The Tombs of Atuan

I enjoyed a visit I had to the nearby Tombs of Atuan...er, the Prophets.

Jerusalem and the Holy Land are full of caves and tombs of all sorts. It's principally limestone, so if you put on your geology hats you will remember that limestone loves to form caves just like the area under the bed inexplicably creates dust bunnies. What is a dust bunny, anyways? Anyways, any way I could lead into this story in the way most obtuse and with the most similar-sounding things sounds rings of goodness to me.

One Sabbath Saturday we waddled ( I find I frequently walk faster than others in my group) down to Gethsemane to see if we could pop on in and do a study session in the private portion of the Garden. Well, we took our plea to a locked door with no one inside, and we decided to keep on going somewhere else. We walked past a couple other churches and cemeteries on the Mount of Olives before the people with me declared their intentions to go to the Tomb of the Prophets. Wait, who died? We walked into someone's yard where there was this big green gate and signs in this yard pointing to some stairs leading down about two stories into the solid rock. When my eyes had adjusted I could see in the dim light I stood in a domed room about 25 feet across carved out of the rock. To my right and left were tall passageways leading into darkness. The only light in the room came from the doorway behind me, a small hole in the ceiling which flowed to the surface above...and the wan light of a single candle held by a man standing by the stairs. I don't remember the exact story, I'll tell you if I remember. In decent English he said that when his family had moved into the region, they rediscovered the cave and used it as a home for several months while conditions above were unfavorable. Later, during the Six Days War in 1967 they again spent a few days below to wait out conditions above. He also told us that according to tradition, the Old Testament prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are buried here (this is probably just tradition—the style of the tombs dates closer to the time of Christ or 1^st century AD.)

He then gave us each a lit candle and set us free in the tombs. The place was wasn't enormous, but it was decently sized. If your candle went out, you would be plunged into near-total darkness. It reminded me of something I read about in a book called the Tombs of Atuan, a fictional underground maze where no light reaches. When I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was there.

“He kept his right hand on the wall. As his hand brushed against its damp mass, loose pieces of dirt and rock crumbled off of the limestone beneath. His torch long extinguished, the inky blackness pressed against his open eyes, robbing their sight. He counted each opening he came to. Some were passageways, some tombs, and some were both. How many openings had he passed? Seven...eight...nine. Right, then left, then right again. It would be a miracle if he found what he was looking for. He couldn't leave without it, but if he searched much longer he might never leave at all. His soft footsteps echoed quietly off of the walls, sometimes wandering off and never coming back when he passed a pit or crossed some dark crevasse and they were lost in the depths. The air was stale. How long had it been since anyone had come this way? Fourteen...fifteen...sixteen....or was that seventeen? Panic rose up in his throat. His worst fears began to realize themselves as—no, wait! A draft of cool air on his right cheek. He was close. Very close indeed....”

One September Morning

           You've likely heard things over here have been a bit, well, different. Rest assured we are safe. Instead of commenting on one of Israel's pricklier problems, I'd like to take some time to focus on one of the things I love most about this place. Here's a little bit I wrote some time ago.

            The rough-hewn limestone is bumpy. It is neither warm nor cool, it simply is. It is over an hour before dawn, and no pre-dawn rays yet lighten the ink sky. A warm breeze blows gently over me as cool rain sprinkles lightly over my prone form. My arms and legs extended, I lay on an upper balcony of the center in the first clothes that I could find in my dark, heavily air-conditioned room—in this case, a two-toned pair of blue of athletic shorts and a charcoal-gray hoodie. I realize right away when I step outside I am dressed warmly for the occasion, but I don't really mind. Before me lies an ethereal view. West and East Jerusalem meld with the Old City, lit by the glow of streetlights suffused in the clouds, the amber moon sinking low over the horizon. The Haram al Sharif—the Dome of the Rock—is bathed in an even more intense golden glow. My arms and legs are spread-eagled, my eyes closed as the rain continues to patter over my skin. It tickles when it lands on my eyelids. The call to prayer drifts over the valley from five different mosques, their individual sounds becoming louder, then softer as the invisible valley breeze churns them. Though I hardly understand a word said, for a moment I can grasp the tremendous faith and devotion of my brothers and sisters of another faith as they turn their minds to God. I try not to let my thoughts get ahead of the moment, seeking instead to take in the experience and live. Stone, wind, rain, prayer—for a moment they all blend perfectly. Then, as quickly as it began, it is over. The rain stops first, and one by one the mosques finish their prayers. The Haram-al-Sharif is last to go. Its final echoes fade into oblivion, the only sounds now the distant hiss of cars on the empty streets and the whisper of the wind through the outstretched leaves of the olive trees.

