Day 91

Dome of the Rock 

With Lauren

The Dome

At the Dome with Elise, Katie, Lauren, and Andy

Dome of the Rock

Just on the rooftops

In the Suke (pronounced Shoe-k)

Monday. The 28th of November.

This morning I got up at six thirty and showered to be ready to leave at seven, to go to the Dome of the Rock. We were a little later than planned but I headed out with Tyler, Katie, Elyse, Andy and Lauren. We left so early because a few of the girls hadn't been yet and every time they tried they weren't able to get on the Temple Mount. When we got there we were able to walk right on and not have any problems at all. So it was worth getting up so early. It was fun because there wasn't many other people there, so we got good pictures with out random people in the background. Tyler had been there four times already and he told us that we could walk on the city walls right by the mount, he even had asked the military boys if it was okay and they said yes. So we got onto it and he inched across a narrow little spot, so I followed. But then some man from super far away started to yell at us and freaking out so I hurried and sat down so he couldn't see me. But then I didn't want to stand back up to walk off, so I ended up jumping off the wall it was only about eight feet to the ground. I guess when I landed I hit it pretty hard, so everyone was concerned that I had broken my ankles or something. I was perfectly fine though. We left and walked over to a little bakery place and grabbed some breakfast. I had this puffy pastry that was filled with this cheesy type stuff. It was reasonably good. And went up onto the rooftops of the city for a little while and just sat, until a tour group came up and sat all around us. When we were walking out Lauren totally slipped and fell on the ground next to me and by the time I even turned my head she was already back up. It was pretty funny. All walking surfaces are surprisingly slippery here, it is because they are so smooth from being walked on so much, I've fallen multiple times myself. Then we went and got my sweatshirt! yay. The same guy without an arm was there, this time he looked through the entire bag for my sweatshirt. He tried to sell it to me for twenty more shekels than I had originally agreed to, but he ended up giving it to me for what I wanted. Only after he patted my face, with his one arm. He had to put the print onto the sweatshirt, so I pretty much was his little assistant and helped him the entire time because I wanted it to be easy for him (you know why). After we shopped around there for a little while we headed out of the city and got onto the light rail and took it up to the Suke in West Jerusalem. We were waiting for Leslie to call, because she went to a painting project in the morning. And we had made fun plans to have a birthday lunch with her in West J. So we were trying to kill time until she was ready. We walked around the Suke for a little while, where we found a great cheap candy store. Leslie called at about twelve and said her and a couple other girls were just about to leave and would be there in half an hour. So we started to look for an Italian restaurant, because that is what she wanted to eat. We found a few options, we ran into Prof. Harper and his family. And because Leslie was taking a while to get over, two kid's went home with Harper because they didn't want to wait anymore. So I felt bad that I had made them wait so long for nothing. Then we met up with Whitney and Ben so they could do the lunch with us. But by that time, it was almost one and Leslie and her group were still a half our out. I was talking to Melissa on the phone. And apparently now after we have waited hours for them to come out to West J. they apparently wanted to eat over in the Jewish Quarter in the Old City. The complete opposite side of the city. So I talked to the people with me and they said they didn't want to walk all the way over there, so we would just see them at dinner. So I told Melissa that and she pretty much freaked out at me, because I said we would wait for Leslie and now that she was ready we didn't want to go. And she wouldn't let me explain that we would wait all day and had been, but it was the fact that we had planned on eating where we were and they were just changing it. Pretty much she hates me. It ended up that Melissa wouldn't even talk on the phone anymore with me, so I also gave my phone up to someone else because I was so frustrated. I literally had been stressing and trying to plan out this day for so long. And now it was all ruined and everyone was tired, hungry, and frustrated with me. I felt really, really bad. It was easily my worst day here. I ruined everything for everyone. And Melissa was not being nice to me on the phone and told me I was being dramatic.  My group ended up just eating some bagels and Leslie's group got pizza where ever they were. Then Lauren, Katie and I walked around while we were waiting for Leslie and them to walk over. I guess they decided to come over after eating. We had bought Leslie some of her favorite cookies earlier in the morning, so we went and found some flowers for her too while we were waiting. When we got back to Whitney and the other half of my group we finally met up with Leslie at about three. She had about ten girls in her group and they all pretty much shunned me and didn't really talk to me at all. Kaitlyn even said that she was having fun until she met up with our group. Wow, glad I single handedly ruined everyone's day. I faked happy and gave Leslie her gifts, then we sat with them while they got crepes. Then my group went home and they stayed in West J. I took a nap when I got back, had dinner, did homework, and organized my room for the rest of the night. I didn't feel like socializing much. I don't do well with those kinds of days. My day had started out really great, but turned into one of my worst days ever. I feel really bad about everything.

