It's the Sabbath on Saturday!

Well even though it is Saturday today, we celebrated the Sabbath because that is how it's done in Israel. Church is at the center on the top (8th) floor in a huge auditorium. It is stadium seating and all of the seats are facing West. The entire western wall is windows looking out at the entire city of Jerusalem. Let me just say that it is a little distracting, but I suppose in the good way? It is definitely a good thing to have during the sacrament because you can't help but think about Christ while you look out on the ancient city. Today was fast and testimony meeting, and the district Relief Society president was visiting, who was born and raised in Israel and then went to BYU and converted to the church. She bore her testimony today and talked about how we might feel like we are really far away from home and miss everyone in the US but in a way we are home. In our patriarchal blessings it tells us which tribe we are from, but more importantly that we are descendants of Abraham- and this land was promised to him and his descendants. And that includes me! So I am home, which is a cool thought.

After church some girls and I walked around the center and just looked out at the city. Words cannot describe how beautiful the city is. And let me just tell you now- pictures do NOT do it justice. I kept trying to get a good shot of the city, but I just couldn't get one. What you see with your eyes cannot be captured in a picture. We walked around the grounds, as I said, and just took in all of the beauty. The weather out here is absolutely perfect right now. I guess the winter is the perfect time to go! It isn't too hot, but it is still warm with lots of sunshine. It is in the 50s and 60s every day which is my favorite kind of weather. Tomorrow is a free day, so I will hopefully be getting some more good pics in as well as exploring my new town!!

Hello from Jerusalem!

Bad new everyone- I will not be able to post a lot, if any pictures because of the web restrictions at the Jerusalem Center, but if we ever go elsewhere for internet, I will try and post some. Due to a lack of time, I am just going to copy and past the last 2 emails that I sent my parents- enjoy!

Hello Dear Family,

As I am writing you this email, I am sitting in a chair while gazing out on the old city of Jerusalem from the window across from me. There are so many windows in this building, that pretty much wherever you are, you are looking out at the city. The Jerusalem center is up on a hill, making it much easier to view pretty much the entire city. And it is gorgeous! My flight for Tel Aviv left from New York around 9 PM on Tuesday night. The plane was ridiculously huge- it was a double decker! I had the fortune to have a window seat, which allowed me to get much needed rest. I watched Money Ball on the plane, which was pretty good, then ate dinner, which they served. After that I pretty much slept the rest of the flight. And I do have to say that the flight wasn't bad at all- it went by really really fast, much to my surprise. We landed in Tel Aviv around 2 in the afternoon the next day. And we smoothly went from the plane to the bus with no problems. As I rode from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem I just looked out the window, amazed at the fact that I was literally in the middle east! My dream of many years was finally coming true- and it felt (and still does) so unreal! At this point I was dead tired, as was everyone else, even though I had slept on the plane. Plane sleep doesn't seem to be as restful as regular sleep somehow. When we first arrived, we went to the main auditorium, where we will be having church every Saturday. The curtains were closed around the windows that take up the entire wall in front of us, and we couldn't wait for them to be opened. We had a little welcome meeting where the director of the JC welcomed us- his name is Aran something.... He is a palestinian Jew- while the other directors are Arabs. He seemed very nice- and the JC is the only place in the church that isn't completely run by an LDS person and staff. The goal of the JC is to be a bridge between East and West Jerusalem- which is the Arab and Jewish sides. They have people from both sides working there with the requirement that they have to leave their politics at the door. And apparently it is working very well and is a good example to the rest of the country that these two groups can work together. After our welcome meeting we took a tour of the building, and it is absolutely gorgeous. The rumors are all true! We then unpacked into our rooms. My roommates are Maddie, Sarah, and Hailee and we all seem to get along very well. Everyone here seems very friendly and nice so far as well. Anyway- after we unpacked, we went to dinner. The food here is pretty good. At least the first meal was. After dinner we had introductions to our classes- which seems very intense, but doable. Afterwards we all were so happy to be able to go to bed. I was soooooo tired. I went to bed around 9PM. I woke up this morning at like 5 AM to the wonderful sound of the calling to prayer. So authentic! I guess because I'm still on UT time, but I woke up feeling very rested and had plenty of time to shower and get ready for breakfast at 615. So I just ate breakfast, and am now emailing you all with the few minutes I have before we go to our orientation meeting and then on a walk of the ancient city! I will write again soon- Write me back!! Love you all!

