THE BIG BOOM!!!

After an insanely productive day in the library with the darling Hannah Karina Jackson, a nice big group of us hit the town. And oh my word, there are parts of West Jerusalem that will boggle your mind. (We call it West J. Love that.) After being in the Old City and walking out of Jaffa Gate, you seem to jump centuries. The modern half of the world is much more familiar and walking around at night is plain exciting. If you were with me tonight you would have walked down a few stairs and right into this outside mall that could be in some gorgeous Spain neighborhood with musicians and hilarious statues lining the streets. Keep going and you see City Hall with bullet marks from 1948. Turn left and you are back onto a street that is a mix of European and Middle East influence with an old man playing a harp. I just love the diversity of it all. Some of it is mystifying, but the majority of it is exquisite.

Tonight we ate an this darling small cafe that perfectly sat our entire group and not one person more. It was oh so quaint. Part of me wants to go back every night...but there are too many places to try.

 Please notice the 'Coffee, beer, & people' little cafe blurb. I love it.

Seriously, the days I have soda just are too great to handle.
 hahahahaha.

Possibly the best dressing I have ever had in my life. 

Every chair was taken...by only BYU students. The people there LOVED us. And we adored them.

My dinner date. I'm not exaggerating, this pasta was divine. LOVED it so freaking much.

Scared faces everyone? 

(Sorry-forgot a flash.)

Okay, story time. (Charlotte-stop reading now) As we were sitting inside in this perfect place, lights started flashing outside. As I was just making some joke about what if some crazy scene was going on outside and we were innocently talking and loving life...a huge BOOM just shattered our serene environment. We all just gasped and stared at each other. Turns out there was some kind of suspicious item in the building across the street. The Israeli equivalent of our United States SWAT team had covered it somehow and blew it up. After laughing in nervous hysterics....the cafe owners attempted to calm us all by explaining that things like this weren't that strange. Only in Israel, right?

Now I'm off to go ride a camel in Jordan. Be back in 5 days dearest internet world. Love you all.

My Lovely Sabbath Saturday

 7:00-Shut off my alarm and lay down hoping that it didn’t just go off. Proceed to get ready and chat with my darling roommates.

8:30-Run up to eat breakfast (especially the delicious cream of wheat) on the balcony overlooking the beautiful city. Feel immensely blessed.

  

9:00-Sing with the choir in the chapel (also overlooking the beautiful city with floor to ceiling windows) and try not to be overwhelmed with joy as we sing Come Thou Fount.

10:00-Attend wonderful church  with my favorite ward. I have never been so ready for church to start. 

1:00-Hold a Compassionate Service meeting with two other lovely girls outside in the shade.

1:30-Leave with ten other kids to walk to the Garden of Gethsemane. Though the Garden was a lot smaller and not quite as reverent as I had anticipated, there is something powerful about that place. Perhaps that tiny plot of land wasn’t where our Savior atoned for our sins, but the miracle of it all is that he did it. Through him, we can return to our Heavenly Father. Through the events that started in that garden, or a garden like it, we can have eternal life. I love the gospel.

3:00-Email, talk, and listen to Lizzie and her phenomenal violin skills.

4:00-Eat dinner on the same balcony….we skip lunches on the Sabbath and it leaves us all famished. But don’t worry-we make up for it with how much we consume at dinner. Chocolate pitas are going to be the death of us all. SCRUMPCIOUS.

6:00-Visit with my darling visiting teachers. I adore Sierra and McCall.

6:30-Watch Prince of Egypt in the student lounge. I mean come on...we did just finish Exodus in our Old Testament class. It was perfect.

9:00-Begin the phone chat portion of the day in the empty auditorium. Turns out no one ever remembers there is a phone in there. Love that I have found my own little spot to chat with my favorite people (maybe not that little).

NOW: I am currently sitting in a study room…blogging, journaling, listening to my favorite music.

11:00-Say hello to a girls night sleepover in room 408 baby.

PEACE OUT GIRL SCOUT.

Room 408. Love.

Side note of the day: I'm going on a mission! Finally decided.

JERICHO

This field trip was much too fun. Life is really just like one constant, big adventure with all sorts of amazing people and some lovely bus chats. (Heads up - I went a little too over the top today with editing photos on Picasa, but please just let me do it this once. We did so many reenactments....I couldn't help it. )

Fact of the day: Jericho is the oldest and lowest city in the world. Oh and Jericho is home to the best bananas in the world. Kid you not-we tried them. They were delicious.

Pathetic moment of the day: The oldest tower in the world...is tiny? What??? (Yes, my eyes are closed. I was laughing too hard and the sun was much too bright.)

Movie of the day: The Battle of Jericho. I love my field trip group.

Sassy moment of the day: Mount of Temptations is behind us. "Get thee hence Satan." Just kidding-Love you EEB. By the way, there is a restaurant on that mountain side. Anyone tempted to get some chocolate cake?

Yummiest moment of the day: Freshly squeezed Pomegranate juice. So absolutely delicious.

Awe-inspiring moment of the day: Seriously...GO LOOK AT YOUR BIBLE MAPS. I am in love with my life. Say hello to the Judean Hill Country/Wadi Qilt.

Funniest moment of the day:"Man, Moses and the Lord are best friends."-Spencer. (The quality conversations we have studying late at night in a windowless room with diet coke.)

Charitable moment of the day: Reenactment of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We were on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. I adore Rachel. Best bus buddy yet.

Speediest moment of the day: 4 minutes field trip stop at the tree that Zacchaeus once climbed as Christ walked past. Fastest photo shoot ever. We are officially pros.

Happiest moment of the day: Sara VanWagenen is oh so lovely. 

(No pictures for these ones...luckily.)

Side note of the day: Nuzzle hugs are the most awkward. 

