Sorry for the delay

You ever get those moments where three or four days go by and you wonder where they went and what you did and how seemingly moments ago it was last Thursday and now it's Monday?

Well that's not the case, I was just curious.

But in all seriousness, it's been a rather full week/weekend/whatever since the last time I typed. The Junior High Boys Choir has gained members, I waver between baritone and bass these days and yesterday it felt like John Henry was using my face for his next phenomenal feat. But fortunately the pressure in my face has diminished to where it now only has the capacity to blow up a few dozen volleyballs. But I really can't complain. I've been blessed with pretty great health in the last few years, it makes sense that I get it eventually. God has been good to remind me that I am healthy every other day only because He takes care of me. When one is sick (and surrounded by sickness) one realizes the amazingness that takes place in a single day of not coughing. We have a pretty cool immune system folks.

I like typing because I can say as much as I want without increasing the number of coughing interruptions. But enough shooting the breeze. Let's get back to last week's southerly adventure.

If I recall we left our fearless hero perched on the precipice at the great Mactesh Ramon (Ramon means "exalted" by the way, so I stood on the edge of an exalted crater :) So... let's see. Day 2: Some crazies got up for the sunrise, I slept like a normal person and had no regrets. We drove south (through the floor of the crater) into the wilderness of Paran, where our friends the Israelites would have wandered for a real long time. We stopped right by the sign that says something like "danger, live firing area" or some such safety indicator. We wandered in the wilderness for a mere 40 minutes. Taking time to wander alone, Bill had us read Deuteronomy 8 and consider the words with the wilderness all around us. You read that chapter sometime, it means a lot in general, but so much more when you look at your clothes and shoes and see how worn they are after a month in the land and you look all around you and see rocks, a few bushes, no clouds, and a lot of brown nothing... God's protection and provision is much more than astounding.

From there we continued south, pausing momentarily at an overlook. It's rather weird to see Egypt, Israel, and Jordan all withing a few miles of each other. But it was a great view, I am excited to go to Egypt next month! Plus the view of the gulf of Aqaba was amazing (the gulf is part of the Red Sea, though pretty much definitely Not where Moses parted it, wrong side of the Sinai peninsula). Then we drove down to Elat (the coastal tourist trap of Israel) and snorkeled for the afternoon. One thing about IBEX is that we see where our money goes - and it usually goes right to us. We get to travel like nobody's business, eat, snorkel, get a daily stipend on trips to cover meals, and all sorts of other joys that I have yet to discover. Hooray for good stewardship over here.

I have never snorkeled before, I liked it, there are some amazing fish over here, my salt intake was raised to the 20th power that day and it was overall just super.

Then we slept.

Then we woke up. Some crazies got up for sunrise again, I slept like a smart person.

This time we headed the other direction, away from oceans and beaches and 1 inch of rainfall per year. We drove up the Rift Valley (aka Aravah aka the border regions between Israel and Jordan) and stopped in the area of Mt. Timnah. Back in the day (and even some still) it was a big copper mining area. The Egyptians left behind some scratches in a rock wall, a little temple, and the big rocks deemed "Solomon's Pillars" are there. It is funny to me that anything big and impressive and old gets to be Solomon's, weird names around here...

The coolest thing there was the replica of the Tabernacle. Built in 1999 by some college in Germany, this model is pretty cool. Unfortunately the recent storms came upon the Tabernacle in great winds and blew off the main cover and ruined some "fence" cloths. But it was cool to see the layout and how cool our God is for dwelling among His people. He did not have a big room, let me tell you, that Holy of Holies is like a Davidson dorm room. That is one huge God saying something pretty big to us little specks.

From there we got to hike around in the sandstone, see a mushroom rock, and leave one of our own to die in the wilderness. Just kidding. But back in the day it might have been that way, who knows? She sprained her ankle on one of the bazillions of rocks that make walking not so easy. So if you are worried when you look at the pictures and see the author of this blog carrying someone do not be dismayed, I was merely recruited as - and I quote - "another pack horse" by Bill. Then we went to a zoo of desert predators, which would have been much cooler had I not been part of aforementioned injured woman's chariot squad. But nonetheless it was sweet. You know how we have coyotes back home and we shoot them? Well over here we put them in behind safe fences under witness protection programs and call them jackals. We also saw some vultures like the ones from The Jungle Book (Disney version), but still playing the role of one of the noble steeds I didn't get to see as much of the rare and terrifying animals as I would have liked. But it was cool.

