Almost 8 Months in Israel: Adaptation and Lingering Culture Shock

Hello Friends and Family!

You know, each time we update the blog, I always have a secret resolution to be more consistent with our updates.  We really want to share with you all the details of what we are learning, and every day as we walk back and forth to school, we will experience some little something that I would love to jot a quick paragraph about.  But, then homework kicks in and I somehow forget.  Well, I’ll keep my resolve, and one of these days, maybe we can be a little better.  :0)  At the very least, we are hoping this will be the last super-packed semester, so maybe we will have more time soon.

Can you believe we have been here almost 8 months?!  I always wondered how the adjustment process for something like this would be, and experiencing it first hand is a strange and interesting thing.  Justin and I are both so analytical that, of course, we talk about it quite a bit.  On the one hand, our daily routine feels very normal…we almost feel like we live in the States.  On the other hand, though, we still have moments we would love to blame on culture shock, and I still crave certain foods at odd times (today just happens to be In N Out burgers, though Mexican food still tops the list…you just can’t create the taste of restaurant food at home!).  Overall, I have been amazed at the human body’s ability to ADAPT.  It really seems like a person can be put in any new environment, and after awhile, their mind and body become ok with it…we somehow make a pattern of familiarity within the unfamiliarity.      

Our classes began the beginning of February, and we have been enjoying (more or less :0) every minute!  Most of our classes this semester center on the Second Temple Period, which is the historical period between the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by the Babylonians, and the destruction of the Second Temple (first built by the returnees after King Cyrus of Persia’s edict) in 70 CE, by Titus.  The biggest chunk of this period centers on history that is between the stories of the Old and New Testament in the Bible, sometimes referred to as the Intertestamental Period.  Many don’t pay much attention to this time, since the Bible doesn’t directly address much of it, but the period is actually full of rich history and is very important to the history of the country and the people.  It is actually a shame that we don’t focus on this period more, especially for those of us who study the Bible.  It is like watching the first hour of a movie, walking away for 30 minutes to get a snack, and then returning for the final 15 minutes of the show.  You kind of miss important details!  You wouldn’t do that with a movie, but somehow, we are ok with reading the New Testament, not realizing that we just missed about 400 years of history!

So, despite our Bible degrees, we are working to get up to speed on this really interesting time.  We love that many of our classes are all dealing with this period, since we get to learn about the history (through our history class), the archaeology (through our archaeology class) and the development of Hebrew from this period into the next (through our language class).  It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve been able to go on a few field studies related to it!

We have attended two main field studies so far this semester, one for our Archaeology class, and another for our 2nd Temple History class.  For the latter, we spent the day again in the Judean Wilderness, doing A LOT of walking!  Now, before I delve into the details of the day, I must precede this with one of our funniest experiences we have had thus far.  You see, Jerusalem gets quite a bit of rain in the early spring.  Actually, it gets annually just as much rain as England, but it gets it all at once, instead of spread throughout the year.  So, when it rains, IT POURS!  On this particular field study morning, we left our house at 6am to trek for 30 minutes to the bus.  We were expecting a “chance” of rain, and it seemed cold, but we were also headed to the normally hot wilderness.  Since it was already sprinkling, we came prepared, wearing layer upon layer, and otherwise looking like we were headed to see Niagara Falls.  Our preparedness paid off.  About 10 minutes into our walk, on this early, cold Shabbat morning, we turned onto Hebron Road, to be greeted with a virtual lake on the road that stretched for about 40 feet.  Our sidewalk is only about 6 feet wide.  There was no escaping the inevitable.  We began walking briskly, but had to pause as 2 cars swept past us, throwing a bit of water as they went.  Glancing back, I gasped in premonition.  A very large bus was barreling down the highway in the right-hand lane, and we could not clear the body of water in time.  We crouched, I screamed, and Justin, being closer to the sidewalk, took the initial onslaught.  If only the moment could have been captured on film.  :0)

So, on to our field study…  We hiked two mountains that day.  The first is located within an area called the Buqeia Valley of the Judean Wilderness, to the west of Qumran.  We hiked a mountain overlooking this valley, known as Hyrcania, and built up by (and named after) the Maccabees (and John Hyrcanus).  This Maccabean fortress (as well as many others) was taken over by Herod the Great, destroyed and rebuilt over, to erase the memory of the Hasmonean Empire.  Most of the ruins that are there now are from a Byzantine monastery (with sadly preserved mosaic floors), but there are still a few Herodian mosaics up there as well.  The most intriguing part of the site, other than its strategic location and breathtaking view of the valley and the Dead Sea, are the tunnels that were carved underneath the mountain, some of which have unknown purposes.  Apparently, a man by the name of Bob, who was a pilot for American Airlines, carried on elicit digs at this location for 10 years, unbeknown to the Israel Antiquities Authority (or the Israeli Defense Force training crews that carried on practice drills in the valley below).  He was looking for the treasure that was depicted in the "Copper Scroll" found at Qumran (the stories of which many think are not true and serve more of a fictional purpose) and thought it was hidden in one of these tunnels at Hyrcania.  After Bob’s digging days were finished, Hebrew University dug in the tunnels for several years, never discovering their purpose, or their end.  

