Galilee

If I had to pick one place to stay for the rest of eternity....it might be Galilee. Our first stop was Mount Arbel. From the top, you could look out at the entire Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Magdala, and Tiberias. I sat there in silence listening to my New Testament teacher, and I was slowly crept over by an all-encompassing sense of peace. I knew just looking over the waters at the land that Christ loved that this place would be a highlight of my trip and that it would probably change my heart. And it definitely did. 

When I was thinking about what to write, I thought about all the jokes I could make about how I sat on the beach while my friends and family were freezing, or telling about each and every stop. But that was honestly not what's most important to me. Looking back now that Galilee has come and gone, I know that I probably won't remember most of the places that I went to. Eventually I'll forget the facts and names, but I will never forget the feelings they gave me and what I learned. I know more than I've ever known in my life, with a constantly growing testimony, that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. He sacrificed all that I could return to my Father and become like Him. He knows me personally and perfectly. He knows you. I know with my whole heart that we can trust our wise Father. God is at the helm, and He knows how to guide and direct us to make us into everything we can be. He knows how to make so much more from us than we ever could. Galilee has stolen a piece of my heart forever. 

I'm gonna be famous!

Well start looking for me in the top archaeological journals...because I'm making my ANE teacher Brother Seely proud! My friend Sam Egbert is great at finding cool things to do, and he told me about a trip to an archaeological sifting project just a 3 minute walk from the center. I went with a group of eight not expecting anything too crazy, but oh what pleasant surprise! Turns out the dirt we sifted through was actually taken from the Temple Mount where Herod's Temple used to sit and where the Dome of the Rock currently is! They taught us some about the history of the mount, and then we went to work. We took buckets of muddy-rocky stuff and washed all the mud away. Then came the fun part...sorting through the rocks. Some of the "stuff" was just plaster and asphalt, but we found and sorted some really neat things like pottery, glass, pottery, metal, bone, pottery and more pottery. Then...drumroll please....my co-sifting-expert-partner CJ and I (admittedly with a worker prodding us just a bit) found a coin! They have to clean it to be sure, but the workers there guessed that it is like a Hasmonean coin. HASMONEAN!!! AKA the Maccabees! From 167 BC-ish. It was so cool! I have to email them in a few months to check for sure, but ya know...we're going to be front page news. :) Sam and Jamison Peterson also "eureka"-ed. They found a piece of marble tile that could have very likely been on the floor of Herod's aka the Second Temple. At the end of our sifting adventures, one of the workers took the coolest things that we found and spread them all over a timeline to show us where they came from. We found stuff from pretty much every era in Jerusalem from the neolithic age to modern day. Too much fun for one group!

Biblical Zoos and "the Old Shool House"

Usually I’m not a huge zoo person. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all, right? But when a bunch of my JC crew decided to go to a zoo here in Israel, I couldn’t resist jumping in. It doesn’t take much to twist my arm for fun. I enjoyed hanging out with a new group of people. We got to really relax and enjoy ourselves. So naturally we were utterly ridiculous. Jonathan, CJ, and I took pictures as kangaroo triplets, and we quested to find a hippo from Noah’s ark. But hands down, the best part of the day was the lemur exhibit. We walked in to see adorable little lemurs everywhere! They came right up to us, and the worker relaxed and let us touch them. Before we knew it, we had lemurs on our heads, and I had a lemur climb on my back with its tiny hands! It was so different from a zoo back at home where the animals don’t move or do anything. Granted then a real worker ran in and shooed them away. Oops! I still don’t know if the first guy was an actual worker or not. Regardless, I loved it while it lasted.

But those lemurs had NOTHING on the energy of the kids I got to teach a few days ago. I went to teach English to elementary aged children at a nearby Palestinian school. And it was so fun! Kirk, Lauren, Cali, Ross, Sheri, and I played games with them at the beginning. We played “Red light, Green light” (which turned into “Attack Cali!”) and danced to the Hokey Pokey. It was crazy, fun chaos. I made friends with a 5-ish year old girl Sahad and we danced together. She is the cutest! After we played games with them, we split into groups of two and went to teach them English. It was really intimidating because the school didn’t tell us anything about what they wanted us to teach them, and the kids didn’t know much conversational English. But Team Kirk and Megan did our best! I was so glad to have him with me. It would have been crazy trying to handle them all on my own. I worked with the girls, and he was the muscle haha! We went over numbers and clothing. I was so proud of Sahad when she said “My name is Sahad.” It was a great experience, even though I don’t know how much help we were. There is a lot that can be done to help here. Livin' the dream!

