Ammunition Hill and West J

As promised, here is a picture of me in front of the separation wall:

Well this past Friday we had Israeli folk dance night! And it was soooooo fun!! I do have to admit that I liked it more than the Arab dancing. Our teacher was hilarious and is actually a folk dancer by profession, so he knew what was up. And as a funny side note- we were listening to all of this traditional folk music and practicing our dances when all of the sudden the MACARENA comes on out of nowhere!! Pretty sure I haven't done the macarena since oh I don't know... middle school? Maybe even before that? Let's just say that it was awesome.

Then as I told you, I went to Gethsemane on Saturday after church. See the previous post for more details on that one. Then on Sunday we started our day out by going to Ammunition hill- which is a memorial for the 6 Days War. We watched a movie depicting the battle and then walked around the grounds which had a tank on it and a lot of trenches. We had a lot of fun taking pictures and exploring. Here's a pic of us inside one of the trenches: (David, Annelise, Grace, Kelsey, Travis)
Then there is also a small museum there- here is Travis and I making a star of David inside of the museum.
We then took the light rail to the Jaffa Gate. And headed into the old city. Here is Aimee and I riding along:
We had lunch at Lina's Hummus which was very tasty. Afterwards I met up with a different group in the Jewish quarter and we headed over to West J to shop and get McDonald's! The burgers at McDonald's here are HUGE. I can't even describe it to you. I just got a diet coke and Travis got some fries. Everyone else said that the food was good. Everything is kosher here though, so no cheese on any of the burgers. Which I guess is kind of weird, but hey the fries were good!
We then stayed out all night and explored even more of West J and went into a lot of the shops as opposed to just walking around and buying street food. Overall it was a very fun day. I will have to blog again soon. Oh and I leave for Turkey on Sunday!! Whoa!

Gethsemane

Today I went to the garden of gethsemane and it was a really awesome experience. There is the garden with the church of all nations right next to it, which is absolutely beautiful. And then there is a limited access garden across the street that is also the garden of gethsemane. And thanks to our dear friend Travis, we go into the garden! And it was so beautiful and serene. I'd like to share an excerpt from my journal that I wrote while there:

"I’m sitting and pondering in the garden of Gethsemane right now. And I just want to declare that I love my Savior! I am forever his unprofitable servant. I marvel at the love, perfect love that he freely gives to me. I did nothing to deserve the sacrifice that he made. And he didn’t have to do it. There was no obligation and yet because of His overwhelming love, I am the beneficiary of his eternal sacrifice. As I sit and ponder the great event that happened here, my soul is filled with joy and my eyes are filled with tears. Is a love so infinite and far reaching truly possible? My mind struggles to take in in but within my heart I know with an absolute assurety that it is so. My Lord, my God, my Savior suffered for my sins and it is that knowledge that empowers me. A little bit of God’s power lives in me and because of that a world of hope, love, and opportunity is opened up to me- despite any set backs I may have. And I may be the cause of some of those set backs but the atonement takes care and encompasses all of those shortcomings and failings. Because of Christ I don’t have to live my life in fear. I can stand with courage and know that all things will work together for my good, even if I don’t have all of the answers right now and nothing seems to make logical sense. I am renewed through Christ and His atonement and because of that I am able to be better. His grace is sufficient for me. With the Lord as my shepherd, I shall not ever want. I love him with all of my being and being here in Gethsemane reminds me of my testimony and how it strengthens me. Jesus is my rock, my strength, and my salvation. Praise God for the gift of his son."

No Pics today, sorry, but here's an update!

Well to finish where I last left off, this past Sunday night was sooo fun! I didn't do anything too crazy, but it was fun to just have a night out doing "normal" things. A group of us went to dinner in West Jerusalem at this Italian restaurant in the mall. And oh my word was it good! I'm not the biggest fan of Italian food all of the time, but this was truly delicious. And then we shopped around the mall which was a lot of fun and just explored West Jerusalem and enjoyed the night life. It is so fun being out at night! Probably because we rarely do it. So it makes it that much more special. But let me just tell you- it is great! And West J is great.

