My Time in the Holy Land

Last Week in Jerusalem

2010-05-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

Well, all good things must come to an end, I guess. Jerusalem has been awesome, I am actually home now but I wanted to take some time to wrap up my semester by summarizing the events of my last week in the Holy Land.

Garden of Gethsemane. We went here for a morning to learn about and ponder the Atonement while tracing the last steps of Christ's life. It was really hard to leave this place knowing that I would not come back again.

Of course while tracing Christ's steps, we ended up at the Garden Tomb. I have so many good memories of this place, Sabbath afternoons, Easter mornings, etc. It was also really hard leaving this place for the last time.

We went to go see our friend Omar one last time. We met him a while ago (before Galilee) in the Old City. He came to our Community Concert at the center and we went to his house for an afternoon. We just became good friends with him (he is mentioned in an earlier post of mine titled "interview"). We went to where he works in the Old City, which was at an incredible building (the Old City never ceases to surprise me). It had a 360 degree view of the whole city, it was stunning. You could see everything close up, from the merchants in the markets to the rooftops of the houses to the laundry hanging out to dry. Oh how I love the Old City of Jerusalem. So much culture and character.

We painted murals at a nearby hospital/orphanage for special needs kids up by Crash Corner in East Jerusalem. This was the scene that I helped with. We called it our "Lovely Deseret", as in the hymn. It's a good one, look it up!

The finished product of Our Lovely Deseret. I was super impressed at how all of our murals turned out, there were three more scenes: a jungle, ocean, and mountain scene. They were all really good, it was a very daunting task to do four walls, but we did it!

We took a four hour bus ride to Eilat to go snorkeling in the Red Sea. We snorkled for four hours and then headed back to Jerusalem, but we got to stop and eat at the Kibbutz that we ate at on the way to Egypt. That was fun to look back on some of the memories we had then, especially to think about what we all thought about each other. Egypt was so early in the semester that we THOUGHT we knew each other but we definitely didn't. But anyway, this was a super fun day and a great "ending social" to our semester!

Words can't really describe my feelings during my last week in Jerusalem. It was so surreal, like it really never would end. But it has. It is over. Sometimes I catch myself wondering if it ever really happened, it just seems like it was a dream, but then I hear a hymn or get caught off guard by something that immediately takes me back. Those moments are so sweet to me and I don't think anyone can really understand what it's like. It makes me feel such fond feelings towards Jerusalem and the people there, I will always have a spot in my heart reserved for the experience I had there. I will never forget it. Ever.

Yeah!

2010-04-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm coming home!!!! In two hours!

Coming Near the End

2010-04-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

Shabbat Shalom!

Well, today I woke up with the sad realization that today is my last Sabbath day in the Holy Land. It hit me hard today sitting in sacrament meeting overlooking the city, that my time here is up. And it was a very sad reality to come to! I definitely have mixed feelings about coming home. Today we sang "God be With You 'til we Meet Again"......torture! mean! I cried through the whole song. Jerusalem is so dear to my heart, it'll be hard to move on back to reality with the possibility that I may never see this place again. It has been a life changing experience for me.

Also hard for me today was to leave my nursery children! When I got released from my calling I shed a tear (just call me an emotional wreck). These children really are so sweet and I have enjoyed learning from them by teaching them the simple gospel truths every Saturday.

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

For the Son of man is come to save that which is lost.

How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the nienty and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

I think this is my ultimate favorite scripture when it comes to children, and especially when it comes to my major and my future career. I have enjoyed growing closer to Christ by serving his innocent and pure children this semester.

This whole semester has been so incredible, I can't put the feelings and change I've felt in myself in words. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to learn in Jerusalem.

Graduation Party

2010-04-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the honor to attend the Jerusalem Center dinner for graduates. Some students put together this party since people who are graduating this semester are missing out on all of ths parties and stuff going on at BYU. Somehow I was qualified to attend this party.

We all found our own "caps" to wear, some went all out and even found gowns. Caps were made out of kippahs, boxes, scarves, and cardboard. I wore my Egyptian headdress that I bought in Egypt. I knew it would come in handy some day!

We ate separate from everyone else in our lounge, formally known as "The Dan Jones". We made a "procession" to the cafeteria where everyone could admire our caps and gowns and be jealous of the graduating (or close to graduating, in my case) students). We all shared what we were planning on doing with our lives after graduating.

After we ate our dear Brother Whipple who is here on a service mission spoke to us. The first slide of his presentation looked like some kind of painting, and I thought he wsa going to give us some kind of "just like this painting, life is only what you make of it" type of speech. But I really should have known better. Brother Whipple starting talking to us about how the painting was actually done by a cat, and unbeknownst to us there is actually a market and culture of paintings done by cats, otherwise known as non-primate art. He went way back and showed us pictures of cats from Egypt and other ancient cats. At first I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not, so I was trying desperately not to laugh. Which of course made my laugh even louder and more embarrassing than normal, which led to me crying from holding it all in.

According to Brother Whipple these two cats (whose names I can't remember but I do remember that they some kind of chinese influence) are the dynamic duo in the cat "non-primate" painting world.

The only time Brother Whipple cracked and laughed was when he was telling us the story of "Bootsie" and how he came into being an artist. Just like any other genius artist, Bootsie encountered tramatic experiences as a young kitten, including being neutered, left by his family when they moved, and getting is his tale stuck under a car. But he rose above it all, according to Brother Whipple, and came out victorious.

Brother Whipple, completely straight faced.

Eventually we all realized (after many confused looks at each other) that it was a joke. But joke or not, the presentation lasted for 35 minutes! And the whole time Brother Whipple kept a straight face. So funny. So random. Definitely a graduation commencement speech I will never, ever forget.

Volcano?????

2010-04-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, hey Iceland Volcano. So, potentially bad news (on so many levels). A volcano errupted in Iceland, grounding all flights in Europe and the Middle East. Since I am in the Middle East, that means that there is a chance that I may not be able to fly out next week! It could be cleared up by then (optimistically thinking). This issue could be cleared up within days or within weeks. So I will try not to be too dramatic about the matter and just hope that it will clear up. I love Jerusalem but I am ready to come home. This could throw a real wrench into my plans of starting school on Monday. But again. Think optimistic thoughts. Pray for the volcano to stop errupting/for the skies to clear up!

Shukran!!!

Masada and the Dead Sea!

2010-04-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we went on our field trip to Masada, the Dead Sea, En Gedi, and Qumran (Where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found). Here are some pictures and high lights:

I think I've seen this once. Supposedly it's about 7 hours long, so I'm sure I didn't see the whole thing, but I remember it. But then again, who wouldn't be able to remember 1,000 Zealot Jews committing suicide while 15,000 Roman Soldiers were bringing down their fortress?

Mighty Masada

We had to take a tram up to the top. It kind of reminded me of the tram at snowbird. It was super high up!

Me and the view of the Dead Sea from the top of Masada. You can't really tell from the picture but it really was pretty in a red sand deserty kind of way.

Who knew that Masada has the largest cistern in Israel???? Well, it does! We were stoked to see yet ANOTHER cistern. Look at that excitement.

You can find this picture (or one very similar to it) on the Masada brochure.

And now on to the DEAD SEA!

Here we have it. The Dead Sea. Yes, you really do float. It's so crazy! You can be completely "standing" in the water without touching the ground. A group of us even played a game of go fish in the water. The Dead Sea was so fun, it rocked my world.

This is Steve floating in the Dead Sea. And just to clear everything up, yes, he is wearing a swimsuit.

And of course we had to play with the Dead Sea mud.....

The black mud compared to my extremely white skin is almost alarming! Good thing summer is just around the corner.

After the Dead Sea we went to En Gev which is a nature preserve with lots of waterfalls. It was really pretty, we hiked around a bit. Unfortunately I have no pictures of it due to my camera getting killed by the Dead Sea. But this site was where David had the chance to kill Saul while he was "sleeping" (but in all reality, I've learned, Saul was actually going to the bathroom in the cave, not sleeping). We then went to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, which was kind of interesting.......if it weren't after a very long day and I didn't smell like sulfur and have other issues, it probably would have been great. But at that point I don't think I have ever been more disinterested in something. EXCEPT for I learned a cool connection between Joseph Smith and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Apparently the Scrolls use a name for Moses that doesn't appear in ancient scripture until Joseph Smith translates the book of Moses. That's pretty awesome! I love learning about connections like that.

So, the Dead Sea....CHECK! Masada....CHECK! Good day and a fun field trip.

A Bit More Jordan...

2010-04-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

Just a little bit more Jordan for you!

Here is an example of Jordan propaganda. Man, they love their king! Even at the baptisimal site of Jesus they had a Mosaic of the King. I think it's funny and endearing.

Dan Jones bought this picture of Cramer from Sienfield in Tel Aviv one weekend and brought him to Jordan. We have been passing the painting around by leaving it in random bags, etc. Somehow he ended up with me in Jerash. It was really funny trying to explain to the Jordanians who he was. They were so confused, and a few merchants even took the painting from me and started evaluating the craftmanship of it. It was really funny. These girls wanted a picture with us so I decided to invite Cramer along as well.

While we were Jerash, which is the best preserved Roman City in the Middle East, we got to see a little Roman skit and see a little bit on how their army worked.

Horse Chariot! I couldn't talk the guy into letting me drive the chariot, even when I tempted him with a dollar bill....I'm kind of confused as to why I'm so much bigger than this guy in this picture, but oh well.

A Little Taste of Jordan

2010-04-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

Marhaba!

I got wireless back, yay! Here are some pictures from Jordan explaining a little bit about what it is and what we did. It's hard to say everything that happened because it's finals week and I come home next week, so I want to take as much time as I can to be in the city. But here, as the title shows, is a little taste of Jordan. Enjoy!

Here is a bedouin boy I met in Petra. While I was looking through my "Israel" tour book he saw a picture I was looking at of a boy and girl on a camel, and he said that they were in his village. So cool! Bedouins fascinate me; in Jordan they are permitted by the government to live in Petra. I met a few Bedouins who were actually born in the caves in the canyon. Yikes, and cool? I guess?

Here's a peek at the Treasurey trough the slot canyon.

This is the Monestary in Petra. Apparently in the Indiana Jones movie there is a scene "inside the monestary", but really I climbed inside and all it is is a cave. I'm glad I could experience the Monestary to bust that myth.

Trying to be Indiana Jones in front of the Treasurey in Petra. Thank you Courtney, Kennedy, and Kinzie for adding a little somethin' somethin' to my picture. Otherwise it would've been BORING.

Jordanian soldiers at the Treasury in Petra. I really love this picture, and I especially love their pointy helmets.

Bedouin girl in Petra. I'd like to play this second picture off as this girl just liking me and talking to me, but I can't lie, she was really just trying to sell me stuff. She was so cute; it was hard to turn her away!

Bedouin boy in Petra

Look, it's Petra! Pretty incredible.

Turkish Bath--Before. Looking and feeling pretty good!

Turkish Bath--After. Good cultural experience.

Here is yet another castle! It is called Shobak castle and it was a crusader's castle. No spiritual significance but it was still really awesome!

This is at Mount Nebo where Moses saw the promised land. It is also believed that Moses may have been translated, or "buried by the hand of the Lord." This is me tying a piece of toilet paper on the tree, which is a symbol of my being there at that site.

This may or may not be the most famous Mosaic ever (Madaba). It's an ancient "map" for pilgrims to get to Jerusalem.

Frumpy frump frump

2010-04-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

I have returned from Jordan, but unfortunately our internet priveliges have been limited so I can't do good posts with pictures and all of that jazz. So i'm going to hold off on posting about Jordan because it needs pictures to explain how amazing and beautiful it was!

So for now I will vent a little bit and perhaps at the end I will tell you the list of things I have going in my journal about funny things in Jerusalem/random things I do not want to forget.

First off. Middle Eastern food. Getting so old! What I would give for some Taco Bell or even a can of pringles, anything! One day in Jordan we went to a restaurant for lunch and it was really nice, they made the pitas on the spot and you could watch them, but I sat there while everyone else dug into the pita and hummus and the questionable give-you-sickness salad, and I almost wanted to cry. And then when they brought out the veal and lamb kabobs (what's with the fascination of eating baby animals here??) I was finished. I just ate pita, imagining that there was refried beans and chips and salsa on the table in front of me. But when we went to the Amman branch for a meeting with the district president they made us chocolate chip cookies and gave us OREOS. HIGHLIGHT OF MY MONTH!

Next venting thing: my clothes! Believe it or not, wearing the same seven shirts over and over again has worn on me. I dread getting dressed in the morning. Oh wow, I'm afraid I'm sounding like a snob, but it's so true. I promise I'm not THAT vain, I have made it almost four months without really complaining. And to blow dry and straighten my hair....to curl it! Ah, what joy that will bring me.

It's funny because I think back to when I packed (and Tom and my mom can both confirm that this is true) I think I about lost my mind. For some reason I thought that I'd be perfectly fine with three pairs of pants and seven shirts for four months. And I definitely didn't need a blow drier or straightener (even though I'm glad I didn't bring one, it'll make me appreciate them so much more when I get home!) Oh, and not to mention for some reason I went crazy and thought that I couldn't bring my real razor so I brought ten disposables. Haven't had a good shave in a very long time. Cut myself every time.

