Friday, August 13, 2010
Home
5 airports, 4 flights, 3 suitcases, 2 cranky Austrians and 1 very long day later I am finally back in the USA. It took 36 hours but it feels so good to be back! I loved seeing my family, including the newest edition, Ava. I'm so excited to spend the next couple weeks of summer playing with family and friends and catching up on all of my favorite summertime activities. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone from the JC, but it's nice to know that I will see most of them again in a few weeks!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Days 104 & 105
Yesterday was the second half of the Last Week of Jesus' Life field trips. We started out by walking in silence down to the Garden of Gethsemane. We talked about the Atonement there, sang some hymns and had free quiet time to sit and read our scriptures and ponder. It was my last time going to Gethsemane, and I really really loved it. It has been one of my very favorite places to spend time because of how peaceful and quiet it is there.
After Gethsemane we went into the Church of All Nations, which commemorates the Savior's time in Gethsemane. It is designed to look like an olive garden at night, with dim windows and stars on the ceiling. It was really beautiful, and there were beautiful paintings and mosaics of Christ inside and outside the church.
Next we walked to St. Peter's in Gallicantu, which commemorates Peter. This is supposedly the place where Peter denied Christ 3 times during Christ's trials, but the church also commemorates all of the events between Jesus' arrest and His crucifixion. Then we went to St. Anne's, at Bethesda, where there was a pool where Christ healed a paralyzed man. The church there had really amazing acoustics, so we sang some hymns, there was a quartet, and the ward choir (including yours truly) sang "This Is The Christ". Over the summer I have definitely come to appreciate the power of singing to bring the Spirit to the places we visit.
After St. Anne's we walked to St. Mark's Church of the Flagellation, where we talked about the scourging of Jesus during His trial and on His way to the cross. Then we went straight to the Garden Tomb. We talked there about the crucifixion itself and the Resurrection 3 days later. We had free time there too. I love spending time in the Garden Tomb, and it was especially nice after the discussion and the testimonies we had just had about the events that happened there. It was without a doubt the most powerful field trip that we have had here in Jerusalem. Even though I had been to most of the places before, I feel like you can never go enough. I get so much out of every visit and I'm always anxious to go back to feel the Spirit at these places.
Last night we had a closing meeting, where a few people got up and shared what they have learned since being in Jerusalem that they are going to take home with them. I really liked everything that everyone shared, and it was good for me to reflect personally on what I have learned and what I am going to take home with me. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think there are a lot of positive changes that I've made and that I want to continue to make since coming to the Holy Land.
After the meeting me and my roommates had one last roomie sleepover, with all of our mattresses out on the floor. We were so tired, but it was so fun to spend one more night together. I am going to miss them a lot this fall when I'm back to my own room.
This morning I ran over to Omar's olive wood shop to pay for one of my purchases, then out again to do the very very last minute shopping. We got t-shirts and small gifts and some treats for the flight home, including a big bag of gummies. Gummies are a treat that I will miss a lot back home. We stopped by the Western Wall for a few minutes, and we saw a couple of Bar Mitzvahs going on. We got shawermas and frozen fruit drinks and some caramelized nut samples, and just had fun wandering the Old City one last time.
Our last stop was at the Garden Tomb. Like I said, I get something out of it every time I go there, and even though we had just been there yesterday it was really good to go back and read my scriptures, pray a little and just sit and think, reflect on the last 4 months and on everything I've learned and felt here. We sang a couple of hymns and then we walked back to the Center. I guess technically our very last stop was at the one-shek popsicle store on the way back up the hill to the JC.
When we got back we had a ton of packing to finish up. Most of our stuff in our room was packed, but there were a lot of little things here and there that sometimes are the hardest to find a place for. By dinner, though, all of our bags were packed, weighed, and waiting at the top of the stairs. Dinner was a barbecue outside, with really great food and really great desserts. It was actually probably one of the best meals we've had here so far.
