OCtober 23, 2007

Amber Patterson
Professor Ludlow
23 October 2007
Today a group of us visited Ain Karim, the traditional birthplace of John the Baptist.
First, we tried to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist, but it was closed. So we hiked up the hill to visit the Church of the Visitation instead. This church commemorates the angel Gabriel's visitation to the Zacharias, informing him of the future miraculous birth of John the Baptist. While there, we wandered around the grounds and peeked in on a mass. One of the priests showed me where a statue of Zacharias was hiding before he disappeared behind the trees. Later, some of the members of the group decided to sing "Nearer My God to Thee" in the dome room.
On our way down from the Visitation Church, we were able to visit a Russian convent simply because Analisa spoke Russian. The grounds were peaceful and the experience was quite enjoyable.
After we left the convent, we walked down the hill and made our second attempt to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist. We learned the church is considered the traditional site of his childhood home. This church was, again, very beautiful and peaceful and so forth.
Our next stop was at the Sisters of Zion Convent. We were unable to visit the chapel because a tour group was using it for a service, but we were able to wander around the garden and glance at the cemetery. We also watched a beautiful sunset over the hills.
While waiting for the sharout we decided to get ice cream at a place Professor Huntington recommended (which turned out to be very tasty). The sharouts arrived shortly afterwards and we were back in time for dinner.
On a completely different note, my favorite experience of the semester thus far would have to be the sunrise experience on Mt. Sinai. The thoughts it inspired about covenant and the beauty of God's creation could never be imitated. I hope that many other experiences will help me to connect to the gospel in a very real, personal way.