Day 90

The Archaeological Park

Kaitlyn and I just chillin' where Jesus was.

Ancient arch in the background

The little bump on the right used to be a huge stair case
where you could walk up to the temple mount.

Ancient Mikveh, the unclean would walk down one side
and baptize themselves then walk up the other side before
going up to the Temple Mount.

Leslie and I with our matching sweaters

Elise and Lauren hanging out in the lab

My sweater!

Sunday. The 27th of November.

Okay so today was pretty fun. Well getting up was rough for everyone in my room again, we've been struggling with that whole concept lately. I made a sack lunch at breakfast, I am not a fan of them. We then got to ride over to the Old City for our field trip. We walked around with our classes for a little bit in the Jewish Quarter while we were waiting for the museums to open. We first went into the Wohl Museum, it is build over ruins of homes from the time of the second temple destruction. Because of the location they were the homes of wealthy religious Jews of the time. They were fun to look at, but it really was just another pile of rocks. And it was freezing cold inside, it literally was warmer outside. We then switched over to the Burnt House, which was also a house of religious men from the same time. We got to watch a little cheesy movie while we were in there, but it was worth it because it was so warm. We then walked down a bit to the Archaeological Park, which is an entire area next to the temple mount that has been dug out to actually be down to the time of Jesus. So this is actually on of the few places in the city where you can literally walk where Jesus walked. Because everything else has been so built up. Huntsman talked to us for quite a while, but the other class had already finished. And Melissa and group of girls from the other class were waiting for me and were getting impatient, so the moment Huntsman released us I was up and jogging to where the girls were. I almost fell on my face in front of a group of soldiers because I was trying to call Melissa while walking and they all started laughing at me. Once I caught up to them we went to a few stores in the Jewish Quarter then headed over to the other side of the city. I've been waiting for this one store to order in a sweatshirt for me, but when I got to the store a man with one arm that I hadn't talked to before was working and didn't understand what I wanted, even though I could see the bag with my stuff. So I sadly left with out it. We then just walked around and did some shopping. The plan was to do 'quick' shopping, as in know what you want in what specific store. Well that did not go as planned and we ended up staying in just one store for over an hour! Urg. A few of us walked around while a few indecisive girls stayed in the store. We were down by this corner shop that we pass all the time and the same boy is always working. Leslie and I stopped and she asked how much this plate thing was, just being curious. Then we started leaving, so Leslie walked away but the dumb boy wouldn't let me by and got really close to my face and started saying creepy things. So I pretty much ran out of there. But we stayed around that area for a little while longer, so I hid behind the other girls because he was just watching me. Once the indecisive girls had made up their minds we headed over to West Jerusalem. We hustled over there because we had things we still wanted to do but were now running late on time. We rode the light rail over, it's just a free train system. It is super crowded though so you have to make sure that everyone has a buddy, because it is easy to get stuck on or not even get on. But we were successful our first try. Our first stop was at Gina's Underwear. The name is deceiving, I ended up getting a 3 shekel belt and 7 shekel shoes, totaling about three dollars. Next we walked up a ways and got some doughnuts filled with chocolate. Doughnuts are seasonal here and I'm pretty sure that it is only the BYU students eating all of them. Literally everyone here gets them. But they sure are delicious. We had to keep walking while we were eating, so we looked like fools because we all had chocolate and powder sugar all over our faces. Pretty funny site. We hit up Alladin's then split into two groups, one group to Omars and the other home. I was in the home group, but we ended up going into a clothes store and buying Christmas Sweaters! Well actually I really like it for a normal sweater, but then the two other girls I was with wanted them too. So all three of us matched on the way home. It was pretty funny. Everyone at the center loved our sweaters, we wore them all night. I absolutely love it too. I watched a couple basketball games when I got back, then talked with Lauren and Nicole for a while. Then we made birthday notes and a card for Leslie and figured out plans for her birthday, which is tomorrow. Yay!

