April 27th through 28th (Days 110-111): A Day of Rest and A Day at the Monastery

April 27th:
Woke up this morning thinking how exciting it is to see God bless us as we walk in His strength. I'm doing more things in my life than I ever thought possible and all because "with God, nothing [is] impossible." We had a good time at fellowship even though (or because?) it was a small group. Got a ride home, then visited with Mary and planned lunch for tomorrow's trip to Al Qosh. Made a frozen banana smoothie, then caught up on emails. I also listened to one of Pastor's sermons. Spent most of my time quietly, and enjoyed resting in the Lord.

In the evening, Stacy and I ate leftovers together and had a Coco-Star for dessert (coconut ice cream with coconut flakes in the chocolate coating). Afterwards, I got to Skype with Mom. She is selling the rest of my things in the Central Point garage sale with some of the ladies from church, so they (Mom, Jess, and the kids had a sleepover at Jamee's. During the Skype call I got to see some familiar faces - Shannon, Jamee, Levi, Lindy, Eithen, John Andrew, and Joab. My new favorite is Tristen, who not only wanted to spend his Spring Break in Iraq with Miss Helen, but also told his little sister in disbelief, "Can you believe Miss Helen isn't back to teach Latin, yet?!" It's good to know someone is thinking of me! I guess Eithen thinks of me more than we know, since he crawled in bed with Jess last night. She wondered why he kept playing with her hair and giving her loves, but figured it out after Eithen woke up this morning telling Mom, "Sissy a home!" Jess (below) has similar hair, but is far prettier, so I was flattered. :)

I think he was a little confused to see me back "in" the computer this morning...

April 28th:
Got to go to Al Qosh with John, Mary, and their guests from back home (Mary's brother-in-law, Matt and a member of his church, Brad). Al Qosh is an Assyrian village not too far outside Duhok. We visited a 5th century monastery, the newer monastery from the 1800s and the tomb of Nahum that is also in the village.

Samer and Melad (teachers from our school) and Mr. Laith (the maintenance man at our school) and his family joined us. Samer is explaining to the group that some men are buried here, at the newer monastery.

Here is the inside of the church at the newer monastery:

The disciples are depicted up above with something specific to represent each one. It is amazing how iconography can be so similar across so many cultures.

Next to this plaque was a very small gift shop that sold cross necklaces, paintings, and statues. Apart from those two things there was little information for tourists, which is understandable since it is still an active monastery that graciously opens its doors to the oppressed coming from cities like Mosul and Baghdad. It was just interesting to note the difference in commercialization between places like this and similar "historical sites" in America.

After we visited the newer monastery, we drove up the mountain to the old monastery (you have to look closely since it is carved into the side of the mountain):

Behind the chapel of the old monastery are some old catacombs, where we went exploring. It was nice and cool down there:

This room is where "wishes come true." You make a wish on one side of the room, then close your eyes and walk towards this cross with your hand in front of you.  If your hand lays directly on top of the cross, then your wish will come true. All the guys tried it, but I was the only one who made it successfully! (They accused me of cheating ... sore losers!)

It was really neat to walk through something so old. I wish I could've had more time to sit and picture what it must have been like back in the 5th century or even in the 1800s. Laith and Samer were good tour guides and helped explain a lot of the old traditions, otherwise it would have been harder to piece together some of the history. There were amazing views everywhere we looked! (I took a lot more pictures, which I posted on Facebook). The best part was the absolute quiet. There were really no other tourists (just a small group from Mosul that came to pray and had gathered at the newer monastery.) It was really a peaceful place.

We drove a little ways into the village. After some winding around small roads, stopping to ask for directions, and backtracking, we finally stopped to visit one of Laith's friends, who is a nun at the school for girls. It wasn't necessarily part of the plan, but that is very typical of the way life works here (our director advised me to pack lots of flexibility when I came to Duhok!) After our visit (which lasted about 20 minutes), we went to Nahum's tomb. It is in a ruined synagogue, which has not been kept up very well. There is green plastic covering the tomb, which sits in a gated enclosure. Otherwise, there is not much security or upkeep. It was interesting to see the Hebrew lettering on the walls and wonder what the synagogue would have been like in its prime.

We left around 4pm. When we got home, I was exhausted (it didn't help that I got up a little after 5 this morning). Rested for a bit, then all of us Americans went to the market. We gave Matt and Brad an introduction to its wares, but didn't really go too far. We took them through the vegetable den and helped them buy some scarves as gifts to take back home. Went out to dinner at the Turkish place where you get all the salads and a sandwich for only 3000. Enjoyed the walk home, then finished grading fourth grade math tests. Headed for bed, hoping I get a good night's sleep!