The Oldest Dirt in the World...

Well the past view days have been full of new sights. Every time I get my bearing and start to think I know my way around I find some new part of the city. Sunday was our second free day which we decided to dedicate to museums. Our group had 5 girls and 4 guys; at first we wanted to walk all the way across Jerusalem to get to the museums but resorted to taking a taxi-bus. Let me tell you...the driving here is insane! Busses move in and through traffic like little cars and people honk at everything! But we made it alive so I guess it works alright. Our first stop was at the Bible Lands Museum. This was pretty interesting...it was a private collection of some rich guy very interested in bible history. The coolest thing was the gold jewelry and crowns from the Greeks and some very ancient and ornate coffins. After a tour there our group split into two and I went with the group to tour the Israeli parliament building, the Knesset. This turned out to be my favorite part of the day. We had to go through some very intense security and hand in all of our bags. But once we were through we had to walk across the expansive courtyard to get inside. Once inside we joined an English tour of the building. It started off with a movie about the history of the Knesset. I felt like it was slight propaganda because it spoke very heavily of the Israeli state and how it will never fall. But I felt like the entire tour helped me understand overall the conflict here from one perspective. The most beautiful part of the building was the giant tapestries created by Marc Chagall that depicted the history of the Jewish people. It was very beautiful and also depicted a hope for peace in the future. Pretty amazing considering they were created in 1967 just before the 6-day way. Lets hope he had the correct image of the future. We also were able to sit in the room where all the politicians meet to make decisions. I was surprised by the democracy of the Israeli political system. They are very open to the people being involved and welcome people from all races and religions to join political parties. Obviously, some of that is more dream than reality. After our tour we went across the street to the Rose Gardens to eat lunch. Here we watched an entire school of Orthodox Jewish boys run and play and shout. All I can say is kids will be kids, despite borders or religion.  Our last planned stop of the day was the Israeli museum. Although the actual museum was closed we did get to go in to the Shrine of the Book and see the Dead Sea Scrolls. I know I'm a history major and my opinion is probably slightly biased- but how amazing is it that those scrolls have survived for so long! And that they are so important to us today.
We met up with some other students at the Israeli museum and decided that we had time to walk back to the center. As we walked through West Jerusalem neighborhoods...and they were really nice! I could have sworn we were back home if it hadn't been for the european-style license plates and advertisements in another language. I couldn't get over the normalcy I felt in these neighborhoods. We also wandered into an outdoor mall on our way back. It all of the usual stores- Gap, American Apparel, an even a Mac store. The only difference was you had to go through a metal detector to get in. I probably won't buy anything there while I'm here because I can get all that stuff at home...but it was nice to feel something familiar for a moment...even if it is a mall. We finally made our way back to the center after a long day.

The next day we had a field trip to Jericho. The thing about Jericho is it is at the lowest place on earth- and supposedly one of the warmest places on earth. They receive rain once a year. So when we woke up to a storm in Jerusalem all of our teachers told us not to worry because it would still be warm in Jericho since it is in the middle of desert. False. We got to see it rain in the dessert! It was funny to watch all our teachers because they kept going on about how amazing it was to see the dry creek beds (or wadis) full of water. I probably didn't appreciate it like I should have...but since they have been having a drought here I am grateful to finally see some rain. This was my first experience going into the West Bank. Getting in was very easy. The checkpoint simply looked like one of those booths people at parking lots sit in (although there were armed soldiers present too). Our first stop was the Tel of Jericho. A Tel is basically a man-made mound that is actually a city underneath that has just been covered up over time. Jericho has been excavated in some parts. I'm not going to lie- it was a little disappointing. We got out of the bus and got to walk around a big mound of dirt. I mean- it was still pretty cool! The parts that were excavated were interesting, and Jericho is the oldest city on earth in the lowest spot on earth; so at least we got to stand on the oldest dirt on earth on the lowest dirt on earth...that's cool in itself right? Our next stop was the Monastery of Temptation. It is where they claim that Jesus came during his 40 day fast and was tempted by satan. The monastery is this building built right into the cliffs. The entire structure is about 100 feet long and 10 feet wide at any point. We had to hike up the cliff and once we were there we woman had the first experience of covering our hair with shawls. The monastery was impressive just because of the sheer difficulty of building something up there would have been, but also the beautiful paintings throughout the building. We also got to see pilgrims from Africa come to the monastery. After our stop there we made a few quick stops at Zaccheaus Tree and Herod's winter palace. The palace has been reduced to some rubble, but you could still see the general outline of the building. Our final stop of the day was at the Inn of the Good Samaritan Museum. Obviously, the story of the good samaritan is a fictional story, but the crusaders created a church in a likely place for that story to occur in honor of the story. Now it has been turned into a museum of beautiful mosaics from all over the area. The checkpoint getting back into Israel was a big structure and was more like how I initially imagined it. We completed all of these stops and were back at the center by 1:30.

