This morning we had a wonderful breakfast at our hotel – including Cocoa Puffs! Our first visit was to Tel Beer Sheva, a boring site according to Dr. Browning, but cool to me as my first tel.
From there we went out to the boondocks to see another Nabatean fortress turned Byzantine church – Shivta. It actually had three churches, aptly and creatively named South Church, North Church, and Central Church. I know all my photos of these Byzantine churches will look exactly alike.
Our next site was Mamshit – object of much jesting due to its name – which had been closed for the day for some reason. We – including Dr. Browning – were ready to climb over the gate, but decided against it.
From there we went to Tel Arad, a pretty cool fortress with ruins of the city below. Inside there was an Israelite temple where one can identify particularly the altar and the holy of holies. Inside the hh, there were two standing stones, once used in the worship of Baal. Dr. Browning pointed this out as an example of synchretism of religions.
We arrived at our hotel, the Youth Hostel Arad, quite early, and I had a fantastic, relaxing evening. I’ve been reading Poisonwood Bible aloud to Shannon. I FINALLY got to talk to Mom and Dad, which was great.
After supper, we got together to play "Mafia," a lot like "Killer Wink" at camp. They pass out cards – 2 aces are the supercops, 3 face cards are the Mafia, and the others are just regular folks. Basically, the cops and Mafia try to eliminate each other first. The person who is the narrator makes up funny "accidents" for the people killed by the Mafia in each round. For me, they said, "She died of an overdose of Jane Austen," and that a bookcase in Dr. Crockett’s office fell on my head. It was a blast, and even Dr. Browning played.
Tomorrow’s going to be one of the neatest days, but also one of the hardest. We’re going to visit Masada, climb En Gedi (but hey! I conquered Mt Sinai!), and – fun – swim in the Dead Sea.
One more thing that struck me today, then I’m going to bed. In the place we ate lunch, a little baby girl sat on the floor with her arms outstretched, crying, "Abba! Abba!" It was the first time I’ve heard that actually used in "real life," and I realized what a sweet image of God that word is.
Oh, and one more thing! -- some of the Hebrew stuff here is really neat. In McDonalds, "Big Mac" and chicken mcnuggets are straight transliterations! Also "Pizza Hut" and "shampoo." Okay, I’m going to bed.