day 6

            Going into today, I had no idea what to expect. But if I had set any expectations, they would have been blown out of the water. For real. Today was AWESOME! It was our first day of the sports camps! We have basketball, football (soccer), volleyball, and swimming! Each sport is at a different camp and some are at different times so for most of the day, it was just DeeDee and me!

DeeDee is one of the best swim coaches ever. She coached the US National team, Honduras National team, Chile National team, and now she is coaching a swim team in Iraq! She was a teacher/swim coach in the states for 20 some years, lived in Mexico and Chile for a while, and she is now living in Iraq. She just opened her own school in northern Iraq and she is an English language teacher! She is such an amazing woman of God and I have learned so much about swimming, life, and Christ this week!

We got to the pool around 7.30ish and met the other swim coaches Moosa and Elias! Moosa doesn’t speak a lot of English, but enough for basic communication, and Elias speaks great English and would translate for us! There were kids from age 20 to age 8! All the older swimmers (high school age) spoke English but the younger ones did speak a lot of english. At first, I was afraid the language barrier would be really difficult but it really wasn’t! I picked up some Arabic words pretty quick and whatever I didn’t know, I just got Moosa or Elias to translate for me! As a whole, I think practice went really well this morning! Especially for it being our first time with the kids and not really knowing where to start with their training.

Coming in, I didn’t really think I would make close friendships with the kids here but I was waaaay wrong! Sabine Hazboun changed that thought very quickly. I became instant friends with her. Sabine is the Palestinian National Champion Swimmer. And did I mention she just turned 17 a week ago? Yeah..ridiculous! She is leaving in a couple weeks to go to China to train for a month and then she is finishing her senior year of high school in Barcelona, Spain! She is going to be training and going to school there. There is about an 85% chance that she will be swimming in London for the Olympics next summer..CRAZY! Her family runs the Catholic Action Center is Palestine and they are all very strong Christians. Sabine is such a sweet girl and I am definitely going to stay in touch with her! aka I will go to London with her next summer for the Olympics :)

It’s only day 1 of camp and I have already met so many great people! I cannot wait to spend more time with them the rest of the week!

love yall!

day 5

            HOT. HOT. HOT. And that would be an understatement. We started the day in Masada which is in the middle of the dessert. Basically, it is a giant mound of dirt and rock with zero shade. To get to the top there are two options: hike up on a little tiny snake path or take a ski lift type thing up to the top. Clearly our guide chose the ski lift because we got there right as it started to get real hot. Masada is where King Herod lived with his 239834697298347 slaves. He had several palaces that overlooked the Dead Sea from the top of Masada. Back in the day, the Dead Sea water level was much higher and much closer to the mountain. This is the site that got destroyed and lead to the downfall of the Jews. Fun Fact: When a soldier of the Israeli army completes their 3 years of service, they have to pledge to always protect Masada to prevent another fall of the Jews!

            Next, we drove down the road about 20ish minutes and went to Ein Gedi! Ein Gedi is where David hid from King Saul when he was trying to kill him. David found one of the caves that was in the rock and hid there for a few days. At one point, David got out of the cave and found King Saul and had the chance to kill him but he didn’t. Instead, David just cut off a piece of the King’s robe. There are several trails in Ein Gedi that lead to different waterfalls and/or the very top of Ein Gedi which would be a verrrry long hike. We took about an hour hike and went to a couple different waterfalls and they were breathtaking. David’s Waterfall was beautiful. It was so tall and the view looking back towards the Dead Sea was incredible! Most of us had on our bathing suits and took a short dip in the pool and stood under the waterfall and got a nice massage!

            Qumran was next on the list of places to see in the middle of no where. We literally got off the bus, watched a short film about it, toured it, took pictures, and got back on the bus in a grand total of 30 minutes. It was probably the shortest stop so far! Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. These scrolls had the Old Testament written on them and they were found in random caves on the side of a mountain. Fun Fact: Ester is the only book in the Old Testament that doesn’t mention the word ‘God’!

