Good Friday

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

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

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

"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

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

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.