But, this is all very worth it, because I love Jerusalem. And I love Jerusalem for these reasons, which most likely won't make sense to anyone else but when I look back on this later I will smile and laugh and have good memories.

- Ashura, ashura, ashura! which means ten, ten, ten! They always yell it in the Old City markets
- "Yella!!!" which means "hurry it up!"
- "For you, Mormon, I give you good price" which is what pretty much every merchant says to us.
- "Oh, Mormons, we love you! All the way to Jerusalem!" sung by a merchant in the Old City to the tune of "O, come all ye Faithful"
- "You are the most beautiful virgins!" said by the same merchant who sings to us
- "Thank you very cluth" said to me by an Israeli police officer after I told him thank you for letting me through a barrier on Good Friday. I wanted to tell him that the usual response is "you're welcome".
- Huka. Huka is a pipe/machine type thing that people in the middle east smoke with. It is so so bad for you, worse than cigerettes, but I LOVE the smell! I can smell huka from a mile away.
- Whenever a cell phone goes off I still automatically think it's a student's phone and I get nervous for them unti I realize that none of us have cell phones!
- In Jerusalem when you hear a gunshot or something like that you just keep doing whatever you were doing and pay no attention to it. Where in the United States if you were to hear a gun shot you'd baricade yourself in your house and call 911.
- In Jerusalem it's totally acceptable to hiss and meow at the stray cats.

Here is a short list of things that I have thought of. But there are so so many more and I always carry around my journal in case I think of something else that I don't ever want to forget.

So there you go. My scattered thoughts on Jerusalem and such until I get wireless to update you on Jordan. I hope everyone's doing well and is ready for me to come home soon!!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

This morning some of us got up with the call to prayer at 4:30 to go to the 6:30 Easter service at the Garden Tomb. We walked in the dark with the security following us in the cars all the way to the Garden Tomb.

We got there at 6:00 and there was a huge line. I sat in line and read the story of the resurrection from John and Luke. I also read 3Nephi 12 when the Savior appears to the Americas, which was a really good experience for me.

When we got in the garden of the Garden Tomb it was packed with benches and chairs. The people poured in, but unlike the festivities of Good Friday everyone was very kind and courteous in their maneuvers. I found a seat right in front of the pulpit which was carved with the words "Jesus is alive".

The service was awesome. There was a band set up by the Tomb that turned out to be a Christian rock band. The service was so awesome, we sang and volunteers from the Garden Tomb spoke about Christ and the resurrection. I thought the messages were very nice and celebrated Christ living again. I loved being around people, who although they were not of my religion, were good people trying to live good lives. I loved it. Afterward we talked to the volunteers at the Garden, one in particular being Roy from England who gave us our first tour of the Garden Tomb. He is a good guy and I'd say that he is a friend of the Mormons.

The band members with some Asian women who would not get out of our picture.

Our friend Roy

We left the Garden Tomb after the amazing service and headed over to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to try to get into High Mass. We were there about an hour early. We got to watch the Armenian service and listen to the priests chant. We saw Father Samuel once again and this time he personally let us up onto the balcony. We were up there for a good twenty minutes this time but we had a big group that turned out to be a irreverent and we got kicked out. (It really bothers me when we get privileges from the Priests and Monks who trust us and people don't respect their holy places and other such things. But anyway...) When then stuck around in the crowd but it was just too much to wait for an hour or so, so we left with the intentions of seeing what was going on at other churches.

But once we were out we just tried to find somewhere to eat, since none of us had breakfast or lunch. We got some decent falafel and then headed home.

Tonight we have conference and I'm really excited for it. I think it'll be really nice after participating in other religions' activities today to finally listen to and learn from something that I know is true and from leaders that I sustain and support. It will be so refreshing!

We leave for Jordan tomorrow for four days. Exciting! I don't even know what to expect at all, but it will be a grand adventure.

Today I challenge you to take a minute away from the day and to find your own quiet time to celebrate Easter in your heart. I know that Christ came to this earth to live a perfect life for us, atone for our sins, die for us, and live again! This is the miracle of his plan for us and his perfect all encompassing love. Seek feeling this love for yourself and I know that you will. Happy Easter!

Good Friday

2010-04-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Good Friday, indeed! First off let me start by asking: was it good as in everyone was nice and kind and Christlike to each other? Not quite. Was it good in terms that most turned into crazy people and pushed and shoved others to get what they want? Yes.

Now, this really was a very fun day for me. But I did think it was a little ironic that a day celebrating Christ could turn so many of his followers into mad men. I will explain what I mean throughout this blog.

So, we are usually not allowed to go out into the city on Fridays unless it is between the hours of 3-5. Friday is the Muslim holy day and so things in the city can sometimes be a little intense while they're worshiping, but once they're out then we can go in. But for this day we got special permission from security to go out in a large group with our teachers to walk the Via Dolorosa to commemorate, with other religions, the walk that Christ took this very week thousands of years ago.

There were a ton of people, the city was packed. The police were out in full force and they had a lot of streets blocked off. Good thing we've been living here for three months and know the back streets to get to places. We used this knowledge and skill to avoid crowds and get to where we wanted to be. But anyway, we all met near Lion's gate where the Via Dolorosa started, where Christ was convicted.

It was interesting to see all of the different groups of religions. The BYU students walked with the Franciscan Monks. Almost all of the groups carried crosses. I saw one troubling display of a small group walking with a man painted in blood, wearing a crown of thorns, and carrying a cross. They were carrying speakers and blasting music. But to my surprise, this was the only reenactment that I saw, all of the other groups had crosses and that was mostly it.

Like I have said in a previous post, the Via Dolorosa is the road that Christ walked from where he was convicted to where he was crucified, where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher now stands. Along the way the groups stop and stations that recall what Christ did at that point on the road, such as fall for the first time, cry for his mother, etc. This road was absolutely packed yesterday with tourists all leading into the same place. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (pictured below).

My little group decided to stand on the side of the road and watch the groups go by. We got interview by a film crew. Here is a picture of my friend Taeler getting interviewed (I tease her and tell her that this picture would be much better if her eyes were open, but I guess it's still an alright picture). We then moved to the roof of the Austrian Hospice to get a better view. But once we realized that most groups were the same and nothing really exciting was happening, we decided to try to get ahead of the processions and get into the Holy Sepulcher before anyone else was there.

Ha Ha. This was a completely failed attempt. Of course the church was filled wall to wall with people with a huge line of tour groups poring out of the doors. We decided that since there was only three of us that we could justify sneaking in, and we did. We got yelled at but we just kept pushing through the crowd. There were three of us and we literally had to hold on to each others backpacks to stay together.

Once we got in we headed straight for the Sepulcher. This is where things were really crazy. People were pushing and shoving to get their way around. I can't say that I was perfect, there was a time when I wanted to put up the old lady in front of me (because I didn't have the heart to run her over) and move her out of my way. There was a line to get into the Sepulcher with hundreds of people standing in it. The police shoved their way through the crowd to form the boundaries of the line. This was insane! I saw police officers and monks alike just shoving people. They would place the metal fence and then just push whoever was in their way with it. People were falling over and falling into each other. I guess you've got to do what you've got to do? We were pretty close to this mob-like scene so we got away into another crowded place before anything big broke out.

Once place that we moved to a woman randomly just started screaming. Kind of scary, I think everyone knows that you don't scream in an extremely crowded building unless something is actually happening. I don't know if she was filled with the Holy Spirit or whatever, but a monk came out and put her in her place. He stormed towards her yelling at her, pushed her over and threw a chair at her. We were also very close to this incident and Corina, Taeler, and I all looked at each other like "did that just happen??"

Since three bickering religions are all in the Holy Sepulcher there was a lot of hostility even between the priests from the different religions. On normal days they pick petty fights, such as "this step belongs to the Greek Orthodox because one of our priests is sweeping it" to priests literally drawing lines between their separate chapels and pushing their boundaries, like Kaitlin and I did when we shared a bed growing up. That's really how it is. I didn't have the privilege to see it, but many students who braved going into the Holy Sepulcher saw some fist fights and other skirmishes go down between the priests. Kind of silly. But anyway, I think you get the gist of the hostility and violence that was going down in the Holy Sepulcher, the holiest place in all Christianity, on Good Friday.

Now, we're not stupid. We knew that a group of three girls could get to places where normally people couldn't get to. And we used this knowledge to our advantage. We met a priest named Father Samuel who we became friends with. We asked him if he would let us up on the balcony of the church (which is gated off from the rest of the church) and he told that the priests were having a service in a chapel on the balcony but if we came back in twenty minutes he would let us up. By twenty minutes we didn't know if he meant "twenty minutes and I'll be here to help you" or "twenty minutes and I will actually be gone from this place" cause when we fought our way back Father Samuel was no where to be found. But we threw his name around a bit and finally a priest reluctantly let us up.

While we climbed up the stairs we were literally pushing our way through the group of priests that were just let out of their service. It was so cool. They surrounded us. We got to the top and pushed our limits a little bit by trying to go further before getting chased down by the priest that let us up. He was not very happy with us at all. But we got to stay up in the balcony for a good ten minutes where were could look down on the unfolding madness around the sepulcher below us. It also gave me a chance to get some good pictures of the worshiping crowds.

After we were tired of the madness of the Holy Sepulcher we decided to go to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and see what was happening for Passover. We didn't see much, other than all of the bagel/pizza shops had been changed to ice cream shops, since during passover the Jewish people must eat unleavened bread. The grocery stores in Israel have complete sections of food blocked off that are off limits to buy during this time. Just a side note, but because of this we haven't had fresh bread where we eat in the Oasis for quite some time. It is all stale and hard. I am ready for some good bread again!

Since not a lot was going down we decided to go back to the center to have a free dinner and to rest before it was time to head down as a group, once again accompanied by our teachers, to the Old City. But this time we were going to the Western Wall to welcome in Shabbat (Sabbath) with the Jews. We did this early in the semester. The time before was much more exciting because there was a group of soldiers there who were quite rambunctious in their Shabbat celebrations. Very entertaining. But on this day it was relatively quiet, which was fine; it was nice to get away from the chaos of crowds. Here are some pictures at the Western Wall that I took before the Sabbath police told me to put away my camera (pushing buttons requires work and is therefore breaking the Sabbath):

After the Western Wall some people went to Christ's funeral procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher but I felt like I had had enough of that place so I came home. They had a good time and did some pretty cool things, but as for me I enjoyed coming home and taking it easy, recovering from an insane, chaotic, but wonderful day.

Herodian Palace and Shepherd's Field

2010-04-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

This morning we had New Testament followed by our Jordan field trip prep. After that we had lunch and then an afternoon field trip!

Today's field trip was (as you can tell from the blog title) the Herodian Palace and Shepherd's Field. We first went to Herodian Palace which was one of Herod's palace. It is shaped like a volcano and all semester I have seen it far off in the distance and was interested in going there. Today was that magical day.

It was hot and dusty and we had to walk up hill a lot. But it was still fun. We saw some cool cisterns (like every ancient city or fortress)

After the Herodian Palace we made our way to Shepherd's Field, the traditional site where the angels announced Christ's birth to the shepherds. But first we pulled off the side of the road and picked seeds from a mustard plant. Poor tree/bush. We totally mauled it over.

At the Shepherd's Field we had a Christmas program which was very well done. We had fifteen minutes of quiet time and then we came home.

It was nice to take a step back and remember the Savior's birth at this time. I know we usually celebrate it in December the since Christ was born in the spring it felt appropriate to celebrate it tonight. I'm grateful for the condescension of God and for the love he has for me.

Separation Wall

2010-03-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

First off, I've got to say that I was looking through my earlier posts from the beginning of this semester and I have gotten so much better at my posts! So much better. Much better quality, better pictures, and better writing. I'm just saying.

We had class this morning for four hours and after that we had a field trip to see/learn about the separation wall. The separation wall is the wall (duh) that encloses the West Bank from the rest of Israel. It is a pretty big source of conflict for people out here. The guy who came and talked to us works with the US government in Israeli relations. He was really smart and I liked how up front he was about issues in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. So straight forward and blunt, but it was really refreshing to hear about. So without further ado, here are some pictures of the mighty separation wall.

Also, here are some obvious pictures that every single BYU Jerusalem student must have. And here are mine.

Tonight we had the informal talent show, which of course was hilarious. We are all convinced that no semester has ever had a better talent show, but I bet they think that every semester. People here are so talented and funny! I laughed the whole time. At the end we all jumped up on the stage and had a dance party. When it was coming to an end I sat down and watched everyone for a minute and I remember thinking that I was probably going to cry myself to sleep that night because I was was so overcome with the unity of our group. Cheesy, I know, but it's going to be hard and a huge adjustment to come home and not be around these people 24/7! These are relationships that I think will last for a very long time, we have been through so much together. There are so many great people here. I couldn't have asked for a better group.

All Things Denote There is a God

2010-03-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

"And then Alma said unto him: Believest thou that there is a God?
And he answered, Nay. Now Alma said unto him: Will ye deny again that there is a God, and also deny the Christ? For behold, I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come. And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only. But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; and ye also have all things as a testimony unto you that they are true; and will ye deny them? Believest thou that these things are true?

