Thursday, December 15, 2011

Day 108

Thursday. The 15th of December.

Our last and final day in Jerusalem. I went out with Whitney, Ben, Lindsay, and Koryl again today. Mainly because I was still a bugged from yesterday.We did the Via Dolorosa, it is the fourteen stations along the path that Christ carried His cross. We don't really believe in it, but it was still fun to do. We found the first nine stations and then went into the Holy Sepulcher where the rest of them are. I went into the little shrine thing build on Jesus 'burial place.' Usually there is a humongous line for it, but there was only like five people in line so we went through. Afterwards we walked over to the Western Wall, we stayed there for a little while. We then saw Izak, he had left the center for good the day before, he was with his mom and soon-to-be-fiance. It was fun meeting someone's family. Izak told us that they had just been up at the Dome, which we thought was closed. So we ran over there and it was open! Someone had been spreading some lies at the center. So we had about five minutes up there until it actually did close for lunchtime. Afterwards we walked around the city a bit, a few kids did some last minute shopping. We went to that gummie man that loved my hair the other day and he remembered me and gave me a free treat. Then he called me 'the princess of Israel.' He was super nice, he even asked me how I was enjoying the gummies I had bought from him the day before. We did an final Aladin, Omar, Jimmy, and Bagdadi sweep on our way out. We stopped at a place for shawarma. They only sold shwarma and I only had two shekels left to my name. Whitney ended up buying me a tortilla with hummus, what a kind soul. We walked through the Arab Costco one last time and headed up the hill home bound. At the center I finished packing, my bag is exactly fifty pounds. I am quite an excellent packer if I do say so myself. I have my large suitcase, a tiny bag, and two backpacks full of four months of accumulated stuff. I turned in my cell phone and lugged my heavy bags up all of the stairs to the top level. Those will be a joy getting through the airport. When I got to the top Lauren was there and told me that Sam was outside. I had texted Sam earlier in the day and asked if she would come by to say goodbye, because I wanted to see her one last time. So I went outside and we talked to her for a little while, she was in the hospital the other day because she was feeling really sick. But she was feeling a little better now, she also has officially decided not to go back and work for her mean lawyer man. I wanted to talk longer, but Lauren and Leslie hadn't even started to pack so we said goodbye one last time and went inside. Right before we left Sam told me that her husband Zaki had told her after I had left her house a few days ago that I had 'the beauty of all the nations.' Basically that I have got the best attributes of every single ethnicity. Easily the best compliment I have ever gotten. I happily went back to my room and finished cleaning all of my stuff completely out. And I have just been working on updating my blog. We had our last dinner, I have been saying it is our 'last' everything today. Now I'm just waiting until seven, when we will be driven to the airport. Also bummer I just found out that my flight from JFK to SLC was changed to be four hours later. Lame. But I am so excited to go home. I love it here. But knowing that I will be home soon is far more exciting.

Day 107

Wednesday. The 14th of December.

