Home from Egypt!

(To see a lot more pictures that I couldn't put on my blog and would explain a lot better all the things I did in my week in Egypt, go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155090&id=193306962&l=266a5ad76a)


First off, I think I can summarize a lot of Egypt in terms of numbers:
-8 days, 7 nights
-7 Arab Egyptian Call to Prayer mornings, which Egyptian Arab calls to prayer are much more rowdy and loud than Palestinian calls to prayers. Fun fact for you.
-5 modes of transportation: bus, plane, over night train, boat, and horse carriage
-4 different hotels
-About 25 Egyptial sites
-10 hour drive
-used one whole roll of toilet paper in Egypt, including half a bottle of hand sanitizer
-Two boarder crossings
-Zero sickness!!! (for me, anyway)

I don't even know where to start, I'm a little overwhelmed at the task of updating my blog from the past eight days of completely packed days in Egypt. So I'm going to talk about the highlights and my favorite parts of Egypt. I absolutely loved Egypt. During our orientation before we came they kind of scared us about Egypt and the people and the food and so on and so forth. But actually going was incredible, I loved Egypt so much. My favorite parts were shopping and just mingling with the people. I loved talking to the people there and getting to know them and their city. Our tour guides and security officers were awesome and I was sad to leave them when we crossed the border back into Israel. The shopping was fun too, I loved bartering with the merchants.



Cairo was so crowded and busy! About 17 million people live in that city and it shows. The apartment buildings are so high, about 30 stories each, and they are
run down and dirty. I think my teacher said that 98% of the population of Egypt lives in Cairo because it is on the Delta. Which, by the way, I remember always learning about the Nile River Delta, but there's no way to really comprehend what it is until you can actually see the stark difference of the lush green agriculture area against the desert. You can literally stand in the desert and farmland at the same time. It's crazy how fruitful that area is, right there in the middle of the desert, with the Sahara desert surrounding it.



It was incredible to see the pyramids, which once again are something that I always learned about growing up but you can't really comprehend how incredible they are until you are standing right next to them, looking at the millions and millions of small blocks that are used to make them. Our tour guide taught us that if they were to take all of the blocks that make the largest pyramid, you would be able to build a three foot wall all the way around France. That's mind boggling! What I also found interesting is that our tour guide kept insisting that slaves were not used to build the pyramids, and that the people were willing servants. Interesting how they change their history and the story a little bit.

We stayed in Cairo for one day and then flew to Luxor to stay for two. I loved Luxor, it was much much cleaner than Cairo and the hotel we stayed at was nice. In Luxor we saw the Valley of the Kings which houses tombs of many Pharaohs including King Tut. King Tut was my favorite tomb, of course, because they still had his golden coffin and mummy in it, which was so cool! I can't believe that mummification preserved his body so well, and I once again encountered this amazement when I went in the mummy room in the Egyptian Museum later that week in Cairo where I saw about 20 other mummies, including Rameses II who is believed to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus. I also saw a lot of other mummies that I have been learning about, such as Queen Hatshepsut.



One of my favorite parts of being in Luxor was our free afternoon. My friends and I laid by the pool in the Egyptian sun right by the Nile river and talked and relaxed. It felt so good just to have some time when we weren't being pushed to the next Egyptial site and we could just sit and relax and get to know each other.

As mentioned above I loved meeting the people of Egypt. I especially loved talking to the horse carriage driver that we were with, I sat next to him and he taught me about Luxor and we talked about Obama and horses and other things. He openly laughed and rejected me when I asked if I could drive the carriage (everyone else was able to!) but it was actually really funny because he thought it was a hilarious request.



I also loved and had a great experience hiking Mt. Sinai the last day we were in Egypt. The hike was hard and everywhere you tried to walk there were camels blocking your way and trying to lick you, but it was really neat to finally get to the top after such a hard hike and see the sunlight starting to come over the horizon. The sunrise was beautiful and the view was spectacular.







In all of the fun and glamour of Egypt,after eight days I was ready to come home where I could eat fresh fruits and vegetables, brush my teeth with the tap water, and not feel like I had to wear my sandals in the shower. The best part was actually feeling like I was home when I got back to Jerusalem. It's weird to think that this place is naturally my home, that I feel comfortable being in this city where I know the streets and the people. It's a great feeling.

Preparing for Egypt!

The day is almost here, it is almost time for our week and a half in Egypt! I am so excited, ours days are jam packed with things like seeing the pyramids, going to museums, and camel safaris.

Today we had our Egypt orientation, where they pretty much scared us all to death about getting traveler's diarrhea. Seriously, the things they told us....awful. Last semester 60% of the students got diarrhea, other wise known as "Cairo Quickstep", "Luxorbelly", or "Ramsey's Revenge". Since sometimes in the past (and ALWAYS at the most inconvenient time ever) I have been vulnerable to this particular sickness, I have vowed to fast in Egypt. I will only eat what the school feeds us and I will not even give a street vendor the chance to entice me with their food. Sickness is not an option for me. My teachers said a lot of other, funny, questionably inappropriate things that I will leave out of this email, as to not be too graphic. You're welcome.

As for the rest of the day, classes were good and I had my attentive moments and my sleepy moments. Mostly sleepy though. In my Judaism class I could not stay awake for the life of me and I was sitting in the second row dead center. Not the best place to fall asleep. But the good news for me is that it seemed that whenever I was with it he was talking about the same thing as before. So maybe I didn't miss too much?

My Islam teacher is a cute Arabic man who has very sloppy handwriting, always stops the lectures to tell us to listen to him, and snaps his fingers at us when we don't immediately answer a question he asks. Most people don't like him, and while I don't think he's a great teacher he means well and is a good person, or so it seems. Although today he didn't realize that class was over and kept lecturing and whenever someone would raise their hand to tell him he would interupt them and have them read from the book. It was actually really funny, and when he finally realized that he was over he said "We are done, aren't we?" and immediately everyone said "yes!" and got up and left. It was kind of funny, like I said, a lot of people can't stand him but I actually like him.

