Happy birthday, Blog

I was just sitting here during my lunch break thinking and decided to look up my first blog post.  I realized I started this blog 4 years and 2 days ago.  Lots has happened since then, but 4 years worth of stuff?  Hard to believe. 

I started the blog as I was preparing to leave for a sememster in Jerusalem.  It's fun to reread and remember what I was doing and feeling at the time.  I had no idea what it would be like, but I know it would be important and change me.  As I describe the feeling in my second post, "It's almost like knowing you are about to win the lottery, but instead of cash you're getting Life."

"Life as I know it" certainly changed a lot since then.  I don't think I've ever told wrote about where my blog's name came from.  It's from a line in the movie P.S I Love You.  At the end of the movie the main character is reading a letter from her husband written before he died of an illness some time before (I'm not spoiling anything; this is entire premis of the plot and the first thing any summary of the movie will tell you). 

After encouraging her to move on with life without him, he tells her:

"Watch out for that signal, when life as you know it ends." 

That line resonated with me, especially as I was at that very time face to face with one of those signals telling me this incredible and rare opportunity was ending life as I knew it.  That kind of ending though isn't a termination.  It's a transformation.  We still exist, but how we exist changes, "normal" changes, life as we know it is different than it used to be.  Just think about that.  Isn't that a thrilling to think about?  How so much can hinge on one choice?  I think so.

I've tried to make this little blog a chronical of those "signals" of when life as I know it ends, and what happens because of them.  If you've been here from the start you've followed me to Israel, to Utah, through college, to graduation, to Denver, to Europe, and to wherever else I set my mind to go and do.  Thanks for indulging me over the years.  May you take notice of the signals that change your life as you know it.

And thus ends life as I know it... again...

It's our last night in Jerusalem. Nobody is going to bed. There is still a lot to be done: packing, picture sharing, etc. Half of us head to the airport at 3am, so... no point in trying to get any sleep. It was a good week. Monday and Tuesday we went to all the places Jesus did the last week of his life culminating at the Garden Tomb where we finished touring the last site of our last field trip of the semester.

Today was a free day to spend as we liked. I went all around the Old City with friends, saying goodbye to all our favorite vendors. I met a few I had never met before and I wished I would have! I'll just have to come back someday to see them again. One guy owns a photography shop. He used to be the photographer for the late King Abdullah II, the king of Jordan. He's probably the kindest man I have ever met in my life. I'm sad I didn't know him all along. I said goodbye to Shabban, Omar, Jimmy, Baghdadi, Aladdin, the falafel guys at Damascus Gate, my 15 shekel shirt man, and all the other shopkeepers that know and love the Mormons and expressed their sadness at our departure as we passed them by. I finished my day coming up the valley via the Orson Hyde Park. We ate our last dinner in the Oasis and then watched our end-of-semester DVD. We had a last devotional out on the lawn all together overlooking the city. We all got tours of the underneath side of the center where all the workings are. I think we were the first group to not sneak down there. Now we are finishing up all our last things. I need to get all my things together, weigh my bags, and get ready to get on the bus at 3. I don't want to spend my last three hours on a computer.

So long Israel, so long Palestine. Life as I know it ends once again.

Coming down the homestretch...

Classes and finals are done! I am getting excited to come home. I know I'll miss all my friends here a lot, but I'm ready to come back. I'm worn out! We've had several field trips this last week. We did a tour of some archaeological sites that date back to the first century AD and we toured a lot of the old Christian churches. We had one ancient near east final last Thursday, and we had out New Testament final this morning. I think I did well on both, so that is satisfying.

The next two days we walk the places Jesus during the last week of his life. Should be really cool and a fitting end to our semester. Wednesday will be our last full free day and then we fly out early on Thursday. Coming up quickly! It has been a good semester and I am satisfied.

Today I walked around the Old City and finished my shopping. The Old City is my favorite part of Jerusalem and I'll miss walking around, seeing all the vendors, visiting our favorite shop keepers and haggling for cool stuff. It has been so warm and every day is beautiful. The rainy season is most definitely over and it's sunshine all the time. I checked the weather at home today. 32 degrees, feels like 24. BRRRR!!! Here I am ready for summer and I'm going to have to go through spring all over again! So much for my base tan..... ha!

I added a new picture album-- Jerusalem: the End...ing Part.

Singing and Sneezing

The choir concert went great. Since it was in the Anglican Church there were a lot of British people and it was fun to meet them. It was a big deal that we sang there because the Mormons have a historic clash with the Anglicans, namely the Anglicans hate the Mormons' guts. Often the faculty have their children here in Israel with them and have always sent them to the Anglican Church and it can be rough on the kids. The center has tried to create good relations and once invited the Anglicans to give a concert here and they refused to step foot here because they don't consider Mormons Christians. SO.... it was a really big deal that they invited us to perform in their cathedral. It was a big step in a good direction and we had a really great experience. The bishop and the bishop's assistant were very welcoming and loved our singing.

Just my luck, the sniffles are being passed around and I think I got it. Or it could be allergies. Or both. Whatever it is, I have a leaky nose, the sneezies and a congested head. This happened last year right before finals too. It is making an already stressful week more inconvenient.

