Marhaba!

I'm realizing that when I live the most amazing city in the world, I don't want to spend my time on the computer, emailing, blogging, facebook, etc. So in order to cut back my time, I am just going to copy my email to my family and put it on my blog so any friends can see what I'm doing too. Sorry, family for the repeat. Sorry if it's too much detail, feel free to skim if you wish. As soon as I get back from Egypt I'll probably have my camera cord and can post pictures, until then, it's just description:

First off, I think everywhere should have church on Saturday and a free day on Sunday. It's so nice to have a day after the sabbath to just relax rather than just rush back to school. On Sunday a group of about ten of us set out for the Old City early in the morning. We first went to the Dome of the Rock. Holy cow, way better than any pictures make it out to be. It was huge and so beautiful. It has a huge dome that is gold with the entire building covered in mosaics. I was in complete awe. Unfortunately right now they are only letting Muslims into it, so we could only see the outside, but it was still great. The Dome is on the site where Solomon's temple was originally and there is still one wall left from it a little ways down, which is the western or Wailing Wall where all the Jews go to pray and welcome in the Sabbath on Fridays. There are always people there praying to it though, so we saw a group of Jews there and it was really neat to see. We're going there on friday as a field trip which is when it will be completely packed, so I'm excited to see that too. It was there that we got our pictures with some Israeli soldiers too. I asked him to show his gun in the picture and he was more than happy to oblige. After that we went on Ramparts Walk. We walk on top of the whole outer wall and see the entire City from a spectacular view. It took a good few hours, but then again we stopped like every ten minutes to take tons of pictures, but it was really fun. We then went to West Jerusalem and got some delicious gelato and just hung out on Ben Yehuda street for a while. It was a very fun free day.

Monday we had our Geography field trip. We started out at Nabi Samwill. It is supposedly the tomb of the prophet Samuel, but it's really not. It was still cool to go and see it though, it was a huge ancient looking church and we were able to go on the roof and see a great view of the city. Then we went to Augsuta Victoria which is a church on the Mount of Olives, just up from the center/our palace. The Lutherans own it and it is a beautiful Cathedral covered in mosaics, they argue that it was there that Christ ascended into heaven. We climbed a few hundred stairs to the top of the bell tower to see another really great view. Then we went to the Seven Arches Overlook, it was just a place where we had yet another view of the city. The next place we went was Haas Promenade Overlook. Yes, another view. But this was the place where Abraham first saw Mt. Moriah (temple Mount) where he was commanded to sacrafice Isaac. We read those scriptures while we were sitting there and it was really neat. We went to one more place called Deir Elyas, which had a really good view of Bethlehem. See a theme? We were kind of overloaded with great views of the city. It was really fun though!

Tuesday we had classes in the morning and then went out into the Old City in the afternoon. We were on a hunt for pasteries. We tried a few and they were nasty. Like Mazza nasty. One even tasted like soap. So we went to this guy, Shaban, he is a merchant that LOVES the mormons. He always gives us juice when we go to him and he makes BYU Jerusalem shirts for us when we leave. I got really cool scripture case from him and we all got really hot genie pants from him haha. We asked him where his favorite pastry shop was and he showed us and they were still nasty. I think I'll just stick with my toasted pita bread filled with peanut butter and nutella for desert, its a favorite here in the center.

Yesterday we had a little free time, so a group of us went to Zedekiah's Cave. People say that that is where Zedekiah hid from the Babylonians when they were coming after him, but thats not necessarily doctrine. What is really awesome about it though is that all the stone used to build Solomon's temple came from that quarry. It was so cool, I loved it there. Totally worth the 10 shekels we had to pay to get in. It was the biggest cave I've ever seen, obviously because they had to get a ton of stone out of there for the temple. It was amazing to think that people carved stone out from there and carried it all the way to Mt. Moriah-it's definitely a good walk. We could see all the places they had cut out the stone and everything. We were the only ones in the cave, so we went to the back and sat down and we read different passages in the OT about Solomon's temple and the quarry the got the stone from. It was so awesome! I loved it!

I think today after lunch we are going to go to West Jeru to explore. We've heard about this neighborhood that is like ultra orthodox jewish and so we want to go look around and try to find that. Tonight my committee is throwing a grand opening party for the Shekel Shack, its just a little snack bar here in the center and all the money we earn goes to the memory committee to make us stuff for when we leave. We're having a ribbon cutting ceremony and everything.

Tomorrow we are going on a field trip to the Western Wall to watch the Jews welcome in the Sabbath. I'm so excited for that, there are going to be thousands of them there, all praying and writing their prayers on papers to put into the wall. I think it will be really neat. Later tomorrow night my committee is having another in center activity since we can't leave the center on Friday nights. We are playing sardines and watching the Prince of Egypt to get us ready for our Egypt trip a week from today. I think it will be really fun!