Our second stop for the day was at Kypros, another of Herod’s fortresses (this one was named after his mother).  This one overlooks the city of Jericho, as well as the main ancient route between Jericho and Jerusalem.  The ruins are also badly preserved, but the view was incredible.  We learned that excavators had found an actual bathtub at the top of the site, which is now housed in the Rockefeller Museum (we have seen it, and I have no idea how someone could have lugged the bathtub up the hill… it looks like it is solid stone, the same shape and size as an old bathtub today).  On this part of the trip we also got to see some of Herod’s aqueducts through the Wadi Qelt, which directed water from springs near Jerusalem to his palace in Jericho.  We ended the day overlooking St. George’s Monastery, a Greek Orthodox monastery cut into the cliff overlooking the Wadi Qelt.  

Between our first and second field studies we have had a few fun doings and goings.  For one, we celebrated our first Valentine’s Day here!  It was a quiet evening of ordering in pizza and watching a movie, but it was marvelously relaxing (and always fun to eat restaurant food :0).  We are trying to deliberately plan date times, since it really feels like we have set into our studies.  We spend most of our days together, but we are both so involved in our studies that it doesn’t always feel like we can connect during the day.  It’s good, but it is also challenging for us, and we enjoy the moments we get to unwind and not think about our studies for a bit.

In addition to this, spring has sprung in Israel!  I have been eager to see this season here, even before we came, because I heard about how beautiful it is.  The countryside and the weather have more than fulfilled my expectations.  The weather is constantly changing here right now.  Some days are very warm, and others are very cold, but for the most part, we have a few days every week or two of rain, and then the sun comes out in all of its glory.  We never liked the sun in California, as it always seemed to feel harsh and unfriendly.  But the sun here is welcoming during this time of year, and complements the breezes that constantly blow.  The sky is a deep blue, and there are wildflowers all over the hills.  Most of these flowers are modest, and some might even call them “weeds,” but they fill the hills with patches of yellow and purple, with the crowning glory of the red poppy filling in the gaps.  Everywhere you look you can see flowers, even if they are very tiny – in the rock walls, in the cracks of the cement…everywhere.  Even the trees have bloomed, some in the most unexpected of ways, and we have what looks like Wisteria, yellow puffballs, and fragrant orange blossoms everywhere!  I’ve taken some pictures, but not nearly enough.  Along with the weather and the flowers has arrived a new kind of bird whose song I have not heard up until now.  He reminds me of a Disney bird with the melodies of his bubbling happy song, and I would call him a mockingbird, except that he doesn’t have quite as much variety as the mockingbirds back home.  I think we might have spotted him once, and he seems a drably colored, medium-sized bird (if he is indeed the one we have been hearing).  Whatever he is, his music daily puts a smile on my face as we go about our day and our studies, and I hope his visit is longer than the duration of the spring flowers.

With that in mind, we became excited for our second field study, with our Archaeology class, when we found out we were going to the Shephelah.  Rolling hills of grass and yellow daisies and red poppies everywhere!  We went to Maresha and to Beit Guvrin / Eleutheropolis, both sites very near one another.  This area held some of the principle cities during the Hellenistic and Roman times.  Maresha’s lower city is filled with subterranean cavities that were used for many different purposes, both domestic and commercial.  In addition, the site boasts of some burial caves with paintings of exotic and mythical animals.  These paintings have been disfigured and faded since the beginning of the 20th century, but fortunately the original depictions were copied when the tombs were excavated and recently repainted in the tombs so that visitors can enjoy them.  At Beit Guvrin / Eleutheropolis, we were able to see one of the few amphitheaters in the country, which was used for gladiator and wild animal fights during the Roman Period.  The site also boasted of a relatively well-preserved Crusader chapel (made from a hodge-podge of materials in secondary use) and poorly preserved bathhouse.      

Other than our studies, we have been keeping ourselves busy with work (yes, work!).  As you will remember from our last entry, my (Mandy’s) job at APU was ending, and we were looking for work.  After we posted this, our school approached us to see if we would continue to help in the kitchen!  We are assisting the lead cooks when we have short-term groups that come, and we will be the primary cooks on the days when the lead cooks are out on their field studies (Nat and Shirley get to participate in all of the Physical Settings field studies that we took last semester :0).  So, we get to cook more!  It is still only $4.50 per hour, and not too many hours per month, but it is still something, and we are grateful for whatever we can get.  We are excited to not only be tied in more with JUC, but we also enjoy the work.  We are also trying to do a few special dishes, since some of the days we will only be cooking for a few of the longer-term students and have a smaller crowd that have been away from home longer.  So, I have big dreams of doing BBQ, Cajun, Mexican, and other fun homemade items.  So far, we have been able to make for them my Mom’s homemade turkey and cheese hot pockets.  I think they were a hit, and Justin and I had a blast making them in the kitchen!