Then we went to the Masada guest house, played some intense ultimate frisbee on a little basketball court and hiked through the Marl Canyons at night. It's like walking on the moon. The chalky dirt in moonlight really does make it look like the moon, it was amazing.

After not too many hours of sleep we got up to hike Masada. I'm glad we did it in half-light because it is a killer hike, particularly at 5:30 in the morning. I don't love getting up early, but when it involves climbing a mountain I tend to get out of bed with a lot better attitude. And it was so worth it. The sunrise was wonderful times ten. A great way to start a day, the Word, sunrise, Israel, huge rock fortresses... so great.

I played tour guide for about 5 of the guys in the group, it's amazing how much I can remember from last time and the reading we've done, it was a ton of fun. Fast-forward: we hiked down, left, went to Qumran, hiked around the ruins of the Essenes settlement, and drove a little way and hiked up to cave number one. This is the cave where the first Dead Sea Scrolls were found, but NOT by a shepherd throwing stones. Contrary to that little myth, it was archaeologist-type people who were looking for something beside lost sheep. Just call Bill the newest host of Myth-Busters, he and Abner continually shatter our false presuppositions.

Then we went home. And it was great. It was so cool to see all of the southern parts of Israel, such desolate country demands an outside source of survival. Good thing God was there for the Israelites huh?

That concludes this broadcast hour, sorry that it was so long, but I wanted to get the whole trip in there. Hope you didn't fall asleep.

Rocks, talks, flips, and floats

Yesterday we went down South.

The day before that it rained like crazy over here, the Old City was near empty, we enjoyed walking around without crowds. It's like Milton-Freewater compared to Disneyland when it rains.

Anyway, back to yesterday. - Confused yet? I'll just try to skip around days a little more if you want.- So we went down to the Dead Sea. It was not a scorching day, which I liked very much, but it was a little bit colder than one wishes if one is to swim in a large body of water.

The Dead Sea is amazing. It's very pretty from far away and very weird when you're in it. But at least I can float in it! Not like freshwater pools, those I sink in even when I hold my breath, something about density and low body-fat percentages I hear. In honor of my last visit to such places I orchestrated the 2nd annual amateur American synchronized swim-team practice. Here's to you Drs. Anderson and Trull!

Then we cleaned ourselves from the "refreshing" waters of the Sea and headed toward another famous place, En Gedi. We hiked in from the back side, stopping at a spring on the hill and then at some cool natural rock spires, where we IBEXers climbed around like a bunch of Ibex (or look at this website or this one.) As we looked out over the Dead Sea and the plains of Moab and Edom over in Jordan, Abner talked to us about Sodom and Gomorrah. The Dead Sea was pretty likely not dead before those days, now it stands as evidence of God's wrath and judgment. A big freshwater lake gets hit with the aftermath of God's fire and brimstone target practice and it stays fresh no more, for like 3 or 4,000 years no more... It was an unexpected and interesting thing to consider. What a great testament to the power, justice, and wrath of our mighty God. I think it would be good to not take Him quite so lightly folks, He is far more than we really think about. Far, far more.

We got to the aforementioned spring shortly thereafter, where we looked at a couple of Psalms. When one reads something like this "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Ps. 63:1) in such a place as that it means more. Let me share a little: So you stand there, at a spring that essentially is the only freshwater for miles and miles and miles and miles, you are looking down at a beautiful body of water - beautiful, but oh-so-deadly and worthless to you - there are rocks as far as you can see in most directions. Chances are its been a while since you had any fresh water of any kind, you're running from someone who wants you dead (for 17 years... how much that would stink) and yet when everything in your body cries out for one sip of fresh water you say something that shows just how much you have your priorities in order. David thirsted for God when literally he was thirsty out of his mind, I don't think I know very many people like that - and I am certainly not one who can claim that in the least. Let's try something new and make the Lord the thing that we long for most.

Let me tell you another little story that relates to that. It's about me, in case that isn't clear in the first 7 words or so. Being in Israel there is a lot I can miss. I miss such mundane things as clothes dryers that dry your clothes in one cycle (though I'm too stingy to use the one here anyway :), I miss having classes in more than just one classroom. I miss chapel three times a week. I miss eating real portions of meat. I miss playing soccer in grassy fields. I miss my family. I miss wearing more than 6 different shirts. I miss my friends that will too soon be graduating. I miss lemonade and root beer (not together, just in general) I miss little kids. I miss sliding down the handrail in front of Davidson. I miss honey bunches of oats on the occasional saturday morning. I miss sunday school. I miss one Person in particular. In short, there are many things that I miss. Not that I would trade this part of my life, oh no, not at all! I love being here.