It's Official

I LOVE all things Jerusalem. I've been here now for three days and can't get enough of it. It is truly the most amazing place I have ever been. I just feel so blessed to be able to live here for the next four months; I'm not sure how I got so lucky.

The Jerusalem Center is completely breathtaking. It is located on the crossroads of Mt. Scopis and the Mount of Olives and when we go into the Old City and look up it almost looks like a temple. The spirit in the JC is so strong all the time. We live on floors 3 and 4 and our classes, lounges, cafeteria, library and church are on floors 6-8. We have patios in our rooms the overlook the entire Old City and East Jerusalem with a perfect view of the Dome of the Rock (speaking of, I'm going there tomorrow morning with a group of people, can't wait to see it up close) All of the rooms in the center have tons of windows so we are always looking over the city. I absolutely love it here! All of the people here are so fun and nice; we all are just in the same mindset of wanting to soak in the history of the people here and the history of the bible and the Saviors life.

We've been on a walking tour of the city and kind of saw an overview of everything. The difference between East and West Jerusalem is insane. You walk from one side to the other and it feels like a completely different world. East Jerusalem is the Palestinian/Muslim/Arab side which is a little more run down and third world-ish. They are the most friendly and nice people in the world and I love talking with and being around them. The West side is the Jewish side. It's a little more modern and European-like. The people are more reserved and keep to themselves. Yesterday a group of us went to Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem where there are a bunch of merchants and did a little shopping; We had to get back to the JC by sundown because thats when the Jewish Sabbath starts. As we were leaving there was a huge group of Orthodox Jews rushing to the wailing wall to welcome in the Sabbath. They all had either kippas or the top hats with their long curls on their sides bouncing as they ran. It kind of hit me there that I am in Jerusalem! It's so sureal, I can't even believe it.

Today, because we honor the Jewish Sabbath here, we had church. It was really good and fun to see the other members of the branch. Most of them are Americans who are here working for the American Consulate. After church a group of us went down to the Garden of Gethsemane. We had to go through the Orson Hyde Gardens to get there which were beautiful. We got to Gethsemane and walked through the gates and I was honestly a little disappointed. There was only a little square of garden blocked off by a gate; we couldn't even walk in the garden and it was busy with a lot of tourists, smoking and being really loud. There was a Catholic church right there and we walked through that for a little while. It wasn't what I had expected at all. I went with my friend Allison and she had heard that if we ask the guards they would take us to secret place in the garden. We went up to the guard and said, "We're the mormons, is there any place you can take us to in the garden?" He immediately grabbed his key (because they love the mormons here) and took all twenty or so of us to a private garden in Gethsemane. It was blocked off so it was just the BYU-JC students and we were able to all find an olive tree to sit under. Any disappointment I had felt before was completely gone; it was the most amazing place I have ever been in my life. I just sat there with tears streaming down my face while I just prayed and wrote in my journal. I have never felt more loved in my life. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love for my Savior. It was so amazing and I am so excited to go back.

Tomorrow I'm going with a group of people to the Dome of the Rock, Ramparts walk, and to a very orthodox jewish neighborhood. I'm so excited to become more familiar with the city and see as much as I can.

I absolutely love it here and everyday I am realizing how blessed I am to be here.

Goodbye America, Hello Israel

Well team, in just a few short hours I will be boarding a plane and leaving comfort of America and heading to Israel for four months. I should probably be a bit more nervous than I am, but mostly I'm just excited to have the opportunity to live in Jerusalem and study there. I’m pretty sure it will be incredible, living where the Savior lived and focusing on his life for so long and all. I’ll be keeping up on my blog, but I’m afraid I won’t be writing funny stories and random things that happen to me anymore. It will be more of a travel log, with descriptions of what I’m seeing and learning with lots of pictures (hopefully). Just be prepared for the change of format. Farewell family and friends, I will miss you all!! The next time you hear from me I will be getting well acquainted with the Holy Land.

مع السلامة!

In the Past Couple of Weeks

Mike and Andrea got married.

It was the most exquisite wedding and perfect in every way.

We've played more games, watched more movies and eaten more food than you could imagine.

We have done weird things, like always. And laughed about them afterwards.

Preston and I played with my scarfs in an attempt to get me ready for Jerusalem.

I leave in exactly 6 days from now and I can't even wait!

Major Get of 2009

We have a game of sorts that is constantly being played in my family. It is called the game of "gets." It never ends, and there is never a set winner. It has been ongoing for too many years to count now.

How to play:

1. Tap the victim on the shoulder and hope that they think it was someone else that tapped them, preferably a stranger, although another family member is still considered a success.
2. Tell a flat out lie to the chosen family member and count on the help of others to play along until they believe you.