Beyond that nothing exciting happened today. Just a TON of reading in the Old Testament, we finished Leviticus today, and a paper I want to finish before I leave for Egypt. So with that I must get back to being scholarly, until next time!

Jericho

Today we had a field trip! It has been raining in Jerusalem since last night, which is fun and Israel is in a drought and really needs rain. But what's not fun is that our rooms are in outdoor halls and mine's at the very very end, so I have to run or hustle quickly to my room to not get wet. The trick to that is that the floors here are extremely slippery when wet, so you have to be very careful when you are running to your room. When we were having FHE we were sitting in one of the classrooms which has a huge glass window overlooking the city. We saw a flash of lightning and IMMEDIATELY after was a crash of thunder. It shook the building, I felt like the glass was going to break! Kind of scary, but mostly cool. I don't think the Lord is going to let anything happen to this building...well, I hope not.

For our field trip we went over to what's called the rain shadow (where it's not supposed to rain) into the desert. First we went to the Temptation Monastery where it is believed that Christ as tempted by the devil while he was fasting in the wilderness. The women had to cover up their hair while they were there, that was kind of fun but it got really hot and steamy cause we had to hike up to the Monastery.



The monastery is built right into the cliffs and so when we were there we could go out on the balcony and look out over the modern city of Jericho. It was really pretty, Jericho is an oasis city so even though it's right in the middle of the desert there is actually a lot of agriculture and green. Also, fun fact, Jericho is below sea level. Very below sea level. And from the monastery balcony we could see some of the dead sea, which is the lowest place on earth. Awesome. From the monastery we went to the site of old testament Jericho and looked at the archeology digs there. That was interesting, we could see the original wall.

Then we hiked up to a look out point over the Judaean Wilderness. I think that was my favorite part. We talked about the good Samaritan and about the setting that Christ set up in the story, which was between Jericho and Jerusalem, which is the Judaean Wilderness. I really liked looking out over the vast desert and picturing Jesus fasting there and testing his mortal physical strength and resisting temptation. Makes me feel like I can resist better knowing that He put himself through it to better himself.




So it has been a really good day, I learned a lot and I definitely had some good experiences. Egypt on Thursday, I can't wait!

Holocaust Survivor

Today was a very full and fun day. Free days always are. This morning we went as a big group to a field to have a sports morning. We played ultimate frisbee and some played soccer. Now, the fields here in Israel aren't really fields. They're more like a dirt field with patches of weeds littered with garbage and crushed up glass. We had to take shifts to watch out stuff so it didn't get stolen. When it was my turn I wanted to sit down so bad but there was so much glass in the grass that I couldn't. Someone even found a steering wheel amongst the debri!

A quite note about BYU students and ultimate frisbee- They're crazy! They were so intense and serious about it, I had to laugh because we play Ultimate at BYU-I but it's not really a life and death situation, most of the time. Scary.

When I got back I worked out a little bit. I had planned to go out with a group at noon, so I planned for an hour workout. At the end of my workout someone in the group I was going out with came in and said they were leaving right then, an hour early. So, needless to say, I had to join with another group and change my plans from what I wanted to do today.

My new group was good, though. I went out with Bonnie and Jeff. We went to Jaffa Gate and walked along the ramparts of the city. That was really cool, we could see where soldiers way back when fought their battles and it also gave a really great view of the city. After that we walked in through Dung gate and walked through the Jewish quarters of the Old City. I had never been on that side, I usually stay on the Palestinian side of the city. The Jewish side is a lot cleaner and has a lot of tourists. And a ton of cats! Gross. The people are a lot less friendly and their shops are overpriced and at a fixed rate, no bartering allowed! I guess they can do that when the tourists will pay those prices.


I will not yet state my position or opinion on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, mostly because I know I don't know enough about it yet to make an informed decision, but I have been gathering and seeing a lot of things just from being out and around the people. Such information I will maybe share at a later time.

When we came back I did some homework and then ate dinner. Dinner was good! (For the record, I have not gained any weight yet!) After dinner we were all very honored to have a Holocaust survivor come and speak to us. His story was incredible and I took detailed notes if anyone is interested in them. He is 92 years old, a sister in our branch lives at his house and takes care of him. He speaks Hebrew and Spanish so we had some of our Spanish RMs translate for him. Two RMs translated for him and sometimes it was frustrating because it was like we were watching a power struggle the whole time on who was going to translate for him. But anyway...



His life story is so hard to believe; how did people really get treated like that by other human beings. He told us that he would see dogs, all the time in the streets, that had more food than him. He still had his number tattooed on his arm and he showed us. It was surreal. It makes me sick that that actually happened, but this man was a very happy man and you could tell that he made the best out of his situation. Every day he thought to himself "God will help me. Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow". He went away to work when he was young and when he came back home he found that his dad had died in the ghettos at age 41 from hunger and his mom, five sisters, and little brother were taken to a concentration camp and killed. He was left all alone and the Gestapo got him. He was freed by the Americans and worked at an American camp in the Kitchen where he met his wife. They were married there in the camp and had 3 children. His wife passed away and a year and a half ago; they were married for sixty two years.

**Explanation of the pictures: The first two pictures are of the ramparts around the city. The video is of the Holocaust survivor, what a cute old man!

Happy Sabbath!

So today was our Sabbath day. Once again or Sabbath is on Saturday, it's still weird trying to get used to that.

Of course I have to talk about breakfast and my eating habits, since that has seem to become quite a trend. The problem here is that on Sunday they do not feed us lunch. And we don't have any food beside the food they feed us. And that is a very difficult thing for me. So I eat a decent amount of food at breakfast to hold me over until dinner. But then it's also a problem because they serve dinner early and then I'm hungry later that night. It's quite a dilemma, they're throwing off my eating groove!