Hello again from the Middle East,

Well I just finished lunch at the Oasis- which is what they call the cafeteria here. All of the food so far has been quite good- I haven't eaten anything outside of the JC yet though. So yesterday after I finished emailing all of you, we went on our orientation walk around the entire city. It was quite the hike! We weren't allowed to bring cameras so that we could get through the city as quickly as possible and because they say we will be seeing these sites a hundred times before we leave. Hopefully that's true because I have yet to even take a picture yet- I know, surprising. But there really hasn't been time. I am going out today on free time though- and I will be taking pictures then. Anyway- the orientation walk was pretty legit. Walking around the actual city was really fun and everything here looks so ancient. One thing is that there are cats EVERYWHERE. And no dogs. And all of the cats are really gross and homeless. We see them roaming around the grounds of the center as well. We split up into groups of 8 for the orientation walk and my group was guided by Sister Bentley- who is one of the senior "service couples." There are 3 couples here- and they aren't allowed to be called missionaries since there is no missionary work in Israel, but they do a lot of service and even pay their own way out here, just like normal missionaries would. She showed us the main roads of Jerusalem and we saw a few of the sites, including where we can exchange money and such. My favorite part, however, was when we entered the old city, which is enclosed inside of a concrete wall. Once you walked through the gate it was like you were in another time period- with a few modern adjustments since people were wearing jeans and talking on cell phones. The old city is broken up into different quarters for Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Armenians. And each quarter has a lot of different shops. I can't wait to go back and go shopping! All of the people are very friendly and constantly call out to us saying "Hello Mormons!" Inside the ancient city, we went to the holy church of the seplechre (I'm not sure how to spell that...) and some other sites that I will be going back to to get a better look. We then walked to West Jerusalem, which is very different from East Jerusalem. It is much more modern and European looking, and apparently much safer as well. We then met the buses to take us back to the center, where we ate lunch. I then had a meeting to go to because I am the chair of the birthdays and special occasions committee. After that I read a lot for my classes. and boy is there a lot of reading. I was also suffering from jet lag all day long, which was really difficult. Hopefully it goes away soon. Then that night we had dinner and then a group activity in the gym which involved get to know you games. After that I went straight to bed because I was sooooo tired. I awoke this morning to the call of prayer once again around 6 AM and felt very awake. One good thing about jet lag is that it has been very easy to wake up in the morning. We had our first classes today- 2 classes that were 2 hours long each. That was pretty rough. My old testament class will be great from what I can tell. My near eastern studies class seems really boring.... boo. Oh well, I don't think it will be too hard or anything. Or maybe it was just the first day or something. Anyway after class we had lunch and now I am emailing you. I still have yet to blog because I haven't really had time because I have spent all of my time writing everything to you. Maybe I will copy and paste.... So that's my life right now! I can't wait to see what church is like tomorrow. After I finish emailing you, I will be going to another meeting with my committee and then we have free time the rest of the day. So until next time! Love you!

I will try and blog somewhat often- so stay in touch!

Hooray!

Just turned in my 20 page paper!!

Just call me Scrooge

This year I feel like I just don't want Christmas to come. I'm just not in the mood. Am I weird? Don't answer that- I already know the answer. I hated all of the Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving, and now that it is after Thanksgiving, and technically "Christmas time," I still find myself resenting anything Christmas. I am looking forward to going home for the holidays- that is for sure. Maybe I'm resenting Christmas because it has so many other meanings. My time in Provo is getting shorter and shorter- and all of the Christmas stuff is just a constant reminder of that. I also have just been ridiculously disgusted with the ever increasing materialism. Why am I taking a stance now, when my whole life has been filled with materialistic Christmases? You would know just as much as I would. I really do like Christmas, but I guess I'm just not ready for it to come. This time of year is just hard as well, so maybe that has a lot to do with it. I'm about to turn 24 which is awful. haha. I'm so weird about my birthday. I just hate getting older! So maybe once my birthday is over, I will be more in the Christmas spirit.... who knows... Until then I guess all I have to say is "Baa Humbug!"