On Fieldtrips, Menorahs, and Blood-donating (Annie)

This week was really exciting! It has finally gotten rainy and I am SO excited! It cleared out the air here and cooled off this heat! 

On Monday I went to the Pools of Bethesda, an ancient system of cisterns. We can see it from the top and the roofs have all fallen in so it is sort of picturesque in a way. We also visited the Flagellation church (one of the stops on the Via Dolorosa, which many pilgrims come to Jerusalem to walk on). We then went the Temple Institute, which is a Jewish group whose main goal is to build the Third Jewish Temple in this generation. They have all sorts of things made for the new temple, including a Menorah that is plated with 45 kilograms of 24-karat  gold, weighs a half ton, and is worth three million dollars. It's on display a little way up from the Western Wall, and I never realized before that it was an actual ornament to be used in the new Temple. 

For FHE we did awkward family pictures, where we basically made family pictures as awkward as we could--it was FANTASTIC. We were copying another group who had already done that, but I'm sure they don't mind! They were so fun to do! Hopefully my FHE momma sends me the pictures soon so I can share them with you!

Tuesday we went on a fieldtrip to the Jewish Quarter where we saw the Burnt house and the Kohl museum, which are basically excavated houses with buildings built over them. The burnt house had the most amazing dubbed video ever--the acting made me want to laugh at the ridiculousness and cry with pain at the acting at the same time. However, the content of the movie was serious stuff--the destruction of Herod's temple, and the slaughtering of the Roman people. It is sad to learn about what happened then, and how the Jews starved, fought among themselves, and were slaughtered by the Romans during the Jewish Rebellion.  

After the Burnt House we made our way to the Davidson Archaeological Museum, a large excavation right next to the Temple Mount. My favorite part of this site was a rock right on the wall of the Temple Mount which was is almost certainly  a place where Jesus walked. Now, traipsing around the Holy Land is amazing, and seeing sites where something most likely happened is always meaningful, but that feeling of absolutely standing where the Savior stood was unreal. I couldn't quite grasp it. It was something I'll be thinking about and pondering for a long time.

The rock where Jesus walked.

Stepping into a sealed archway into the Temple Mount

Wednesday we had our Jewish Quarter Fieldtrip, Basically this involved a lot of churches, including the Church of the Redeemer, Syriac Orthodox Church (one of the traditional sites of the Upper Room where Jesus instituted the sacrament), Church of the Holy Sepulchre (a site for many churches), The Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky, the Terra Sanctae, and the Greek Orthodox church of Saint John the Baptist. After we got back we pressed olives! We've been delaying olive picking and pressing for WEEKS because of lack of rain so it was so great to finally be able to do it! And by the way--it's hard! For a city slicker like me it was a lot of work! Our group broke one of the ropes in an olive press, so we tried to sit on it to press the olives...didn't work. It was still great though.

Thursday: Went through Hezekiah's tunnel in the DARK! It was scary! I would highly recommend it! Last time we went through with lights and now that I've gone through in darkness I can tell you that it is a COMPLETELY different experience in the dark! You have no idea what's going to happen next! Then we went up another tunnel from the bottom up into Davidson Archaeological Park. That tunnel wasn't as cool as Hezekiah's--it was not carved, it was built, and there was no water. Then we climbed up the tower of the Church of  the Redeemer and saw an amazing view of Jerusalem. The view of Jerusalem always changes for me, because every day I see something new in the city. Then when I look over the valley at the end of the day I recognize new things and make new connections in my mind, and then it all takes on new meaning. It's really a bit crazy. 

Then I gave blood! Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely positively HATE giving blood BUT it is for a good cause so I do it anyway! I figure it's a personal fear of needles that I need to get over in order to live a happier life. It was not fun as usual but I think it was a little better than last time....so there's an improvement! And now I can check "donating blood in Israel" off of my real-time bucketlist!

Liesl (my roommate), Rachel, and I in all of our blood-donating glory.

Friday, as you might have heard, was interesting. After class I went with a group of students to En Karem, a small neighborhood in West Jerusalem with a bunch of churches, most especially the church of John the Baptist. It was a gorgeous neighborhood, with all sorts of beautiful trees and plants. The churches were amazing, too. 