Other than being hungry, today has been so wonderful. I got to talk to Kaitlin and Anna Sophia this morning and then after breakfast I went to branch choir practice. Then was our three hour block. Church was great like it always is here (or at least the past two weeks). I love being here with the branch members and the families that are living in Jerusalem and still faithfully attending church. I petitioned to be a teacher in the nursery (which sounds bad, but a girl who lives by me got called into the primary presidency and mentioned that they needed nursery leaders so I offered myself......? Is that bad?) But anyway, I would absolutely love to work in nursery here because I want to serve children in Jerusalem but we have been restricted to working with kids in the community. So that's the closest I can get.



After church we all went down to the Garden Tomb on kind of a mini field trip, we all went and all of my teachers and leaders went too. It was a really cool experience, after we went into the Garden Tomb we all sang hymns about the Savior and the Atonement. It was so beautiful. Other people who were there stopped and listened to us, some people even sat down and listened. The Garden Tomb is very interesting to me. It is located smack dab in the middle of the city but when you go inside the gates it is actually green and beautiful! You don't really find much green in Jerusalem, but it was green there. And there were flowers and trails and benches for people to sit on and think. From the garden you could also see Golgotha where Christ was crucified.



When we got back from the Garden Tomb we ate dinner. It was great. Of course, because I was so hungry. Then we all just kind of hung out and we played Scum and chatted and played other games. It was a good time, we all are starting to bond and get along really well.

Tomorrow we have a free day and I think we're going to go to a park to have a sports morning, and then who knows what will happen after that. Hopefully I can go shopping and barter for some good stuff because I am so sick of my clothes already. Plus there's just a lot of great stuff out there! So until next time...

Bringing in Shabbat

Today we did something really cool. We took a mini "field trip" down to the Western Wall to watch the Jews bring in the Sabbath.

When we got there it was still light so we could take pictures and videos, but once it started getting dark, Shabbat had officially started and we could not take pictures because to the Orthodox Jews it is considered doing work. We also weren't allowed to write or use our phones.

Before the festivities got started I went up to the wall and put my written prayer into a crack. Then I walked backwards up to where the plaza is; apparently it is very disrespectful to turn your back on the wall (someone in my group learned that the hard way). In the plaza we watched all of the Israeli soldiers and Jewish boys start the celebration. They got in a big circle and put their arms around each other and jumped around singing. There were a few men in the middle who were shouting out calls to sings (all in Hebrew) and leading the festivities. A couple of times they all dropped down low and slapped the ground. There was a separate circle for the girls.

Then they walked down to the Wall, where there were desks with I'm assuming Torahs on them. It was cool to see all of the different kinds of Jews. The Orthodox Jews wore round furry hats and black clothes. The best part was their long curl sideburns. Even the little boys had the curly sideburns.



The orthodox women shave their heads and wear wigs. It was fun to stand in the plaza with the service couple and try to point out all of the women wearing wigs. And also look for women with red dyed hair (that seems to be a trend happening around here).

It got kind of chilly towards the end. I wasn't freezing but a lot of girls were. We all huddled in a group and the girls ooooo'd and awww'd over the Israeli soldiers (there's just something about a man in uniform! That's what they say anyway...).

After the celebrations we got in our vans and drove back up to the center, and now it's time for dinner! Tonight we're playing Sardines in the center and then watching the Prince of Egypt. Tomorrow's the Sabbath, Sunday we have a free day, Monday we have a field trip to Jericho, and then Thursday we leave for Egypt! This week will be a piece of cake, I'm excited for it!


**Explanation of pictures. The first one is of the men side of the Western Wall where they have the Torah out on the tables to read. The second picture is of me coming out of the city that night after the celebration. The video is explained. Note that I was sneaking all of these pictures, I don't know if you can hear it in the video or not but I actually got in trouble for taping and was told to put my camera away.

Missing BYU Idaho a little bit

Today was another fairly boring day. Unfortunately I stayed in once again to do homework and do my laundry.

Even though I love Jerusalem, the classes are so weird and different and I am missing BYU-Idaho classes! Everyone who goes to BYU Idaho all agree that the classes and the way the teachers teach here are completely different from Idaho. In Idaho the teachers are very personable and helpful and really want you to succeed. Here the teachers are very, very smart and very intimidating. I'm sure I'll grow to like them but it is a hard adjustment. Our classes are two hour lectures and I get lost sometimes for large amounts of time, or I just black out. I'll adjust eventually, I'm sure, but it'll take some time. The BYU-Idaho learning module, the structure set up for teaching in Idaho, is also something that I appreciate so much more now. And like I said, everyone else who goes to BYU-Idaho agrees with me.

Anyway, the food was really good once again. I don't have much to say on days when I don't go into the city, obviously. But tomorrow we get to go to the Western Wall on a field trip to watch how the Jews bring in the Sabbath. I'm really excited for that, I think I even mentioned in a previous blog how I wanted to see that. So that will be good, and then tomorrow night we're playing sardines in the center and then watching The Prince of Egypt (love that movie!) to get excited to go to Egypt. It should be a good weekend, it'll be nice to get a break from homework!

I'm also starting to really get along with the people here. Which makes things fun but also so distracting and hard to focus on school! But it's all a part of the experience, I suppose.

Tomorrow I will have some more interesting things to say, but until then, Ma as-salaamah!

Pizza Rolls and Chicken Fingers!

Unfortunately, today was a pretty boring day. Sorry, no interesting blog update.

I woke up and had breakfast, went to class, stayed in today to get caught up on my homework, and had another class at 5. That's pretty much all that went down today.

Except for one good thing happened today, and that was good food! Lunch was so good, finally something I 100% like. We had chicken fingers (even though they had an Israeli twist) and pizza rolls. So delicious. Finally the food that I have been craving!