We have a final on Thursday and another on Sunday. I've finally cracked down today, got myself a study buddy, and got some hard core studying done. My previous efforts had been embarrassingly weak, but we got a lot of work done today. We had another field trip today into the old city to the big, old Christian churches. I'd post pictures, except in my haste this morning I forgot my camera on the bed. I also forgot my sunglasses. Kind of a sad morning. But! I did finally get to go up in the tower at the Church of the Redeemer after 3 previously failed attempts (but without my camera... ouch!), and I had lunch at the best falafel and humus place ever. Literally a hole in the wall, or basement rather, in East Jerusalem.

8 more days! Eek!

Coming down the homestretch....

My time is growing short over here. We have one final on Thursday, the other next Sunday, and then school is finished! I come home on the 24, so in 11 days. Actually, I leave in 11 days, I'll be home in 12! It takes a whole day to get from here to there. It's time for all the lasts. Last shopping, site seeing, etc. I've got much of my souvenir shopping finished for family and friends, and I only have one last site to see that I really want to see before I'm done.

Today we had a field trip of the archaeological park by the Temple Mount. We saw lots of things from the 1st century, it was pretty cool. It was pretty warm out today. I'll be coming home with lots of freckles and a real watch and sandal tan. I'm sure glad we leave before it gets REALLY hot. That would be unbearable I think.

Tonight is our choir concert over at St. George's Cathedral; should be good. We had our dress rehearsal last night. Our conductor and his wife, the Gailbraiths, go home on Tuesday, their time here is up too. They are one of the service couples that just stay at the center for a year or so. They have been in charge of Sunday concerts at the center and the student choir. Their replacements are the Squires who have recently arrived. Brother Gailbraith has been a saint dealing with us students! We are a pretty "interactive" group in the words of Bro Huntington, aka loud and distracted. Since Bro Gailbraith is a musical genius and either wrote or arranged nearly all the music, we can record the performance without violating any copyrights, so when I get a copy I'll see if I can post those up for y'all to listen.

ps. My pictures are updated through the Dead Sea FT. Look for those under the "Second Half of the Middle" album.

Life Since Galilee

Now it's time to catch up with what has happened since Galilee! The day after we got home was a free day, so I went out into the city. I went with a couple of friends to the citadel, which is often called David's Tower, but it wasn't actually build by King David. After that we walked over to West Jerusalem, had an amazing bagel sandwich from Holy Bagel on Jaffa Street, and did some shopping at one of our favorite stores. The next day I got to go help with a painting project. One of the teachers here has his wife and two of his children here with him. The son is working on his Eagle Scout project (and he is only 13!) and for it he is doing a mural in the hall of a nearby school. We all got to go contribute. We had a lot of fun painting the walls and each other. On Shabbat I paid another visit with some friends to the Garden Tomb. The weather is a lot warmer so there were a lot more visitors than when I went that very first week I was here. I also went to the Russian Church of the Ascension convent which has a tower that overlooks the city. It is being worked on so we couldn't go up in it.

We have 6 field trips spead out over our last two weeks here. We have already been on three this week! The first one was Sunday to Neot Kedumim, a land preserve dedicated to preserving the land as it would have looked during the time of the Bible. We learned about lots of the plants mentioned in the Bible and gave a lot more meaning in reading those scriptures now! It was a really cool field trip, cooler than everyone expected it to be. We got to herd sheep and goats, make our own zata (a popular spice mix here) and pita too.

The next day was a class day with a free afternoon. I made it a shopping day to get lasts things. I got my nativity set, t-shirts for friends and myself, and other gifts. I think I'll need one more day to get everything I want. Tuesday we had a field trip to Tel Aviv and Jaffa. We learned about ancient history in Jaffa and modern history in Tel Aviv. Jaffa is the port town where the apostle Peter had the vision to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Tel Aviv was the first Hebrew city, established by Jews migrating to the Holy Land in the early 1900s. Yesterday was another class day, but we got confined to the center for the afternoon so I spent it taking a nap and doing homework. Really exciting.

Today was super cool!!! We went to Masada, floated in the Dead Sea, hiked to a waterfall at Ein Gedi, and went to Qumran. It was a really fun day. The Dead Sea was so cool! You just float. No swimming involved. You float so high in the water that people look like they are standing in the water. You can recline and prop your feet up. You can float on your tummy and lift your hands and feet out of the water and still float. Trying doing that in fresh water-- doesn't work! We found a mud pit and slathered Dead Sea mud all over our bodies. It's supposed to be really good for the skin. People pay like $25 an ounce for it. We did it for free! It was a really fun day. Picture from this week were added to the "Second Half of the Middle", album so check 'em out. Only two more weeks before I'm home!

Galilee

Where to begin? Galilee is AMAZING. If you ever get the opportunity to come to Israel, a few days in Galilee is a must. A few weeks, even better. I spent 11 days and we all wish we could have stayed the whole semester!

We left on Easter Sunday. We were able to attend the sunrise service at the Garden Tomb. It was very evangelical, so it was a lot of fun! We are all still singing "Happy Day". Then we departed to head up north. We stopped first at Megiddo and toured the tel. I saw the famous stables of Solomon and learned that they probably weren't stables after all. The tell overlooks the Jezreel Valley aka the valley of Armageddon. Next we stopped for lunch in Afula which is famous for its falafel. There is one falafel stand where the guy does tricks and throws the falafel balls up in the air and catches them in the pita; it was really cool! Our last stop of the day was Sepphoris, Herod's Pearl of the Galilee. It's near Nazareth, so it is possible that is where Joseph, step-father of Jesus, may have been employed since the city hired lots of artisans as it was being built up. The area around Sepphoris was so beautiful that it reminded me a lot of home and even made me a little homesick. That doesn't happen much-- that tells you how beautiful it really was! We finally arrived at Ein Gev, the place we were staying. We stayed in little bungalows near the Sea of Galilee.