            Now time for everyone’s favorite…the Dead Sea! It was so much fun! Fun Fact: If you swallow the Dead Sea water, you could die within minutes of swallowing it. The water is so salty, that it dehydrates your body so fast, that your organs cannot function and they will all shut down. After hearing that, I second-guessed whether I really wanted to get in or not! But we all got in anyway and put mud allll over us! Back in March, I just put it on my arms and legs but this time, we got a little more adventurous and put it on our face! It burned like heck but it was so worth it because my skin was so smooth afterwards!

            Jericho was our last stop of the day. We went to a shop that sold all the Dead Sea products and some random pottery before going to dinner. There were probably 10 peacocks just hanging out outside the shop! There was some bird and (it may have been a peacock but I’m not sure) and it sounded EXACTLY like Kevin from the movie Up! Being the child that I am, I totally freaked out and got so excited! I wish I could have recorded it making the noise because I’m pretty sure Pixar found that bird, recorded it, and used it as Kevin’s voice…We drove to this very elegant restaurant where we met Taysir Abu Saada. He wrote the book, Once An Arafat Man and he is President/Founder of Seeds of Hope. After he talked to us for a little bit about his story and his foundation, we ate a fabulous dinner. My true Rinehart colors were shining during this meal…It was probably the best dinner I have had in years! (no offense mom…) All the salads, pita, and meats were so delicious. And we had this super tart lemonade with mint leaves and it was just the perfect compliment to the entire meal. I could go on forever about it but I’ll stop before I embarrass myself!

            Today was a very looooong day! We left the hotel before 8am and didn’t get back til about 10.30pm and we were going non stop from place to place. I am so exhausted but it was totally worth it. The sports camps start tomorrow and I am pumpeddd! Good night!

Love yall!

my bad...

I'm so sorry I have been so awful about posting for the past few days! We have been so so busy and the internet crashes like every 10 minutes..We are at a different hotel now, so I'll try to get all caught up tonight!

day 4

            My feet are not very happy with me today…We did a normal two day tour, in one day! We walked essentially through all of the Old City of Jerusalem.  We started out on the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus started his journey through Jerusalem to his crucifixion. There is a beautiful view of Jerusalem from the top of the Mount of Olives even though the Dome of the Rock is directly across the valley.

            As we made our way down the Mount of Olives, we got to the Garden of Gethsemane. I love gardens, so once again I was lovin every minute of it! The story behind the Garden of Gethsemane is in Matthew 26:36-46! Right next to the garden is the Church of All Nations. There are 12 (I think..?) different nations represented on the ceiling of the church. The United States dome is the first one on the right side! This is the site where Jesus prayed so hard he sweat blood!

            The Pools of Bethesda is another really cool place in Jerusalem. This is there sick/disabled people would hang out because the spirit would stir up the water and the first person in the water after it has been stirred would be healed. This is where Jesus healed a man who had been going to the pools for over 30 years and never got healed. He was paralyzed so he could never get into the water because he didn’t have anyone to help him. Jesus saw this man’s desire to be healed and he healed him right then and there!

            The Western Wall was next on the list. Since it is Saturday and we went before sunset, lots of things were closed because people aren’t allowed to work on the Sabbath. This is the Holiest site for people of Jewish faith because they believe that the presence of God is in the wall. When they are finished praying, Jewish people walk a certain number of steps backwards because they do not want to turn their backs on God. We went up to the wall and some people put prayers in the wall, prayed, and then we left. It was super crowded so it was a pretty quick trip! We couldn’t even take pictures at the wall because that is considered work!

            Next, we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church is believed to be one of the possible sights where Jesus was crucified. The church is divided between 3 major religions (Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Armenian). The Greek Orthodox parts of the church are the most obvious because it is decked out in gold and jewels! There are several mosaics on the walls that would have taken forever to complete and they were all done by hand! They were truly unbelievable.

            One of our last stops was on the other side of the Mount of Olives at Caiaphas’ house. This is where Jesus was taken before he was put before his crucifixion. He had to stay the night here because it was the Sabbath and there was no working allowed which meant no judging was going on that day. Jesus was lowered down into a pit/cave that only had one opening at the top so it was impossible for anyone to get out. Psalm 88!