On Monday we had a field trip to the Israeli national Holocaust Museum. Our Israel teacher, Ophir Yarden, came with us. And I am so grateful for that. He taught me so much about the Holocaust and the post Holocaust culture that I really didn't know prior to this, even though I thought I knew a lot about the Holocaust. Of course going to the museum just opened up a ton more questions than answers, as the topic of the holocaust usually does. I still don't quite understand how to wrap my mind around the holocaust, and I don't think I ever will be able too. I will say though that this museum was fantastic and offered a lot of hope, even though the subject material was extremely dark. And I appreciated that, especially since other holocaust museums that I have been to in the past did not offer this.

Right next to the museum is Mt. Herzl- which is where Herzl, the father of Israeli zionism, is buried. They are right next to each other to represent the lowest and highest points in Jewish history, which I thought was really cool. There was so much art and symbolism around the area which I absolutely loved. The Jews are so proud of their history and heritage and I just love how it is all represented in every aspect. All trees and plants have a symbolism. They truly use everything that is around them to its best extent.

Yesterday we took a tour of the separation wall, which I actually did take some pictures of, but I will post those later. The story behind this wall is so complex. It seems like the Berlin wall of our time. It's so hard to pick a side when you are hearing both sides of the story, so I won't. But it was an interesting experience and I definitely enjoyed learning more about it.

Today is a new day with new adventures ahead- I will have to tell you about them in another post. Plus we are going to Tel Aviv (weather permitting) this weekend!! Yay!

Jeru- still as awesome as ever

Ok here's what my week has looked like thus far:

A group of us went and volunteered at a preschool down the street and it was really really fun. We were supposedly teaching them English... I don't know how well they were picking it up. But they know how to count, so that's good. We were counting to take the picture, which is why Davis and I both have the number 3 up. The kids were pretty rowdy and were all over the place, but they were still adorable and loved being around us. All of the girls loved my pretty pink nail polish :) So that was really fun.

We also had our passover meal this past week! Why didn't we haven't during the actual passover? Well your guess is as good as mine. Either way it was really really fun. My teacher- Ophir Yarden led the meal and it was very authentic. We read the story of the Exodus, sang some songs in Hebrew and then had an awesome meal and drank grape juice. Everything was so delicious and we had a lot of fun. Here is a pictures of the people at my table: Travis, me, Megan, and Sarah- my roommate.
This week was also Valentine's day so we had a dance which was so fun! We all got ready together- so here are the girls that got ready. Bonnie, Claire, Sarah, Lee, myself, Janae, Loie and Alyssa.
Here's Travis and I breaking it down to some J. Biebs:
And then today was our free day and we went to Zedekiah's caves, which was really cool. It is pouring rain outside today though so after that we pretty much just went home because we got soaked and it was freezing.... so boo on that... I guess one good thing about it though is that I have more time to do homework and blog!
So hopefully you enjoy this- we are doing our Holocaust museum field trip tomorrow... which will be sad, but I think I will really enjoy it. I'll fill you guys in on it tomorrow!

Caves, Sheep and Hyssop

Alright once again we have a lot to catch up on. So on Friday night I attended an orthodox Jewish Shabbat service at a local synagogue with my Judaism teacher. And it was super cool! The men and women were divided on two opposite sides of the room. And then they just sang a bunch of songs in Hebrew with a small sermon in the middle of it. The service was only about an hour long. And all of the songs they were singing came from the Psalms, which was really cool. They gave out prayer books for us to follow along and fortunately they had the English translations. It's cool to enjoy different religions and to see how they worship God and what is most meaningful to them.

On Saturday after church a group of us went to the Orson Hyde gardens, which are pretty close to the center and right next to the Garden of Gethsemane as well. It was very beautiful and peaceful and a great quite moment for me to reflect and write in my journal. This experience has been such a blessing in my life and I know that I am meant to be here. Every day reaffirms that to me and I am so incredibly grateful to be having this experience.