Petra!

We spent a full day in Petra, and it could have quite possibly been one of the greatest days. Ever. Petra has been voted one of the seven new wonders of the ancient world, as well it should be! I was devastated that I had forgotten my camera battery, but luckily my friends are great and took some for me. Imagine grand, Roman style buildings carved straight out of beautiful, red canyon walls. Or if your imagination is sleepy, watch Indiana Jones. Yep! I went there. We left our hotel early in the morning (yep…the one where we got serenaded and were served juice) to walk down to the opening in the canyon walls. We walked down the path that wound through the canyon until all of the sudden, it opened up to the iconic Treasury of Petra! It absolutely took my breath away. And Petra remained just as exciting for the rest of the day.

Before we came to Jordan, Brother Seely, our fantastic Ancient Near East professor, told us that we really needed to go to the Monastery, even though we’d have to book it to get there. So I power walked with Brooke, Brealynn, and Jane to get to the base of our climb. After a full 30 minutes or so of intense stairs, we finally made it to the half-way point. I wanted to DIE! But we pushed on, and oh was it worth it. For all of the treasury’s beauty, the monastery was even bigger and more spectacular. I can’t even wrap my head around how someone could have carved this out of the rock.

Check out this photosphere that CJ took in Petra of the Monastery  There are some other awesome ones here too: https://plus.google.com/photos/104141017599587335952/albums/5934643328339033937/5943596398304126194?pid=5943596398304126194&oid=104141017599587335952

Petra is full of people selling donkey and camel rides all over. After lunch, I went with some girls to go to the tombs, and a lot of my friends were taking camel rides. I was going to wait for the camel ride the center was paying for at the beginning, even though it was just a quick circle for a picture. My natural “Save all your money!” wouldn’t let me take their price. But we bargained down to 5 dinar and it hit me. I’m in Petra! So I got on a camel and rode to the tombs!! My camel, Rajah, was the crazy caboose who kept racing up front and sandwiching my legs. It was a blast! Camels are the weirdest looking creatures, but I understand now why God created them. The ride was pretty bumpy when my camel raced, but oh boy did we cover some ground. So worth 5 dinar!

At the top of the tombs, I joined up with Sam, Caralee, Stephanie, and James. We crossed the sketchy bridge and found some stairs in the back. We climbed up for another eternity up more stairs (remember my already shaky, dead legs) past the goat herd. I’ve never really rock climbed before, but I was glad that I tried it. It was a bit scary, especially when the stairs disappeared for a bit, but it was really fun. When we didn’t dare climb any more stairs, I turned around to a truly incredible view of Petra. I couldn’t have been happier with how we finished the day

book—Married to a Bedouin 

Jordan

Oh Jordan! So many sites...four full days of touring. I came back completely drained of all energy, but I guess that’s the mark of a good trip, right? I really enjoyed my time in Jordan, and I learned so much. It didn’t exactly hurt that we were treated like someone from Hollywood. When we arrived at our first hotel, I climbed off the bus to quite the welcome. There was a quartet of Jordanian men in traditional dress singing and dancing along the way. We were served divine freshly squeezed juice and bread and oil as the paparazzi caught us walking down the carpet to our hotel. Such a bizarre experience. 

Jerash was one of the biggest sites I think we've been too. It was huge!! In fact, if I remember correctly, it is one if not THE biggest and best preserved ancient Roman city in the world. Could be exaggerating. But hey! It was that big! It had so many of the typical Roman features. I was really able to picture what it would have been like to live in a city during the time of Christ. My favorite part of Jerash, though, might have been my personal tour with my guide Aaron Sharp and my friend Lee Campbell. We discovered the history behind 2000 kilo Otopus' destruction of the city streets, Phil's Awful Falafel and Waffle, and the ancient Air Temple where Avatar Aang drove his air scooter. Definitely made it a memorable experience!