Greetings from my busy life

It's been a month since I've last blogged.... oops. This semester is absolutely insane though. When did I become an adult? Can someone please explain this to me? Here's what's going on.

1. I am taking the GRE on Monday. Monday people! And yet as I study for this GRE I can't help but think that this has nothing to do with grad school and that it really isn't a good way of showing what kind of a person or student I will be..... But hey, whatevs.

2. I've started applying to grad school, speaking of. I can't help but have the fear that I won't get in. May seem irrational to you, but very real to me. I need to have a plan B, just in case. And yet I have NO idea what that plan should be.

3. Money sucks. Moving on.

4. Jerusalem plans continue to go well. It still doesn't feel real, and I'm guessing it won't even after I am already over there.

5. Oh by the way- I'm in my last real academic semester of my bachelor's degree- so on top of all of the "life" stresses, I also have 5 classes to deal with. Midterms, what? Good news though- I'm pretty sure I aced my midterm this week. One more to go. (for now)

6. This is my last semester in Provo. Pretty much ever. (Never say never I guess, but for all intents and purposes, this is it!) Even though there are quite a few things that I don't love about Provo, it will be very hard to say goodbye. It's always hard to say goodbye to what you are used to.

7. I'm turning 24 soon. Ugh. 24? really? How did this happen?

8. All of my friends are having babies. Kinda weird, but so fun to look at pictures on facebook!

9. Oh and by the way.... I'm going to KENYA. week of Thanksgiving. Boom. More details to follow. I've waited to tell people just because it really doesn't feel real. But it's happening. My friend is going for a charity the week after Thanksgiving, and I am going with her a week before to tour around and experience Kenya. So I just got a bunch of vaccinations. Which made me sick, but I'm over it now and ready to Safari!

There is probably more going on with me, but those are the more pressing/important things.

Thought Process

Here is how my day goes all day every day. I think to myself:

Jerusalem!

Holy Crap I'm taking the GRE....

JERUSALEM!!

i need to study for the GRE. So many vocab words

490 paper- slavery slavery slavery

I'm freaking going to Jerusalem

wow i have so much reading, i don't know how i am going to get all of this done.

i need to find more clothes that are appropriate for Jerusalem

i wonder how Ethan is doing... how can I get closer to him?

i know i'm not worried about the math portion of the GRE, but should I be?

Am I really going to Jerusalem?

I need to call mom/dad/fill in the blank

READ READ READ

I need to figure out car insurance for Jerusalem

I need to write Emma back

Words with friends takes up way too much of my life

The Quran is actually a pretty good book. What if I was Muslim? ;)

There are Muslims in JERUSALEM

I wonder how (fill in the blank) is doing...

I need to write in my Journal

Shoot. I am taking the GRE.

Am I going to get into grad school? What if I don't? What if i DO?

Jerusalem is going to be awesome.

I miss Ethan. I miss Parker. I miss my parents.

How is Parker doing? How can I be a support to him from so far away?

I'll be even farther from him in Jerusalem.

How is it possible to think about Jerusalem THIS much?

Oh shoot, I need to think more about the GRE and less about Jerusalem.

bellicose=hostile, apotheosis=supreme example, anachronistic=out of place, etc.

JERUSALEM

And the cylce just goes on and on and on....

Papa Joe

For some reason or another, I'm really missing this guy lately:

It's not his birthday, or his death anniversary, or anything like that. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I'm in a family history class right now. Or that I'm studying Southern history for my major. I miss Georgia. Particularly Papa- since he was the reason that I would ever visit Georgia. I miss going to his house and having absolutely nothing to do but sit and enjoy each other. I miss not being able to walk past him without getting a long, often overdrawn hug. I miss being told that He loves me and to never forget it! I miss sitting on his swing in the back yard with magnolias, woods, and the next door neighbor's horses. I could go on, but let's just say that I can't wait to see him again!