Back Home

I am back home! I haven't seen all my friends yet, but I'm hoping to see most of them by the end of the week. I read a facebook note by my good friend Cameron, and thought that I'd do the same thing he did. He wrote just a little bit of his favorite memories of the semester. This will be much more entertaining for those who were there for the events and who know the people involved.

Things that I will remember from this semester:

- Man Night
- Creating the Grad Lounge
- Telling Todd we should go out every other night
- Walking in the Old City at night with Stacy
- Tichu, Chess, Settlers of Catan, Ping Pong
- Paula joking about me not liking bread every single day
- Dan's burning eyes/almost every other conceivable thing hand motion on his face
- Robyn burping when she saw me in the grad lounge
- Learning Cameron had the exact same background as I
- The Jesus Walk (so many memories there) with Lis, Stacy, Hans, and Jason
- Getting locked in at the Holy Sepulcher with Megan, Jon, Caitlin, and Hans
- The poker night with all the guys
- The last night with Cameron and Seth
- Twisting my ankle
- Going to Zollis
- Arak
- The Coffee House and the performances during it
- Walking on the beach of the Sea of Galilee every night in Galilee
- Climbing in the oldest building still standing
- Ultimate Frisbee!
- Almost puking from eating so much at Thanksgiving
- Megan's birthday and the following crazy night
- Watching White Christmas on Thanksgiving (just like we do at home)
- Writing a 32 page paper on the Mountain of God in the Bible and Ugaritic sources
- The cold showers/no sewage system
- Walking outside in shorts and sweating in December
- Caitlin's stories
- Conversation with James one of the first nights there
- Lis's contagious enthusiasm
- The City of David- "Where it all began"
- Hezekiah's Tunnel
- The almost trip to Eilat with Dan and Chris
- Rabbi Moshe
- Skype with good friends and family!
- Genis
- Eating tongue in Galilee and making jokes about it
- Making jokes about Jerash
- Running up the steps in Petra with Dan- twice
- Hangin with the undergrads at the end of the semester
- Cookie Night!
- Running through the Israel Museum with Caitlin and Carmen
- Temple Mount with Dan
- Bible Lands Museum with Caitlin and Dan McCallister
- Talking football with Ben
- Yad VaShem- the Holocaust Museum
- Tower of David Museum with Megan
- Rockefeller Museum with Stacy
- The Western Wall experience
- The Garden Tomb with Megan and Caitlin
- Sneaking onto the Ramparts Walk with Lis, Stacy, Todd, and Caitlin
- Talking while overlooking the Western Wall
- Going to a Messianic Jewish Synagogue
- Wishing I had more time with the people at JUC and with Jerusalem

There's so much more, but that's a pretty big list already. I do miss it already.

It is great to be home though, and I'm excited to make new memories here!

Thanks to all who prayed for me during my trip. It was amazing, an experience I will never forget. There will be more pictures coming up as soon as I get them on my computer as well!