Who needs a boyfriend when you have the cutest Palestinian children to place flowers in your hair?

MY WEEK IN PHOTOS:

{Note: If you click on photos they will enlarge}

Rampart's Walk

 Last Sunday (Reminder: Sundays are actually like our Saturdays because we worship on Saturday) a group of us went on "Rampart's Walk" which is a walk on top of the walls surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem. It was so fun! It was such a different view of the city and I loved it.

 A group of us on the wall overlooking the Old City.

 Some friends of mine on the walk - it was so cool. Afterwards we broke into smaller groups and me, Jane, Susanna, and Mikkel decided to explore the Old City. We actually ended up shopping and I bought a blue BYUJ shirt & a super cute teal ring. At first the man trying to sell it to me wanted 70 shekels. I gave him a look. He then said 60. I said "No, sorry. I can't" "What's your price range?" "20" "Then 20 it is" ...and that Ladies and Gents is how you haggle your way down in the Holy Land! (Fyi: 20 shekels is $5) I wish I was better at describing how COOL the Old City is. But I will make a video soon and you'll see. It's amazing.

Field Trip to Beersheva & Arad

 Monday was field trip day - yet again. Usually when we go somewhere as a group I get up, get ready, go and have fun. But for some reason I was SOOO excited for this field trip!!! I felt like a kid back in elementary school again! I think it was the fact that we were going to the desert and it would be 80 degrees and it would feel like being home in Arizona. So naturally the night before I put on some music, danced my away around my room as I packed up for a day in the Negev desert! This photo is of me & Tess wearing our awesome hard hats at site Beersheva (Notice the Mesquite trees in the background just like in the 480!).

 Beersheva was awesome. It was the home of Abraham for awhile. However, they were always moving around so it was one of the many. We learned a lot about the things that happened there on site. The Bible has never been so exciting to read. I can't believe I've only been here three weeks. I've learned so much.

 Beautiful Beersheva and a crooked hard hat.

We also went to Arad. I don't have any really cute pictures from that site though. It was a long field trip but it was so fun to be out in the desert for a day. Our bus for the day was called "No Name" and then on our bus ride we listened to "Riding through the desert on a horse with no name". Clever huh? Can I just say I've never felt more like being in a movie than I did then? Remember the scene in Holes when Stanley is on the bus heading to camp and the desert is rolling past him? Yeah - that was me. Straight up.

Jericho

 Normally field trip days are Monday but this Thursday instead of having morning class we headed up to Jericho for a half day field trip! Lovin' it. Naturally the night before me and my roommate, Linds, sang Hilary Duff's song Jericho... "The wall will crumble, the walls will CRUMBLE!!! But I'm not gonna cry!" Classsssic.

 Me and Lindsey, my adorable roomie, overlooking the excavations at Jericho.

 We love Jericho.

 Awkwardfamilyphotos.com? OR Adorabletreephotosinjericho.com - YES

On the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.

This is where the story of the Good Samaritan took place.

 This is a monastery built in the side of a mountain. SO AMAZING. This trail from Jericho to Jerusalem was so beautiful. Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule so it was more of a fast walk/slight jog down the trail but it was sooo cool. If you saw my last blog post (the photo and quote) that was also a photo from the trail.

Random Adventures

 

Sometimes we don't have time to walk all the way into the city (about a 20 minute walk) so instead we walk down the street and buy chocolate at our favorite convenience store for a shekel (like a quarter) or to the store that sells in bulk that we call Costco. This is outside Costco.

 This week we also had a tour under the center. Yet another opportunity to wear cool hard hats!

I left my mark!!! Naturally the song "Tattoos on this Town" by Jason Aldean came to mind..."It sure left its mark on us, we sure left our mark on it.." I'm already missing Jerusalem and I still have 3 months left. Awkward.

 Me and Jenessa with the hundreds of other BYU student's signatures.

 Me and Tori reppin' our Arab gear out in the Old City shops. Note: I look pregnant because I'm wearing my super stylish fanny pack under my dress, not because I've eaten too many chocolate pitas (although that too is true).