"But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

Think about what's around you that points to God. There is so much, we just have to open our eyes and recognize them more.

Christian Quarter Field Trip

2010-03-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day, not much happened. I had a New Testament test this morning, and lets just say, I'm really glad it's over. I then had two hours of Ancient Near East in which I somehow I got really sick/allergic during. It was a miserable class period to say the least. But after class got out I had lunch and linen exchange and then I was out of the center! Me and a few girls tried to go to a dress shop (or more like a mall with a ton of dress shops) but to our great disappointment everything in West Jerusalem was closed due to Passover. Who would've thought?

I had a different experience being out today. Today was the first time I went into the city without having a guy with me (or with my group). We were getting a lot of cat calls and harassment from the boys and teenagers on the street. I mentioned this and how I thought it was more than usual and one of the girls told me it was cause we didn't have a guy with us. And then it made sense to me! But seriously, it was kind of out of control. At one point a car with two boys pulled over and asked us if we wanted a ride. Um, no thanks.

Anyway, let me tell you about my field trip yesterday. We went to some of the churches in the Christian Quarter of the New Testament. It was strange how churches that you pass by every day kind of pop up out of nowhere when your attention is actually directed to them. The Old City is just PACKED with churches, you seriously don't even notice them.

The sites were all kind of the same to me. One thing I did learn was that the Holy Sepluchre really is the most accurate site of Christ's Death, burial, and resurrection. This kind of rocked my world. I always believed the Garden Tomb was the most accurate, but The Holy Sepluchre has archaeological evidence to back it up. When I heard this I didn't want to believe it (and I still don't want to). The Holy Sepluchre is so dark and gloomy and not conducive to the spirit at all, in my opinion. Apparently that's why the church suggests the Garden Tomb, because it's a place where the spirit can be felt and you can have peace. So what's what I will stick to for now. While we were there there were priests reading from the Bible for Passover. That was something cool and unusual to see that doesn't happen every time you're there.

One of the places we went to was a Franciscan Convent. Here I met Father Angelo, who is an amazing person. He has an incredible story, he was a rich international banker with houses all over the world and he left them all to serve God. He is the only Franciscan Monk who will give tours to Mormons.

This convent also has a hostile connected to it for the pilgrims who come to the Holy Land. When Orson Hyde came to Jerusalem he stayed at this place. They have a door in the church with carvings in it where Elder Hyde carved his name. Cool!

We went to a Russian Church in which girls were not permitted to go inside without skirts, so they supplied skirts for us. Stylish! This church was cool, but the most amazing part were the paintings. They were so beautiful and portrayed the Savior in a light that I see him in. They were not dark or stained with incense. They were just beautiful.

At this church there was also what's called the eye of a needle. So whenever you read in the scriptures about how it's harder for a rich man to enter into heaven than for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. Kind of changes things, doesn't it?

It was a good half day and I came home with enough time to do homework and rest for the remainder of the day.

City of David/Palm Sunday/Singing in the Streets

2010-03-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

You might be thinking to yourself, "that is a very packed title to a blog". And I'm telling you yes, yes it is. And that is because I had a very packed day with many various activities.

The day started out first and foremost by visiting Schindler's grave. That was really cool, I was kind of expecting a high and mighty tomb stone or something but it was actually very simple and humble, which I liked a lot. I put a stone on his grave, which is the custom here rather than flowers.

Next we went to the City of David. I finally got to do Hezekiah's tunnel!! Everyone else did it earlier in the semester but I missed it because I was late for the field trip and got left. But I finally got to do it today, with my head lamp and all! So exciting.

Hezekiah's Tunnel is a tunnel that Hezekiah made to divert the water from the Gihon spring to prevent the Assyrians from poisoning or blocking the water in case of a siege. It was built very quickly and you can tell by looking at the sides of the tunnel that these people were in a panic, just hacking away at the sides. As my friend Jonathan (aka Bible John) said, "You can almost see how they were saying 'Freak, the Assyrians are coming! Freak, the Assyrians are coming!!'"

When we got out of the tunnel our pants were soaked to about mid thigh, but we pressed forward. We went and saw Area G in the City of David which is an archaeology dig site. It was actually pretty cool, from one spot you could three places of evidence of different time and different people. You could see a Jebusite layer, a Nehemiah layer, and a layer from King David's Palace.

We then went to the Pool of Siloam where Christ told the blind man to wash to be healed. After that we started heading back to the center but on our way back we stopped at Absalon's Pillar and Steven's Church. This picture of me is me inside of a cave in Absalon's Pillar. We had to go down what we called the "birth canal" which is literally a tiny hole in the rock that you shimmy yourself down into and to get back up someone has to pull your whole body weight to the top of the cave. Kind of intense and I skinned my elbows doing it (first timer). But it was fun being inside a big structure high above the ground.

When we got back from the center I had about 45 minutes to rest from the morning and then it was time to go and celebrate Palm Sunday! Which was AMAZING! We walked up to Bethany where the path of the savior was to be reenacted of the Triumphant Entry. There were so many people there, a lot of them bearing palm tree branches. The Palestinian families were on their roofs watching the passerbys. The walk was very, very slow with so many people. I actually ended up bailing early because I felt like I got the gist of what was going on and wanted to go home and actually read and ponder the story rather than walk the route to Jerusalem. On my way back to the center I came upon some police officers on some very large horses that I enjoyed very much.

My favorite part of the day, however, came at night after dinner. A group of us went downtown to West Jerusalem for my friend's birthday. I don't know how this idea came about, but we decided that since we didn't want to pay money to buy ice cream we would just earn it in the city. And we did. We had various musical instruments and we sang and dance and ended up making about 125 sheckles, which is equivalent to about 33 American dollars. We did good! At the end of the night we ended up buying two tubs of ice cream, sitting in a huge circle in the street, and passing around the tubs until everything was gone. So much fun. I ended up learning that the universal equalizer songs are "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Ain't no Mountain High Enough", and "The Piano Man". While we sang these songs we got a huge crowd of people singing with us. Turns out that Jewish people also really enjoy "Popcorn Popping". Funny Mormon culture.

I met a lot of interesting people in between acts that I was in. I met one man that loves the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He requested that we sang "Come, Come ye Saints" and we did for him. He also asked if he could do his own musical number, and we let him. We also met a fellow musician who plays her harp every night to earn a living. She also plays her ukulele and we sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad" while she played for us. I think it made her night. We met a guy named Alex from South Africa who jumped up and started singing with us. We met another guy who was dressed in drag and claimed that he was going to a drag queen show but when he showed up it hadn't started yet so then he was "stuck in public" looking how he did. So funny. One man we were talking to was asking about our religion (I think, he was really hard to understand) and got very upset when we said that we couldn't talk about it. He was asking for a Book of Mormon and just wouldn't take no for an answer. I'm pretty sure he was rather drunk though.

After we reaped the rewards of our efforts we came back to the center. And now I'm done writing this blog. Time for bed.

Final day of Galilee--March 25

2010-03-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Today was our final day in the Galilee. We packed up our stuff, checked out of our bungalows, and were on our way. Of course we couldn't just go straight home to the center though, we had to pack our day with sites to make every second count.

First we went to an ancient city called Sephhoris. Aka another Tel. Another citadel. Another cistern. But this city had amazing mosaics. In fact, the mosaic pictured is nick named the Mona Lisa of Israel, and you can probably see why. Absolutely incredible. I'm actually reading a historical fiction book about Joseph and Mary right now and it mentions Sephhoris a lot in it. So it's kind of cool that I can picture the place.

After Sephhoris we went to Muhraqa which is the traditional site of where Elisha mocked/rebuked the priests of Baal. This site had beautiful gardens and was really beautiful.

And speaking of gardens, after Muhraqa we went to the Baha'i Gardens. Which were incredible!! Baha'i is a very interesting religion. Their beliefs are pretty much any truth. They believe that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, for instance. They believe in Joseph Smith. They believe in anything that has truth and goodness. We were joking about how we wanted to join that religion just to be sure that we had all of our bases covered. But really, such a cool religion! I would love to research it more and learn about the people, because up to this point I had never heard about it.

These gardens are the grounds for the Baha'i temple. They usually have a beautiful shrine on the gardens but when we went it was being restored so it was looking a little ugly.

We then went to the Templar Cemetery in the German colony in Haifa. At this site there are two LDS members burried. We learned about the first missionaries in Israel, one of which was Elder Spori (yes, the very Spori from the Spori building at BYU Idaho!). So that was cool to learn about. What a hard and intimidating job, bringing the gospel here way back when. But there were missionaries here at one point, that is crazy to think about!

Then we got on the bus and we all pretty much passed out on the way home. It was so good to be back at the center. Everyone made a mad dash for the laundry room, it was insane! It's crazy that Jerusalem feels like home and everything else is just a vacation.

Galilee was a great trip. A really good experience. The Galilee has beautiful sites and a beautiful spirit about it. I loved it and will always treasure the feelings and the things I learned while being there.

Galilee Day Nine--March 24, 2010

2010-03-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

Two days ago I impulsively poured water on a boy in my group so that it looked like he wet his pants. The next morning he chased me down before breakfast and dumped a whole coffee pot of water down my front. I had to go to breakfast like that and had to go on my field trip like that. So...I got him back.

As you can see I got every pair of his pants (which he brought much more than I did!) and soaked them in the crotch and put them back for him to wear. So funny. But now I'm terrified about what he might do to me next.

This day we went to Akko which was a crusader's city way back when. We walked through the dungeons and through secret tunnels. We walked along the Mediterranean Sea and then had some free time to explore the Old City of Akko.

After we left Akko we hiked up to Mount Arbell which overlooks the whole area of Galilee. From that point we could see the geographic extent of the Savior's ministry. It was absolutely beautiful and well worth the hike up even though we were all very tired at the end of the day.

Galilee Day Eight--March 23, 2010

2010-03-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful day full of very beautiful things. We were outside for all of the day hiking through the forest of northern Israel. Before I came here I would have never believed that Israel would have forests and landscapes like I saw today, but it does. Ant it is so pretty and unexpected. We started off our day in Tel Hazor. If you don't already know, a tel is a mound that has layers and ancient cities built on top of each other. At the beginning of the semester when I learned about these I thought they were so awesome and cool! Now every field trip we go on we see tels and they all look alike. Needless to say we are all pretty sick of them. So Tel Hazor was another tel, with another cistern, all the same. But at Tel Hazor I started singing "High Open Places" (like the Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces) to describe how ancient kings would place alters in high places, such as Hazor. So I got the inspiration to film a "music video" there with the tweaked lyrics. Starting at that site we did a music video at every site for the rest of the day. Which was actually really funny and we had to get really creative to make the lyrics fit each site.

After Tel Hazor we went to Tel Dan, which is actually much different from Tel Hazor. Tel Dan is beautiful! We hiked through the forests where there are springs, streams, and creeks everywhere. It was so green and really pretty. Dan is in the Old Testament and is the northern most part of the Kingdom of Israel.

From Tel Dan we hiked up to some waterfalls. The "Dixie Chicks" did a music video which was really funny. When we were done filming I was walking back to the bus and some young guy wanted a picture with me...I just walked away but thought it was funny. I thought to myself "he must think I'm a real celebrity after that music video". But not really. At the Banias waterfalls we were also able to partake of some of the delicious apples of the Golan Heights. These apples are kind of a joke amongst the students because our Islam teacher once mentioned how good the apples were in Golan Heights and he kind of raved about them. So I was excited to finally see how good they really were. I was pleasantly surprised.

After enjoying our delicious apples we went to Caesarea Philippi where the keys of the kingdom were promised to Peter. This was a really pretty site. My teacher actually took the picture that is in the back of the Bible and he showed us the pot he was standing at when he took it. This was a good place to sit and ponder the Priesthood and how it blesses my life.

Next we went to about the coolest place ever! It had no religious or spiritual significance, in fact we didn't really get much information about this place. It was the end of the day, the last site, and they pretty much just let us go and explore however we wanted to. This site was called Nimrod's Castle. I think it was a crusader fortress. But anyway, it was awesome. A full on castle set on cliffs. Seriously, straight out of a movie.

When we got back to Ein Gev we ate dinner and then had a class fireside. We had a devotional that was really good and then we made s'mores and scones. People told stories (I told one about when one of my friends had a funny encounter with Sinbad at Disney World) and we just grew together as a class. It was a good time. After that I went straight to bed, so exhausted, once again, from a very long day from being in the sun, thinking, and learning.

Galilee Day Seven--March 22, 2010

2010-03-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a really fun day! We had a full day field trip packed with sites and activities.

First we went to see what's called the Ginosaur Boat which is a boat that was found in the '80s from Christ's time. It was bolted together and supported by a metal brace. It was old! I liked seeing it though because before today I always wondered how in the world a storm in the Sea of Galilee could be so bad, but after seeing the boat I realize that a wave over three feet could come into the boat and after a while the boat could easily sink. So now I actually understand the apostle's fear in the storm.

