Old City, Seder Meal, and YMCA!!

The week of June 12th wasn't the most exciting week in terms of sight seeing. Some weeks I have to remember that I am a student and tests and assignments all catch up to me. Ok, I am always aware that I am a student, but this week was full of tests...so it was even more so.

Tuesday we had a lot of time in class and the rest of the time studying. As part of one of our assignments for our Israel class we were assigned to watch a movie that night called Sallah Shabati. At first I was pretty bitter about having to watch it the night before our ANE (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) test...and it wasn't a movie that we could just listen to, because it was in Hebrew, so we had to read subtitles. But then we started watching it and I was cracking up. It was a like a Hebrew/Jewish version of Mr. Bean. It was dumb and strange, yet I was cracking up. But then I was up super late attempting to be ready for my ANE test.

Wednesday, we took our test...and I was determined to go out into the city. After spending a whole day in the center...I always feel the need to get out and into the city...even if we don't do anything big. So, I recruited Karen, Alvin, Alyssa, and Joe Ludlow to venture out into the city with me. We just went to shops...and I got a fun leather bag that was matching Alyssa and a bunch of other girls in the center. The boys got some fun t-shirts. And we made a stop to the Bakery in the Jewish Quarters...which is way too delicious for my own good. 

Thursday was once again spent doing homework, studying, and going to classes. But in the midst of our studying...Camila and Juan took a necessary study break...which consisted of Salsa dancing. I loved watching them...so in their element. Before I knew it Juan was gesturing towards me...I warned him that I was no salsa dancer...but it ended up being a lot of fun. Mary Jane and I whipped out our newly found Salsa moves. 

My favorite Colombians.

That night we had a Seder (Passover) Meal. It was really interesting. I didn't know that we were going to have one, since it isn't really passover...but I had always wanted to be a part of one. It was so interesting. Our Israel teacher, Ophir, led it. It was interesting to do the rituals that they do every passover. I loved it. I love that in their story of the passover, they put the focus on God instead of Moses. The Jews really are such faithful people. I love these moments that help me gain an even greater appreciation for other religions.

Thursday night was one of those nights that we just wanted to watch a movie...so I attempted to "study" while watching Footloose. Oddly I had never seen Footloose...so it was kind of funny, but I enjoyed it.

Friday's we aren't allowed to leave the center until 3...but we had class for 6 hours...so that tends to not be a problem. We had heard that there was a concert thing going on in the park and it was free, so we decided that we better check it out. It was fun to see what kinds of things people our age do for fun...but there was a lot of smoking and drinking, so we didn't end up staying for very long. I loved people watching and realizing that teenagers and young adults are the same all around the world.

We then headed to the Shuk. The Shuk is like a little market...mostly with food, in West Jerusalem. Well, there is a beautiful thing about going to the Shuk on a Friday night. Saturday is the Sabbath, so the people are all trying to get rid of their food...aka everything is way cheap. It is a beautiful thing! And since we tend to be pretty hungry on the Sabbath, we were all over getting cheap food.

Friday night, they had hired a man to teach us Israeli dancing. It was so fun! We did fun Israeli folk dancing. I loved it! We had such a good time, smiling and singing and dancing.

Saturday after church, I really wanted to go to the Garden Tomb...but most people were going to Gethsemane. So, I kind of had to recruit people...but 3 of us made our way to the Garden Tomb. As soon as I sat down in the Gardens, I realized that my legs were just wet under my skirt...ya, it was that hot and I was that sweaty. But it was so nice to just sit in the Garden Tomb and write in my journal and turn my thoughts towards my Savior.

One of the things that my mom had told me that she loved about the Garden Tomb when she came, was all the people that come from all around the world, but they come to worship. I love it! I loved watching a group from Europe sing and take communion. These people love their Savior, and I love seeing so many good, religious people in the world.

That Saturday had been District Conference...so that night we had a fireside with the Area Seventy that was with us. He gave such a great fireside.

Sunday we had plans to go to the YMCA and ring the bells with the Squires. The YMCA building was beautiful. We climbed to the top of the tower and overlooked the city. It was such a pretty view.

We then got to take turns ringing the bells. But it's not really just ringing, you play songs. Well, in my head...I was like, everyone can do it...so I can do it. Oh. My. Gosh. It was terrifying. Let me just tell you...I am not musically talented. Therefore, I am not so great at reading music. I don't play musical instruments. I was freaking out, but the Squires didn't have time to full on help me...so before I knew it I was playing for all of Jerusalem to hear. Ya...not one of my best moments. But for those in my group that had musical abilities...it was great.

Note to self: improve musical abilities before attempting to play bells for all of Jerusalem.

But...it was fun to see my friends have fun and to just enjoy my friend's company. I love these guys! Plus, the YMCA was beautiful and great!

The group with the Squires.

It's fun to stay at the YMCA!

After the bells some of the group met up with people at the Waffle Bar. Although the Waffle Bar is extremely delicious...it is also kind of pricey...and definitely not low in cal. So, a few of us opted out and went to see Jimmy's Olive Wood instead. I didn't get anything, but some of my friends figured out what they wanted, so that was good.