That's all that went on today, I'm planning on going out tomorrow since I didn't today, and doing my laundry soon!

I got some sad and bad news today, though. We had a meeting about service opportunities in the community and they (the center authorities) made a rule that when we're doing service we cannot have any contact with children. I am so bummed about that!!! I was really, really looking forward to going into the orphanages and playing with the children, and I was especially eager to request a service time to go to a maternity hospital that's right down the street from the center where previous students have gone to feed the newborn babies. Also, I wanted to go to the orphanage in Bethlehem where my mom served while she was here. We are not allowed to go to Bethlehem but I heard rumors early last week that we would be able to for service, but now we definitely can't. So...sad day. I was really excited to work with young children since that's my major and area of expertise, and they're just so cute here, but I guess I won't be able to.

I had my first day of Arabic, and it was really funny. I like my teacher today and I think it will be my favorite class. So... until next time!

Omar's Shop

Today has been a good day. I woke up this morning to the call of prayer, once again. It wakes me up every morning around 4:30 to 5 am and sometimes I go back to sleep, but it's never a deep sleep. So far in my time in Jerusalem I haven't needed to use my alarm at all to wake up. It just happens naturally.

Breakfast was excellent this morning. We always have the same thing for breakfast, but this morning was especially good because I was so hungry. The food here has grown on me somewhat (not literally), but some of it just isn't satisfying to me. When this Jerusalem experience is over I don't think I will ever think to myself "Wow, I really miss the food at the Oasis in the Jerusalem Center." I'm really craving "American" (or more like food you can find in America) like crazy. Last night I was wanting pizza so badly and when I went into the Oasis I saw that they were serving spaghetti, which I was really excited about, but then I got it and it was not your typical spaghetti at all. It was not a red sauce and it had spices and things in it that I just wasn't a huge fan of. What I would do for some Taco Bell right now!

We had classes this morning and after that we had our first linen exchange, where we switched out our sheets and towels for new, clean ones. Then we had lunch and after lunch me and five other people went to the city for the afternoon until our class at 4:00.

My number two goals today were to buy a scripture case and nativity set. Mission accomplished! First we went to Aladdin's (pronounced Al-a-deen) to exchange our dollars for Israeli money. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw behind the desk a Utah Jazz sticker!! I had a chat with the money exchangers about the Jazz, they asked me if Carl Malone was still playing. I think that they mostly had that sticker up because a very large part of their customers come from Utah. But it was still funny and I taught them a thing or two about the current Utah Jazz status. Or what I know of it from my limited updates.

From Aladdin's we went to Omar's Souvenirs. Omar is a wood carver here in Jerusalem that carves figurines and nativities for the Mormon population. When we went in I was astounded and amused...Omar has every Mormon thing you can imagine from the replica of the famous statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith to elaborate carvings of Nephi and Alma. He even had pictures of him with prophets like President Hinckley and President Kimball! He was so nice to us and said that his two boys went to BYU and the people of BYU took care of his sons, so he is taking care of the kids of BYU now. He had wedding announcements of past students posted on a wall of his shop, I thought it was neat and I really liked his shop. He loves the BYU students and when I ordered my nativity set today I at first hesitated because I didn't know how much money I had in my account to write a personal check, and he told me not to worry about it and that as long as I paid by April 22 that I would be good. He also sent it home with no extra charge to me.

During this visit I was so curious about his religion and his fascination with the Mormon church, but I was hesitant to ask because we are in no way shape or form allowed to proselytize here and asking Omar questions could come off wrong. But he willingly told us about how he went to the LDS church for six years and was a participating member, apart from being baptized. When word got around to his neighborhood that Omar met with the Mormons, people started to become violent towards him and two people even tried to kill him. He continued going to church, however, until his branch president arranged for him to meet with President Kimball about his problem. Apparently President Kimball told him that the Lord knows his heart and that as long as he is in Jerusalem and is being treated violently to stop attending church. He said ever since that point he stopped going to church but did all he could to serve the Mormon BYU students that come to Jerusalem every semester. Interesting story, interesting person. I'm thinking his kids must have been introduced to the church too, since they both went to BYU. When I asked him how he was introduced to the church he said that the only Mormon tour guide here in Jerusalem introduced it to him.

So after we left Omar's we went into the old city and went and bought scripture bags from a Christian merchant in the city. People here in the city know the Mormons and try to get the most out of the BYU student money, so it's understandable that this Christian non-LDS merchant would order Jerusalem scripture cases that would fit an LDS quad.

Speaking of scriptures, before I left my mom said that my scriptures would never make it a week in Jerusalem. Low and behold, tonight while I was reading, a page of my scriptures randomly fell out. But luckily I have super glue so I will make due for the rest of the semester and then hopefully this summer I can get new ones.

In the old city we also had to buy a scarf for my roommate for her to cover her hair for a field trip we have coming up. I discovered that I actually really like shopping here and bartering with the merchants! I was pretty proud of myself when I bought a 50 shekel scarf for 10 shekels (the equivalent to about $2.50). I'm excited to get out in the city more and perfect my bartering skills.

When we got back around 4 we had our first Modern Islamic studies class. It's interesting here because the university wants us to get a full perspective of the conflict in the middle east, so we take an Islamic class taught by a local Arab professor and a Jewish class taught by a local Israeli professor. We are all encouraged not to take sides until we are informed, and even then we are never to talk about it to locals (for obvious reasons).

After that class we had dinner, which was better today, and since then I have been reading and getting ready for classes tomorrow.

That's just another day in Jerusalem, living the life in the Holy Land!

p.s. today was mine and Tom's anniversary. Six months! Kind of a big deal...

Geography Field Trip

Today we had our first field trip. It was a geography field trip and we went around to five different points that overlook Jerusalem. It helped to get a grip on where I am and what's around me. I really don't have much time to post details, we have FHE in ten minutes and I am completely swamped with homework, but here are so pictures that will outline what we did
today!










