The Vantage Point

If tired of trees I seek again mankind,
Well I know where to hie me--in the dawn,
To a slope where the cattle keep the lawn,
There amid lolling juniper reclined,
Myself unseen, I see in white defined
Farr off the homes of men, and farther still,
The graves of men on an opposing hill,
Living or dead, whichever are to mind.

And if by noon I have too much of these,
I have but to turn on my arm, and lo,
The sunburned hillside sets my face aglow,
My breathing shakes the bluet like a breeze,
I smell the earth, I smell the bruised plant,
I look into the crater of the ant.
-- Robert Frost

We went on a geography field trip today, and this Robert Frost poem kept running through my mind. (Mr. Hill, I hope you would be proud that even three years after your class I have several Frost lines memorized and several more that I would recognize on recitation.) I envisioned a beautiful layout of the photographs I took to go along with the poem for you all but, alas, the internet is being particularly slow this evening and will not upload the pictures. Thus, you will have to rely on my descriptive abilities to see what I saw today.

Our stops for the day included Nebi Samwil (the location that the prophet Samuel is buried), the Augusta Victoria tower (built by Keizer Wilhelm and named for his wife), the Seven Arches Hotel, the Judean plateau past the Elias Monastery, and the Haas Overlook south of Jerusalem.

Holy cow.

The point of the field trip was to circle Jerusalem and get a feel for the layout of the land so that when we discuss various Biblical events (battles, migrations, etc.) we will have a map in our minds and understand where the various locations are in relation to us. Unfortunately, I am a terrible map remember-er. However, the view at each of these places was spectacular.

Nebi Samwil gives you a 360 degree view of Jerusalem and the West Bank. Down inside the building is a synagogue and a mosque (you don't see that every day). We were able to go into the synagogue, after we (women) covered our hair with scarves. There were a lot of women praying so we couldn't get to far inside, but it was interesting.

Our second stop was the Augusta Victoria tower. That is a beautiful building: There are great mosaics of Christ and the apostles on the walls and the ceiling, subtle stained-glass windows, and some gorgeous paintings on the second floor. There are two hundred steps to the tower, which means you're very high up, so you are able to see as far as the Dead Sea when the view is clear. Unfortunately, it wasn't clear today.

Seven Arches Hotel was cool. We didn't actually go in the hotel, rather, we went out to a lookout where you can see the entire east side of Jerusalem, the Kidron Valley below, and then the Church of All Nations and the Russian Orthodox Church right next to the Garden of Gethsemane, Hebrew University and our BYU Jerusalem Center on the side of the Mount of Olives, and three cemeteries right below us on the hill. It was quite incredible.

Our spot near the Elias Monastery was probably my favorite stop of the day. It is right on the border of the West Bank, so we could clearly see Bethlehem and Bethany from the plateau. Coincidentally, that particular plateau was part of the war zone during the Six Day War in 1967, and as we were looking out over the West Bank and then could see the edges of Jerusalem behind us, we were standing among the trenches that are still very visible. It was a little surreal, especially considering all the history that was visible from thousands of years ago and then history as close as 1967.

Last stop was the Haas Overlook, where we could see the entire city from the south side (we circled the city to orient us with everything, which I think didn't orient me at all. So it goes.). You could also see the BYU Jerusalem Center from this point as well.

Even if I can't read the map, our day was pretty spectacular. I still can't believe I'm actually here. Tomorrow I promise to discuss our adventures in Jerusalem, especially our interactions with the Arab business men. They are interesting individuals...

Lilah Tov.