much NEEDED update

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i know, i know. I am lame. I havent updated this thing in probably over a month. I dont even know where to begin. We have been on probably three or four different trips since i last wrote. I guess that i will just post some highlights since i am so behind.
It has been over a month since i have been here and the time is going so fast. I look forward to and yet fear the day that i will have to leave Israel. I know that i will look back on this experience with jealousy, wanting to always come back and repeat my semester spent here. But i am throughouly enjoying myself while i am here as well.
lets see. We had our bejamin feild trip on the 7th of Feburary, which was the first field trip that was away from jerusalem, which was nice. It was located all around the Judean hill country. That following weekend we had a field trip for another class, Jerusalem studies. which, of course, was around the old city. It was okay. it was kind of a repeat of everything that we already learned at the beginning of the semester. My favorite part of the trip was sitting in the Jewish quarter and getting coffee in this really good coffee shop there. Oh, and getting a bagel!!! with real cream chesse. I was excited!
that next week for our land and bible field trip we went to places around the Jerusalem area which would have been used in ancient times as 'approaches' up to Jerusalem. this was the trip where our bus got stuck in the mud in Gezer and the guys had to push it out, only for it to get stuck again. we ended up having to leave the bus and walk in the mud for about a mile to the main highway, where we called another bus to pick us up. the mud here is gross, its practically all composed of clay, or at least feels like it is. The highlight of that trip had to be when we went to Shiloh. This is the place where the Benjaminites took wives by basically carrying them off on their shoulders by force. This was great, because it was valentines day, so we decided to re-enact it for romance sake. it was kind of scary though when all the guys came running at us from the bushes.
that weekend, on the 18th and 19th were 'field excavations'. i have mixed feeling about this event. we went to the pool of Siloam and moved dirt all day on both days. my mixed feelings are between loathing and deep seated hatred. i cant pick.
that same week on the 21st, we got a little break from the regular field trips and went to Yad Vashem, which is a holocaust musuem in the area. It was really interesting and there is alot to see there. I could spend a whole other day there and still not see it all.
oh wow. i am finally catching up to this week!!!
we had 'saturday night live' on saturday the 24th. SNL is a time that everyone gets together and plays a game or hangs out or something. we had battle of the sexes. all the girls dressed up in pink to show our spirit. the guys dressed up in green and made shirts which said something about 'man power', referring to them pushing the bus. it was pretty clever. they won the game by one point. oh well.
sunday was a work day, which is when the IBEZ group gets the oppurtunity to work around the moshav. me and another girl mostly worked in one of our professors house, cleaning and stuff. It was fun! that night we got chessebugers which were amazing.
this week our field trip us in the Shephlah, which is the low lands or hills of the country. we went to the place where the battle between David and Goliath happened, and the hill where David and his family hid. we also went to this place where there were all these caves and tunnels underground which were dug during the jewish revolt for the jews to hide in, from the Romans. We took like 30 mintues and climb through some of the tunnels and found so pretty cool caves.
This saturday i got the oppurtunity to go to Synagogue, which i loved. It was really cool to just watch all the things which go on in a Jewish service. It was all mostly in Hebrew, but still interesting. They had this woman read from the Torah, well, actually sing from it and it was beautiful. she was so good.

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