But the point of the list, though maybe having the appearance of complaint (which again, it's not :), is to explain something. Those things are things that I long for, be they every day or just occasionally. Nevertheless, those are things that I think about, desire, look forward to, etc. And those things are probably, no, definitely, on my mind far too often. Most likely far more than the Lord is on my list of desires. Not only that, I would venture to say that even when He is I don't often give him priority. I don't think like David. I don't write like him or rely on the Lord like him. It would be nice to for sure, but I don't. It's a challenging thought. What is on the priority list in my life? You could ask me a few to-the-point questions and have a pretty good idea.

But I'll tell you what I'd like to have. I'd like to have a one-item list of desires. A one-item list that is so obvious in my life that you folks when presented with the "give one word to explain Elijah R Conlee" it would be the only thing that came to mind, not just the first, but the only. I'm far from this I can tell you, but I think that if one truly makes EVERY effort to live this way than by His grace and strength it is possible.

You want to know what that list would look like?
Here's how I picture it, more or less: When I'm an old man, or dead and gone, someone will reach for my old worn Bible. They will thumb through the pages that are filled with notes and underlining and highlighting and dates and a piece of paper will fall. It would be old and yellowed, the edges wrinkled and torn, like it had been held and considered a hundred times a hundred times. Because it had. It probably has a few words in black pen, my name maybe, but the word that stands at the center is just one: God. -- and not God like we so loosely say it, but "God" written down with reverence. "God" written with respect and honor and love. "God" written with Fear. Who knows, maybe it will have another name for the Lord, or maybe on the back it will be written in Hebrew or something. Regardless of what form it comes in, it's going to fall on the floor, whoever sees it will pick it up and read it (which won't take long :) and have no doubts about that being the way my life was lived. If they didn't know me then the one with them will get to explain how my life was just canvas, God used it for something far greater.

I had more I was going to say, but this tangent has got me thinking too much. I can't go on when such things are going on inside. It's a challenge, sure, but what greater challenge have we than to honor the LORD as such.

In class this morning someone said my name in Hebrew, causing Abner to question, and that sparked a short conversation about what it means. I can look at it in Hebrew and know what it means, which is cool (and a story for another time), but more importantly it is a reminder of how I should live.

Elijah: My God is Yahweh.

I think it is about time that I go and make that a true statement.

The Long Awaited has Arrived!

Before I get into what you're all waiting for, I have a few other comments.

It's raining over here today. It's like it's February or something, I thought I left Salem behind.
This was a busy weekend to say the least. It's sort of like I'm at real school or something, I'm tired, I have homework, the food is hit and miss, mostly on the hit side, well, maybe a soft slap compared to an actual hit, but either way, we call it success.

Sunday we went on a long hike, it was really fun. To tell a story without much pizazz: There were 24 of us. I was designated one of the map guys. We all were walking along fine. We turned off of a road onto a trail. The guy leading made sure we all saw it. One guy kept walking the ridge road to see what there was. The aforementioned guy leading didn't mention that. We made it down to the spring, it was not too exciting, so we kept walking. We walked for about 10 minutes. We were in a little Arab town. The aforementioned leader says, "Hey wait, we don't have everyone. We're missing Joe." Great. So we figure out that he kept walking the ridge, the opposite way of us. Tyler - aforementioned guy leading - didn't tell us that. We left the spring assuming everyone was there, because everyone who had made it there was still around and with us. But not so.
So Mike and I ran back. Not walked, ran, because one never knows what fate befalls he who walks alone for 30-40 minutes. We ran about a mile (?) back to the spring and then beyond. The road split, up the hill or down the valley. So Mike and I split. I saw Joe about 200 yards up the hill, he was walking up the road to Mike. Good thing we found him so fast, I was tired and that was a long way to run. Then we all got to run back. Mike works out about 5 times more than I do. But he and Joe were both tired, breathing hard, and jogging slow. Thank you life of soccer. So we met the group, it was fun. We found some awesome tombs and cisterns, we split up, 12 and 12, one group going back, the other searching for a spring, that they did not find. It was a good day. I like using maps. We're good friends over here after all of that.

