From Sea to Shining Sea

At the bottom of the Snake Path

This weekend, the dig organized a trip to Masada, the Dead Sea and Qumron.  We woke up late (6:30a.m.!) on Friday morning and traveled to Masada.  On the two hour bus ride, I played with Lucy- the adorable 4 year-old daughter of our dig leader.  She liked to inform me that I had red hair.  We got to Masada at 9a.m. and by 9:30 we were on the Snake Trail up to the top.   As soon as I took out my camera, I found out that the battery was mysteriously dead (I charged it recently, I promise), so all photos are borrowed.  For those who don't know, Masada is an ancient fortress originally built by the Greek king of Judea, Herod the Great.  It was conquered by the Jews in 66CE who held it until the Romans conquered them around 72CE.  Masada is situated on top of a giant plateau in the middle of the Judean desert.  Hiking to the top at 9:30 on July 1 was a horrible idea.  It was so hot and so steep, the .5km hike took almost 45 minutes.  Finally making it to the top felt like such an accomplishment that it made the whole thing worth it.  After wandering around for an hour and a half (and catching our breath), we decided it would be a much better idea to take the cable car down. 

Delphine and Caroline at the top of the Snake Path

     Next, we went to the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi.  After hiking in the desert, one might think that a dip in the sea would be an excellent and refreshing idea.  Unfortunately, everyone on the dig is so thoroughly covered in cuts and mosquito bites that the Dead Sea mostly just burned.  At least, as one of my friends pointed out, it cauterized our wounds.  One of my friends got water in his eye and had to be led back to the shore by other dig members.  
    Thoroughly exhausted by this point, nobody was too excited to visit Qumron, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  The two supervisors who were leading the trip gave us a whirlwind tour of the site.  It was interesting to see the finished product of an archeological dig.  It helped me feel that what I'm doing here in Ashkelon is actually important. 
    After we had visited Qumron, the bus dropped six friends and I off in Jerusalem, where we caught a sheirut (bus/taxi) to Tel Aviv.  When we got to Tel Aviv, we split into different groups- the girls all went to Kate's apartment (thanks again for letting us stay!) to shower and get ready for a night out.  We decided to meet everyone on the boardwalk to have dinner.  After some miscommunications and general tardiness, we eventually all found each other and had dinner near the marina.   Soon after, we met up with Kate and a couple of her friends and hung out at a bar on the beach.  It was a beautiful night and we all had a lot of fun.  We stayed out pretty late and crashed once we got back to Kate's apartment.  The next morning we woke up (I had two huge blisters on my feet, that I hadn't noticed the night before) and went to Benedict's for breakfast.  It was the most delicious meal.  I had eggplant and feta shakshuka and we all had mimosas to celebrate our friend Emma's birthday (and my mom's too).  We were on a sheirut back to Ashkelon by 1p.m. on Saturday and spent the rest of the day resting and relaxing.  It was a great weekend.
    Today we returned to digging.  I was working in, what I like to call, the hamster cage.  It's a Hellenistic bin about the size of a filing cabinet with the drawers pulled out.  I have scrapes all over my arms and legs from hitting the rock walls every time I tried to swing my pick axe.  I missed the luxuries of Tel Aviv.