Israel Update #2 + a little more

Here is the most recent news from Seth (an exerpt from an email written June 25):

Just wanted to send you a quick note to update you. I am currently between phases on my trip. The tour group left yesterday and I don't leave for the dig until Tuesday. Today I slept in and got some much needed rest. Then I met with Bill, one of IBEX profs, and headed into Jerusalem for the afternoon & evening. Bill said I hadn't changed much except for a few more grey hairs!

I had a great afternoon in Jerusalem. After grabbing a falafel for lunch, I went to a couple of book stores and kind of poked around the Old City walls. Then I went to the "Jerusalem Archaeological Park" in the area just south of the Temple Mount. I hadn't been there in a while. They've put a lot of work into that area and there was lots to see. Then I went to the City of David, just to the south of that. There I was able to see the newest excavations in the City of David, where they have found remains of a monumental building, perhaps even David's palace! Then I walked down the hill to the newly discovered Pool of Siloam. This is a pool that dates back to the time of Christ, and is probably where He healed the man who was waiting for the angel to stir the waters. It was discovered by accident this last year, and only a part of the pool has been excavated. After that, I started heading for home. On the way to the bus stop, I bought a slice of pizza and bought some groceries. All in all, it was a great afternoon.

From Benjamin and I: We returned from Northern California safely, albeit exhausted! Today was a lazy day, which is responsible for the lack of lengthy update here. I hope to catch up a little more tomorrow. But now I must sleep while Benjamin slumbers. :)

Got pictures?

I just wanted to apologize for the shocking lack of pictures here lately. I goofed. I thought it through and decided that my camera wouldn't get full while I was here in California so I didn't need the data cord to download. Somehow I neglected to realize the obvious: I need it to post pictures on the blog and to send the daily pictures I promised to Seth! So...I'm working on it. I think I can probably borrow one from Seth's parents since they have the same camera brand as we do. Pictures by early next week...I (almost) promise!

Benjamin and I are going camping this weekend! We are leaving this afternoon to go meet up with our good friends Greg & Mary to drive up to Northern California with them. We will be near the coast, just south of the Oregon border. It will be about a 12 hour drive. We are going to drive it at night so Benjamin can (hopefully!) sleep almost the whole way.

We should have some fun stories and pictures when we return.

Israel Update #1

OK, this is actually Kiersten posting in Seth's name, but I'm posting an email actually written by the famous world-traveller himself, so I figured it was ok!

Happy reading....

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that I arrived in Israel and am doing great. I just found out today that the place we are currently staying had a computer set up for internet usage. Unfortunately we're leaving tomorrow and I don't know what the situation will be at the next place.

The flight over was smooth. I got a little sleep, but was really in the mood to work and prepare for the sites I'll be teaching at. I managed to figure out the bus system from the airport and to make two connections to get to where I needed to go. Unfortunately I forgot I needed to tell the last bus driver where I needed to be dropped off, so I had to backtrack about a mile or so on foot! The joys of international travel. Fortunately Kiersten had managed to pack my stuff into two relatively small bags. Great thinking, Kiersten!

The tour is going well. So far I've taught at Capernaum yesterday and Hazor today. Both lectures went well and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. One of the men yesterday (himself a pastor) gave me in a loving way some of his recommendations for how to improve, such as getting rid of my notes. So I tried to follow his recommendations today, and he said he was "captivated" when I was speaking. Don't worry about me getting a big head though. Watching Randy Cook (IBEX prof.) leading the tour has been a humbling experience: there so much I don't know yet, such as speaking in modern Hebrew, lots of modern Israeli history, various tidbits on plants and animals, etc., etc. At the same time, Randy is taking me under his wing and is giving me lots of practical tips on leading a tour like this, such as dealing with bus drivers, how much to leave for tips, options for providing lunch for the group, etc.

So in short this has been the incredible opportunity I knew it would be. I feel now more than ever that this is what God has gifted me to do, and even though I have a lot to learn, I'm going to continue persuing this career.

Please continue to pray for me.

Shalom

Seth arrived in Tel Aviv safely

It's been a few days since I've posted, but my excuse is: I was getting my husband ready to go to Israel.

He left at 6:30 am Sunday (6/18), Father's Day. It was sort of a sad Father's Day, I'm afraid. We got him all packed up in just a small rolling bag and a slim backpack. I guess you don't need much when you will be digging all day everyday for 3 weeks. (Of course he did bring other clothes for the tour part of the trip and his "off times.")

