'My Jacket's Somewhere in the Jordan River' and 'Harp-Laking It'

Oh, just found these additional emails. These are my second to last and third to last emails home. I wrote them both in Galilee as well.

November 29th

Hello once more!

I know I just wrote an email a few days ago, but I have so much to write about.
My class had a field trip scheduled for today, but the rain plus the intensity of the hike convinced the administration to cancel that and give both classes the same schedule. In other words, no more segregation...at least until Saturday/the Sabbath. Good times... :)

Well, I wrote the above yesterday (the 27th). Now I need to catch up, and there's a lot to talk about.

Yesterday afternoon, after class and lunch, we all went canoeing down a small portion of the Jordan river north of the seas of Galilee. I was in a canoe with Maren and Katherine T. (the other side of the Katherine coin), though then, midway through, Katherine abandoned us for other canoe (after which I discovered that I'm much better at the front of the canoe, rather than the back). Maren and I rowed all the way back before turning back because we were so early. Well, we turned back to full on war. after we participated in a blockade, pretty much everyone (besides the few canoes not around and the people who didn't want to get wet) ended up being capsized. It was pretty epic. I wasn't planning on it originally, but it added to the experience and made me laugh. Funnily enough, I had my jacket tied around my waist, but after we had righted the boat, I realized my jacket was gone. Yep. My Jacket's somewhere in the Jordan River. From now on, if I lose something, my response will be, "it's probably somewhere in the Jordan River." I think I'm taking too much pleasure in immortalizing this when i'll probably forget... I mean, is it as family lore worthy as mom and the car door?

Now I need to transcribe what I wrote of this letter home in my notebook during ANE (yes, I was paying attention! At least a little bit...). Bear with me, this is a lot! I'm surprised how many notebook pages I filled: 3. Though half of those, I must admit, I wrote after class sitting near the beach.

Anyways. Hold on tight. Here comes a run down.
After our naval war/canoeing adventure (call it what you will) and a little break (in which I showered and walked along the beach),  sister Strathearn's class went to the fish restaurant (the other class went the night before). Funny story: on the bus ride there, Sister Strathearn joined all of us in the back half of the bus (it's a big bus and we weren't spread out at usual). Everyone started to chant: "one of us! One of us!" It's now become a thing.
Since fish isn't my particular favorite on a day to day basis (aka 24/7 basis), I ordered spaghetti and only tasted a bite of maren's fish. But that spaghetti was still the most difficult meal I've ever eaten...and it wasn't the spaghetti's fault. I was sitting across from the typically well-behaved Thomas. I had to suffer through the head of his fish falling off, his stabbing the head with his fork in order to pose with it, his discussion of eating the brains (I'm not sure if I should take him seriously on that one), and his dishing out the eye to eat it. Apparently he ended up unable to swallow it. I don't blame him. I couldn't swallow my own, perfectly innocent pasta just watching. Funnily enough, I told this story to my family over the phone as they were eating thanksgiving dinner. They quieted me as soon as they got the chance during my unending fishy description of my own "Thanksgiving Dinner." (We actually all had our own thanksgiving last Sabbath, a week ago. It was great!)

Maren with her fish:

My spaghetti.

This morning, both groups went on our Golan Heights field trip.
Gamla (camel in Hebrew, since it looks like a camel hump from a distance) was absolutely beautiful. The views were stunning. Also, Gamla is home to the only found 1st century synagogue. It was even made of dark basalt, like Capernaum's synagogue's foundation (on which a later synagogues was built). In other words, Christ most likely would have taught in that synagogue at Gamla.

The muddy hike down.

 Gamla's peak in the distance. We had to hike down and then back up.

 Where we started our hike is on the hill behind me.

As an insert, I just wandered along the beach. It's night now, and I am struck with the serenity of this place.
I love storms, but after three days of rain (the most rain they've had so early in the season) I am grateful for the peace. I wasn't aware until now how un-still the lake was until now, as I see it perfectly calm with gentle lapping (just thought of the W.B. Yeats poem you always tucked me into be with, Dad :)).
Not only that, I've missed seeing so many stars. I haven't seen so many since one evening in Turkey on the hotel's beach. Mom, Dad, Orion's rising into the sky right now. I thought of you and missed you two! :)
The stillness is so serene as I write this. This place is perfect. Galilee is a haven.

We got out of ANE about half an hour ago, and Chadwick, to keep us awake after our long day today and big dinner, had us sing a couple of times throughout the class. First, he taught us a version of a well-known Primary song that his children adapted while here once. The first two lines go: "I looked out the window, and what did I see? Date palms waving near the sea of Galilee." He ended class, however, telling us that the author of "Master, the tempest is raging" wrote it as a dialogue between the disciples, who, in he different verses, express their fear and joy, and Christ who responses, "the winds and the waves shall obey MY will. Peace, be still. Peace, be still." However, when they put together the new hymn book, they changed it to Thy, not understanding that it's a dialogue. They changed that and took out "Cooing Doves"...a hymn I now love but never knew existed until now. How sad is that?
Chadwick led us to sing the original version of "Master, the tempest" (wonderful!) and then he said that the storms have been raging both literally and, in some cases, figuratively. We all have our personal storms, but the Savior can calm them. And it will be peaceful.
Something that has stood out to me a lot this semester is that I'm on a pilgrimage. Multiple times here, we've been reminded that we are not tourists. We are pilgrims. I love that! It has really influenced my approach to my actions at many of these places. I love it that they allow us a lot of time for personal reflection and exploration at many of these sites. It really enhances this experience.

