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From Egypt to the Promisedland 10

March 29, 2007/Thursday
9:32pm (Jerusalem)

Today we traveled about an hour to the lowest natural point on the face of the earth. It is about 1600 feet below sea level. It is the Dead Sea. It is located in the wilderness, or the desert. It is called the Judean Wilderness. One of the greatest parts of that area is Massada.

Massada is a very large piece of rock that is similar to a mesa. It is a mountain with a flat top, like a table. It is about 1700 feet tall. I hiked up the side of it today. It was a cool experience. I only had one problem; I couldn’t breathe. Now before you make fun of me, remember that I hiked The Grand Canyon. This time I simply ate a Payday before I started. It made me nauseated. But, I managed. I was hoofing it up that thing.

It was a God thing that I hiked up Massada. Everyone else in the group rode the cable car. I met a guy about halfway up named Jeff. We had a good time hiking together for the remainder of the trip.

Massada is a place that used to be Herod the Great’s winter palace. After it became unused, a group of over 900 Jews occupied it to escape Roman enslavement. All 900 of them lived on nine acres about 1700 feet up on this mesa. They had their own gardens, water supplies, and every necessity. The Roman’s pursued them. They built a ramp over a three-year period just to reach them. When they got to the top, the Jews had chosen death over enslavement. There is much more to the story. I suggest you google it. It is an amazing story.

I also went swimming in the Dead Sea. It is so cool. You float. You can’t sink. I also covered my body in the black mud that settles at the bottom. It is supposed to be really good for your skin. I smeared it all over my body. I got pictures.

We ate at my second favorite restaurant in the world. I don’t even know the name of it. I just know that it is in Jericho. If you are wondering, my first favorite restaurant in the world is Rodizio’s in Utah. Today, I ate so much. It was so good. It was all Middle Eastern food. I also ate a ton of fruit. Jericho literally has the best fruit in the world. I found a fruit that I have been looking for since I ate it the first time I was in Israel. I believe it is called pomila. It is a citrus fruit that is out of this world. I absolutely ate so much that it was a sin. I realize that we have removed the sin of overeating from the list.

Here I go again. I just don’t want us to forget that we all are imperfect. We all still do things that we shouldn’t. It is good to remind us of our imperfections. Otherwise, we become full of ourselves.

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