Catching Up Pictures

~ Highlight of the Day: Eating kumquats from the 8th floor :) ~

 

Today I was supposed to write a paper comparing primary sources on Sennacherib. Instead I spent the first half of my day planning the second half, during which we ate lunch in west Jerusalem (at an awesome waffle bar where I had shakshuka) and then walked to the Jerusalem Botanic Gardens (which we arrived at at 2:45, and were supposed to close at 3, but didn't seem to have anybody around that cared about our after hours wandering. . . ).

 

After thoroughly enjoying some excellent plant identification (did you know there is a Eucalyptus tree that smells like lemons?!) we caught a taxi to the Western Wall and observed the Friday evening prayers. I love just taking in the level of devotion these women and men have for their faith. They are a beautiful people, with beautiful traditions.

 

Now that I've seen the Jerusalem Botanic Gardens I think I've seen everything in the city that I really feel is absolutely. I'm still going to sight see these last two weeks (we only have two weeks left. . . how did that happen?!), but I won't be stressed by feeling like I'm going to miss something if I slow down and enjoy things.

 

on top of Mt. Arbel on the first day in Galilee

 

native Sea Squill just coming up - you find this stuff everywhere

 

I love outside. . . why do we ever go inside? :)

 

Me on the Sea of Galilee!

 

 Me (and really cool people) re-enacting our epic battle

with a crocodile while rafting down the river Jordan

 

Our field trip to a first century synagogue.

I can't remember the name of the place. . . it meant camel though.

 

Liesl, me, and Kayla at the really old synagogue, soaking wet because of the rain.

 

We saw some sights close to the Golan Heights, and apparently there are a few left over mine fields here and there. . . anybody else thinking 'Finding Nemo'? :)

 

There was an optional hike that some of took. It ended up being a 'how far can you walk with mud and rocks in your sandals' kind of hike, but it was way worth it!

 

There was a way cool waterfall on this hike, that I didn't swim in, even though it was way tempting, because that would have made the 40 minute hike out not so fun.

 

We went to church at the Tiberias Branch house on the sabbath.

It thundered and stormed through the first 15 minutes, and then suddenly cleared up.

I heard from other students there was a rainbow, but I didn't see it.

The view was still amazing though.

 

Madison and I at the Church of Transfiguration on top of Mt. Tabor.

 

Megiddo, with palm trees and awesome clouds.

 

Well, with that I'm going to save the rest for later, since it's nearly midnight here and I've still got a primary lesson to read through!

 

 

Home Again!

~ Highlight of the Day: Coming home to two letters and a Thanksgiving dinner ~

Well, we're back in Jerusalem! It's been a long week of field trips, and it's going to be nice to just take a break tomorrow. I've only got two more weeks here though, so I'm going to try and do as much as I can with the time I have. Finals are going to be hard, but I'll be done with those in a week, and then it'll just be field trips from then on out.

 

We saw Caesarea Maritima today, and checked out the top of Mt. Carmel (where Elijah confronted the priests of Baal). It was pretty cool - I'm going to miss being close to large bodies of water. . .  

 

Thanksgiving dinner was great - we had turkey, and sweet potatoes, and stuffing, and cranberry sauce, and ice cream. I must admit, I'm missing pie dearly. . . so I think I'll just have to compensate by making them occasionally (by occasionally I mean constantly. . . :) throughout the year. Pumpkin pie is first on the list. To be honest, the thing I miss most about food at home is normal chocolate chip cookies. I just want something homemade and sweet. It's a good thing I'm coming home to Christmas cookie season! 

 

Well, now that I have a consistent internet connection I'm going to figure out this picture thing. . . but not tonight, because I've got two letters to read :)

Armageddon!

~ Highlight of the Day: Having fish nibble at my feet in a natural spring ~

Today I visited the Tell Megiddo, and took three whole steps on the slack line. I also successfully submitted an application for a Landscaping scholarship. I feel accomplished :) 

Halfway Through Galilee

~ Highlight of the Day: finding a pamphlet of Israeli trees in the gift shop, and a Mexican coin stuck to my camera (sometimes I put plants in my bag. . . and sometimes I forget about them and they get messy/sticky. . .) ~

Well, I've survived three hours of class today, and I've only got two more to go. Then it's field trips from here on out (until we get back to Jerusalem and have our 2nd finals week of the semester . . . ).

