Sunday was our full day with our friends. This being the only day we are here with them that they don’t teach all day, they decided to take us north in Israel to the Sea of Galilee. This seemed the most unreachable for us within our means and seemed the most pleasant and least exhausting for our very preggers hostess.
The day got started early and we were out of Jerusalem by 9:00. Fortunately, our friends car maintains all the important parts of operating in the desert and hilariously lacks in some other routine items. Which is to say the A/C still works like a charm (HUGE plus) while the car does not have a gas gauge, so their collective math intellect keeps them knowledgable of how much gas they have. After making our way past Jericho (sadly no trumpets resounding) and another checkpoint (a sobering reminder of the overwhelming military presence in the area), we reached our first stop along the banks of the Jordan River, where I quickly changed into my shorts. Kris and I decided against a full baptismal procession and buying our very own holy water, but did dip in the river to the delight of the many small nibbler fishes (Tina wasn’t as entertained by this as I was) After leaving there we drove into Tiberias and wandered around for a while, hastily looking for a place to eat, as the smothering humidity was swiftly driving us into the ground. (That is the one thing about Jerusalem area. It is goofy hot, to say the least, but without humidity, it’s still manageable. This has felt like my most uncomfortable weather day of the trip so far) Ate some yummy pizza and with stomachs renewed, continued up the coast of the lake.
Here we were able to see some very important and monumental moments in both Jesus’ teachings and the beginning of the Christian church. This included the sights of the Sermon on the Mount (Church of the Beatitudes), Jesus’ forgiving and renewing of Peter (Peter’s primacy with church on site) and the first Christian church as well as Peter’s hometown (Capernium). Personally, I was a little thrown off by the way they commemorated the site of the first church, as they decided to build a very space-shipesque church right on top of the ruins. You can look down on the inside into the ruins, but I feel like there was maybe a more visually appealing and less galling approach to it. Again, just my personal opinion (well also Kris’s and our friends).
Though the day was very hot and sticky, it failed to take away from the importance of what we were able to see in those sites, not to mention the Sea of Galilee itself, the witness of Jesus’ water-walking and storm-calming. I continue to be very thankful to have a chance to see these places, to help make my faith seem more real somehow.
We got back to the city by 5:30ish and were treated to yet another delicious dinner before another good evening wind down and snoozeroony.
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