Roommates: Susie and Jessica-both super awesome! I have known Jessica since our freshman year. We were in the same Freshman Academy group (which means we took a couple of the same classes and did group activities during the semester). In the middle of March 2010 we randomly met up again at an academic banquet and she mentioned she was going to Jerusalem. Long story short I immediately knew I wanted to go too and things fell into place miraculously. From March to December I joined with Jessica, Faith, and Elise in studying Jesus the Christ in preparation to come. Faith is also here now and Elise will be coming next semester! I feel truly blessed to have such amazing roommates and friends here-and amazing roommates and friends in Provo who I miss a ton J
Housing: The JC seriously resembles a palace-absolutely beautiful! My room…more like a hotel room with four twin beds but still very nice by Israeli standards. It is way crazy living here! We sleep, go to class, eat in the cafeteria, go to church, and study all in the same eight floors (stepped, not stacked floors-see the JC website for more detail and pics). Basically we are already a closer-knit group than I’ve ever experienced even coming from a small town. Love it! The stairs deserve a story of their own. Already more times than I can count I have been so caught up in whatever I was thinking about that I end up going too many flights so I’m on the wrong floor. Everything kind of looks the same so one I even made it off the stairs, into the corridor that leads to the rooms, and to the end of the corridor where my room should have been but it was the wrong floor so my key didn’t work. I’m sure I’ll get it someday but if not I will have great muscles with all the walking everywhere!
Food: Good thing I have baggy clothing because I may do some growing. The cafeteria here is incredibly good and I am always super hungry by the time meals come around. I have totally enjoyed trying new things. A lot of the foods are deep-fried and spicy in a not-hot way. I’m not a fan of vinegar-flavored salads but have acquired a taste for plain vegetables and also eat a lot of fruit. There is a wide variety of breads and more meat than I expected.
Classes: This is why I am here. I am learning so much!!!!!! Each class fascinates me and I just can’t get enough! Right now I am in Old Testament; Ancient Near Eastern Studies; Two Modern Near Eastern classes (one from Jewish/Israeli perspective and the other from Islam/Palestinian perspective, taught by natives); and Hebrew. I love taking the same classes as everyone else because there is a constant dialogue about what we are learning and it just enhances the experience. There isn’t a regular class schedule because it works around field trips but eventually all the classes but ANES will be replaced by New Testament for the last couple of weeks. So awesome!!!
Field Trips: Think Nauvoo or something except go back in time ranging from 3000 years ago to current events and imagine your tour guide not just covering the facts but drowning you with information. I can’t get enough water personally!!!! Literally we talk about Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Modern State of Israel as they apply to wherever we are. It is so incredible and I just stand there furiously scribbling notes or snapping pictures or just letting my mouth hang open. We each have headsets so the teacher can talk and everyone can hear which is way nice. I rigged an extra set of headphones and my splitter along with my voice recorder to a set up where I can hear and also record what is being taught.
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