Rainy Days

Well this past week has been full of classes and rain. I LOVE my classes. Like seriously love. It's weird- I have yet to have a semester that is as good as this one, academically speaking. The longer I am here (granted, it hasn't been toooo long) the more glad I am that this is my last semester. It really is the ideal way to end college. I don't know what all of these other people were thinking.... haha ;) And I know it's only January and I still have a lot more time here, but I'm already dreading the day that I have to leave. I love this city and I feel like I want to live here....if not indefinitely then at least for a few years or so. It's just such a cool place to live!

So yeah, like my title suggests, it has been raining the past few days. We had a nice break in the rain on Thursday, and I was able to get out to the old city for some shopping and falafel. Yep- could definitely live off of the falafel here. They stuff the pitas with falafel, tomatoes, these cucumber/pickle things, a spicy sauce, and french fries! Sound weird? I suppose it kind of is, but the french fries are soooo good in it! And the falafel is great. All of the store owners call to us and ask us if we are the new mormons and then proceed to show us all of their merchandise and tell us about the special "mormon prices" haha. Who knows if the prices are actually lower... I suspect not. We eventually got to Shaban's- who is the guy that makes the BYU Jerusalem t-shirts and hoodies for the students as well as things like scripture cases and other mormony things. He is really great. And he makes beaded rings for all of the girls as a gift. So I got one of those, which is pretty cool. Then I went across the street to his brother-in-law's shop and bought some leather sandals, which are a must if you are living in Jerusalem. Pretty sure I"ll be buying more of them.

So we were supposed to go to the Western Wall for the start of the Sabbath last night, but it got post poned due to the cold rainy weather. And then our trip to the Garden Tomb also got post poned today, since it is still raining. We will have plenty of time to visit these places later though, so I'm not worried about it. Well I guess that's about all I have to report. I am meeting tons of cool people and really starting to feel at home here. Peace!

And more....

This is standing in the shepherd's fields, overlooking Bethlehem in the distance

This is me at one of the overlooks. Excuse the hair- as I said, it was a VERY windy day that day
Me playing piano at Augusta Victoria

And more pictures

See previous posts for further explanations:

This is me in front of Nabi Samuel

Eating my first Falafel in the old city!
In fron of the city that I told you about- that huge thing closest to me is the temple
Me and the girls in the group in front of the Shrine of the book
Me at the center after church!
More pics to come- let me know how you like these!

Pictures!

Me and my roommates: Maddie is on the far left, then Hailee and then Sarah is on the far right. Hailee actually ended up switching rooms, so now it is just the 3 of us. We are standing on the deck outside of our room. More pictures to come soon!

Free Time Sunday and Field Trip Monday

Well yesterday, Sunday, was our first free day in the Holy Land. A group of about 6 of us decided to go to the Israel Museum in West Jerusalem. Not only do we have to go to the museum for class, but I also really wanted to go, so it was a win-win situation. The museum itself was so interesting because the building was extremely modern looking while everything inside is literally older than anything else I've ever seen. There were artifacts that were 1000s of years old. The museum is organized by era- starting with the stone age and going up until today. We only looked up to the Caliphate/Islam era though. It really is amazing what archaeology has brought to our day. As I was looking at all of the artifacts, whether it was jewelry, burial artifacts, or pottery, I just had to wonder how all of these archaeologists knew so much from the little artifacts that they have discovered. After we looked at the main building of the museum, we went outside to the shrine of the book- where THE dead sea scrolls are. It was so cool! I took Isaiah a few semesters ago and I'm so glad that I did because seeing these scrolls meant that much more to me. And these scrolls were discovered not too far from here! The shrine of the book building is really cool too. It's kind of like a white tear dropped dome... I don't know how else to describe that.

Oh and good news! Even though I can't upload pictures to my blog on the JC campus, I CAN go across the street to the Hebrew University and do it there. I can also get on facebook and such, but I think I'm going to hold strong to not getting on facebook for 4 months.... at least that's what I say now... haha. I won't be going there ALL the time because I kind of like the whole idea of being separated from technology. But I will definitely go there like twice or three times a month. That also depends on who else wants to go with me because you can't go anywhere without at least 2 other people to go with you. This is actually kind of frustrating to me. Not that I want to go out alone or anything, but sometimes it's hard to get people to do things that you want to do and then you have to accommodate other people by doing what they want to do and so on. That sounds really selfish of me... and perhaps it is... I guess I just wish I could go across the street by myself if I wanted to, but I'm sure I will get used to it soon.

