In the desert it is the one essential thing. Working hard on the site means sweating and most of the people who don’t feel good get sick because of dehydration. Drinking lot of water is a must!

Our water comes with us. We always have to bring bottles of water for drinking. Not just to the site but everywhere you go. It is so hot and the air is super dry so I drink a lot of water.

We also eat a lot of watermelon and as often as we can we have tea. Bedouin tea is super sweet and super hot, but we love it. It is more a dessert then a refreshment.

In this land there are so many wadis. In the winter time they are full of water, but by now most of them are dry. Some still have some moist so they are used as a fertile ground for agriculture. It is hard to imagine that this land used to be green. But things are changing. There are more trees then ten years ago. There are also more crop fields. It feel good.

The rivers change. Most of them are wadis, so wet, dry, changing all the time. But one river is the river to see. River Jordan is probably one of the most famous rivers in the world. Definitely in this region. It flows from the north to the south. It provides water to so many people. It deserves the title “source of life” .

But more importantly it is a special place. It was the place where John performed the baptism of Jesus. The tradition called the place Bethany.

It is a sacred place. There are so many churches. Also archaeologists have uncovered beautiful byzantine church. The oldest one on the site, traditionally believed it was built on the exact location of the baptism.

Although the Jordan River is unstable, it changes its course, meandering through the valley it always ended just like now in the Dead Sea.

That water is anything but water. It is so salty and so warm. It is a soup. The feeling on the skin is super oily. You want to jump in and refresh but you can just walk or float. Swimming is seriously difficult. Also undesirable. Some of the water got to my eyes when the wind was blowing and my hair ended up on my face. I thought I was blind. And the showers with the sweet water felt like miracle.

My love for water, my appreciation for all the different forms and blessings of water in the desert haven’t changed.