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...