This morning I got up and ready by 6:30, because the plan was to go to mass at St. Annes Church with my normal group of girls. So a few minutes before then I was downstairs and ready. No one was showing up so I sat and ate an apple thinking they were all just running late. Five minutes after I went to their rooms and knocked. No answer. I assumed they all had just decided not to go and were still sleeping. So I was bummed and went back to my room. Well breakfast rolls around and not a single one of the girls were there. What great friends. Apparently they all decided to change the time to a few minutes earlier and it had slipped every single one of their minds to tell me. As if. I had been planning what we were going to do all day long with them, psych guess I wasn't invited. Sorry I though you guys wanted to be my friend. So after realizing my abandonment, I pouted around for a little while then decided not to let them completely ruin my entire day. Whitney was great and invited me to go out with here for the day. We first went to the Israel Museum, which I was super excited to go to one more time. Since the first time I went was the second day I was in Israel, so this time I actually knew what things were. And I wasn't looking for specific things. I went through it by myself for a couple hours, I think I've decided that I really like museums. We met up at noon and left the museum, we walked through a very distant part of West J. We walked all the way over to the shuk and we got some doughnuts right out of the fryer. They were so hot that the jelly melted a bit and got all over my hands. I was super sticky, so we walked over to Ben Yahuda street and went into a nice bath and body wash-esq store and scrubbed our hands clean with delicious smelling soap. We then got falafel for lunch. I was stuffed, but neither Whitney or I had ever had a crepe here. So we invested in one filled with milk chocolate, white chocolate chunks, and cookie crumbs. Pretty much it was delicious. And worth it even though I was super full. While we were walking over to the Old City we saw signs that pointed to the 'underground prisoners.' Well we were curious and followed them. We ended up at a prison, well an old prison it was used during the British Mandate period and had been turned into a museum. We decided to pay the ten shekels and go in, it reminded me of Alcatraz a bit. It was interesting but most of the signs were in Hebrew, so I didn't quite know what the museum was all about. We finished up at the museum and walked over into the Old City, we went over to Shabans to help Whitney pick up the t-shirts for all of the students and faculty. We carried the hundred shirts just outside the city where Sister Omar picked us up, there was five of us though. But she let four of us sit in the back, as long as one of us was hidden. She let three of us get out just around the corner from the center so that they didn't see that she was breaking the law. I helped Whitney sort out the shirts. Then I managed to grovel for the girls that I bought candy for the other day to pay me. I was then able to pay of my 45 dollar debt to the center. Who knew I had printed so much to rack up such a bill? Right before dinner I watched the video of the play that the little Ludlow girls were in with their family and a couple other students. It was cute. For dinner the kitchen staff had set up a huge fun meal for us, too bad I was so stuffed still from earlier. Whitney and I then handed out the shirts after dinner, I was the money man and asked everyone to donate five shekels because the shirts cost more than the Shekel Shack had made. Pretty much Whitney was paying for everyone's shirts. Right after that we took a group photo with everyone in their shirts. We then went to the forum and had a farewell. We played the three videos we had made for our professors, while we were waiting for the slide show to be ready. Once the three videos were done, the slideshow still wasn't loaded or something. So a handful of students did some improv and performed for us. Eventually the fifty minute long slide show was ready. The girl that had made it spent a lot of time on it, but I wouldn't watch it again. I would not have made the show anything like she did, majority of the pictures were just of landscapes and of her group of friends. It was a bit of pain having to watch the whole thing. When it finally finished I went to my room and did a bit of packing before I went to bed.

Day 106

Tuesday. The 13th of December.

This morning my class got to leave a whole fifteen minutes later than Harpers group. We all walked down the Garden of Gethsemane. We went into the Church of All Nations, which holds the 'stone of agony.' We then went into the newer side of the garden and had a devotional and sang. Vans then picked us up and took us to St. Peter's in Gallicantu. It is where the palace of Caiaphas could have been, he was the high priest who plotted against Jesus. It was also here that Peter denied Christ three times. Huntsman was a pushing us a bit here, because we had fallen behind schedule and the timing was just off. We kept trying to go into this one holding room, but it was it was always full. So we went outside onto actual first century steps and had our devotional. We then hustled, briskly walked, through the city because most Churches close during lunch time. We first went to the Church of Fagellation and we had a devotinal about Jesus as 'the man of sorrows.' We walked across the compound we were in to the Church of Condemnation where Lauren gave the devotional about culpability (aka who's to blame). We then joined classes and went to St. Anne's, the church next to the Pool of Bethesda. We sang a bunch of songs in the church, we had a nice little crowd of people behind us singing/listening and raising their hands up. We then had two free hours in the Old City until we had to be at any where, so we were allowed to do whatever we wanted until then. Leslie, Kaitlyn and I at our lunches just outside St. Anne's. Then we went to Jaffa Sweets, where we shared some Kanafa. Because Kaitlyn hadn't had it before, it's that weird cheese dessert. She didn't like it, but it is necessary for everyone in the Middle East to experience. We went into a music shop and listened to some Israeli Christmas music, it was pretty awful but entertaining. We made our way over to the Garden Tomb to meet up with our classes after making a couple treat stops. At one gummie shop the store keeper told me that I had beautiful hair and that I should never cut it. Gee thanks. The guides at the Garden Tomb talked to us for a little while, just reminding us of how much they love it when we come. They love the example we set, that and our singing.We split into our classes again and had our final devotional and songs. Kaitlyn and I walked around one last time, then we headed out with Leslie, Katie and Scott (who apparently didn't have any better options). We went over to Alladin's for the last time. He had us take pictures with him and had us hold stacks of money in them. He gave us his email and wants us to send the picture to him. His son's work with him and one of them asked me if I was in the concert the other night. I said yes. And he asked if I was standing in the lower left corner. Yes. Then he asked if I had been wearing a green dress. Yes. He told me I was a great singer. Well thank you sir, slightly creepy but thanks. We went over to Bagdaddi's Olive Wood shop after, he was super chatty too. They all know were leaving so they are all sentimental. He told us how much he loved us and gave us free post cards. I got the cutest little camel pin there. It's adorable. I then made sure we speed walked down the hill to our Arab Costco, Scott and Kaitlyn were making fun of me for walking so fast. But hey I just wanted to make sure we had enough time. A group of five of us had decided in advance to buy the bulk candy and split it up. We decided to spend max 30 shekel each and ended up getting a ton of candy. Except we just had one person pay to make it easier, I bet you can guess who paid. Oh ya me. I can tell you right now I will not be getting paid back by every one. When we got back to the center it was like Halloween. We had ton's of candy and we split it all up/we may have eaten just a bit. We had our class programs after dinner. Huntsman had set it up so that almost all of the students participated, it was centered around Advent. I had to read four set's of pericopes on Love. I pretty much humiliated myself, you think I would be able to read by now. Nope. I had to read one verse over three times, because it just didn't sound right to me. Even though I said it right every time. Ya everyone laughed. Doi. The program was great but it went for two long hours. When it finished we got to eat the scraps of treats that the other class had left for us. The student's then had set up cameras in three rooms where you could go with a group and film anything for our three professors. We got a group of sixish together and made a video for each teacher where we spelt out their names (N is for Nothing trumps Jesus). Afterwards I just went to bed.