Day 2 was a field trip day for my class. We are divided between the two religion classes. We only kept one bus all week, so the two classes would alternate. When one class was on a field trip with the bus, the other would have a class day. We started off with a boat ride across the lake. It was a beautiful and clear day, something we learned was rare because there is often a haze over the lake. On the other side there is a museum with a fishing boat that was found that dates back to around the time period of Jesus, so it is often called the "Jesus boat". It was found about 13 years ago in the mud around the lake during a drought. Next we made our way to the Mount of Beatitudes were there is a beautiful Italian church that was built by Mussolini actually. His people accused him of not being a good Catholic so he built this church. We had our lecture about the Sermon on the Mount up there. After lunch we toured the Byzantine basilica-style chapel at Tabga which commemorates Jesus feeding of the 5000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves, then walked over to the Crusader chapel commemorating St. Peter's Primacy, when Jesus told Peter to "feed my sheep". Our last stop was at Capernaum where Jesus based much of his ministry from. Archaeologists are confident that they have actually identified Peter's home because of the many other chapels built over it over time. There is a Franciscan church suspended over it now, but you can see beneath to the ruins.

Day 3 was a class day for us, so we had 3 hours of New Testament class in the morning outside on the lawn overlooking the water underneath the blooming trees. Spring is here in the Holy Land. Roses are already blooming too. Summer isn't here yet though, which means swimming season is not yet, so we weren't allowed to go in the water. Our director begged for us and arranged for each class to get one day of swimming though. This was our day and we got 4 hours to spend in the water. It was great! The temperature was like Hayden Lake in August= perfect! We had lots of fun playing in the sand too, as you can see from pictures!

The next day we had a field trip to Gamla. This is the place where Josephus, the Jewish historian, had command during the first Jewish revolt in the first century. The Jews ended up committing suicide by jumping off the cliffs rather than being brutalized as Roman slaves, so that is what it is known for. You can still see where the wall was breached by Roman battering rams. We climbed up to the very top of the hill. We had not been sufficiently informed about the nature of the field trip that day and many girls wore skirts because of the heat. Bad idea! It was really windy and we had a time trying to not flash everybody! I ended up just tying my skirt around my legs, or as I called it "girding my loins". It was really fun still and really beautiful. If you have seen the new Pride and Prejudice movie it looks like the area of the peaks in the movie. After Gamla we went to Qazrin, a village where the people had lived Talmudically during the period of time when the Talmud was being written, sort of an experimental village where they would see what things worked and what didn't. That night our class got to go to the fish restaurant and eat some St. Peter's fish, an indigenous species that has always lived in the Sea of Galilee. It was pretty yummy. After that we went to Tiberias for ice cream.

Day 5 was another class day. That afternoon many of us went on an optional hike up in the Golan. We hiked among the hills and up to a waterfall. We got to swim in the pool at the base and it was FREEZING. Think Lake Pend Orielle in the spring. When our bus brought us home, our driver favored us with a sample of the Muslim prayer call. Apparently Ata, our driver, is a local celebrity of sorts. He does the prayer call for the mosque next to the Dome of the Rock every weekend and is broadcast to Jordan too. He just spontaneously did part of a prayer call for us on the bus and it was really cool. He is the nicest man and definitely the nicest bus driver we've ever had.

The next day was another field trip day. We first went to Beth She'an. This city was Hellenized so there are a lot of Roman ruins. This is the city where King Saul's body was hung on the gate (after he died in battle nearby) before the Israelites sneaked and took it down to bury it. We climbed all over the ruins. Next we went to the area of the Seven Springs. It's a national part now, but it has been people have been going bathing there for centuries. There are these 7 natural thermal springs that bubble up in one area. The water was clear and beautiful and warm, like a pool in August. There were lots of fish in the water and there was this one that kept biting everybody. It even drew blood a couple times! We went to Bet Alfa to see a cool mosaic floor that has been well preserved, then to Nain to the little chapel that commemorates the miracle of Jesus raising the widow's son from death. We ended the day with a taxi ride up the 17 switchbacks of Mount Tabor, one of the mountains that the Transfiguration may have taken place. Up on top we met Truman G. Madsen, a well known historian.

Saturday was Shabbat and we went to church at the little church building in Tiberias. It is the only chapel for our church in Israel. It used to be a house that was converted into a meeting house; It is beautiful and overlooks the Sea of Galilee. Church was the only thing scheduled, so we got the rest of the day to ourselves. I spent it reading and writing in my journal on the lawn looking out over the lake. Life is tough.

We had class the morning of the eighth day, so in the afternoon lots of us climbed up to Hippos. It was a Hellenized pagan city on a nearby hill. It is speculated that this was the town Jesus was referencing in talking about "a city on a hill cannot be hid". It was a fun adventure. One kid had been up there earlier in the week and accidentally dropped his camera down a hole into a cistern or something like it. This time he brought rope and the boys were able to lower him down into the hole to retrieve the camera. He got it back and it still works too! From the top of Hippos you can overlook the whole lake.

Day nine was a little rainy. We first went to Hazor which is the biggest archaeological site in Israel. Then we went to Tel Dan, which is now a preserve and so has lots of beautiful greenery everywhere. After this we went to Caesarea Philipi and then to our final stop of the day: Nimrod's Castle. It's actually a crusader castle that was then taken over by Muslim conquerors. But it's a real castle! It was a lot of fun to crawl all over it.