Then, at approximately 4:30 the sirens went off. We didn't know what we were, and nobody would tell us and nobody seemed to be worried, so we weren't all too worried about it either. There were no shelters nearby, so we went inside a restaurant til the sirens stopped and life continued on as normal. Once we got the ok from security at the Center we drove home. It wasn't until we got back that we learned that there had been missiles aimed for Jerusalem. It was surprising for me--life in the city returned to normal within the hour. It was a little bit of a surprise but nothing too frightening. The students at the Center got to go to the bomb shelters. Too bad I missed that--it sounds pretty cool. 

So that brings us up to speed with this week at the Jerusalem Center! This next week I am psyched to head up to Galilee! We leave Monday and will be there for 10 days. I've heard so many good things about it and I can't WAIT to go there and have an amazing experience with my friends here. It's gonna be SWEET!

~Annie

Daily Life in the Center

Here is a bit to tell you how things roll in the Center. No week is the same, but there are some similarities.Watch out! Reader Advisory warning--NO PICTURES!!! BORING!!!
IT'S GONNA BE LONG. SO NOW IS A GREAT TIME FOR YOU TO TEST WHETHER YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO KNOW. Here is the test. Please say the following out loud to the nearest cat six times.

Dimethyl mercury-induced sesquipedalian agoraphobic insomnia.
Does the cat next to you:
A) Stare blankly into your eyes. Wow, that cat has great eyes. They are like every color of the rainbow, at least if the rainbow was only two colors--black and green.
B) Try to convince you this is a real medical condition.
C) Sign you up for the Chase Rewards Sapphire card with tuna as the main customer loyalty reward.
D) Cough up a hairball. But it's not the cat's hair--it's YOURS. No wonder the hair on your right arm was looking sparse. It's been grazing on you while you sleep!

If your answer was B) you should stop now.  The only thing dimethyl mercury really induces is death. Your cat is lying to you and is actually trying to get your inheritance. That's the only reason it's been staying at your house this long anyways, and it doesn't like the neighbor kid's bagpipes any more than you. You have more pressing matters than reading this blog, and I encourage you to deal with them immediately. Legal counsel is advised.

ANYWAYS...
MONDAY
Field trip day.  Ideally (which means almost never) I will have woken up at 5 AM to study for an hour. At 6 AM I exercise and by 6:45 make it back to the room to shower before breakfast starts at 7 AM.

7 AM: breakfast. Breakfast is relatively similar each day. As we don't have kitchens, we eat nearly all of our meals in the in-Center cafeteria, the Oasis. Let me describe it to you: You walk in and to your right are a bunch of inside tables, while to your left is the entrance to the serving area. Inside the serving area you will find VELOCIRAPTORS AND PENGUINS I mean delicious food. There are a bunch of round table things that are gray with an orangish glow emanating from the slots on the sides where you grab the plates. The round table things have the magical ability to heat or cool food on top, depending on which table you are at.
One of them, that can have desserts on it, turns really cold, and I used to have an irrational fear of it because it seemed like it was a portal into the freezing, cold lifeless void of space, but I eventually figured out soup helped me conquer this fear.
BACK TO BREAKFAST. You go and grab whatever you could possibly want to eat for breakfast in the center, anything at all, as long as anything you'd ever want to eat is one of the following things
(get ready for parenthetical statements):
Jelly, hot chocolate, five kinds of cereal including these chocolate-filled pillow cereal things, milk (1% and 3%), pink yogurt (ostensibly strawberry-flavored, though I've never seen such a thing in Israel), crunchy cinnamon pastry rolls, deep-fried french toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs, pitas with peanut butter and Nutella(though don't be fooled, no true Nutella is this. It is technically "cocoa solids spread," but contains many of the same things--palm oil, cocoa solids, sugar, powdered fairies--but I'd say there isn't a high enough proportion of fairy dust or sugar(is there a difference?) because it is closer to the consistency of chocolate frosting. And there's some other food. I'll go into other food specifics more some other time, as food is near and dear to my GI tract.

The rest is going to be a lot shorter.
8 AM: We head out on a field trip.
4PM : Arrive back from the field trip. I will usually fall asleep at this point at the exhaustion from trying to stay awake all day.
6PM Dinner.
7PM Home Evening. I am a group leader again, paired up with a girl named Alta who Christian and Lauren know. Alta jokingly refers to me as "hubby" and "dear." I jokingly refer to her as "Alta."
8PM  Work on homework.
10 PM Go to sleep.