Confession of the day: I am in charge of birthdays here. I didn't realize I purchased permanent markers for the birthday notes. I may have ruined a table in our dining area. Fingers crossed I can get it off.

Lamest moment of the day: We also went to Harod's Winter Palace...trust me, it wasn't even worth a photo. Some rocks just aren't quite as nice as others.

Reality of the day: I promise to have more creative blog posts sometime soon. Possibly after I catch up on some sleep.

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name...

Once again, I don't have a ton of time because my Palestine class is in 20 minutes, but here's a glimpse of what our lovely adventure to the Negev desert looked like. It was strangely greener than I expected! And on a funny note...our professor named the bus "No name" today. He saw it fitting seeing as we were venturing through the desert of southern Israel.

We learned the ins and outs to weaving from a tribe of Bedouin women. Oh my word-these women are insanely talented. And their fight for equality is equally inspiring. (Their tea on the other hand...was not so inspiring.)

Hello Ber Sheva/Tel Arad!

The annual human sacrifice...love and miss you Kara.

After researching, writing up site reports, and presenting the reports to the class at the actual excavation site we learned about for hours...we are done. It really is crazy cool to actually be somewhere you know much too much information about. We heart Tel Arad.

Oh yes, those cool kids in the hats. 

(I realize I am not in Africa.)

Today we explored the hidden underground floor of the Jerusalem Center. And of course, signed the famous wall of past JC students. Love it.

THE END. I HEART YOU.

Mystery of the Day: Did I fall next to the "Caution Slipping Hazard" sign or act it out?

PROCRASTINATION

I should be finishing my annotated bibliography and then seriously catching up on sleep...but that's no fun. Today was an adventure-filled day. Loved it. I officially feel like I live in Jerusalem.

Pretty stone walls? Why not take our 932098203948 picture?

I HAVE BEEN TO THE DOME OF THE ROCK.

So gorgeous.

Some of my favorite people.

Rampart walk...in other words, we climbed the walls of the Old City and walked around it!

Charlie's Angels in the guard tower.

This is for you Jaclyn Michele. Remember the Abbey?

P.s. and by the way...these stairs were terrifyingly steep.

If you squint your eyes and look really close, you can see the Jerusalem Center on the hill in the distance.

Just because he's the cutest thing in the world.

Side Note of the Day: I posted another blog a few hours earlier. I must be addicted. Just keep scrolling =)

The Wailing Wall

Once upon a time I was walking down the street from the Jerusalem Center with my friend Ben next to me. At this particular moment he was teasing me once again. Exacerbated (I had to look up how to spell that) by his snark, I pushed him into the street. In the states the neighborhood speed limit would have been 25 miles per hour, but in Jerusalem speed limits don’t seem to exist. Just as I was yanking him back onto the sidewalk…a car flew past rather closely.

Long story short, the running joke is that I owe dear Ben here his life. His first request is that I post a blog entry he wrote for me about the past two days of this amazing adventure. Enjoy. 

“So I saw some Jews yesterday.  It was utterly amazing.  The Jewish Sabbath starts on Friday at sundown and lasts until sundown on Sunday.  To commemorate our Jewish heritage, we went to the Western wall.  It was CRAZY! I don’t think I’ve ever seen more people in my life.  First off, the western wall (aka wailing wall) is sort of like the Jewish temple.  The wall is the outer temple of the 2^nd temple, and the Jews wont go inside the temple for fear of walking on the area that once was the holy of holies. 

Secondly, there are thousands of people that go.  It’s a mix between general conference and the temple for the LDS.  It was not only impressive, but quite humbling.  Needless to say, I have even more respect for the Jewish culture and religion. 

We had an Indiana Jones movie night in preparation for our Jordan trip next week. So, until next time, Shalom y’all.”

(The Wailing Wall a few days later during the day. Not quite the same.)

My turn:
In short, placing my hand on the wailing wall surrounded by thousands of devout Jewish women was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Tears fell on all sides of me as women finally made it to what they believed to be the holiest spot on earth. I slipped a tiny piece of paper with names of each of my family members into the wall, said a prayer with my hand against the stones touched by millions over the years, and listened to hymns and prayers in Hebrew all around me. Yes, we believe very different things, but there is something so entirely unifying about mutual faith in something more. I have never felt something equivalent to this. I wish I could express what an awe-inspiring, exquisite moment this was. Someday I will find the words, but for now you will have to embrace what Ben and I have written. Love you all.

p.s. I LOVE SARA/VAN WAG/MY DAUGHTER. 

Pictures Pictures Pictures

 No time to write...but I love you all. And I love love love this beautiful city.

Found this while we were strolling after our hunt to find scrumptious Shwarma.

(Sadly those pictures didn't save to my memory card.)

Our travel group. Introducing the lovely Sara, Preston, and John. All three have just finished their mission papers.

Not the clearest photo I know. Still a fan.

Israeli demonstrations with the elections this week. Don't worry...this one was really small mother dearest.

Going back in time with the Old City walls. 1517 Byzantine stone. Yes, we aced that test.

We walked to the Orson Hyde Memorial Park today. 

I will never get sick of this view. You might-sorry for that.

I adore my roommate Hannah. (Those are our lame security cards-we take them with us everywhere.)

Arabic Diet Coke...Finally. Missed this. Oh and a rocking dance party to Arabic music? We won second place in the dance competition. It's all about the bus dance baby.

As for my usual side notes: Yesterday in the city, little boys threw rocks at us. Yes yes, cut and bruised my ankles. According to the very apologetic Israeli couple walking passed us...children make quite a sport of throwing rocks at tourists. That makes the count: Israeli little boys 2 - Jenessa 0. (Oh and yes, of our group of 10 or so...I was the one hit with the big rock. No surprise though right?)