FREE DAY Excitement

Today was an amazing and incredible day. After class was finally over (the end of our last mid-term), the JC felt like it took a breath of fresh air. Lunch was the celebration. I ate 2.5 bananas and that never happens but I love bananas so so much. Then after lunch we went to the Rockafellor Museum, ate ice cream, got James a falafel (a pita, with fried chick peas, pickels, cucumbers, sometimes lettuce, hummus or another dressing, and french fries ontop. It is great and delicious. Then we went shopping in the old city. I purchased a couple of shirts so I don't have to wear an EFY shirt every other day. I have decided I am sick of them. :) I found Harry Potter in Arabic!!!Pretty much everyone went out into the city. It was great because we weren’t in a hurry and we didn’t have anything to stress about. it was really fun because we didn't have to hurry back to the center and we didn't have to worry about studying. We had tons of fun walking home because we played football/catch with a tied bags with our shirts inside. I was the photographer for the day because Carlee didn't bring her camera. It was a new and fun experience. I didn't get any great shots but I had fun trying. It was amazing. On the way back to the center we stopped at a couple of stores. I had the find of the century. I bought a box of honey nut cheerios for 10 shekles or $2.50. I needed and loved this break and Jordan will be such a great get away from school.

Sedar Meal

We had a Sedar Meal and it was incredible. It started at 5:30 Pm and didn’t finish until 9:30. It didn’t seem like it took forever though. It was cool because Ophir, our Jewish professor, led the sedar. We each had a sedar book to follow along with. It definitely opened on the opposite side of books in America. We sang the table of contents through before we did each step of the sedar meal. There were a number of people that sang or read certain portions of the presentation. The funniest was when Sam and Archi made a rap about the questions and answers with numbers.
I sat with Trevor and Christiane and enjoyed getting to know them. Trevor is actually looking into optometry. Christianne is still trying to decide what to study. Right now she is an exercise science, Health and wellness, major. Trevor is a biology major so we talked alot about the different classes and professors to take. My highlight of the night was Trevor teaching me how to pray in Spanish. It has been so fun to practice that. I definitely need to learn more nouns though so I can pray for more things.
The meal was huge and I was stuffed by the end of the night. We had fish for appetizer. Trevor was nice and ate mine. Then we had a really hot soup. It was actually some really good broth with a little bit of carrots and celery. It would have been amazing if it had chicken, noodles, and crackers. Then we had a salad. Then it was the main course with chicken, a little cheesy broccoli, carrots, and fried mashed potatoes. I’m sure they weren’t very good for me, but I did enjoy them. We had a fruit cup and various chocolates for desert. Oh yeah and you can’t forget the four glasses of grape juice you drink through out the night. It was a really neat experience.
It did make studying extend to really late. But it was a great break. We were all dressed up in church clothes so you didn't actually feel like you were in the JC. It was so nice.

Bananas

I ate a banana for the first time since I left the states and it was heavenly. I freaked out at lunch when I saw them and I couldn't stop smiling for the entire hour. I went and found a fruit stand that afternoon and purchase five more. I love bananas and miss them so much. I wonder if they have bananas in Spain?

Hezekiah's Tunnel

We went on a field trip to David's city. It was the first city in the Jerusalem area. Everything else has expanded off of the city of David. We hiked through Hezekiah's tunnel. It was built by the people to connect the Gihon spring to flow into the city, under the wall to the pool of Silaom. It was fun because we were climbing through this small tunnel, I spent most of the time bent half way over with water at some points up to my thighs. Hense our lines in the picture. It was so fun. After you get through the tunnel it comes out at the pool. The Byzantine Chrisitans built a church over what they thought to be the pool but it is just a small portion of the pool. They have since excavated the rest of the pool. I got in a water fight with my roommates afterwards hence I am completely wet in the picture with Carlee. It was super fun. We might go through it again. It was awesome.

Olive Crushing

A few days ago we took the olives we picked from the center and crushed them like the ancient people would have. First you throw them in a pit and push a HUGE circular rock around. It mashes the olives to a mush and then you transport them to the juicers as I like to call them. There were two different types we used. You put the olive mush in baskets and then through a system of pulleys and weights the baskets have pressure applied and the oil runs out. It has to sit for a couple of days so the water and oil seperate. I guess if it is really pure it comes out in a red color.

Spain

I'm going to Bilbao, Spain. I report to Provo MTC on Feb 27th. I will be in Provo for three weeks and then will head to the Spain MTC. I am so excited!!!!!

Olive Picking

In ancient days they would beat the trees to get the olives to fall off. Our professors talked about this so much, we were all psyched to go beat the olive trees. It was slightly disappointing when we found out we were just going to pick the olives. We harvested the olives outside the JC but on its property one day and then next day we worked on the trees withing the center. It was really fun though to go out with all my friends, get dirty, and have fun chatting for a couple of hours. Missions have been the talk around the center because Sarah Johnson sent her papers in the same day as I did. She opened her call last night. She is serving in Paris, France and leaves Jan. 16th. I will open my call tonight and I am super excited about it.

There is a funny story about my mission call. I thought it would come sat. afternoon to my home in Boise. I tried to call my parents Fri. afternoon (my Friday night before I went to bed) but couldn't get a hold of anyone. During my night I get about 5 e-mails from my family saying my call has come and I should call them. This is about 10 PM their time but 6 AM our time. We don't have breakfast until 8 on Shabbat. Because I had not been able to get a hold of them the night before I woke up early 6 to call them. The entire JC was completely dead because no one would get up for another hour. When I called my family thought I was calling to open the call with them (because of all the e-mails they had sent telling me that was the plan). I think they forgot that I wasn't checking my e-mail at 5:30 AM. Funny side note, I didn't see those e-mails until 4 PM that afternoon.

When I called, they were so excited, they called both Matt and Amy on the cell phones before I could even find out what was going on. I had no idea that my call had already come. I know it broke all of their hearts that I was going to wait to open it. But I am excited to open it now. Well you got to love the time differences. It makes for funny stories and exciting events. I love that my family is so enthusiastic about me serving a mission. They are great and I can't wait to see them at Christmas.