Huntsmans in the Holy Land: Galilee Rotation Day 1: Bet She'an, Nazareth, and Arbel

Because of lack of good Internet connectivity while I was with my students for their 10-day Galilee rotation, all blog posts except one about Samuel that I was able to fortuitously upload at the time have been made up after-the-fact. Because this is being done in Jerusalem after our return when I have less than a week and a half before my year-long experience in the Holy Land comes to an end, time does not allow for extensive commentary.

Readers will need to be satisfied with links to previous visits to these sites for the background of each and simply enjoy the pictures from this trip (hopefully picture captions will help from time to time).

A map of our itinerary on Monday, July 16, 2012:

Students came up on buses up the Jordan Valley. Elaine drove me from Teverya (Tiberias) to Bet She'an, where I met my class. We then went to Nazareth, followed by the Mount Arbel overlook to view the Sea of Galilee. We then drove to `En Gev, our base for the rotation.

Below are links to previous semesters' visits to these sites. Check them out for detailed descriptions and commentary:

Bet She'an

Class pic in the Theater

It was a HOT day, as my sweaty boys illustrate

This picture may or may not show how sweaty these guys' shirts were

Nazareth

Basilica of the Annunciation

Gathering before entering the church

The grotto on the lower level with remains of earlier Byzantine and Crusader churches

Byzantine mosaic


The main sanctuary on the upper floor

Looking up into the conical cupola

Members of both classes outside of the basilica

Church of St. Joseph

I love this sculpture of the Holy Family. We had a touching and spiritual devotional in front of it, talking about the example of Joseph the Carpenter as a husband and father