            Last stop: the Garden tomb! The Garden Tomb is another place that people think Jesus could have been crucified and buried. The mount that is believed to be the crucifixion site is all rock and there is the face of a skull in the rocks. It’s called Golgatha which means ‘skull.’ The garden was full of gorgeous flowers and foliage so once again, I got a bunch of pictures!

            Today was great and filled with lots and lots of walking but we covered the whole city in one day! Pretty impressive, huh? Tomorrow is going to be a long, hot day because we are basically going to be in the dessert all day..good night!

Love yall!

day 3

            The Mt. of Beatitudes is my all time favorite place in Israel. Today is already a good day because that’s where we started out tour. I know I’m a little bias, but I think its one of the most beautiful places in all of Israel. It is this big octagonal shaped church with beautiful flowers overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I have a weird obsession of taking pictures of flowers and nature, so of course I took full advantage of that and I now have tons of pictures from the Mt. of Beatitudes! (Sparknotes story of the importance of this mount – This is where Jesus walked after the feeding of the 5000 and preached the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5-7:29) Coach Dye was challenged to memorize the Sermon on the Mount by someone who went last year, and being a typical male, he took on that challenge. I am so impressed that someone could memorize 2 and a half chapters of the bible and get it almost word for word perfect. He gave us the sermon outside the church where Jesus would have been. It was so awesome! Needless to say, round two at the Mt. of Beatitudes was a huge blessing and I loved every minute of it.

            Tabgha is the site at the base of the Mt. of Beatitudes where Jesus fed the 5000. Now there is a church built there and it is called the Church of Multiplication (get it? Jesus multiplied the fishes and loaves..bad joke?) All over Israel, there are place mats, plates, key chains, and so on that have the word Tabgha and a picture of 4 loaves and 2 fishes on it. A little fun fact about that pictures is that one of the loaves of bread is missing from the picture..any guesses as to where it is? Well, it is said that the missing fifth loaf of bread is in the hands of Jesus as he is holding it up to God and blessing it before he multiplied it. I thought that was very interesting! The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is found in Matthew 14:13-21!

            Next, we went to Peter’s Primacy on the Sea of Galilee. This is the place where Jesus told the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they would surely catch some fish. It is also where Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved him and every time the answer was yes. Jesus knew that Peter was going to deny him 3 times but he also knew that Peter loved him with his whole heart. Another fun fact! When they cast the fishing nets to the other side of the boat, they caught 153 fish. There were 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Galilee and there were 153 nations they would preach and teach the Word to. How cool!

            We also went to Capernaum where there was an old synagogue and Peter’s mother-in-law’s house! This is the site where Jesus heals the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12). We saw lots of cats there...joy.

            Tonight was THE BEST. As some of you know, Barrett (the boyfriend) is also in Israel right now. He goes to West Point and is here with some other guys from West Point, Navy, and Air Force traveling to all the different military bases and some Holy sites. We planned to meet up one day/night but we didn’t think our schedules would cooperate because we were in different parts of the country at different times. But we worked it out! His last night in Jerusalem was my first night in Bethlehem and the cities are like less than 10 miles apart! Our awesome tour guide Rami worked out all the plans with me and dropped me and Grandpa off at Barrett’s hotel to spend some time with him. I cannot even describe how great it was so see him, especially on the other side of the world! We had dinner together and spent some time with his friends and it was just so great! I am so thankful and so blessed that everything worked out for us to see each other!

Today was such an awesome day. All the sites around the Sea of Galilee are my favorites because they are just beautiful all the time. I got to see some of my favorite Holy sites and my wonderful boyfriend, doesn’t get much better than that! Well it’s past my bedtime and we have a very busy day ahead of us tomorrow! Good night!

Love yall!

*side note: long story short, my camera got wet on the hike of day 1 and is broken..so I’m taking pictures on my phone and I cant upload them til I get home. But I will definitely add some pictures later!

day 2

shello! 

