Like a Mother Hen Gathering her Chicks under her Wings

"There I have seen a temple with no statue, a day on which no work is done, and a sea in which no one drowns"

Pliny the Elder, the great Roman scientist and explorer (although he was strictly the armchair variety when it came to Israel) described Israel in this way. I found it a rather beautiful quote, and appropriate for beginning my journey to the holy city. We began the day in Area 51 and after 2nd breakfast we returned to the hotel and got ready for our journey. We met our guide, a very amiable Israeli Jew with a ponytail and a very good command of the Old Testament. Our journey took us to several places before Jerusalem, including the site commonly believed to be the ancient Philistine city of Gath, hometown of Goliath. We also went to a city facing Sokho, another important stronghold in ancient Israel. At the site of the ancient southern gate, our guide told us about David and Goliath, bringing the story to life in a way like never before. He described how the stone David likely used was no pebble, but much larger. He then told us that slings and stones like David used against Goliath were used against him when he served in the IDF, breaking his best friend's cheekbone. After crossing into the West Bank, we came to Jerusalem. We dropped our bags at the hotel and then explored the old city, finally coming to the wailing wall, the last surviving wall leading up to the temple mount. Since Shabbat begins Friday nights, the wall was packed with people, and the Orthodox Jews were everywhere. Sarah Seibert could barely contain her joy when she saw several of them wearing the giant fur hats indicative of a family that had lived in the holy land for five generations. Her excitement became a general theme for the rest of our walk around Jerusalem. Archeological digs were all over the city, including right by the wall. Whenever we saw one, all that came to mind was the sayings of Sarah, our area supervisor, often referred to as "bootcamp" for her slave-driving tendencies:
"That color is disgusting. It looks so washy."
"make those rocks pop."
"I can't force you to work through your break but I also won't discourage you."
Upon our return to the Post Hostel, our home for the weekend, we were met with an excellent dinner and Jonathan Kirkpatrick who came in from Oxford to see us. After that, we went to bed.