Day 89

Saturday. The 27th of November.

I slept through breakfast, my usual Sabbath habit. Eventually got up and showered then walked up to church. Today was the Primary program, we have about fifteen kids total. It was pretty entertaining, there was one little sunbeam boy that was just going crazy the whole time. He was blowing spit bubbles, kissed Whitney on the lips, was walking around the stage, and kept trying to speak on the mic when it wasn't his turn. Everyone was pretty much watching him the entire time. After church I was having a debate whether I should go out or stay in the center and take a nap/maybe read. I decided that I don't have much time left, so I should try to go out every single day. So I went out with a few kids to the Garden of Gethsemane. But we walked a different then usual. We walked through pretty much a huge field full of trash and sketchy people. But it was faster and and adventure. We stayed at the Garden for about an hour, but it was freezing so we walked home. By the time we got home it was four, which means it was time to eat! Yay, I had only had water all day long and was starving. I love the cooked veggies that we get at dinner, I also had a few pieces of toast, and mashed potatoes. Obviously my day wasn't that exciting if I'm writing about the food that I ate. After dinner we had a devotional by a member of the seventy something, who is over the Middle East area, Brother and Sister Catcher. They gave really good talks, Bro. Catcher was trying to advertise the availability of his son which was pretty funny. Immediately after they spoke we had our Christmas choir practice, we practiced three new songs. They are just the basic holiday songs that are fun and easy to sing. Then after that our home teachers taught us and then I just worked on my computer for a little while. Then donated my computer to the those in need of Christmas music and went to bed.

Day 88

Friday. The 25th of November.

I love being back at the center, it's wonderful. So wonderful that I didn't want to even get out of bed this morning. Apparently neither did any of my roommates, we all snoozed and/or completely ignored our alarm clocks. We still were on time, just slow. We had NT for two hours, we also had a really easy quiz. But it was pretty much a bummer for me because I didn't do the reading and I couldn't remember specifics from my one minute skim of all the reading. So I did poorly on the quiz, no big deal really. We then had Ludlow's class right after, but I could hardly concentrate. I worked on blogging for the hour until lunch, didn't get far. At lunch it was sandwich day, which I love. We also have a hot chocolate machine, so I got some of that because it is so cold here. Well you can't really compare it to Utah. But it's freezing for here, the center is even cold. We then had our humanitarian project for a couple hours, we finally reached our ten thousand goal for hygiene kits. It was then three, when we are allowed to leave the center on Fridays. But about three groups fell through and couldn't go out because of random things ie primary program practice and synagogue visits. So I was bummed and didn't feel like going out anymore. But then I decided that I was being lame and I went out with Brielle, Aubrey, and Lauren. We decided just to wander around for the two hours we had. We ended up finding an outdoor soccer field inside the Old City! I was completely surprised that we had never seen it before. We were a little nervous to go in at first because there were only men inside. But it ended up being a blast. We were watched pretty much the entire time, but we loved watching the soccer game. They were all actually pretty nice to us. Well this one little boy was sorta dancing in front of us, then spit on us. And then one of the adults yelled at him and smacked him in the head. We didn't really know how to feel about it. We were glad the kid was reprimanded, but felt bad that he got hit. We eventually were so cold that we couldn't stay any longer, so we left. On our way out we saw this asian man that was wearing pink claw crocs, pink genie pants, and had long hair that was half up. It was hilarious. We ended up following him around for a little while and taking sneaky photos. While we were walking back we talked to a man that was born in Ogden for a couple minutes, it is really fun talking to the locals. Then we headed back up to the center. I worked some more on the blog, went to dinner. It is Andrew's birthday today, so they lifted him up in the chair twenty-five times then he was given twenty-five kisses. They were trying to get the girls to give them to him, but then some of the boys did and even Bro. and Sis. Chapman! It was hilarious. One of the 'funny' boys wanted to be the 25th kiss. So while he waited he creepily stared at Andrew and was putting chapstick on. Then when it was finally his turn, he crawled across the table and ended up knocking a full glass of water onto Andrew and soaking his pants. It was the funniest thing I have seen all week. We were all dying of laughter. After dinner I worked on this darn blog for ever and watched a White Christmas with the girls. And after all my hard efforts I am almost, sorta caught up, minus all the pictures.

