David Phillips ’14 – After staying up for over 30 hours I finally got to sleep in a bed. There has never been a more restful sleep than that in my life. I woke to do my morning reading and enjoyed a wonderful sunrise. It was also nice to hear a rooster crow in the morning and look out and see a bustling city. Breakfast was fantastic and bus ride to Caesarea was beautiful and scenic
Today in Caesarea we all go to sit in an outdoor theatre that looked out upon the ocean. It was truly mind blowing how beautiful it was! We then went to see the remains of Herod the Great’s palace which was between the theatre and the amphitheater. We also got to see a public restroom which was literally a few slots on the side of a walk way, outdoors, with no stalls. I am so happy we live in an era with dividers. But anyways moving on from the bathrooms we went to the amphitheater which was massive! This is where chariots and other games would be held. We were told that they used sand on the ground for the amphitheatre to absorb the blood better. Fantastic, I was literally standing on possibly a guys remains a couple thousand years earlier! After we left from Caesarea we went to Acre but on the way there we passed Mount Carmel. This mountain has some significance in the Bible because it hosted the story of Elijah killing a bunch of the pagan prophets.
When we arrived to Acre we go to go into the white Mosque which was built by a Sultan that was nicknamed “the Butcher”. A real nice guy, great with kids I am sure… anyways we got to go see the inside of the mosque and observe a guy praying. The mosque was stunning! After this we ate at a little place that served shwarma. If you have never had shwarma you are missing out! Essentially it is seasoned chicken with vegetables you add contained by pita bread. It is simply delightful. After we ate we passed through a market that was down a few alleyways. The vendors had an assortment of items, from fake toys to spices and fish.
To finish the day we went to Haifa University to talk with the students there. We talked about a song’s lyrics and what it meant to all of us. It was enlightening experience to learn what other cultures think about a topic. Overall this trip has been nothing more than incredible. I am so grateful and blessed to have gotten to go on a trip like this! The place has been amazing but even better is the men I have gotten to share it with.
