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?)

Our Very First Field Trip

Yesterday was the beginning of many field trips to come...and it was quite a long day, but all sorts of fun. (We all wore headphones to listen to our personal radios so we can each hear our professor lecturing. Dorks-party of 82.) . Though the lectures aren't quite what you would call the definition of fun...we do now know why each place we went was significant. We learned where Abraham had supposedly walked with his son Isaac towards Mount Moriah, where the Byzantine Christian soldiers came over the ridge and got their first sight of Jerusalem, where the hail stones fell in Gideon during the war against the Amorites, where the Six Day War front was between Jordan and Israel in Bethlehem. Call me a nerd...but it was insanely cool for me. Ahhh (sound of contentment if you will) this place is amazing.

This particular field trip was dedicated to the six best look out spots surrounding Jerusalem (especially helpful before our geography test tomorrow). If you ever need a tour guide-I am going to be ready for you by April. And don't worry, each site had plenty of historical and biblical reasons as to why it was significant...you won't get the whole lesson.

First Stop: Augusta Victoria Lutheran Church on top of the Mount of Olives.

(Technically the second stop...shhh.)

I LOVE catching people in their quality picture capturing moments. Don't worry, Sawyer perfectly captured the beautiful ceilings, I sure.  

Bethlehem Overlook...This is where they believe Christ was born. And yes we are hugging an olive tree. (I'm beginning the TOMS shoe pictures Jaclyn. That's some quality Bethlehem grass for you.)

Our attempt at being artsy...failure perhaps. But one of these days I am going to get a good one.

One of the "possible" nativity sites. Thus, my awkward reenactment idea.

Jacob: Joseph

Lindee: Baby Jesus

Me: Mary

Tye: Wiseman

Sarah: Sheep?

View of Jerusalem from the South.

Side note: The hill the UN headquarters is historically known as the "Mount of Evil Council" in Hebrew. You'd think they would have chosen a different spot.

Nabi Samwil/Gideon

Gideon is where Joshua prayed for the sun and moon to be still. Once again...appreciate our reenactment.

View from Hebrew University.

Good night nurse.

Final Side Note: I break in to happy dances all the time here. This is all just too wonderful.

FREEDOM

Today was the first real day of freedom and oh my word, it was possibly the closest thing to perfection. I currently really should be studying. So let's just consider this a supplemental journal...maybe I will feel less guilty for staring at my photos all night. Please just appreciate a few of my pictures and short story captions.

Old Jerusalem is beautiful.

Those pillows....are cement. Kid you not.

Holy Sepulchre (We didn't have time to take pretty pictures inside, but I will later.)

Herod's Gate. One of the seven or eight entrances to the Old City.

The church was built where Christ was believed to be condemned.

STORY TIME: We got lost and needed directions. These two charming boys helped us out. And...drum roll please....I spoke in Arabic with them. COOLEST MOMENT YET.

Pools of Bethesda-LOVE. I promise there is water down there.

I touched it....so now I'm healed right? 

(Yes, I realize the water looks green. It was.)

I am in love.

We played soccer with more than a few Palestinian little boys for a half hour. I scored one of our goals. Oh baby. Those 8 years of soccer growing up have finally payed off.

I talked with these boys in Arabic too. They are hysterical.

Love you lots Madre, Jaclyn, Juliann, and Jen. Thanks for reading my obsessive posts.

P.S. Funniest moment yet - After hearing what felt like hours of warnings about staying in groups of threes and having the boys always walk in the back of the group to protect the girls, a ten year old boy slapped my butt. Yes, no joke. The group of people I was with died laughing. The story is spreading...now I am known as the girl who got slapped in the butt by some mischievous little grinning boy and his friends. I'm classy I know.

The Exploring Begins Baby

And it starts at the perfect place...the Garden Tomb. This wasn't at all what I expected it to be, but it was divine anyway. Tucked away in the middle of Jerusalem, our program brought us here after church this afternoon. Inside were loads of people from all around the world coming to the place where Christ was believed to be resurrected. Though the hundreds of people inside all belong to different religions, there is something truly miraculous about the different faiths of so many people combining and centering upon our Savior. I absolutely loved this experience. 

This is just a preview-I am going to be going back for better pictures very soon.

First time let loose in Jerusalem...Oh baby-look out.

I heart Princess Kate. And pretty sunsets that my camera failed to capture.