TUESDAY
Breakfast is virtually identical every day.
8AM Old Testament. Except now Old Testament is over.
8AM New Testament. We have a great time studying it as I can often glance out the window and look at the areas where things very well could have happened.
10 AM Near East in its Ancient Context: We study the same periods of time as we covered in OT or NT at the same time, but looking at ancient civilizations in the area and the archaeological record instead. Most recently we have been studying Herod the Great.
12 PM Lunch. I am usually first.
1 or 2 PM Hebrew class. Besides learning how to read and write Hebrew, we also learned a number of phrases, learned about specific cultural things (challah bread, Sabbath candles, the Torah), songs, and dances.
3PM We have Jewish Culture and Civilization, which is about, well, Jewish culture and civilization as it pertains to the Holy Land. This is taught to us by an Israeli American-born Jew, Ophir Yarden. He is very personable and appears to want to portray all parties discussed fairly. He doesn't have hair, but this just adds to his epic-ness as anyone should be able to appropriately understand. We all wondered how his kippa stayed on his head, owing to the fact they are usually clipped to the hair. A guess from a student proved to be correct: "fashion strips," or less eloquently put, double-sided sticky tape. 3M, you've done it again!
6 PM Dinner. It invariably consists of food, though some students appear unconvinced. If they've never seen it before, how could it possibly be edible? Go back to the good ol' baby days, people. You know, when you found unfamiliar objects and simply STUCK THEM IN YOUR MOUTH.

WEDNESDAY
One of the possible alterations on Wednesday would be to switch Islamic and Arab Civilization with the Jewish Civ class.. This offers an alternate perspective on things in the Holy Land going back as far as the emergence of Islam. The class is seen as a companion class to the Jewish one. They used to have one teacher teach one class, but due to the controversial nature of some of the subjects went for two instead. This class, as many just called "Palestine" for short, was taught by a Palestinian, Bashir Bashir.  I particularly enjoyed this class as we discussed the emergence of Islam, many of its characteristics, and the formation of Palestinian identity, i.e. when Palestinians began to think of themselves as such. Sadly, because of Bashir's impassioned lectures and ideas that challenged commonly-held Western notions such as Kleenex(joking) and imperial favoritism(less so) many of the students didn't like the class as much. If' they've never heard of a concept before, how could it possibly be logical? Go back to the good ol' baby days, people. You know, when you heard unfamiliar terms and concepts and simply STUCK THEM IN YOUR BRAIN.

7:30 PM   Forum address. Someone famous/ and or cool comes and talks to the students. My favorite was when two prayer reciters came from the Al-Aqsa Mosque (the third holiest in all of Islam), explaining and demonstrating the call to prayer for us. I have subsequently been able to pick out various phrases as I hear the prayer during the different times of the day, stuff like the phrase Allahu akbar (God is Great).

THURSDAY
Thursday is generally pretty similar to the other days. We often get out early after just an hour of NearEastAncientContext and OT/NT or two hours of one. At this point in time, mostly everyone makes a break for the city and don't come home until dinner. I have found this time great for studying as distractions (read: people) are fewer in number.
I am fond of recharging with an afternoon nap somewhere in the center. I once preferred dark rooms like the bomb shelter but have been discouraged by romantic interludes by my fellow students, whom I am tempted to lock in there. I instead have picked a sunny spot on one of the upper levels. Naps after 3 are almost a death wish--the faculty members' children arrive home, and apparently the message  this sends is along the lines of "attack the slumbering bear and drag its shoes into the women's restroom."
I have become sensitive even when asleep to the high-pitched shrieks of my foes echoing down the hallways and have had many a quick getaway in some room or closet, but generally escape is futile.

7:30 PM (maybe)  We have special events on some Thursday nights. These have included our Passover/Seder Dinner, our Arab dinner (see Shawn's "I've been doing more than just homework" post), Palestinian and Israeli dancing (the latter was technically a Wed.) and formal and informal talent shows.

FRIDAY
Classes in the mornings. Large Friday prayers are held on Fridays at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and generally if there is to be a riot or disturbance of any sort it has been conveniently decided it is to take place on a Friday. This was the case after the random posting of some anti-Islam offensive Youtube video a while back.
Therefore, the students cannot leave the Center to go to the Old City or East Jerusalem until 3 PM, but West Jerusalem (the Jewish portion of the city) is open game.
1 PM: Humanitarian activity, where we assemble humanitarian or school kits.
ANTHROPOLOGY TIME!
People at the center are fond of playing volli-bawl during this time, an interesting ritual I have recently been observing. In this bizarre social custom, a large net is placed in a room with few doors (to frustrate the departure of those participating). Next, a number of players line up, and in which the object appears to leap into the air and slam a stiff, spherical playing ball into the waiting faces of their opponents who undoubtedly enjoy this sensation. Proffering the fragile skin of the underarms and wrists is an acceptable substitute. That this is the goal of the activity is unquestioned, as does the sacred nature of the ball and the importance of keeping it off the ritually unclean ground. The unspoken assumption exists is that opposing participants will sacrifice themselves by diving onto the ground to keep the ball off of it, again hopefully engaging it with their face or arms in the process.
Perhaps it is some form of masochistic group-bonding? Further studies are merited.

