the trade routes, it was apparent that Jericho was an essential part to the militaristic, political, and economical good of the Israelites. (Jericho)

Traveling across the Benjamin Plateau to Nebi Samwill furthered my understanding of the intrinsic importance of that part of Israel. Jericho was a backdoor to the land of Benjamin and the city of Jerusalem, but more importantly, it was a back door to the entire Canaanite land. If the Israelites had gone up from the south into the Promised Land, they would have faced (literally) numerous cities. This attack on Jericho was ingenious, allowing the Israelites access to Ai and the following conquered cities.
Nebi Samwill allowed for a view of this infamous plateau. Mizpah, Ramah, Gibeah, and Gibeon were all accessible in our line of vision, as well as Jerusalem and surrounding major cities. The Sorek wadi system hooked its tentacles around the site and aided in the distinctive shape of the land. When we went over the story of Joshua’s conquest, I was captivated by the utter importance of the plateau. It truly was on of the key locations throughout the entire land of Canaan, though we were sternly reminded that the Jezreel Valley was the most important crossroads in the land.

(A view from Nebi Samwil over the land of Benjamin)
We journeyed onward to Gezer, a name which I am guilty of frequently mispronouncing geezer. The old man, rather, the old land is refreshing to just about every sense that I have. The sight, the smell, the touch, and sound were all so wonderful after being through such desolate land as the Judean wilderness. If the pear cacti would have had fruits, I would also be able to include taste in the senses blessed by the splendor of the land. For the first time since I arrived in Israel, I saw a land absolutely covered in green. Reflecting on this, the Israelites must have been overjoyed as they approached the fertile and well-nourished land. I thought Jericho was paradise before we came to Gezer.

(Pillars at Gezer)

(Veni Vidi Vici)
I thoroughly enjoyed putting into perspective the benefits of Solomon’s actions in gain of land/wife in 1 Kings 9. Egypt was sore and desperate, slowly making progress to regaining their imperial strength, while Israel had become a prominent power in the land. Gezer being a gateway to the imperial highway and the Mediterranean was a great gain for Solomon. As I review my notes right now, I realize that the other two cities mentioned, Hazor and Megiddo, are extraordinarily important to the entire Land Between. It was truly a defining moment in the history of Israel.

(Sunset over Gaza)

...It Is Only the Beginning

Mediocrity is not what I'm here for. A mundane lifestyle in the Holy Land is a waste of time. Tonight was a new experience; one of intensity and conquering adversity. I am skipping my adventure in the desolate wilderness of the Makhtesh ha-Katan; you'll have you talk to me in person for that one. Oh, but this story.. this story is worth telling everybody. Tonight, Craig and I went down the Eastern Hill with one thing in mind: Absolom's Pillar. The picture to the right is one that I took about a week ago. That entrance enticed me; it called my name, taunting me. We arrived at the site at about 21:30, finding absolutely no way to climb into that hole towering above us. We looked around for about a half an hour, even considering finding a tree to climb across in the back (not our best idea, for it would have been a 15 foot stretch over 50 feet above the ground). Instead, we decided to stack limestone blocks on the right side of the pillar. If you look carefully, you can see that there is a ledge above the initial one - it is like that on the side, which is where we stacked about 10 limestone blocks, including broken tombstone blocks. Limestone is quite heavy, and it was a hike from the top of a hill, maybe 100 yards.. but it was worth it. We stacked them up about 4 feet high, giving us enough leverage to shimy ourselves into the hole. We carved our initials into the side, and placed our initials in rocks at the highest ledge to which we could get. The picture to the left is the stack of rocks... You can see the niches in the wall that aided us in gaining enough leverage to throw ourselves up into that little hole. The picture below is of me hiding out inside the Pillar the next morning. Thanks to Craig's poor photography skills (of which I am pulling the card frequently to make him feel bad), that is the best I got.

On the way back last night, we were stopped by some friendly police who wandered why we were dressed in all black, carrying big sticks, and I had my head lamp around my neck. Good times.

Jerusalem Approaches Field Study

A breath-taking view of Jerusalem can be found on Mt. Scopus, a modern name for the Mount of Olives. The city that rests in the cup of the Judean land is well protected by it’s geographical surroundings, and this view of the city accentuates these features. The haze distracted our journey today. As we gazed into the land far off, a thick fog in the air clouded our view of the distant Nebi Samwil north east of Jerusalem. As we moved on to another area on the Mount, we could see the chalky senonian landscape that had a small amount of green covering it.






One would assume that wind from the east would bring a dry, oven-hot blast from the nearby desert as we stood atop the mountain. Contrary to that assumption, of which I was a culprit of having, the desert blows a brisk air over the land west of it in the morning hours. During the night, it gets much colder in the desert, this being to my dissatisfaction as I tried to write my notes with frigid hands. I’m thankful, however, that I am getting a brisk wind from a desert rather than the frozen chills of the Poconos. On the other side of the mountain, the heat of the sun was warming up the tremendous graveyard on the Mount of Olives, where we went next. We were given another thorough view of the city of Jerusalem and moved on to locations thought to be the Garden of Gethsemane. I was particularly fond of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Garden sight; the golden onions with crosses on top were truly captivating.









(outside a Russian Orthodox Church building marking the Garden of Gethsemane)(Inside the Church building)




(I don't even know, it is beautiful though isn't it?)


Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was visiting the Herodium. As we walked around the towering, fortress of Herod, we were able to view the desolate, “valley of the shadow of death,” where David wrote the well- known Psalm 23. I was awestruck at the beauty within the rugged terrain of the Judean wilderness. Unfortunately, we were unable to view the Dead Sea through the dense haze, but regardless, the land was enough to thoroughly satisfy my interest in the land. It was truly amazing to see the transition between the terra rosa soil and the infertile land of the wilderness. The life of a shepherd must have been a terrible challenge. During the winter, which is the rain season, the herds of sheep and goats go to the local wadis that flow into the dead sea. There they find enough grass by the streams to suffice throughout the winter while the wheat and barley crops grow and are harvested. The sheep and goats return when the rain season ends, and the crops are no longer in danger of being consumed by hungry livestock. This system is an extraordinary example of the balance within the land. Why would God lead the Israelites away from the fertile land of Egypt into this type of land? Dependence. How awesome is that?

(I don't have time to post more pictures, add me on facebook and you can view literally hundreds of pictures I've taken)
Within the Herodium, we looked at the remains of a once magnificent palace. I stood on top of a five foot pillar and posed with a few friends. It was an all around fun time. We went into an area that was supposed to be off-limits, but it was well worth our disregard to the signs. A cave was found and we journeyed into it blindly; only a flash of a camera lit our way. On the outside of the cave were new archaeological finds: most importantly, the tomb of Herod.

Our trip was topped off with a visit to Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity was the sight to be seen, filled with beautiful art work, even on the pillars. The sanctuary was long and, of course, had amazing acoustics. There are few churches in a land of limestone that have poor acoustics. A towering organ was featured in the front, as well as in the back overlooking the large room. One of the focuses throughout the day was the Central Ridge Route, which was more narrow through the town of Bethlehem. All in all, the land ceases to amaze me in its intricacy.