Day 8

I am 21 today!! And I had the most amazing, unimaginable birthday ever! First, we went to the Jordan River and walked around Jesus' baptismal site and through ancient church ruins. This experience was awesome in multiple ways. First, it was really cool to stand there by myself and be able to talk to God in a place where he had once stood. I dipped my hands into the Jordan and began to tear up knowing how amazing this place was. Second, it was saddening being there with my Jordanian friends. They all are from Palestinian descent and are not allowed to travel over across into their homeland, because it now belongs to Israel. At the same time, we saw a few people walking in the river on the other side. These people also could not leave into Jordan to visit their families because of the laws. This was really hard to look at the people singing and praying in the river while the Jordanian and Israeli soldiers stood over them with guns.

After walking back to the bus in the pouring rain, we all got into the bus soaking wet and cold. We then began the drive to the Dead Sea! We arrived at the Dead Sea Spa and were surprised with an amazing buffet lunch! During lunch, just as we finished, the sky cleared up and the rain stopped. However, after we changed and walked down onto the beach, it was still freezing cold! But, thankfully, unknown to us, this sea is about 15 degrees warmer than the air! All 24 of us and our professor jumped in and floated around for at least a half an hour! This was so amazing-nothing in the world to compare it too. I hope someday to go back.

Tonight, my friends brought me out to dinner at a restaurant called Bel Monde Cafe. The food was delicious and the company was great. We spent nearly 3 hours eating, talking and taking pictures. I was then sung Happy Birthday while I received my own personal cake by the table 4 time! Twice in English, twice in Arabic while everyone danced and clapped. It was quite the celebration!

Tomorrow, I will be leaving for the Holy Land. We may call it Israel in the US, because our government supports this new country. However, here, we call it Palestine or the Holy Land because most Jordanians' families were expelled from their land after WWII and are never allowed to return. In Israel, however, we will call it Israel. I will be leaving at 5:30am my time tomorrow. Please pray for our journey across the border that it goes smoothly and quickly without any issues. This is not a dangerous thing, but it is intense and will be a bit nerve-racking for everyone. When we arrive tomorrow afternoon, we will meet our host families. I believe we will be staying in pairs so I will be rooming with my new friend, MacKenzie. During our stay there (6 days, coming home Thursday afternoon), we will visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem Bible College, and the West Bank. During this time, I will try to email everyone and update my blog, but it is not for certain I will have internet connection.

Thank you all for your birthday wishes and prayers!!