Que up to Dunk down: Overrated/Underrated water edition

Hey, I'm Walter, I haven't blogged yet because I am laptopless and blog illiterate, but I'm going to give it a go tonight with a quick round of Overrated/Underrated. Everything is rated, whether we want to admit it or not. We enter every situation with an expectation or a mood. Being overrated or underrated is a description of the relationship between my pre-trip perception of a place or thing vs. my trip experience with a place or thing.

Jordan River baptismal place: I dreamed of a shallow creek with crisp cool bubbling water bending around water smoothed river rocks. What I saw was near theme park tacky. A huge gift shop with free give away cards declaring that I have been to the Jordan River greeted us. We sifted through the $3 mini-bottles of water "for religious purposes only: not for drinking" and other baptismal products, around the wall recalling Mark 1 in every language known to Christiandom, down one of three or so numbered ramps, to the green metal bar where a person can wait in que to get dunked in the Jordan for Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And this isn't even dream Jordan, it's a still, green, gunk-floating-on-the-surface, warm, insect breeding ground. Next time I hear that a fount has Jordan River water, I'm checking it for mosquitoes. Overrated.

The Sea of Galilee: In my mind, the Sea of Galilee was a large fishing lake with simple little boats nestled into quaint little natural harbors. But it is so much more. The history of the place, the villages along the shores, the historic pilgrimage sites... I would be content spending my whole time in Israel along the shore of Galilee. At one point, our guide, Claudia, took us to the top of a cliff over looking the northern part of the lake, from that point, she casually pointed out the geography of Jesus' early life and ministry. What seemed so vast and disconnected in my reading of the Gospels, was instantly shrunk to my birds eye view of a body of water. One of my favorite stops so far was the Church of the Primacy of Peter (better to explain why in person, just trust that it is legit) which fittingly stands on the shore of the sea of Galilee. Underrated.