Other than that, we are blessed to have income through Justin’s online class through LIFE Pacific College this spring, to help us finish out the semester’s living expenses. 

One of the other prayer items we left you with last time was in relation to our thesis topics and our future meetings with our advisor.  We met with him a couple of weeks after the semester started, and he has now approved both of our topics!!  Yay!!  We haven’t had much time to devote to the topics so far over the semester, but as we study, they are always in the backs of our minds, gathering whatever information we run into on the way.  Our hope is to be able to spend a good chunk of the summer working on them, when we aren’t digging.

And speaking of digging…this summer, we will officially be digging again at Tel Rehov in the Beth Shean Valley!  We are applying for scholarships to help pay for the dig, and the director and coordinator are working with us as much as possible to try to reduce any unnecessary expenses.  Last weekend, Justin and I were able to meet with Dr. Nava Panitz- Cohen, the coordinator of the dig and Dr. Amihai Mazar’s assistant.  We had been planning a coffee date with her since our 2008 season, so this was long overdue!  Since we walk everywhere (it’s cheaper than taking the bus!), we knew we would need to plan a whole day to walk to Hebrew University and back, and this past weekend seemed like a good chance to go.  God gave us sunshine and a breeze, and we headed out in our best walking shoes, eager to face the 9-mile round-trip hike up and down Mt. Scopus.  :0)  It was such a fun day, and we had an amazing visit with Nava!  The campus is beautiful, and the archaeology lab was amazing!!  We will most likely be going to the campus occasionally to visit the archaeology library for our theses throughout the next year, and we are hoping for possible opportunities to learn and expand our experience while we are here.  Upon our return, we congratulated ourselves on a hefty trek, and decided to calculate into our budget possible bus far, at least one way, when we need to go back!  

So, that has been our lives for the past couple of months!  We live and work and study and experience all that we can while we are here.  We have Passover coming up in a couple of weeks, and we are beginning to prepare for it.  Granted, the school might host a Passover dinner for the on and off-campus students, but when I say prepare, I’m actually referring something a little less sacred.  It is strange how being here takes our mind off of all of those big holidays that we are used to celebrating in the states.  Even St. Patrick’s Day almost slipped right by us!  Interestingly, it is the Jewish holidays that stay at the front of our minds, mostly since they are also national holidays and dictate things such as when we have class, how quiet the day will be, or what food we can buy.  Remember how Passover is a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt?  And they ate unleavened bread?  Well, before and during Passover (which lasts for a week), anything with “leavening” is apparently taken out of the stores.  This doesn’t just include yeast and anything that has yeast in it.  According to one source I found online, this includes “Leavened bread, cakes, biscuits and crackers, cereals, coffee substance derived from cereals, wheat, barley, oats, rice, dry peas and dry beans. All liquids which contain ingredients or flavors made from grain alcohol.”  In addition to this, the site mentions that the only vegetables that are ok to use during Passover are the frozen, bagged kind that have been approved.  Does this mean that they won’t stock fresh fruits and veggies over the next two weeks?  What about things like pretzels?  I don’t know for sure, but for any non-Jews who live here, Passover means stocking up on your regular food items that contain any ingredients that might be forbidden during the holiday for Jews.  It’s an interesting practical side of living here.  :0)

We are excited to be here during the time of Passover and Easter.  I’m not sure what we will be doing yet for the holidays (sadly, most holidays fall in the middle of the semester, and the homework doesn’t really stop :0).  There is usually a big procession and reenactment of the crucifixion from the Mt. of Olives, along the Via Dolorosa, to the Holy Sepulcher, and huge crowds of people cram in to watch the proceedings.  I think we appreciate more the day to day of living here, and seeing areas and excavations of the time when Jesus lived, than participating in a reenactment with a big crowd of people, but on the other hand, I suppose we may not get this chance again.  We’ll just have to see…

I wanted to note to everyone that we will be updating our photo albums!  Not only will you be able to see updated pictures from our last couple of months here, but you will notice that some of our albums are missing from our blog site.  Since these scrolling thumbnail photo albums slow down the blog site, we have “archived them.”  They are still available for you to view from the Picasa website (you are directed to this website when you click on any of our photo albums) but we will no longer keep the shortcuts and the scrolling albums of some of our older photos directly on our blog.  All of the most recent albums will stay on the blog, though, for your immediate viewing pleasure!

So, from here, we look towards that last ½ of our semester, and the upcoming adventures of summer!  Not only will we be digging for 5 weeks, but my (Mandy’s) parents will be coming for 2 ½ weeks in May!  We are super excited to see them and are already thinking of some of the fun things we can do with them while they are here!  In the mean time, please be praying about the scholarship applications we have submitted to help with both our summer dig, and our next Fall Semester.  At this point, our funds will get us close to the end of summer.  After that, only God knows what the next step will be to get us through the final year of our studies, but we continue to trust him.  As always, if you would like to give towards our time here, feel free to simply click on the “Donate” button located underneath our picture!

Blessings to you all!

Mandy and Justin