Lastly, as mentioned in my last blog post my iron levels are too low and as a result my mission papers can't be processed. So I've been taking iron supplement pills for the last week or so. I finished my first sheet out of 3 just the other day!!!! Naturally I was so excited I took a picture. I CAN'T WAIT TO SERVE A MISSION. My heart just longs to leave and preach the gospel!

What a good week.

“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

-Ronald Dahl

Marhaba!!! Which means "hello" in Arabic! What a week!!! Since I've last blogged we've been on one field trip, one class trip to the Western Wall and have spent plenty of afternoons exploring the Old City. Let me tell you about it all!

First, last Monday we had our first official field trip!! The trip was called the "Jerusalem Overlook" tour. We stopped at different points to look at the city from all different angles. It was a long day, but filled with learning new things. It definitely helped me orientate myself.

Tess & me at our first spot overlooking the city from the SE corner.

 Overlooking Bethlehem, where Christ was born.

 The view from the top of the Augusta Victoria Church, located on the Mt. of Olives.

 The look out point from Nadi Samwil, overlooking the Benjamin Plateau, north of the city.

 The class at Hebrew University.

 Near Bethlehem.

 Brother Jackson teaching us about some ancient tombs located at Hebrew U on the Mount of Olives.

As you can see, I had a pretty eventful day. Then during the week I started the rest of my classes. I'm now fully immersed in all five of my classes (Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Palestine/Islam, Israel/Judaism, Arabic, and Old Testament). They are all fascinating, but fully time consuming. Each day I get up, go to class, study some, go out into the city for an hour or two, then come back to study more and go to any evening classes I have. Although busy, I am having a great time. I haven't uploaded my other camera so I don't have photos of my adventures out in the city quite yet, but don't worry. They'll come.

The strangest thing about being here is being with the same people ALL of the time. I think I mentioned this in my last post, but really - it's weird. I am so used to having different personas for all different areas of life (roommates, work, class, home) but here I don't really have that luxury. But it is fun to feel like I have 80 friends around me all of the time.

Last night we took a trip to the Western Wall right at sun down. This was by far my favorite experience I've had in Jerusalem thus far. Here is Jerusalem Saturday is the Sabbath. On Friday night hundreds of Jews gather at the Western Wall to bring in the Sabbath. We couldn't bring our cameras, but I wish I could show you all what it was like. There were people worshiping in all different ways and styles. There were groups of men singing and dancing. Some women were singing quietly, some were crying, some repeating prayers. I watched as groups of people approached the wall to place their written down prayer in the cracks. It is such a neat experience. I can't even describe it. It was something I'll never forget.

Mission update: Earlier this week my dad sent me an email. My papers had finally made it to SLC!!! Then a few days later I received an email from the MTC telling me I didn't have enough iron in my blood. So after talking to our doctor here at the center, the awesome Brother Bench, I created a plan. I bought some iron supplement pills which I'm now taking every day. Then after we get back from Jordan in a few weeks I'll get retested here in Israel and if my iron level is high enough (hopefully!) then my papers can continue to go through and I will then be assigned my call!!! So we're looking at 2 or 3 weeks until I'm assigned...then it has to be shipped here...sooo pretty much it is looking forever away until I get to know where and when I'm leaving. Oh well. Everything happens for a reason!

All in all, it was a great week. Today is my cute roommate, Lindsey's birthday. Yay! Jacque, our other roommate, emailed her missionary and had him write her a surprise letter which we had her open this morning. She started tearing up, so sweet! I have the cutest roommates in the world. I will post a picture next blog post of us four. I feel so blessed to be here at this time and with these people!

Next week look forward to photos from our field trip to the Negev, as well as lots of photos of adventures in the Old City. We leave for Jordan in a week and a half, yeeeeahhh! Life is good and it's just getting better :)

I AM IN JERUSALEM!!! Holllllla. And it is about time I blog about it.


So. Where to even begin?!?!

