Homework and Jerusalem Center life (Ashley)

Yesterday was a significant day in my life. For the First Time Ever,
I’m pretty sure, I awoke up early in the morning without an alarm!!!!!
That’s right! I have been awaking at 5:15 so I can get a workout out
in before classes and stuff. For some reason, yesterday morning my
alarm didn’t go off. But it didn’t matter! I woke up anyway! For
anyone who knows how difficult mornings are for me, you know that is
saying something

Yesterday we had the “informal talent show.” Wow, it was the greatest
talent show I have even been to. There was a ton of variety and a ton
of talent. You know when you go to talent shows how there are usually
one or two or three acts that usually steal the show? In this talent
show, each act would have stolen the show in any other show. It was
great. There was a lot of support for each person who performed. It
was really awesome. Many performers mentioned they had never felt
such support from the audience before. It was really fun to be a part
of.

Well, we made it through our papers and tests this week. I was really
excited to get out in the city after our 6 hours of classes today, but
after Friday prayers at the mosques there were some disturbances near
temple mount so they decided to keep us in. These disturbances stem
from frustrations and tensions created by the Jewish holiday Sukkot
(Feast of the Tabernacles) that has been going on this week. People
have gotten frustrated with the road closures, increased traffic, and
celebrations. Added to that, there is a radical group who has tried
for the last 20 years to place the corner stone for the 3rd Jewish
temple on Temple Mount- harem es-sharif. Police monitor for them and
they haven’t succeeded but it increases to people’s tensions. Those
monitoring the situation are quite hopeful that it’ll pass over and
we’ll be fine to get out tomorrow. I have realized through these 2
days they have kept us in, the day most likely for that to happen is
Friday. That is the day the Muslim world gathers in the mosques for
prayers and thus chances increase that emotions will ignite.

I got into the city yesterday or the day before, I’m loosing track of
time. We explore West Jerusalem, the Jewish dominated section of the
city, and visited an ultra-orthodox neighborhood. These guys are the
ones who wear black pants, dress shirt, kippah, and peyote curls at
all times. They also wear really large, furry hats. That’s the men.
The women wear long-sleaved shirts and skirts at least to the ankle
with thick tights. A bit like a very frumpy sister missionary. I
guess this branch of Judaism could be related to the Amish. As I was
wandering around, we stumbled upon a little shop with handmade crafts.
This shop provides meaningful work for elderly Jewish refugees. It
was a pretty neat place.

Two days ago, we squished a showing of the Presidential Debate between
classes. I don’t pretend to be any reputable critic but it seemed to
me that Governor Romney made a good showing. I was also pleased that
there didn’t seem to be much mudslinging. I think a watched a portion
of a presidential debate when I was 18 but couldn’t stand to listen
for very long because of the mudslinging.

Tomorrow morning I am going to wake up at 4:00 so I can watch the
BYU/USU football game. This will be the first one I will be able to
watch all of it. I’m excited and hoping for a great game.

Have a told you what my chore is at the JC? I work at the Shekel
Shack, which is the student snack bar. We use the proceeds to create
and purchase t-shirts for the group. I wasn’t super excited at the
first, especially because two of the guys in my group created this
whole business model which I thought was totally going over the top.
Now though, I’m impressed with their efforts. One of their ideas was
to create Gold Member accounts where people could put their purchases
on a tab and pay that off at the end of the week. Kids have found
that super convenient and in my opinion has increased the business of
the shack. It is good for business; I’m not sure its benefits for
those looking to save money or avoid the snacks My part of it is to
pick up supplies (sometimes) and man the shack for a couple of hours
in the evening, about once a week. I call it Shekel Shack Slavery bc
most of the other chores people have last about 15 minutes a week.
But it’s OK. I like it because it gives me opportunity to interact
with other people. And I try to remember that when I don’t want to do
it;)
Well, that’s about all. Tonight I am watching Kung Fu Panda I and II
with the 17 year old daughter of one of the faculty members. I hope I
don’t fall asleep because that is a definite possibility! Have a
great Friday!

First email from Ashley

Hi Mom and Dad!

We made it!  Right now it is almost 10:00pm on our first night here. I just finished a 45 minute workout with Annie and Neil.  At least for now, they seem committed to working out with me.  I don't know what it is with people but you should have seen the weird stares we gathered from people as we passed them heading to the gym, they looked at us like "working out is weird." I think they are weird.  Maybe people are still just unsure what they can and can't do here, I dunno. I could hardly wait to move around after being on the airplane.  I hardly know what to write. I should be really tired but I think I slept quite well on the plane so I am not. However, tomorrow looks to be a big day and getting a good night's sleep would be a good idea.

