January 16-22

Jan 16

Free day so I was out in the city and doing homework. I was with a group of girls with shopping personalities which normally would be a killer but Jerusalem-style I had a blast! I learned fantastic bargaining techniques watching them, will see how well I can implement later… All I bought today was some dried kiwis and mangos and European chocolate. So good. Did a tour of the Roman plaza near Damascus gate. Today’s city is built on top of and about 15 feet above the Jerusalem of Roman times. This spot goes down under into some of the ruins. We also went in the Church of the Dormition which commemorates where Mary lived after the Crucifixion. It was the most beautiful building architecturally that I have been in so far (besides the JC!). Near that we went to a three story building that was quite interesting. The bottom floor is a synagogue called King David’s Tomb with a cenotaph inside. The middle floor is one of the purported rooms of the last supper. The top floor/roof has a great view of the Mount of Olives. After we climbed down we passed a group of tourists (probably from Africa) singing Happy Birthday not in English. That made me smile.

Jan 17

Jericho Field Trip. Wow! This is one of only three field trips allowed in the West Bank. I’m so grateful they allow this one because I loved every second. I’ll try not to get too bogged down in details or I could write for hours. The drive from Jerusalem DOWN to Jericho took about 20 minutes and dropped from 2700 feet above sea level to 850 feet below sl. We sang “Under the Sea” as we passed the sea level marker and I got a great video of the desert as we sang. This desert wilderness is more what I was expecting it to be like over here. Nothing but sand, dirt, and hills. In the upper wilderness we could see Bedouin tents and flocks of animals-sheep, goats, and camels. At Jericho we could see the Dead Sea and the Jordan River way in the distance. In Jericho we stopped three places (four sites). First, King Herod’s Winter Palace. The palace was huge, three different complexes interconnected, complete with swimming pools. Then we went to Zacchaeus’s Tree. It is a large sycamore tree in the center of town comparable to the one that Zacchaeus climbed in the New Testament so that he could see Christ. I wanted to climb it too. Then we went to Tel Jericho, the archeological remains of the Old Testament city. From a tower dating all the way back to 8000 BCE to brick and glacis very probably from the wall that fell this place was pretty cool. Along with our Old Testament teacher Brother Muhlestein, my class was lucky to get Dr. Chadwick, our Ancient Near Eastern professor with us (there are 2 OT classes and Dr. Chadwick switches off). They both love archeology and tell animated stories so between them lecturing while we are there and reading the Bible in the place where things happened it is way awesome. We also went to Elisha’s spring, where Elisha sprinkled salt and healed the water to this day. I pictured the animated movie as we learned there. It is Jericho’s water source. We all got to drink some of the water out of a hose. On our way back, we went to an overlook of the Wadi Qilt. Picture a narrower Salt River Canyon with a road alongside the stream at the bottom. From our overlook we could see St. George’s monastery built during the Byzantine Era to commemorate the story of the Good Samaritan. We got to sing A Poor Wayfaring Man of Greif. The road would also have been Christ’s trail between Jericho and Jerusalem. The most amazing moment was when Dr. Muhlestein pointed out that when we looked far northeast we could see Jericho and when we looked far southwest we could see the Augusta Victoria Tower on top of the Mount of Olives.

Jan 18

First Hebrew class today. I think I’m going to love it! We learned one of the songs that we heard the Jews singing at the Western Wall to welcome in the Sabbath. I have a couple of papers due soon so today was school-oriented.

Jan 19

Another study day except I went into the city for a while to change money for Egypt and stop at Omar the woodcarvers. This is where I will be spending my souvenir money!

Jan 20

Cleaning checks=chocolate. Hurray!! We had a seven hour break between classes and I spent most of it in the city. Mostly in West Jerusalem (Israeli half). We started in the Old City though to watch part of a Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall. We did a lot of wandering and just getting a feel for the people and saw some sites too. My favorite was an open food market. There were all kinds of foods ranging from tons of fruits and vegetables to fish packed in ice and pastries and nuts and spices and cheeses. Bright colors and tantalizing smells. The narrow street is lined on both sides with little shops and packed with people in between. I understood some of the greetings from my Hebrew class!!! All in all I think I walked at least 10 miles today.

Jan 21

Two hours of OT and two hours of Ancient Near East back to back in the morning. My hand got exercise comparable to my legs yesterday. My brain loved both. In the afternoon we had a humanitarian activity where we assembled hygiene kits. It was a party! Blasting music in the garage and trying to beat some kind of record. Can I just say I am here with a bunch of incredible people! Jessica and I played basketball for a while and then talked a long time on our porch looking out on the city. Can I just say I am here with a bunch of incredible people and have awesome roommates!!

Jan 22

I got to go to Relief Society for the first time-did nursery during Sabbath School. Spent a ton of time catching up in my journal and with music. Got to pack for Egypt!!!