After seeing the Ginosaur bus we went to Mt. Tabor which is the mountain where the transfiguration of Christ was believed to have happened. We sat and read all three accounts story and talked about it. I learned some new things that I never knew before.

After we looked at the church (which everyone said was their favorite and I liked it but it wasn't quite my favorite) we went to a look out point to see the Jezreel Valley. This was the exact spot where the picture in the Bible was taken. There was a team of people doing a documentary where we were. They were also in the church and recorded us when we were singing. So who knows, we could end up in some random documentary!

Jezreel Valley

After that we went to Nain to a synagogue and talked about the story and the significance of the Savior raising the widow's son from the dead. From Nain we went to Bet Alfa and looked at a Mosaic floor. We actually watched a movie about it but I slept through the whole thing so I honestly have no idea what the significance of the floor was.

From there we went to the best part of the day--Gan Ha-Shelosha!! This was an absolutely beautiful place and pools for us to swim in. Absolutely no educational value! So great. The only bad part was that all of the water was so deep and so you got tired swimming in it after a while. But it was really fun and refreshing and I thought it was really nice of our teachers to plan a part of the day for the students just to have fun and relax rather than stand looking at another tel. I'm so sick of tels.

For our last stop we went to Beth Shan which was an ancient Gentile city in Christ's time. Everything was pretty well preserved, it was actually really cool to see. I think everyone would agree that seeing the ancient toilet room was the best thing to see in this city, however. I spent about 30 minutes there taking silly pictures.....so educational. But I bet I remember that better than I would remember any fact about a Tel or a cistern.

When we got back it was the same as pretty much every other night. We ate dinner and then settled down in our rooms to relax. I went to bed and prepared myself for the next busy day!

Galilee Day Five--March 20th

2010-03-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

“When I am filled with strong desire and ask a boon of him, I see no miracle of living fire, but what I ask flows into me. And when the tempest rages high I feel no arm around me thrust, but every storm goes rolling by when I repose in him my trust.”

--Come Unto Him
Hymn #114

Today, of course, was our Sabbath day in Israel. My class didn’t have church until 2:15 (or at least didn’t have to leave the kibbutz until 2:15) so I had a relaxing morning full of updating my blog, mostly.

At 2:15 we got on the bus and headed to a place called Yardenit. It’s a place on the Jordan River where Christian pilgrims gather to be renew their baptisms by getting baptized once again in the Jordan River.

This was a very interesting thing to me. There was only one group when we were there but my teachers explained to us how it us during busy times. They said that every religion has their own special way of baptizing. Some of the religions have the people go out individually and dunk themselves in the water; others have their priests sprinkle water on them, so on and so forth. The group I watched today was pretty similar to our practice except for the huge difference of authority. Besides observing the method of baptism, it was even more interesting to hear what their priest was teaching them before they were baptized. I liked what I heard from the group today, it was all very true teachings about the Savior and I liked seeing the faith and devotion of the people.

Jordan River!

After that we went to have sacrament meeting in Tiberius. The meeting house is so beautiful. It looks like a house (in fact it was a house that the church bought and gutted and made into a meeting house) and right when you walk into the building you see the most spectacular view of the Galilee. While you’re sitting in your seat and looking at the speaker, behind them is just bright blue water. So pretty. The people in this part of the world really deserve a meeting place like that, they have been waiting for forever to have somewhere to meet. Up until March 17, 2007 when the church was dedicated, they were meeting in each other’s houses and other various places. During the first intifada there were only three members of the Galilee branch and the church was seriously considering shutting the branch down. The issue went to the prophet of the church (I can’t remember who it was, maybe Kimball?) who said that almost all of the time when you shut down a branch it never comes back.

What you see during Sacrament meeting

Our musical number quartet

The view from the roof of the Tiberius branch meeting house

Out sacrament meeting was really good. I sang a musical number in a quartet. We sang Come Until Him (Hymn #114) which is my absolute favorite hymn and I think it portrays my whole striving and experience of my time in Jerusalem and Galilee.

Later that night after dinner we had a fireside given by the Galilee Branch couple. They gave us the history of the Galilee branch and then we broke up into four groups in which we could ask some of the branch members questions. My group was assigned to a 15 year old boy who was very outspoken and funny. At one point of the meeting he killed a bug on his white shirt by slapping himself in the middle of a thought. It was really funny, he was an interesting fellow. But despite of his different personality I’ve still got to hand it to him. Being the only youth in the Galilee region while attending a Jewish school would be hard. How do they do it? They just do. And they do it cheerfully and full of optimism and faith.

After the fireside I wrote in my journal and went to bed. I was pooped. But today was an all around good day for me to think of my devotion to the gospel and to the Savior and to double my efforts and commit myself once again.

Galilee Day Four-- March 19th

2010-03-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today was packed. We had a field trip in the morning and what they called a "water activity" in the afternoon.

First on our field trip we went to a place called Gamla. Gamla was a Jewish city during the time of the Roman rule. My teacher kept referring it to "the city on the hill" because it really is on a hill. I would imagine that in the time of Jesus that the people in the Galilee region would be able to look up and see the lights of this city of Gamla. We hiked down into the valley and then up along the spine of the cliff to get to the top where the look out tower stood back in the day. It was really hot and the way back up was a steep incline, but it was worth it. We could see beautiful views of the green mountains and the lake off in the distance.

After Gamla we went to a site called Qazin. Qazin was an ancient city in the Galilee region during Christ's time. In this city stands a synagogue that is in pretty good shape. This synagogue is also from Christ's time and it is very likely that he taught the people of Qazin from there. What was interesting about Qazin and different from every other ancient city we've been to is that this city had been restored from its original foundations so that we could see what it would have looked like back in all of its glory. So that was cool to see and gave me another new insight and image to have while reading the New Testament.

After we went to Qazin we headed over to a war memorial for about 15 minutes. I think it was planned mostly to humor us and our picture taking. There was barbed wire everywhere and places that were surrounded with barbed wire where mines still existed. I don't think it had any historical difference or any relevance to what we have been learning other than it was a part of Jewish history. So we got our pictures and went on our way.

When we got back to the kibbutz we ate lunch and then got ready for our "water activity", otherwise known as a float trip down the Jordan River.

It was way fun and the best part was that we didn't have guides with us! I thought we would cause in America we probably would have but not in Israel! So that was great. We had a lot of water fights and such, of course.

Originally the plan to get home, since we only had one bus, was for one half of the group to go back while the other half waited for the bus to come and get them. But our bus driver was super cool and let us all get on at once so no one had to wait. So imagine now-- 80 people on one bus! It was insane! Not to mention we are all wet and muddy. We all had to sit three to a seat and close the curtains on the bus, cause if we got caught our bus driver (Eddie) would have been in big trouble. But we didn't get caught and made it back to Ein Gev safely. Although when we got off our bus was in horrible shape so we all went back to our rooms and got shamwows, brooms, and mops to clean the bus. And I've got to say, this morning when I got on I expected it to be much dirtier than it was. We did a great job cleaning!

The other half of our group went to St. Peter's restaurant last night so dinner was pretty quite. I was exhausted from our full day so I ended up throwing in the towel early and just going to bed. Nothing provides a good nights sleep like a fun-packed day in the Galilee.

Galilee Day Three-- March 18th

2010-03-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty low key day. Like Tuesday, today was a free day for us after we had our class. Most of the group went on a hike, but the space was limited and I didn’t get my name on the sign up list fast enough so I hung around here. I mostly read all day and relaxed. Once again it was windy and too cold to go swimming.

During the night time, however, we had some fun things planned. We went to the St. Peter’s Fish restaurant where they served us fish like you see in cartoons—fried with they eyes, bones, pretty much everything. And when I say that they served “us” I mean they served the majority fish. I, for one, am not a huge fan of fish and thought I’d rather be wimpy than hungry. But I did end up eating some of my neighbors and it was actually pretty good. This dinner gave us the perfect opportunity/excuse to play with our food. Because it was still a fish! We put on dancing numbers and of course we made our fish talk. Some people (about half of those people being at my table) were brave and ate the eyes and the brain of the fish. Some people got really grossed out at that but I thought it was hilarious.

Want to know why I'm so happy? Cause I'm not eating this.

No, anything but that!

The restaurant was beautiful and it overlooked the Galilee. It had gardens out back with a stream running through it and a bridge. There were lights hung up and it was really pretty and magical. The perfect place for a wedding reception.

After the fish restaurant we all got on the bus and headed over to Tiberius to hang out there for a few hours and get ice cream. I opted out on the ice cream and instead looked at the booths set up on the pier. I didn’t buy anything from these booth shops (which reminded me of a flee market) but liked walking on the board walk and enjoying the warm (and not windy) night.

Where we met at the end of the night we went to meet our bus at a place where there were some ruins. I don’t even know if they were real ruins, but we sat and waited for the rest of the group and my friend Kennedy and I made up facts about them. Which was funny, but probably only if you know our teacher and we’ve been learning, (you know, nerdy kind of humor).

We came back to the kibbutz and relaxed and talked outside once again. This is my favorite part of the day; I love just talking out by the lake. It reminds me of the summer and makes me excited for the summer days up ahead.

Beautiful sunset on the Galilee

Galilee Day Three--March 17th

2010-03-20T04:45:00.000-07:00

First off, happy birthday to Anna Sophia on this day!! I sure missed her today and wished that I could be with her on her birthday, but I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day just for her since I know she loves it.

Today was SUCH a good day. I loved every site we went to and learned so much. The day started by me giving the devotional thought on the bus. I shared my favorite story of Christ in the New Testament. My favorite version of it is found in Mark 5 where he casts the devils out of the man into the swine. I love this story because it shows the perfect compassion and tender side of the Savior. It is especially meaningful to me for my future career as a teacher for children with special needs. Read it and ponder on it—and I promise you will grow to love it like I do.

Right as I was finishing giving my thought we actually pulled up to the site where it happened! The place is called Kursi Park. I had no idea we were going there, it was a happy coincidence which I was glad for, because this story really means so much to me. The site was beautiful and I felt the spirit strongly there. I walked up to an overlook where I could see the Sea of Galilee and was overwhelmed with love and peace. I picked some flowers from that site to put in my scriptures and journal so that I can always remember that experience.

"

Next we went to Bethsaida which was a fisherman’s town in Jesus’ day. It was the city where the apostles Peter, James, John, and Andrew came from. We could see some ruins from the city but it was mostly good for beautiful views of the green cliffs and the water in the distance. Such a pretty site.

The view from Bethsaida

After making a quick stop at Bethsaida we went to the Mount of Beatitudes. This was my second favorite. When we are going to sites I am always a little weary of churches being there. Churches in Jerusalem to me are really dark and don’t portray the feeling that I believe they should. For example, the churches in Bethlehem that mark the place where the savior was born is dark and full in incense and it’s really hard to see past all of the gaudy decorations and to the true meaning on the place. It’s so easy to forget the real reason you’re at the church.

The gorgeous church on the Mount of Beatitudes

The view from the Mount of Beatitudes

Most of the churches in the Galilee, however, have really impressed me. They are light and beautiful and while they are nothing near the peace and spirit felt at a temple, they definitely are more in harmony with the spirit. The church on the Mount of Beatitudes, for example, is absolutely breathtaking. It’s on the edge of the lake and all around it are beautiful gardens. Probably the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. It has long stretches of grass for you to sit in the sun and read and think. It was so incredible and I had a great experience being there. After we saw the church and had an hour of alone time we walked down the rest of the luscious green hill to where our next site was. There were wildflowers everywhere and once again I picked some to put in my scriptures to remember the feelings I had there.

Someone snapped a picture of me reading at the Mount of Beatitudes

Some of us while walking down the Mount of Beatitudes

We next went to what’s Tabgah, which is a church that commemorates the event of when Christ multiplied the fish and loaves of bread to feed his followers. This was a small church and we only spent a little bit of time here, but it was cool because inside of the church we ran into a Russian Catholic group and got a chance to hear some of their priests singing some Russian Easter songs. I really enjoyed that and like sitting in the pews and listening. There was also a spring in the front of the church with a pond full of gold fish. We sat in the courtyard and read the miracle of Christ multiplying the food and I was able to receive a much deeper insight and understanding of that story than I had before.

The fish at Tabgah

We then went to what’s called St. Peter Primacy which was a church right off the shore of the Galilee. We talked about Christ’s apostles and how they were called and their mission. We talked about their families and how hard it would have been just to drop their livelihood to follow Christ and the faith they had. At St. Peter’s Primary Christ performed the miracle of filling the apostle’s nets with fish. We talked about how Christ provided for his apostles and their families by giving them enough fish to live off of for a long time. The apostles had faith in Him and he blessed them and gave them a way to follow him. Isn’t this principle so true in our lives as well?

St. Peters Primacy

Brother Manscill teaching us at St. Peter's Primacy. Good man.

After having some free time to explore the beach outside of St. Peter Primacy we went to Capernaum. Christ spent a lot of time here during his ministry. We sat in the synagogue that has remained since Christ’s time and read in the New Testament when Christ taught that he is the bread of life. This place also had beautiful gardens. There were also ruins of Peter’s house in Capernaum where Christ stayed for quite a bit of time. I really liked the beauty of Capernaum, not to mention I got to check off seeing another site pictured in the back of the Bible!

