Day 9 Geography Field Trip

Now on to Yesterday, Thurday Jan 17th, Day 9, we went on our first official field trip. "The Geography Field Trip". Brother Draper said 70% of the Bible events took place in the area we saw in one day! We went to five overlook places in different locations where we could get a vantage point from all directions. First we went to Nabi Samwill north of the city, the highest point on the Benjamin plateau. We went to the roof of the Monestary and Brother Draper told us the history, geography and Biblical reference for the site. It was really cold and really windy up on the tower we all huddled together to stay warm and got off as soon as possible, but it was a great view. Its interesting to see the walls between Israel and Palestine but there are still Jewish neighborhoods springing up on the Palestinian side. Most of the sites we visited for the geography tour were in the West Bank. When we went to the second site, Deir Elyas, a hill overlooking Bethlehem (south of Jerusalem) we climbed around Isreali bunkers from not that long ago. Our third site was the Haas Promenade a really touristy overlook with a view of Jerusalem from the south. We studyed the Georgraphy around Jerusalem: the three Valleys that the city of David was built around. The Seven Arches Overlook (also touristy)is a spectacular view of Jerusalem from the East (Mt. of Olives). There was a man there at the outlook with a camel for people to take pictures with and ride. This camel was special because if you make a kissing noise he will nibble on your face. My roomate tried it, the camel pretty much ate her face, haha. Finally we went to the Augusta Victoria Tower. This tower is just up the hill from our center. It's a beautiful Luthran church with a tower and the best Palestinian hospital around. Palestinians in the area who can't afford care can go there. Brother Draper told a story from 1994 when a school bus crashed near hear. The bus driver was killed and many children were hurt and went to the Augusta Victoria Hospital. Many of them needed blood and they we short on plasma and needed a source they could trust for good blood. A couple of the nurses volunteering there were from BYUI so they ran down the street to the BYU JC and came back with 120 students to donate. Many of the people in this area still remember and especially love the BYU center for that. I really like the Augusta Victoria the chapel has great acoustics. The tour guide let us sing. I really want to go up there sometime and play some Bach on my violin in there.