Day 87

Leslie and I at the Cemetery 

John A. Clark of Farmington Utah

Katie and I on Carmel Ridge

Me, Katie, Lauren, Kara at Caesarea

On the shore

Mediterranean Sea at Caesarea

Ruins at Caesarea

Caesarea

Thursday. The 24th of November.

Happy Thanksgiving! This morning we all got up early and finished packing and getting our stuff ready to go. At breakfast there was another group of college age students that have been traveling around for a few months. I was so confused who they were for a minute because they were our age but not part of our group! So odd. We loaded the busses and headed out. Our first stop was supposed to be forty minutes away but it took almost two hours because of the traffic. We stopped at the German Templar Cemetery where a few LDS missionaries are buried in the 1890's. One of the missionaries was from Farmington. We then drove up to a Monastery on Carmel Ridge where Elijah talks with the priests about Ba'al. The other class reenacted the story for us. We then sang in a small chapel for a while, the acoustics were really great. A lot of other tourist came and listened to us, one even said that we sounded like angels. We went up onto the roof and looked at the view and could see all of the Jazreel Valley. Our last site was at Caesarea, it was a giant city right on the coast of the Sea. Huntsman talked to us for a few minutes in the theater and then down by the water. Then we were free to wonder for about an hour. It was so nice, the sea was beautiful. It was so nice being by the beach. There were ton's of ruins there as well, we walked along the coast and looked at the ruins for a while. We ran into this man and his wife who went to BYU and were living in Italy. They were interesting, but nice. We got some ice cream then got back onto the bus for the last time. And started driving home! But I was about to kill half of the kids on my bus, because they sang the same song over and over and over again. Literally it was two and a half hours of the same MJ song. Finally Huntsman got on the speaker and told them to stop. We finally got back to the center and it was all decorated for us! It was so exciting, there were lots of Christmas trees and fun lights. I was so happy to back to my room and my soft warm bed! I took my stuff to my room then talked to the family for a little while. We had dinner at six and we were supposed to look decent because they had prepared a really nice Thanksgiving dinner for us. It was so exciting. They had a huge buffet table set up for us full of yummy foods. Obviously it wasn't the same kind of meal I would have at home, but I still enjoyed it. The desserts went so fast, so Katherine and I literally stood by the table for five minutes waiting for them to bring us out some more. Eventually we got some. The kids from my bus performed their song that they had practiced for twenty years. I then went and put my laundry in, lucky timing for me that they weren't all full. I talked to the fam for a little while again. Once I was done talking and doing my laundry I ended up making a Christmas list. Mainly I just went around and asked people what there favorite books were and looked them up. Finally around midnight I went to bed, not having done any of my homework.

Day 86

Chorazin

Sepphoris

Acco Cisterns

Cisterns

Poor camel in the khan

Melissa and I at the Coast

Wednesday. The 23rd of November.