Monday we were to go to the world famous Bahai Gardens at the headquarters of the Bahai faith in Haifa because they rescheduled our tour from Monday, but we were still in Ein Gev in Galilee and couldn't make it to Haifa in time for the tour so we missed it. We were all really sad. Instead we went the place that commemorates the miracle of the swine, and Chorazim before heading to Nazareth. In Nazareth we went to the Church of the Annunciation and then had some free time to walk around the city. We also went to Acco and toured the Crusader citadel and the al-Jazaar Mosque. My camera batteries died in Acco, so I didn't get any pictures of it unfortunately. That night we stayed in Haifa on the coast of the Mediterranean.

Tuesday was the last day of the trip. Since we couldn't go to the big gardens, we went to some smaller Bahai gardens instead. They were still very beautiful and incredible manicured. We did do a drive by of the Bahai headquarters to take pictures. We were supposed to go to this cool Templar cemetery, but our bus driver got lost and we ran out of time to stop there, so instead we stopped at a beach by an ancient aqueduct to eat lunch and stick our feet in the water. Our last stop was at Caesarea Mauritania, where Herod had a man-made port constructed. Finally we made it home and have since caught up on our laundry and are back in the usual grind.

As long as this post is, this I barely skimmed over what we did! At least this will give you a dialog to follow as you look at pictures. Now it is very late here and I have another field trip to Tel Aviv in the morning, but I had to finally get caught up with this! Check out the pictures, all the Galilee ones are up.

Catsup, Ketchup, Catch Up.... Whatever...

That last post took half a week to write, so I already have an update on life. Finals are over and it feels good. I'm still coming back to life (I've been a zombie by the way). This week definitely was the "best of times and the worst of times". The "worst": finals and all the studying that profited me nothing. The "best": Palm Sunday and Bethlehem, Easter weekend, and the studying that did pay off in the end. The first final I don't even want to talk about, and the other two were fine. I actually rocked the last one, it was satisfying. Oh, another part of the worst: we lost our last soccer game, so we are out of the tournament. We only lost by one point. It was sad.

This weekend was the Jewish feast of Purim. We had our own little Purim party here. The Jews dress up in costumes for it, similar to Halloween. We have limited resources here at the JC, so we all got creative with our costumes. We had a bonfire, made banana boats, reenacted the story of Esther, and burned the manuals of the classes we just finished. It was fun and definitely a great way to relieve the stress of the week.

Spring is here and trees are budding everywhere and flowers are springing up all over. Even a few roses have bloomed around the center. Today was Easter Sabbath for us. Lots of students went down to the Garden of Gethsemane between church and dinner. It seemed appropriate. We leave for Galilee in the morning, but before we do, our departure was pushed back so we can go to the sunrise service at the Garden Tomb (enough students protested that they were being deprived of Easter in Jerusalem!). The Galilee field trip is our longest one and spans 11 days, so you'll get a break from these updates for a while. We are all really excited, especially since the weather is nice and warm for good now! It may still be winter where you are, but it's not where I am!

I updated my pictures and added another album, so check 'em out. I really crave Mexican food. Just throwing that out there.

Palm Sunday and Bethlehem

Things are winding down. Papers are done, and only one more final to go. We leave for Galilee on Sunday. Unfortunately, we will not get to spend Easter here in Jerusalem because it is a travel day for us.

Despite the mass hysteria that always accompanies high levels of stress in confined spaces, we have been able to do a couple of fun things this last week that gave us a break from the grind. Last Sunday was Palm Sunday and it is my new favorite holiday (as long as I can celebrate it in Jerusalem). Here in Jerusalem pilgrims come from literally all over the world to walk from Bethphage to St. Anne's, a French Catholic church not far inside the walls through Lions Gate, in Jerusalem. We all walked over to the starting point together where there were lots of little boys selling palms and olive branches. The tradition is the pilgrims carry the branches along the walk in commemoration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before he was crucified. It was so much fun to be with so many Christians! There were people from all walks of life: tourists, nuns, monks, youth groups, students and locals. There were thousands of people! We all walked along together singing hymns. There were even some mobile musical groups complete with accordions, tambourines, microphones and speakers they carried along. The walk ends at St. Anne's because that is where the Pool of Bethesda is. On the grounds they had more music and we all continued to celebrate together. Some of our students even initiated a conga line at one point. Not all the nuns appreciated it, but what can I say? We have a dance party wherever we go, do we not?

We went to Bethlehem a couple days later. Our Palestinian teacher lives and works there, so he was in charge of the tour. We heard a lecture by the director of an institute that does research about Palestine. He was a former political prisoner so that's cool. He was understandably very passionate. We then went to Bethlehem University where we had a tour of part of campus, then had a question and answer session with 4 students. It was really interesting to ask them questions about what their lives are like in the West Bank. It is good for us to hear the story from both sides, something Americans never get in the states I now know.

Next we went to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. It is built over the grotto that Christ was traditionally born in. We got to go down in it and sing Christmas carols. There is nothing like singing "Away in a Manger" in the stable where it happened (maybe)! We had some free time to do some shopping in town and then left for "shepherd's field" for our last stop. We just went out to an open field outside the city to eat our sack dinners and then had a devotional and lecture on the birth of Christ under the stars. It was cool... and by that I mean freezing. We had to huddle for warmth but it was worth it! It was a neat experience.

