The Hottest Field Trip of My Life

When thinking about coming to the Jerusalem Center, my Mom would tell me about the time that her and my Dad came to Jerusalem for two weeks.  The one story that I heard over and over again was when they went to the site of David and Goliath and it was just way to hot for my mom and she didn't get out of the car.  I always thought she was over exaggerating, but now I know she wasn't.  

We went to the Shephelah this past week for our field trip.  We went to sites like Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Elah Valley, Mareshah, and Lachish and I know that means nothing to any of you.  But I will give you a little run down of each site!  

Beth Shemesh-- This is the setting of Samson + Delilah!! Wohoo!  We got to this site at about 9:00 in the morning and it was already very very hot.  Great way to start out the day right?

Azekah-- This site was an overlook of the setting of David + Goliath.

Elah Valley-- Another site of David + Goliath.  Here we were able to shoot some slings.  I was not very good at this task/didn't want to hurt anybody so I didn't try too hard.  

Mareshah-- At this site there was a huge underground bird sanctuary.  It was so nice to get out of the sun for a little while!  They also had an olive press underground as well.  

Lachish-- This site is known for Sennacherib and the siege ramp that he built.  I haven't learned too much about Sennacherib so I don't know a lot of details about this area.  That may be because I wasn't paying close enough attention because I was hot and tired.

Moral of the story is that it was a good field trip, but very hot and it was a long day.  I am very grateful that I get this opportunity to visit these sites though!  Not many people get the chance to do the things that we do!

Beth Shemesh

Azekah

I don't remember if this was at a particular site mentioned above, but we went inside these really cool Bell Caves.  We were able to sing a handful of hymns and once again there were some awesome acoustics.  These caves were so huge and beautiful.  

Olive Press

Trying my hand at the sling.  And don't worry, I have eyes.  I just don't know where they are in this picture.