Next, we watched Schindler's List on Sunday night, it was... good. Such a hard movie to watch, but a good one. I, of course, had my hand over my eyes or my knees in the way of the screen for many parts and we skipped a couple of scenes, but I like keeping those types of things far from my memory -S.O.P. for Eli. Then yesterday we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum over here. Yad Vashem literally means "a hand and a name" (yad = hand; va or ve = and; shem = name - funny story about that, I'll tell in a second). But essentially it means some kind of memorial. Yad is commonly used metaphorically for memorials, like where we live, Yad Hashmonah. Anyway, that was a good experience. Not really hard per se, but having been to two Holocaust Museums before and having watched Schindler's list the night before my emotional reserve was gone anyway so it was just different. It's always hard to think about that kind of killing and persecution, but it is so far removed from what we understand that it can seem super-impersonal, unfortunately... I still don't know how I feel after that experience. Not callous by any means, just unsure of what it is I gained from that experience.

Anyway, for the main event.

Today's Fantastic Food Focus:

FILAFELS*: Food In the Land And Food Eli LikeS
Episode #1: Falafels: food for the famished.
(How about all of that alliteration? Thanks Dr. Hills and Dr. Tennant :) - also, Falafels is spelled with the "a" after the first "f" instead of the "i," but for the sake of the acronym, you get the idea.

#1 - A Filafel is delicious.
#2 - What you need: a pita, ground-up chick peas, a deep-fryer, other stuff.
#3 - So the ground up chick peas (garbonzo beans, also the main ingredient in Humus) are made into a ball (like golf ball size) and then deep-fried. The Pita is best when it's warm.
The you can put humus on it, it's best that way.
#4 - Other stuff: You can put all kinds of things, some of it can only be seen in Israel, like pink cauliflower, but that's another story.
But here's what's good: Lettuce and/or coleslaw of sorts. Bell peppers, shredded carrots and cucumbers, salsa-like stuff (tomato, onion, spice, etc.) and then this inexplicable and delicious spicy sauce that varies by vendor.

Overall I would call a falafel a "party in your mouth," for when one gets a bite that contains all the delicious ingredients, one can hardly keep their mouth closed for the joy and explosion that goes on within. Now not all are fans of this food, to them I say, "such a shame, you miss so much in life." All that to say, here's a link to give you more info if you care: falafel
Thus we have concluded our broadcast hour. It's a long one, I'm sorry. It will likely be Thursday before you hear from me again, I am trying to use my time in a more productive way. Like I need to spend more time reading the Word and talking to God than I do with you guys, no offense.

Thanks for the prayers.

Challah!

Bread. And lots of it. That's what I ate today.

Today is the celebration of firstfruits around here, so we could go to the Schlegels and make Challah bread (basically pronounced "holla," sort of like thugs or Californian athletes say it, if you're into that kind of thing) During my bread-building shift there were about 13 of us there, not counting the Schlegel kids running through and Stephanie (aka Mrs. Schlegel, but we don't say that). We made it from scratch, I can get the recipe so I am definitely doing that before I come home. My partner for this adventure in cooking was Lily, but I was a quasi-member of the boys team that Brandon and Jordan formed. They made some cinnamon rolls that were Delicious! A note about those two, if you're wondering to yourself, "Self, I wonder if Eli has made any good friends yet?" Well, besides the fact that Eli is more or less friends with everyone here because that's the kind of place he's in and sort of who he is, those two would qualify as two of my good friends here.

Anyway, back to baking. So we made our loaf (or whatever you call bread in its formative stages, is it just called a lump of dough? That seems sort of lame) whole wheat. Which for you cooking experts just means that we used half wheat flour and half white. So we mixed it, let it hang out for a few minutes, mixed in more goodies, and then got to knead it. Being crafty, Lily volunteered to wash the bowl so I "had the privilege" of kneading it. But it was cool. And it was worth it, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So we kneaded it a lot and then let it rise for a half hour, so I went and played some soccer and volleyball, mostly volleyball since they quit playing soccer three minutes after I showed up :(

Following the rising of the dough, we returned to form our masterpieces. Typical Challah bread is that braided bread wonder, the likes of which can be seen in Fiddler on the Roof. (Hey, did anyone notice that accidental play on words, "bread wonder" instead of wonder bread, whew! must have inherited that humor ability) Rather than go simply that route, we added to the creation by braiding two "strands" and them molded them together in a cross, it turned out really good. We had leftover dough so we made a whale and stick-figure Jonah being eaten, it looked cool and got a few laughs. A success all around.

But let me tell you about my crowning moment. For old time's sake I will tell it in story format.
Scene: Schlegels kitched/dining area at the table of kitchen slaves, I mean kitchen volunteers.
(Rolling dough into long sticks and small-talking)
All of the sudden:
Lily: Eli! I can't get this one to roll, show me how to do it!
Eli: (about to answer, then realizing something) ... Whoa! mark this moment, she asks the boy at the table how to do something related to cooking!
(laughter)
And then I showed her how to do it, trading pieces of dough to prove that the extra-floury problem with her lump could be overcome.