Capernaum!

The synagogue at Capernaum

We then left Capernaum and went to my third favorite site of the day, which was the Sea of Galilee. We got on a boat and motored out to sit in the middle of the lake for a small devotional, singing, and quiet time. But before the quiet time happened, the boat crew pulled out an American flag for us and played the National Anthem while Allison Shamrell raised the flag. After the National Anthem the crew played “God Bless America” and then moved onto playing Christian rock. We all thought it was really funny and enjoyed hanging out with the crew.

On the Sea of Galilee

My class on the Sea of Galilee. We are cute.

When we got out to the middle of the lake all music and dancing stopped and we had a devotional given. Michael gave the devotional and he spoke on the story of Peter walking on water. I have grown to love this story more and more and have seen how it can really be applied to me. We then sang “Master the Tempest is Raging” which has become one of my favorite hymns, especially since I have actually seen the Galilee raging on stormy days during my stay so far. After personal reading and thinking time we went back to the docks were our bus picked us up and took us back to Ein Gev where we are staying.

There’s a scripture in Alma that says that he cannot describe even a part of what he feels in his heart. At the end of this day I felt the same way. There was so much goodness and learning put into one day. I hope I can always remember it and how I felt for the rest of my life.

Galilee Day Two--March 16th

2010-03-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

Sunset at Galilee

Day two of Galilee turned out to be a free day for us. Well, actually, we had class for three hours and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We only have one bus in Galilee so my class has field trips every other day and while the other class goes on their field trip we have a free day. It's really nice to get a break and recover from our busy field trips, but all I want to do is swim and every day my class has had open has been really windy and kind of cold. But don't worry, eventually I will find a good time to swim in the Sea of Galilee. I will not leave this area without doing it.

Since it was a free day not much of anything exciting happened. I read and relaxed on the beach after class. But that night we had a bon fire for everyone which was really fun. We first had planned skits, which I'm always a little nervous about cause those can either be really good or really terrible, but they were actually pretty hilarious. We then played charades which was especially funny when we could get our teachers in on it. My team lost by a lot but oh well. After charades we sang songs around the campfire. After the fire and our reservation time for the fire pit was up, we scattered around in different groups and continued talking. I really enjoy not having a big lounge area for everyone to meet in this week, mostly because it forces us to do things other than watch movies. I feel like that's all we do on the weekends in the Jerusalem Center. So it's nice to get out of that rut and to really get to know each other.

The pictures and videos from this night honestly aren't very good and won't make much sense, but they have a lot of meaning to me so I will post them anyway.

The "Invisible Bench" skit done by Jason, Marcus, Greg, Daniel, and Sam

Party at the fire

That night when I went to bed had a really hard time falling asleep. I knew that the door wasn't locked and that drove me crazy but I couldn't find a key to lock it. But I couldn't just think about it laying in bed so I got up to look for it so that my mind would be at ease. While I was up I thought that I might as well go to the bathroom but when I went in I saw this:

My after midnight surprise. And see all of those black dots on the floor. Those are all dead gnats. The little guy was probably in heaven!

It took me back a little bit (the first time I saw it it was actually behind the toilet) and I decided that it wasn't something I wanted to deal with at one o'clock am so I just closed the door and left it for the morning. But after a few minutes of laying in bed sleepless yet again, I was going crazy trying to figure out how in the heck the little guy actually got into my apartment. And I came to the conclusion that I actually did have to go to the bathroom and I couldn't wait. So I gathered my energy (and courage) and went out to the bathroom to face the toad. But to my surprise it had somehow shimmied it's way under the door and was hanging out in the hallway. So with that I caught it, put it outside, went to the bathroom, found my key, locked the door, and then I could finally fall asleep. And I did.

The next morning my roommates and I were still trying to figure out how he got in. Did he jump through a window? (My bed is right under the only open window so I hoped that wasn't the case.) Did he get under the door? Later that day we found out that one of the boys, Andrew, actually caught it and put it in our room. Haha, unfortunately for him I didn't have the reaction he was hoping for, but it was still pretty funny to find out and relieving to know that our room is actually closed off and no other critters can come and visit us.

Galilee Day One--March 15th

2010-03-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Galilee

Soooooooo Galilee!! Where to start? Galilee is so so beautiful. In some ways it reminds me of Hawaii. Everywhere you look you can see high green cliffs and the water. Did you know that the Sea of Galilee is actually a fresh water lake? I didn't know that. But when I learned it I vaguely remembered learning it in geography a long time ago or something. But now I know.

In true Jerusalem Center fashion on the way to Galilee we hit as many sites as we possibly could. Here are the adventures we had on the way to Galilee.

Our first stop was Caesarea. Caesarea is a ship port that Herod built in order to bring people and prosperity to that part of his ruling territory. Although I think he mostly did it to get favor from Caesar (hence the name). Caesarea is a ship port for ships coming in from the Mediterranean Sea. Its quite an impressive structure, back in those days they knew how to pour cement into water and have it set even when wet. We don't have that techology now, it has been lost. We saw some cool Roman culture things there, not to mention it was really pretty and right off the sea.

The Roman theater at Caesarea

This was the horse chariot racing track at Caesarea. Hence the picture.

Sandwiched between two tall people at Caesarea

We also stopped for about 15 minutes to see what an aqueduct looked like back in the time of the Romans.

Roman aqueduct. I believe that these arches would have been under water back then. We've found that Israel is a great place to tell secrets because of all of the arches you can find here!

After Caesarea we went to Nazareth to see the Basilica of the Annunciation, the Church of the Annunciation (which is the Greek Orthodox claim in the area), and the Church of St. Joseph. The Basilica of the Annunciation was really pretty. My teacher didn't like it but I really enjoyed it compared to some of the churches you find in Jerusalem. It was really big and had light colored stained glass windows. My favorite part was all of the mosaics and paintings...this church has a depiction of Mary from over one hundred countries. I really liked seeing the different nationalities of Mary. They were very pretty.

All the pictures of the different depictions of Mary in the courtyard of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth

The United States' depiction of Mary. Which I can't decide if I like or not.

The Church of the Annunciation was a small church that was also really pretty...we just walked in and looked at the shrine of Mary at the bottom of some steps. There was a stream of water running through the church where you could drink the "holy" water. If women drink it they are supposed to become pregnant. So I may or may not have had a drink...I guess we'll see!

I really liked the Church of St. Joseph. As you could probably guess it focused on Joseph and his mission in Christ's life. We went to the basement of the church and discussed how his personality and character must have been like. I really admire Joseph. I remember a long time ago after seeing The Nativity Story I remember thinking that I wanted to marry someone like Joseph. And I still do.

Sometime during this day (I really don't remember the order) we also went to Megiddo. This was an ancient city that overlooked the Jezreel Valley which is the place where everything before the second coming is going to go down. We saw stables where the people kept their horses as well as religious sites such as churches.

Jezreel Valley! Look for it in your scriptures

"Horse Stables" at Megiddo

After a long day of driving and all of these activities we came to the Ein Gev Kibbutz where we are staying for our whole time here. We got settled in and had sinner and spent the evening around the shors of the Galilee, followed by going to bed very early; we were all exhausted. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful night.

Tel Aviv

2010-03-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today for our free day a huge group of us went to Tel Aviv to spend a day of fun in the sun! It was so amazing. It felt so good to be outside of the center and it even felt kind of good to be outside of Jerusalem. We all felt free from teachers and classes and conflict in the city and everything! We could even wear shorts!! Incredible!

But speaking of freedom, I saw way too many bodies today. Way too many gross things that I could have lived without seeing. Way too many speedos and way too many older women thinking that they can still pull off a string bikini. So yucky. I think after a while I became immune to it though. Here are some highlights of my day:

Hey.....just me, Daniel and Jonathan chilling by the Mediterranean.

This artwork is entitled "coexist". Dome of the Rock + Ziggurat + Salt Lake City Temple= coexisting.

Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall. See, we have learned something!

Us playing one of our favorite games, Ninja Destruction. I'm getting karate chopped by Eric.

Diana...the centaur.

Carrie and me at sunset...she's one of my amazing visiting teachers!

My roommate Michelle and me at sunset

BYU Jerusalem--Tel Aviv trip! (I am located on the second row second one in from the left)

I got really sunburned which wasn't that smart of a decision since I'm going to Galilee tomorrow to be in the sun for 10 days! But I love the sun, I just can't help it! Today was pretty much a perfect day.

Interviews

2010-03-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

Today we went into the Old City for a few hours. Because it is Friday we could only go out from three to sundown. My goal was to buy my souvinirs for people and get that out of the way. But....I didn't even come close to reaching this goal.

This is because as we were going into the city I was the last person in the group and a guy said "Do you need help finding anything?" and I said no, thank you (because people always say that to make you stop and look in their shop). He called back to me as I passed him "I really do want to help, I'm not trying to get you to come to my shop" and then I stopped because I'm actually trying to figure out where to find a prayer rug (he might have overheard me say this). He told me where I can find one and we actually stayed and talked to him for a good 45 minutes.

His name is Omar and he is 29 years old. He spoke very good English because he went to high school in Philidelphia and went to college at George Mason. He graduated in Accounting and is now working in Jerusalem for a company as a finance consultant.

I learned a lot of things from Omar. He grew up in the Old City and his childhood was during the time of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising. This started when he was about eight years old. He said that at that time the streets of the Old City were completely empty. No one came to Jerusalem to tour. To him as an eight year old it was great; he said that he and his friends ruled the streets and the whole city was their playground.

He explained some of the effects that the intifada had on him and his peers. He said that education slipped and a lot of people his age now can't get good jobs because they don't have the skills they need. He escaped that fate because his parents put him in a private catholic school and he was able to continue on to get skills that he needed to be successful. He learned what he needed to and came back home to his country to improve it. Very cool story.

So Omar is going to hook me up and find me a prayer rug. And he also invited us to come to where he works because there is an amazing view from the top of the building. When we get back from Galilee we're going to get a group together to go and see him once again.

So it was a good day, even though I didn't complete what I wanted to, it was still good. I've said this before but this is my favorite part of being in Jerusalem is knowing the people. To get a glimpse of their life and how it is so different from mine and yet so much the same. To talk about fast food in America and talk about Vegas! So fun and one of the greatest things that I will remember about my stay in Jerusalem.

Neot Kedumim

2010-03-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Today we had a field trip to the Biblical Land Reserve called Neot Kedumim. At this place they have acres and acres (about the size of a whole city) of land and things referenced in the Bible.

When we got there the first station we went to was about water in ancient times. We saw a cistern and were able to see how much strength it took to pull a bucket of water out of the cistern, which was womens work in the Old/New Testament times. We learned about how they channeled water from the rain and we talked about how Christ uses water in his teachings. This was surprising because our guide was a Jewish man. But I learned a lot.

Our tour guide. I was determined to remember his name...but I don't.

After that we went to a station where we learned about the bush hyssop. This was very interesting to me. We smashed it up and talked about its many uses. The hyssop is mentioned many times in the Bible. Our guide pointed out that hyssop is the most humble plant. It is low to the ground, can be used for many things, and in order to get it to its useful form you have to smash it up. I liked the symbolism I could see in this hyssop plant that I probably otherwise wouldn't have picked up on. I can now see why it would be used in the Bible so much.

Crushing up the hyssop

Next we went to the sheep/goat herding station. This one was my favorite. Our guide divided us up into three groups. The first group had no instruction as to how to herd the sheep and were just told to do their best, which presented many difficulties for them. It was really funny to watch, they went around trying to force the sheep into the circle by chasing them, pushing them, or pulling on their horns (for goats). When goats get scared they go a cliff. Our guide said that "goats have strong legs but sheep have weak ones and they will break their leg". It worked eventually, but it wasn't the best way.

Here is an example of some difficulties that arise in herding sheep and goats...

I was in the next group and we got some instruction as to what to do. Our guide gave us the tip to lead BEHIND the flock, rather than force them to follow us. The best way to do this was to make a V formation behind the flock and herd them to the circle where they needed to be. I liked this because when you think about the Savior as a shepherd figure you imagine him as a caring and loving leader. His plan for us is not to force us to make correct choices or drag us to return to him, but to lovingly support us and offer light to us in this life. Very cool.

My group herding our flock. Victorious!

We also learned that to successfully lead a flock you must find the natural leader of the flock. The leader is always a female goat, but if there are no goats then it is always a female sheep. You look for the natural leader and you lead them and the rest will follow. Our guide was telling us that he heard a story where a flock leader fell off of the side of a cliff and the whole flock followed her off.

Some interesting parallel our guide pointed out was how David says that "The Lord is my Shepherd", which it's pretty obvious what that means, right? But there's more to it. Remember the natural leader of the flock? Well, in this case, the natural leader would be David. And the Lord is the Shepherd. And so as long as the natural leader, aka King David follows the Lord, then the people will also. Interesting, isn't it?? So to put it in modern terms, President Monson is the natural leader of the flock, and the Lord is using him to guide the rest of us. Kind of puts a whole new meaning on the symbolism of the shepherd, doesn't it?

After the sheep herding experience, we jumped on a train and took a tour through the recreational park.