Odds and Ends

Tuesday they finally let us go out into the city again. Things seemed to have calmed down a bit and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way. It was a bittersweet privledge because we had to study for our Old Testament final, so we really didn't have much time to go anywhere. Most everyone did anyway and it was great because the weather was beautiful all week. We have three more finals and a 14-page paper due next week in addition to all the regular work for other classes, so we have plenty to keep us busy. We started our New Testament class today, and we'll have only that and our Ancient Near East class the rest of the semester. NT will be intense since we are cramming it into a month, but we are all excited. We are going to spend 11 days in Galilee soon where we will get to travel around and see places like Nazareth and Megiddo (of Armageddon fame).

So, I've instituted an exercise regime for myself so that I ensure that all my clothes will still fit when I get home. As part of it I am participating in the JC soccer tournement. Our team lost the first time, but we won the second. We are tied for 2nd place in our bracket so we have a playoff next Wednesday to see who will play against the 2nd place team of the other bracket. The winner of that game plays the winner between the 1st places for the win over all. That sounds confusing, but that's how it is workis. We play 4 on 4 and my team has 2 boys and 2 girls. Two have played before and two haven't, including me, but we do pretty well. I have found that I have a natural talent as a goalie, and I have the bruises to prove it.

Don't forget to check out my pictures! I have them updated through the Eilat trip and our tour through the Kotel Tunnel (Kotel=Western Wall, they have excavated along it under the Islamic neighborhood).

Eilat of Fun in the Sun!

The Friday after we got back form Jordan was a free day, so our out-of-Jerusalem committee organized a trip down to the resort city of Eilat (pronounced eh-LOT) to go snorkeling in the Gulf of Aqaba. It was a perfect day. The place we snorkeled was part of a preserve, so we had to stay within certain boundaries but it was worth it because the coral has been so well preserved. Of all the places I've been snorkeling this place had the best coral by far. There were tons of fish too, but they were mostly small fish in large schools. The water felt kind of chilly initially and it took me several minutes to convince myself to jump it. Each time I was better though. We had lots of fun swimming and just laying out on the beach and being lazy. Lots of people got badly burned, but not yours truly. I've had lots of practice in how not to. In the evening we went into the town to find dinner before heading back home. The sunshine followed us back and every day since has been warmer and warmer in Jerusalem. I think spring may finally be upon us!

Security Update

I'm sure many of you were curious (and worried) about me and what is going on at this end with regards to the shooting last week. If you didn't know, a Hamas-affiliated man from East Jerusalem walked into a yeshiva Thursday evening and opened fire on the students. Eight young students died and many more were wounded. The incident happened on the west side of the Old City near Jaffa Gate (you can find the area on one of the maps to the left). We had been in Jordan all week but came home on Thursday afternoon so we were in Jerusalem when it happened, but we live in the East City on the outskirts of town and weren't allowed out that evening, so we were nowhere near the action. Most of us found out what happened early the next morning. Most everyone, including me, was gone all day Friday in Eilat in southern Israel, so we weren't around to see the immediate aftermath. Currently we have been on lockdown in the center all weekend through today (Monday) and can only leave for organized, approved group activities like Eilat was. Our security guys are taking the days one at a time as they contact their sources around the city and gauge the tension in the city. The shooting was an isolated incident and seemed to have intentionally occurred during Secretary Rice's visit. We are basically waiting to see if it escalates or blows over. Don't worry- we aren't being sent home. The situation is not as serious as that, it is just tense.

Jordan

I'm home! And surprised that so many people have checked this blog even though I was out of town (there is a counter at the bottom of the page if you didn't know). It's validating, knowing people actually come read this.

Jordan was awesome! Definitely one of my favorite field trips thus far. It was only a 4 day trip, but it feels like we have been gone for a long time. The first day we crossed over the boarder and security conditions were such that we first went to the traditional location of Jesus' baptism at Bethany beyond Jordan (as opposed to the Bethany next to Jerusalem). The location is within a military zone, so we have to get clearance when we go. The Jordan is a little, dirty river that meanders through the lowlands. There are some ruins of an old church that used to be over the site (note*= whenever people claimed a place to be a holy site in antiquity, they built a church over it) and some other Byzantine ruins in the area. It was a cool spot.

Next we went to Madaba where we got to see this mosaic map of the Holy Land from the Byzantine era. The church it was in originally was ruined in an earthquake, but a new one has since been built over it to preserve it. The map has been valuable to archaeologists as they piece together the Holy Land as it existed in the Bible. To end the day we made the long drive down to Petra to spend the night. We usually are in rooms of two with one group of three girls and I was in the group of three this time, so we had a bigger room. It was a suite actually and we had private access to the roof. We felt cool and people were jealous.

Day two was all about Petra, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Remember that place they go in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to find the Holy Grail? Yeah, saw that. It was amazing. This whole civilization of the Nabateans carved tons of caves and facades for tombs and temples out of the sandstone in this narrow canyon in the desert. Lots of us took donkeys up to the ''Monastery" up on one of the nearby mountains. It's not really a monastery but the people who found it called it that. It was a temple and the most impressive facade in the valley. I forgot my inhaler on the bus, so I also took a mule while most everyone else hiked up to the High Place, a site where the people performed their animal sacrifices atop a different mountain. That was cool too because the altar was still up there. The whole site was amazing and you can spend all day exploring, but alas we had only until 2pm. People were late though and cost us a visit to the site of Moses' Spring because we had to drive back north to Amman, the capital of Jordan. In our free time that night we all took a trip down the street to a shop that sells cheap pirated DVDs and we cleaned the place out. Don't worry, it's legal over here and the teachers were even endorsing the activity! We even got a few movies that aren't even out on video in the states yet! We are all excited to try them out and make sure they work.