Life in Galilee is pretty amazing. It rained on Friday (I love rain!) while we were hiking to a first century synagogue, and then it was super muddy for our hike later that day to a waterfall. . . but other than that it's been wonderfully sunny during the day and beautifully cool at night. Last night was a little chilly. . . but I needed to be inside doing a New Testament assignment anyway :)

We've been visiting a lot of churches, and looking at a lot of rocks (carefully placed, really really old rocks), and swimming in a lot of significant waters. We visited the place where the Galilee empties into the Jordan River yesterday and found the account of Jesus' baptism in Hawaiian Pidgin. . . I'll post that as soon as I get pictures working again. . .

Thanksgiving was pretty great - I had fish and pizza at a restaurant on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee, and then had ice cream in Tiberias. A few friends and I did whip up a pie from what we could find in the near by convenience store. . . we had to get pretty creative about it. . . but it was better than nothing! I think we're getting a Thanksgiving meal when we get back to the center next week, but who knows what that'll entail!

I was going to post a bunch of pictures of Galilee. . . because I have a ton, and they're beautiful, but apparently there's a 1GB limit of free space for google stuff. . . I'm not sure. I'll have to figure it out and see what I can do about it. My computer skills are only so so. . .

The Sea of Galilee

~ Highlight of the Day: Sitting in a hammock under the stars with Liesl ~

Today I took a boat across the sea of Galilee, saw a 2000 year old boat that they'd pulled out of the sea only a few years earlier, sat and thought (and collected various plants) on the Mt. of Beatitudes, and slept at Capernum. I actually did my homework for today (at least half of it :), and I am going to do my homework for tomorrow (in theory . . . )

It's been a pretty good day! 

I think in another life I'd be a sailor :) I don't know what it is about boats and huge bodies of water, but I love the idea and excitement of it all! This is actually funny, though, because I have an irrational fear of deep deep water, the kind you know goes for miles below you and gets impenetrably dark and cold. I have no basis for this fear, other than I think I had a bad dream about it once.

I'd post pictures, but the internet here isn't the best. So I'll just post a lot when I'm back in Jerusalem in a week and a half.

Anyway, all's quiet up here in Northern Israel, and I've got a full day of class ahead of me tomorrow -so I need to go get homework done. . . 

Oh Galilee!

~ Highlight of the Day: Looking out over the Sea of Galilee from Mt. Arbel, and checking out all the bulbs coming up ~

Hey! So I'm now in Galilee, and will be for the next ten days. We saw Bet Shean this morning, and some other places. . . I'm running on about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, so some things are a little hazy. . .

Anyway, the important things are: 

1. Galilee is green.  A beautiful, newly sprouted green.

2. Being out in the mountains is so refreshing! How have I survived this long without them?!

I Live Here.

~ Highlight of the Day: Eating lunch on the rooftops of Jerusalem ~

 

Today was pretty perfect in every way. It's our last day in Jerusalem for two weeks, and we made good use of it!

(Rockefeller Museum)

(Wood molding originally from the Al-aqsa mosque)

 

(Staircase up to where we ate lunch)

(view from the King David Citadel)

 

 

And to make a great day even better, I got a shoffar! It's kind of heavy, and really smelly, but it makes the best obnoxious noises ever :) I'm super excited about it.

Life in J-ru!

~ Highlight of the Day: A homemade meal! ~

In case anyone reads/listens to the news (I sure don't - I don't have the time for things like that. . . ), you all may be a little more aware of this area of the world than usual :)

 

Yes, I was out in West Jerusalem and heard the sirens go off. No, it's not as crazy as the news is painting it - significant, yes, but not the end of all things peaceful. I am perfectly fine, as is everyone else in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. There were two missiles, aimed at the Israeli Knesset (the government building all the way across town from us), but they didn't even reach Jerusalem. They fell a few miles south of Bethlehem (which is a few miles south of Jerusalem) in an open field. If anything the attack was more political and symbolic than anything else.