Hooray, I am a semi-successful baker :)

Then we ate all of the breads and cinnamon rolls. And there was much rejoicing.

I could eat bread all day, except that right now I am stuffed, unable to sit up straight in my chair.

So that was today.

A quick note about yesterday since I ran out of time to blog.

We went on a hike. I went swimming in a spring. In February. It was awesome.
Hiking through the Judean wilderness, where Jeremiah probably walked to bury the linen cloth (look it up :) is a pretty cool experience. Mostly it is amazing because you see the stark contrast between the brown and dry and the spring. Everything is desolate, and it's only February, but when you look down in the wadi and see a strip of green is a beautiful sight. And more so because you know that it's one wadi in 20 that has a spring, and wadis are not found to be close friends. What I mean is that springs are few and far between, so it's really pretty and really shows how much faith it takes to live out there.

So that was the hike, I'll try to post a picture, but no guarantees, the internet here is not always nice about pictures. And I have gone on too long...

I'm like a real football fan or something!

Alas, I have broken my 2 week running record of updates. But you will get over it, it's not like most of you check this on Superbowl Sunday anyway.

Speaking of Sunday, I went on a hike. It was so nice to be outside doing something, even if it did do a little raining throughout the day. We walked west and northwest down the ridge that we sit on. The route we took was actually a route way back in the day, the Kiriat Jearim Ridge Route (we learned about it today). 8 guys went, which meant that there were several instances of ridiculous behavior and many more instances of climbing on stuff. At a high point on the ridge there were ruins of an old Roman fortress and further down the road (it's a road/trail that Israel's Nature Society has developed) there were a bunch of Roman mile markers, big pillar-like things that we climbed on. Certainly a beautiful day in the Holy Land.

After doing homework, eating, doing homework, etc. I went to bed. But only for about an hour and half. You know why? No? Well let me 'splain to you.

Unlike the decent hour at which you all viewed the Cardinals vs. Steelers Super Bowl extravaganza, with all of your chips and dip and non-kosher pizza, over here it was another story. You see, over here we live most of the day before you even get up (even you Cathy, who gets up about the same time most Farrar boys go to bed :). So that means that the Super Bowl started at 1 am. Yes, 1 am. But don't you worry, I was up at midnight, one of our friends here was sick/homesick/her family has the biggest Super Bowl shindig known to east-central California, so we had a little party for her and then watched the game.

Now I am not crazy. Maybe close, but not all the way. So I went to bed around 2, meaning I watched the first quarter, but the weirdos who watched the whole thing stayed up until about 5:30! a.m.! What a waste of sleep. Fortunately we had class at 10:30 instead of 8, but still, I choose sleep.

So there you go, I got up in the middle of the night to watch football. Who would have thought it? But there was pizza (cheese, with this Amazing salt-spice stuff, yum).

As for today... I felt good, even on 7 1/2 hours of broken sleep. Classes were, as usual, wonderful. I can't even explain how easy it is to stay focused during a 2 hour class session. I love it. Pray that it sticks.

Here's a good part of the day: after class (about 3:30) I was going to do homework or play soccer and then do homework before dinner. Instead I took a nap. The plan was for an hour. It was two :)

I feel great, plus I have discovered the unique and wonderful feeling of a sauna. Four or five of the guys and I went, I think this will become a routine behavior. Naps, food, sauna, not doing homework, ahh... what a life.

Sidenote times 2:
First thing, some of you asked about food. Stay tuned for my upcoming issue entitled "Filafels: Food In the Land And Food Eli LikeS"

Second, You probably knew before I did that Israel has resumed firing/rocketing/etc. on Gaza. I could hear planes yesterday, but didn't know what they were. I can hear planes right now and throughout the day we heard planes and a few far off "Boom!'s" But never fear, we are far away, feeling good, and fine. Hamas is good at breaking cease-fires, Israel is good at military things, and the profs here are good at taking care of us. If you want a good idea of how safe we are, check this out: Wednesday is our field study day. This time we are going to areas of Benjamin (this is the tribal allotment stuff you always skim in the book of Joshua). The ancient territory of Benjamin includes Jerusalem, Gibeah, Ramah, Geba, Mizpah, Jericho, Gezer, etc. Anyway, today much of that territory is in a little area we fondly refer to as "the West Bank." And to qualm all of your fears, we're going there. So don't worry about us. We're fine over here.

If I see any shrapnel I'll box it up and send it home as a souvenir.