The next day we went first to the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestled with an angel. It really pretty if you didn't look too close at the water (super polluted- we were advised to not even touch it). The site actually kind of reminded me of the St. Joe River back at home. Then we went to Jerash, which is a well-preserved Roman city. There is a beautiful Roman theater where some musicians were playing bagpipes and drums for the tourists. We had another dance party like we usually do each trip. I loved Jerash because there were all these temples and columns and things that I had learned about in art history 201. It was very validating to know and understand the significance what I was looking at. After our tour we got to go to a show they put on in the hippodrome about what the Roman legions were like, how gladiators fought, and a chariot demonstration. It was very instructive. After Jerash we had lunch at this super-good restaurant that had the best humus ever. Next we went to where the local branch of our church meets in Amman. The area president and the branch president talked to us about what it was like living there and the sorts of activities the church is involved in, like humanitarian aid. Outside the building I saw a couple that I met at church in Jerusalem last week. They have been serving a humanitarian aid mission in Lebanon and were touring around Israel and Jordan before heading home to the states. It was fun to see some familiar faces! The rest of the day was free time and I really wanted to go to the art museum, but then none of the taxi drivers knew what we were talking about, so my group ended up getting more DVD's and some ice cream and hanging out around the hotel since we were exhausted anyway.

The last day (today) we went to the citadel of Amman where there are more Roman ruins and a museum of lots of world-class antiquities. We saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls including the Copper Scroll, some neolithic skeletons, and other really cool things that if I were to list, you would get bored because you don't know why they are so cool. That was our last stop before heading back over the boarder. Now we are back at home and I even unpacked already. It was such a fun trip and if anyone wants to travel to the Middle East, Jordan is the place to go. Clean, organized, good drivers (I mean this comparatively, all drivers in the Mid east are crazy; Jordanians are just less crazy), friendly people, and cool things to see. I'll post pictures in a day or two, so don't forget to come back and check 'em out.

Overload

I haven't posted because I have been doing virtually one thing for a week: homework/studying. We have a LOT to do and it is difficult to keep up and still get sleep. We had our midterm for our Modern Near East- Jewish Perspective class last week. Those of us in Hebrew have a quiz today and everyone has the midterm for our Ancient Near East class tomorrow which involves knowing an insane amount of information. Brother Seely calls the panic before a test "mass hysteia". It can be pretty entertaining to watch. To those of you who wonder what we do here, yes we really go to school, and yes we have to actually study and take tests that will ultimately affect the grades that affect our collegiate GPA's. Some study more than others. Some kids will be graduating in April so it doesn't matter what grades they get this semester. I am not so fortunate.

A nice break in the daily grind was a field trip to the City of David yesterday. This is the part of Jerusalem that constituted the city when King David was ruling back in the day. There is some cool stuff being done archaeologically over there on the Ophel where David's City was. They are finding buildings and walls from the time of the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC when the kingdom of Judah was taken into exile. This is exciting stuff if you didn't know. To end our tour we got to walk, or wade rather, through Hezekiah's Tunnel. King Hezekiah had a tunnel carved out to divert the water supply so that it would come inside the city walls in preparation for an Assyrian attack. It's still there and water still runs through it. The tunnel ended at the Silome Pool which has recently been discovered (currently the tunnel ends short of the place). The pool is associated with a miracle involving the healing of a blind man by Jesus. By the original pool (which is only partially excavated) a guy also let us in to a place that is not open to the public. In it were original Herodian stairs that would have led up the hill toward the temple mount. The current ground level of Jerusalem is 30 feet above the level that Jesus would have actually walked. These stairs are part of the level of Jesus' day, therefore Jesus would have certainly walked on them. I finally got to walk on a place where Jesus walked! It gave me chills. Pictures will be postponed till the madness of this week is over, but I most certainly have pictures.

Today is a beautiful day. And we go to Jordan next week. And tonight there is a big Ramadan dinner complete with folk-dancing lessons. There is happiness here despite the mass hysteria.

Talents and Babies

Our BYUJC Winter 2008 Talent Show was held last night. Who knew what forms talent can take? It was a party. First off they divided everyone who wasn't signed up to be in the show into groups and gave us five minutes to create a quick skit based on a place or event we've had, like Egypt and cleaning checks. To add a fun twist, people had strips of paper in their pockets that they had not looked at beforehand. The papers had random quotes printed on them and you'd have to create situations in the skit where you'd pull out a paper and read it and work it into the act. Needless to say it was hilarious, especially since yours truly was over compiling the quotes. I didn't know what they were for beforehand though. My group did our skit as if we were in the mummy room at the Egyptian Museum, so I was a mummy lying on the ground as others walked around us "mummies" wondering what we would say if we were alive. I was laughing so hard lying there that I was crying. I guess you had to be there. All the other acts were fun and cool; we really do have a lot of talented students here.