Another one of our stops was at the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestles with an angel in order to receive the blessings and right of the Abrahamic covenant. His obvious determination reminded me of Alma's and Enos' prayers where they labored with forgiveness. It made me reflect on the times when I've really wrestled with God in my life. I can honestly say that I'm so grateful for those moments. They are the greatest teaching moments. We finished off our trip to Jordan by stopping for a little while at the Jordan River. I can't even describe the feelings in my heart as I sat near the river where Jesus was baptized. I know that He is my Redeemer and that He lives again!

Here's the Jordan River:  https://plus.google.com/photos/104141017599587335952/albums/5934643328339033937/5943615987054419154?pid=5943615987054419154&oid=104141017599587335952

Bethlehem

Because Bethlehem is in the West Bank, we are only allowed to come here as a group once. So I can't emphasize enough that this was a pretty big day. Interestingly enough, we started off the day not by going to Bethlehem, but by visiting the Herodian. Herod the Great built an enormous palace on a hill you can see from Jerusalem. It was so interesting to be in one of the lavish pleasure palaces and burial place of the King of Judea who was both great and terrible. This man was ruthless and did his best to make everyone dislike him. Then we got to leave the palace behind and travel to Bethlehem. The place where the Savior, the King of Kings, was born in absolute humility.

Next we visited the Church of the Nativity, a church built by the Byzantine Empire on the spot where tradition says that Christ was born of the virgin Mary. The church is extravagantly decorated to worship Him. Everything seems to be plated with gold and deeply perfumed by incense. The church was, as it always is, packed full of people. Our group waited in line for an hour or so to get to the basement where the grotto is where the nativity scene supposedly took place. We waited and squeezed through the crowds for a split-second glance and picture where the manger supposedly stood. Then the anxious crowds pushed me on through. I was struck by two thoughts: (1) I'm impressed by the sheer number of people who traveled from all over the world to come to the Nativity site, and (2) I'm incredibly grateful for quiet, simply beautiful, and beautifully simple chapels where I worship. I appreciated all that the priests there now and in the past were doing to make this a special place, but it was so hard to feel the Spirit when you had elbows in your face, your toes were squashed more than bread dough, and you could practically inhale the anxiety around you. I'm still very glad that we went, but I'm so grateful for the peace found in still moments.

By far, my favorite part was when we all went to a shepherd's field at early twilight. We sat together and had our own Christmas program. We sang Christmas hymns together and read the story of Christ's birth. Angela and I sang "What Child is This?" together. It's one of my favorite songs! The night was was so quiet and calm, in stark contrast to the Church of the Nativity. I loved singing and watching the shepherd tend to his flock below us on the hill with the first, bright star shining brightly above the city of Bethlehem. I was filled with such peace and love for my Redeemer. There is no better way to start off the Christmas season.

https://plus.google.com/photos/104141017599587335952/albums/5934643328339033937/5945075037813670706?pid=5945075037813670706&oid=104141017599587335952

The biggest lesson I learned from Bethlehem is that the Nativity is a beautiful story, but really it is a beginning. It is the start of the Lamb's perfect life that, if followed, will make a world of difference. I look to the birth of Christ and rejoice! And now it's time to smile and start living as he would. I have a mission to perform.

Making bitter into sweet

What a day! The Jerusalem Center has students go through the experience of making olive oil. This has really been a special morning. Our Ancient Near East professor, Brother Seely (who happens to be a celebrity here--so funny), gave a wonderful mini devotional about olive trees and how they represent the Atonement. It really got me thinking. The Atonement was such a priceless, precious gift. It is really incomprehensible what our Redeemer went through, but the result is beautiful.  Olive oil has so many important uses, especially in ancient days or in the time of Jesus Christ. The process to make olive oil is worth studying, and it's so much harder than squeezing an olive between your fingers. On Thursday, we picked olives from the trees at the Center. They have to soak in a brine for a few days. Today we crushed them in a huge, rolling millstone to create a paste. The paste was put in baskets and placed in the press. Using levers and enormous rocks, the olives are pressed under immense pressure to get the oil out. I tasted an olive and some of the oil. That olive was the most bitter thing I've ever tasted in my life. Hours later, the taste still lingers in my mouth. I was amazed that such a bitter fruit could produces such an important, useful, good thing. It was so neat to compare this to the gift of the Atonement. "Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me!"