The past couple days have been full of classes and preparing fore Egypt. Yesterday we had an orientation meeting for our Egypt trip and I'm so excited and super nervous! . They say about 60% of the students get sick every time from the food/water/people/air/everything haha. Basically its sheer luck if you don't get sick. So I ran out that afternoon to buy some granola bars and hopefully I'll have enough antibacterial gel to ward off everything else. Other than that I can't wait for this trip! We've watched The Prince of Egypt and The Ten Commandments to prepare haha. Who hasn't dreamed of seeing the pyramids since they were a kid? Another thing checked off the bucket list...

Shabbat Shalom

One thing learned I learned in the past 24 hours. Jews know how to party. Last night was special because we were allowed to stay in the city after dark. On Fridays one of the biggest clashes of religions, in I think the entire world, occurs in the Old City. Muslims gather on Friday afternoon for their holy day at the Dome of the Rock to pray and hear from their religious leader. As they are finishing up and leaving the Dome of the Rock, the Jews are coming to the Western/Wailing Wall to welcome in Shabbat. Because of these religious clashes we have are only allowed into the city after 3 o'clock and have to be home by sundown on Fridays. Yesterday however we went as a group to watch the Jewish people welcome in Shabbat. Just on Thursday I had gone to the utra-orthodox neighborhood and seen the solemness of the Jewish lifestyle. Last week I had been to the Western Wall and all I had seen was a lot of people praying and reading prayer books. So naturally I assumed that the welcoming in of Shabbat would be a very quiet and reverent thing. WRONG. 


The group of girls I was with and I got into the square right next to the Western Wall about an hour early and at first we were correct. People had slowly started to gather and were praying. I even went down and put a prayer into the wall!! (one thing on the bucket list checked off!) But all of the sudden we could here this great noise and saw this mass of people coming down these stairs towards the square. This crowd of soldiers, orthodox jews, regular people, and everyone you could think of in between was singing out Shabbat Shalom! The crowd finally came into the square and stopped to form a circle and started clapping and singing songs in Hebrew. After a while the group moved down in front of the wall. Men and women are separated in front of the wall, but I could stand up above the men's side and see what was going on. It looked like a giant party! Everyone was clapping and singing and jumping up and down. The best part was watching the boys from our center join in and pretend they knew what they were singing. Whoever said that orthodox jews aren't friendly have never been to the Western Wall on Shabbat! They welcomed everyone into their circles. The women's side was a little more subdued but they tried their hardest to sing as well. The energy in the area was electrifying and infectionious. Our buses came around 6 to take us back to the center, but I could have stayed all night just people watching!
That night in the center we used all of our energy from being in the old city to play a massive game of sardines in the center and finishing off with watching Prince of Egypt in the forum to get us excited for going to Egypt this week.