3PM people go into the city. Or stay inside and  stare soulfully into each others' eyes  study.
7PM A weekly movie is presented. This may be something related to the local culture or something we will be seeing. Before we went to Petra, we naturally watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. SPOILER ALERT I found the HOLY GRAIL IN PETRA! INSIDE A CLIFFSIDE TOMB! Only it looks different than I thought it would. It doesn't really look like a cup. Instead, it's made of some weird soft glassy stuff that can be bent and battered but not broken. It is adorned with the following mysterious inscription:  DA SA NI . Maybe it's Latin? I've been saving it and the water I found in it under my bed for a time when I need to suddenly heal some German bullet wounds to my abdomen, but owing to my steely, chiseled abs this is a near-statistical impossibility.
9PM Something else. Like our recently held Poetry night, or a Blues Night concert performed by some of the students.  Movies and late night "study sessions" are also a common occurrence.
It is also party night in the city outside. There's often a wedding or party going on nearby, sometimes with live music. Also, fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks. Loud ones. Like giant exploding chip bags in the sky.

SATURDAY--THE SABBATH
8 AM is breakfast. An entire hour late! So if we feel like sleeping in, we could be really lazy and sleep until, like, 7:45.
9 AM is choir. This can be rewarding or distinctly frustrating. Our choir director is great, but sometimes feels a little stressed since we're not where we need to be for our upcoming Christmas choir concert.
10 AM Sacrament meeting. As we have had the dubious honor of being the semester with lots of  construction on the center, for a long time we have been having sacrament in the Forum, which is occasionally reminiscent of a dungeon since it has stone walls, no windows, and I spend a majority of my class time in there. We've recently been able to go back to the Auditorium on the top level, used for church and performances of different sorts. It has very large windows and an incredible view. We look out over the Old City, Temple Mount and the Garden Gethsemane during the whole shebang, so occasionally I become distracted.
11 AM Sunday School. I am a primary teacher and teach the 8 and 9 year old boys. Although I easily weigh more than each of my students combined, I would fear being overpowered and destroyed each Sabbath if it weren't for my trusty co-teacher, Michael. Using an elaborate system of glares, compliments, push-up sessions, origami instruction, the Standard Works of the scriptures and yes--bribes of chocolate--we have obtained an uneasy peace. Did I mention there's only three of them?
12 PM Primary. Uneasy peace? Never mind. We tried, Father. We tried. Curse the six-fingered man.
1PM Home teaching, naps, scripture study, journals, and going to things like the Garden of Gethsemane or the Garden Tomb.  I will go into the city but sometimes find it more useful to stay in the Center and consider the mysteries of life, such as why it is taking so long to become--
4 PM, Dinnertime. If you were to ask any student the obvious significance of dinner becomes clear, for 'tis on the Sabbath we have house-made ice cream. Like, they make it in the kitchen or teleport it in from the Dimension of Delicious. Today was coconut ice cream. It was almost as good as the stuff Uncle Doyle makes--but not quite. Alas.
7 PM-infinity Choir Practice Deja Vu--the time stretches on interminably as years come and go but we do not change. Perhaps Christmas songs could be used as an interesting way to induce stasis on long interstellar space voyages in the future. I'll have to get on that.
8 PM-- Once we have escaped the strange time-inconsistency loop presented by choir,  (P.S. we're going to be nothing short of awesome for the upcoming Christmas concert), the men of the center convene on a weekly basis. Our meeting goes by many names: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the Jedi Council, Fight Club, the Gymnasium, the Council of Elrond, The Moonlighters, the Dead Poets Society---no one's ever come up with the perfect name, but we men gather and commiserate on such thorny topics as dating (gasp!) and whether it's acceptable to eat your roommate's pizza whilst he reposes in the bathroom. He abandoned it, right?

