Class! Already?

So, yesterday (Sunday) we took our first hike around the Old City learning about some of the topography of Jerusalem and how it has affected history. We ventured along the wall from school and stopped in a shaded grassy area to discuss the valley below the Western Hill where JUC sits. It is the Hinnem Valley. In the Bible there are several occasions in which the Hinnem Valley is discussed. It is a place where garbage was dumped and child sacrifices from the Old Testament were held. Insane! Then we discussed the wall and how old different blocks are. It is interesting to think of how the topography of the land has changed so much. The land is slowly becoming more and more flat and is losing the topography of Jesus' day. Anyhoo, after that we ventured through the Old City to the Damascus gate, then saw one of the seemingly five million places where Jesus was buried. Word to the wise: if you come to Jerusalem and people tell you this is the real thing (for many of the claims, but not all)... they are generally lying and they do not know. The City has been built on top of and covered so many times that it is very difficult to decipher the hows/wheres of many biblical stories from the time of Jesus. Though some things have actually been found. For example on our walk we went to St. Anne's church where an archeological site is located. There was found the pools of Bethesda as described in John 5. Right next to the pools was another pool for the Greek god Asclepio (not sure how to spell that) who is the Greek god of healing. In John 5 the sick man would try to make it into the pools of Asclepio to become healed when the waters stirred, but could never quite make it in to be the first one. When Jesus found him, he told him to walk and pick up his pallet for he was healed. It was incredible to be standing where Jesus stood... (well, close to it anyway) and realize what he had done there. Absolutely incredible!!!! After we finished in the Archaeological site, we went into the church, which is the only crusader church left in the Old City and I got to lead our class in some hymns. It was so amazing to hear the acoustics and the echo! It sounded so beautiful! Laura, Megan and I are already planning on going back to the church to spend some more time in worship. After the church we headed over to the Western Wall. It was amazing to see Jews from all over the world there praying, hoping and crying out for their nation. It was so beautiful! I can't believe I am here and that my classroom is Israel. It is incredible! I love you all and I am hoping to get some pictures up soon!