Beit Lehi / Beit Loya - The second day's dig; and a night on the town
We began our workday with a beautiful breakfast in the basement of the hotel. Breakfasts are always a beautiful thing! There are a wide array of good foods to select from. I've rarely eaten as well at home in the United States. Additionally, there are buns and apples as well as bread and peanut butter that can be wrapped into a few napkins for later dig-snacks.
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| Breakfast in Israel is always a beautiful thing! |
We stopped at a small market, which had some of the funniest items. My daughter Emma was in Japan, and here in this market in Lachish was one of her favorite Japanese snacks. Seeing pocky chocolate sticks in Hebrew packaging was a funny juxtaposition of cultures. Here were Americans, in Israel, having a Japanese snack.
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| Pocky - A popular Japanese snack. |
We arrived at the dig site and were given our assignment to uncover a section of the Idumean temple wall. It was assumed at the time this was in-fact a temple, and not some type of civic center. This was hot and dusty work, but there is something so satisfying about working to discover that which has been hidden for so long. How many individuals have passed over these ruins, without so much as a thought of what might be hidden under their feet?
If you are the type that has an inkling of the desire to find what has not been found, this is the place for you!
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| The first day's dig. Uncovering an Idumean temple's walls. |
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| The beautiful dig site |
Dallin and I were pretty tired from the days work. Notwithstanding, he needed to see the western wall. We showered up and changed, and took an hours nap. We got up and decided to walk down to the Western wall. This was a poor choice, and we covered a LOT of ground...in the wrong direction. We ended up in the Arab quarter and I went into a Jordanian hotel to ask the young lady at the counter to call a taxi. She was so beautiful! Maybe it was the just relief we would have a ride soon, or there was something in the air, but if I had camels I would have traded them to her father for her to be Dallin's wife. Luckily for Dallin's current fiancee, I was camel-less at that time.
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Jerusalem is the center of the world for many. The things that happen here, have waves that travel the globe.
I love the open-carry policy in Israel. There are no school shootings. The shooters would simply be shot. This policy makes the schools a non-inviting target for those who would use the lives of children for their political ends. I never felt unsafe while we were there. On my previous visit, I felt on heightened alert twice, once when Alicia and I were walking alone through an empty market place in Tiberias and were being sized up by a young man (he apparently didn't like his odds and broke contact); and again while walking late at night with a group in the City of David, much off the beaten path (dumb choice on our part). This trip, I felt completely safe.
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| A good guide for us everywhere we go |
When Alicia and I were here in 2012, we saw this cute little old Rabbi taking collections and giving out kippas to those going to pray at the wall. Imaging my joy to see him still there! I had to take a picture to send to Alicia.
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