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?!

Tuesday

~ Highlight of the Day: Sleeping in. By far the best part of my day. ~

Whoooo! One final down, five more to go! The stress is starting to set in, so this'll be short and to the point.

 

First - studying for free response questions and multiple choice questions are two very very different things. My score on the Israel final this morning is an excellent testament to that.

 

Second - meals should be enjoyed, slowly and guilt free. There is no sense in ruining lunch by eating it in ten minutes and trying to go over Old Testament facts in my head while doing so.

 

We leave for Jordan in a week! Let's hope I last that long. . . :)

 

* Fun Fact: Hanukkah does not mean 'lights' or 'festival of lights' or anything to do with light. (That's the part I remembered while taking my test today). It actually means 'dedication' or 'rededication'

 (I could not seem to recall that unfortunately. . . :)

Arab Dinner Night!

~ Highlight of the Day: Matching perfectly all day long. . . and dancing like a maniac. ~

 

Guys. I have wanted one of these scarves ever since my senior year of high school when the foreign exchange student I sat next to in Chemistry (from Bahrain) gave one to Chase Adams. And now I have one. And it's yellow.

 

(this is our model pose. . . )

 

You can't really tell in this picture, but my outfit today was quite awesome :) Not only was it yellow and blue (the two colors, out of all the colors ever made, that were made for each other :), but I had my yellow scarf, yellow nail polish (left over from two-ish weeks ago - let's not get too crazy here), my yellow watch, and yellow socks! Seriously. It's not very often I get excited over an outfit.

Ironically you can see none of that in this picture. . . :)

 

Also, we learned an Arab dance, which was really cool. Fortunately for all of you there is not a video of me trying to dance it . . . besides, I'm still working on getting that talent show video up. . .

 

And Arab food is really good. I'm going to have to learn the names of these things so I can google recipes when I get home. I probably won't ever be able to make it authentic, but maybe I can figure out versions that are close enough.

 

I'm going to miss the yogurt here. It's half as sweet and twice as runny as American yogurt, and when you put it on cereal it's the best breakfast ever.

 

Well, I'm going to go write a short paper on the Cyrus Cylinder, and finish reading Nehemiah and Malachi. Then I'm going to sleep, because sleep is soooo good, and I don't get nearly enough of it!

 

 

 

Gotta Love a Good Movie

~ Highlight of the Day: watching my new 4th favorite movie ~

 

I have a massive test in my Ancient Near East class tomorrow morning. I started studying today. . . I also watched a movie called Sallah Shabati. It's an old Israeli film, and it's amazing. Think Fiddler on the Roof with a twist of The Three Stooges.

 

You should all watch it.

 

and for fun

 (because I don't really want to be studying for ANE)

here's my top five movies list:

 

1.Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

3. Pippi Longstocking (animated version)

4. Sallah Shabati

5. Captain America: the First Avenger 

 

Yep. That's a pretty good list, if I do say so myself :) I'm not quite sure on the order of some of them, but that's good enough for 11pm on the night before a huge test :)

 

 

Post #100. . . Woohoo!

~ Highlight of the Day: Paying 10 shekels to drive home from the Israeli Museum instead of walking ~
(best idea yet)

Guys. This is post #100. How crazy is that?! And it's going to be a pretty good one.

On Saturday President Monson announced that they are lowering the minimum age for missionaries to 18 years old for young men, and 19 years old for young women. The reaction in the auditorium where I was watching it (with all the other JC students) was crazy. It's definitely been some serious food for thought for the last day or so!

First of all, it's not going to influence if/when I serve a *mission. I'm going to be 21 this January anyway, and I'd already decided I wasn't going till the end of the summer if I did end up going. So my excitement stems from the amazing opportunities that have now opened up for so many of the people around me.

That being said, , if I do go I'll be going with people who are younger than me (not bad, just different), I'll be in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) for a shorter time, and the social scene at BYU is going to change drastically. 