Day 105

(I'll add pictures once I get back to Utah)

Monday. The 12th of December.

So hard to wake up this morning. While my alarm was going off, Desiree in the bed next to me started asking me questions about the day. Hello, I was still half asleep and incoherent. I couldn't even understand what she wanted from me. We were loaded on the buses by seven and headed out on our last bus field trip. I sat with AnnaLeah, she is one of my favorite girls here. She is such a sweet, fun girl. I felt bad though because I wasn't a fun bus buddie, I was just too tired. Our first stop was in Bethany, the site where Christ raised Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, from the dead. Huntsman has assigned students to give the devotional at every site for the next two days, instead of himself doing them. Elyse talked to us in a little garden area, when she finished we went into the little church and sang a song. Then we got to go down into the supposed tomb of Lazarus. You had to walk down a narrow staircase then basically crawl through a little hole to get to the tomb. While we were waiting for everyone to get through we could walk up to the Western Wall, right were we were at a gate had been built into the wall. But it is only open once a year for Palm Sunday processions. We then went to Pater Noster, this site commemorates the Lord's prayer. All around the site were plaques with the prayer in all different languages, it was fun going around and trying to read them. I even found the Swahili sign! Yay for Kenya! We then walked over to Dominus Flevit, which means "the Lord Wept." Here Whitney gave a fantastic little discussion on the two times Jesus wept over Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives.We then walked down the steep hill to the Hyde Garden, where Whitney and I lounged on the ground and ate our lunches. We didn't chose the best place to sit, because a bunch of kids had bought sling shots earlier and were practicing with tomatoes right by us. Once we finished our lunches we got back on the bus and drove up and around the city a bit to Mount Zion. Which is one of the traditional sites of the Last Supper. Again we had a devotional by another student and sang a few songs. We were then done for the day and set free. I went with Robin, Brielle, Lauren, Katie, and Elyse accross the street to the graveyard, where Schindler's tomb is. His grave is covered with little stones, because when people visit his grave they place a stone on it in respect. We wandered around the Holy Sepulcher area for a little while and tried to get onto the roof. Sadly the roof was We then spent twenty years at Shabans, no one was even shopping. We then went over to the Armenian Couvent. It is only open for half an hour everyday, so this was the first time I had been there at the right time. We watched the service and afterwards the only Priest came and talked to us. He was from Canada and was collage age, he was really interesting to talk to. After we talked to him we headed back to the center. We had a pre-departure meeting, they just told us basic things. But good news we only have to empty out our rooms, we don't actually have to clean them!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Day 104

Spice shop in the City

Good ol' Damascus Gate

Wendy's dress that I wore to the concert

Sunday. The 11th of December.

