Field Trip #2

So on monday we went to a few different sights in the Negev Desert. The first place we went to a location where Bedouin women weave blankets, rugs, and other items. They brought us under a traditional Bedouin tent with all hand made coverings and decorations. They brought all 90 of us Chai Tea, which was really tasty and sweet, spoke to us about the bedouin women and their focus of education and then gave us a weaving demonstration. I volunteered to try spinning the sheep wool into a strand, which after a few attempts I started to do it. The process that they go through, the spinning, dying, spinning to double up, then the actual weaving is somthing to be admired. They are humble, hard working, and hospitibal women and it was a pleasure and privilage to have them show us their way of life. We then went to Tel Sheva which has many different old testament references. It was an interesting archeological site, which was also really hot, seeing that we were in the Negev desert and wearing pants. We then visited another Tel, Tel Arad. This was another very interesting site that I will not go into details about the events, history, and relevance to Biblical antiquity but I will say that the 'satellite temples' that they built was a very interesting part of the site visit. There was an altar and a holy of holies, which was pretty apostate in those days to have a temple outside of Jerusalem. We then drove home, the significance of the drive was the way we took to get home. We drove down below sea level and along the Dead Sea then up into Jerusalem. It was really cool seeing the Dead Sea, we did not get to jump in, not yet anyway. We discussed on the bus the way that Lehi and his family would have come, which was very ugly terrain, we also discussed the point at which they stopped and Lehi told Laman, Lemuel, Nephi, and Sam to go back and get the plates. It gave some insight to the reply that Laman and Lemuel gave saying, This is a hard thing you require of us. Well, looking out the window in the bus as we were flying through the hot desert and looking up at the very gigantic cliffs and its extremely rough terrain, I would have said the same thing. Conversly, this gave me more respect for Nephi's answer to go and do. Though I never really ceased to sweat out in the Negev Desert today, I am really glad we had this field trip and the experiences it produced.