Today was another amazing Sabbath Saturday (it feels so weird to say that!) I enjoyed sacrament meeting but am not sure how much I got out of it because the view is distracting. After church we went as a group down to the Garden Tomb. The Garden Tomb is the competing site for where Christ's tomb is and Galgotha. I enjoyed this site much more than Church of the Holy Seplacur. The church reminds me of all the churches we saw in Italy. It is very ornate and feels very dark. I almost forget the church is supposed to be a remembrance of Christ. The Garden just seemed to radiate that it was special place. When you first walk in you are surrounded by greenery and birds are chirping. It is much more like the place I've always imagined that Christ would be resurrected; a peaceful garden with the sun shining. We started by taking a tour of the Garden. The guide showed us the cliff face where they that Christ was crucified on top of and then showed us the tomb. The tomb is much, much smaller than I every expected. All the pictures I've ever seen of the resurrection always show a giant stone over an entrance to a cave-like place. The tomb however was small and you had to duck to enter in the doorway. After the tour our group sat together and sang some hymns. The spirit in the Garden was amazing. I don't really care if that was a true site or not; what matters is the miracle of Christ being resurrected and what that means for mankind. After some reflection time we headed back to the center for dinner. Even as I sit here now I'm still on a spiritual high from the Garden. I  feel so lucky to be able to visit this place, and can't help but think how quickly the next 13 Shabbats will go by. I better just enjoy every single one, because I don't church anywhere else can live up to church in the Holy Land.

Perspectives

I think Jerusalem is in some sort of weird time warp. I've been here for about a week and a half yet it feels like we've been here for months already. Our group is getting to know each other better and better. I can't say I'm yet at the point where I know everyone's name...but I do know everyone's faces which I feel slightly accomplished about. The food is amazing! I don't know how to describe it because its not much different than american food except its cooked with different spices than we use back home. As well pita bread is served with every meal. A current in-center favorite is we all take peanut butter and the Israeli version of nutella (its less hazlenut-y and more chocolaty) and put it inside the pita. We then proceed to toast it turning our pitas into a goo of peanut butter- chocolate goodness. As well I've been introduced to persimmons. They are these strange orange fruits that look like tomatoes but the texture is peach-like. I think we have them back home but here they are abundant. Yesterday I finally tried the infamous falafel. Its delicious and can be found all throughout the city.
Since Sabbath I've seen all sorts of amazing things. Sunday was our first free day and we used to get to the know city. I went out with a group of 9 students first thing in the morning. We first went to Dome of the Rock. We entered the city in a different gate than before; this time we entered through Lion's/ St. Stephen's Gate. This brought us into a much quieter area of the city, less hustle and bustle than Damascus Gate. From here we wandered until we found the security that you have to go through to get to the Western Wall. You have to go through two separate metal detectors. When I finally got into the square that is in front of the Western Wall I was surprised how tall the wall is. But it makes sense the wall has been built up every time the city has been flattened and rebuilt. Walking into the square around the Dome of the Rock felt like being at temple square. It was quiet and people were taking lots of pictures. The only difference is the guys walking around with huge guns as security. The Dome itself is absolutely stunning. I found the arabic art so fascinating...and the just the age of the building is amazing. After taking tons of pictures the security guard warned us that it was time to