A Mesh of Activities

I haven't posted because we've been so busy and honestly I have not made time...whoops. So I'm just going to post a random bit of pictures from the past couple weeks.

After finals I thought we would have all this time right away. Well, immediately after that was not true because we had field trips. And don't worry, that is completely acceptable because field trips are great. We've had some wonderful ones lately and they are going to keep getting better :) This past week has been wonderful and exhausting though because I have been able to go out into the city ALL DAY, and EVERYDAY except for one! It has been so great to be out and see the city that I live in!!!

I've gotten to go to lots of places where Jesus was for sure.

Walking on a path that Christ surely walked on. Those stones are from Roman times when Jesus was alive, and He would've passed this way.

I'm at the center of the world!

Look at the back of your Bible at your pictures. These are the entrance steps to the Temple of Herod, or the 2nd Temple. Jesus Christ walked on these stairs to go to the temple.

My home is on the upper left (the JC on Mt. of Olives). And I guess Dome of the Rock is a pretty cool place in Jerusalem as well. I kind of like it!

Speaking of Dome of the Rock...

:)

The Western Wall is one of my favorite places in Jerusalem. We went this week on Monday morning when there were lots of bar mitzvah's going on. 

At the Israel Museum, overlooking the massive model of Jerusalem during the 2nd Temple Period.

Who knew you could have so much fun at the Israel Museum??? I DIDN'T!!! ...

... or at the giant menorah across from the Knesset building?

I also took some pretty embarrassing pictures of some girls while we were waiting for our taxi to come get us at the Knesset, for over an hour, but I'll spare them :)

Next day was another field trip to a bunch of Christian churches in the Old City...here's some of them

Pointing at Orson Hyde's name that he carved in a door when he came to Jerusalem to dedicate the city for the gathering. This is at a hospice where he probably stayed, not a church.

In front of Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where I've been a few times now. This is where many Christians believe the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ happened. There are many churches who have jurisdiction in different parts of the massive church. You see the ladder in the top center of the photo? That is there from many years ago because no one can decide who has jurisdiction over that particular window in order to get it down...so they keep it there. Even though it is a Christian church, it is Muslims that open and close it everyday because Christians don't want to give that privilege to another Christian denomination than their own. It is very interesting. The inside is beautiful though.

This is the place where many Christians believe the anointing of Christ's body happened, or the first place where His body was placed after taken down from the cross. I love seeing the faith of worshipers in different churches.

NEXT DAY

BIG FOOT. At the Rockefeller Museum.

One of my favorite pictures EVER. Thank you so much Natalie. Tomb of the Kings is awesome! Yes that is a tomb where ancient bodies were...

...as was this. Funny story about Tomb of the Kings. It is completely dark so we had to use flashlights. When we took pictures, you didn't know what was happening until you saw the picture replay. So the above 2 pictures were unexpected and hilarious to see. HAHAHA I love life. And people try to scare other people in there...it is not that difficult to do.

Entrance to Tomb of the Kings. We're weird.

Some of us after we got back to the JC and watching the sunset. I love watching sunsets here. Except I don't like the time. This was at 4:45pm...that is not ok...because we have to be back from East Jerusalem/Old City before the sun is down. That limits things...and it's getting earlier every day! LAME

Onward...

On Thursday I went to Garden Tomb with 3 other girls. We got there at 1:15 but all of us forgot that it is closed from 12-2...so we got some ice cream and then sat outside the gate for half hour until it opened. The best thing about this was that at the same time that we got there, so did a tour group from London. They are originally from Nigeria though, and the entire half hour we waited with them they were singing songs and clapping and dancing and it was so fun to watch their happiness. I took video but no pictures. Sorry.

The great thing about going in RIGHT when they opened is that we got to go to the tomb by ourselves for a few minutes. We were able to get pictures without a hundred people crowding and waiting impatiently for their turn, it was so nice.

I love this place and everything it stands for.

Thursday night we had our Talent Show in which there were some very good acts involving the piano (of course), violin (we have several people here who play) and viola, singing, dancing, and monologues. It was an enjoyable time, with some funny acts and others that were serious and thought-provoking. There are SO MANY TALENTED PEOPLE HERE!

Friday morning we took our New Testament midterm after only about 6 class periods, but there was a reason for it. It was also Megan Gygi and RaeLynn's birthday! So a bunch of people went to West Jerusalem to celebrate with them. We ended up splitting up and I ended up going to the Shuk again and buying some more awesome stuff, including some Hebrew rap music hahahahahaha, and went to Mea Sherim, an ultra-orthodox neighborhood. It is always kind of intimidating to go there. Then we went to the Great Synagogue and went to the Jewish Shabbat service. It was good. This synagogue was huge...

Any that is my catch-up.

TOMORROW MORNING AT 6:30AM WE ARE LEAVING FOR GALILEE FOR 10 DAYS :) :) :) :) I will be studying the life and miracles of Jesus Christ in Galilee where He lived, and I am so excited! I am not the only one. It's going to be an incredible 10 days where I am saying goodbye to the outside world. So see ya in 10 days!

Random things from awhile ago

Zombie missionaries, Dead Sea, Red Sea. Halloween party.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Muumuu!

Talent show group minus Charles. From a few weeks ago now.