So then on Sunday, it was our free day, as you probably already knew. A group of went down to the Sorek caves, which were really really cool! And our tour guide was freaking hilarious. I laughed pretty much the whole time. The caves are full of stalactites and stalagmites and just full of pure unadulterated nature's beauty. These formations take anywhere from 150 to 200 years to create! And they take great care in preserving the cave, and that was really cool to see how proud the Israeli people are of their country and the sites within. Here is picture of Lee and I in the caves:

After the caves a different group of us went into the Old City to go shopping and get some treats from the Jewish quarter. I bought a beautiful scarf. I wasn't going to buy a scarf while I was here because I feel like you can get those anywhere and they just aren't that special to Jerusalem, but when I saw this scarf I just couldn't resist. It is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. And everyone else that has seen it seems to agree. I have a feeling my mom will be trying to steal it when I get back to the states ;) We also got these carmelized nuts, which are all over the Jewish quarter and they are SO good! It was the first time that I went out with my roommates outside of the center and it was so fun! We shared the nuts and they were freakin delicious! Also- we went to this doughnut shop that is apparently really really good. I didn't get one since I was kinda full, but the reviews from everyone else were really great. So I will have to go back and try one some day.

So then yesterday was our field trip day and we went to Neot Kedomim- which is a biblical park per se... It has a bunch of trees and plants in it that are mentioned in the bible and our tour guide taught us all about the different symbolism of all the different plants mentioned. It was so cool to actually see the different plants and animals talked about in the bible because it made it that much more real. The people of the bible are truly coming alive for me, and it is so wonderful. We also had an opportunity to herd sheep and talk about the symbolism of being a shepherd and such. It was so cool! Here is me and some girls herding the sheep:

I'm going to be getting some more sheep pictures from some friends- and when I do I will be putting more up on the blog, but for now, this is all I have. We then toured around and looked at different trees. We saw how you harvest wheat and press olives as well. Lunch was also really cool because we made our own pitas over a camp fire! So that was pretty legit. We also ground up some hyssop plant to take home, which was really cool. Hyssop is the herb that they use in zatar- if any of you know what that is. You dip bread into olive oil and then into a bowl of ground up herbs (hyssop). Very delicious. Here is a pic of my hyssop partner Jen and I. We make a sweet herb grinding team, if I do say so myself.
Overall it was a really cool field trip. We ended the day with a presentation by a Torah scribe, which was so cool! We got to watch up write some of the Torah- which takes an entire year to write in the calligraphy and not make any mistakes and such. And we learned about the lifestyle of a scribe, which was really cool. He also had a 200 year old scroll there to show us and did a reading from it, which sounded so awesome! After that we headed back to the center in time for studying and dinner. This week is the midterm week- so wish me luck! I'm going to need all the luck I can get.... Until next time!

More Pics for your viewing pleasure

In the caves:

At the olive tree grove behind the church of the Lord's prayer:
At the sculpture park inside of the biblical zoo:
At the marzipan shop in the shuk: (Pastries=to die for)
Inside one of the department stores in West Jerusalem on our night adventure:
Walking down an outdoor mall in West Jerusalem full of expensive shops:
At the City of David with the Al-Aqsa mosque in the background:

Noah's Ark- all for you Dad!

Ok so blogger is kind of dumb and so just to warn you now, all of my pictures are out of order. But hey at least I am providing pictures for you all to look at, right? Well since I last wrote, a lot has happened. That usually happens when there is a weekend thrown in the mix. On Saturday we had church and such, which was great as usual. And then Sunday was our free day, which was such a fun one! I started my morning with a large group of around 18 people and we attended a Lutheran church service at the Holy Church of the Redeemer in the old city. One of the girls in the program is Lutheran, so it was fun to attend with her. The people there were very welcoming, and everyone attending was American, which was pretty cool. My favorite part was all of the cool songs that we sang. Definitely more upbeat than most of our mormon hymns... :) You can see a picture below of this.

After church we headed over to the biblical zoo, which was awesome! There were a bunch of cool, exotic animals in the zoo- and Noah's ark was there as well! Once again pictures below. We then spent the rest of the day and night in West Jerusalem. If we stay in west Jerusalem, we are allowed to stay out until midnight, as long as we get a taxi back home. So it was my first time staying out at night, and it was awesome! West Jerusalem is simply beautiful, and much more modern and European looking.

