Jerusalem Festival of Lights

This was incredible. 

But before we get to the festival, here's a little snapshot of the day. 

Dr. Gibson had given me a new name. Patricia. 

He spent half of the breakfast time hollering for Patricia and no one was answering because no one is named Patricia. When he finally found me and called me that, I promptly informed him that Patricia is not my name and if he needed me he had to use my real name. Silly man!

Anyway, today was the last day of digging for the week and it was a short day! Here are some pictures from today:

We got wheelbarrows today to move dirt!

Titus' area is really making progress

Visited with nose-less King David during a bathroom break. 

For breakfast this morning, the hotel made us homemade falafel and hummus with Kaak which is homemade Arabic bread with sesame seeds on it. This might have been the best food I've ever put in my mouth. So good that I didn't even take time to take a picture so I could show you. 

Jamie has a great new job sorting pottery and looks great doing it! I spent some time with her today because they were putting up new shades in my area and I had to move. I looked through some pottery and found a great piece with a cool decoration of waves on it. Also, Kevin uncovered this killer mostly intact pot! We were so thrilled for him. 

We left the dig at noon to go on a tour of the excavated Jewish quarter. It was a real honor to be invited by the man who actually excavated there but the bad part was that we were all completely beat from a morning of digging. It was also very crowded so I had a hard time hearing the man talk. What do you do when you're on a required tour but can't hear? Take selfies of course!

Jamie

Jo and Jamie!

This photo of Jamie best describes how we felt about the tour:

We went to the museum about the excavations in the Jewish quarter which was cool because what they found is very similar to what we are finding now. 

More photos from the Jewish quarter 

An ancient map of the city and area where we are digging. 

We were finally released from the tour and rushed back to eat some lunch. After a glorious shower, skyping with Dr. Z and a nap, a group of us went for a proper meal with Dr. Tabor at a local hotel. It was the first real meal we've had since we've been here and it was fantastic. 

Now the part you've been waiting on. The Festival of Lights. It was like nothing I've ever seen before and there were so many people. Like Manhattan on steroids.  I'm just going to post pictures because there aren't words to describe how beautiful all of this was. 

Damascus Gate:

Seriously one of the coolest days of my entire life. I thought I loved the city plain and with lights it's just a magnified love!

And this is the picture of my pooch that I miss very much I was sent today:

Goodnight everyone!

Kevin Doing Nothing:

PigPen

Jamie and I decided that we look like PigPen when we leave the dig every day. A little cloud of dust follows us around, we are covered in dirt, and our hair stands on end. It's hilarious and fantastic because it's a sign of a good dig day. 

Today was the fourth day of the dig. We're almost done with the first week because we stop digging on Thursdays! Thankfully it was not nearly as hot today as yesterday. 

Dr. Gibson opened the day with quite a bit of laughter. Apparently he stood in an ant's nest long enough for the ants to crawl up his pants. He announced this morning in his very British accent that he had ants in his pants and proceeded to shake his legs in an attempt to get them out. I was crying with laughter. 

We had visitors today at the dig site that wanted to see what a dig was like so we had several extra people helping. Since most people were staying upright today, I helped move goofas (basically buckets made of old tires) in a line down the hill. Not my favorite activity but it is a fantastic ab workout. I also hung out with my little friend Muhhamed. We're still working on communicating better. 

Here's a picture of the section of mosaic floor that I mentioned yesterday. It's not a lot but it's a pretty good find!

Also, at the beginning of the dig, we found the original sign that was on this site before it was excavated telling the date that an arch was built there and the date it was torn down. 

Built: 1212     Destroyed: 1219

Of course we ended the day with Popsicles that little Muhhamed fetched for us which are always a great treat. Dr. Gibson was very cheery today and announced that his green Popsicle tasted like frozen toothpaste. I very much enjoyed his commentary today. 

We have another free afternoon today and we plan to explore the city and maybe have another iced chocolate because I'm addicted. It's the best drink ever. 

Kevin Doing Nothing:

****Disclaimer: in case this is the first post you read, I want to clarify that the Kevin Doing Nothing section is a giant joke. Kevin actually works very hard being a site leader and teaching. He really pulls more than his weight around the dig and I just pick on him. 

It's Hot!

Well the desert heat seemed to find us today! It was so hot out at the dig and people were dropping like flies!

Before I get to today, I wanted to add a little about last night. It turns out we did go out after the lecture because we were hungry. We decided to have a little mini Levine dinner and have Kevin take us somewhere. Of course, we needed some falafel and it was delicious!

There were French fries inside my falafel pita. This is my kind of sandwich. 

Aren't they cute?!

Anyway, today was an exceptionally hot and dusty day on the dig so I handed out the bandanas for people to use as dust masks. I felt like my friend Brandon who was on the dig last year with my entire face covered:

These people were the dust culprits and I sit right by here so I had to cover my face. They uncovered a great mosaic floor today that I will try to get pictures of tomorrow. It is a great find! I also made a new friend today!

This is Muhhamed. He told us he's 14 but I think it's more like 10 years old. The head archeologist is paying him as a summer job to fetch water and help around the dig. He speaks only Arabic and I work with him the most of the day so we've developed our own language of hand gestures to communicate. He's a super sweet kid and hard worker so we have fun together. Plus he's teaching me more Arabic which I like. Today he taught me that the Arabic word for tea is chai!

After the dig, I took Jamie and some other girls to one of my favorite places in the city. The church of St. Peter of Galicantu. Dr. Zablotsky and I went last year and I fell in love and had to share. There is a beautiful overhang that gives you a panoramic view of the city. Plus this church itself is incredible. This church is on the site where Peter denied Jesus 3 times (in theory). It's ornate and gorgeous and I love going there. 