After dinner we had an awards ceremony and a slide show of all of the best pictures from over the summer, then a bunch of us played Murder in the Dark for a while. We are all still awake right now, at least all those of us that will be leaving for the airport at 3 am. Our cell phones and linens are all turned in, our bills are payed and now we are just waiting to get on a plane and get back to our homes.
It has been an absolutely amazing summer. I can't imagine anything I would have rather done, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. There have been highs and lows, but I have loved every day of it. I have been surrounded by the most amazing people and I have learned so much from them, in addition to what I've learned from the teachers, the field trips and above all the Spirit. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be here and I hope that I can come back to the Holy Land again one day.
After Gethsemane we went into the Church of All Nations, which commemorates the Savior's time in Gethsemane. It is designed to look like an olive garden at night, with dim windows and stars on the ceiling. It was really beautiful, and there were beautiful paintings and mosaics of Christ inside and outside the church.
Next we walked to St. Peter's in Gallicantu, which commemorates Peter. This is supposedly the place where Peter denied Christ 3 times during Christ's trials, but the church also commemorates all of the events between Jesus' arrest and His crucifixion. Then we went to St. Anne's, at Bethesda, where there was a pool where Christ healed a paralyzed man. The church there had really amazing acoustics, so we sang some hymns, there was a quartet, and the ward choir (including yours truly) sang "This Is The Christ". Over the summer I have definitely come to appreciate the power of singing to bring the Spirit to the places we visit.
After St. Anne's we walked to St. Mark's Church of the Flagellation, where we talked about the scourging of Jesus during His trial and on His way to the cross. Then we went straight to the Garden Tomb. We talked there about the crucifixion itself and the Resurrection 3 days later. We had free time there too. I love spending time in the Garden Tomb, and it was especially nice after the discussion and the testimonies we had just had about the events that happened there. It was without a doubt the most powerful field trip that we have had here in Jerusalem. Even though I had been to most of the places before, I feel like you can never go enough. I get so much out of every visit and I'm always anxious to go back to feel the Spirit at these places.
Last night we had a closing meeting, where a few people got up and shared what they have learned since being in Jerusalem that they are going to take home with them. I really liked everything that everyone shared, and it was good for me to reflect personally on what I have learned and what I am going to take home with me. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I think there are a lot of positive changes that I've made and that I want to continue to make since coming to the Holy Land.
After the meeting me and my roommates had one last roomie sleepover, with all of our mattresses out on the floor. We were so tired, but it was so fun to spend one more night together. I am going to miss them a lot this fall when I'm back to my own room.
This morning I ran over to Omar's olive wood shop to pay for one of my purchases, then out again to do the very very last minute shopping. We got t-shirts and small gifts and some treats for the flight home, including a big bag of gummies. Gummies are a treat that I will miss a lot back home. We stopped by the Western Wall for a few minutes, and we saw a couple of Bar Mitzvahs going on. We got shawermas and frozen fruit drinks and some caramelized nut samples, and just had fun wandering the Old City one last time.
Our last stop was at the Garden Tomb. Like I said, I get something out of it every time I go there, and even though we had just been there yesterday it was really good to go back and read my scriptures, pray a little and just sit and think, reflect on the last 4 months and on everything I've learned and felt here. We sang a couple of hymns and then we walked back to the Center. I guess technically our very last stop was at the one-shek popsicle store on the way back up the hill to the JC.
When we got back we had a ton of packing to finish up. Most of our stuff in our room was packed, but there were a lot of little things here and there that sometimes are the hardest to find a place for. By dinner, though, all of our bags were packed, weighed, and waiting at the top of the stairs. Dinner was a barbecue outside, with really great food and really great desserts. It was actually probably one of the best meals we've had here so far.
After dinner we had an awards ceremony and a slide show of all of the best pictures from over the summer, then a bunch of us played Murder in the Dark for a while. We are all still awake right now, at least all those of us that will be leaving for the airport at 3 am. Our cell phones and linens are all turned in, our bills are payed and now we are just waiting to get on a plane and get back to our homes.
