Hip Happenings

Ahhhhh, so much to say...so little time. Basically the past few weeks have been a whole lotta this-study study study homework homework homework tests tests tests papers papers papers readings readings readings ahhhhhhh. I just turned in a 13 page single spaced paper and took an Old Testament, Arabic, and Field Trip Final and that feels soooo good to be over with. And now we are starting New Testament which I am really excited about. Everyone here was going psycho. I have never seen so many paranoid people obsessing over grades. It definitely has been a struggle to balance studying and going out into the city. Hopefully things will settle more next week after we take another two finals.

But some highlights as of late...

WEST JERUSALEM

Ben Yehuda street. First- note this as a typical sign in Jerusalem. Hebrew letters on top, Arabic in the middle, and English on the bottom. Ben Yehuda is the main promenade of West J.

West Jerusalem is the Jewish part of town and is like any other touristy city. I love it there. It is clean and people are kind and friendly and it's really fun to get ice cream or waffles and listen to street performers at night and wander through the various markets and shops.

Ice cream for Whitney's birthday

Jessica buying some nuts at the Suke (Market)

Mmmmmm the waffles at Babetes

EILAT

Eight hour bus ride round trip but ... Snorkeling in the Red Sea was worth it :)

MUSEUMS

Israel Museum...Had tons of cool artifacts and such. I am standing outside the room where copies of the dead sea scrolls are kept

Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum Enterance

I have always loved learning about the Holocaust and this place really summed it up for me. The whole theme of the museum was based on the individual victims and the museum's goal was to keep their personal names alive. They had a children's monument where a recorded voice read the some 1.5 million names of the Jewish children who died during the Holocaust. Inside the room were 5 candles and a couple mirrors, making it look like an eternity of lights which was to symbolize what to the Jews seemed like an eternity of children affected. What got to me most was realizing how recent the Holocaust was. When I learned about it in history classes in grade school it always seemed like an ancient event but it wasn't...and what also hits me hardest is that it's not over- mini holocausts are still happening today. There is still unrest and genocides going on but we just don't usually hear much about them until after the fact (Darfur for example).

THE DOME OF THE ROCK

We can't go inside (only Muslims are allowed inside the Dome) but were able to walk around the mount. This is the site of the first temple (Solomon's temple) and the supposed Mt. Moriah (where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac). I liked walking around it and this lady accidentally popped into my picture- a typically dressed Muslim woman of Jerusalem. The grounds are a lot bigger and spacious than I had expected. We can see the gold dome pretty much everywhere we go in Jerusalem but I didn't realize how large the area around it was. I wish we could go there during holidays like Ramadan, where hundreds of Muslims congregate and celebrate.

HEZEKIAH'S TUNNEL

Built by Hezekiah in preparation for the Assyrian attack of Jerusalem a little before 700 BCE. He had it constructed as a means of transporting water from East Jerusalem to West Jerusalem for the growing numbers of residents in West. It was cool- it took us about 45 minutes to walk through, pitch dark without our headlights and super narrow.

ELAH

Site of David and Goliath's battle. You can't really tell from the picture but I am David and swinging a rock in a sling at Goliath

SHEPHELA FIELD TRIP

(Shephela means, "low land")

Tombs (of no one super significant, just tombs)

Bell Caves near Tel Maresha (National Park)

The acoustics in here were great- we sang some hymns and it was really happy

Ahhhh, so much more to say but my comp has 30 seconds until the batteries die. All is well!

22 you are so good to me...

...loving the love notes on my door

eating dins on my birthday with sister killian. she is my favorite person here because she is wise and giggles and sings with me and can whistle

led to surprise dance party by ferras, security guard who calls me, "big foot."

my roomies jessica and jenna who threw the party

lindsey lang- v.i.p.

annnnd, to top it all off katie backus and whitney leblanc made me this video and showed it for everyone to see in the auditorium. katie is the one who says i am like cauliflower and whitney is the one at the beginning who says i am more than just a big girl.

thank you thank you!!! and thanks for the emails and the camera mom and dad and the packages from wendy and cat tag and crew!!!

Egypt

Egypt is straight up crazy. That really is the only word I can use to describe it. The people, the history, the tombs and mummies, the pyramids, the animals, the driving, the markets ... crazy. But so great.