SUNDAY  
Because the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, we celebrate it on Saturday because doing it on Sunday just doesn't work here, and that's what was decided some time ago. Interesting side note, Friday is the Sabbath day in Jordan, keeping with the Muslim majority of things. I'll explain more about it sometime. Maybe.
Sunday is therefore the Saturday where we have all day to do cool things like homework. And also go into the city.
8 PM Concerts in the Auditorium--Renowned Israeli and international performance artists come and perform at the center. This has been a huge part of the Jerusalem center ever since it closed in 2004 with the advent of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising. From the years of 2004-2007, it was maybe the one thing that kept the Center open for operation in the absence of students. I haven't been to each of them, but they are consistently good and very interesting.

So that's a week in the center. We are done with our Hebrew, Jewish Civ and Palestine classes now, leaving just a couple to allow us to focus on those classes and also on this amazing place. You can now tell your cat that it owes you a Bavarian cream donut. I had a bet with it. It said you'd never make it this far, but I thought otherwise and we made ourselves a little bet. Your persistence is to be rewarded. Don't take no for an answer! Good thing you didn't lose--I have no idea where you'd find that much catnip. Oregon, maybe. Now go look into some ways to regrow that luscious arm hair.

The Onion Church (Annie)

This week has been a blast, because there isn't much homework or class so we have a lot of free time. I've been going out to the city a lot and also hanging out with my peeps here at the center. Yesterday we went to the Russian Orthodox Church or as we call it the Onion Church, for it's golden onion-shaped roofs. They're unmistakable from all around Jerusalem. I've been trying to go there for a while and the grounds were beautiful! We had to wear skirts and a scarf for respect. I also went to the Shuk, which is an open-air Jewish market in West Jerusalem. It has all sorts of food there, such as dried fruit and bread and pomegranates and gummies. We went on Thursday night, which is a bit different because it's the last day before Sabbath so they have challah bread there, which is a special bread that that Jews eat on the Sabbath, as well as all sorts of special yummy pastries. I got some challah bread and some dried strawberries (dried strawberries are SO GOOD. They're like candy.). I have the recipe for challah bread, so I'll make some when we get back. 

On Monday we went on a Kotel Tunnel Field trip, which are tunnels underneath the Muslim quarter of the Old City that border the western wall. It runs along the entire length of the western wall. Part of the wall is made of a HUGE stone, called the Western Stone, which one of the biggest building blocks in the world. It weights 570 tons and is 45 feet long, 9 feet high, and about 11 feet thick. The thing is HUGE, and they don't know how the original workers moved it, it's so massive. One of life's mysteries, I guess.

The weather has been getting colder here. Instead of 80's and 90's we are getting 60's and 70's, and we even have been getting a little rain! We also picked olives on Tuesday and Friday, so that we can press it and make olive oil! I'm pretty sure we're going to do that next week. It's going to be so fun. I've learned all about the process of making oil, so it will be really cool to actually make some. SO PSYCHED.

One week til Galilee! I can hardly believe it. Everyone says Galilee is one of the most amazing parts of the program so I am really looking forward to it! 

Passover! (Annie)

This post has been in the works for weeks, and I've decided it's definitely time that it sees the light of day.

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to have an authentic Passover (Seder) dinner here at the JC! It's kind of funny because Passover isn't for another half of a year, but they have one here every semester anyway so that the students can experience it. Other than the date, though, it was all pretty legitimate.

Our Israel teacher, Ophir, set up and delegated the entire dinner and lead it tonight. He came with his little daughter and explained to us the significance of everything and read the words in Hebrew and, for some parts, Aramaic. We started off with a specially designed Seder plate that held romaine lettuce, an egg, parsley, etc. We ate these throughout the dinner and they all represent different things in the story of the Exodus. For example, bitter herbs represented the bitterness of the bondage of the Israelites under the Egyptians, the parsley represents springtime, and I never really figured out what the egg represented. We also read through a book provided for us that the Jews read through (in Hebrew) during the Seder meal each year. There is a certain order to and way to do everything, which is very typical of Jews, and it was pretty exciting to experience that. It took a long time to go through the entire dinner, but it was worth it!

Oh yeah, we also drank grape juice during the meal and afterwards Neil and Nicole and I got a little bit crazy and started picking up grape juice bottles from random tables and drinking them and pretending we were drunk...it was a BLAST!