It has been an absolutely amazing summer. I can't imagine anything I would have rather done, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. There have been highs and lows, but I have loved every day of it. I have been surrounded by the most amazing people and I have learned so much from them, in addition to what I've learned from the teachers, the field trips and above all the Spirit. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be here and I hope that I can come back to the Holy Land again one day.
Monday, August 09, 2010
Day 103
Today was our first day of the Last Week of Christ's life field trip. We started out the day in Bethany, where the tomb of Lazarus is. Jesus' miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead was when the Jewish leaders really set their sights on having Him arrested and killed. We stopped outside the church there but didn't go outside, then we went outside the tomb. At the end of Manscill's lecture one of the guys came groaning like a zombie out of the tomb, wrapped in toilet paper. A little irreverent, but still really funny.
The next place we went was Bethpage, which is where Jesus started His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, publicly declaring Himself to be the Messiah. We sang hymns in the church there, and saw remnants of the old road that He would have taken as He rode a colt into the city. After Bethpage we went to Pater Noster, which is one of the contested sites of the Ascension. One of the cool things about this church is that they had the Lord's Prayer in over 50 languages all around the inside and outside of the church.
Next we went to Dominus Flevit, the site where Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and the temple mount and wept. We read the New Testament account and some of the prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem throughout the Bible. The church is built to look like tear drops, which is really cool. It is such a beautiful view of the city, but it's also sad to see it and think about all that has happened to this land since that time.
For lunch we stopped at the Orson Hyde Park. We haven't been allowed in there since the 1st or 2nd week of the semester because some of our students were mugged while they were walking back to the Center, but it's a really beautiful place so I'm really glad we got to go back there one more time before we left. We talked about Orson Hyde dedicating the Holy Land and about some of the events that have happened since then to fulfill the prophecies of the physical gathering of Israel back to this land.
Our last stop was at the Upper Room, a different one from the one we visited during our Christian Quarter field trip. This one I like a lot better, and I loved reading the scriptures about the Last Supper, especially after having our Triclinium program the other night where we learned a lot about it and saw what the dinner itself would have looked like. We sang some Sacrament hymns there too, and ate some bread from the Old City.
Tonight we had an information meeting about everything that we have to know to get ready to go home on Thursday. It is becoming more and more bittersweet every day as it gets closer to the end. After the meeting we had a party in the Oasis, with pizza, karaoke and dancing. It was a really fun end to a great day!
The next place we went was Bethpage, which is where Jesus started His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, publicly declaring Himself to be the Messiah. We sang hymns in the church there, and saw remnants of the old road that He would have taken as He rode a colt into the city. After Bethpage we went to Pater Noster, which is one of the contested sites of the Ascension. One of the cool things about this church is that they had the Lord's Prayer in over 50 languages all around the inside and outside of the church.
Next we went to Dominus Flevit, the site where Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and the temple mount and wept. We read the New Testament account and some of the prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem throughout the Bible. The church is built to look like tear drops, which is really cool. It is such a beautiful view of the city, but it's also sad to see it and think about all that has happened to this land since that time.
For lunch we stopped at the Orson Hyde Park. We haven't been allowed in there since the 1st or 2nd week of the semester because some of our students were mugged while they were walking back to the Center, but it's a really beautiful place so I'm really glad we got to go back there one more time before we left. We talked about Orson Hyde dedicating the Holy Land and about some of the events that have happened since then to fulfill the prophecies of the physical gathering of Israel back to this land.
Our last stop was at the Upper Room, a different one from the one we visited during our Christian Quarter field trip. This one I like a lot better, and I loved reading the scriptures about the Last Supper, especially after having our Triclinium program the other night where we learned a lot about it and saw what the dinner itself would have looked like. We sang some Sacrament hymns there too, and ate some bread from the Old City.