Excuse the dirt. We came right from the dig. 

Tile and stained glass ceiling. 

Peter denying Jesus. 

Our plan for the rest of the day is to rest of course and go shop around the old city for a little while this evening. We're pretty tired so it won't be long but it's so fun and we don't want to waste time. 

On a more random note, check out these cats from today. Jerusalem is filled with cats and these were particularly funny. Cat one is on a pillow:

And cat two is in a box!! The cat found a box, drug it over and got in it to sleep! Hilarious!!

Kevin Doing Nothing:

4am is EARLY!

Man I was not happy when my alarm went off this morning! 4 am is so early! It's still the same day in the US when I get up! We got up and had some tea and pasteries before we walked to the dig. The old city is really incredible when no one is out there. It's a very special thing to walk through there and take it all in peacefully. Plus what's better than this sunrise over the Mount of Olives:

I feel so blessed that I get to start everyday by seeing this. 

We had a person injure their ankle on the way this morning and I had to go back through the old city to find them so I got all kinds of extra walking in but I ended up having to sit with her most of the day today. The shades went up over the dig which was really nice but they tried to collapse on us a couple of times before they were secured!

We also had a film crew on the site today working on a project so that was really neat to be a part of. 

 

Somehow it was decided that I would be on tea making duty as well today. Now I need to explain a little why this is a big deal and why I didn't want the job. The head archeologist is obsessed with tea and it has to be made just right. If he doesn't get perfect tea, he is mean and cranky all day. I did not want to be responsible for that but apparently that's my new job. Here's my sketchy tea set up:

Other than a few bumps and scrapes, the rest of the day went fairly smooth. Jamie, another Levine on the trip, found her first coin today so I am thrilled for her! Our dig site really looks fantastic all cleaned up. Here's a picture of the site from the top of the hill, facing the Mount of Olives in the background. 

Tonight is Dr. Gibson, the lead archeologist, lecture and we are all going so I will be staying at the hotel for the rest of the day. Dr. Gibson is quite long winded to say the least so it will be interesting to see how long we are there even though it is interesting. Until then, I will be eating all of the hummus I can find from lunch! It's so delicious!

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Shalom!

Kevin Doing Nothing: 

Dig Day 1

Today was the first day of the dig. We got to start at 8am which was great for getting over jet lag and had a delicous breakfast. The weather is fantastic so our morning walk was very pleasant. 

It was so fun to go over the walk that I've practically memorized from the last trip. Apparently there is a huge light festival going on in the old city so it's decorated everywhere with crazy things like elephants on the wall. I will definitely be going to see that. 

We spent the morning cleaning the dig site and removing the debris so we can start with a clean dig site tomorrow. No remarkable findings today and no one really got sick. People just over did it some and felt dizzy but that's typical of the first day. 

 

We had upside down chicken for lunch today also which is my favorite meal I've had in Israel so far! I was thrilled and ate a ton! Yummy!!!

After lunch, Jamie and I headed out for our most favorite activity...shopping! But first, we needed an iced chocolate. This is iced chocolate: 

It's not really like a milkshake or chocolate milk but it tastes like heaven in a jar. I got my nativity scenes which I'm very excited about and I got some hot pants with elephants on them. So cool!

Our final stop was to the Western Wall because it's one of my favorite places in the city. 

Finally, this is a new special part of my blog. It's the Kevin Doing Nothing section. We have an ongoing joke in our program that Kevin does nothing on the dig site but in reality he's doing very important recording of findings and keeping the dig running. But in the fun spirit of our joke, I will be posting a picture of Kevin doing nothing every day. 

 See you all tomorrow! 

I'm back in Israel!

Well after quite a day of travel, I'm back in the beautiful city of Jerusalem listening to all of the sounds of the city from my hotel room. Our flight from Charlotte was delayed and then our flight out of Phildelphia was delays too for bad weather but all of that bad weather meant that lots of people missed their flight so we had room to spread out on the plan. I don't sleep well on planes so I used the 10 and a half hour flight to catch up on movies. I watched the second Hunger Games (dark and twisty), two slap stick comedies to try to feel better after Hunger Games and started Dallas Buyers Club but will have to finish it on the way home. I sat with Dr. Tabor so we got to reminisce about last years trip which was very fun. 

We arrived in Jerusalem and I got my luggage no problem! We got to the hotel just in time to have the delicious dinner prepared by the hotel. I was thrilled when the hotel staff remembered me from last year! They were all so kind and even asked about my life while piling on the fruit and desserts of course! 

After dinner we had a meeting to discuss the basics of the dig and at that meeting, I got to see all of the people from last year! Tomorrow at the dig, we get to arrive at 8am instead of 6! I'll be posting more pictures tomorrow since that's when the dug actually starts!

Once in a Lifetime...A Second Time

Well hello again everyone!

On Friday, I leave for a once in a lifetime trip. Again! I am so excited to be writing on here again because that means that I'm going back overseas! And back to Israel I go! I am so thrilled.

I am going back to Jerusalem, Israel to Dig Mount Zion like I did last summer except this summer, I'm going as staff! I will be the nurse on the dig site this year since I am officially a registered nurse! I'll be blogging about my experience again and I am thankful to have people keeping up with me while I'm gone. 

As I said, I leave with the group from UNC Charlotte and Dr. James Tabor on Friday June 13th and will be staying in Jerusalem for two weeks. I am so thankful to have this opportunity and will be updating everyone regularly! Feel free to look back in the blog to see my experiences from last year.