*a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints includes dedicating 18-24 months to service and spreading the gospel. Young men go for 2 years, young women go for 1&1/2. We send our papers in to Church headquarters and are then assigned a mission based on Divine revelation and the specific needs of the Church. It could be in the United States, it could be out of the country. It could be English Speaking, it could be Foreign Speaking. The minimum age was previously 19 for men and 21 for women, so this change is very exciting to people who've been waiting and counting down the days till they can turn their papers in. . .
 

Anyway, cool stuff. Church history in the making :) 

How about pictures: 

 

 Outside Hezekiah's tunnel, in the water :)
 

 

 On the steps of the pool where the blind man in John chapter 9 washed the clay from his eyes
 

 

 My first bite of Guava. I ate the whole thing and still couldn't decide if I liked it. . .
 

 

 This is some tall grass (like taller-than-the-ceiling-tall) that I'm going to identify someday
 

 

 Temple Mount, cool arches.
 

 

 Awesome sundial on the cool arches
 

 

 Dome of the Rock

Aaaand us in front of the Dome of the Rock
 

 

 Coin from some Disney original movie I saw ages ago. It grants this kid some wish that changes everything and then he has to spend the rest of the movie finding the coin again and wishing it all back.Can't tell you what it was called. . . just that this coin was in it!
 

 

 The road to Jericho from Jerusalem. We walked along the top of a ridge above it
since we didn't have time to go down to the bottom, though that would have been awesome :)
 

 

 A TON of cats. They're everywhere, all the time. Some look friendly and adorable,
others could probably give you a myriad of diseases just by looking at you.
Unfortunately they all have flees, and cannot be touched safely.
 

 

 The t-shirt design (in it's early stages) that may or may not used for
our Fall 2012 Jerusalem Center shirt. . .
 

 

 a beautifully 'turtled' backpack :)
 

 

And for those of you who've never heard of turtling (or burrito-ing, as my roommate called it), you simply take everything out of the backpack, turn it inside out, put everything back in, and zip it up! It's great because it's harmless (mostly), way inconvenient, and super noticeable :)
 

 

How's that for a random order of things and events! Sorry. . . and happy 100th post! 

Midterms : Almost Done

~ Highlight of the Day: getting 105% on my Palestine midterm! ~

Yep. I'm going to just revel for a little bit in getting more than 100% on something. It's not happening again, so I'm savoring the moment. . . :) I definitely put my study time in this time too. I was up until midnight doing a study group, and then got up at 5am to study some more.

And if it wasn't five minutes to twelve I'd tell you everything I now know about Islam. Unfortunately it is nearly midnight, and like the wonderful college student that I am, I'm still up. I have all day tomorrow though, so perhaps I'll get around to putting some pictures up :)

Oh yes, and I watched Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2, back to back. So cool. It makes me want to listen to Tenacious D/Jack Black's song "Wonder Boy". If you haven't heard it, you should look it up :)

Ah! I also went to Synagogue in West Jerusalem today - it was amazing! Details to come :)

A Day Of "Studying"

~ Highlight of the Day: rediscovering Super Mario World; Athletic Theme ~

 

It's been another day of fighting off sleep and balancing temperatures, and I'd love to write about everything I've been meaning to write about, but I'm working on a little under 5 hours of sleep, and that's an improvement.

 

So. . . Arabic class is great - we learned how to count to ten yesterday, and that's when I discovered that what the shopkeepers have been constantly shouting at us all is

 

" (somethingsomethingsomething) ten!"

 or

"(arabicarabicarabic) ashara!"

 

I've also been busy practicing for the informal talent show being held tomorrow :) I've been kicking myself for not bringing my ukulele, but one of the other students has been kind enough to let me use his. A friend and I have rewritten the Peanut Butter and Jelly song (NOT the weird rap one, but the one Inside Out A Capella does. . . it's cute :) to better represent life here at the Center. Perhaps I can have someone video it, but if not I will definitely post the lyrics for all of you to enjoy.

 

And with that I'm off to read until sleep proves too tempting!

David and Goliath

~ Highlight of the Day: Taking a nice cold shower and watching all that Shephela (low hills. . . pronounced shfela) dust go down the drain. . . oh wait! lies!