Anyway...I forgot to mention that before going to the Israel museum, we went to Aladdin's, which is where you go to exchange money here. Oh and it is pronounced Ah-la-deen's not like the Disney movie. After that, we walked around and found Omar's shop. Omar actually found us and yelled down the street for us to come see his shop. He has been doing business with BYU students for over 40 years and he loves Mormons. He has pictures with all of the general authorities that have visited the Holy Land. His shop consists of a TON of hand carved Olive wood nativities and other things. Mainly nativities though. And they are SOOOO cool! What's funny is that he also has things like busts of Joseph and Emma Smith, Captain Moroni, and Christ, all based on Mormon paintings. It's kinda funny, kinda cool. Omar was very friendly and nice as well. He gave us free keychains made of olive wood of course. So I guess that is the place to go for anything carved of olive wood. Omar was then kind enough to help us get a taxi over to the Museum.

So yeah... back to the Museum. After the shrine of the book, we went to an outdoor exhibit that was a replica of the Old city when Herod was the king. The temple, which I didn't realize, was HUGE!!!! The replica itself was like 30 or more feet long and probably 20 feet wide. I'm not that good at distance judging.... I will upload a picture of it and you will see what I'm talking about. The point being that it was sooo cool and awesome to see what the city looked like during the time of Christ. Seeing how big the temple was puts the whole story about Jesus cleansing the temple into an entirely new perspective. Still amazing that He did that single handedly...

We had been at the museum for around 4.5 hours at this point and decided to take a taxi back to the old city. Oh the Old City. I am seriously in love with it. I could just explore it all day every day. It's just so foreign and exciting! I can't wait to show you pictures. So we entered at the Damascas gate and found this shop that supposedly sells the best falaffel (sp?) in Jerusalem. And I do have to say that it was delicious. They put it in a pita with a bunch of different vegetables, sauce, and something spicy in it. I don't really have a point of reference to know if it the best, but it was very good and will be the standard for the rest of the falaffel that I eat. Once we finished our falaffel, it was getting close to sunset, which meant time to go home. In East Jerusalem, our curfew is sunset because of safety reasons. In West Jerusalem, however, our curfew is midnight.

This blog post is becoming much longer that I originally expected it to be. You guys said you wanted me to be detailed though, so I'm just giving you all what you asked for! :) So today was our first field trip day. It was the "Jerusalem Overlook" field trip. Which basically means we went to a bunch of different sites that overlook Jerusalem. We first went to Nabi Samuel, which is the tomb of the prophet Samuel. He isn't actually buried there, so it is actually just an honorary tomb. It was way cool. Today was ridiculously windy and cold. So it was a little difficult to stay outside all day, but hey I was in Jerusalem, so I couldn't complain. After Nabi Samuel, we went to Augusta Victoria, which is a huge Christian church with a large tower that you can climb and look out on the city. Climbing up all of the stairs was sooooo hard! I seriously thought my legs were going to give in at any moment. But I made it to the top- and it was worth it! The view was incredible. It was very windy and cold though. After we got back down from the tower, we sat in the chapel and sang hymns. The interior of the church is gorgeous- full of mosaics of Christ's ascension and other things. I played the piano for everyone, which was very cool. I have been surprised at how much I have played the piano since I have been here. I have gained a new appreciation for the musical talent that the Lord has blessed with me. And for my mother forcing me to take lessons all of those years. (You happy Mom? You told me all of those years that I would one day thank you despite all of my threats to drop our piano off of a cliff haha. I guess you were right! So Thank you) Plus being able to play the piano in an ancient church is pretty dang legit. The cathedral was huge though, so with all of the acoustics it was hard for me to play and hear everyone else singing at the same time.

After August Victoria, we went around to different overlooks of the ancient city. And then one that overlooked Bethlehem- which is where they say the shepherds were when they saw the angel. The last overlook we went to was where it is believed Abraham was when he received the revelation that he would have to sacrifice Isaac. It was so cool to look out onto the old city and see the path that he would have traveled to go make the sacrifice. Thinking about being in the land of the Bible is such a blessing and I can't believe I am here. I will have to show you with pictures the path that I am referring to.

The field trip ended with a visit to the Hebrew University. One of the students, who is also a member of our branch showed us around so that we could know where certain things are, like cool restaurants on campus, computer labs, the bookstore and the library. And then we walked back to the center- which is very close by, as I mentioned earlier. Well that was my day yesterday and today. Now I need to go do the rest of my reading... ugh. Thank you to all of you that have been emailing me. They are much appreciated!

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!