On the train ride

Our next station was our lunch break but we built fires and were taught how to make pita and pop wheat over the fire. Those were both so yummy and I really liked it. And I felt pretty hard core standing over a fire in the blazing sun. It was so hot today! We were all sweating like crazy and were dead tired after the day.

Making pita! So yummy!

After lunch we went to a pond where we learned how the early Israelites drew water by running on a huge hamster like wheel to pump water out of a body of water. Next we went to a threshing floor where they would crush wheat and barley to make bread. We got to see how they made bread in ancient times. The women had to turn a stone over and over again for an hour and a half! Crazy!

After learning about bread making and threshing floors, we made our last stop to learn about Jewish scribes and how they write the Torah. To be completely honest with you, I fell asleep during most of this presentation so I can't tell you much of what I learned, but I did get to hear this man read the Torah, which sounded like he was really chanting it. It was really cool. I learned that if a scribe made a mistake while writing the Torah he could scratch it out and fix it, unless it was the word God. If he messed up writing God then he would have to take out the whole page and start over. I also learned that every time a scribe was going to write the word God he would have to go into a mikvah, which is a religious bath, to clean and purify himself. If a scribe makes a mistake on something small such as a prayer that Jews put on the side of their doors called the mizuzah then he must bury the parchment and start over. Any document speaking of God on it cannot be burned or destroyed, it has to be buried, unless it is the Torah.

Honestly I can't tell you what that breast plate thing is...I fell asleep. But what I do know is that I am "reading" from the Torah!

After the scribe station our day was over and we got on the bus and went home. But here are some more interesting things I learned today:

This is a sycamore tree very similar to the one that the tax collector man climbed up in Jericho to see the Savior

These are lilies! Something interesting that I learned. So when Christ says to "consider the lilies of the field" these are the lilies that he's talking about. Not the white lilies that I had pictured in my mind.

And that was my day. Hot and sunny. But very fun and educational! It was good to see these things that are mentioned in the Bible come to life. It makes it easier to understand parables and the life of ancient people. Now when I read the Bible a lot of things are coming together and making more sense.

Arab Culture Night

2010-03-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had our Arab culture night. We had the father and son who do the call to prayer from the Al Aqsa Mosque come and talk to us. They read from the Koran (which sounds like they're singing the words, but that's not what they would call it. When they read the Koran and when they do the call to prayer it sounds like singing. But it's actually not polite or proper to say 'singing the call to prayer'. Something I learned today!) It's kind of a big deal that these two men came. They have come every semester to the Jerusalem Center but it's really cool because the Al Aqsa Mosque is the third most holy place in Islam, behind only to Mecca and The Dome of the Rock. They also showed us how they pray. It was cool to see the guys behind to what wakes me up every morning!

Praying, facing towards Mecca

We then had a traditional Arab dinner. Delicious! I may or may have not overeaten. But it was really good and there was a lot of new stuff to try.

Arab dinner in the Oasis! Brett, Jill, and me (and Mr. Hayat, the director, showed up a little after)

Everyone busted out their traditional Arab attire for tonight!

After dinner we learned traditional Arab cultural dancing. I was actually late and was only there for the last ten minutes but it was fun while I was there! After dancing when everyone cleared out I stayed behind with a few other people and bounced a volley ball around with the people who taught us how to dance. That was fun. I love that there can be language barriers and such but as soon as you whip out a soccer ball (which is usually the case) or a volley ball all barriers are broken down and we have a blast! The same is with dancing, I love learning the cultural dancing because it puts everyone on mutual ground. So fun!

Look at everyone dancing!

I love the Palestinians and their culture. They are such a devoted and friendly people. I really enjoy spending time with them!

Free Day of New Testament Sites

2010-03-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a free day in which we jam packed a ton of sites into.

First we tried to go to go to Schindler's grave but it was randomly closed, so we weren't able to do that. But we explored a cemetery next to it and we all agreed that it felt a lot like we were in Narnia.

Schindler's Grave Attempt #1

Me at "Narnia"

After "Narnia" we went to what's called the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu which is a church built to commemorate when Peter denied Christ. This was a beautiful church and I really enjoyed it. The art work inside was actually very different from other Catholic/Christian churches, it was mostly stained glass and light and sunny, as opposed to the dark and dreary art work in other places. When Elder Holland came to Jerusalem he said that this was his favorite site, and I agree with him. It was really pretty and I felt the spirit as we sat in the cave prison in the bottom of the church where the Peter and John were held in prison. We read the story of Christs' crucifixion from the Bible and sang some hymns. There were a lot of other tourist groups and they were taking pictures of us as we sang.

Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu

Inside chapel of Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu

Sitting outside of Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu. Notice the Dome of the Rock in the left hand corner. Yeah, I live in Jerusalem!

We then went to Dormition Abbey which is a church built for Mary (and it also makes an appearance in the Da Vinci Code). The building is really beautiful. In the basement there is a crypt where they have a statue of a sleeping Mary with shrines made to six other significant women in the Bible. Honestly I thought the sleeping Mary was a little creepy. It reminded me of Snow White. But we sat and talked about Mary and her role in the Savior's life and that was really good. Once again this site was packed with other tour groups.

Dormition Abbey

Sleeping Mary

I don't want to be trapped with the sleeping Mary forever...

We then went and saw David's tomb which was cool, but nothing too significant, more like something to check off a list. We also went to the Upper Room where the Last Supper may or may not have happened. It had actually been turned into a mosque since the Last Supper "happened" there (a lot of sites claim to be where events happened, but the fact is we really can't know). But the Christian church has reclaimed it and it's once again a Christian site but still has Arabic and other Muslim traits in it.

So we had a good day, saw a lot of New Testament sites which were spiritually fulfilling as well as fulfilled a class requirement. Good day!

I just liked these dudes lighting candles outside of David's Tomb

Bethlehem

2010-03-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Bethlehem

This past Monday (March 8) I had a field trip in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in the West Bank (where the Palestinians live apart from the State of Israel) and so we had the chance to see/go through the separation wall. We have gone into the West Bank before when we went to Jericho, but the check point process wasn't as intense as it was going to Bethlehem. Going to Bethlehem we got through fairly easily, but on the way back to Jerusalem we were held up in line for about an hour a half to get home. We couldn't take pictures of the wall, but on it is a ton of graffiti put on by the Palestinians. There is also other graffiti around the whole city that clearly show how the Palestinians feel about being contained in the West Bank.

A picture I pulled off the internet of the Separation Wall in Bethlehem

So to start out our day in Bethlehem we first went to the an institute where they research the political geography of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I'm sure it would've been interesting normally, but I was so tired and struggled during the presentation. It was something about all of the border changes and land mass of Palestine and such.

After that we went to Bethlehem University. Our Palestinian teacher hosted us there, he also teaches at this university. We first went into a Christian chapel that they had on campus...The campus varies from Muslim students to Christian students. The Pope was the person who first inspired the idea to start a university in Bethlehem. After the we saw the chapel (it was beautiful!) we went and had a question and answer session with three students who attended Bethlehem University. It was interesting to see their outlook on education and to see the struggles they have to face to obtain it. One of the girls lives in Jerusalem, therefore every day she has class she has to leave far in advanced to make sure she has plenty of time to get through the check points into Bethlehem. I think my favorite part of this was watching my Palestinian teacher, Dr. Musallam. He is so cute and you could tell that he has pride in Bethlehem University and he was thrilled to show it to us. While we were walking around we all stuck out like a sore thumb. I don't think I've ever been the minority before, it was an interesting phenomenon.

Bethlehem University

Students at Bethlehem University

Michael, me and Katie on the roof top of Bethlehem University

After Bethlehem University we went to a Bedouin restaurant called The Tent. At first when I heard we were going here I thought it was going to be kind of a dump, but boy was I wrong. It literally was in a tent, it was so fun. The food was so good, at first they brought out warm wheat pitas with all kinds of dips and salads and then they brought out meat kabobs with lamb, beef, and chicken. And french fries? That was kind of weird, but they were so good. Also, we got Coke and Sprite--all that we wanted!

My group in The Tent restaurant

My yummy food. Apparently this is my "excited to eat" face

Once we were all full and happy we got on the bus and headed over to Manger Square to see the Church of the Nativity which marks where Christ may or may not have been born. Once again, like most churches here it was very dark and not anything I correlate with feeling the spirit. But it was very beautiful and there were a lot of pilgrims there who came to worship and come closer to Christ.

Descending into the cave where Jesus may of may not have been born in the Church of the Nativity

Marcus and me touching the manger where Jesus may or may not have been laid in the Church of the Nativity

Steven and me touching the star that marks where Jesus Christ may or may not have been born in the Church of the Nativity

We also went to the church of St. Katherine which also marks the site of the Nativity for other religions.

Taeler and me in the Church of St. Katherine
(Many people think Taeler and I look alike, we used to get mixed up a lot and still sometimes do. We like to dress alike to throw off our teachers--and it works!)

After visiting these two churches we sang Christmas hymns in the courtyard. Suddenly we became the tourist attraction, people were taking pictures of us and video taping us. Some were picking up on the chorus and would even sing with us. One guy even had an official looking camera and was filming us. I'm interested to know what that was for. When we were done singing we had free time to go shopping. I bought blankets that I will use as gifts/use for my babies when they are blessed.

Found some newborn puppies on the street while we were shopping. Cute little things, don't know what will happen to them though.

While everyone else was shopping I made one last stop at a called the Milk Grotto (I honestly thought this place was weird, it had a shrine of Mary breast feeding Christ [which I got a picture of but don't want to be disrespectful/graphic and include it in this blog]), which apparently has baby bones in it and signifies John the Baptist and Jesus' flight from Herod's edict to kill all male babies.

John and me in the Milk Grotto

So overall my opinion of Bethlehem--> Great! I loved it, absolutely loved it. It has great people, great culture, and a great history. I would love to go back again but unfortunately I don't think that can happen. And that is a shame.

Biblical Zoo-- and much more!

2010-03-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

Today for my free day I went to the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem. This zoo has all of the animals mentioned in the Bible, plus many more! I quite enjoyed it, I especially enjoyed the Bible propaganda all over the zoo with verses of the creation posted randomly at displays. My favorite was a running comic that was going through one of their water exhibits about a rain drop. My favorite comic was:

Can you say...Kosher?

I can't really remember the last time I went to the zoo, except for when I took Caleb and Anna Sophia to the zoo my freshman year of college. I think that's the last time I went. When we went to the lion exhibit the lion was sleeping....boring! But when some other people in our group went later the lion was pacing and it attacked the glass! Intense, scary, awesome. But we saw a chimpanzee brawl go down with two bickering chimpanzees, it was pretty funny. So....here are some highlights.

Pelican! And it's glowing??

I also like to watch people at the zoo....especially Jewish children

I like climbing trees...and I liked climbing this one at the Zoo

The cockroach exhibit. I really think they could've given them a better habitat...a sink? Jerks! Haha but I thought it was really funny.

"Bad kitty"

Kangaroos! You would never see a kangaroo exhibit like this in the US

Noah's Ark. This is what I would do if I lived on an ark.

Fish petting zoo? Yes.

What a better place to be immersed in sheep than Jerusalem

Ooooooh baby goat!

When I got back from the zoo I wrote in my journal and emailed and rested from a full day in the sun. Tonight we had the grand opening of our new dining hall, the Oasis, which has been under construction the whole time we have been here. It was really cool to see the maintenance workers, security workers, and our director all dressed up for the occasion, you can tell that they were really excited to unveil it to us. They have been working so hard to complete it for us while we were still here. The cooks were also really excited, their food was FANTASTIC tonight and you could tell that they had a lot of pride in their work. The constructor of the Jerusalem Center was here tonight and he told us that it was 23 years ago on this day that they brought the first group of students from the kibbutz (where my mom stayed when she was here) to the center. So that's pretty cool! I got goosebumps when I heard that. We live in such an incredible building and we are really treated like royalty. I really respect and love the people that work here to make our lives run smoothly and to make sure that we are safe. I really have become attached to them, especially to the security. They're just really great people and fun to be with.

This dining room is old news....What's new is what's behind the door and to the left-- the new serving area! We hadn't seen it yet at this point (the ribbon hadn't been cut) but we were anxious!

New part of the Oasis! I love it, I think it's so pretty!

After dinner we hung out for a few hours and then all got together to play a round of night games in the garden. A new favorite out here has become Mission Dot Dot, which I have taught to the people here (shout out to the Hazards for teaching me!). SUCH a fun game. Such fun people. Such a fun night. Such a fun day in general!

Night games--Mission dot dot in the gardens. So fun!

Tomorrow we're going to Bethlehem on a field trip. I am so excited! Hopefully we don't come across any problems or conflicts. Pray for peace in Jerusalem!

Updates

2010-03-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

Finals and midterms definitely caught up with me and I have been slacking on blogging about cool things that have happened recently. So now that finals are over (YAY!) I have some extra time to breathe and reminisce about past weeks.