Bethlehem Field Trip

Yesterday we went into West Bank to see Bethlehem. We won't get to go to Bethlehem again so we had to make the most of it. We saw the Church of the Nativity, a church that houses three different religions that have three different services and three different Christmases. It is traditionally held that this church is the is built over the cave where Christ was born. We waited in line for at least an hour and were finally able to get down below where you can stick your hand in through a hole where the cave is underneath while somebody takes a picture of you. Afterwards we went down into tunnels underneath the church and had a devotional and sang a few hymns. We were singing Christmas songs all day! It's the beginning of November and I love it! I'm definitely not one of those people who will only sing Christmas songs after Thanksgiving--I sing them all year long, because I love Christmas so much! So I don't mind that we're starting Christmas season early here, it just gives us more time to enjoy the holiday.

Waiting to get into the Church of the Nativity

Afterwards we went to the shepherd's fields by Bethlehem. There we sang more hymns and then had quiet time by ourselves, where I tried to imagine what it might've been like for the shepherds in the fields in the story of Christ's birth. We were sitting there, in the fields where shepherds are still watching their flocks to this day, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, reading about the birth of our Savior. It was a surreal experience.

At the shepherd's fields

 We also went to the Herodion, which is a fortress that Herod built a few miles away from Jerusalem because he was intensely paranoid. At the bottom of the hill is a luxurious royal leisure complex and at the top is a fortress. Interestingly  Herod also had a mausoleum built here because he feared no one would take care of his funeral arrangements, so he took care of them himself. Someone later came and completely destroyed the mausoleum--Herod's subjects hated him. The palace and fortress are both enormous and a web of caves and cisterns dug into the hill. It was a lot of fun to explore.

Neil in front of the main tower in the Herodion

We also got to see a little bit of Bethlehem at the end of the day. We didn't have much time because it took so much time in the Church of the Nativity, but during the last ten minutes we practically sprinted around Bethlehem trying to absorb as much as we could at once. Bethlehem looks a lot like the Old City in Jerusalem which I found very interesting. It was a great run-through and hopefully some day I'll get to come back and see it again.

Funny picture of the day: Neil's food baby!

Jordan (Shawn)

So about Jordan. The first day we went to Mt. Nebo. I saw there how small of an area we are in because we could see where Jerusalem and Jericho were, while in Jordan. We went to a church in Madaba with an old mosaic and paintings. We then drove down to Petra. In Petra I climbed up like three mountains which was fun. It is a very dry mountainous sandstone desert. There are MANY tombs carved into these mountains and canyons. Very picturesque. I also rode a camel which was very exciting. I dared my friend, Machenzie, to kiss it which she did. (She also put a tarantula in Neil's bed. She sure is a good friend). I then tried to kiss the camel but was rejected. It growled at me. It apparently only had room for Machenzie in its life. 

   The next day we were in Amman, there and later Jerash. Jersash is very restored which made it pretty fun. That night in Amman I went out with Neil, Annie, and a friend, Hailey, to go talk to people. I used my missionary skills to get us into a Filipino house (there were a lot of them in Jordan) where we talked and they gave us food. We then got into a Jordanian house which was a little more difficult because they did not speak English. They served us coffee, and we spent the next half hour or so teaching them English words while we taught them Arabic words. The sixty year old man held my hand for a while. Apparently that is a Jordanian thing.

Our second night in Jordan I then took out a couple more girls and Annie to get into a house. We got into another Filipino house and talked with them about why they were in Jordan. We had a good time talking with them. They didn't like Jordanians too much. Later that night Neil's friend, David who is studying Arabic in Amman with BYU picked us up and took us to one of the market places. A very nice guy. The next day we packed up and went to the river Jordan and had a devotional there. We then spent many hours at the border waiting to go through. After that we returned to the Jerusalem center where I did homework.

     Interesting things about Jordan. A pretty varied group of people. You have some people who dress Western style. You also have a lot of conservative people who dress Arab style. I saw quite a few ladies in black who had their faces completely covered. The guys where what looks like a dress with a handkerchief for a hat. What  I thought was super cool were the Bedouin. There are a lot of them out in the countryside, or better said, desert. They live in tents made out of goat and camel hair. It's crazy. They are just out in the desert with sand and goats living in tents. It was pretty fun. Thanks mom,

   -Shawn

Jordan (Annie)

Jordan in brief: a small, oddly-shaped country dominated by desert landscapes and awesome rocks. And it looks a lot like Nevada and southern Utah. I'll admit that to the world (coughcoughEthancough). But really, it was amazing how similar it sometimes is here to the landscapes back home. It always surprises me.