Istanbul (...not Constantinople)

Seriously, I've had the song by They Might Be Giants stuck in my head for two weeks. Thank you Brother Seely! I was able to be in one city that spanned two continents! I've officially been in Europe as well as Asia! I am feeling quite accomplished. :) We took a beautiful boat ride down the Bosporus Strait and got to see both continents at the same time. Jessica and I picked the house (cough cough palace) that we’re going to live in when we’re filthy, stinking rich. There’s nothing quite like a boat ride through the middle to showcase the beauty of a city. I loved watching the sunset and moon over the continent-spanning bridge and mosques.

We went to visit the Topkapi Palace, where Ottoman kings lived for 400 years. It was a spectacular palace! The palace had four gates that each opened up to a new area. The palace grounds had a library, treasury room, throne room, room dedicated to religious relics, etc. And of course each of these “rooms” is huge, beautifully decorated separate buildings. I learned a lot about how harems are not what western people usually think they are. They are more a group of educated women who are provided for by the sultan and who are married off to officials to keep potential opponents loyal to the sultan.

Though they were spectacular, I actually enjoyed visiting mosques more. The Blue Mosque is highly famous among tourists because of its thousands of beautiful blue tiles imported from Nicea. It is well lit with natural light compared to other mosques, and it’s gorgeous! The Blue Mosque was undoubtedly designed to impress. And it does just that. The Blue Mosque is unusual in that it has 6 minarets. The Grand Mosque in Mecca had the same number so in order to not outdo the Grand Mosque (which contains the Kaaba), the builder of the Blue Mosque sent his architect to add another minaret to the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The Blue Mosque is still in use today so modesty is required to get in. I really appreciated how much they cared about this. Women had headscarves, and both men and women removed their shoes and covered their bodies. It really emphasized respect for the Koran and Allah. 

Undoubtedly, one of my all-time favorite sites in Turkey was the Hagia Sophia. This is the most interesting blend of religious cultures that I've ever witnessed in art. The Hagia Sophia was originally built to be a Christian church in Byzantine, but it was later converted into a Muslim mosque. Now that it’s gone through some restorations, you can clearly see the verses of the Koran side by side with beautiful mosaics of Christ. The building is enormous! I really don’t even have words to describe it, but I was struck by the great lengths people went to so they could make beautiful places to worship.

Of course, visiting a foreign country wouldn't be complete without shopping! And what better place to do it than at Istanbul’s world famous Grand Bazaar! The Bazaar has over 20 entrances and tens of thousands of shops. And it was amazingly well kept! Maybe Jerusalem could learn a thing or two from the Turks. But really it was so fun to wander through. Istanbul was definitely a favorite!!

Ancient Ruins Galore!

I won’t go into all the places we went to, but oh let me tell you…..we squeezed in as many things as we possibly could! Out of the 7 cities of Asia that Paul wrote to, we visited or drove past most of them. The view from Assos was phenomenal. You could look out and see the Greek Island of Lesbos. I sat on the ruins of cities where Paul and John and other disciples of Christ spread the gospel. I gained so much respect for these early missionaries, and I also realized just how similar today’s missionaries are like them. We got to see all that is left of the Temple of Athena, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Gallipoli, the site of a bloody and really unnecessary WW I battle between the Turks and Australians, really stirred my thoughts. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the heartbreak of the mothers of these young boys who gave all but could have been saved. Another favorite spot was in Miletus. My friends Lindsay, Brooke, and I found this gorgeous ruin that looked just like ruins of Amboise in the movie Ever After. You know, the heartbreaking, breathtaking place where Henry tells Danielle that he loves her and doesn’t give her a moment to tell him the truth about her. Oh it was right out of a fairy tale!