This was an outlook of Bethlehem. This hilltop that I am standing on very well could have been where the shepherds were visited by angels to announce the birth of the Savior. Very cool!











This is everyone sitting and hanging out by a look out on the south side of the Old City.











This is a cave outside of Bethlehem. In places like this shepherds would sleep and watch over their sheep.









This is an overlook of the very kibbutz that my mom lived in when she was in Jerusalem










This is a ruin outside of a Jewish synagogue. We went to the top of the synagogue to have a good outlook of the city, and then we went to the basement to where the Jewish people claim that Samuel's tomb lays. The boys and girls had to seperate and when we tried to go down the Jewish women wouldn't let us down because we weren't Jews. Our teachers told us that they had no right to tell us that so we went down again and told them that we believed Samuel was a prophet and that they couldn't turn us away. So...we got to go down and see it. They seemed upset with us though.










Here we are at the top of the Jewish synagogue where they believe that Samuel the prophet's tomb lies.










Here I am with a beautiful view of the Old City. You can see the city walls and the Dome of the Rock. Very pretty.


My class singing Far Far Away on Judea's Plain on a hill top overlooking Bethlehem.



This video was taken especially for my mom, who lived in this area when she was doing study abroad in Jerusalem and would recognize this landscape.

That's all I have for today, I'm sorry I don't have much to say (or enough time to say it rather) but in short, today was a good day and I learned a lot and had some good experiences.

Carillon Bells at the YMCA

Okay...so...we did so much today and a lot happened, so I'll try to be a good blogger/journal keeper and record all of the details.

I woke up this morning, once again, to the call to prayer. I went back to sleep after and woke up just in time for breakfast. After breakfast I got ready for the day and met my group in the front lobby outside of my bedroom.

From the center we went to the old city through Damascus gate and headed for the Dome of the Rock. As usual, on our way to our desination we met with many interesting people. One merchant said as we passed, "smile, always smile!" and that made me laugh. One of my favorite parts of this city is the kids here. They just play in the city, I saw one kid attempting to roller blade down the bumpy streets today. That was humerous; he would go down a little bit and then he would come up again and then roll right back down. Cute. At one point we were trying to find a gate but we were so lost and confused and a boy helped us find our way. His name was Muhamnad, and he was 14 years old. He likes soccer and wants to go to Brazil one day and play there. He helped us find our way out and I gave him a 9 shuckles, which is about a dollar fifty, which he was very grateful for.

On our way to the Dome of the Rock we had to go through a security check point, which led us to the Western Wall. We stopped and looked at it but didn't have a big enough group to go up close because we only had 2 boys and 2 girls, and at the Western Wall there are separate sections for boys and girls, and we must always be in groups of at least 3. So we looked at it from afar, I'm sure I will go back there sometime. When we passed through another security check point to go to the Dome of the Rock the security guards told us that it was closed until 12:30. Our main mission for that day was to go to the Jerusalem YMCA and meet up with one of the brothers from a service couple that works here. Every Sunday he playes the music for the bell towers and strikes the bells to indicate the time. Yesterday he invited my roommate and I to go up with him and play some songs, so us two and two other boys went. That was definitely the highlight of my day!

We got to practice a little bit and then we got to play songs from the bell tower. We played LDS hymns, which Brother Whipple (the service guy) said that the people actually really like, because the music is just so beautiful. I played Our Savior's Love. It was very pretty and exhilerating to hear your music echo throughout all of Jerusalem. I loved that.

On our way back we went to the Dome of the Rock, which was now open. That was cool and it was really pretty close up. From there we went home and I did homework for the rest of the afternoon.

We walked so much today, I can't even tell you! And not only did we walk a lot, but it was all hills and stairs. We got lost a lot, which we kind of liked because then we figured out how to find our way around better. Once I asked some taxi drivers for directions to the YMCA (I was still with my group), and one gave us directions and the other was just looking at me (creepy) and said "You are very beautiful"....uhhh, we'll be seeing you...we got out of there quickly. That was the most uncomfortable I have felt today, so it wasn't too bad. It was such a carefree day, I really, really enjoyed it. We met a guy who was doing study abroad, I can't remember where now, but he is visiting Jerusalem on his way home. He goes to the University of Massachusetts, it was fun to meet someone our age from the states here.

Every day before today when we went out into the city, I always felt kind of exposed and wondered why BYU trusted us so much just to go out and wander in such dangerous areas. But today, for the first time, I felt completely safe and comfortable in my surroundings. I was still very careful and attentive, but I didn't feel uneasy or uncomfortable at any time. I really enjoyed that feeling and I think it better allows me to really enjoy what's around me and observe the culture.

This is the end of today's post, so until next time.....להתראות מחר!

By the way, I have had an epiphany. I have figured out why BYU students sound and seem so smart! It's because they call any kind of homework they have "studying". For instance, we have reading to do in all of our classes, and I just call it reading, cause it is, but if you ask a BYU student what they're going to do this afternoon they say "well...I think I'm going to go up to such and such a place and study all afternoon." So ha! BYU, I've got you pinned, and I now know one of your strategies to seem extremely academic.

**Explanation of the pictures: The first video is of us coming up to the gates after being out in the city. I took it mostly to demonstrate what the Call to Prayer sounds like and how loud it is. The Muslims pray 5 times a day, so this song goes out 5 times each day. It is what wakes me up in the morning. The second picture is of me and Muhamnad right outside of Jafa gate after he helped us. The third picture is of me outside of the Western Wall. The fourth picture is of the YMCA where we played the bells. You can see the bell tower clearly here. The second video is of me playing Our Savior's Love on the bells for the whole city. So cool! The last picture is of me and my friends Michelle, Jason, and Greg outside of the Dome of the Rock.