 Life has gone on as normal here at the Jerusalem Center -

 

Friday night we threw the Jerusalem Center's first prom, complete with a fancy dinner and prom royalty. It was hilariously fun, and I'm so glad high school is over :) After the dance we watched (meaning, 'I slept through all the exciting parts of') Support Your Local Sheriff. It's a great movie. I recommend it.

 

Today I spent all morning planning a lesson for my kids and going to church. Then we were invited over for dinner in West Jerusalem - I love homemade pizza. Best dinner ever :) After getting back from that I suffered through choir (I have serious issues behaving in choir on Saturday evenings. . . I have no idea why), and then watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I also highly recommend that movie, but be prepared for some heavy Holocaust material.

Then I was going to go to bed, but I figured I should post something. I can't have everyone back home thinking the worst while I'm just partying :)  

 

It really is late though. . . so I'll have to post more on political stuff later. . .

 

Blogging + Studying = . . . Not Much

~ Highlight of the Day: "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons came up on

 8tracks.com. . . love that song! ~

 

Instead of studying all day for my midterm tomorrow morning I:

 

walked through Hezekiah's tunnel in the dark.

 

Walked through a tunnel that wasn't as cool as Hezekiah's.

(but it did have cool moss that grew by the lights. . . )

 

 

Tried to go to the Temple Mount. Failed. Twice.

 

(but we got some good pictures of it. . . )

 

Ate expensive shawarma.

 

Climbed the tower of the Church of the Redeemer.

 

Got a little bit lost.

 

Found a staircase to the rooftops.

 

Made it home right in time to donate blood.

 

(Madison held my hand. . . I don't like giving blood :)

 

Exchanged pictures (other people's cameras are so good!).

 

(Maccharus, where John the Baptist was beheaded. . . )

 

(Jerash)

 

(Bethlehem at twilight. . . I think)

 

(across the street from the shuk. . . they appeared to be pacifiers

hung from trees. We have no idea why.)

 

(this will be my car someday.)

 

 

 

Got asked to the JC Prom.

 

 

 

It's been a busy day. I'm not sure I have time to study. . . :)

 

 

 

 

The Temple Institute

*I totally forgot to post this. It's from Monday. . . I think.*

~ Highlight of the Day: Spending another beautiful rainy day in Jerusalem! ~

 

We get to go out a lot more consistently now that all but two of our classes are done - it's a good thing too, because I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of things there are to see.

Today we went to the Temple Institute and checked out their museum. The Temple Institute is a group of Jews that are preparing to build the Third Temple. They have been putting together everything from the garments worn by the high priest to the huge golden manorah (just west of the Western Wall plaza). It was fascinating to see what they had to say. Not much of what we read on the plaques was new information, but it was from a completely different angle. Definitely worth the 25 shekels.

Lots of Churches!

~ Highlight of the Day: Making olive oil! ~

 

Today was our Christian Quarter Field trip. We visited the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, the hostel at the Franciscan Terra Sanctae complex, the Syriac Orthodox Church of St. Mark, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

I didn't get a lot of pictures in the churches, since my camera's older than dirt and just can't handle difficult lighting situations, but I got a few good ones on the way to the churches :)

 

Walking to all these churches through the less touristy, more residential areas of Jerusalem was probably the best part of the fieldtrip. What I'm going to miss most when I go back to Provo are the beautiful streets lined with interesting and ever varied limestone architecture.

 

(candles at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre)

I've been to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre a handful of times now, and I like visiting generally - it's a neat place. It's got a very different atmosphere than churches I'm accustomed to, and it's moving to observe all the people who've traveled so far to worship there.  

 

It's getting late, so I'll cover making olive oil tomorrow :) 



Sunny with a Chance of Rain!

~ Highlight of the Day: Watching the Scarlet Pimpernel . . . Best movie ever! ~

 

Today we had our Jewish Quarter field trip. We got to check out the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, and walk through a bunch of museums and such.

 

This is us down in the pools of Bethesda

 

 

And this is the southern wall of the Temple Mount, with the Al-aqsa mosque. . .

 

 

This is where the steps are that lead up to a gate (it's now filled in) that leads up to the temple mount, It dates back to the time of Christ and chances are he walked those very steps. Pretty cool.

 

Today was absolutely beautiful. The perfect temperature too - cold enough to make hiking  up the Kidron valley almost a welcome thing, but warm enough (in the direct sunlight) to not want a jacket.