leave. The Dome is only open to non-Muslims before 11am. After that we decided we proceeded to walk across the city towards Jaffa Gate to do the Ramparts Walk. The ramparts walk is the walk around the top of the city wall. This was good for getting oriented around the city and making sense of where everything is. As well you could see more of the every day life of people of the city because you could see right into backyards, rooftops, and schoolyards. I'm falling more and more in love with the city the more I get to know it. It's also interesting to see the difference between the different quarters of the city. This took most of the day but we decided to finish off the day by going into West Jerusalem for Gelato. West Jerusalem is weird because it feels like you've been transported to Europe. We sat on these tables and chairs eating our gelato that did not require bartering, and listening to a man play music. It is a very huge contrast from the Old City.
Monday we had our first field trip. This was the Geography Field trip to help us get more orientated with the area. Our first stop was Nebi Samuel. This is the church where churches have made claims of both where the Prophet Samuel was born and burried...I don't think either are true. Its funny because if you look on the map it looks like we traveled about a quarter of Israel...but it took of all of about 20 min. to drive. Afterwards we went to Augusta Victoria. This church is one of the competing sites for the Ascension of Christ. The mosaics were beautiful and the tower is the tallest spot in all of Jerusalem. We hiked up the 210 stairs to the top and get a view of all of the city. Next we went to the 7 Arches Hotel that overlooks the Dome of the Rock. It would be a really good place to go and watch the Friday afternoon prayers the Muslims do. After that we went to other side of the city to a spot called Haas Promenade. Here was interesting because if you read in the scriptures it sounds like the exact spot that Abraham would have stopped right when he was descending to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his son. I don't why it feels so neat to be in the same spot where scriptures occurred, but there is just something special about it. Our final spot was an overlook looking right into Bethlehem. On the hilltop next to us was a giant Israeli settlement. I thought was cool because you read all about the settlements in the news...and there was one right in front of me. They slightly look like huge retirement communities of all identical houses. Overall the field trip was a lot of stopping, getting out, and looking at views but it helped with understanding where Jerusalem is situated and understand where things we are studying occur.
Tuesday through Friday we've had classes all morning and then usually have a break in the afternoon before having a later class. Tuesday during the afternoon we started arabic classes so I stayed in the center all day. Wednesday we went to Zedekiah's cave. This was really cool because this is where all the stones for Solomon's temple were carved out. The cave goes really deep underneath the city and was so fascinating because you could see where they had carved out those giant stones years and years ago. On Thursday we went to Mea Shearim, the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Western Jerusalem. It was an educational experience. All of the people are very sober and the streets just seemed very subdued. It wasn't the most exciting afternoon, but it was a cultural experience.
Today we are going to the Western Wall to see the Jews get ready for Shabat or the Sabbath. I can't wait.  One thing I have learned to appreciate while being here- I always thought growing up Mormon we lived very conservative lifestyles. I was very wrong...I am so grateful for the freedoms and lifestyle we enjoy in North America. I'll never again complain about having a small apartment/room or not much of anything. Seeing the people here stacked right on top of each other, generation atop generation, I feel so grateful for the giant yards, cars and houses we all take for granite back home. Just a thought.