Today both classes got to go on the trips again, but just about everyone was running late. So a ton of kids ran into breakfast really fast and grabbed food and took it out with them. And the staff there got really mad at us and pretty much yelled at our professors. Thus we were given lectures about not taking the food out anymore. Our first site of the day was at Chorazin, um this site was mentioned in Matthew but it really wasn't that exciting or anything. Huntsman gave another lecture about the 'woes' of Matthew. We only had about ten minutes to look around. There wasn't much to see. There was Moses' seat, but the real thing was in the Israel museum. Our next stop was at Sepphoris, it was a Jewish city that was influenced by Hellenism. We were given about forty minutes to walk around, but there was a group of little students there too and they were going the same pace we were, so it was super crowded and I didn't really see anything. Ben found a little chameleon that was changing colors when it was on different peoples shirts. It was one of the most entertaining things at the site. There was a mosaic that is considered the Mona Lisa of the Galilee, but I didn't even see it. Oops. Our last, and best, stop of the day was at Acco. It was a city right on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, Bro. Skinner our academic director told us about it. It was the main and last Crusader era outpost. We walked through a huge citadel, one of the coolest one's we have been in. We walked around a bit of Old Acco. We saw this thing called a khan, it was where the crusaders brought in all of their shipments and stored them there they also stayed there. But there was a poor little camel that looked so uncomfortable inside it. It made me sad. When we got to the coast we climbed down off the wall onto a bunch of rocks and took some pictures. Then we got back on our lovely buses and headed back to the good ol' Kibbutz. We got back and had dinner then Ludlow's class again. Afterwards we had another bonfire but the classes were separated to their own fires. And we had a little testimony meeting. I was sitting on the second row around the fire and was freezing. Our professor called it good after an hour and he went to bed. But all of us stayed for a while longer and just sang songs. Then the other group finished their testimony meeting so most of our class went over to their fire. But I stayed at mine with a few other kids and just talked for a little while. Then I went back to the room and quietly tried to pack up my stuff, because one of the girls in my room was already sleeping.

Day 85

Hazor

Hazor, it almost looks like Fall trees!

Hazor

Dan. With Maddie, Katie, Elyse, Lauren, me, Kara

There's Lebanon!

The Mud Gate with Katie and Lauren

Pools at Dan

Banias Falls

Banias

Nimrod's Castle

Nimrod's Castle

Wendy and  in the Castle

Nimrod's Castle

Tuesday. The 22nd of November.
Today both classes got to go on the field trip, but we were still separated so we weren't actually at any of the sites together. Our first stop was at Hazor, it was just an important Canaanite city. In Judges it is where Jael killed some guy by putting a tent peg through his temple while he slept. It really wasn't that interesting. There was a water cistern that had two spiral stair cases to the bottom and they weaved around each other. That really was one of the most interesting things there. We then went to tel Dan. It was a great site, it was full of trees and green-ness. It is one of the main headwaters for the Jordan River. Huntsman gave us a lecture about living water. We then got to walk around the site for a while. There was a ton of stuff to see! There was a mud brick gate from the time of Abraham, a high holy place, little pools of water, and we could even see Lebanon from where we were standing. I really enjoyed this site. Next we went to Banias (Panias), this is where Jesus asked Peter who men thought he was in Matthew 16:16. This site had some Petra-esqe carvings in the walls, we then went over to Banias Falls. But we were running short on time so we went on the short little trail to see one waterfall. It was really beautiful as well. I love seeing the green and all the water. Because the rest of Israel is so dry and brown. Next up we went to Nimrod's Castle! It was huge and so much fun to explore for a while. It was also a great view. It made me want to live in a castle. We stopped at another overlook on the way home, but it was pretty much dark and there wasn't much to see so I didn't even get off the bus. We got back to the kibbutz and had dinner. Then I went to my room and Jessica and I studied for our take home part of our test for NT. She took it then went down to the re-scheduled bonfire, but I was too comfy and warm in my bed so I watched some more of Avatar, then took the test, then just went to bed. And I didn't want to get all smoky and smelly again.

Day 84

Monday. The 21 of November.