Tonight we had an information meeting about everything that we have to know to get ready to go home on Thursday. It is becoming more and more bittersweet every day as it gets closer to the end. After the meeting we had a party in the Oasis, with pizza, karaoke and dancing. It was a really fun end to a great day!
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Day 102
This morning I woke up early, before my alarm went off. I got up to breakfast early so I could get the good cereal before it ran out, and it was sooo worth it. After that I went back to bed for a couple of hours until my group all got together and ready to go out into the Old City.
We mostly just wandered through, going to a lot of the same places and picking up last minute souvenirs and gifts here and there. We stopped at a lot of different shops along the way though that I had never been to, which was really fun. It's amazing to me that after all this time there is still so much of the city that I haven't experienced- I think it would take a lifetime to do it all.
One thing we did in the Old City that was really fun was that we stopped at a lot of little food places along our way and tried foods that we've never had before. I got a shawarma for the first time, and it was delicious. It's kind of like a falafel, except for instead of chickpeas at the bottom of the pita it's lamb. It's probably a good thing I didn't have one til today or I would have been eating them all summer. We also tried some sweets from a pastry shop, some lemonade with mint, and then later tonight I had this really good croissant with powdered sugar and almonds, and some roasted pecans. There's a lot of food here that's good, but nothing that I think I'll really miss a whole lot.
After shopping and snacking we went to the Dome of the Rock for the last time and took a couple more pictures. There were a few people from the JC who got to go inside with a tour guide from the UN, and it was sweet to see their pics since nobody really ever gets to go inside who's not a Muslim. We got some good pictures outside ourselves, and then we headed back to the Center.
After dinner a bunch of us went over into West Jeru to hang out one more time. Our taxi van had blue lights and a screen with music videos on it, so we had a dance party on the way there. On Ben Yehuda we got waffles and ice cream, and then we just wandered the neighborhood. We found this small park with a giant horse statue and a little ampitheater. So, of course, we took pictures on the horse and had a concert in the ampitheater. During my act a huge group of Jews came around the corner, and I got a lot of laughs and a lot of smiles, so I think they really enjoyed my performance. On the way back we saw this cute little boutique that was still open, and I bought a couple of really pretty scarves. We played on the street a little longer until our taxi got there, and then it was back to the JC for the night.
*The most exciting part of my day was finding out that I'm an auntie! I can't wait to meet my new little niece!
We mostly just wandered through, going to a lot of the same places and picking up last minute souvenirs and gifts here and there. We stopped at a lot of different shops along the way though that I had never been to, which was really fun. It's amazing to me that after all this time there is still so much of the city that I haven't experienced- I think it would take a lifetime to do it all.
One thing we did in the Old City that was really fun was that we stopped at a lot of little food places along our way and tried foods that we've never had before. I got a shawarma for the first time, and it was delicious. It's kind of like a falafel, except for instead of chickpeas at the bottom of the pita it's lamb. It's probably a good thing I didn't have one til today or I would have been eating them all summer. We also tried some sweets from a pastry shop, some lemonade with mint, and then later tonight I had this really good croissant with powdered sugar and almonds, and some roasted pecans. There's a lot of food here that's good, but nothing that I think I'll really miss a whole lot.
After shopping and snacking we went to the Dome of the Rock for the last time and took a couple more pictures. There were a few people from the JC who got to go inside with a tour guide from the UN, and it was sweet to see their pics since nobody really ever gets to go inside who's not a Muslim. We got some good pictures outside ourselves, and then we headed back to the Center.
After dinner a bunch of us went over into West Jeru to hang out one more time. Our taxi van had blue lights and a screen with music videos on it, so we had a dance party on the way there. On Ben Yehuda we got waffles and ice cream, and then we just wandered the neighborhood. We found this small park with a giant horse statue and a little ampitheater. So, of course, we took pictures on the horse and had a concert in the ampitheater. During my act a huge group of Jews came around the corner, and I got a lot of laughs and a lot of smiles, so I think they really enjoyed my performance. On the way back we saw this cute little boutique that was still open, and I bought a couple of really pretty scarves. We played on the street a little longer until our taxi got there, and then it was back to the JC for the night.