About two weeks ago, on February 21 (our most recent free day since we've been on lock down) me and my friends Dan King and Corina went to Sunday mass at the Notre Dame catholic church. That was really good and the Priest was happy to find out that we were Mormon afterward, we talked to him for a while and that was fun. On our way out we wandered through the Old City a little bit and stumbled upon a Lutheran church and sat in on the mass there for a few minutes. I really enjoy going to mass here, the buildings are so beautiful and the people are always very welcoming to us. As we left the Lutheran church we saw a precession of Priests walking down the road carrying a cross. We couldn't figure out why, but it was still cool to see.

Notre Dame Church

Lutheran Priests

Church of St. Mary Latin (Lutheran mass)

After that we went to the YMCA and played the bells for all of Jerusalem to hear in the bell towers. I had done it already but I really enjoyed it so didn't mind going again. I played Come Unto Him, which I think is becoming my favorite hymn. It's really cool to be able to play hymns to the city of Jerusalem. It makes me appreciate them more and realize how beautiful they are and how they bring the spirit even without the words.

After the YMCA we went to the Tower of David Citadel Museum which I really enjoyed. It put all of the jumbled things that I have learned this semester in order, it was helped me put events on a timeline. Very, very helpful.

Dan and Corina checking out the City of David Model

The next day, Monday, we had a field trip. We went to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and went to the Western Wall Tunnel, Davidson Archaeological Park, the Burnt House, and the Wohl Museum. These were all places that helped us to better understand and connect the dots the time of Herod's temple and the destruction of the temple by the Romans.

The Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Yes, I live here.

At the Davidson Archaeological park we went to a the steps up to Herod's temple. At this place Jesus walked countless times. We sat there and talked and imagined what it would've been like to see him, to see the city and the great temple when it was all here.

Steps to Herod's Temple

Fast forward a week, to this Wednesday. We had been studying for so long and I had to get out of the center and into the city. We went to the Sisters of Sion Convent, which is the place where it is said that Christ was condemned by Pilot. There were just a lot of cisterns (underground water storage), but we ran into a group of Mormon tourists who knew a lot of people in our group. We will probably see them at church tomorrow.

Hanging out in a tunnel at the Sisters of Sion Convent

After the Sisters of Sion we wandered around a little bit and found some classrooms where they hold school. We are so blessed to have such good schools that are in good condition. We are so blessed to have supplies readily at our hands and adequate funds. We are blessed!

A classroom in Jerusalem

Outside of the classrooms in the courtyard (the courtyard that marks the beginning of the Via Dolorosa, actually) there were orange trees and we found an orange on the ground and all had a piece of it. It was pretty nasty, it was nothing but sour and bitter. And it made our tongues numb. But it was a good experience to eat an orange from a tree in Jerusalem and so far none of us have gotten sick (knock on wood!).

Gross oranges. Gross gross.

So now fast forward alllllll the way to today. We are finished with finals! We have two classes now, one of which is the New Testament. Which I'm really excited for! Today my friend Taeler and me dressed the same (everyone says we look alike and got us mixed up) to see if our new teacher could tell us apart. He couldn't and called me Taeler--we got him good! He was a good sport about it and said that he can always use a challenge. We go to Galilee in a week which is also very exciting. From what I hear we stay in cottages on the beach of Galilee.

Today when I was studying for my last final I was in my room and all that I could hear were sirens and shouting coming from the Old City. The conflict is happening again, this time more fierce. Someone read online on FOX that this is the biggest conflict they've had in several years. Yikes. We are again put on lock down. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1154404.html <----- here is the link for more information on what's going down here. Security doesn't know when it will end, hopefully they will get it out of their system by tomorrow. The Jerusalem Center is in East Jerusalem which is the Arab side of the city and there was a political demonstration on the street right outside of the gates tonight. There was a fire burning in the middle of the street and it was blocking traffic, such a mess. Once again, I really hope that they let us out soon. I hope the conflict stops soon also because we are supposed to go to Bethlehem on Monday and if there's a lot of problems in the West Bank where Bethlehem is then our field trip might get scratched. Or get rescheduled.

The demonstration in East Jerusalem.
(Photo by Eric Torrie)

So, summary: People are fighting. We are on lock down. BUT....finals are over. I'm starting the New Testament and am thrilled to learn more about the Savior. And overall, Jerusalem is still Great! :)

Islam Final

2010-03-04T07:24:00.000-08:00

I just got finished with my Islam final. I'm pretty sure I completely failed it. I know I did. There were several questions where I was straight up making words. There was one question where I couldn't remember how to spell someone's name and I spelt it differently every single time I used it (the name was Zawahiri, by the way. And he was one of the founders, along with Osama Bin Laden, of Al-Qaeda).

But that's not why I feel bad. I feel really guilty about failing it, but not because I think it's going to affect my grade. I have a major guilt complex, what's wrong with me?? My poor teacher had such high hopes that we were going to do well on this test, but as soon as it was put down in front of me I knew that I definitely wouldn't be doing my part in fulfilling that dream of his. My teacher kept insisting that we had two hours to finish the test and to take our time but I really just didn't need the time. The first person to finish was a brave soul, my teacher practically followed him out of the classroom asking him if he was sure that he was finished and that he still had an hour to finish.

The reason I feel guilty is because I wanted to do well and to show what I know (which seriously, I really do get this stuff. I really did study HARD today and understand the concepts) but the questions he was asking I just couldn't answer. Even though I wanted to so badly. The only comfort that I'm finding in this anti-climatic end to this class is that I actually did learn a lot. I would say that I know a lot more than the average American about the conflict in the Middle East and that I follow the history including all of the land partitions and agreements. So even though I completely failed the test, I feel good about coming home with new insights and knowledge about Israel and Palestine. Which is so worth it.

Judaism Final

2010-03-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today we had our first of five finals: Judaism! I felt somewhat prepared for this test. It was a little frustrating because our study guide was 17 pages long and the test only had 25 questions on it. But at least my teacher came to class looking like this:

Professor Yardin in his Purim costume

Last week we asked him what he was going to be for Purim and he said he didn't know. Apparently this is his "administering finals" costume. The test didn't add up at all and the questions were really confusing, and our teacher admitted that "It is pretty much a commandment to get drunk on Purim, so there are probably mistakes on the test." Haha, those mistakes worked out to benefit me so I'm not complaining.

So now I'm done with Judaism. I'm realizing looking back on that class that I actually learned a TON and I am greatful for the new understanding I have of Jewish people and their history.

Purim 2010

2010-02-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

Today was another rainy day in Jerusalem. I went for a run this morning and after breakfast when people started making their plans we found out that we were on lock down and couldn't go into East Jerusalem or into the Old City due to some disturbances. But it wasn't a big deal and we stayed in and everything was fine. If you want to read up on what happened, here is the link: www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152809.html. The kind of exciting thing about this "conflict" (if you can find anything exciting in it) is that I actually understand what's happening and what the problem is. So, I suppose it's kind of educational. But it is more unfortunate and I wish it weren't happening.

Our costumes for Purim-- The Mustache Militia

So I was in all day and I got super super antsy, so when I got a chance to go out to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim, I was all over that. The guy who taught our Israeli folk dancing class on Friday told us he was having a party so about 60 of us went dressed up (in Jewish Purim tradition) and loaded up the buses and were off!

On the bus on the way to the Purim party

When we first got there there was only about 12 people there. Which was really funny because when we walked in we pretty much dominated the whole place. We learned some more Israeli dancing and more and more local people started coming. Two times I had people come up to me and help me learn, it was really fun. My favorite part was when the DJ (our dance teacher) played the Macarena for all of us American kids and the Isrealis had no idea what to do. But they laughed and tried to follow us. It was a good night and it was so great to get out of the center!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

2010-02-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

Caught in the rain/hail in Jerusalem

Today was an unexpentantly great day. We were schedule to have four hours of our Palestinian class since they've been canceled in the past due to our teacher not being able to get through the border. We also had a midterm this morning so we were all kind of dreading today. BUT the midterm turned out to be not so bad (I'm pretty sure I nailed it) and our four hour Palestinian class got canceled AGAIN. Which was exciting because we were able to go out into the city for a few hours, but sad once again because my teacher was just stuck and couldn't get to us. The Israeli government closed the borders due to a holiday they are having this weekend, (a holiday very similar to Holloween).

Blocking the rain water in the street. Check out how deep it was!

So we had the whole afternoon to ourselves! I tried to go to the post office to mail something off, so we went out in a group. It has been raining all day and all last night, but it was a little sunny for a minute so we thought we would be okay. Once we got out into the city we realized that everything was closed. And then it started pouring rain. Like crazy. And hailing. And we were right in the middle of the city with no where to go. But we made the most of it and played in the water that was rushing down the streets, and got splashed by every car that drove by. It turned out to be a really fun experience.

Us at the center, soaking wet!

When we got back we were soaking wet and so I did some laundry and then had dinner. After dinner we had a man come and teach us how to do some Israeli folk dancing, which was so fun! Probably my favorite thing that we've done here so far.

This week we had four tests, next week will be five! And then it's all down hill from there academically. So excited for that moment. This semester is halfway over, which is kind of sad. I love Jerusalem and I love being here. And I'm going to miss it tremendously when I'm home.

Dr. Musallam!

2010-02-25T06:05:00.000-08:00

My Palestinian teacher hasn't been able to come teach class lately because he hasn't been able to pass through the border from the West Bank to Jerusalem. We were all saddened by this (not the fact that we didn't have class but the fact that he was stuck) and so we made him a card. Here he is, my cutie Modern Palestinian teacher, Dr. Musallam, with his card. He loved it!

Via Dolorosa

2010-02-17T08:04:00.000-08:00

Marhaba from Jerusalem!

Wow, is it ever time for a blog update? It has been quite a while since I have updated, and quite a lot has happened since then. I will start from the beginning of this week.

At the end of last week I started getting sick, but it wasn't too bad. Just a regular head cold it felt like, so I felt alright with going out on my free day on Sunday. So I did, and it was a great day! We went to a little down called Ein Karem to go look at the Chagall Windows in the Hadessah Hospital. The windows are 12 stained glass windows, each one representing a son of Israel. At first glance they really don't seem that significant (to me anyway), but the more I looked at them the more fascinated I became with them. They really were incredible and I enjoyed them.

The Chagall Windows

After we saw the windows we walked down a little trail that followed the valley and walked up to the Church of the Visitation. The church was closed until later that afternoon so we just explored the city until it was time to go back to the church. This town was so cute, I loved it. I felt like it was very European, like Italy or something. Cobblestone streets, flowers everywhere, very green and charming. I really enjoyed it. There were a ton of hills though, I felt like every road we went up to explore was very steep up hill. We went to the Church of Visitation and then we went to the Church of John the Baptist where I met a Franciscan who lived there and I talked to him for a little bit.

Church of the Visitation
Church of John the Baptist

The only bad thing about Sunday is that all of the activity pretty much sent me over. By the end of the night I was very sick and had lost my voice almost completely.

Monday we our field trip to the City of David, including our trip to Hezekiah's tunnel which I was very excited about. The only catch is that I was late for the bus and got left, so I spent a morning alone at the center. I was really sad about it, but it was probably a good thing because I was still feeling pretty sick. I also got out that afternoon and went to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and went to some museums, which were cool. The next day I went to the doctors at the center and they said that I had bronchitis and gave me an antibiotic for it. I slowly but surely have gotten better and have returned to health.

Yesterday a big group of us got out of the center and went to the Christian Quarter or the old city to walk the Via Dolorosa with the Catholic Priests and Catholic pilgrims. Lent started this week and people here are celebrating it. The Via Dolorosa is the road that Jesus walked from where he was charged by Pilot to Golgotha where he was crucified. There were fourteen stops along the way signifying something that Jesus did at the stops. We would stop and the Priests would explain what happened and then everyone would recite prayers and sing. The last few stops were in the Church of the Holy Sepluchre where Christ died and is was buried.

Church of the Holy Sepluchre

Right when you walk into the Church of the Holy Sepluchre there is a piece of stone where Catholic believed Jesus' body was prepared for burial. At this point a lot of people knelt down and would reverently touch the stone. Priests in the church really like incense. The place smelt so strongly of incense, sometimes it was almost unbearable.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, stone where they prepared Jesus' body

After we walked the Via Dolorosa me and three other people went and explored a little further. We found an Ethiopian Monastery and talked to a monk there. We then went down into Helen's Cistern where ancient people gathered their water. It was a huge cave deep in the earth and it was wet and damp. At one point the lights went out and that kind of freaked me out. But on the sign for the cistern it said that down below we would find a "musical surprise" which we thought was funny, so we sang a few hymns and a few other songs as well. After that we went home to make it back before sundown. The rest of the night was uneventful, I tried to get homework done but it was Friday night and I felt like I deserved to relax, so I watched Cool Runnings instead. Such a good movie. Helen's Cistern at the Ethiopian Monastery

Today nursery went great, my partner brought her Ukulele for singing time and the kids were mesmerized by it. It was fun just to be able to sing and enjoy it rather than chase kids around the bomb shelter! I really like my calling.

Tonight we went to some permanent ward member's house for family home evening (on the Sabbath). It was so nice to be in an actual home! And I can't tell you how amazing it was to eat homemade brownies. You really don't realize how much you love the simple things in life, like sitting on a couch or walking on plush carpet until you don't have it anymore. We were all living the change of setting for a few hours.