HAHAHAHA. Lawrence Welk Show...SNL skit. Oooooooooh my goodness I cry every time I watch our re-enactment because it's so stinkin' funny.

Ok, there's some random stuff from the past month or so! Yay! I love Jerusalem!

Gmail

So I have a Yahoo account. The problem with this is that I can never upload attachments that my teachers send me. Some of them are very important for homework assignment. I've asked around and everyone with Yahoo has the same problem. Everybody else tells us to get Gmail because it is apparently amazing. So I gave in and I made an account today. So if you have Gmail and you want to Gchat, let me know! Hahaha. Now I have a reliable place to download these attachments from!! WHOO HOO!

Another week

Alright...so this week has been hectic-ly and stressfully CRAZY. On Monday I studied really hard for my Judaism and Islam finals for the following day. Me and my roommates went to Saladin street for lunch and I had a delicious schwarma from a place that Chadwick loves...we tried it and it was great! They grilled the tortilla or something, instead of using a pita, and the sauces were really good and there was lots of meat. The food in the JC has been kinda gross the past week...I don't know if it's because we're all just really getting tired of it or if it was just especially gross. But those sack lunches especially...yeah...whenever we get them on free days lots of people go out to the city to eat haha. After we ate lunch we looked for candy for the children! For our Halloween party that I will explain...oh my goodness I found those Danish butter cookies that I remember having at home when I was younger and I love them and I found some and I bought them!!! SOOOOO GOOD!!! Then I studied the rest of the day....laaaaaaame. It was such an exhausting day for my brain...there are so many dates and details to remember for Jewish and Islamic history. WOW. Of course it's all interesting, its just A LOT.

On Tuesday we took our Judaism final at 9am, and it was really hard. I felt pretty prepared for it but it didn't go as well as I was hoping. Especially because my midterm had gone really well a few weeks before. Oh well, lots of people had the same reaction as me, so I didn't feel too bad. Immediately after my test I went into Islam mode...I studied for about 4 hours straight, and because I had only really studied for Judaism the day before it was  hectic and crunch time. There were a lot of dates and names and events and agreements and mandates and accords to remember...but I think I did a pretty decent job on the final...I hope? I was really sad that he did not ask the names of the Islamic months though, because I have them memorized!!!

Muharram, Saphar, Rabia I, Rabia II, Jamada I, Jamada II, Rajab, Shabaan, Ramadan, Shawwal, Dulkaaida, Dulheggia! Yes, I can say them with an Arabic accent too!! Possibly my favorite moments of that class: when Brandt and Charles have asked Dr. Musallam if they can read the Islamic months. Yeah, it's hilarious.

I am extremely happy that these 2 civilization classes are over. I really enjoyed the classes. I did NOT enjoy GOING to class though. Does that make any sense? I learned a lot from them but it was a lot of time and I did not do a lot of the reading assignments. No one did...that's the problem. My issue with the classes was how much work they were for 2 credits. I put in less work for my 4 credit Physiology class back home. That's a problem...but it's over. I loved my teachers and appreciate them and their history and their viewpoints and for their opinions. They have helped me form my own opinions about this place.

Right after our finals it was HALLOWEEN PARTY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you figure out what I am? Think Middle East geography...and those are skulls/crossbones on my face. 

DEAD SEA!!!

I thought it was very cultural :) Though kind of disturbing. Hahaha I must have a trend of gothic costumes because this is what I was last year...

HAHAHAHA. I am not very creative it seems. Or I just really like dark things...NOT.

The Halloween Party/Carnival was so much fun because EVERYONE WAS SO CREATIVE. We have very limited resources here, and so the fact that everybody dressed up as something was wonderful. It made me really  happy. 

And Tuesday was also my Mommy's birthday!!!

I love my family :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

After the Halloween party we had a mini-dance party. WE WERE DONE WITH FINALS!!!! It was a glorious feeling to the extreme. Then we watched Hocus Pocus as a big group on a Wednesday night in celebration that we did not have any homework really...well we did, we just decided to not do it then haha. 

Wednesday - Friday - We have had New Testament and ANE every morning, class for 3 hours. Wednesday there was a blood drive and I was going to donate but they wouldn't let me because my foot is still swollen. Yeah, that was lame. But then I went into the city. We went to an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in West Jerusalem and it was really interesting to see propaganda...Zionism and and being Jewish are not the same thing. It's true. Then we went to the Shuk and that was so much fun! It was like a market with lots of colorful foods and such, and I've never seen anything quite like it. I loved it :) It was nice to not have to go back to the JC when it got dark because we were in West. So we just took a taxi back and life was good.

Thursday we had class and then a field trip in the afternoon. We went to the Separation Wall and had an Israeli Peace activist talk to us the whole time. It was interesting...I had a new awareness of the wall and the separation that it really does cause. It reminded us all of the Berlin Wall...that's basically what it is. It was a good opportunity to think about how lucky I am, and how I wish that peace could come to this land.

Part of the wall.

Last night I went to West Jeru for the weekly dinner group. I ate legit Italian food and gelato! It was an Italian night for me...celebration to my future bro-in-law I guess!!! Can't wait for this lasagna cook-off that hopefully will happen someday :) Hahaha. 

Today there is Humanitarian project, then I'm going to a Jewish synagogue for the Sabbath service! It will be fun times. And c'est la weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!