*The most exciting part of my day was finding out that I'm an auntie! I can't wait to meet my new little niece!
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Day 101
It was our last Sabbath here in the Holy Land, and it was a really good one. Probably the best one ever. I woke up early and walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane with a few other girls. They let us into the locked private garden and we just sat and read and pondered for a couple of hours. It was the perfect beginning to the day.
At Church we had an amazing fast and testimony meeting. I went to Spanish Sunday School and said goodbye to Hermana Dulca, our teacher. In Relief Society my roommate Jessie gave an amazing lesson on how we can take everything that we've gained here and use it to serve others when we go back home.
We took a group picture of all the students outside the Center right after Church- with 79 of us, it was quite an adventure getting it all set up. Then a few of us went over to the Garden Tomb for the Living Prophet's Society. We all read the talk "He Is Risen" that President Monson gave at this last GC. We talked about the Resurrection, and what it means to us in our lives. It was so powerful to talk about it at the Garden, where the Savior Himself was resurrected and where the angel told Mary, He is not here, for He is risen. I think that visiting Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb will be one of the things that I'll miss the very most. I love the special feeling that you get there, a Spirit of peace and truth.
Tonight we had a Triclinium program- they had set up the stage to look like the Upper Rom would have looked at the Last Supper, with the tables and seats on the floor where the apostles would have leaned and eaten the unleavened bread of the Passover. There were a few musical numbers and narrators of the chapters in John that talk about the Last Supper and the events that happened right after. It was really cool to see what it would have looked like and to be able to picture it while they read the account.
After the Triclinium we watched one more Messiah movie- it was about the apostasy and then the Restoration. I have loved watching these movies as we've studied the events that they talk about. We have been to most of the places they filmed at and we have discussed most of the scriptures in class or on field trips. I feel like I have learned so much about my Savior since being here, and I have loved getting to know Him better.
Roommate pictures outside the JC
Dome of the Rock
Riding the bus to the Garden Tomb
At Church we had an amazing fast and testimony meeting. I went to Spanish Sunday School and said goodbye to Hermana Dulca, our teacher. In Relief Society my roommate Jessie gave an amazing lesson on how we can take everything that we've gained here and use it to serve others when we go back home.
We took a group picture of all the students outside the Center right after Church- with 79 of us, it was quite an adventure getting it all set up. Then a few of us went over to the Garden Tomb for the Living Prophet's Society. We all read the talk "He Is Risen" that President Monson gave at this last GC. We talked about the Resurrection, and what it means to us in our lives. It was so powerful to talk about it at the Garden, where the Savior Himself was resurrected and where the angel told Mary, He is not here, for He is risen. I think that visiting Gethsemane and the Garden Tomb will be one of the things that I'll miss the very most. I love the special feeling that you get there, a Spirit of peace and truth.
Tonight we had a Triclinium program- they had set up the stage to look like the Upper Rom would have looked at the Last Supper, with the tables and seats on the floor where the apostles would have leaned and eaten the unleavened bread of the Passover. There were a few musical numbers and narrators of the chapters in John that talk about the Last Supper and the events that happened right after. It was really cool to see what it would have looked like and to be able to picture it while they read the account.
After the Triclinium we watched one more Messiah movie- it was about the apostasy and then the Restoration. I have loved watching these movies as we've studied the events that they talk about. We have been to most of the places they filmed at and we have discussed most of the scriptures in class or on field trips. I feel like I have learned so much about my Savior since being here, and I have loved getting to know Him better.
Roommate pictures outside the JC
Dome of the Rock
Riding the bus to the Garden Tomb
Friday, August 06, 2010
Day 100
Wow. Today was kind of the beginning of the end for us here. We had our New Testament and Field Trip finals this morning. The FT test was a piece of cake, they left us clues throughout the week all around the JC of what the questions would be, so we had a googledoc with all the questions and answers. New Testament was a little bit harder, but I still felt really prepared and I think it went really well. It was nice to be done, but kinda sad to be in the classroom for the last time. This afternoon was mostly resting. We all definitely needed to recover from the stress we had this week.
