Getting Started

So this past semester Daryl came home from school one day so excited about an opportunity one of his professors mentioned. Dr. Tuttle had told Daryl's UM Theology class about how he was going to be leading a trip of seminary students through Educational Opportunities to Egypt, Jordan and Israel in January of 2009. The trip is 13 days and includes

* Cairo Pyramids and the Sphinx
* Cairo Museum
* a stay at St. Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula
* a climb up Mount Sinai
* the rock city of Petra in Jordan (one of the seven wonders of the world)
* Masada (King Herod's fortress)
* Dead Sea
* Qumran (site of the dead sea scrolls)
* Jericho
* crossing the Sea of Galilee by boat
* Mount of Beatitudes
* Jordan River
* Nazareth
* Caesarea Philippi
* Mount Hermon
* Caesarea by the Sea
* Mt. Carmel
* Megiddo
* Beit Shean
* Jerusalem - Western Wall, Pool of Bethesda, walk the Via Dolorosa, King David's Tomb, Kidron Valley, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane
* Bethlehem

Now I had thought about maybe taking a trip next year to celebrate our tenth anniversary - a 3 or 4 day Caribbean cruise. Never in a million years did it cross my mind that we would go halfway around the world and spend almost two weeks doing something that we've both dreamed of for a long time. But because the trip is through the seminary, it is incredibly affordable (although not super cheap!). And Daryl will even get school credit for the trip after turning in a reflection paper on the experience.

And so the deposits have been paid and the passports are applied for. Just another 205 days until we depart!