Officially our last week. I went to breakfast early this morning, because Leslie, Kaitlyn, and I wanted to leave by eight. We wanted to go to church at a Lutheran church in the old city. So we started our way and were in the city when we ran into Huntsman and his daughter! They happen to be going to the same church, so we walked together. Funny thing was that he kept getting us lost and was confused, but I knew where we were the entire time. And kept trying to suggest how to get there. Eventually he listened and we got their right on time. The three of us sat a bit farther back than him, because we wanted to watch all the people too. There was probably only twenty other people there. The service was actually really enjoyable. I wish that I had gone to more services, oops too late now. It was the third Sunday of Advent so they had all the little children go to the front and light the third candle on the Advent wreath. All of the people there were really friendly, one of them said they had never met a lutheran from Utah. We didn't have the heart to break the news to him that we weren't actually Lutheran. At one point in the meeting they had everyone stand up and introduce themselves. They even invited us to have tea in the courtyard with them afterwards. Once the service was over we just wandered the city and shopped around. Some people are so against shopping, which I find irritating. Because I feel like it is one of the best ways to explore the city and you get to interact with the locals. So it just irritates me when I'm with someone that is too opinionated and won't willingly do what the rest of the group wants to do. It wasn't a problem today, the three of us had a lot of fun. But just throwing that out there, I find those kind of people to be very rude. We ended up going home around one, which I was a bit bummed about. Bu the other two girls still had essay's they had to write for class. I started watching this odd submarine movie on my laptop, which is slightly retarded and likes to shock my wrists while I am typing. Halfway through my movie the phone rang. And it was Katie Legro, she had errands to do and was wondering if I would be the third person in her group. I was easily convinced. Would I rather be watching a movie by myself or walking around an ancient city? Though choice. I went out with her and Caleb Cunningham. They are both very fun and energetic kids.We just walked over to the money changer and the olive wood man, got some treats then came home. It was a fun little outing. At seven we had to get ready for another, more formal concert. I was being dramatic and laying on the floor by my closet because I had nothing to wear. So Whitney and I actually swapped clothes completely. It was a nice change. I am so sick of all of my clothes. This concert was for ticketed persons only. I really did not want to go, I didn't even enjoy being in the last concert. And for this concert the music man, Oman, cut some of our students solo's and special performances. It was one of the rudest things. He cut some great acts, just to make sure he had time for himself and for three kids that aren't even with our program. Even worse he didn't tell the kids he cut until half an hour before the show that they were out. It was so sad. One act was Koryl and Shelly, Koryl dances beautifully while Shelly sings and plays the guitar. They had been practicing all day long for nothing. They were devastated. We made it through the concert, all of the people that had come were very kind. It was a full house. I was just glad it was over with. Afterwards we had refreshments in the oasis, but it ended up turning into a Christmas dance party. I think perhaps we have gotten to comfortable around each other, at one point we dragged a Christmas tree into the center of the floor and we were all dancing around it. Super funny. Once I was over the dancing scene, I pulled an 180 and went and ended my night by watching The Ring.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Day 103

Leslie in our little cooking area.
Note the oven in the lower left corner.

Lauren making some cookies.

Dinner with the family!

Sam's House

Sam!

Saturday. The 10th of December.