Tonight we had a Community Outreach Concert, basically a goodbye concert for all the students and people we have met in Jerusalem that we invited. I sang in the choir for a couple of songs, and there were a lot of other really amazing songs. I was a mess for most of it- my friends Chelsea and Jane sang For Good from Wicked, then my roommate Jessie played the song she wrote about Jerusalem on the guitar, then some guys did Prayer of the Children, and at the very end we all sang God Be With You Til We Meet Again. Suffice it to say that I definitely should have gone with the waterproof mascara. I've been so excited to come home, but tonight I started to realize just how much I'm going to miss it here. I am so attached to the Old City, the JC, all of the people here and the Spirit that is here in Jerusalem. I love it here and it will probably be harder than I think it will to leave here and come home.
Tonight we had a Community Outreach Concert, basically a goodbye concert for all the students and people we have met in Jerusalem that we invited. I sang in the choir for a couple of songs, and there were a lot of other really amazing songs. I was a mess for most of it- my friends Chelsea and Jane sang For Good from Wicked, then my roommate Jessie played the song she wrote about Jerusalem on the guitar, then some guys did Prayer of the Children, and at the very end we all sang God Be With You Til We Meet Again. Suffice it to say that I definitely should have gone with the waterproof mascara. I've been so excited to come home, but tonight I started to realize just how much I'm going to miss it here. I am so attached to the Old City, the JC, all of the people here and the Spirit that is here in Jerusalem. I love it here and it will probably be harder than I think it will to leave here and come home.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Days 98 & 99
Yesterday I stayed in the Center all day, because we have our 2 big finals this week. This morning was our Ancient Near East test, which I was really worried about but luckily it ended up being even easier than the midterm was, and I felt really good about it when I was finished. Now I'm working on getting ready for the New Testament final that we have tomorrow morning.
Today after lunch I went out with some friends to take pictures in the Old City. We went to Dome of the Rock first and took some cool pictures on the Temple Mount, then we did some shopping and took pics along the way. Some of the funnest ones were handstand pictures in the middle of the road between shops with people walking past. With 4 of us at once, we only ended up with a handful of pictures where all of us are up at the same time, but the ones that worked out look really cool. When we got back me and my roommates all dressed up a little crazy and we went out to take more pictures by the signs for the JC outside the gate (to be posted soon).
The Arabic students from the Egypt study abroad got here on Tuesday night, and they'll be here for the next few days. It's kind of weird having new people around the Center, but fun to see new faces too. Tonight I played volleyball with some of them, which was a perfect break from studying. Now it's back to the googledoc for the rest of the night!
Today after lunch I went out with some friends to take pictures in the Old City. We went to Dome of the Rock first and took some cool pictures on the Temple Mount, then we did some shopping and took pics along the way. Some of the funnest ones were handstand pictures in the middle of the road between shops with people walking past. With 4 of us at once, we only ended up with a handful of pictures where all of us are up at the same time, but the ones that worked out look really cool. When we got back me and my roommates all dressed up a little crazy and we went out to take more pictures by the signs for the JC outside the gate (to be posted soon).
The Arabic students from the Egypt study abroad got here on Tuesday night, and they'll be here for the next few days. It's kind of weird having new people around the Center, but fun to see new faces too. Tonight I played volleyball with some of them, which was a perfect break from studying. Now it's back to the googledoc for the rest of the night!
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Day 97
This morning we had NT and our last ANE class before the final. The NT class especially is getting soooo good as we learn about the end of the Savior's life and His resurrection. I wasn't ready for class to be over, even after 2 hours, because this, to me, is the very best part of the Bible and I love it.
