Thursday, September 13, 2007

Lauran Lloyd
V.L. Ludlow
My day started out with yet another delicious breakfast in the Oasis. I was paranoid about being late, so I ended up being a decent fifteen minutes early. Everyone more or less got on the bus on time (Archie, you’re my hero!). We deliberated over our notebook choice, heard a few words from Brother Ludlow, then pulled out at a decent 8:02.
Our Geography Field Tripping Adventure began at the Seven Arches outlook. As we settled into the not-quite-frigid shade and laughed at Brian and Brother Ludlow’s exchange of earphones and five shekels, the view awed us. We listened to Brother Ludlow extol the treasures found in the geography of this rich country while sitting on the ridge of the Mount of Olives with a beautiful sunrise view of the City of Gold. Is there a better way to start out the day? If there is, then it was definitely beat out by the appearance of a camel who (it was rumored throughout the bus) made a cameo appearance with my fellow field trippers in many a camera.
We all piled back onto the bus and, serenaded by Lance and James from favorites selected out of a pocket hymnbook, continued on our way to the Augusta Victoria Church Tower. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the church (well, first after the ‘living vine’ from a plant growing outside the inside entrance) were the breathtaking mosaics surrounding the altar and the vividly painted ceilings. I was in the group that first stayed in the chapel. Brother Huntington painted a vivid picture of his own of Kaiser Wilhelm II who built this church and named it after his wife who was the daughter of Queen Victoria and, supposedly, a direct descendent of King David. After ooh-ing and aah-ing and flashing way too many pictures we went outside and saw more geopgraphical points that are hopelessly lost to my un-innate sense of direction. Brother Ludlow finally called us up the tower. We raced up to the… twentieth step, maybe. Most of us wimped out at one dozen. And then we had to keep walking and walking and walking and… you get the idea. We made it to the top of the tower with the giant bells and saw more east, north, west, and south panoramas. More stairs (downward this time) and then a few hymns in the incredible acoustical chapel – very stirring.
Next was Haas Promenade overlook. This spot was wonderful because lunch was included. We pulled out our sack lunches after another stimulating geographical direction session from Brother Ludlow. It was nice to see rahter large patches of green grass that, being relatively garbage free, we could sit on. Meandering, conversation, and laughter ensued, and priceless pictures were taken before we headed on to our next stop at Deir Mar Elyas, or the Elias Monastery. We didn’t go into the building, but we saw an amazing view of Bethlehem – our first view of Christ’s birthplace.
More bus ride (still to the spectacular serenading skills of James and Lance) and more downpour of knowledge from our beloved professor. Out last out-of-center stop was Nebi Samwill, or the Tomb of Samuel. Situated up in the Benjamin Plataeu, the lookout from the roof of this building was quite vast and very magnificent. The sun at this point began to beat down quite hard, and after stairwell snapshots we headed back to the center. The adventure wasn’t over quite yet, however – we spent another half an hour out by the maps on the verandah. It was fascinating but too much for my sensitive skin to handle – my neck and arms were quite red by the time I made it back to my room. Homework, napping, and waiting finally brought dinner to pass, and a full stomach brought on some one-on-one basketball with Risa. Being exhausted, I planned on going to bed after I finished messing around on the piano around ten o’clock, but too many amazing people living in this building were still up, so two o’clock found me still up and chatting the night away. Memories are infinitely preferable to a few forgotten hours of lost sleep, right?