 

 

And this is the man Madison tried to pick up at the Cardo. . . :)

 

I Love Rain!

~ Highlight of the Day: Riding the monorail instead of walking in the rain ~

It rained today, and we spent all day out in it :) It's been so long since I've actually been cold! I love how green (and therefore better :) rain makes everything. So I took a lot of pictures of it:

 

I'd post more, but it's super late, and the pictures are taking forever to upload. Perhaps I'll post more tomorrow instead of doing my homework :)

A Very Blustery Day!

~ Highlight of Yesterday: Windy rainy fall weather ~

 

It rained last night, so I'm in a really good mood today :)

 The world is so beautiful after it rains!

 

And here's my small square foot garden of weeds. . .

 

I just started watering it consistently, and stuff started growing!

(I did root and plant the coleus and the spider plant)

 

And this is what I want my garden to look like. . .

A Day Out

~ Highlight of the Day:  Listening to the most amazing Cello/Guitar duet ever  ~

 Drats. I don't think you can see this very well. . . I'll have to get a better image of it.

Instead of doing my homework yesterday I talked in the computer lab and doodled on

the back of a Palestine textbook (Neil's, to be specific :)

 

It's of me, Madison, and Alyssa in the desert.

 

Today we visited the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene. It's absolutely beautiful inside and out. The grounds are fabulous, and the designs inside are so intricate and amazing. And it's got big golden onions on top. . . who can beat that? :)

 

 

Ever since I worked with chrysanthemums this summer I've become hyper-aware of them. I can't resist giving them special attention, and the exclamation, "Oh! a Chrysanthemum!" escapes my lips every time. I think it's because I cut, and rooted and potted thousands of the things, but didn't get to see any of them bloom. . . speaking of which - Longwood Gardens should be in the middle of displaying all those Chrysanthemums right now. As much as I'm absolutely loving Jerusalem, a part of me desperately wants to be back at my internship. . . I'm missing so much!

 

 

We also went to the tomb of the kings down in the Kidron valley. . . at least I think it was the tomb of the kings. Maybe it was one of two places with that name? I've been to a 'Tomb of the Prophets'. . .

There are a lot of cool old tombs. . .

 

We ended today with an amazing formal talent show. Music is great :)



Going on 2 Hours

~ Highlight of the Day: Picking olives! ~

 

I pulled an almost all-nighter last night. I started writing my Palestine final paper at 2am-ish, got my Palestine final paper done at 5:55am, got it printed at 6:05 (after wrestling/pleading with the printer for 10 minutes), went to bed at 6:15 (with full intentions of waking up in 30 minutes to go to breakfast and class and stuff. . . ), woke up at 8:15 to a frantic roommate who also slept in through breakfast and into class. . .

I'm pretty satisfied with how things went. I got my paper done, I slept for two hours, and stayed awake through class due to the adrenaline rush of waking up totally late. I was totally starving when lunch came around, but I can handle hunger :) 

After lunch (and editing Madison's Palestine paper) we picked olives - next week we're making olive oil! So cool!

Well, that was today. Yesterday we went to Bethlehem, and here are a few of those pictures:

 

 

 

I forget which church this was (there are a lot of churches in Bethlehem . . . ), but they had an excellent array of plants - they even had a kumquat! At least I'm assuming it was a kumquat. It sure looked like one!

 



 

After hanging out in a handful of Bethlehem churches all day long we ended up on the hill across from the city to read the account of the shepherds (I think it starts at Luke 2:8). It was interesting to experience the terrain the shepherds would have been so familiar with. There were these huge bulbs that were beginning to sprout - I mentioned them in yesterday's post :)

 

 

 

Also noteworthy: I tried downloading the Doctor Who episode 'Blink' so I could introduce it to all my JC friends. . . you can't if you're outside the USA! So sad!

 

 

Bethlehem

~Highlight of the Day: finding some sort of unidentified bulb on the rocky hills of Bethlehem ~

 

This will be quick, because I have two papers to write tonight. I just have a few points:

 

Point one:

 

Out of the way places are so much better than the touristy ones.

 

Point two:

 

Wilderness is so much better than city.