Lesson Learned...While on Lock Down

Around 1:00 this afternoon...I learned a little something. I was feeling exhausted and missing home a little too much. I walked into my room and just stood there staring at the mirror wondering what I really was doing for the next 103 days. The call to prayer music started playing that I mentioned earlier, and I walked outside onto my now sunshiny and almost warm balcony overlooking Jerusalem. I stood leaning against the railing, praying that I would be able to change my perspective.

Answer to prayer #1: After putting on some under eye make up (because let's face it, the bags under my eyes are huge) I ran upstairs...grabbed the first three people sitting alone that I ran past and asked if they wanted to go on an adventure with me. We aren't allowed to leave the center just yet (we are still being processed by the center's security), but we sure are able to explore the grounds. We ran into lovely sheep, talked about our lives, made a few new friends, took a million pictures, and stood in awe at the experience that was before us.

We named her Stella...she stood alone from all the other sheep. We thought she deserved a bam name.

My adventure group. Can you tell my camera was on a timer leaning on something?

I mean come on...I live in this place!

Can you see the perfectly placed Dome of the Rock? Thank you Matthew...that photography class in 10th grade is really taking you places.

Answer to prayer #2: I then found a study room, ready to study for my Ancient Near Eastern Studies test...and in walked my friend Preston (Grey's Jaclyn?) who is getting his mission call in a few weeks. We studied for a while, but we ended up talking for a lovely hour too. Officially beginning to pass through the "acquaintance" phase of experiences like this. Hallelujah.

Answer to prayer #3: Someone mentioned a game night for tonight, and I jumped on board walking around and finding everyone I could to invite them all. Who doesn't love being invited to something? Especially when we all are kind of wandering aimless throughout the center avoiding the homework dumped on us this morning.

Moral of my little cheesy story-I have got to stop thinking about me because that in no way leads to any kind of productivity. I'm in Jerusalem, studying what I love, and embarking on an adventure I can't even fathom. This is going to be amazing. Thank goodness for prayer, Muslim calls to prayer, warm sun on my face, and wonderful people surrounding me. Love you all.

P.S. Starting tomorrow...this whirlwind of an experience begins. My blogging will become way less frequent, but for now I can't help it. Tomorrow we head to the Garden Tomb. Can't wait.

Welcome to (Snowy) Israel

Hello Middle East and hello winter wonderland. Turns out, the average snowstorm every ten or so years was the day we arrived in this beautiful place. After what could have possibly been the longest flight of my life, with sadly only 20 minutes of sleep sometime near the end of our 32 hour travel day, we stepped out into what we all had previously believed would be some kind of desert. Yes, yes, we were all a little naive. The freezing snow is stunning though and it does prove that I am not faking this adventure right? Because there is no way anyone has ever seen a postcard of Jerusalem covered in snow...right?

(Side note: There are 59 girls and 23 boys in this program...not the best odds haha)

Best moment of the day: I, Jenessa Alyse Hutchins, had a snow ball fight on a balcony overlooking Jerusalem. That officially is my new favorite sentence. I don't quite know why it was so perfect, but it was. This picture was actually taken after the posed one we took in order to capture our lovely snowball fight from a few minutes before. I thought we were all done...good one Tye.

Funny moment of the day: I was sitting in the middle of orientation and gasped (louder than I thought apparently) thinking that I had mistakenly taken some kind of sleeping pill instead of Excedrin a half hour earlier. Don't worry, it was Excedrin. I was just so exhausted, sleeping through orientation could not be prevented no matter how much caffeine was in my system. 

Culture shock moment of the day: At around 5:00 am the Islamic prayer music in Arabic begins to play throughout the whole city for something close to 15 minutes. It's not actually overwhelmingly loud, but when you wake up around 4:22 am, you do get to appreciate it. I am falling in love with this place.

Relaxing moment of the day: There are pianos all over the Jerusalem Center, and yes I stole one for a half hour earlier today. Playing His Hands overlooking Jerusalem is a wonderful thing. 

Strange moment of the day: At lunch my friend and I put together that she lived in my same apartment last year, had shared the same room, and slept in the same bed. For some reason, both Kari and I were a tad bit weirded out.

Jaclyn moment of the day: Well, not quite...but she is named Jacqueline. (Miss you sister friend.)

I love and miss you all. Times 12. I get a phone card in a couple days! Only 3 cents a minute. Can't wait to chat with you fam bam.