We also visited Ephesus, and I got the coolest picture that matches the photo of the ruins that matches the picture in the King James Bible that Latter-Day Saints use. It was so amazing to be where the apostle Paul taught. We also spent a good bit of time in Troy. Brother Belnap spoke to us for a while, and I learned so much from listening to him. I was struck to realize that I was in the ruins of a place where people didn’t believe that any god knows or even cares what happens to them. It broke my heart to look at the stories of Troy and other places in this light. I’m so grateful for the knowledge that God is our Father who loves and knows each one of us intimately. Again in Nicea, I couldn’t help but again be overwhelmed with gratitude and the responsibility that I have to spread this message of God’s love for his precious children. 

Serious and Not-So-Serious Philosophizing

Turkey was actually a really great thought-sorter for me. I learned a lot about myself and about the nature of our Father in Heaven. Most of the details I’m going to keep to myself (aka not on the internet haha), but it has to be noted that my time here has changed me. More random hodge-podge of thoughts….. I’m learning that I really do want to work with people for the rest of my life. A couple of students got pretty sick for a day or two during our travels, and I really wanted to help them get feeling better. I like taking care of people! Turkey and Jerusalem have lit another flame inside of me too. I want to travel and see as much of the world as I possibly can. I love seeing how people everywhere are guided by love and commitment. The world is a beautiful place!

Shout-out to my roommate!!  I learned a lot from Jessica this trip too. I laugh so much with her and am so comfortable sharing all of who I am. And wow she is smart! I’m going to have to start running every time she buys something delicious because if I so much as look at it, she insists on sharing. We’re talking cracker shoved in my face like Iago J Goofy side story:  I was having a rough day on Friday, but I was trying to hide it a little. However, I told her some of how I was feeling…cause she’s a great friend/listener and I hadn’t seen her in like 30 hours! I entertained myself by playing the “what dessert is perfect for your mood?” game that I play all the time with Dad. So I get back on the bus feeling a little headachy, and I turn around to see an ice cream cone in my face that “mysteriously” was sent to me.  It was so simple, but I appreciated it so much! I am determined to learn how to notice the little things to help others like she does. We are planning a Nacho Libre, crème brule, shake, picture swapping adventure in the winter….and I’m excited. Seriously, Jessica is the best. 

Yad Vashem 10/14/13

I'll return to my trip to Turkey soon, but I really want to write about going to Yad Vashem while it's fresh. Every Monday is fieldtrip day, and today my Israel teacher took us to Israel's memorial for the Holocaust victims. I've been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, but it was so interesting to see how the Jewish people view the Holocaust. I struggled to see some of the heartbreaking and frankly gruesome films and stories they had. Wouldn't this be hard for everyone? So many people suffered. The Hall of Names was astonishingly full. I think the hardest thing to read about was the heartbreak that came when families were split without any guarantees of meeting again. As a warning, I just want to add my voice that the Holocaust was not something caused by monsters or aliens. Something could happen again if we are not watchful. Horrible things are not as impossible or beyond us as we think.

I was interested to hear that one of the reasons why Jewish survivors didn't talk about the Holocaust for such a long time was because some Israelis were judgmental. The Israelis who fought for independence fought through hard things, but in a gross overgeneralization, the Holocaust victims were pretty passive. But who could blame them? The hardships they endured were phenomenal. Their success and rebellion was their survival.

One thing that I felt was more heavily emphasized in this Holocaust museum was how abandoned the Jews understandably felt. So many countries closed their doors to refugees. I really struggled with this and can emphasize why my professor said that many Jews leave the building feeling persecuted by all. But I was so grateful that the beautiful walk from exciting the Museum to the gate. The avenue was lined with thousands of trees; each one represented a person who put his or her life on the line to save Jewish lives. And the neat thing was that every one of those trees represented a person who was "righteous among all nations", or a non-Jew. It was a great memorial that there are many good people. Interesting fact for all you biblical scholars:  the Hebrew word hesed is used to describe these people. I'll be happy to give my somewhat amateur explanation for what this means to anyone who wants to ask. It only strengthens my hope for humanity. 