After lunch I went out into the Old City to do some shopping and finish up a couple of site reports that are due tomorrow. We exchanged money, picked up some tshirts, got some gummies, and looked around at a couple of other things that people wanted to buy. We were all over the place, down a lot of different streets that I had never been to before. It was really fun to see some new sights in the Old City, even though I've been there so many times.
We stopped at Via Dolorosa and on the way back up the hill to the JC to do site reports. We read scriptures that go along with those places and then we have to turn in a list of 20 of those throughout the semester. It's actually a really great assignment, because it makes us really stop and think at the places we go to about the true significance of those places in the life of the Savior.
Last night we watched the last section of the Messiah series that we have been watching for the past few weeks. It was about the Atonement and the Resurrection, and it was the best one we've seen so far. I love that in these last days of our trip we are surrounded with all of these things about the Savior, because really that's why we're all here in Jerusalem, to learn about Him.
After lunch I went out into the Old City to do some shopping and finish up a couple of site reports that are due tomorrow. We exchanged money, picked up some tshirts, got some gummies, and looked around at a couple of other things that people wanted to buy. We were all over the place, down a lot of different streets that I had never been to before. It was really fun to see some new sights in the Old City, even though I've been there so many times.
We stopped at Via Dolorosa and on the way back up the hill to the JC to do site reports. We read scriptures that go along with those places and then we have to turn in a list of 20 of those throughout the semester. It's actually a really great assignment, because it makes us really stop and think at the places we go to about the true significance of those places in the life of the Savior.
Last night we watched the last section of the Messiah series that we have been watching for the past few weeks. It was about the Atonement and the Resurrection, and it was the best one we've seen so far. I love that in these last days of our trip we are surrounded with all of these things about the Savior, because really that's why we're all here in Jerusalem, to learn about Him.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Day 96
Today we had an awesome field trip. We started out by going to Masada, this site of a Jewish fortress during the Roman war. It is at the top of this really high plateau, and thankfully instead of hiking it we got to take a tram up there. When we got there we talked a little bit about the history of the fortress. They had a palace and a synagogue and a bathhouse and a series of cisterns, and they had a bunch of food stored to get them through the siege. When the Romans finally built a ramp and conquered the city, the people that lived there all committed suicide rather than become slaves to the Romans. Kind of a tragic story but it was really fun to walk around through all the different buildings and then back down the mountain on the tram.
After Masada we went to the Dead Sea to swim. It was really cool, you could literally sit there with your hands and feet in the air and just float on the top of the water. We swam around a lot and went to this mud pit to put Dead Sea mud all over us. It is the kind of stuff they try to sell you at the mall, and it actually works pretty well, my skin is really soft now. Swimming in it is the weirdest feeling, you kind of get stuck a little bit. Since you're so floaty, it's like when you are on a wakeboard and you try to flip over but you can't really so you have to twist your entire body and throw yourself around. It is such a funny sensation. The worst part was that swimming back to where our stuff was I got salt water in my eye, and it killed. My friend Daniel was helping me swim back since I literally couldn't open my eyes, but then he got water in his eyes. It was the funniest scene of the blind leading the blind as we tried to edge ourselves along the rocky beach until we could get back to our group and get a towel to wipe our eyes.
It was about 44 c degrees here today, or 112 f. That is hot. It was not pleasant. We went to En Gedi after the Dead Sea, which is where David spent time while he was running from Saul. Then we went to Qumran, where the caves are that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found at. It was really cool to learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they are the oldest Biblical text manuscripts we have, and the way that they compare to stuff in the Bible, stuff in the Book of Mormon and stuff in the Pearl of Great Price. There are even some scrolls of things that aren't found in our scriptures, like the Book of Enoch.
Tonight when we got back me and my roommates all did a race to see who could get the fastest shower time with the requirements of shampooing, conditioning, soaping, and shaving. I won. The best part was that in about 15 minutes all 4 of us got through the shower, which I think is pretty impressive for a room of girls and it was nice not to have to wait forever to get clean after such a hot and sweaty and salty day. We had FHE tonight and now I have to finish my reading for my NT class tomorrow. We only have tomorrow and Wednesdays classes before the final, it is crazy how quickly this term has gone by and how much knowledge we have crammed into our brains in the past couple of weeks. I love everything that we learn about in the NT, and I think I'm actually going to really miss this class a lot when it's over.