Orson Hyde Memorial Park

Today was my first Sabbath day in the Holy Land. I slept well last night and I think I am adjusted to the time change here. We just got finished with church (I was going to say “got back” from church, but church is actually in the Jerusalem Center, which is a cool and different thing….church is in my home). Right now I am sitting on my balcony in the warm Mediterranean sun writing this blog. It is a beautiful day in Jerusalem, and I have to admit, weather like this makes me wish that I could break out my swimsuit and go sun bathing. But instead I am sitting in my church clothes with sleeves down to my elbow and tights covering my legs.

Speaking of being fully clothed and modest, today when I went down to eat breakfast, I was sent back because my dress wasn’t long enough! I couldn’t believe it. I don’t resent that they made me go back and change (or in my case put tights on), but I really was in great surprise over this. I went down to eat this morning in full confidence that I was dressed appropriately, my dress to my mid calf, and my arms and chest covered. But I guess I was wrong. Oh well. The leader who sent me back made a good point in that the men serving us our breakfast are used to and comfortable with the way their daughters and wives would dress, which is completely covered in the traditional religious attire. I can see how it would be offensive that I show a few more inches then I should on my legs while I am eating breakfast. And I mean that in all seriousness, I want to be respectful and not offend anybody.

Anyway, moving on to less small and petty matters. Today church was really good. I always hear members talk about how anywhere you go in the world the church is organized the same, and I’ve always appreciated and known that fact, but this week it was especially comforting to me. We met the members of our Branch. They all seem like great people. A lot of them are American but a few of them are not. The woman who gave the closing prayer in Relief Society spoke a different language, I’m not sure what it was. Also, our Relief Society president grew up here in Jerusalem in a very religious family (not LDS) and she moved to Provo to get her PhD at BYU where she was converted. I am surrounded by interesting lives and stories here in my Branch.

I have joined the Jerusalem Center choir which has been good so far. This morning we met after breakfast and practiced an Easter song from The Messiah that we will sing in an Easter concert sometime this semester. Here at our Branch the choir also sings for the prelude music, that was a different experience but I really liked it. We sang How Gentle God’s Commands, and after really looking at the words and pondering them, that hymn has taken on a whole new meaning to me. It really touched me and made me more appreciative of the loving and gentle nature of our Lord.

The auditorium that we have Sacrament meeting in is absolutely beautiful. The walls are all glass with limestone arches supporting the glass, and when you are sitting in the congregation you have a magnificent view of the Old City. The outside sides of the auditorium are surrounded by gardens of roses and olive trees, so pretty. It is a wonderful experience to look out on the city while I renew my covenants and ponder the life and mission of my Savior Jesus Christ. During the talks, I particularly looked out at the Dome of the Rock and thought about the Abrahamic covenant. We are learning about it in my Old Testament class and I think tomorrow I am going to go to the Dome of the Rock after I read Abraham’s story. The story that I thought about the most was when Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son Isaac. As some may know, the Dome of the Rock is built on the spot where Muslims believe Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael, but as we believe it was Isaac. My religion teacher said that the Dome of the Rock is a pretty accurate mark of where those events happened, and I look forward to going there and pondering Abraham’s devotion and obedience to God and think of how I can improve.

I am now continuing this blog from what I wrote this morning...

When we got back from church we waited around our room for a little bit because our relief society presidency was coming around to meet us. After we finally met them we were free to go, and a lot of people met by the doors of the building to make groups to go out into the city. Some people went to the Dome of the Rock, some went to the Garden Tomb, some went to the Garden of Gethsemene, but I went to the Orson Hyde Memorial Park where Orson Hyde said the dedicatory prayer over Jerusalem. We went in a big group; the Orson Hyde park is the only area in Jerusalem where we have to have at least 5 people in our group with at least 1 male. I guess in the past they have had problems with people throwing rocks at girls when they go to the park, but since they've required males to go they haven't had that problem. No one hassled us when we went today, and it was beautiful. It gave us a different view of the city, which was really good. I noticed that Mount Mariah is actually a very high mountain, we were a little confused at first about how high Abraham had to climb because from the center it looks like a hill at most. But it is actually very high.

At dinner I sat with our branch president and his wife along with one of the service couples that works at the center. It was nice getting to know them and they told us a lot about Jerusalem that I didn't know.

After dinner we had some free time and then we had a devotional given by the assistant executive director over the center, Brother Brown. He spoke about Jesus and his ministry and went through Luke chapter 8 and analyzed every part of it. To be honest, it was very boring. I was struggling to stay awake and I was watching the other people and at any given time I saw at least six people sleeping or nodding off. It was funny, I don't think I'll be going to that devotional once again (he gives one like that every Sabbath).

I am exhausted and it is only 7:00 pm in the Holy Land. I think for the rest of the night I will do homework (I haven't done any, I am very behind!) and maybe find some people for a game night or something. Tomorrow we have a free day and like I said earlier in this post, I think I'm going to go to the Dome of the Rock. I also have plans to go to the YMCA in Jerusalem and play the bells in the bell tower with the man who is responsible for that (he is part of the service couples here). But until then, وداع إلى الآن!

**Explanation of the pictures: The first one is a picture of me at the gate of the Orson Hyde Memorial Park. The second picture is of our group reading the dedicatory prayer that Orson Hyde said at that location.

Freedom!

Wow, where to start for today? So much happened, I have so many thoughts.

This morning we had four hours of classes; two hours of religion and two hours of near eastern history. We learned A LOT and it was all very interesting, intense, and overwhelming.

After classes we had lunch and then meetings with our committees. I'm on the field trip committee and I am responsible for taking care of hotel keys, making sure the bus driver is fed, making sure everyone has extra water, and taking care of headsets that all of the students use on the field trips. It should be a good way to get involved with everyone and learn names. My committee is also in charge of doing bus counts and special spotlights during long field trips like our 18 hour drive to Egypt.

