Nazareth and Sea of Galilee

This past Wednesday, our host dad, (hi Tsvi!) had the day off, so we got permission to tour around Northern Israel with our personal tour guide. We were able to hit up Nazareth, Cana, Tiberias, and the Sea of Galilee.

In Nazareth, there is a high percentage of Arabs, which was interesting to see. It was almost like a different country, a little more rundown and a little more, chaos. In Nazareth Village, we were able to see what Nazareth was like during Jesus' time.

Donkey and a shepherd... comical huh?

It was actually kind of comical, walking around this museum/village area, seeing "shepherds", sheep, and Hannah and Tamar turning wool into yarn.

Hannah and Tamar hard at work

Although it was obviously not the exact location where Jesus grew up, it was nice to see a visual aid to help envision what it was like during Jesus' childhood.

Yummy kebab lunch

Basilica of Annunciation - where Angel Gabriel supposedly appeared to Mary

Basilica of Annunication in Nazareth

In Cana, we visited the church where Jesus supposedly turned water into wine.

Our team and Tsvi, our host dad!

My favorite part was dipping my hands in the Sea of Galilee and imagining Jesus walking on water. Such a cool experience. Although all of these sites are supposed spots where events occured from the Bible, it was still surreal to think that over 2000 years ago, Jesus was here.

It was surreal to drive around Northern Israel and imagine that this is where Jesus lived and did His ministry. This experience has opened my eyes and instilled more of a desire to read about Jesus' life and ministry in the Bible. We leave for home in three days, which is quite sad. It's hard to believe that I start school in less than a week!