After Masada we went to the Dead Sea to swim. It was really cool, you could literally sit there with your hands and feet in the air and just float on the top of the water. We swam around a lot and went to this mud pit to put Dead Sea mud all over us. It is the kind of stuff they try to sell you at the mall, and it actually works pretty well, my skin is really soft now. Swimming in it is the weirdest feeling, you kind of get stuck a little bit. Since you're so floaty, it's like when you are on a wakeboard and you try to flip over but you can't really so you have to twist your entire body and throw yourself around. It is such a funny sensation. The worst part was that swimming back to where our stuff was I got salt water in my eye, and it killed. My friend Daniel was helping me swim back since I literally couldn't open my eyes, but then he got water in his eyes. It was the funniest scene of the blind leading the blind as we tried to edge ourselves along the rocky beach until we could get back to our group and get a towel to wipe our eyes.
It was about 44 c degrees here today, or 112 f. That is hot. It was not pleasant. We went to En Gedi after the Dead Sea, which is where David spent time while he was running from Saul. Then we went to Qumran, where the caves are that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found at. It was really cool to learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls and how they are the oldest Biblical text manuscripts we have, and the way that they compare to stuff in the Bible, stuff in the Book of Mormon and stuff in the Pearl of Great Price. There are even some scrolls of things that aren't found in our scriptures, like the Book of Enoch.
Tonight when we got back me and my roommates all did a race to see who could get the fastest shower time with the requirements of shampooing, conditioning, soaping, and shaving. I won. The best part was that in about 15 minutes all 4 of us got through the shower, which I think is pretty impressive for a room of girls and it was nice not to have to wait forever to get clean after such a hot and sweaty and salty day. We had FHE tonight and now I have to finish my reading for my NT class tomorrow. We only have tomorrow and Wednesdays classes before the final, it is crazy how quickly this term has gone by and how much knowledge we have crammed into our brains in the past couple of weeks. I love everything that we learn about in the NT, and I think I'm actually going to really miss this class a lot when it's over.
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Day 95
This morning I went with some students over to this school down the street from Crash Corner. It is a school and kind of home for children with autism, and for our service project we are painting a mural on the walls of the kindergarten room for them. It was really fun, the design was already sketched out and we were just painting in the colors on a bunch of animals, like parrots, giraffes, elephants, panthers, crocodiles, and monkeys. They were really bright and I think it will look really cool when it is finished. There are a couple of other groups that are going to go over later this week to finish the other side of the wall and the details.
After lunch I hung out in my room, cleaning, organizing, reading, scripture studying, finishing up some site reports and other schoolwork. I went over to Hebrew U to interview someone for another assignment, and we talked to this student who is Jewish by ethnicity but doesn't believe in God. It was interesting to talk to him, and I thought how weird it was to think that someone could live here among all of these different religions and at all of these special places and not have any belief in them. It's not often that you meet people like that, most of the people here are very religious, those are the people that I really love meeting.
Tonight I am finishing up my laundry. I got down to my last pair of pants today, so I was definitely in need of some clean clothes.
After lunch I hung out in my room, cleaning, organizing, reading, scripture studying, finishing up some site reports and other schoolwork. I went over to Hebrew U to interview someone for another assignment, and we talked to this student who is Jewish by ethnicity but doesn't believe in God. It was interesting to talk to him, and I thought how weird it was to think that someone could live here among all of these different religions and at all of these special places and not have any belief in them. It's not often that you meet people like that, most of the people here are very religious, those are the people that I really love meeting.
Tonight I am finishing up my laundry. I got down to my last pair of pants today, so I was definitely in need of some clean clothes.
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