My Real Highlight of the Day: Receiving a awesome letter (complete with blue envelope and a beach scene on the back :) ~

 

Today we tried out slinging stones from the very wadi (stream) that David picked his five stones before slaying Goliath. I am not good at stone slinging. My excuse is that I was mostly afraid of accidentally take someone out, or be taken out (there were 40 of us swinging rocks over our heads like crazy people).

 

We also checked out Samson's (the one who liked Delilah and equine jawbones) hometown/valley.

 

Pictures to come!

Temple Mount

~ Highlight of the Last Few Days: Watching Samson and Delilah. . . the 1949 version :) ~

Ok. . . So I've been slacking on blogging . . . and homework. . . and sleep. The only things I do manage to accomplish are getting out in the city, socializing, and waking up crazy early (to work out, not to do homework. . . ).

So today we went to the Temple Mount - it was kind of a miracle that we made it there because you can only get through one gate (if you're not Muslim), and it's only open for an hour. . . I think. It's a little unclear, and you could ask five different people and get five or six different answers. But we made it in, and got to look around for about 20 minutes before having to leave. We're already planning on going back, because it's an amazing place.

We talked to some of the kids hanging out there, a group of boys and a group of girls. They spoke English well, and we got to ask each other questions, which was fun. One girl wanted to know if I had a facebook. She was pretty persistent about it, and I felt bad telling her I had one, but wasn't getting on till December. She liked my blue eyes :)

The boys were funny. . . but you have to make sure you weren't too friendly with them or they got a little too forward.

You know, technically fb is only blocked at the Jerusalem Center. . . I could get on if I was using Hebrew University internet, but I'm curious to see if I can go a whole semester without it. It's been a little difficult - I feel completely disconnected with Provo life, and I want to keep up with my fellow interns from this summer, but can't really, because they all use facebook! But I'll be strong. I can survive. :)

I've been letting you all off way too easy. I don't remember the last time I focused on plants :) There's this Bird of Paradise growing in the hallway to my room, and it's about to bloom! We bet five days four days again. . . but I'm thinking it's going to take a few more than that. Who knows though! I've never been able to watch one grow outside before.

And I've been meaning to talk about the snapdragons - they grow like weeds. . . and they're awesome :)

Side note: this song has been stuck in my head all week because we read the story for class and have been talking about it.

AND I've been singing this because a group went to the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem this morning:

 

Primary!

~ Highlight of the Day: Teaching four lovely little 7 and 8 year olds about telling the truth :) ~

 

I have been officially called as a Primary teacher! I've taught Sunbeams (4 years old, or 5? ) before, for maybe 2 or 3 weeks, but that was ages ago, so I'm a little rusty. I'm sure I'll catch on quickly though :)

 

This truly is an inspired calling. To be perfectly honest, sitting in an auditorium is synonymous with sleeping as far as I'm concerned, and when you add the whole terribly-sleep-deprived thing in there, there's just no hope for me. But there is no sleeping in primary. You just can't do it. There's so much energy and so many wiggles to go around that it would take a miracle to sleep through any of it. So there you have it - I will be mentally attending my church meetings from now on. . . even if they are on a 1st grade level :)

 

As for addressing some of the recent world news you all may have been hearing and wondering about. . . We've heard of demonstrations in the city, but we have not seen any. Yesterday we had a very lengthy discussion with our Palestine professor about it (we all had a lot of questions), and we were cautioned to stay out of the city (it being Friday and all). We went into the city today without any problems, and we aren't expecting there to be any trouble while we're on our Turkey trip. They've asked us not to bring anything Israeli with us (which is a great excuse not to read my Israel readings :), but I though that's what our plan was from the first anyway.

 

They're keeping us informed, and we're being sensible about it, so life's pretty normal.

Well, as normal as life can be when you're planning on watching the BYU vs Utah game at 5am and then flying to Turkey :)

 

I may be able to post while I'm in Turkey. It depends on if my roommates bring their computers, and if we can find internet. . . We'll just have to see!