Anyways... Back to the less reverent.
This afternoon we went on a hike through a nature preserve. It was beautiful.
Of course, it helped to have Enya playing in the background. Dean brought his speaker and iPhone and played it throughout most of the hike. Aleena, my hiking buddy, and I decided to, for the most part, tag along close enough to him to hear the music.
What made me laugh though was that, on the way down to the base of the waterfall where we were able to swim, my roommate Erin, who listens to Enya to fall asleep (trust me, I was trying to study once in our room while she took her nap...I ended up falling asleep) had to plug in her own music to stay awake.
Both hikes today were extremely muddy, but they were fun and beautiful adventures. :)

Tomorrow is the Sabbath, and yet again I am so excited for that. I have grown to truly love my days of rest here.

Well, yet again this email is long enough. At least I'm pretty much caught up on what matters. My journal writing has sadly slacked, so this is my alternative. Hope you all don't mind. :)

Remember, if you lose something, it's probably in the Jordan River.
Love you all!
Katherine

A painting in the Tiberias church house. Isn't it beautiful?

November 26th

Hello dear people!
How are you all?

So, I'm now living on the shore of the Harp Lake for eleven days (well, more like nine now). Harp Lake? Lake Kinneret. Kinneret is Hebrew for harp, because the sea (more like lake) of Galilee is harp-shaped. Learned that last night in ANE. :)
We're staying in Ein Gev at a lakeside resort. Ein Gev is a Kibbutz. It's lakeside, but we're not allowed to even poke a toe in the sea of Galilee yet because it's been mildly stormy and there's no life guard. But I did enjoy sitting on the beach and grass our first evening here. Oh, and there are hammocks. If it'll stop raining, i'll find a hammock later today.

We left Jerusalem on Monday and visited Bet Shean, Nazareth, and Mt Arbel. Mt Arbel was by far my favorite. It was a tall hill that over shadowed Magdala and dropped off as cliff into the sea of Galilee.
Not only did it have a breathtaking view, it was cloudy and very "British" looking...and then it down poured. It was great! I was thoroughly enjoying myself, and everyone got drenched within minutes...and they were all smiling and laughing at me because I was so giddy and was acting like a maniac. :) I splashed them with the puddles while they were hiding undercover...but they were already soaked, so it wasn't as if it'd make them worse off. It's been over 48 hours, and only just are my pants and sweatshirt showing signs of drying. I was beginning to think they never would.

Yesterday, my class (Sister Strahearn's NT class) had our sea of Galilee field trip while he other class had classes...that's a how it will be for a week. The two classes even attend Sacrament Mtg at different times on Saturday. Segregation... :) But, there is the canoeing triptomorrow and a hike on friday for everyone. Things get crazy when we're all together, the 60 of us, and it's always funny to pass the other class on field trips on and around Jerusalem, because we all start mingling or at least high fiveing each other. We've all actually been told sometimes to ignore each other when we pass because of a time crunch. Good times... :)

Funnily enough, Maren and I just laughed as we looked outside at the rain. Yesterday, we had a perfect day for the field trip. It was clear all day until he boat ride across the lake when a mild storm blew in. Not a contrary east wind as it would've been as recorded in Matt. 5, but calm enough to be safe and stormy enough for us ignorant students to thoroughly enjoy ourselves and to imagine quite vividly, on my part at least, my favorite NT story: Matt. 14. :) All in all, a great day! Though it was long. And today we got to switch agendas with the other class: class with breaks where the only chance we have to get soaked is between our apartment and the main building where we eat and have class. Maren and I laughed at the storm, thinking of the other class. Are we heartless? Yes. Though I love the rain, I'm a bit tired of getting soaked. even in the two minutes walk to and from my room to class, my backpack was very wet...and I was counting my blessings that I bought an umbrella yesterday. Welcome to rain the Holy Land. I laugh but do rather feel bad for the other group, particularly since they, unlike us, get back much later because they're eating at the fish restaurant after their boat ride tonight. The rain is bringing out the colors though, and everything is much greener than it usually is this time of year. Love it! :)

I really enjoyed our boat ride, but another favorite part of yesterday was sitting on the rocky shores at St Peter's Primacy and at Capernaum, looking out over the sea of Galilee, and thinking. It was beautiful and so peaceful. I can see why Christ loved this place so much!

On the Mt. of Beatitudes:

 At St. Peter's Primacy:

 Capernaum:

 Our Boat Ride:

Mt. Abel from our boat:

 Singing on our boat ride.

Well, now I'd better go so that I can get my homework done (30 pages to read from the carta bible atlas for ANE before 10 PM).

Keep Harp-Laking it!
Love you all!
Katherine