My trip was truly an epiphany for my faith. Our group woke up at 5 a.m. to do the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem. This experience probably affected me the most because I actually walked the road that Jesus did and the reenactment really helped me connect with my religious side. The priest advised each person to carry the cross for at least a few minutes, which I did. The cross that we rented from the Holy Sepulchre was surprisingly heavy, which only made me realize further that the cross I carried was no where nearly as heavy as Jesus's. Everyone around me was crying at some point and I wish i were as religious as they were. I think because I’m not as old as they are, I haven't gone through an experience in which I relied on religion to comfort me yet. I'm hoping to come back in a few years to see the difference between me now and then. By the end of the day, we went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray the rosary. The people there opened the garden to us and we were able to have Adoration. This was beyond amazing considering everyone shared their prayers and worries with one another. Earlier in the day, we also visited the prison area where Jesus was held captive. This was by far the most emotional part because it really opened my eyes to how horrid the pain was. We read Psalm 88 and for Jesus to be alone like that in complete darkness, we each connected with Him so deeply. I've appreciated my faith a lot more after. I learned a lot about what truly happened compared to the Hollywood and social versions of the Bible. My favorite experiences during the trip included the Dead Sea, Stations of the Cross, Hezekiah's Tunnel, the Nativity Cave, and Jesus's prison cell. The churches were incredibly gorgeous. Two of my favorites was the church of Cana and the church in Nazareth dedicated to Mary. At the end of the trip, we got to go shopping and the flea market witnessed ridiculous bargaining. I loved staying at a hotel in the walls of Old City of Jerusalem. One problem on my trip though was that we were often pressed for time. Sometimes we had a lot of time at random gift shops while only a short amount of time at sites. Everyone could easily figure out that the bus driver tour guide shared profits with these stores. The time spent at gift shops and at sites were not proportioned right. Another problem was that while I appreciated the tour guide giving us explanations of places before entering, he didn't go inside and give explanations at areas where people didn't understand anything. other groups had their tour guides following them everywhere. It was nice for some areas to freely explore but at some places, we needed people to explain things to us. Other than those things though, the trip was really good.

Tags: israel travel dead sea stations of the cross hezekiah\'s tunnel cana nativity cave