 

Point three:

 

Cinnamon-sugar pitas are amazing

(especially when you're fresh out of nutella :)

 

Point four:

 

Singing Christmas songs all day long is

occasionally acceptable in early November.

The Souk

~Highlight of the Day: Sleeping in and finally going out! ~

 

It was soooooo good to get out today! I actually stepped foot outside of the JC! Hallelujah!

 

You may be tempted to think, "But Rachel, you just got back from Jordan, where you walked around all day every day. What do you mean you've been couped up in the center for two weeks straight?"

 

Let me tell you, there is a huge difference between exploring Jerusalem on  your own and being on a structured field trip. A huge difference.

 

So today we enjoyed, at our own leisurely pace, the open air market, or souk, in West Jerusalem. It was great; we got dried fruit and fresh fruit, found a plant shop (that everyone else was kind enough to stop at while I reveled in it), ate lunch, and did a bit of shopping.

 

Now I'm trying (half-heartedly) to write a paper. . . papers are so yucky.

I love papers like I love stairs, and running up hills!

 

 

 (me with lots of plants, laughing at

Annie instead of looking at the camera :)

 

 

(me with my cool new shoulder bag!

(they're all the rage here at the JC. . . that and leather

 [I refuse to jump onto the leather bandwagon though]) 

 

Oh! I made a really important discovery today: lamb is disgusting. I can't stand the stuff. I thought it was beef at dinner tonight, so I took this huge helping, and then couldn't stomach a single bite of it. How does it taste so different?! How does it taste so gross?!

Jordan

~ Highlight of the Day: Having one of my students recite his favorite scripture from memory in front of the entire primary - I'm so proud of him! ~

I've managed to make my way over to Hebrew University, which means I can post twice as many pictures in half the time :) So here is the Jordan trip: 

 Kenzi and I enjoying a real chocolate chip cookie
(This is before we left for Jordan) 

We saw a lot of mosaics in the course of our four day trip.
 Lucky for me I happen to LOVE mosaics :)
Do you think I could find a mosaic master and apprentice? 

So Roman guys really liked to use Acanthus leaves in their mosaic designs.
(as seen in the top right hand corner of this picture)
You see it pretty much everywhere. Acanthus spinosus was one of the ornamental plants I had to
memorize for my annual/perennial ID class, so it's near and dear to my heart. The common name also happens to be bear's breeches. Here's a picture of the real plant. . .

And here's the treasury at Petra.
Petra was easily my favorite site in Jordan. there was hiking, and lots of
amazing carving, and rocks, and camels. . . I'd go back in a heartbeat.

This is me on a camel. 

Petra is most famous for the Treasury (as seen in Indiana Jones), but if you hike up a couple miles into the mountains you find the Monastery, and it is so much cooler! It's huge.

Oleander! 

I knew I missed hiking, but I didn't realize how much until we made it to the top and
got to enjoy the amazing view. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to live too far away from the mountains. . . 

The colors in the sandstone at Petra are fantastic.
You can find all sorts of reds, tans, and blue-greys, all right next to each other.

This is the Temple of Hercules
(the really far away columns in the background)

One of my favorite things about traveling in another country is
experiencing the more rural/unpopulated areas. You get a better feel for the country as a whole. 

Jerash (one of the 10 Decropolis cities) has all sorts of cool
places:

big amphitheaters

stonework (someday I'm going to carve like this. . . )

(and this)

We passed through this area that had nurseries everywhere. It drives
me crazy, because we pass all sorts of plant places when we're driving in the buses, but we never get
the opportunity to stop at them. We only get free time in the cities, and you just
don't find nurseries there. . . 

This is some sort of citrus grove, pretty sure.

And more groves of various things. . . 

Jordanian money is beautiful. It puts our plain green stuff to shame :) 

Just some more random stonework. All these designs and patterns
make my head spin with plans for ukulele inlays and wood carving projects. 

I found a mosaic of a rooster and had to get a picture of it.
Gotta love chickens :)

So there are the highlights of the Jordan trip. I need to put together a more comprehensive
narrative of the places we went and the things we saw. . . but I've got a Palestine paper to write, and Jerusalem to explore, so we'll see what happens.

And because I haven't given a Bird of Paradise update in a while:
Five have bloomed, they are awesome.