We started out our lovely trip with a trip to Mount Nebo, which is near where Moses and Elijah were translated. Unfortunately we could not see much, as it was very smoggy, but if we had been able to see we would've seen the Dead Sea, Jericho, and the mountains across the valley in the Holy Land. Then we went to Madaba and saw a mosaic map that is the earliest known depiction of the Holy Land. It was REALLY cool, because looking at the map you were able to see a little bit how the map-makers viewed the Holy Land in regards to what they thought was important, what cities they chose to include and the pictures they depicted. Unfortunately a lot of the map was damaged, so there are big chunks of it missing, but we can see a lot of ancient Israel in the rest. It was really intriguing.

That was it for Day One of our Jordan trip. Day Two was the most FANTASTIC DAY EVER! In other words, Petra! Petra in short is a city built by the Nabateans, a trading tribe in ancient times. Petra is located in red-rock slot canyons in the middle of the Jordanian desert. It looks a lot like St. George. Alison and Ethan would LOVE Petra. It was beautiful. The treasury is the first things you see when you walk out of the canyon. It is amazing, but it doesn't even compare to the massive monastery carved into the stone an hour's hike away. The monastery was amazing! The thing was huge. Definitely worth the hike up there. Next Neil, Shawn, Nicole and I hiked up to the high place, which is where the Nabateans sacrificed people on an altar up there. The altar itself wasn't that special, but the hike up was GORGEOUS! The steps were carved into the mountainside, and every time you turned a corner there was another spectacular view. It felt so good to hike--it's been a while since I have done that! At various points during the day all of us rode camels. Camels are smelly and dirty and covered in flies but it is fun to ride them because you are very high in the air and just lurch around up there while people laugh at you down below. After a solid eight hours of walking and hiking around Petra we headed out of Petra, but I definitely want to come again someday. It was a ton of fun.

In front of the Treasury

First glimpse of the Treasury through the slot canyon.

After Petra we drove up to Amman, the capitol of Jordan. After we got to the hotel Shawn was itching to get out, so he, Neil, our friend Hailey and I all headed out into the city to see if we could meet anybody, and we did! We met a pair of women from the Philippines who are working in Jordan, and they invited us into our home, fed us, and were happy to talk to us! After we visited with them we left and headed down the road, where a Jordanian family was chilling on their porch. Although we don't speak Arabic and they didn't speak English, we started talking with each other and then they invited us into their home as well, where Shawn showed off his surprising charisma and charmed his way into their hearts. Shawn is really funny! We learned a bit of Arabic and Shawn played thumb wars with the grandpa of the family, Ali. By the end of the night the family had decided to adopt Shawn and informed us that we could leave him there and go.


Day Three, Halloween! We celebrated Halloween a few days before (more on that to come) but that was fine. What we got was much better than candy. We went first to the citadel, which was a city of ruins in the middle of Amman. There was a little museum attached to it that had a lot of really amazing artifacts in it, including a human figurine dating back to 6500 B.C. It is the first known figurine of a human--at least I think that's what Stratford said. Then somebody said, "But Professor Stratford, that's before Adam and Eve!" And Stratford replied, "This was when God was practicing making humans." Then my lovely friend Alyssa said, "Good thing it was practice." SO GOOD! I love everybody here.

Next we went to the Jabbok River, and then Jerash, which is a large ancient Greco-Roman city. It included two theaters, a temple to Artemis, a temple to Zeus, and a lot of columns. It was just like Hercules! Not that I base my real-life experiences off of Disney movies or anything...

Next up was the Royal Automobile Museum, where we saw cars. They were very shiny. I'm not a car person, so I couldn't tell you much more than that. This museum was wasted on me.

This is a Ferrari

That night we went out and met another Philippine woman, and we talked with her and her roommates for a little while and now we are Facebook friends! Who would have ever thought?

Day Four: Last day! So sad. First we saw a Roman theater and Odeon, which basically were a large theater and a small one. Theaters are always fun because of all the exciting acoustic things you can do in them. Next we went to Bethany beyond Jordan, where Jesus Christ was baptized. We went to a platform on the side of the Jordan River and dipped our feet in. It was incredible to see it, and fortunately we'll see the River Jordan again in a few weeks when we go to Jordan. We had a devotional here and said our last farewell to the beautiful country of Jordan.

We then headed to the border, which ultimately took four hours to get through. This was because we had to sit for hours while they searched every one of our bags. And then they lost one and it took another hour to find it. Finally, at long last, we got home.

 "It was like a mix of every wonderful thing I've ever seen in my life." -Hannah Perry, a student here.

Mackenzie found this spider and put it on Neil's bed. Neil was delighted.