We started out in the Shuq (spelling?), which is a big market place and is awesome! It is mainly for food. So we bought some pastries which were freakin delicious by the way and then walked around and got some Shwarma for dinner. Shwarma is a lot like falafel, only it is meat instead of falafel. They have this hunk of meat on a rod that is being roasted all day and then they carve off some slices and put it in your pita with the toppings of your choosing. I have some hummus, spicy sauce, pickled cabbage, french fries and other stuff that I don't really remember, but it was delicious. I still think falafel is better though.... :)

We then shopped around all of the posh shops without buying anything really. And just had a lot of fun! I can't believe how expensive some things here are. Example: A bottle of nail polish remover here is around 35 shekels. That is about $9. Yeah.... A bottle of nail polish remover in the states is around $1. Crazy right? So beauty products are highly expensive, so hopefully I don't need some while I am here...

We also had our field trip yesterday- which was the city of David- or ancient Jerusalem. Interestingly enough, the city of David isn't even inside of the old city today. We saw the ancient ruins of tombs and David's palace, or what many people think was his palace. Then we went inside of Hezekiah's tunnel! Which was soooo cool. It was an underground tunnel built to get water into the city. And there is still water in the tunnel, so we got pretty wet, but it was still a lot of fun. Outside of the tunnel was the pool of Siloam, which is where the man born blind washed his eyes after Jesus put mud on them and was healed. This is one of the few places we've been that Jesus would have definitely been. The stairs into the pool are original stairs, which is such a cool feeling!!

Anyway- that has been my past few days, and it has been awesome, as always. Here are the pics!

Travis, Lee and I in West Jerusalem on Sunday night.

Me inside of Hezekiah's tunnel. It is pitch black down there, thus the use of my head lamp.
Loie and I with our hymn book after the Lutheran service.
Loie and I at the zoo
Me in front of Noah's ark.

Travis and Loie at the Shuk- once again don't know how to spell that. Also don't know why this is underlined... but I guess blogger has a mind of its own.

Travis, Loie and I in front of the penguins at the zoo

Arab Night and a Fun Surprise

Well this past Wednesday night was our Arab culture night, and it was really fun! Everyone got all dressed up in their most Arabian atire and went out to party! We started out with a demonstration from some professional prayer givers- meaning the guys that issue the call to prayer 5 times a day. They sang us the call to prayer and gave us the words so we would know what they are saying. And of course with the translations as well. It was so legit!! They also did a Quran reading and showed us how they pray with their prayer rugs and such.

We then had a traditional feast in the Oasis as if we were eating after fasting all day during Ramadan. No, it isn't time for Ramadan, but we just acted like it was to get the experience I suppose. The food was really good and the committee did a great job decorating the place. The picture below is us at the photo booth in the Oasis. Do you like my turban? I wrapped it myself and everything. :)

After our meal we went into the gym and 4 local high school students taught us how to do traditional Arab dancing! It was so fun! And the kids were adorable. I was super impressed with all of their skills! And now I know how to dance... I hope I don't forget... :)

So then on Friday we had a bit of free time after class got out so a small group of us tried to go the Holy Church of the Ascension, but it was closed sadly. We then wandered around trying to find something else to do when we happened upon a memorial where they claim Jesus taught his disciples and issued the Lord's prayer. It was this absolutely beautiful court yard with this tile art everywhere with the Lord's prayer in every possible language you can think of. Literally. My bottom picture is of the one in French. The place was run by French people, so I guess it was fitting. And I got a chance to speak French to one of the workers! Behind the court yard was this huge grove of olive trees which was absolutely amazing. It also had a nice lookout over the city. Plus we were there around dusk, which was just so pretty! Here I am sitting on a olive tree, looking out at the city:
It was such a peaceful place- especially since we were practically the only ones there. So it was super secluded and there was a very strong spirit about it. This is what I imagine the garden of gethsemane was like during the time of Christ. I definitely want to go back to do some more pondering and writing and such. Let me know if you want me to find a specific language and take a picture of it for you! Emily- I already got on in Armenian! :)
It was a beautiful day that ended in the best way possible- finding a new place that was super cool. So that is what is going on with me as of now. We have our free day tomorrow and then a field trip on Monday- so I will have more pictures and stuff to blog about then. As a side note however- they are re-filming the orientation/tour video for the center and the students from this semester are in it! Which means the possibility of me being in is very high. More news on that later. They are filming my class on our field trip on Monday- more news on that soon. Well I guess that is all from me- Love!