A few days a week, two students at a time go to the Red Crescent Hospital down the hill to volunteer in the baby nursery. There they get to help feed the babies that have to spend a little extra time in the hospital for various reasons. I went this afternoon with Lauran Miller. They usually have a lot of babies and really appreciate the help, but this week they have only had a few. There were two babies to help with when we arrived, and then the mother of one came to feed her own, so Lauran fed the other one and I got to feed one of the brand new healthy babies from the post-natal nursery. He was probably only a day or two old. It was a great way to spend an afternoon on Shabbat. It was so peaceful and quiet in there with those brand new little babies. I haven't got to hold a brand new baby for a long time. It was really neat.

I updated my pictures and added an album. Check 'em out.

It (Was) Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

IT SNOWED! Again. The first snow this year was during our trip to Egypt so we missed it, but it snowed again on Tuesday. We got about 1/2 and inch, but it was really wet slushy, nothing like y'all have been getting in the West, but snow nonetheless. When it snows here, the city shuts down. It snows so infrequently that it is not worth the effort and expense to do wide-scale snow removal, so they clear the routes to the hospitals then just sit tight till it melts which is usually by the next day if not that afternoon. Our Palestinian teacher canceled class because he was ill and it would have been difficult for him to drive here from Bethlehem on the slick roads. The Arabic students didn't have Arabic for similar reasons with their teacher, so we got a half-snow day since we still had the classes taught by the teachers that live here with us. It was bittersweet because we had all this free time, but there was a storm raging outside so we all stayed in. Most caught up on homework or vegged around watching movies and enjoying a break. I did a little of both.

Today we had a field trip to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. It is a beautiful and fairly new facility. It's a very sobering place as you may expect, but I liked it and I'd like to go back. We had a 3 hour tour and felt like we hardly saw anything. Some Holocaust museums focus on the brutality of it, some on the graphic stories of individuals, but this one I felt like really memorializes the people, as both group and as individuals. They do outline the brutality and do focus on individuals to illustrate what happened, but the focus felt like it was all in memorial so that people as individuals will never be forgotten. After a sack lunch we toured Mt. Herzl which has a lot of things around it that basically commemorate the Zionist movement. Once again, it was cold. Like every other field trip all semester. (Note: it was 60+ degrees on Sunday) But the field trip was good one regardless, like every other field trip.

Everyday Life

I realized I never posted anything about everyday life here at the JC. The Jerusalem Center is located on Mount Scopus, which the northern extension of the Mount of Olives. Since it sits up on a hill it has one of the best views (if not the best view) of Jerusalem. Since it is on the side of a mountain it is terraced to follow the slope. This allows for picture windows overlooking the city in nearly every room of the building. It also conveniently lets in lots of natural light, thus saving significantly on electricity bills I would wager. Since it is terraced, this also means there are a lot of stairs to get anywhere. Good thing I already have such buff legs from walking up the never-ending stairs to campus for 1 1/2 years... ha. The top (8th) floor has the main entrance, the library, and the big auditorium. The 7th floor has the offices of the teachers, directors, and other staff as well as access to the forum, or the smaller auditorium used mostly for classes. The 6th floor contains the most important room of all: the cafeteria, or the Oasis as it is formally named. All the classrooms, computer lab, and study and student lounge rooms are also on this floor. The remaining 5 levels are dormitory rooms. I live on the 4th floor. The dorm rooms are all open-air access and my room is down at the end of the hall, so it's a project hurrying to and from the main building when it is raining and the marble floors are slick with rain! No spills yet luckily.

There are four students to a room. Each room has the beds and storage area for all of us and room to spare since we couldn't bring much with us anyway. We also have our own bathroom which is convenient. My roommates are Bethany Whittington from Portland, Bethany Romero from San Diego, and Bekah DeMordant from Boise. I'm the oldest which is weird. It doesn't make me feel old, it just makes the other girls seem really young. Our rooms also have a porch and a personal view of the city. I like to peek out the curtains early in the morning right after I get up, to make sure the city is still there, or to remind myself of where I am or something. The city lights are still on, but the buildings are just starting to glow as the sun gets close to rising.

Catch Up

So I'm behind on this, and even more behind in my journal. I'm only through the second day of the Egypt trip! EEK! I have written since on selected days, but it is just taking me a while since I feel like I have to detail everything. Now I finally have some time to catch up on my personal stuff.

The week after we got home from Egypt we had two more field trips. The first one was a half day to Jericho. We got to visit a monastery that is on the side of the Mount of Temptations, the traditional spot of Jesus' fast and subsequent tempting by Satan. It is literally built into the side of a cliff. The other field trip focused on the Judges from the Old Testament, so we went to the five main valleys that connect the coastal plains to the mountain ridge where Jerusalem is located. It was fun to think that we get to just cruise around Israel. Who does that? I've updated my photos from the trips in the Jerusalem #2 album. On Sunday I went to the Rockafeller Museum in east Jerusalem and saw a lot of cool archaeological stuff about things we have been learning about.

My birthday was last Monday and I had a great day. My roommate made my bed for me and I got a card signed by all the students. I spent the morning with friends at the zoo and that was really fun. The weather was beautiful and warm! Then we spent some time in the Jewish market before walking home across town. I took the route through the Old City and got myself a birthday present: leather "Jesus" sandals that I have been eying since before Egypt. When I got back to the center my birthday packages from mom had arrived! I called home while I opened them. I got just what I wanted: eye makeup remover, ranch dressing, gummy bears, a laptop case and a few other wonderful things. I got lucky and we even had cake for dessert at dinner. And by cake I mean "cake", but it was more like cake as I know it than I've had in other places around this part of the world. It actually had sweetness to it! It was a good day and I felt good too.

