Arabian Nights

So I've had the opening song to the movie Aladdin stuck in my head all day long today! My children have made me watch Aladdin at least a thousand times. Not only that, but they also make me listen to the soundtrack in the car wherever we go. And of course, like any good father, I just have to sing along with them. At the top of my lungs. I mean, it's not like I know most of the words anyway...well, ok, I know all of the words. The other day I was listening to my headphones on the bus, and my player was on shuffle. I got about half-way through the "genie song" (as the kids call it) before I realized that I'm a grown man listening to the genie song! Ha!

Why am I singing the opening song to Aladdin? Because IT'S HOT!!! The heat really is intense! That's why! Other than that, I've got nothing else to say for myself. Aw who am I kiddin, Aladdin is awesome! And let's face it, you definitely ain't never had a friend like me! Now if I only had that lamp and a magic carpet...and a talking monkey. And that beautiful princess...but I digress...

If you know me really well, you know for a fact that you've definitely never had a friend like me for real! I apparently dropped my overnight bag in the parking lot yesterday. They brought it in during dinner, and I grabbed it. The Dean was sitting at my table and he said, "Van, that's your bag?" I said, sure it is. I know so because check it out - I then proceeded to pull out my "redneck teeth" from the bag and put them in and look around at everyone as if there was nothing at all wrong. Ha! He said, "Van, you are absolutely crazy, you know that? You're crazy!" I mean, who else do you know that carries redneck teeth, not only in their overnight bag, but all the way to Israel? This guy, that's who!

I have absolutely NOTHING interesting or thought provoking tonight for you people. Uh, my bad. However, I do have a lot of interesting pictures of my goings on today. Hazor, Tel Dan, some beautiful waterfall, and Caesarea Philippi filled my day with gladness, so I shall fill yours with, uh, something or other. I'm trying to keep one step ahead of you people. Or is it one jump ahead? Well, oh look, here's some pictures, and here's some lovely music to listen whilst you view. I hope these pictures move you!

This is Hazor, an ancient Canaanite city that is thousands of years old. Solomon fortified the city during his reign. This is one of the oldest sites we have visited so far. Why do they call these places "tel"? Because it's an artificial mound of stuff. See that dirt on top? Or that field across from this ruin? That's what it looks like without digging. Then you start digging and the further you dig down, the further back in time you go. So, the bottom layer is thousands of years old. People for centuries would find an abandoned city and build their new city on top of it. This is exactly what Solomon did at Hazor. 

Our next stop was Tel Dan, another ancient Canaanite city that was refortified by the Hebrews. There is a natural spring there that just pops out of the mountain! The water is crystal clear and very cold. It's awesome! 

This is the fortified city part of Tel Dan. You can see the really large round-ish stones, those are the Canaanite walls. Up the wall there you can see some square ones, those are the Hebrew additions to refortify the wall. That stone on the ground laid out there was the "parking lot" for chariots that pulled up to the gate. Did they have to pay by the hour? 

This is a giant stone used for as the olive press in order to get the oil. This was found at Ceasarea Phillippi, our next stop. 

When you're in the desert, water is of the utmost importance. But Van, I see trees! Yes you do, because at the foot of that giant cave there is a huge spring! This is right beside the ancient city of Ceasarea Phillippi. You have water, you can have a city.

The spring. It's huge! The water is crystal clear and very cold here too. Simply amazing. It's about 110 in the air, and the water is very cold. Awesome! Let's go for a swim! Wait, you can't because you'll get arrested! Against the law here. Dog....

Look! The water just comes out of the ground, right out of the rocks here! I wonder, I'm in the Holy Land, right? Is this Holy Water then? 

Remember that cave? Well, the ancients built a little temple area to the Greek gods here around the end of the 1st century. Some of the stuff is laying around, like this column. There are also some temple areas carved right into the cliff. 

Like this one...

A close-up of the one above...

Or this one...All of these are either to Pan or Zeus. I mean, take your pick right? Wine god or the god, whichever. There was even a temple to the sacred goats. Yes, goats. 

From the caves at Ceasarea Phillippi, you can walk down that spring, which turns into a river and find this along the way! How awesome is this?! A beautiful waterfall in the desert. Talk about a change in temperature. It was downright cool under the trees down by the river. This is Banyas waterfall. 

UH-MAZING! I was getting wet, and I loved every second of it! 

The base of Banyas falls. 

How's this for a view? This is the view from the top of the falls. So you have an idea of where this is - that is Lebanon behind me, and to the right is Syria. This site is in the Golan Heights, very close to both borders. Since this was a war-zone not too long ago, there are mine fields all around here, marked with barbed wire fencing. Don't go in there!