On the long trek back...we felt that a one shekel popsicle was necessary...and it sure was!!

It was a fun Sunday! But a week of finals was staring us in the face...ready or not...here we come!

Neot Kedumim

I'm a little bit less than a month behind on this blog, but around these parts, new and exciting things are happening everyday! And I want to remember it all! So, prepare for a long overdue blog overload.

On June 11th (ya, I'm that behind), our field trip was to Neot Kedumim.  It was a reserve that the Jews have made to help people better understand Israel in the bible.  It was fun because it was a more interactive field trip. 

A cute little Jewish girl was our tour guide for the day. She took us around and explained to us the plants and animals in the bible. She also explained to us different aspects of the land that helped us better understand the bible.

We then headed over to the animals and we learned about shepherds and the significance of sheep and shepherds in the bible.

We then went out and we were challenged to get the sheep from one point to another, with one person being the shepherd. We had to nudge some of them along, but once one of them went, they all followed. It was so entertaining and fun. 

One of the things that I love is that sheep know their shepherd and they follow him. Seeing the interaction that they have with each other and with their shepherd allowed me to connect even more with Christ being my Shepherd.

Next we got more of a rundown on the plants on the land. We got to ground up Hyssop, which is the low bush that Moses instructed Israelites to dip in blood, and use for the passover. It was interesting to learn about the plant and realize that there really in symbolism in the plant that they used.

I'm not a huge fan of the taste, but some people love it on pitas or bread.

One of my favorite parts of the field trip was when we got to make Pitas! Homemade pitas...hello! Delicious! It kind of felt like we were at girls camp or something, because we made the dough and then went and put our pita over the fire. Our guide had some delicious date honey that we put on our pitas. It was wonderful! 

There was also lentil soup made...but sadly I went to the bathroom and I came back to an empty pot. I'm sure it was delicious though. It was fun to just hang out and have a little biblical meal! 

I love these people!

Best part of this picture = Natalie creeping in the background. Win!

We then walked around more as she showed us the different plants and fruits that define the land. I can't remember them all...but they consist of grapes, fig, wheat, pomegranate, and olive. I believe that is all...I guess you won't know any different...so yep. That's it.

I picked a fig. It was kind of bland.

We learned about threshing floors, and of course we saw another olive press, and a well that had nice cold water.

We ended the day with a cute little ropes course thing. The best part was probably when we timed Bro. Ludlow going around it. I love our teachers! They are the best! We have such a different relationship with them than we have with teachers in Provo.

The last stop of the field trip was a little presentation by a Torah scribe. I felt bad because we were all exhausted...so my eyes could not stop open...the heat had wiped us out. But it was super interesting.

Herding sheep and making pita...that is bound to be a good day!

That night we had gotten special permission to see the lights in the Old City. You see...we aren't normally allowed in East Jerusalem after dark. But I think because we went in a large group and because there were a lot of people and lights...they made a special exception.

It was way fun! It was fun to be out and about on a summer night. It felt like a real summer night. Plus, the lights were colorful and fun!

Colorful benches that make us all look like creepers. Jon (far left) definitely wins the creeper award.

This looks like a creepy family portrait. I'm really good at being creepy...it's whatever.

Polygamist engagement picture? Sure.

All through the Old City, there were lights...it felt like a mixture of Christmas and maybe Halloween...and sometimes Disneyland. All the areas along the path had different light themes.

We had fun taking pictures, being "rebellious" and being out at night, and then dancing a light under that colorful dome. So much fun!

It was definitely one of those days, that I would just stop and look around and smile. It's moments like these that I just wish I could have captured. Because life is so good!

Yad Vashem, Waffles, and Eliat

The worst of finals week is over...so I just whipped out 4 blog posts! Ya! 4! Endure if you can...or at least skim and see the pictures of what I am up to!

A couple of weeks back, our field trip for the week was to the Holocaust Museum. I was pretty excited about it, because although the Holocaust is a rough part of World History, I find it super interesting. I also think it is interesting to be in this part of the world and realize the ways that Israel was personally affected by the Holocaust.

A depiction of the Jews that fought back. 

These represent children killed, whose lives were cut short.

In the room dedication to the child that were killed (which was about 1/4 of all that were killed), we entered a dark room where there were pictures of children and a speaker announced names of children and where they were from. Then there were little lights all over, through mirrors, to represent all of the children killed. It was pretty powerful. I got a little teary eyed.

We then entered the Museum, so no pictures were taken inside. The Museum definitely opens your eyes to the Holocaust and reminded me of how much a tragedy it really was. My favorite part was hearing the testimonials of people that were involved. I could not imagine how horrifying it would be to witness these events, and to see those that I love suffer. I don't understand how people could stoop so low as to treat people as nothing and think they have the right to take away people's lives. The Jews were just treated so awful. I am so glad that this was not my trial in life.

I was also reminded of how much love Heavenly Father has for his children, even when they do such dumb things. It must just break his heart to see His children treat each other this way.