Today we finally got to go into the city on our own! We couldn't go out until 3 because on Fridays the Muslims gather to worship in the old city for their Sabbath day and we have to stay away from crowds. Then once we were able to go into the city we had to come back before sunset, so we only have a few hours.

When we got out of the center on our own it felt so good! The weather was wonderful, and it was fun to get to know people in my group. I was in a group of 6 people with 4 girls and 2 boys. We took a lot of pictures and had a lot of fun. I got so many amazing pictures today, I wish that I could load them onto my blog.


While we walked through the city a lot of people would say "Mormons" when we passed, and a lot of the merchants would catch us walking by their store and would say "Mormons!!" and when we told them that we didn't have any money (lies) they'd say "Oooh, you come look for another time!! Come look at my store!" We would go and look and compliment on how beautiful the things were that they were selling, etc, and they'd say "This is normally such and such a price, but for you, Mormon, I give you a good deal!" They were all really great and I had a lot of fun talking to them. They said that since the other group of BYU "Mormon" students left they have been looking forward for the next one to come.

The kids in Jerusalem are so cute. When we walk from the center to the Old City they are always at the gates of their yards and they wave to us and say "hello!" While we are walking, I noticed that people in Jerusalem honk their horns at very random times. And then I realized that they were actually honking at us. Friendly, little "hello" honks. My favorite today was when a man riding in the back seat of a car, smoking a cigarette, leaned out of the window (after his car honked at us) and said "Hello, Mormons". The people really are so friendly. One man in the old city heard us talking about a place we wanted to go to and he stopped us and told us we were going in the wrong direction and told us where to go. So nice, so friendly!

I am so exhausted and have a lot of homework, but at the same time I want to be social and have fun. I have had a great time getting to know everyone and becoming friends with them. At dinner we eat at big tables and then just sit around and talk for a long time. I'm having a great time in Jerusalem, and I look forward to all of the other things I will get to do.




**Explanation of pictures: The first picture is of a group of BYU students right outside of the city at a cross walk. We see this view very often and it is absolutely beautiful. The Jerusalem Center is on the hill behind us. The video is of us out for the very first time on our own. The last two pictures are of me in the Old City. (p.s. are you digging my fanny pack, or what???)

Old City Orientation

This morning I was awakened for the first time by the call to prayer. The Muslim mosques all have speakers on them and each morning before sunrise they each issue a call to prayer that goes out to the whole city. At first it was pretty eerie to me hearing the call echoing through Jerusalem. Google call to prayer to hear what it sounds like, and then imagine waking up to that every morning around 4:30 am.

When i finally got up around six I showered and went straight to breakfast. It's so nice not having to blow dry my hair and get dressed up. I love how low key it is here. Before I went to eat, however, I took a moment to go out on my balcony and look at the Holy Land in the day time. All I have to say is WOW. The sun had just barely come up and the sky was still light blue and pink and beautiful. I'll have to get a picture of the early morning one of these days. After breakfast we had another orientation where they went through and taught us procedures around the center and other such things. I feel like everytime we have anorientation they go over the same things, they are just drilling us with these rules! It's kind of insulting, sometimes i find myself thinking "yes, we've heard this, we had a three hour orientation before we came and have heard it since we've been here. Lets do more productive things!" But then at the same time I just have to sit back and realize that Jerusalem is a crazy city and we need to know these rules back and forth and that it's for our own good. After our orientation we went on a walk through the city and learned about the places that we can explore later on our own.

The old city is amazing. It is inside the gates and it is just alley ways and alley ways of merchants and things to buy. The people are very nice and some occasionally called out "Hello, Mormons" or "Good morning, Mormons". I think they like us there :)

We didn't spend much time at any one spot, we moved around and saw a little bit of everything so we know where to come when we go back on our own. We did SO much walking! I'm planning on going out tomorrow for a few hours. Fridays are the when the Muslims gather in the old city to pray and worship, and apparently it's a brewing pot for conflict, so we cannot go out until after 3. And then after three we have until sun down to explore. I'm excited to go back to look at the things we saw today in more detail.

We walked by the Garden Tomb and it was totally not what I expected at all. A little disappointing, actually. I didn't actually get to see it because there are gates and we will go another time, but what I didn't expect is that the Garden Tomb is smack dab right in the middle of the city. I visualized a peaceful garden place, much like the Sacred Grove, but it is totally not like that. Outside of its gates are merchants and shops, garbage, and all sorts of other things. This was the same with Calvary where Christ was crucified. I didn't see it when my teacher pointed it out, but I was talking about it with some people over dinner and they said that it is also right in the middle of the city. What was interesting, though, was seeing the road where Christ bore his cross and carried it up to Calvary hill. The road is marked with numbers so that you can follow exactly where he walked. My teacher said that a lot of religions will reenact Christ's steps through the city. I think later during my stay I will get a brochure and follow the road and learn more about what happened there the day Christ as crucified.

The city really is wonderful. There are so many people and places to see, I am really excited to explore it on my own (in groups of three or more, and with a male after dark, of course). Sister Brown (my guide for today) said that when we come here on our own we can go in any building or through any door that is open. That sounds a little scary, but Sister Brown was so confident and has lived in this city for so long that I trust her and am excited about what I'll find.

