Thanksgiving

I began thanksgiving in a sobering way. We visited Yad Vashem, the holocaust museum, here in Israel. It gives you a lot to think about and a lot to be grateful for. Then I spent the afternoon doing a little homework and napping. I missed the usual Briggs basketball fest. My committee was in charge of the Thanksgiving program after the meal so I spent the last hours before the feast working on that. Surprisingly things went well, better than I could have planned and they last longer than I ever expected.
We had our feast at 6:15 and it was great. The turkey was good, they had American gravy. The stuffing was homemade and delicious, the mashed potatoes well at least we had them right. The desserts were presented in such an artistic way, it was so cool. I just tried a little of them all. they were a little more out there type things, not your traditional pie and ice cream. It was delicious all the way around.
Our program was so fun. We started off with a Jeopardy game that everyone got really into. Then there was a turkey noise making game. It was my favorite. I could not believe how into the guys were. Then we had the teachers do it. It was fun to see them all embarrassed and much more reserve then the students. We did a thankful game where there was little papers people had written what they were thankful for. One by one we took out what we could live without until you have one paper left. We decided we couldn't live without laughter. Then Craig finished it off by singing a song about gratitude. It was a pleasant evening.
Sadly it didn't last. We had to take care of business afterwards with a Galilee orientation and then homework for our classes the next day.
I will be in Galilee starting Sunday for like 9 days so if you don't hear from me, that is why. It should be great. It is hard core New Testament all the way. We have two two hour classes each day with field trips in between. It should be a unique opportunity to get to study the New Testament in the Galilee. Things are great and I am loving life.

Walking where Christ Walked

Today I walked where Jesus walked and it was AWESOME! We first went to the Kotel Tunnel which runs under/along the western wall. It was cool because we learned about the building of the walls, how to recognize the original walls, and the destruction of the temple and the wall. They do have many original stones and a cool fact, each is slightly smaller than the one above so it slowly gets skinnier. It was a freezing cold morning because the wind was blowing and it was sprinkling off and on all morning. I didn't pack very many warm clothes either. We also went to the Temple Mount Excavations- the Ophel Archaeological Garden and that was so cool. They dug down to Christ's time. We explored the west wall and the south wall which is actually where the entrance was during Christ's time. I am standing on the original rock ground at the exit of the temple mount during Christ's time. This is where he spat in the ground to make clay and placed it on the blind man's eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Salom (which I have been to) and he would be healed. Crazy cool isn't it? I love being here and not only learning about Christ but getting glimpses into his life. The grounds here were so peaceful and I absolutely loved it.

After our Herodian Field Trip we had a free day and it was incredible. We went meandering through the Old City. I did a ton of shopping but my high light was buying a sweatshirt which I so desperately need. I am super excited to wear all of my sweaters and coats when I get home. Don't worry, it is not nearly that cold here but it will be in Idaho and I am excited for it. So I played in the Old City all day and had a blast. We went up to the top of the tower in the Lutheran Church and it gave an awesome view of the city. I can actually identify buildings now. It was a fun 170 steps up one continuous spiral limestone staircase. We like to call those unintentional workouts and I love them. Plus you didn't get all sweaty because it is cold outside. :)

After we did our shopping, we pulled out a guide book and would randomly flip to a page to find something to see and we kept picking by chance sights we have already seen. It surprised us at how many places we have actually seen. It was a stupendous day!!!!

Floating Fun!!!

We went on our Herodian Essene FT and it was way cool. First we stopped at Masada which was a Jewish community built at the top of a mountain. It is about a two hour hike up the mountain but thanks to modern technology, we rode a tram up :). The Zealots lived there and were the last hold out when the Roman's invaded Jerusalem. It was a large city and it has a sad story. The people were extremists and rather than become slaves to the Romans, they killed off the entire community.

We also went to Qumran where the dead sea scrolls were found. There wasn't really much to see but it is cool to say I've been there. We also went to Ein Gedi nature reserve which was really cool. In both the nature reserve and Qumran, it was the area that David fled and hid in the caves to escape Saul. Ein Gedi was a fun hike with cool waterfalls.