Welp, I hopped off the plane in LAX with a dream and a cardigan. Welcome to the land of fame, excess, whoa! Am I gonna fit in?! Okay no. That was a little Miley Cyrus to build the suspension. This is the real story.

Tuesday morning I woke up way too early after a way too fun night with Jason, Krysten, Brighton, Matt and some other Provo friends in celebration of Matt turning 22 (yes, we did blast Taylor Swift). I got all ready for the day while running around trying to finish last minute packing and snacking on left over Cafe Rio for breakfast. Eventually I was all ready to go, so off me and my mom went to the airport! We arrived right on time. I got my boarding pass, checked my luggage, met new friends, and eventually said goodbye to my sweet mom.

The rest of the day was a big blur. 2 hours of waiting, 4 hour flight, 3 hour layover in the big apple (Do you know how frustrating it is to be in the east coast for the very first time and not be able to see or explore any of it?!), after an ELEVEN hour flight we finally landed in Tel Aviv, Israel. THEN, we had a 1 hour bus ride. It was a TWENTY ONE hour day. Technically, it was two days but they blurred together as one with the time change. When we finally got the center we all looked tired and completely destroyed but we were smiling and laughing and practically shouting for joy! It felt so UNREAL and so exciting. It was all crazy and after many meetings that night they finally sent us to bed. Since the trip my sleeping still hasn't been completely normal, but I'm getting there.

Here is the thing. It does not snow in Jerusalem. BUT the snow decided to follow us Utah students and Jerusalem had the first snow storm for several years. It was beautiful. Cold? Yes. But beautiful none the less. As a result of the weather we were trapped inside the center for the past few days. What do 80 students do when stuck inside for 2 days? Go to meetings, go to class, eat lots of middle eastern food, drink plenty of hot chocolate in this freezing building, play Rummikub, take photos in the snow, have study groups, and just wish we could explore the city. WELL today we finally got out!!!! We were all super psyched. Until we left it didn't even feel like we were any place different than Utah. Some girl said we could have been Truman from the Truman Show with our view of the city being the backdrop of the world. Another girl said it was like the MTC, or better yet, a mental hospital. But it doesn't matter now because like I said TODAY WE LEFT!!! After a beautiful church meeting (we worship on Saturday here) we swapped our cute flats for high socks and Nikes with our long skirts (classy) and headed for the Garden Tomb.

This is what I just wrote to my mom about my experience there: "Today we went to the garden tomb. It was really neat, but really cold outside. If I learned anything I learned that being where Christ has been is neat, but honestly it doesn't matter. We can be close to Christ wherever we are. Regardless, it was cool to see the location where he could have risen. We sang hymns afterwards and some people started to ask questions about the church we belonged to. It was sad because we couldn't answer any of them but our teachers told us how we can bare great testimony just by the way we sing."

About the city I wrote: "The city was surprisingly really dirty. For a first world country I was shocked. Granted we were probably in a more run down part of the country. It made me start to really appreciate the United States, although when we are back in the center it feels like we are right back in Provo. I feel super safe here. Even when walking around the city there were secret security guards along the whole way we walked and I didn't even notice them until someone pointed them out. I really feel loved by so many people as a student here. I am one of the luckiest 80 people in the world."

About life in the center: "I like being around the same group of people. The 80 of us live together, eat together, study together, travel together, hang out together, work out together. We do EVERYTHING together, but it's fun."

Life here really is a party. Tomorrow we have a tour of the city then for the first time we are allowed to go out in small groups. Can't wait. Then Monday is a field trip. Class work is gonna be insane this week. We start 3 new classes (Israel/Palestine/Arabic) on top of Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies. We have lots of homework and an insane orientation exam. Gettttatmee. Managing time well will for sure be the hardest thing while I'm here just because there is SO MUCH to see and do, but then I remember I am enrolled in 15 credit hours of class....awkward.

ANYWAY, it has been such an eventful week, and it hasn't even been a full week yet! I have 14 more to go! Look forward to plenty of stories and photos about adventures in the coming weeks. Can't wait!