Another Day in Jerusalem

~ Highlight of the Day: Wandering aimlessly (almost) through Jerusalem ~

 

I got a chance to get out in the city today, after too many long hours of study, and it was totally refreshing. It's funny how hiking down and up the Kidron valley, and then down and up it again can refresh you. It's hard to see the toll studying takes on your sanity until you leave the JC, so we try to go out at least every couple days.

 

Oh! I tagged along with a running group this morning. I like running on flat ground, and downhill. I really dislike running uphill. I will be acutely aware of all the stairs we have here for the next few days. . .  I'll just leave it at that :)

Rocks and Stuff

~Highlight of Yesterday:  Listening to a Bedouin woman teach us about weaving while sitting in a beautifully woven tent drinking herbal tea (which was called something fancier, but I forget) ~

 

Ok, this is going to be quick, because I've got laundry, and studying, and Seder song practice, and a million other things beside.

 

We saw a lot of rocks yesterday. We visited the ancient city of Arad down in the south (the Negev desert), and Tell Sheva (a mile from Beersheeba) in the north. I think we ended up driving through all five land regions: Costal Plains, Shephela, Hill Country, Judean Wilderness, and the Jordan River Valley. We saw the Dead Sea, and Masada (we'll go there later in the semester [so excited for that!]), and Jericho, and crazy huge date palm plantations. I've never seen so many palm trees in my life.

 

The ancient city ruins are really cool. It's hard to imagine what the city was actually like, but it's interesting to walk through it. My favorite part of the ruins we visited were the wells and cisterns. I cannot imagine digging anything deeper than a few feet or so, and that's in mild Washington weather!

 

Well, I'm back to studying for the next few days. . . We leave for Turkey on Sunday!

Knowledge. . . Good Stuff

~ Highlight of the last three days: Shawarma. Just as good as falafel. Maybe better. ~

 

I'm taking 15 credit hours this semester. I knew I would be taking 15 credit hours when I applied, was excited to see the 15 credit hours listed on my semester schedule, and couldn't wait to learn 15 credit hours worth of stuff on Israel.

 

Now I'm about 15 credit hours behind in sleep.

 

I did nothing but study for two days straight. I didn't even blog!

Yesterday I finally caved and went out to the city for a few hours. Then I came back and studied some more. I feel like I've learned a semester's worth of information in the last 3 days. And did I do well on the test in my Ancient Near Eastern class this morning?

 

I really doubt it.

 

So here's to knowing that the Southern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyrians in 586 BC, and that Herod the Great was around from 37-4 BC, and that the Bar Kochba revolt happened in 132 AD, and Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina.

 

Let the tests begin.

Field Trip!

~ Highlight of the Day: Singing reggae and bluegrass songs (about Jerusalem) at the top of my lungs on the bus ~

 

We did a lot today, and because I did a lot yesterday as well, I've still got a lot of homework. So here's the reader's digest version of today: we drove around and looked at Jerusalem from nearly every angle, and learned how to point out several other landmark buildings (such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension, the Hebrew University tower, etc.) We did a lot more. . . but I'm sunburned and looking at a full night of homework (the yucky kind too. . . reading textbooks and writing papers . . . blech. ) I wouldn't be so opposed to it if I was going on a good eight hours of sleep. At least that's what I'm telling myself :)

Oh! Yesterday I ate my first falafal! I think that's how you spell it. . . it's pita bread stuffed with everything. Pickles, french fries, cucumbers, and fried who-knows-what all topped with some sort of dressing. It's delicious.

 

Pictures!

~ Highlight of the Day: Hmm. . . don't know yet, it's still morning ~

 

I'm at the Hebrew University, and that means I have access to internet that can handle pictures! Yaaaaaaayyyyyy!

 

Greece from the plane.

 



 

Shekels

 

Pomegranet tree!

 

Jerusalem sunset

 

BYU Jerusalem Center arches. . . at least some of them.

 

Plants! I'm working on a trip to the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. . . it will happen.

 

<---- Look! Plumbago!

Austrian Hospice

 

Accross from the Austrian Hospice. . .