My favorite stop of the day was the Dead Sea. All the rocks along the shore have salt crystals all over because the water is composed of 30% salt. It was awesome to climb in and when you lift up your feet, you don't have to tread water. You just float. You can't actually put your feet down either, they just pop up. The salinity caused my leg to sting the whole time but it was an awesome experience anyways. So I floated around the sea and it was incredible. I love our field trips and all the things I get to see and do.

Arabic Fun

We finished our arabic final a week ago but our teacher Ayman was kind enough to invite us over to his house. He invited both classes (40 people). It was so fun because he lives in Southwest Jerusalem which is traditionally the Israeli side of town but I guess there is a Palestinian settlement there. I never quite know what is going on over here. His house was like somewhat an apartment style, like most houses are here but once inside it was a real house. I didn't realize how much I missed a home. His wife is an excelent decorator so it has a real modern feel, something like Becky Philips style of modern but it was yellows so it felt warm and homely. His wife must have been slaving away all day because she fixed an incredible meal for us to eat. Don't forget there are forty of us. They had a salad that was essentially like the spinach, cranberries, nuts, and poppy seed dressing but instead of cranberries they used palmagranite seeds. It was so good and it felt so American. We also had grape leaves with rice inside, a very mediterranean type food. It was so nice to get away from the center too. We have two finals in the next two days so we had been studying literally all day.

I really enjoyed getting to meet and talk with Ayman's kids. They are really tall for their age, made me think of my own family, and very athletic. His daughter plays soccer, she is thirteen and she went to canada this summer to play. His twin boys are eleven. One plays baseball and the other plays basketball. He went to Vermont for a camp this summer. It was so neat to spend some time in a Palestinian's home and to hear a little more about their normal life. In the home they only speak Arabic. When they watch TV it is usually in Hebrew. The children speak Hebrew so well, they don't even have an accent. They will speak Hebrew in the home if someone has an Israeli guest over. They get a private teacher for English. It is such a different life. I don't remember what the name of the settlement is but it is very close to Bethlehem. I was so grateful for the night out and for such a hospitable teacher. It is amazing what I have been able to experience here.

Early Christmas Celebration

We traveled to Bethlehem today and my poor seat buddy could tell you about all of the twists, turns, stops, and goes. We actually went to Ein Karem first. This is where Elizabeth, Zachariah, and John the Baptist lived. It was such a peaceful place especially compared to the busy city of Jerusalem. We went to a couple of churches but the spirit was just really strong in the whole area.
It was a sharp transition when we crossed the separation wall between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. On the West Bank side there was graffiti completely covering the walls and it was really good in the respect that it looked like are but it was very graphic and it said very harsh things. It is just an interesting situation because on the Israeli side of the wall they have a huge poster that says "Peace be unto you." It was really sad to see how rough Bethlehem was. The kids were all over in the streets trying to sell you gum for a shekel. Just anything to get any money. The kids were also much more violent. In general in the Middle East they have been more violent but in Bethlehem it was worse. It just had a sad feeling there and you could tell the people lived a harsh life.
I was really glad to end the day by going out to a shepherds field. It gets dark here really early, like 4:30 PM and so we hiked out there and it was pitch black. It felt like it was 10PM and it wasn't even 5 yet. We ate sack lunches while sitting on the rocky hill. It was how I had pictured the geography of Jerusalem. We then read about Christ's birth and did a Christmas type program. The spirit was so so strong as I my thoughts were drawn to the Savior. It was great because now when I think of Bethlehem, I will remember what it looked like a couple of hill tops away, seeing the lights glowing across the hill. I feel so blessed to understand the plan of salvation and to know that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God and he really came down here to the earth because he loved each and everyone of us. He lived a rough life, things weren't easy for him, and yet he grew up and learned grace by grace. He is my example and he taught us the true gospel. He suffered for my sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and then was crucified at Golgotha to make it possible for me to repent, to try harder, and to improve and be a better person. I know if I rely on Christ and his atonement that he will make up the difference for me at judgement day and I will be able to live with my Father in Heaven again. How comforting this knowledge is for me. It helps me with my daily living and has given me a purpose in life. Life is just amazing!