Two Roads...

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost 

 I've never felt this quote to be more applicable my life more than right now; yet at the same time I feel it is ironic because I've been traveling roads that are probably the most traveled on in all of history. Jerusalem- the Holy Land to 3 major religions today can hardly can be called a road less traveled..but for me its a new adventure.

 I arrived in Jerusalem what feels like years ago but has really only been a short 3 days. On Tuesday, January 5 I started my adventure by meeting a group of 19 fellow BYU students in the Salt Lake City airport. It only took us one 19 hour flight to get each others names down and attempt to remember where everyone is from. The flight in itself was a cultural experience. Our flight from JFK to Tel Aviv was full of people from all walks of life. We were lucky enough to see orthodox 

Jews wake up with the sunrise and perform some sort of prayer ritual that I am not familiar with...yet. Everything was announced in English and Arabic and all meals had a kosher option. Our flight was the lucky group, as our 70 other fellow students got delayed by their Vienna layover due to snow. Once landed the airport was a shock because there are soldiers everywhere with big guns. My heart stops every time I see it, but one of the fellow students reminded me they are there to protect us...so I'm trying to have a better attitude about it. Due to our lucky flight we were the first to arrive at the center.

The BYU Jerusalem Center is absolutely stunning. My roommates and I have started to call it our palace because we feel like we are literally living in a palace. We pulled up to the center and all the staff and some of their children and grandchildren were outside waiting to greet us. Everyone shook our hands and welcomed us 'home'. They immediately took us on a tour of the center. Our palace is built on the Mount of Olives overlooking the entire city. The floor you walk in on is Level 8. It consists of the visitor area. There is a big auditorium with one of the nicest organs in all Israel, this also serves as the chapel for our church meetings. Which is amazing because the seats all face a huge wall of windows overlooking the city. There is also a display area, a smaller auditorium, and some classrooms. Level 7 is a huge forum for some of our classes. Level 6 is where most of the student activity is. Our lunch area, classrooms, student lounge, computer lab, and gym are located. Level 5 is most of the staff housing. Level 4-1 is student housing. However, right now there are only enough students to fill Level 3 and 4. The entire building is full of huge windows overlooking the city. And at night is everything is lit up. Combined with the white stone the building is built out of our building seems to glow.

Our first day here was full of activities. We woke up early to get started on classes and then went for our tour of the city. The city is amazing!!! I don't even know how to describe all of the sights, sounds, and smells. I felt like I was on senses-overload trying to soak everything in. We first walked down our mountain, across Kidron Valley (look it up in the scriptures...its there!) and then up the other side of the mountain till we reached the wall of the Old City. We walked a bit into east Jerusalem first to see where we can exchange money, find some local shop keepers used to the 'mormons' and walk past the Garden Tomb. We didn't get to go inside...yet, but surprisingly its just in the middle of the city rather that out in the peaceful countryside like I imagined. We continued until we entered the Old City through Damascus Gate. The Old City is so amazing. You slightly feel like your walking through Diagon Alley in Harry Potter...merchants and little shops are on every side of the road calling out. There are people just sitting in the street with their fresh fruits and vegetables for sale. There are amazing smells of all sorts of foreign foods cooking. And their are all sorts of people from every religion everywhere. The Orthodox Jews are the ones that fascinate me the most. We walked through the Muslim Quarter first and then wandered up into the Christian Quarter. Here we briefly walked into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This place was very ornate and it was so interesting to see all the people worshiping. People were lined up to touch and worship the place where the cross was believed to have stood, and people crying at the rock apparently where Christ's body was prepared for burial. There were about 5 different cathedrals for 5 different religions to worship in- its complicated. We didn't get to stay long but we are going back soon. After that we went crossed over to Western Jerusalem. Here it felt like a whole new world compared to the Old City. There were modern buildings, cars, and people in modern clothing. Yet it was just across the street from some of the most orthodox places in the world. After wandering around for a bit we took busses back to the center. That evening we were allowed to relax a bit and catch up on sleep since we are all pretty jet lagged.

The next day started out with more classes. Which all seem like they are going to be very interesting...but very hard to balance with all the site seeing there is to do here. We had the afternoon to off to wander the city. However, we aren't allowed into the old city till after 3 because Friday is the Muslim day of worship and apparently the morning can be sort of dangerous. We also have to be out of the Old City by sundown so that only gave us a couple of hours to see the city. But that was enough time to go exploring on our own and feel sufficiently accomplished for being able to find our way back to the center.

Today is our Sabbath. The branch here has decided to meet on Saturday. Church is amazing. Like I said before we meet in possibly the most beautiful room in the world. Its wonderful to listen to the sacrament prayers and look out on the city and know that those were the very streets Christ walked. Needless to say its hard to pay attention to speakers with a view like that. The branch members are few, but they all have fascinating stories I can't wait to hear. After church we walked to the Garden of Gethsemane. I don't think I have words to describe the feeling of being able to sit in there on the Sabbath and ponder what the Sabbath is truly about. 

Jerusalem thus far never ceases to amaze me. Waking up to 70 degree weather and the call to prayer every morning has made me reconsider ever moving back to North America. I've been here for a total of 3 days and feel like I'm in love with this place already. I know the adventure has just begun but I would like to advise everyone to take the road less traveled on...or at least try taking a really ancient one.