I slept through breakfast, like always on Sabbath. It's such a pain to get ready for breakfast, I mean who does that? We had our last Sabbath here, our last time having Church. Right after I changed and Leslie and I went and borrowed some vanilla and baking soda from Sister Bentley. Then Leslie, Lauren and I went upstairs and waited. Because we had gotten permission the night before to go back to her house! After the concert last night we had her talk to our head of security and he loved her and gave us permission go over. She was an hour late to pick us up, but we sorta expected that. She picked us up and we went to a couple local stores and bought the rest of the ingredients needed to make chocolate chip cookies. She then drove us over to her house, where her daughters were. We also finally got to meet Zaki, her husband. He was great! He spoke English really well and was so nice to us. We also met a few other members of the family, like sister-in-laws and nieces. The sister-in-law who is engaged came over and showed us her glamorous shots from her engagement party! They were fabulous. Sam started cooking us dinner while we started making the cookies. It was a bit harder than I expected because we didn't have any measuring cups or really any baking utensils at all. We warmed butter in our hands and mixed everything with spoons and forks. And we just eyeballed all the measurements and used random cups. Samach, Sam's four year old was enjoying helping us stir. Our next problem was the oven. Okay her 'oven' is something I would never consider to be an oven. It was a big round, pan type thing. That had a lid that had the hot rods on it like an oven. But it was more like a broiler and had no temperature setting, just hot. So we would flatten out the cookies in advance and then make them like pancakes flipping them so they didn't get burned. Well we struggled and actually did burn most of them. They weren't that great, but it was a blast. We ended up eating more cookie dough than cookies. And at least Zaki loved our cookies! We were supposed to be home by dark, five. But as you can guess, that didn't happen. Sam's meal wasn't ready yet, so we kept on waiting. We called the center, but had Sam talk. The head of security wasn't in, so they said they would call us back. They called back and somehow I was the one that ended up on the phone. And I managed to get us permission to stay out past dark, because they trusted Sam! Last night she was joking with the guards that we lived in a jail and they said they were just protective over us because we were like sisters or daughters to them. And Sam told them that we were like sisters to her, so it was just as important to keep us safe. Therefore she gained their complete trust. We were all so excited that we were allowed to stay for dinner! We were pretty much panicking once five rolled around and we weren't home. Sam made us a traditional meal, it was a big pot of rice, veggies, and chicken. She dumped it upside down on a giant plate and served us. But she knew that I was a vegetarian so she had one of her daughters make me a salad. But Leslie and Lauren loved the meal! I love Sam's family so much! Her and Zaki are the best parents, they are so fun with their daughters. I love that I have made her as a friend and that she sees us as her sisters and welcomes us right into her life. They started asking us about what Mormons are, we told them we couldn't say anything. But they insisted saying that we were friends and it wasn't a big deal to them that we signed a contract. But the other two girls are pretty by the book, so we didn't say anything. And it was about time that we needed to get back, so Sam and Zaki drove us home. Before we left her daughters gave us each one of their scarfs! Being at their house was one of my favorite thing's I have done in my entire three months. I just felt bad that everyone couldn't experience what we did. I wish all of the group could have the same experience. When we got back we were a little worried about the security guards, but they were super nice with us and asked if we had a fun time. We had a Last Supper experience when we got back to the center in the Upper Forum. Where they had set up a little scene and had students read the story of it. It was nice, but I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. It was just so peaceful. Afterwards we went to the Ludlow's apartment to see if Sister Ludlow had some red nail polish, bad timing. Because they were just about to have family prayer when we walked in. So they had us join them, it was kinda funny. For the rest of the night I just hung out with the girls and watch the movie The First Night. It was a great, great day.

Day 102

After the concert with Sam's daughter (middle), and her sister-in-laws.

The whole gang!

Friday. The 9th of December.

This morning I went directly up to the library after breakfast. I started studying for my NT final. Well I didn't study for really that long, I memorized my stuff and was done. It was only ten and I didn't know what to do with myself. So I left the library and went downstairs and showered and actually did my hair. Then I had lunch and went to take my final. It was pretty easy, there were only a couple questions I didn't know. I was planning on doing the second half of the test right after, but obviously that didn't happen. I ended up watching another episode of Gilmor Girls. Then I got changed and walked over to the Western Wall with a nice large group of the students. We got permission to be out a whole five minutes past our usual time. Once the sun goes down on Friday, Sabbath begins for Jews. So a bunch of them come to the Wall to welcome Sabbath. We went to the wall on a Friday night a few months ago. This time it was freezing, so it wasn't quite as enjoyable as the last time. But I still loved seeing the culture and religion of the Jews. The center sent us a bus to get back, but more kids went than they were planning on. So there wasn't room for two other boys and myself, so we had to ride with security back. They had come to help pick us up. Right when we got back to the center we had a choir practice, it was super frustrating. Because it was just supposed to be a run through, supposed to be quick. Ya right. We would be told to walk in a certain order, then once we did it they got mad at us because it didn't work. Well you were the one that told us to do that! The Oman's aren't very patient people. We had a quick dinner, then the Achievement Day girls had a little How the Grinch Stole Christmas play. It was fun, but rough timing because everyone was trying to get ready for the concert. We then went right up to the upper auditorium and practiced for the show a bit more. And had to sit in our seats for half an hour and wait for the performance to start. I had way too much energy to be sitting there. And Sam had said she was going to come, so I was turned around in my seat looking for her to come in. But I never saw here, bummer. So I was a bit sad she didn't make it. I sat through the very long performance, it was great. But I have listened to these kids sing and stuff so many times already. When the concert ended guess what?! Sam actually was there, she had just came late and sat in the back corner. She brought two of her daughters and two of he sister-in-laws. I was so excited that they had come! I haven't seen Sam in over a month. They all chatted with us for a while. The other girl that she had brought was beautiful, she is only seventeen and is going to be married in July! Once they left I went and finished the second half of my test and watched a bit of 24. Then it was past one! What was I doing that late. Logically I went to bed. Dur.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Day 101

Thursday. The 8th of December.