Garden Tomb

I went to the Garden Tomb today. It is in the middle of East Jerusalem but it is a very peaceful place. It is the supposed place where Christ was crucified and where his tomb is. I really liked it because a Christian group has planted all sorts of trees and flowers around. It is very pretty and you can even hear the birds there. I loved having time just to sit and read the scriptures it was great. The rocks behind are Golgotha. You can somewhat see the skull in the rock if you look at the two holes as the eyes.

Temple Mount!!!

We were finally able to make in onto the temple mount today. This is a difficult task because no one knows what time of day it will be open as it changes daily and it is only open for an hour. They guards don't even know what time it will be open the day of. It was so cool. It is a very peaceful place. We saw the Al Asqa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It is really cool because the outside is covered in bright tiles. The Arabic writing on it looks like art more than words. It was really cool and I am so glad we made it on there. It was my number one thing to do while in Jerusalem on my free time. Hopefully if things work out, we will be able to have a tour inside the buildings also as a school. Keep your fingers crossed.

We took our Old Testament final today. It is crazy to think OT is over. I am extremely excited for New Testament. We have to do so much reading each night because we have such a short time period to get through it all. Overall things are great and I am loving it. I had a chicken salad for dinner two nights in a row and I am loving it.

JORDAN

I've been in Jordan for the last four days and it was incredible. Luckily the border crossing went well both times. Sadly I didn't get a Jordanian stamp either :( but life goes on right. It was really cool. One of our first stops was at Mt. Nebo. This is where Moses had the opportunity to look out over the promised land even though he knew he would never be allowed to enter it. It was an amazing view and it was cool because you could see the Jordan (Me on Mt. Nebo) River and the Dead Sea as seen in the picture to the right.

Our first night we stayed in Petra and we went exploring for ice cream. (climbing up by the We happened to run into the teachers and followed them because they had Monastery) been there before and they love ice cream more than I do. We found the ice cream shop but it had closed at 7 PM. We didn't give up and we went into a fancy hotel restaurant. They had ice cream there and it was like $4 for a scoop. We debated and then Carlee spoke up saying she would treat the birthday boy to ice cream. Of course a number of us jumped on that one too. So we stayed and it was great. We had fun chatting and sitting in a nice hotel. We decided that we would just have to make it the best ice cream ever. It did turn out to be really really good. The great thing about field trips is that I tend to get lots of sleep because so many (Me in Petra) things close down early.

This trip was really neat because it was a very spiritual growing time for me. The sights weren't exceptionally spiritual by any means but the Lord blessed me to have many spiritual experience. I have to attribute many to the fact that I love to serve (Me, Carlee, and Kerri and I feel the spirit so much more when I am focused on others. Carlee playing by the caves) and Sarah both happened to get really sick on this trip so I spent a lot of my time, thoughts, and prayers focused on them. It was incredible.

My favorite stop was Petra. We hiked down the canyon and it was a lot like hiking in Southern Utah. We saw the treasury from the Indiana Jones movie. It was really cool. One of the goddesses carved on the temple is Nike. We had tons of fun taking pictures and goofying around with pictures, hats, and whips. Then I hiked up to the monastery, part of the class took donkeys (caves in Petra) up. It was really cool once up there because it was about a 6-7 foot climb. The boys would each grab a hand and they would pull you up and it felt like you were flying. It was so much fun. Then we sang songs in a large cave like room. It was way cool.

When ever we are on a field trip we always eat the same thing. Plain pasta, a potato dish (usually a little weird), rice (plain), beef or funny colored chicken (bright yellow or purple), pitas, and hummus. In Petra it was fun because they had falafel. We ate faster than they had predicted so we had an extra hour to hike out of (Kerri and I in canyon) of the canyon. It was my favorite part because we went and climbed around in the caves and holes in the rocks. The rock there has incredible colors. Their are caves everywhere because the Bedouins used to live there until recently when Petra was named one of the modern 7 wonders of the world. Then they kicked the Bedouins out. We just goofed around and I loved it.