How to score/win:

1. If performing option number one, we use a baseball-type score keeping theory: a small turn of the head gets you to first base; shoulder and hip turn gets you to second; a full turn gets you to third base; and if you talk to someone because you believed they tapped you, when in reality they didn't it is considered a home run. The greatest home run ever to occur happened nearly ten years ago while waiting for a BYU devotional to begin. Alex reached across the seat and tapped my dad on the shoulder who then proceeded to turn around and carry on a two-minute conversation with the student sitting behind him. We still haven't let him live it down.
2. If performing option number two, after a sufficient amount of time has passed and you're quite confident that the person fully believes whatever lie you've just told them, start laughing and yell, "GET" (as in, "I got you") and watch as they hang their head in shame after just being got. Last night, the best "get" of 2009 took place. On me. It's hurting my pride to even admit it, but sometimes you just have to confess that it was a good get and give props to the "getter"

Last night we went to the Jon Schmidt Christmas concert. During intermission a very tall man on our row walked past us to go into the lobby. As he was coming back, Ethan leaned over to me and said, "That's Mehmet Okur." That meant nothing to me, and when I asked who Mehmet Okur was he informed me that he was a Jazz player. No way. We were just three seats away from a Jazz player. Kind of a big deal, right? I immediately turned to my mom and dad and told them that the very tall man wearing designer jeans was a Jazz player. When my mom said that it couldn't be because the Jazz were playing in Atlanta tonight my dad quickly said that he hurt his knee and was on the injured list and didn't have to travel to away games with the team. Mom thought this was a great hook-up and told us that if she was on the Jazz she would want to get injured during Christmas time so that she could still go to concerts. My thoughts: when else in my life will I be sitting three seats away from Mehmet Okur? Never. I needed to take this situation seriously and while he was standing with his back turned towards us I pulled out my phone to snap a picture. Afraid of getting caught, I was only able to get a photo of his elbow. Despite the less than quality picture, I was still feeling somewhat successful until I heard both Ethan and my dad bust up laughing, feeling even more successful at this "major get" they had just completed. Yes, I had been "got" and was forced to hang my head in shame. I believed I was sitting next to a celebrity and even took a picture. Unfortunately it wasn't Mehmet Okur. It was just a regular tall man with nothing famous about him. In my defense though, he was really tall and may as well have been a professional basketball player. Well played, Ethan and Dad, well played.

You Know it's Cold When...

• You look like Randy walking to campus
• The nice boy in the ward you have never talked to offers you a ride to school and there is zero hesitation. In .02 seconds you are sitting in the front seat. Any awkwardness is completely worth it.
• You are faced with the 'winter-time dilemma': you have 20 pounds of layers on when walking to school and by the time you maneuver around the overheated building and finally arrive in your classroom and have the chance to take off your coat, scarf, gloves, and hat you are sweating like a dog in a Chinese restaurant.
• Your jeans freeze almost solid and make it painful to walk.
• Your leg hairs begin to grow at an alarming rate.
• Icicles are formed on the inside of your roommates car.
• After being outside for several minutes your nose hairs freeze. Try sniffing when this happens, it's one of my favorite strangest sensations.
• The thermometer reads 1 degree.

The Revival of Chivalry

This morning I woke up and was stumbling into the bathroom to take a shower when I heard voices. No, not the kind of voices that crazy people hear in their heads. These were real voices and it sounded like they were coming from just outside my front door. I hesitantly walked to the door, stood on my tip-toes, and peeked out the peep hole. What did I see? Several inches of snow and several guys in the ward shoveling our walks. My heart melted just a little. Nothing gets me quite like good, old-fashioned chivalry. I think I was maybe born in the wrong era, because when I watch movies like Pride and Prejudice it makes me wish I lived in a time when men respected women the way Mr. Darcy respects Elizabeth Bennett. Sure, it's a little extreme for the man to stand up every time a women enters or exits a room, but a toned down version of that would be nice. It's unfortunate that in today's world a man can't open a door for a woman without the fear of her becoming offended. Obviously I can open a door by myself. I can do a lot of things by myself, but the simple acts of courtesy from a man to a woman are appreciated. Call me old-fashioned, but I get a little offended if the boy doesn't open the door for me. When he helps me with my coat, pulls my chair out, or offers to carry something heavy for me it is not implying that he thinks I'm incapable of performing the acts myself, rather that he has some respect for me. And so today when I saw the boys in my ward going from apartment to apartment, shoveling the snow for all 80 girls in the ward, it gave me a little hope. Perhaps chivalry isn't dead after all. If it is, perhaps the men in the BYU 84th ward are doing their best to revive it. Here's to the resurgence of chivalry and gentlemanly acts of courtesy and respect.