Arab Culture Night

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.