The bathroom there was definitely built in a Bedouin cave. It was pretty sweet. On the last part of the way out from Petra we rode horses. It was so fun. I want to go real horse back riding some time because I never had. This was my first time I can remember when I was on a horse by myself. It was so fun because I honestly laughed the entire time. We trotted and the little Bedouin man ran (I got shot in front of the temple treasury) the whole time to try and keep up. My horse was white with long and curly hair. Her name was Suzanna. It was so fun though.

For the first two days of the field trip I wasn't able to sit with my seat buddy, Carlee, because she gets really car sick and the tourist (Brother and Sister Draper) police took my seat one day and Bro. Huntington took it the next day. I was really excited when finally on the third day I could sit with her. It was such a blessing though. We had a long drive to Amman after Petra. I was selected as the designated note taker for anyone who was sick or gets car sick. Bro. Draper gave like an hour and half lecture and almost all of the bus fell asleep. It was really funny. I was definitely awake and had dreams about not taking good enough notes the night after. It was pretty funny. The first night in the hotel in Amman, I had fun just hanging out and talking with some friends. I was able to get to bed early and that is always nice.

The spiritual experiences came full (Me on my horse Susannah)force in Amman. Carlee got really sick and I was able to sit by her. I have always had friends with health problems since middle school and I feel like it is something the Lord has blessed me with, that is to be able to recognize it and I try to help and comfort them. We went to Jerash and Carlee (Trevor the Hercules) was miserable. I took pictures for her because she is really into photography but couldn't hold her camera steady. Toward the end of the tour after we had seen plenty I got permission for us to head back. It was fun to be there to help her and the Lord blessed me with some unique insights.

I also had my first bargaining (Trev man and I in Jerash) experience. Luckily it was a soft merchant. I finally found a bag I like. I was able to get it for $8 which is the cheapest anyone has purchased a bag for yet. It was fun though. I just find it incredible how powerful it can be when all of your prayers and thoughts are focused on turning to the Lord for one person. Poor Carlee was sick for the rest of the trip though. We had fun doing things together though, and we still saw all of the sights. It was amazing to see how happy she was once we made it back to the JC.

I felt like Jordan was the perfect length for a field trip. Egypt was a little long. Jordan was really nice because it is very modern and clean still. We still couldn't drink the water and had to be careful about what we ate but the environment was clean. Oh yeah, in Amman on Halloween we went with (Me against a pillar at the professors and got ice cream from Hercules temple) Mc Donald's. It was amazing because it tasted like real ice cream and I had two cones for less than a dollar (they were small cones). Then we went to the super market and I had so much fun just walking around because it was set up like a normal store. It was so comforting and they had more American foods. Overall it was a

(Carlee and I at the Jabbok River) trip and I loved it.

Recovery Day

The professors were so nice when they planned the schedule because they gave us a free day the day after we got back from Jordan. I slept in and stayed in my PJ's all day. I did homework and pictures in the morning. Then we had a group (30 people) who took a taxi to west Jerusalem to play ultimate frisbee. It was so much fun to be outside, running around, and to be in shorts. We had to hurry back afterwards because I was going with a group to a Jewish synagauge for shabbat worship. The shabbat starts for them on friday night when the sun goes down. It was so cool because our Judiasm professor met us there, explained a little about what would happen and answered questions afterwards. It was a small group and Jewish synagaoges aren't things you could identify when driving down the street. It was cool because the spirit was there and almost the entire service was singing (it was all in Hebrew of course). Luckily we sat next to a friendly girl from the Hebrew U and so she would help us to know where we were as they went through the prayer book. It was neat to see how much truth they had and also to realize that they worship Jehovah. Their religion is essentially still stuck in Old Testament times and they worship the Old Testament God. It was a cool realization for me.

That night we had the Shalom Shack Spook Festival, or in other words our halloween party. Everyone was so creative with their costumes. There were 5 virgins, 4 egyptian costumes, and a lot of people that dressed like other people at the center. It was really fun. Carlee and I were gangsters and we wore big sweatshirts, pants, shoes, she wore a bandana, and I wore a hat. It was really fun. We danced to fast songs and played card games. It was such a good break to have before we jump back into school with a final every week for the next three weeks. Things are great here and I feel so blessed to be having the many expereiences I have had.