 

Old Jerusalem

 

 

 You see that tiny little white building, you know, the one on the hill? Yeah, that's the Jerusalem center. (Ok, it's actually the building at the top, with all the arches, if that's helpful at all)

My neighbor's pomegranet tree. . . not that I'm jealous or anything :)

 

 

(imagine this middle picture actually in the middle of the other two. . . it's supposed to be a panoramic view of Jerusalem. . .  viewed from the side of the Hebrew University that doesn't have an entrance, as we discovered after hiking down a huge hill and up another one. . . )

 

Aaaand that's about it. For now. Enjoy :)

 

The Sabbath

~ Highlight of the Day: That big glass of water I had after hiking to Gethsemane and back on a Fast Sunday. . . Saturday* ~

 

Today I:

 

 went to ward choir

 looked out at the city of Jerusalem during sacrament meeting (no big deal :)

walked to the Garden of Gethsemane

walked back from Gethsemane

survived the walk back

had the best ice cream ever

wrote 3 letters

and

played an intense game of catchphrase

 

And tomorrow I will make it to the Hebrew University and will post pictures. As long as I can convince two other people to come with me. . .

 

*We have church on Saturday here. It felt just like a Sunday except I had to keep fighting back the panic of having none of my homework done. I have an entire day tomorrow! Woohoo!

Back in the City

~ Highlight of the Day: Successfully navigating the Old City without a professor ~

 

After four hours of class this morning, an awesome lunch, and some security orientation, they set us loose on the city! It was a bit intimidating, but our group stuck to familiar streets and stayed close to each other, and didn't go too far. It was a lot of fun to just idle our way down the street, stopping here and there at the shops and asking the shop keepers about their merchandise. We didn't cover a lot of ground, but we talked to people. Every now and then a merchant would recognize us as BYU students, and they'd say "for BYU, only two shekels" or "BYU, best milkshakes here!" We're apparently known as the 'Mormon University', and in orientation they told us that if we ever need to take a taxi back to the Center we should call it that, not the BYU Jerusalem Center.

 

And I found plenty of Ouds, one of which I will definitely end up bringing home. Apparently actual instrument quality ouds are large. . . shorter than a guitar, but much deeper, so I'm not sure how I could get it back home with me. You can find small ones, but they're the Near Eastern equivalent of the $40 pink ukuleles. If I can't find anything better I might settle for that. . . I'll definitely mull over it for a few months.

 

Well, tomorrow's the Sabbath for us. It will be a bit weird having Saturdays and Sundays reversed, but I think I'm going to like it.

Day 2: The Holy City

~ Highlight of the Day: Walking through the Old City ~

It's killing me that I can't post pictures. There is so much to see, and so much to show! Today we went on a quick tour of Jerusalem. We walked up the . . . north wall I believe, and entered through Damascus gate. After that I couldn't tell you where we went - I got terribly turned around, and if I hadn't been with a group I'd have been lost for hours! We did go up to the roof of the Austrian Hospice and look out over the city at one point, and we got to briefly stick our heads into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  That was probably my favorite site. To witness the people, some of which you could tell had traveled much farther than yourself, so humbly worshiping there was simply moving.

I can already tell I'll be spending as much of my free time as possible there. I can't wait till I become familiar with the city and know my way around. . . and I did find some stringed insterments, so you know I'll be back :)

I'm also in heaven with all the different plant life here. I have a pomegranet tree right outside my room. And there are olive trees everywhere! It's interesting to see what kinds of indoor (at least what people in Utah/Washington consider 'indoor') plants the shop owners decorate their store fronts with. They're planting things like ponytail palm and Norfolk island pine. At the Austrian Hospice I saw Plumbago auriculata, which I had worked with for most of the summer up in the Estate Houses at Longwood. And of course there are just a slew of plants I've never seen before. I will probably invest in a Native Plants of Israel book . . . if I can find one.

I have my sights set on the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. It's only 17 minutes away from the Jerusalem Center, and I think if I can convince two other people to go with me, and figure out how to take a taxi, I'll be set!

Well, believe it or not I'm already swimming up to my eyeballs in homework, and it's all due tomorrow morning! So here's to blogging in English and being in Jerusalem!