Galilee!

So this is going to be one epic post- tons of pictures! Sorry it's taken me so long to post about our Galilee trip. We've been crazy busy these past few weeks, and there is so much to tell about the trip! We were there for 11 days and it was so incredible to see all the sights and learn about the Savior's ministry while sitting on the shores of Galilee. I loved it! Unfortunately (or maybe it was good thing), we didn't have Internet while we were there, so sorry I've been out of touch with you all. I love you, though!The view from Megiddo. Nazareth is visible in the back. This is me after our Easter all-nighter, so I was looking a little haggard to say the least.
In the spirit of Armageddon (which is prophesied will take place at Megiddo) Catherine and I duke it out on top of the tel.
This is what the manger where Jesus was laid really would have looked like. Not exactly the hay-filled watering trough I always pictured. And not exactly comfy...

On the way up to the Galilee, we stopped for some lunch in Afula. This guy was quite the falafel-trickster...it was kind of like a Japanese steakhouse, only Mediterranean-style. Notice the air-born falafel being caught by the cabbage-filled pita while the guys other hand drums with chip-tongs. Pretty impressive stuff. This was the view of the Galilee from our cute little (bug-infested) bungalow at Ein Gev. Notice the banana-chair-looking thing on the beach. I spent pretty much all my free time in those amazing things!
This is the boat we took across the Sea of Galilee. We were able to stop in the middle to learn about Christ calming the tempest, the faith of Peter, and a few other scriptural occurences on the sea. Singing "Master, the Tempest is Raging" while sitting out on that boat was an incredibly powerful experience I'll never forget.
This is the sea when it's calm. It is so beautiful! We never experienced it during a storm, but supposedly it gets pretty nasty. When Christ calmed the seas for the apostles, He didn't do it until the fourth watch of the night- between 3 and 6 a.m. The apostles had been doing everything they could to fight the storm all night and were at the end of their strength when they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water. I can't imagine how grateful and relieved they must have been to see Him there. It made me think about all the times in my life when I have been left to fight storms on my own until I felt like I couldn't do anything more. I know that the Lord often leaves me until my own "fourth watch", and I will not always know why, but I do know that He will come to comfort, strengthen and save me.

This is a boat that was found buried under the Sea of Galilee. It dates back to the time of Christ and is exactly the type of boat He would have ridden in with his disciples. The story of how they found the boat and excavated it is pretty awesome. Two-thousand-year-old wood isn't exactly the sturdiest, so for the last 15 years, they've been soaking it in a pool with some kind of compound that soaked into the wood cells and solidified the whole thing.
This is the view from the really cool church on top of the Mt. of the Beatitudes. Pictured: not me. (I have a picture here, too, but it wasn't as cool-looking, so I posted this one of the lovely Catherine Parker, BYU volleyball player extraordinare, that I took for her because her camera is stupid.)
Candles in the church at Taghba, the traditional site where Jesus fed the multitude of 5000.
One of my favorite sites in the Galilee: St. Peter's Primacy. After Christ's resurrection, the apostles were fishing when they saw Him on the shore (at this site.) Peter, so overcome with a desire to again be with the Savior, jumped out of the boat and ran to Him. This is where Christ instructed Peter to feed His sheep. There was an amazing spirit at this place as I thought of what I am willing to do to run to the Savior as He stands waiting for me, with His arms outstretched.
Here is Brother Ostler's lovely class at the synagogue in Capernaum where Christ taught. Since I have a rockin' camera, I get the benefit of always taking class pictures :).

On one of the days, after a morning of classes on the beach, some of us went hiking at Ramat Ha'Golan in the Golan Heights. It was so beautiful!
Kimberly and I feeling jungle-y.
David and I by a waterfall. We spent part of the day swimming in this thing, along with lots of fish and some crabs that really freaked me out. It was so fun though!
Kyle and I on top of the waterfall cliff. In the awesome Golan jungle. Heaven forbid we should act normal :).

A crab and I.
A view of the sunset and our group hiking.