Well we had class this morning for two hours, again. And then we had a couple hours to study. After lunch we took our test. It is all written, which is nice because Huntsman is an easy grader and gives you higher grades compared to it being a multiple choice test. His test was much easier than Harpers tests were. The test had twenty-five terms to identify, five notable passages that we had to do the historical, literary, and exegesis analysis on, and then four essay questions. It took me longer than I was expecting, but I feel like I did pretty well on it. I had a little bit of time between the test and dinner, so I watched a bit more of my movie. I have been watching Avatar for like a week now, because it is the longest movie and I have been watching it just a little at a time. After dinner we had a lecture from a lady that lives in the Kibbutz, she told us about it then opened it up for questions. I could never live in a Kibbutz. It is a very zionist, equal community. Everything is shared and equal. For example all of their pay checks go into one big pool and everyone shares it equally. Well they actually changed that rule two years ago, now you just have to give a large percentage of your paycheck to the community. It's so odd, but they love it and it works for them. After the lecture was over we were scheduled to have another bonfire. So I went to my room and changed into my smoky clothes that I wore to the first bonfire, they smell disgusting. Pretty much all of my clothes smell terrible, because they are all wet and wont dry. And then I went down to the beach with a couple girls, only to find out that the kibbutz had scheduled it on the wrong night and that there wasn't going to be a one. Bummer. So I changed out of my smelly clothes and went to Lauren and Kaitlyn's room and we watched PS I Love You. Then I went to bed. yay.

Day 83

Church on Mount Tabor

Inside the Church with Kaitlyn

Church of Nain

Megiddo

Dang I blinked. Megiddo.

In a manger with Katie.

Sunset at the Sea of Galilee. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Yes I took a picture of myself. I couldn't help myself. Just look at the background!

Sunday. The 20th of November.

Field trip day! We were on the buses by 7:30 ready to go. Our first stop was at Mount Tabor, our bus couldn't make it up the hill because the roads are too narrow and windy so we got to ride up in smaller vans. Our driver had this huge mustache and was wiggling it the entire time at Whitney and I. At some points he didn't even have his hands on the steering wheel and was turned around posing for pictures for us! Mount Tabor is the traditional site of the Transfiguration when Moses and Elias came and spoke to Jesus. We had a little lecture then viewed the overlook and went into the church there. It had some really pretty mosaic ceilings. Matty wanted to take a picuture with me but I was talking with Melia Ludlow when he asked me so I told Melia to be in the picture with us. It was pretty funny because it looked like a family picture. And even better nearly our whole group was watching us take the picture, so they were all laughing about it too. We then got to go to the church of Nain, one of the Fathers from Tabor had the key to it. Nain is where Jesus raised the widow's son from the dead in Luke. The church was in the middle of an Arabic area and there was a call of prayer going on nearly the entire time we were there. Huntsman talked to us again for a while about death and resurrection. And then of course we sang. For some odd reason when we get on the back on the bus in the mornings, we become suddenly hungry and eat our lunches at about ten. The lunches are two sandwiches, cheese and PB&J for me, a candy bar, an apple, and a water bottle. We all got pretty sick of them, we had quite a good trade system going on with them. We then went to Megiddo, the last battle (Armageddon) is supposed to happen here. Kaitlyn and I had a nice little bonding moment over both having played softball for a long time. Thus we had a fun little rock throwing contest, we were throwing rocks off the tel. We tried to get them into a dumpster next to the parking lot, but the wind kept pulling the rocks too far right. So Kaitlyn through one pretty far left so that the wind would carry it into the dumpster. Well the wind didn't blow that time and her rock almost hit a car, so we ran away pretty fast. We played around at the ruins, getting on the fake metal horses and sitting in the mangers like baby Jesus (Megiddo had a big horse stable area once upon a time). Luckily it didn't start to rain until we were back on the bus. But we still had one more site at a national park, Gan Ha-Shelosha, that had some natural springs. I had brought my swimsuit, but I didn't even want to get off the bus and run through the pouring rain to the semi-warm springs. So I volunteered my swimsuit to another girl who wanted to go swimming. And about fifteen kids and I stayed on the bus. Well when the rain let up a little bit Lauren, Katie, and I ran inside and got Magnum bars. When we got back the sun was just setting so I went down to the beach to take a couple pictures. Jessica took a ton of fun pictures of Kaitlyn, Katie, and I in the water. We did a bunch of fun jumping ones where it looks like we are standing on the water. I ended up soaking my pants completely, but it was a blast. And even better the sunset was super beautiful in the background of the pictures. I changed then went to dinner, we had Ludlow's class again after dinner. Then I studied for my midterm a bit and worked on homework for the rest of the night.