Damascus Gate
Strange to see these streets so empty
Open doors early in the morning reveal the courtyards of houses inside the Old City
Another courtyard
Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The stone of anointing inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Nuns for St. Teresa's order at the spot of the cross inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Catholic Sunrise Mass at the spot of putting Christ on the Cross inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Julianne found the usually locked gate open this morning!
Upper domes inside the Holy Sepulchre
chapel in the upper levels of the Holy Sepulchre
Another chapel in the upper levels of the Holy Sepulchre
The dome above the edicule/sephulchre
The edicule, or chapel build over the sepulchre in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Coptic Priest doing a ritual in the Coptic Chapel on the edicule/sepulchre inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Another Coptic Priest, do ritual sunrise incantations
2 nuns on their way to a sunrise service
A boy getting ready to sell his bread passes the nuns
We enjoyed going along the empty Via Dolorosa
)Ecco Homo at sunrise
Church of the Condemnation
Crosses on the Church of the Flagellation
Inside the Church of the Flagellation
Thorn motif on entrance of the Church of the Flagellation
Nearly empty streets with Jewish man and Arab woman walking along
Church of Alexander Nevsky
More hauntingly empty streets. These are usually packed with craziness.
Church of the Redeemer
Some doors in the Old City are beautiful
Julianne showing the huge doors at Damascus Gate
Tractor coming out of Damascus Gate
Walls of Jerusalem
Our last look at Gordon's Calvary. There is a pretty good chance this is really the spot, and it would likely have been at the bottom of the hill, not on top of it. So maybe right where the buses are.
After this we had to begin packing in earnest. That was not fun. It included things like getting all the pictures I hadn’t yet made available to the students up on a shared computer, trying to get pictures off that computer, sifting through what clothes were worth bringing home and what clothes weren’t, etc. That night was the memories night. First we had an amazing dinner. Then the students did skits that helped us remember all sorts of funny things about the semester. They did a great job of putting together pictures that captured the evening. It was wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time.
Getting ready for the farewell dinner
The Seasiders together after the memories night
A pyramid that almost worked
Sabrina broke so many hearts
They love Julianne so much
The next morning Julianne said she wanted to get a picture of our family with the cooking staff. It was all a ruse. Really the students had written about things with me that they wanted to sing. It totally caught me by surprise. I hadn’t seen that one coming at all. They did an amazing job of capturing a thousand little things, and putting it all to the tune of “You and Me Goin’ Fishin’ in the Dark”. I literally laughed and cried as they did it. It was the last day with them, and they weren’t planning on making that fact any easier. It meant a lot. Here are the lyrics:
Summer’s almost over and it’s time to go
We say goodbye
To Jerusalem and all our friends
Cause we’re off to fly
Muhlestein get ready
Thinking about the times we’ve had
We want to thank you
For chargin’ through the summer with your sword drawn high
With your head set too
Kerry get ready
OOOOOOO
You and me go walking near the Sea
Where apostle preached and Jesus loved to be
Where the cool wind blows
From the Galilee to the Garden Tomb
Your actions show that you love us true
It’s hard to go
Learning from what you do
We love so much to be with you
Spending all day walking through the heat
this is not sababa
But we say amen and cheer Hallelujah,
even at Masada
Kerry get ready
Jumping pictures at every site, but not at Gezer
Derogatory comments and Jarom’s puns they are so clever
Morale is high
OOOOOOOO
You and me go walking near the Sea
Where apostle preached and Jesus loved to be
Where the cool wind blows
From the Galilee to the Garden Tomb
Your actions show that you love us true
It’s hard to go
Learning from what you do
We love so much to be with you
With your all star team of a family
Sabrina stole our hearts
BJ coming in as tall as his mom, Somebody measure
Jacob chasing monsters
Tashara, the heart throb of the hardwood, makes us smile when we’re blue
We want to be with Sister Mule in heaven and I gues you too
Lexie and Kaleb . . .
Pokemon!
You and me go walking near the Sea
Where apostle preached and Jesus loved to be
Where the cool wind blows
From the Galilee to the Garden Tomb
Your actions show that you love us true
It’s hard to go
Learning from what you do
We love so much to be with you
Brother Muhlestein You’ve taught us well and we’ll always remember
You’ll be our teacher and we’ll be your students forever and ever
Oh we love you
We hope to see you later at the Y
Where we’ll embrace and rember why we love you so
From the Galilee to the Garden Tomb
We thank you for that thing you do
You’ve become our dad
Learning from what you do
We love so much to be with you.
(alright, typing that in more than a week later and I still cried. Pathetic).
Saying thank you to Scott after the song
Saying thank you to Jamie after the song
We did get a picture with some of the cooking staff
BJ went out with the students that day. I took care of lots of little business stuff that still had to be taken care of, such as cleaning out my office, paying bills, transferring files with other faculty members, etc. It was a busy day, and I spent a bit of it with students giving blessings, and having some last moments to talk about a few things. And then, somehow, it was time for the first group to go. Some folks pushed them along faster and more harshly than necessary. It always happens that way, and I am not sure why. I guess they just can’t help it. But we said our goodbyes. It was a little easier than the other times because we knew that for many of them we would see them soon. About 15 of them are in my class in two weeks. Yet still it feels like your heart is being ripped out. It hurts, it hurts our kids, it makes me cry, it is exhausting. It is horrible, but it is worth it.
Sabrina saying goodbye to Adam
We spent the next day packing. That night, after all the students were gone and I was tired of packing, I went one last time to my classroom. I leaned against the table where I often stood as I taught. I looked at the empty seats. I pictured students from each semester in those seats. I could see them all. I thought of funny things that happened in there, I thought of amazing questions, spiritual moments, and shared love. I could remember my first meeting in that classroom the first night the Fall Semester students were in there. I could remember the last class held there. I could remember firesides, reviews, and a million other things. It is the best place to teach in the world. I bid goodbye with a heavy heart. I will miss teaching there. There is a spirit to that place, a spirit I hope to take with me to some degree.
We spent the next day packing. That night, after all the students were gone and I was tired of packing, I went one last time to my classroom. I leaned against the table where I often stood as I taught. I looked at the empty seats. I pictured students from each semester in those seats. I could see them all. I thought of funny things that happened in there, I thought of amazing questions, spiritual moments, and shared love. I could remember my first meeting in that classroom the first night the Fall Semester students were in there. I could remember the last class held there. I could remember firesides, reviews, and a million other things. It is the best place to teach in the world. I bid goodbye with a heavy heart. I will miss teaching there.
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