Today was our first real day in Israel and there is about one word that sums it up…INCREDIBLE. Holy Shmoley, it was probably one of the best days of my life. We got up around 6, ate breakfast, and got on the road. We drove around to the eastern part of the Sea of Galilee and were dumped off in the middle of no where..We put on harnesses, grabbed 4 liters of water, and a helmet and hit the trail. We probably hiked for a good hour or so through nothing but grass, prickles, rocks, and dirt. When we got down into the canyon, it was amazing! There were trees, flowers, and waterfalls everywhere!

            Well before we started the hike, we were told that we were going to be jumping off cliffs and it about scared the pants off of me. When we actually got to the cliffs, I had a rush of panic and excitement all at the same time. We threw our bags into the water and took a leap of faith after them. The water was the perfect temperature to cool us off but not make us cold. I couldn’t have imagined anything better! All 14 of us jumped off, got our bags, and started hiking to the next waterfall. The rocks we were climbing over got a little old after the first few hours. I’m pretty sure I rolled my ankles 1209209458 times..I felt like Indiana Jones climbing through all the vines and trees. I was only missing my satchel!

            The next drop we got to was a little too high to jump off of, so what better thing to do than rappel down! I was one of the first to go because the longer I stood at the top and looked over the edge, the more I would freak myself out. It was a little scary at first but the guide who was helping me was super nice (jenna marbles anyone? J) so that made it a little better. At the end, we had to completely let go of the ropes and let ourselves fall into the water from quite a few feet up. That was a nice little surprise they didn’t tell u s about until it was time to let go..how kind, right? After that little moment of panic, I let go and swam to a few rocks that were a barrier between another waterfall that we could just jump into. SO AMAZING.

            After climbing up more rocks and trees, it was time to hike back up to the top of the canyon. When I say canyon, it literally looked like the Grand Canyon. And we had to hike up it…There was a little more than a mile of just rocks, trees, and vines and then about 500 steps that went straight up to get out of there. My legs were jelly by the time we got to the top. But it was so worth it!

            I have never experienced anything like this in my life. I have gone hiking but nothing compares to this. I was just so overwhelmed by God’s beauty I didn’t know what to do with myself! It truly was the most incredible experience of my life. I am so thankful to be on this trip!

Love yall

day 1..again

shalom yall!

ROUGH START. That is all I have to stay. First of all, we had a 6 hour layover in the JFK airport in New York. Not the best place to spend 6 pointless hours. After we finally boarded the plane, we all thought we were ready for take off…not quite.  We have been sitting on the airport runway for the past 2 and a half hours!  The problem? Software issues. Aka the lights were flickering and the audio for the tv’s didn’t work. I guess it’s better safe than sorry but COME ON! Get me out of here! This is already a 12 hour flight..another 2 on the runway are about to put me over the top. Its 10pm and our flight was supposed to take off at 7.25.  Great start, right? I hope this isn’t a foreshadowing to the rest of the trip…prayers please! 

We made it! I was doubtful at first, but we finally made it! After going through customs and getting our luggage, we got on the bus (mercedez-benz bus, I might add) and drove to Tiberias. The hotel we are staying in tonight and tomorrow night is sweeet! I’m on the 9^th floor overlooking the Sea of Galilee! It doesn’t get much better than this! We just finished a delicious dinner and are getting ready for bed. We have to leave the hotel by 7am in the morning..so we are definitely calling it an early night! Tomorrow we are going hiking, rappelling, and cliff jumping! I’m a little nervous but so pumped!

Love yall!

round 2

hello everyone!

As some of you know, Im going back over to Israel for two weeks! This time its not a sight seeing trip, its a mission trip through FCA (fellowship of christian athletes). Sus is not going on this trip which is a huge bummer..but I'm going with my grandpa! This is his high school graduation present to me and since it didnt work out to go last summer, I'm going this summer!
Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow morning around 11am. I'm so excited but nervous too..I don't have the safety net of having Sus there telling/showing me what to do or what to eat :)  I'm like a real adult traveling the world without her mommy and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.

I'll try to keep yall updated every night but I cant make any promises! I'm for sure going to journal every night and maybe type it up every few days? idk yet but I'll figure something out.

love yall!

p.s. keep me in your prayers please! those middle easterners can get a liiitle crazy...