And now it's time for bed. This week is going to be a good one, I have three tests I think. Yikes! So with that, حسن الليلة!

The Good Samaritan

2010-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Today I had a good opportunity to serve the people of Jerusalem. I went with a small group to the Good Samaritan Center for the Elderly and delivered lunches to the people and sang hymns to them.

These people are for the most part healthy, but they are home bound due to the circumstances of the Old City such as the uneven streets and the staircases leading up to their houses. We took them lunch and sang hymns to them which they really enjoyed.

The Good Samaritan, to point out the obvious, is a Christian organization. I think it's interesting to hear the different takes on religion from different religions, for example today when we were learning about this center the director (who seems like a great guy, all of the elderly people love him) was really ripping into Muslim people and their religion. A lot of things he said I thought in my mind "that's not true". For instance, he was saying that the Qur'an is an evil book (not true) and that all it teaches Muslims is to kill for their God (not true). What I also found interesting and strange is that the Christian schools in the Old City don't teach their children anything about the Old Testament. The director was telling us how he thought this was a bad thing, which I agree with. But then when I take a step back from the situation I realize that I never really studied from the Old Testament before now. How did I miss the importance of it? I don't know.

After visiting the people of the Good Samaritan we waited around for our van to pick us up and explored the mall in West Jerusalem. I was curious about how much more expensive the prices were here, so I went into a Gap. Interesting and funny, I had to go through security to get into the store. That was a new experience! Anyway, the verdict was about $20 dollars for a cotton t-shirt. Seeing clothing stores kills me because even though I'm not a big shopper at all, I'm so tempted to buy new clothes because I am getting tired of my same seven shirts. But then I see the price, and I suddenly feel very content with what I have.

One thing that irks me (I hope this isn't turning into too negative of a blog post) is the West Bank. Israel has a separate walled section for Palestinians to live in called the West Bank. From what I have gathered, the government claims that this wall is put in place for security reasons, but any Palestinian I have talked to says that that is nonsense. In order for a Palestinian to get into Jerusalem (if they are qualified to or have good enough reason) they have to have several different permits and passports to get through the gate. My Arab teacher passed around his permits in class, I think it's a little ridiculous. And my teacher is even an American, but because he is of Arab descent he has to aquire these permits and renew them every six months.

The Wall and the West Bank

The reason that I am bothered about this especially today is because on Tuesday my teacher couldn't make it across the border to teach our class. (He said that in the mornings he has to leave 3 hours early to make time to get through the border). Today in class he told us that they just wouldn't let him through, they didn't tell him any reason, they just kept him from crossing. He went in the next day to get all of his fingerprints and permits checked on and they were all valid, so he has no idea why he wasn't permitted into Jerusalem. How humiliating to be turned away from going somwhere where you need to be, for no reason.

Through learning about both Jewish and Palestinian history I feel like I can make more informed opinions on the conflict of Israel. I may still be ignorant, however, because I know a lot more than what I know has fueled this conflict for so many years. And I hope I don't give off the impression that I dislike the Israeli Jewish people, because I don't. I love my Judaism teacher, Ophir Yardin, and I have met some very nice Jewish people in West Jerusalem. I just don't understand why they do what they do. I really don't understand it.

But then again, I will be here for more time and part of the purpose of this program is to thoroughly educate me on this matter. So I'm interested to see how my opinion will change and evolve throughout my time here.

By the way, I stumbled upon this link: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/02/10/jerusalem.road.discovery/index.html

It's kind of cool, check it out. I was actually just here today! This city is my play ground!

20 Free Wedding Dresses?

2010-02-10T06:35:00.000-08:00

Today was an awesome day. It started out with a two hour Old Testament class, but our midday class got canceled so we got some free time! On Sunday we went to the post office where we met a very interesting man named Ibrahim. (Mom and dad, maybe you should just skip over the next few paragraphs....) He invited us over to his house to come and talk to him more, so today we took him up on that offer. We called him and twelve of us went to his house to learn more about Ibrahim and his family. It was really cool to go into a different part of town than I'm used to. We were walking through the Arab neighborhoods just as school was getting out so there were a lot of children in the streets, all of them said hello to us and waved. I really enjoyed seeing the real part of East Jerusalem, the homes and the people, rather than just the Old City.

Ibrahim, leading the way

Turns out Ibrahim is an awesome guy! He has lived on the Mount of Olives his whole life but travels the world. He said that he travels out of the country at least once a month. The address he first gave to us to meet him at was a house he owned where he let people stay for free when they were visiting the Holy Land. When we asked him how many people were there right now he said that 17 people were living in that house. On the walls in his living room were pictures of him in the United States, Holland, Russia, and many more places. He also had newspaper clippings of him and important people taped on his walls. He had books laying around his coffee table, and he told me that one of them (it was in Korean) was a biography about him. (To learn more about Ibrahim go to www.jerusalempeacemaker.org/ibrahim).

Us at Ibrahim's house

Ibrihim is a peace activist and travels around the world to petition for peace in the Holy Land. He has been to the White House and at the end of this summer he is coming to Utah (again) and it has been arranged for him to meet with President Monson. He is invited all over the world to speak on peace in Israel and to share his side as the Palestinian.

Ibrahim showing us the view from his roof

When we met Ibrahim at the post office one of my friends asked him if he knew where any good wedding dress stores were in town. Ironically enough, he said that he had a business that made schools and gave supplies to the Bedouins in the West Bank who get no help from the Israeli government--along with supplies, he also happened to have about 20 free wedding dresses that he was dying to get rid of. So after we talked to Ibrahim in his "hostel" like house he took us to his home to meet his wife. Sure enough, right when we got there we saw all of the wedding dresses laying out on his front porch! Hilarious. So we decided to take all of them back (some are nice, some are ugly) and then figure out what to do with them. Conveniently enough Ibrahim had boxes ready for us to pack our dresses in (can you see how badly he wanted to get rid of them?) I think my favorite part was the guys' reaction when the girls decided we wanted all of them...we had walked quite a distance to get to Ibrahim's house and some guys were a little sketchy about carrying wedding dresses all the way back to the Jerusalem Center. Luckily Ibrahim called a taxi for us and so we got back home humiliation free.

Outside of Ibrahim's house, with our dresses

Loading up the dresses into the boxes

When we got back to the center we decided that we were going to wear these dresses to dinner. We had to sneak them into the building without anyone seeing them and we hid them in "The Dan Jones", aka the student lounge area. After our classes we all met and put on our dresses, the girls picked out the biggest, most obnoxious dresses of the bunch and the guys dressed up to be our escorts/grooms. We got a good reaction from everyone and it was actually really fun. We are pretty confident in saying that we made Jerusalem Center history tonight. Pretty confident, indeed.

Eating dinner at the Oasis

Photo Shoot

Shepehelah Field Trip

2010-02-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

Today has been a great day of homework and recovery; our afternoon class got canceled today.

Yesterday we had a packed field trip day. On our field trip we visited the sites of the Shepehelah. We saw places where Samson lived and where David fought Goliath.

First we went to Beth Shemesh and the Sorek Valley. We overlooked the valley and watched shepherds herding their flocks in the valley. This part of Israel is really pretty and green, lots of farm land and very few houses and civilization. At Beth Shemesh we explored a cistern, which are underground wells used to collect water in Old Testament times. This was the valley where the Philistines sent the Ark of the Covenant back to the Israelites. (1Samuel 6)

After Beth Shemesh we went to Lachish which was the Shephelah's largest city in Old Testament times. In the Bible Joshua conquered Lachish in Joshua 10:31-32.

Then we went to Mareshah, which was a fortress in the Old Testament. There were underground rooms full of pigeon holes; these people raised pigeons for their industry and also for sacrifices. We also saw an olive press where these people crushed olive for olive oil. Mareshah can be found in Joshua 15:44 where the tribe of Judah is assigned to this area.

Next we went to Elah Valley (1Sam 17) where David fought Goliath. We were given slings to try out our slinging ability; I wasn't too bad but I could definitely improve in my slinging skills.

We also went to some bell caves which were really cool, they were huge caverns of limestone where they used to quarry the limestone. We also went to the Micah caves which are similar to the Nutty Putty caves. Those were fun to crawl through and such. I didn't explore as much as other people did, I just sat in the main cavern and enjoyed sitting and relaxing.

At the end of the day we went to Azekah where old Old Testament times they built up a fortress. Azekah was beautiful and it overlooked the whole Elah Valley, on a clear day you can see the Mediterranean Sea and the ridge of Jerusalem. Azekah can be found on Joshua 15: 35

All in all it was a good field trip. It was a long day but it was good to connect all the things I'm reading in the Old Testament to the places where they happened.

West Jerusalem

2010-02-07T06:11:00.000-08:00

This morning a group of seven of us (Allison, Diana, Jason, Carrie, Dan King, Corina, and myself) went out and explored West Jerusalem for our free day. We meant to walk to the Israel Parliment building and take a look there, but we actually ended up at the City Hall instead by accident. We went with the flow and looked at a huge scale model of the city that they use for planning purposes. This thing was incredible, it had all of Jerusalem in a little model. It was probably about the same area as our swimming pool, so it was really quite a thing to look at. We all felt a little ripped off when we realized that the Mount of Olives, including the Jerusalem Center, wasn't on it. We asked where the Parliment building was and learned that it was way further than any of us wanted to walk, so instead we went and explored West Jerusalem some more.

Our goal was to find a pastry shop that everyone around here keeps talking about. In that process we found a pizza shop called The Big Apple and I had my first piece of Kosher pizza. It was actually really good; I have been craving pizza for a very long time now. It hit the spot and it was super cheap since 7 of us split a whole pizza. A friend and me found a neat little designer dress shop that we perused through for a little bit. Then we were all off to the market/pastry shop.

I think the highlight of my day was when we were walking in the market and we came upon a butcher's van. You can probably imagine what a butcher's van may look like; the back was wide open and hanging up on racks were animal carcasses everywhere. That's not even the best part. There was a man in the van and he had a grocery cart on the ground. Into the grocery cart this man was throwing HUGE cow heads. One after another after another. Into a tiny grocery cart. We all stopped dead in our tracks and were mesmerized by this, something none of us had ever seen before! One of the cow heads even had its tongue hanging out. He packed that cart full and just wheeled it in right into the market. It was disturbing to see, but totally epic and hilarious at the same time.

I really liked being on a different side of town, but it really made me realize how poor the East (Palestinian) side of Jerusalem is and how much of an injustice the Israel/Arab conflict is. On our way back to the Jerusalem Center, we were talking and realized that the Jerusalem Center wasn't on the map because we are located in East Jerusalem. Since East Jerusalem is populated by Palestinians they didn't even put it on the map. I'm glad that I live on the East and more on the poverty side of Jerusalem so that I can really get a feel for the difference between the Israelis and the Arabs. I can see the right on both sides and understand why it's such a heated conflict, but being here I can really see the injustice and the way the Israeli people treat the Palestinians. It's not right at all, it's very dehumanizing and condoning. That was the impression I got from experiencing both cities and peoples.

For the rest of the day I'm just going to relax and do homework and the such. Today was a long and very fun day, my feet are hurting and I'm really tired. Thank goodness for free days to break up the monotonous weeks of classes and homework.

Yad Vashem

2010-02-04T14:03:00.001-08:00

I suppose it's probably time for a new post.

Since we got back from Egypt things have been a little crazy around here. We had two free days full of laundry and resting and homework. On Tuesday we had a seven page paper due, thankfully I got most of mine done before we left for Egypt, but a lot of people didn't so it was kind of crazy around the center here. Today I had two midterms; one for Judaism and one for Old Testament. Lets just say that I'm glad they're over...

On Monday we took a field trip to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. That was a powerful experience. The things I saw there were intense, as I'm sure anyone who has been to a museum like that can attest to. I was shocked at the cruelty and horrible acts brought about by humanity. I would say that going there and seeing those things was a life changing experience.

Ever since Monday nothing super exciting has happened. We got a new service couple; our other one is going home because their time is up. Which is actually really sad, but I'm sure we'll grow to be even more attached to this couple than the other. We threw a party for them and it was really sad, I felt like we were all going home the next day, it was horrible. But after we said our good byes we had a dance party and had a good time.

It's almost the weekend! One more day of classes and then I have some time to relax and go out and enjoy the city, finally! It snowed today and I hope it warms up, otherwise it's kind of miserable to be out and walking around in. (I know all of you Rexburg people are cursing me right now thinking about how easy I've got it. I know, I know...) Things at the Jerusalem Center are great, I'm making good and lasting friendships and learning all kinds of things about myself and about the people here. So far it has been a fantastic learning experience.

Home from Egypt!

2010-01-29T13:04:00.000-08:00

(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!

2010-01-19T02:27:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-11T06:18:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-07T04:17:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

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.

Jerusalem, Here I Come!

2009-12-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

The Jerusalem Center, where I will be living

It's hard to beleive that the time has actually come. In 14 days I will be in a plane flying overseas to live in Jerusalem for four months of my life. I think I'm finally emotionally ready, it still seems so unreal but I'm getting really excited. I can't wait for this life changing experience!