When most people think about the Holy Land they think about conflict, war, and danger zones. I was nervous about that, but today, however, I felt completely safe in the Old City. I can't think of one time when I felt unsure or nervous about anything. We had our Jerusalem Center security escort us throughout the city. The security person who went with my group is a local Arab and watched out for us. Our security people are great men and I felt like a celebrity with a personal body guard. They even had walkie talkies and sunglasses! So legit. We won't have them from now on when we go out, but we got our cell phones and proximity cards (cards that we have to swipe whenever we go in and out of the building) today so we are now more protected.
The people here are very genuine and my group was able to strike up conversations with them. Mostly everyone speaks English, and the teacher who took us around the city told us that a lot of the BYU students can sweet talk their way into going places that the general public is not allowed. She said that last year the students became friends with the Priests at the Holy Sepluchre and were allowed to see the upper floors of the church that is blocked off to other people. One girl became good friends with a Muslim family and even got to go into the Dome of the Rock, which is definitely closed to anyone who is not Muslim. People here really love and respect the BYU students, I'm excited to really see that for myself. I need to work on my people/talking skills, along with my bartering skills as well! The women wear traditional outfits and are covered up and wear scarves, which makes me grateful that I am dressed modestly and have most of my skin covered to show respect. These people are so dedicated to their religions and their beliefs; that is demonstrated in one way when I hear the Call to Prayer echo through the city five times a day. I'm especially excited for Saturday to see how the people here worship on the Sabbath. Unfortunately I can't go into the city on Friday night when they begin their worship due to the massive crowds, but I think I will get a glimps of it on Saturday.

I'm still loving living in the Jerusalem Center. What facinates me most about this place and I don't think many people know or realize is that the Jerusalem Center is run by local people of Jerusalem who are not LDS. The director is not LDS, I currently can't remember what religion he is. But it's incredible how all of the staff are different religions, and outside of the center walls their people conflict and don't get together, but inside the walls they work together as a team to serve us Mormon kids! I think that is amazing. Speaking of staff, the chefs here are amazing but I am not a huge fan of the food---YET. It is not appetizing to me and sometimes makes me feel sick. Hopefully I grow out of this so I don't starve to death, but hey, maybe I won't be gaining that Jerusalem 20 lbs after all! But then again, maybe I will from all of the delicious food I saw and smelt in the city today that I couldn't wait to try.

Tonight they are showing the Alabama v. Texas game in the center. I want to go, the only thing is that it is being broadcasted at 3:00 am our time. But because of jet lag and my schedule being so messed up, I might be up, and I might go and socialize with the other crazy people who are there. But for now I must do my homework that I have been putting off so well. Classes start tomorrow! I'm excited to get into my classes and actually learn the history and meaning of the stuff I saw in the city today and will continued to get to know more about throughout this semester!

**Explanation of the pictures: The first picture is a picture of me outside of Damascus Gate which is the closest entrance from the center to get into the Old City. The second picture is of the view from my balcony right when I am leaving for breakfast as the sun is rising. The video and last picture are of the excitement and people of the Old City.

I Have Arrived!

I can't believe that I am really posting my first blog entry from Jerusalem. It has been a crazy/incredible day (but actually two days, I left Tuesday morning and flew through the night and lost a lot of time with the time changes).

After anticipating this moment for five months, packing for days, and being on a plane for 18 hours, I am finally here. It's a weird feeling to be finally sitting in the Jerusalem Center. (It's especially weird when you still feel like you are moving on a plane).

My journey started Tuesday morning when I took off from the Salt Lake airport at 9 am to go to Denver. From Denver I flew to Washington DC, then to Vienna, then on to Tel Aviv. The

flight from DC to Vienna was the longest, being 8 and a half hours long. The girl next to me kept offering her leftover food to me, which I thought was funny but weird too. Do I look like a person who wants everyone's leftovers? Anyway, at Tel Aviv we were met by our two religion professors who took us on bus for about an hour up to the Jerusalem Center. I've got to say, it was a HUGE culture shock to see young men (security) with rifles hanging out outside of the airport. I even saw a few young women with rifles. When do I get mine?

While we were driving up to Jerusalem, it was dark and all you could see were trees and nothing too interesting. As we continued up the hill (the Jerusalem Center is on the highest hill in the Holy Land) we turned around a bend, and BOOM! There it was. The old city is so stunning, it took my breath away. From the freeway you can clearly see the city walls and the Dome of the Rock. We kept going up the hill and even more stunning then the old city was the Jerusalem Center. It sits high on a hill and lights up the whole city. When we pulled up to the back gates I was in aw. The back gates have a fountain and the courtyard and as we walked up all of the service couples greeted us and welcomed us to our "home". We went into the building and ate dinner. The chefs served us and the food was different, I'll have to get used to it. From there we

went and had an orientation in our meeting hall, which is a beautiful room. It has the arches and glass windows and overlooks the whole city. It's amazing. Also, this room has an incredible organ that takes up the whole back wall. When we sang our opening hymn it was beautiful; the organ and our voices echoed off of the limestone walls. What an incredible place to be. We then met with our religion professors and went over what is expected of us and then took a tour of the building. Good news: The Jerusalem Center has two bomb shelters, one with Foosball tables and bathrooms and another with ping pong, washers and driers, and bathrooms. Better safe than sorry. I was so tired on this tour, I couldn't even walk straight. They really got us started the first moment they could!

The only way I can explain being here and how in aw of this place I am is by comparing this initiation and introduction to the Jerusalem Center to the first years of Harry Potter being introduced to Hogwarts. Cheesy, I know, but as I was thinking it and said it out loud, a lot of people agreed with me.

Tomorrow morning I will wake up to the call to prayer at 4:30. That's going to be a cool and crazy experience. I bet it will scare me to death at first and I will be very disoriented as to where I am when I first hear the call ringing through the city. After we eat breakfast we are going on a tour of the old city which I'm excited about. I can't wait to get out there and see the people and places and discover where I will be living for the next four months.

That concludes my first day in the Holy Land. I will try to be faithful to this blog, not just for followers but also for my own personal records. I had originally planned to put pictures on my blog but unfortunately the internet is too slow in the center and will have everything backed up. I will try to go to the Hebrew University when I can get people to go with me and add any especially cool pictures I take.

Shalom!

**Explanation of pictures: The first picture is a picture of the Jerusalem center that I took from at the bottom of the hill in the city. The second picture is a view of a Jerusalem sunset from the center, as well as the interior stairwell/lobby of the center.