My initial impression upon arriving in Tel Aviv was that it reminded me of California with lots of palm trees mixed with Bucarest because of the feel of the sidewalks. And then, as we rode out of the city, gaining 2500 feet in elevation in less than an hour, going up to Jerusalem, the scenery changed to hilly and rocky with some scrubby vegetation. Similar to some Utah terrain, but more rocky. And pretty much like in the Bible movies!  And then we were in Jerusalem itself! And, strangely enough, seemed fake. Like all the buildings were made of white cardboard. Kind of a sad way to think of possibly THE most historic city in the world. I think much of that perception comes from fatigue (I'm probably more tired than I think), adapting to a different environment, and still viewing it from afar. Tomorrow we are taking our first tour into the city and I think that will bring things into greater reality. 

Sicne we've arrived at the Center, it has pretty much been orientation this and that.  I learned that I am not in the same bus/travel group as Annie, Neil, and Shawn. I think I would like to be so I will go talk to the guy in charge of that and see if that would be possilble. They made sure siblings were in the same group, so I think I may have a chance. It is really beautiful here. There are nice professors, missionary couples, and civilians who work here. And there are about 15 children (of faculty members) so that will add a nice change to things. Well, I think I had better head to bed. I LOVE YOU!

Ashley

Neil's first email

I have only been here at the JC for a couple of hours and already I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for being here. The feeling is so amazing. We haven't even been out into the city, but it is so beautiful to look out over the Dome of the Rock. Today, we stood on the balcony as the red sun sunk over the horizon and the call to prayer floated across the valley from the nearby mosque. The feeling was ethereal. We go on our first tour of the Old City tomorrow. I need to get to sleep because jet lag's got me bad.

Speaking of jets, today Annie and I somehow got invited to sit in the pilot's seat of a 747 jumbo jet! It was awesome, and we took pictures. Afterwards I was laughing giddily like a little kid. I never had even dreamed that could happen. I was thrilled just to get on the plane. Anyway, thanks again for your love and support, and I will keep you posted on how things are going.

Neil

Annie's first email

Mom,

      Hello from Jerusalem! I have been flying since 9 am yesterday so needless to say I am very tired. I think I've gotten about 7 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours but I decided to delay my beautiful time of sleep a little bit to write you a lovely letter!!! Our flight from JFK to Jerusalem was packed with a lot of people, and we flew in a 747, and it's ginormous! It's like hauling a thousand-ton bag of sheep into the sky!!!! We saw a lot of Jews, from the super orthodox to the secular ones. It was very interesting to talk to everyone from Jerusalem to see their view on Israel and us. Israel is amazing and we are kind of weird, basically. And loud. At the end of it Neil, Ashley and I were the last ones on the plane and we wanted to see the second story (which is business class) so we asked if we could go up and they said yes. On the second story the pilots were just chillin and talking to each other and then before I knew it they had pretty much ushered us into the cockpit for pictures! So now we have awesome pictures of us in the cockpit of a ginormojet and it was really fun!!!!

     After we got to Tel Aviv we took a bus to Jerusalem. Isreal looks just like it does in the pictures!!! It is very dry and desert-like, and all the buildings are made from more adobe-like material (although they are still very westernized). It was so exhilarating to turn the corner and see our first glimpse of the Old City and the Dome! It was like the scriptures coming to life! Then we pulled into the Jerusalem Center and all the staff and professors wth their children were there to greet us and show us around. We had an orientation meeting in the chapel, which is beautiful by the way. It has walls that are all almost completely glass so you can see out into the city while the speakers talk. After that we had tours of the center (very brief, but the center isn't very big so I don't think I really need a tour anyway) and then we took our stuff down to our rooms. Afterwards we ate dinner and had our first two classes (where I could barely keep my eyes open. I kept on falling asleep by accident and I didn't realize I was asleep until my head started nodding off and jerked me back awake). Then Ashley decided she REALLY needed to go work out, after being in airports and airplanes for two days, so we went to work out which was nice even if I am exhausted.

    I'm going to go to bed now so I'll finish up whatever else I wanted to say later, probably Saturday. Good luck and thanks for the emails!

-Annie