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!