Monday, March 9, 2009: Day by the Sea

Today started with a trip to the Nazareth Village, located in the town of Nazareth. The Nazareth Village is the only enterprise of its kind dedicated to illuminating what life would have been like 2000 years ago through an authentically constructed, first-century town and restored ancient farm. It is in this venue that the story of Jesus' childhood, ministry, and teaching are retold with elements of everyday life re-enacted.

From the Nazareth Village, our group traveled to the Church of the Annunciation also located in Nazareth. This church is the traditional (Catholic) site where Mary was approached by the Angel Gabriel and was told that she would bare a son named Jesus. This church is the largest Christian church in the Middle East. Located on the top floor of the church are many different depictions of the Virgin Mary and her son. These depictions were gifts from many different churches from around the world. Once our tour was done at the Church of the Annunciation, we loaded our bus and headed towards the Sea of Galilee.

Our first stop at the Sea was lunch. At lunch, most ate the local fish and the fish of 2000 years ago, Tilapia (a land locked version of this popular fish). Served whole, eyes and all, for some it was very hard to eat; but very good. After lunch, the group loaded a boat for an enjoyable ride across the Galilee. A bit windy, but very fun. Once to the other side, we entered the Kibbutz that houses the Jesus Boat. This boat was unearthed in the sands of the Galilee and has been carefully preserved. This boat has endured years of abuse from the waters of the Galilee but tells of great story of past times.

Another great day of traveling. The group is great and everyone sends their love. Hard to think that we have already been here 2 days. A lot more to see. Thanks for following. Keep posting!
Shalom- IAN

World History: Periods 6 and 7

Hello, World History Class! What a surprise to log on today and see messages from my favorite students! The trip is going very well so far...long days with not much sleep. I am feeling much better, thanks for asking. The cold is gone...just feeling very tired! You know that I am now 8 hours ahead...how weird.

Do you all remember when we talked about the Kibbutzim? Well, quess what? I have stayed on two so far on this trip. One near the Mediterranean Sea called Nes Ammim and now at Kfar Giladi in the North by the Lebonese boarder. I can look out my window and see the Lebonese boarder. During the Yom Kippur War in the 70's, Kfar Giladi was attacked and badly damaged. For 30 years now, this area has been under attack many times. But don't worry, I am very safe.

Now to remember this point, you have to think back to the very being of the class. One of the first topics we talked about was the time period of the Crusaders. Yesterday, I visited the Crusader town of Acre (Akko)...a Mediterranean Sea Port. This was a town occupied by the Templars and Hospitallers during the Crusader Period. Very interesting, you all should look it up on the web. They also have done a special on it on the History channel, Cities of the Under World.

Well, keep me posted on how class is going. Leave posts, ask questions...let me know what you want to know and see! Sleep is needed! Take care and miss you all. And yes, Zach, I will bring back a turban for you.

Mr. Jacobs

Sunday, March 8, 2009: First Day of Touring

What a wonderful day of traveling. After our first Israeli breakfast and an early start, we made our way to our first stop, Caesarea Maritime. Caesarea Maritime ("by the Sea") is located on the shore in the center of Israel, in the middle between Haifa and Tel-Aviv. It is the site of one of the most important cities in the Roman World, the Roman capital of the province of Judea at the time of Jesus, and a Crusader fortress along the road from Acre to Jerusalem. Today, Caesarea is a large and interesting national park which and a mandatory place to visit while exploring the Holy Land.

Next we traveled to Megiddo or Tel Megiddo, an ancient fortified city, is one of the most famous battlegrounds in the world. Historians believe that more battles were fought at this location than anywhere else on earth. Anciently Megiddo's gates and walls witnessed the armed struggles of Assyrians, Canaanites, Egyptians, Greeks, Israelites, Persians, Philistines, and Romans. Although Megiddo was not a fortress in the days of World War I, note that the critical battle enabling the British Field Marshal Edmund Allenby to wrest control of the Holy Land from the Turks occurred at Megiddo. Armageddon, the mount of Megiddo, according to the New Testament book of Revelation, is once again to host one of the world's major armies in a immense conflict between East and West.

Our final stop of the day was Mount Carmel. In mainstream Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, it is Elijah that is indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having sometimes resided in a grotto on the mountain. In the Books of Kings, Elijah is described as challenging 450 prophets of a particular Baal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of the Kigdom of Israel.

What a great day of traveling. Hope you are enjoying the blog!

Saturday, March 7, 2009: Day of Travel

The group (those of us that left from the burg) boarded the vans in Chambersburg around 1:30 PM and headed off towards Newark, NJ. There, we caught our flight to Israel at 10:50 PM. For most, the flight was uneventful and for some full of sleep. After a 9 hour flight, we landed in cloud covered Israel. Even though cloudy today, the weather is still beautiful with temperatures of 90+ degrees. Off to customs, then to baggage claim and finally to our bus…we now are driving to our first destination, Netanya and our first home away from home, the Blue Bay Resort. Netanya is a resort town located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

We are all looking forward to our travels and sharing this experience with our family and friends. Before we sign off, here are some messages from some of the travelers to you:

Hi everyone, we are on our dream of walking Christ pathways. Had a real smooth flight.
We haven’t had our1st Israeli meal but will soon. Love You…Carole and Larry.

For those of you who know me, you will find this amazing. I had a window seat and only used the restroom once in eleven hours! Looking forward to our first Israeli meal for dinner and a walk on the Mediterranean Sea. Will be in touch. Love, Kathi

(More messages to come!)

Signing off from Israel. We are here, we are safe, and we are ready for our first Israeli meal and then off to bed. Shalom. IAN

Traveling to Israel: March 2009

The time has come, again, that we will be traveling to Israel. This year our group consists of 24 people from Texas to Pennsylvania. Our tour begins on March 6, 2009 from Newark, New Jersey. We will be taking a direct flight to Israel and should be landing on the afternoon of Saturday, March 7, 2009. Thus our blogging will begin.

Please take this time before we leave to become familiar with blogging: it can be fun but confusing. This site is set up to follow us and learn with us as we travel around Israel. It is also a great way to keep in contact with friends and family. Please feel free to post as much as you want before and during the tour. I will also be posting plenty of pictures, of the land and people. If you would like to look at the past two years (trips to Israel), here are the links: http://www.walkingthroughisrael.blogspot.com/ and http://www.2008israel.blogspot.com/.

Have fun and see you in Israel!