We spent half our time Cairo and the other in Luxor. We had a Muslim tour guide for a week who we called "Brother Toot." He named our group "Tut," after King Tutankhamen but his thick Egyptian accent made it sound like he was saying, "Toot" every time he called for us to meet back at the bus after wandering around a certain site or whatnot. Call me immature but whenever he squealed, "Toot! Hurry up you lazy toots," I couldn't help but giggle like a little schoolgirl. Honestly he was one of my favorite parts of the trip. He was hilarious, knew the sites so well, and even stood up for us when a security guard tried canceling a minor dance party we started in front of the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut. (pict below is us prepping to get our groove on)

But perhaps what influenced me most after interacting with him was getting one step closer to understanding not just the Arab culture and Islamic religion but other peoples as well. The more you learn about one kin the better you can understand another. Hearing him explain his specific ways of worship really impressed me. I am so intrigued as I learn about different faiths how similar we all are. Such minute differences in religion yet so much tension from one neighborhood to the next. And it is as simple as that. For the most part, East Jerusalem = Muslim Palestinian Arabs. West Jerusalem = Jewish Israelis. And somewhere in the middle are Christians and the "Mormon University." There have only been a couple of riots since I have been here- nothing worrisome but noteworthy nonetheless. I am so grateful for the security at the Center. I honestly have never felt so safe in my life because they take such good care of us here.

But anyway, Eleven Egypt Essentials...

1. The Great Giza Pyramids. 'Nough said.

2. Frolicking in Sand Dunes near Kibbutz Keturah. A kibbutz is a Jewish community where they basically live a modern version of the law of consecration. Again- crazy! We had a devotional/testimony meeting where, not gonna lie, I kinda felt like I was at girls camp but I actually really enjoyed it. Before coming to Jerusalem Didi wrote me a letter and in it explained how, "Revelation comes freely in Jerusalem" and I experienced such personal revelation come to me as I found a barren spot away from the group and had time to just be under the stars amidst the dust and warm breeze. It is moments like this, where I am at peace with nature that I feel my Savior the most. These subtle confirmations reassure me that my decision to have used the Mike Weiler tuition scholarship toward Outdoor Recreation was right for me. Thank you Dad!

3. Hiking Mount Sinai at 3 am. Again, thank you to Papa Wein for introducing me at a young age to value a good hike. Watching the sun rise over the completely deserted cliffs and valleys was humbling to say the least.

4. Transportation. We bussed, cameled, overnight trained, falukahed, motor boated, taxied, airplained, walked, and carriaged. Drivers pay no attention to lanes in the road. Everyone criss- crosses in all directions across the road. Crazy!

5. The Muhammad Ali Mosque and, as I mentioned earlier, hearing Brother Toot expound upon the five pillars of Islam in his life.

6. Karnak Temple. I felt like Luigi put-puttin' around on a motor car chasing Mario through all the crevices of rock and columns and ramps and obliques and arches. It was like a human maze with no beginning or end. Loved it.

7. Waking up to dozens of hot air balloons floating over the Nile. Yep, riding naked in one of these is still on the list.

8. Hieroglyphs everywhere. It's funny how exciting finding a few insignificant scratches in southern Utah left from seemingly influential ancestors is...and then entering the Valley of the Kings where beautifully painted figures and symbols fill entire mountain sides.

9. Just wanted to throw this one in there. I got tired of taking and posing for pictures in front of the same things every five seconds. Eventually we resorted to snapping random shots with Asian tourists unbeknown to them.

10. Market shopping slash walking anywhere in the city. The men on the Egyptian streets loooooove American women and their money…way more than the merchants in Israel. I seriously felt like I was a famous actress promenading down the red carpet because I couldn’t walk two feet without someone jumping in my way saying, “No hassle, beautiful woman, crazy eyes! Ahhh, come, come, no charge for looking! How many cattle for you? Be my habibe? (Arabic for "my love") Ooooh, Shakira!” I was genuinely exhausted after refusing hundreds of sellers through the cramped, hookah infested corridors of the Luxor bazaar. Trust me, this vid is worth watching. This sketch carriage driver was in love with Katie and even gave her a smooch on the cheek while she just happened to be video recording.

11. Mummies of the great Kings at the Egyptian Museum. We weren't allowed to bring cameras in the museum so alas I have no visuals but I'll try to paint you a picture. Think shrunken, raisiny, charcoaled fragile toothpick thin bones for the body and muddy brown stained teeth with distorted facial features topped with Raggedy Ann hair.

Crazy!