I've been to the Mountain Top

It's been a crazy busy past couple of days. We left Cairo on Friday and drove to St. Katherine's. I was so glad to get out of Cairo. The city is dirty, poor, and depressing. I'm sure I would find things I liked given more time, but I was ready to move on. St. Katherine's is a village in the middle of the Sinai peninsula and about a mile from the base of Mt. Sinai. The bus ride was 7.5 hours total, so we had lots of bus time. There were two stops on the way to use the WC and maybe find some snacks. Gretchen and I found really beautiful shirts for cheap, so we did a little shopping. I ended up sleeping a ton, since that seemed the best way to make the drive go quickly. The scenery was the same with lots of sand and hills. It is pretty and interesting for a while, but quickly gets old. Gretch and I have made friends with a pair of gentlemen who totally treat us like their children/grandchildren. Dale is a pastor from Tennessee and his good friend, Ben, is now nicknamed Gramps. We have the absolute, most wonderful people on the trip. I didn't realize that coming on this trip would give me so many parental figures. They all definitely look out for us and worry about the young ones.

We arrived in St. Katherine's around 7:30 and immediately ate dinner. The meal was delicious but very Americanized. We had friend chicken with a side of hummus. A societally confused dinner. :) The higher elevation meant that it was much cooler. There were some shops in the compound, so we wandered after dinner. We had drinks with some of the men of the group and gained some insight into our group members. We went to sleep early, since we knew the following day would be a grand adventure. We awoke early again...this early morning stuff is not my cup of tea. The breakfast was good...they had rice pudding, so you know I liked it. We took the bus to the monastery. The monastery dates back to the 6th century. There are a ton of ancient texts and THE burning bush is enclosed in the monastery. I skipped visiting the inside of the monastery to start the ascent. I had opted for riding a camel up Mt. Sinai a ways. I paid around 15 dollars for a 1.5 hour ride up the mountain. I was so glad I wasn't walking the whole way up. I got to the top and got off my camel. We had some tea at the rest area before the real hike began. Just past the rest area, the tough part began. There are over 700 steps that lead to the top. I would walk 20 steps and then rest. I decided to take my time, otherwise I'm not sure I'd make it.

The top of Mount Sinai was a bit anti-climatic. There were two chapels at the top where they have liturgy on special days of the year. The view was phenomenal and we could see Saudi Arabia from the top, which was neat. We sat up there for a while and then began our descent. The walk down was very pleasant, and I got the opportunity to visit some with Peter, the director of Society for Biblical Studies. I am learning so much biblical history from him and loving all of the history of the trip. By the time we got down, it was 3 pm and the valley was silent. It was peaceful to rest and listen. I could sense that the place was holy. As a group, we went to Vespers in the Basilica. I stood, so that the older women of the group could sit. Boy, was that a mistake! My legs and body hurt from the hike and I wanted to collapse by the end of the service. It was a bit long and definitely difficult to follow, since it was in ancient Greek. After the service, Father Justin gave us a private tour. Father Justin is a monk from the US who moved there 12 years ago and joined the brotherhood at St. Katherine's. He is working with the international community to return the Codex Sinaiticus back to St. Katherine's. The Codex is an ancient, hand-written bible that was stolen in the 19th century by a German scholar and never returned.

We made our way back to the hotel for dinner and devotions. Dinner was great, especially since I hadn't eaten much lunch. The hunger caught up to me, and I devoured my food in record time. I was ready for bed and could not crawl in fast enough. Sleep came quickly and the next morning, Israel was calling my name!