Day 3... making memories

Today we went to Golan Heights and we saw the road to Damascus, where Paul was traveling when he was blinded by the light of God. We could actually see the other countries bordering Israel- Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It was incredible. was a beautiful view—actually the area was a military bunker where there were many soldiers gathered.  They asked to take a video of just a few of the girls saying “go lions!” in Hebrew. Then we took pictures with them. Men and women serve in the Military in Israel when they turn eighteen. Men serve a required 3 years, and women a required 2 years (unless they are married). I think it shows dedication to their country, having everyone serve. Our guide, Mark, says that most of them have the outlook, “If I don’t serve, who will?” So they serve willingly with pride for their beautiful country that so many wars have been fought over. The drive was about three and a half hours away, and we got our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee—which we will be visiting next week!

         We had lunch in a little Druze community. The Druze have a “secret religion.” They believe in Allah, but they do not believe in Mohammed, so they are a separate group then the authentic Muslims. They believe that when they die, their bodies will be alive in another Druze, so do not fear death. Because of this, they are also very fierce soldiers. For lunch, we ate a Druze pizza. It was a thin pita, a white thick cheese, drizzled with olive oil. It was very interesting.

         Our last two stops were in Caeserea Philippi, where the “gates of Hades” are said to be. We took a group picture just outside the mouth of the huge cave of hell. There were old structures and ruins. This was where Jesus asked the disciples who they said he was, and Peter said he was the Christ. Then we went to the National Reserve of Tel Dan. We saw many ancient sites, but one that stood out to me was the gate Abraham went through.  This is the only site that historians know for sure is old enough that they know Abraham was there. How incredible.

         Tonight we went for a night exploring Jerusalem. We had a really fun experience taking pictures in a little park on a statue. Then we walked around seeing the city. Thursday night is the same as our Friday nights back home. It was beautiful. There is a party going on outside my window.