Kyle and I sieging Gamla. This is the ancient site where there was a walled city on top of this hill. It was protected on all sides by sheer cliffs, but one side was a little weaker, and that was the side the Romans attacked in 66 CE. Rather than give in to the Roman troops trying to take away their religion (not to mention their lives), the whole community gathered on top of the city and jumped off the cliffs. I'm pretty sure it was the biggest (and thus, saddest) mass suicide of all time.
The top of the city, with Galilee behind.

My lovely religion teacher, Craig Ostler, pulling a face...I think this face was somehow an object lesson, but it ended up just being really funny.
At Katzrin, an ancient Talmudic village. This was a really cool house that has been restored to look just like houses would have in the time of Christ. This is the kitchen.
And this is the main room. We all crowded in here to learn about Christ healing the man who was let down through the ceiling of the house because the multitude was thronging a little too closely.
In Tiberias, we went to a fish restaurant where the fish were brought out just like this. I got the pizza...but I did try a little fish and took up the challenge to eat a fish eyeball. I'm not entirely sure why I got that challenge, but I did it :). And it was disgusting.
On our windy ride up to Mt. Tabor, one of the possible sites of the Mt. of Transfiguration where the apostles were ordained, our taxi driver looked like Uncle Money Bags from Monopoly. So I took a picture. He was a very funny guy (who coincidentally tried to kill us on the way down the mountain by playing chicken).

I really like this picture from inside the church on the top of Mt. Tabor.
This is Bet She'an, a Roman city.
The public restroom system in Bet She'an was pretty awesome...you just balance yourself in between these stone tabs and keep your feet out of the urine canal beneath your feet. The man on my left is Bro. Seely, our Ancient Near Eastern Studies teacher. He is probably the smartest and most hilarious and quotable guy I've ever known.
We were only allowed to swim one afternoon in the Sea (when there was a lifeguard hired to make sure we didn't get dragged under by the apparently deadly undertows) and the rest of the time, we weren't supposed to get even a big toe wet. Which we figured meant the other toes were just fine to dip in.
At Caesarea Phillipi, being Corinthian columns. Because Ionic and Doric are so 5th century.
At Banias, Hermon Spring, tossing my hair by a waterfall.
Also at Banias, I experienced the most incredible apple-eating experience of my life.
This is at the palace of Nimrud. This was one of the coolest places we went. It was foggy and raining while we where there, which was perfect for exploring an ancient castle surrounded by cliffs and the most incredible green scenery I've ever seen. While we were standing there in awe, Kyle put one of his iPod's ear buds into my ear so I could listen to the "Lord of the Rings" soundtrack with him. We listened for a minute and were feeling pretty epic, and then Kyle said, "I understand if you need to kiss me right now." And then my hysterical laughing ruined the moment :).
Misty awesome-ness.
At our most adorable, we acted like pigs at the Church of the Swine, where the legions of evil spirits were cast into pigs (probably the second biggest mass suicide.)

At the synagogue of Korazim, where there is a random engraving of Medusa, evidence of the Greek influence on the Jewish people.

Expounding from Moses' seat. This is where the know-it-all's would sit during Jesus' day to spout their knowledge of the rabbi's scriptural interpretations. Jesus called them out for wanting to be seen and praised by men for their false spirituality.
Cool stained glass inside the church of Mary at Nazareth. Also in and around this church were dozens of mosaics, done by almost every country in the world with a strong Christian influence, depicting their traditional idea of the Virgin Mary. It was so interesting to see Mary portrayed in the context of so many other cultures.
Outside Mary's church, which kind of looks like a rocket.
Chris and I at Akko, an important ancient port city on the Med near Haifa. It was really beautiful here! This is where we spent our last night of the Galilee trip.
The Three Musketeers (as we've been lovingly dubbed) by the Mediterranean.
At the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa.
Bri, Kyle and I at the theatre in Caesarea, an amazing port city built by Herod the great. They had to artificially extend the port out to give a landing spot for boats, and discovered a process of making cement dry underwater. For being such a scum-bucket, Herod was really awesome at construction.
Caesarea.

This is me with Ata, the guy who often does the call to prayer that can be heard throughout Jerusalem 5 times a day, reminding the Muslims to pray. He is an awesome guy and kind of a celebrity among the call-to-prayer-interested. And for some inexplicable reason, he also sometimes drives our bus. On this trip, he gave a special performance of the call over the bus loudspeaker...it was so cool!