The rest of the week didn't fare so well. I kinda wore myself out on my birthday and I didn't feel so well the next day. I'm in recovery though and each day I'm feeling better. It helped that it was rainy for a lot of the rest of the week so I didn't have to feel bad that I was missing out on nice weather. I had lots of schoolwork to keep me busy. We had a midterm today in our Jewish studies class and lots of other reading to do for other classes. I did pretty well on the test and spent most of the day getting ahead with other work. That about catches things up on this end. Hope you all had a very happy Valentine's day!

Another Casualty

So most everybody got sick before or during our Egypt trip. Only one case was because of eating unsafe food (to my knowledge). It's just a nasty cold that is passing around striking the students and teachers alike. I was quite triumphant to not have even so much as a sniffle since arriving in Jerusalem.... until yesterday. I've been struck. Fever, chills, aches, pressure in the head-- the whole bit. I feel like someone who went through the battle without a scratch, then died of disease afterward. It's really bad timing because we get nearly two days of free time between today and tomorrow. I think I'll spend it in bed trying to muster up enough strength to do something fun for my birthday tomorrow. Did I mention the bad timing?

“Welcome in Egypt!”

This is how my friend was greeted as he passed through the last checkpoint at the border to Egypt. Yes I am back, and yes it was amazing!

Day 1: We left Jerusalem and headed south to Tel Beersheba. Next we stopped at Ben-Gurion’s grave and the Wilderness of Zin (or Sin) overlook. The Wilderness of Zin is one of the areas the children of Israel wandered during those 40 years. We ended the day with a stop at Kibbutz Yotvata. We had a tour of the place, then continued to the town of Elat where we stayed the night at the Kibbutz Eilot.

Day 2: We left early for the Taba border crossing. There are usually problems at the border, but we were blessed and all went just fine and we got through in record time for this program. They don’t plan anything else this day because the border is so unpredictable. We drove though Sinai to Cairo and as we neared the west side we got our first glimpse of the Pyramids. We stayed in Giza in a really nice hotel.

Day 3: We started the day with a visit to the Pyramids of Giza. They are as cool as you’ve imagined, but bigger. We got to go inside Khufu’s pyramid (the biggest one) down to the burial chamber. They don’t allow pictures inside unfortunately. Then we went up the hill and all got to have a camel ride. Forget any pre-conceived notion you have ever had about Egyptian weather—it can get cold. And windy. I don’t know what it is but we have nasty weather wherever we have gone. It rained while we were at Yotvata, and they only get rain about once a year. I just wanted to let you know why we are bundled up in most of our pictures. We also went to Saqqara and saw the Step Pyramid of Zoser (or Djoser). We visited a papyrus factory and a jewelry bazaar where we were able to purchase cartouche pendants. That night we flew down to Luxor. I unfortunately got a migraine and got pretty nauseous and could not fully appreciate it, but thankfully I was better by morning.

Day 4: We took carriages to Karnak and then to Luxor Temple first thing in the morning. After lunch we took a boat ride out onto the Nile. We were supposed to go out on falukas, boats kind of like sailboats, but it was too windy (at least it wasn’t raining!). We went out on motorized boats instead and it was still fun. In the evenings we'd go bargain for souvenirs at the nearby markets. We're getting pretty good at it too!

Day 5: We crossed over to the west side of the river to visit the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut’s temple, and Ramses III’s temple. After lunch we took boats back across to take camel rides though the countryside. That night we took the overnight train back to Cairo.

Day 6: Back in Cairo we first went to Memphis where we saw a giant statue of Rameses II. We also visited one of the oldest mosques in Egypt, then went to the Egyptian museum. The museum was awesome and I go to see King Tut’s gold, mummies of many kings, and other cool stuff I learned about in art history. Next we went to lunch at the Hard Rock Café and it was great to finally sink my teeth into a real American-style hamburger! We rounded up the evening with a drive though Cairo and an excursion to the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar, an open-market that dates back to medieval times.

Day 7: We went to Muhammad Ali’s Mosque which is huge and beautiful! It had the best view of the city of Cairo. Then we left Cairo and headed back to Sinai.

Day 8: Our day started very early at 2 am. All those able (and not sick, which were many) gathered and climbed Mount Sinai. We watched the sunrise from the top. It was pretty cold up there at 7000+ feet above sea level, but I was all right under my 6 layers! I’m still sore, but it was totally worth it and a lot of fun. That was the most beautiful day of the whole trip. After coming down off the mountain we gathered for a lecture on the Ten Commandments. After brunch we took off for the Taba border and then home via the Dead Sea shore. In that one day I saw the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia (across the gulf), Jordan (also across the gulf and Dead Sea), and Israel. Wow!

I've included a link to a map of the areas we traveled. You can find on it most of the towns I've mentioned. For the couple not included: Taba and Yotvata are next to Elat, and we crossed the Suez Canal at Ismailia. Mount Sinai is south-central Sinai Peninsula.

This is a big post, but it was a big trip and I edited details heavily. Look at my pictures and you’ll be able to see and read a lot more of the specifics of where we went. My favorite part of the trip was seeing so many things that I have learned about in school all my life. They really do exist! As much fun as Egypt was, I’m glad to be back home in Jerusalem where I can drink the water, eat the fresh fruits and veggies, use the restroom for free, and flush my toilet paper!