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!