Sunday, September 23, 2007

Gregory Marsh
Journal Entry—Sunday, September 23, 2007
Sunday began our trip to Egypt. Well, sort of. We didn’t actually go to Egypt that day, but we came pretty close. We made it as far as Eilat, Israel, which put us really close to the Taba Border Crossing, making it easy for us to be the first busloads to cross the border into Egypt the next day.
Sunday was spent largely on travelling through Israel, as well as several stops at significant sites. Our first stop was at Beer-sheba, the ancient “Well of Seven” or “Well of the Oath,” where Abraham lived while he was in Canaan and whence he sent his servant to Haran to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Unlike Isaac, none of the students on the trip got married while at Beer-sheba. Beer-sheba is the site of the first recorded “tel” joke of the Fall 2007 Semester Jerusalem Center Program. As Brother Ludlow entered the water tunnel on his way out of the city, his transmitter was no longer able to reach the receivers of the students outside of the tunnel. Mr. Archibald cleverly concluded that perhaps Brother Ludlow needed a “tel”ephone. Thus began the fulfillment of the Huntington Prediction of September 7, 2007: “By the end of this semester, you’ll all be making ‘tel’ jokes!”
We toured the Yotvata Kibbutz in the early evening, where we also ate dinner. Shall we say the ice cream was delicious? No, for that would not begin to describe the reality (especially the coconut ice cream—these kibbutzim really have something going, don’t they?). We also had the privilege of singing Israeli songs with some of the members of the Kibbutz. Earlier, as we toured the kibbutz and our guide answered questions, it quickly became clear that no matter far from Provo we are, we are all still BYU students: “So do you outsource your dating?” We all know our priorities, even if we are at the Jerusalem Center!
After the long trip through the desert that day, dinner at the kibbutz (especially the ice cream) revitalized us for an evening of fun and games at the kibbutz in Eilat. Frisbee, murder in the dark, and perhaps other forms of entertainment kept many up well into the night, preparing all to be thoroughly exhausted when dawn broke for our journey into Egypt the next day.