Türkiye 10/6/13 –10/12/13

I love Turkey! It is a beautiful country, and I’m so grateful that we had the opportunity to visit there. Jeru students usually go to Egypt, but the administration has been sending people to Turkey instead while Egypt is in an uproar. Most of us were expecting a second rate trip, but I’m actually really glad we visited Turkey instead. We got to see so many interesting places in the cool beauty. Turkey was a lot greener that Jerusalem and reminded me a little bit of Georgia in areas. I physically ached sometimes looking out from the sites. So much history grew from here. It was amazing to see so many mosques all over (Turkey is 98% Muslim) the cities, each with their own style. Details will follow. :)

We were so spoiled. Our hotels were beautiful and full-on RESORTS! We had hotels with beaches around the Aegean Sea and buffets fit for a king. And oh my heck, the BAKLAVA! I have to learn to make this stuff or I’m not going to make it back in the States. My tour guide, Necip, was the best! He was always happy, fun, and patient when we were slow or goofy. We sang Silent iPod Karaoke on the bus and swapped great stories. My favorite was his story about how he met his wife. He told us that out of all the things he has seen, his favorite is absolutely his family. It was actually a big testimony building experience. This is a wonderful people. I was so privileged to join them for a week.

Musical Adventures

"Where words fail, music speaks." -Hans Christian Andersen.

Anyone who knows me knows that music is a huge part of my life. I can't stress how it has changed my life enough. Though it just about kills me to combine these two things, I will for convenience purposes.

The volunteer music service couple, the Claytons, here at the JC gave us the wonderful opportunity to go to Jerusalem's YMCA to play their Carillon Bell Tower! This magnificent tower has 35 bells that are rarely played except for when we come. It's a shame, but I'm almost glad so that they let amateurs participate. Lauren and I hitched a ride with the Claytons, and we almost missed the chance because of the holiday traffic. Luckily, the tower let us play the next hour instead. We met Sam, Jared, Kelly, and Michael there. We got to strike noon. We took turns practicing a song on a muted, mini bell organ and then teamed up to play for the whole city. The first time I sat down at the bench was maybe just a little terrifying. Mistakes on bells are so loud and painful. But I got to play 3 songs on the bells, and it actually sounded pretty good. I played a song with Kelly (I was so scared I can't even remember what it was), "Fairer" with Jared, and....my absolute favorite...."Sunrise, Sunset" with Sam. We rocked it! I still can't believe that we got to play that song over Jerusalem. Oh what beautiful resonance! So yeah. I can now play three instruments. Voice, piano, and bell tower. 

 On a more serious note, the entire JC group visited the Augusta Victoria. Short story is that its a German chapel and hospital that all looks like a castle. It was one of the most beautiful chapels I have every been in. It has a magnificent view of the city from the tall tower....I almost died climbing to the top. They asked us if we'd like to sing hymns in the chapel. Our answer: DUH! I volunteered, with the shakiest of knees, to lead a group of 40 in "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" and "I am a Child of God". During the second song, the Holy Ghost witnessed that God sent me here for a purpose. I know that it is no mistake or coincidence that I am here at this time in my life. I've already learned so much. The music was so gorgeous that we waited for the rest of our group to finish touring the chapel and then we pulled them in. They asked me to lead them in "Nearer My God, To Thee". It was so amazing! The acoustics in chapels like these are incredible. The entire room was vibrating with the beautiful sound of worshiping the Lord. Music can move my soul in a way that few things can. I'm so grateful for my experiences here.

Tel-Aviv

I wasn't really expecting to take too many days for pure vacation, but I'm so glad that I joined in the group going to Tel Aviv! We'd had a busy week with lots of long classes. Tel-Aviv is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea which means.....it was the first time going to the beach in who-knows-how-many years! I spent the majority of the day with my friends Brooke, Brealynn, Emily, Emma, and CJ exploring Old Jaffa. We wandered around (after a quick trip to buy me new shoes. Mine broke....best shoe thing to ever happen to me) to see Old Jaffa's art galleries and stop at a couple of museums. The museums were all pretty small, but I enjoyed them. My personal favorites were the Yemenite Jewelry makers and the advertising/propaganda museum. We finished off the day relaxing at the beach. It was spectacular! The water is perfect and divine and perfect. We left to get dinner (shwarma!), and thanks to Obama I got a seat at a table. We spent the last hour on a wall around the sides of the beach. Basically, I was at the beach...watching the most beautiful sunset of my life...overlooking the Mediterranean Sea...that was crashing on the rocks underneath me...with Jaffa and Tel Aviv around us. It was heaven! I am fully intending on bringing my family back here someday.

