Shalom!

Greetings from Yad HaShmonah, Israel!  I and the 29 other college students made it safely to the IBEX campus yesterday afternoon.  We were pretty tired from the flight, and are still suffering a little from the jet lag.  Most of us were wide awake by 5am this morning!

We were able to get a little tour of the countryside connecting Tel Aviv to Yad HaShmonah.  Upon arriving to the campus we were given rooms and roommates and got to move in! My roommates are Ann and Grace and so far it has been splendid!  The rooms are not as bad as I was anticipating, nice and spacious (considering we are living out of suitcases) and currently really cold!  As I sit here now I can see that the heater is "on" and "running"  but it sure does not feel like it!  Each dorm holds 10 students with two toilets and one shower.  So with 10 girls, we shall see how that turns out!

Last night a few of us got to explore the campus a little bit, the staff encouraged us to stay up as late as we could.  We got to walk through the Moshav's Biblical Gardens which is full of paths and trails that lead to different statues, replicas, models, and ruins of, well, biblical things.  There was a milestone, a watchtower, a synagogue ruin, tomb, etc.  It will be a fun place to explore a little more in the day light!


The first full day of IBEX stated with a little devotion with my roommates. We read Psalm 1 this morning as well as the Puritan prayer, Belonging to Jesus from the Valley of Vision (Redemption and Reconciliation Section) and some of John 15. We got to see the sun rise and it was lovely!  We read about being a tree by springs of water, and being a branch in Christ and it was neat because later on in the day one of our professors showed us an Olive tree and explained the concept of grafting branches in!


Our professors gave us a tour of the campus, we did some "get to know you" games, and then after lunch we went on a 3 hour walk to neighboring cities.  Right next to our campus is Kiriath-Jearim, the place where the Ark of the Covenant used to rest.  (1 Samuel 6 and Judges 18 mention this location).  We were able to see a Catholic church built on the top of the hill there and catch our first glimpse of Jerusalem.  (It is behind the hills on the left side on the horizon!)  We next walked over to Abu Gosh and saw a Crusader Church and a cistern that it had inside- it was really neat looking- almost like a castle!



Along our walk we were able to try some ripe dates, figs, strawberries, and some freshly baked pita bread with Oregano.  It was delicious! So far I have been enjoying the food.  I just need to make sure I don't eat too much of the same thing too soon! Most of the group took a bus back home but some of us decided to try finding our way back by foot!  Along the way we explored an abandoned British Fortress and saw the sunset.  It was not too bad, but my body is definitely tired from the walk. But it is good for me to start getting used to the physical activity!  Right now most of us are enjoying a few free minutes moving in, resting, and catching up with the reality of the semester that lies before us. my roommates and I might get an early start on homework too.  Until next time!

P.S. My heater still does not quite feel like it is on, but in contrast to the freezer hallway, it has started to make a difference. :)

FUN FACT:  "Boker Tov!" means "Good Morning!" in Hebrew