We then went over to Mount Herzl and Ophir gave us a long rundown of the Zionist Movement. I may have fallen asleep during the rundown...I fall asleep easily, it's whatever.

Tuesday was Annie's birthday, so after we class we got a large group together and headed to the Waffle Bar in West Jerusalem. It was so delicious, and definitely not low cal. hahaha. Four of us shared a crepe and a waffle...and not calories were spared in these desserts. The crepe was chocolate, bananas, and marshmallows, and the waffle was chocolate and white chocolate shavings. It was so fun and delicious! Thank you Annie for allowing us to celebrate you and eat delicious food!

That night the youth of our Branch has a Comedy Skit Night. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but it ended up being so funny! They youth were hilarious. The youth that live in the center used our names and teachers in their skits, which made it even funnier. The last skit was "Teacher's Know Best," and it was a parody of "Mother Knows Best" from Tangled. It was hilarious! Love those kids!

Wednesday was a hectic day, filled with a lot of classes, but we had a small field trip to the Separation Wall. The Israel-Palestinian conflict is pretty much just over my head, but the wall made me have sympathy for the poor Palestinians. Pretty much everyone has a different view on things though, so I don't really even know what to think.

Wednesday we also had a forum, so it was a long day of listening to people talk. The forums are generally about the Israel-Palestinian conflict too, so I am just burned out from that topic. 

Thursday and Friday were busy. After class on Friday, we took a trip to the "Arab Costco" and I got a large thing of the delicious sour straws. I may or may not have eaten those too fast...not a good thing to have stashed under my bed.  I attempted to work on my Palestine Paper...but I didn't make much progress on it. That thing definitely got procrastinated.

Sunday we woke up in the early morn and all of us had decided to go to Eliat for the day. It was a four hour bus drive, but we heard people's life stories and it was entertaining. Once in Eliat, we had a reserved beach where we got to snorkel in the Red Sea. How cool is that? The snorkeling was fun...it wasn't quite like snorkeling in Hawaii, but it was still fun. Super salty. We just floated along as we snorkeled. It was fun to just chill on the beach and hang out with everyone, away from the center, and not worry about school for the day. We heard life stories throughout the day and just enjoyed each other's company.

Our super cute water socks.

My attempt at smiling normally. Super cute in our masks!

Just chilling in the Red Sea with Rachelle and Rachel.

Pam and I with our cute matching Target hats. Pam and I have way too many matching clothes!

We stopped for dinner and had delicious ice cream before we headed on our way back to the center! It was fun! One of the great things about being here during summer is how much we embrace these trips to the beach. I wouldn't be quite as willing to swim in the Red Sea during Winter semester. It's a fun time to be here! The beach is always great fun!

Lions and Tiger and Bears...Oh My!

On one of our free Sundays, we decided that we wanted to go to the zoo. Not just any zoo, the Biblical Zoo. It doesn't get much better than that!

So, we got the crew together, ordered a bus, and shuttled over to the zoo!

It was such a fun day...hot, as usual...but fun!! Zoos are always my favorite! It was a fun way to get out of the center and chill with the animals! 

As soon as we walked in, we new it would be a good day. The first thing you see when you walk in is a big pool of water with a little island and bridges. It was so exotic! hahaha. Also, we saw so many adorable groups of children...I could not get over it. 

Look at these girls with their matching hats. So stinking cute!

Love them all! Juan, Pam, Camila, Lane, Brooke, Me, and Mary Jane. Steph and Annie not pictured. 

Chillin' with the penguins.

I want to say that I wasn't ready for this picture, but apparently I was just real excited about the bird!

The birds were just trying to wash their feathers.

Bears. I have the funniest video of Camila talking to the bears...I wish I could show! She really wanted the bears to give her a kiss!! 

We saw some fun new animals. This bird was pretty interesting and cool!

Just riding the train around the zoo.

There was the coolest mosaic playground! I love me some elephants!

These are for Lauren. They look like little guys though.

The ark! Yes, there was an ark. It was sweet! We are obviously being animals, and Juan is obviously Noah.

We all had a lot of fun at the zoo! We encountered some pretty entertaining animals. The gorillas were hard core putting on a show for us. I was pretty impressed with how well the zoo was kept up.

After we were done at the zoo, we headed over to the nearby mall. We were excited to step foot in a mall, because sometimes the Old City feels likes we are back in time. The mall and zoo were out of the main tourist areas, so not everyone spoke English. Steph and I were searching for the bathroom in the mall, and the girl we were asking only spoke Hebrew, it was one of the few times that I actually felt the separation barrier.

Everyone was pretty excited about H&M. I didn't end up getting anything. The funniest part was that Juan was the only boy, and we weren't sure that he would be up for shopping, but he ended up being the biggest shopper. It was cracking us all up! A guy that will put up with shopping...I guess we will keep him around! hahaha.

Steph, Camila, and I also got treats at the Jewish bakery in the mall...Jewish bakeries seem to be the places to find the best sweets! We were thoroughly satisfied!

It was a great day! I have great friends! :)