And our bus driver on the way back was the coolest. He ended up turning techno music on quietly in the front. But being a group of happy Mormons, we naturally started goofy dancing in the back. I sat right behind the bus driver so I got to watch him laugh at us and turn up the music just a touch. He kept laughing and turning the music up until it was cranked and all the lights were turned off except a blue light in the ceiling. What does this mean? Dance party for a full 40 minutes!

It was a great break. :)

Dome of the Rock and Call to Prayer

I've only been out here for three weeks, but I'm already going to have to play a lot of catch-up. Field trips every Monday and visits to the city as often as possible have made already this a very full trip. I really don't even know where to start!

My first week here flew by so quickly....maybe the extreme jet lag had something to do with it. But i got to see one of my favorite sites so far....the Dome of the Rock! It is the third holiest site to the Muslim world, and it is a spectacular and beautiful shrine. The architecture is almost mathematically perfect. Which may be fascinating to only a few people like me. 

This site is one of the places that I've felt the most safe in the entire city. It's so peaceful here, and I could really feel the love and devotion that Muslims have for their God. Another thing that really amazed me on my first day was the call to prayer at 4:30 am. This is something that I don't know if it would work in the US. It was a most amazing experience. Less than 24 hours in Jerusalem and I had already cried haha. I had no idea that the first of their five daily prayers happened right before dawn. The speakers (called minarets) nearest the Jerusalem Center (or the Mormon University as everyone calls it) broadcasts a live singer. It was amazing! The prayer was so beautiful, and I was overwhelmed by the deep commitment and devotion of these people. I listened to the prayer go on for a full thirty minutes with my awesome roommate Jessica on the balcony. You could hear several other towers projecting different melodies far off. The city had a other-worldly fog/mist around it that truly made it mystical. We both got the chills as the prayers ende and hung in the air. That day I knew that I have the opportunity of a lifetime to step into another world unlike anything I've ever really known.

Shabbat Shalom!

Welcome Sabbath! We in the JeruCrew actually worship on Saturday. It's actually been really neat that a lot of my coolest experiences have taken place on the Sabbath.

I was so privileged to be able to go to my Israel and Judaism professor's orthodox synagogue on Friday night to be able to attend their evening meeting. Days on the Jewish calendar are from one evening to the next, rather than one morning to the next, because of the scripture in Genesis 1:5 saying that "the evening and the morning were the first day". So going on Friday night meant that I got to participate in an extra meeting to welcome in the Sabbath! We sang a number of songs that personified the Sabbath as a bride to fit a Jewish legend. I think the coolest part was how there not anyone person in charge really. Every part had a volunteer leader, but he would only start a tune for the congregation to sing the next psalm. Children and adults participated. The music and Hebrew language are beautiful! I loved watching how each person showed their devotion a little differently, but everyone gave their all to singing.

To respect the Orthodox Jews' customs, we didn't take any pictures. But it was such a neat cultural experience. Thanks Mr. Ophir Yarden!

I love my city!

Well I'm giving in. I wasn't planning on creating a blog, but it seems like it would be a really great thing for me to be able to keep in contact with everyone at once. And per your requests, more of you can see my grand adventures! I will be sure to put as many pictures as I can on my blog, but I will actually make a book out of them after this semester. So, no there might not be pictures for everything, but I promise you'll see them if you'd like. Who knows how often I'll be able to get on here, but I can't wait to share my experiences with you. I am currently attending Brigham Young University's Jerusalem Center Program for the Fall 2013 semester. I live in a beautiful building overlooking the Old City that so many people hold so close to their hearts. I've only been here for about two and a half weeks, but my heart has already been significantly changed for the better. I love the people here more and more every day.

A special thanks to every person who helped to get me here, however big or small your contribution. I couldn't have done this alone.

Here's to the time of my life!