I've been able to talk to him twice already. Yesterday afternoon he called from Newark, NJ where he arrived around 9:00am and wasn't leaving until 4:00pm. Then he had a 10-11 hour flight to Tel Aviv. I got a phone call at 4:00 this morning that he had arrived safely!

From Tel Aviv he was going to take a bus to Tiberias to meet up with the tour group. I am waiting for another phone call anytime now to confirm that all went well with those plans.

...and I just got that phone call. All is well. He is with his group at En Gev (a kibbutz in Galilee) and is sleeping at the moment. :)

Just in case you are wondering...

Someone asked me yesterday why my posts are signed "Kiert" and it dawned on me that not everyone knows that nickname, or how it came about. So, if you are interested, here's the story:

My college roommate, Anna, and I had a friend named Caleb. (Incidently now Caleb is Anna's husband, but anyway....) Now the thing you have to know about Caleb is that he prides himself on his grammar. And for good reason. He usually spells and writes impeccably. One night we were playing cards (we were quite stuck on "hearts" at that time.) He wrote my name on the score sheet, "K-i-e-r-t-e-n." "Is that how you spell your name?" The funny thing was, if you are going to misspell "Kiersten" you would typically leave out the first "e" or change one of the vowels, not leave out the "s!" :) So naturally we had to tease him about it. They started calling me "Kierten" just for fun. Well, it caught on and pretty soon everybody was calling me Kierten. Then it got shortened to Kiert.

A couple of years later, at our now-annual campout, the group decided not only was Kierten a fun nickname, it was also a unit of measurement that just happens to correspond with my exact height, 5 feet. And 1/10 of a Kierten is a Kiert (or 6 inches). It's a handy way to measure, really.

So there you have it, the origin of Kiert. College was fun. :)

Benjamin's weekend with his cousins

We travelled to the Nashville area this weekend to see Phil and Vicki (Seth's sister) and their 3 children: Siena, Paris, and Zachary. The kids are in love with Benjamin, and he with them. It's so fun to be this close to his cousins!

Our trip down was pretty rocky. This was on the heels of the "no naps" stunt of Thursday and Friday so by Friday evening he was pretty beside himself. He cried almost the whole way, then finally fell asleep 30 minutes before we got there. Poor guy. But he sorted himself out as the weekend progressed. Probably just from sheer exhaustion.

Saturday we played in the inflatable pool in the backyard. It's a lot bigger than ours so Seth actually had to get in and sit with Benjamin to make sure he didn't tip over. They had a great time.

The kids were so patient and gentle with Benjamin. It was hilarious watching them entertain him, especially the girls. They wanted to bring him every toy in the toy box and wanted him to watch all their dances, tricks, and twirls. Zack, on the other hand, would just get up close and look--when nobody else was around. Maybe he was sizing up his future sidekick, we're not sure.

Sunday we all went to church (in separate cars) and when the kids got out of their classes the first thing they asked was, "where's baby Benjamin?" Seth and I had gone ahead because we had an errand to run. When they got home and we weren't there yet they were all concerned. Siena (4), told Vicki seriously, "Just so you know, wherever they are, Benjamin's cup is here." (His sippy cup was on the table.) :)

Benjamin took a good 3 hour nap before we left, so our ride home was much more pleasant. He played and slept the whole way back.

More "moments"

Tonight we had a picnic in our front yard. OK, it was mostly because the kitchen table was covered with the fruit of today's labor--clean dishes. But it seemed like a good solution to me! Benjamin played in his pack 'n play. He's sitting up like an old pro now, and can even get down on his belly without falling on his face. He invented a new game: kiss the baby. He would see himself in a mirrored toy and then open his mouth, lean over, and "kiss" the mirror. It was adorable. We tried to get a picture, but he was too distracted by the camera to continue the game. After dinner we blew bubbles for the first time. Benjamin didn't want to watch them come out of the wand (maybe because they would pop on his face). He liked to turn his back to the person blowing the bubbles and watch them float past him and off into the distance. I wonder what he thought about them. He was pretty stoic.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that last Thursday, out of the blue, he started waving "hi" and "bye bye." At least that's what we think he's doing. He does it at all the appropriate times. It hadn't dawned on me yet to work on this with him so when one of Seth's co-workers started waving "bye-bye" to him I didn't expect him to react, but he just started waving right back at her. And it continued all weekend. Amazing! Have I mentioned he's brilliant?