101. Like 101 Dalmatians. Which means I'll be home in exactly eight days, approximately 187 hours to be exact (oxymoron). Did I forget to mention that I have no more classes? Yesterday was the last day of classes! And I only have one more final:) Since we had no classes to day, they scheduled choir practice in the morning. So right after breakfast we had choir. It ended up being super long, some people just make the dumbest remarks. Here is the thing. The concert is tomorrow, if you don't know your part by now bummer. But stop holding up everyone else so you can practice your part just a few more times. When choir was finally over, Leslie and I wanted to go visit Sam. But Lauren was no where to be found, well she was actually still sleeping. And we didn't want to wake her up. So we recruited Katie and headed out. Which was good because I literally haven't left this building for days! And you can't count walking to my room as going outside. The three of us got some flowers for the little Ludlow girls while we were out because they have a play tonight at their school. Initially they invited everyone, but too many of us wanted to go. So only about ten student's were chosen, don't get me started on how they were chosen. Lame. Anyways we were not among the chosen, so we got both of the girls some flowers. We walked over to Sam's office, but guess what it was closed. We have the worst timing with her. We texted her, only to find out that she didn't work today. So we wandered around aimlessly looking for a pastry shop. Okay so we may have been slightly lost, I knew where we were but not the specific street we were on. So we enjoyed our nice walk around the residential areas and eventually made our way back to known territory, aka the bakery. Once we got our treats we stopped by the Garden Tomb for a few minutes then went back to the center. Got in trouble by the custodian for taking a glass outside of the Oasis to put the flowers in. Shwoops. Had lunch and now I am obviously 'studying.' Like I obviously will be doing for the rest of the night.

Okay so I studied for about six minutes. Then I left all of my stuff to go get something from the printer and I didn't return, for about five hours. Okay so I got a little distracted. I watched the movie Minority Report. Then for dinner we had Hawaiian night. Initially I was like eww gross, but then I found the bowl of whipped cream covered fruit. Lots and lots of yumminess. It even had strawberries! So I may have had three platefuls of it, so what. It was delicious. One of my favorite things that we have had, yummy. Okay for reals now I'm going to study for the rest of the night...

Day 99 and 100

Tuesday and Wednesday. The 6th and 7th of December.

(jeepers mister, day 100!)
Obviously these two days were so exciting that I can fit them into one post.. On Tuesday I spent the morning in classes, had announcements, and linen exchange. Oh hey guess how many kits we finished for our humanitarian kits? Well we made 10,000 hygiene kits and almost 7,000 school kits. Ya that is 17,000. More than any group has ever done. After lunch I studied for my field trip test. Memorized the whole lovely book. I only had to get about fifty percent on the test to pass the class, but I was still a little worried about it. But I finished the test before you could say supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus. It was actually really easy. I'm pretty sure I passed the class. It was probably the last time I'll see Skinner too, him and his wife are flying out on Friday. After dinner I watched The Sound of Music with Leslie and Kaitlyn. But the disk stopped working so we watched Jack Frost. Oh PS it's Brianna's birthday, 22!

The next day Wednesday. Was just as exciting. We had class. In ANE Ludlow showed us a bunch of de-motivational posters and a few videos of these Jewish boys changing the words to songs and dancing to them around the Old City. After about an hour we actually started class. When class finished I hustled up to the library so I could sit in one of the four spots with a plug. Success. Then for the next six hours I studied for my test. Oh joy. Okay well it wasn't exactly six hours straight, I kept getting distracted by my computer and other lovely things. I got my Bashir final essay back, I got an 76. That's kinda low, huh? Okay, okay. So it was out of 80. Which means I got an A- in the class. And I learned just about nothing! After dinner I had about half an hour more to study. So I sat with Melissa, only to find out from her that I hadn't even looked at the midterm which could be included on the final. So I stressed for a while. Went into the test expecting to fail, because I didn't know anything. Well good news, I thought this test was super easy as well. I had studied plenty. Good thing. Once I finished Leslie and I went down to my room and watched a few episodes of Gilmore Girls, until Melissa kicked us out. That was the end of my idealistic day. -sarcasm-

Day 98


Some of the kids from the school

The mural that our semester painted at the school.

Just one of the lovely streets in the Old City.

If you look super close you can see the JC in the far distance,
just our daily walk.

This would be Omar's Olive wood shop.

Monday. The 5th of December.
This morning I went with a group of kids over to a local elementary. We were given about three minute of instructions then five of us were each sent into classrooms full of little four and five year olds. Well it was super fun, but we had to teach them a lesson on the letter F. So we sang this frog song to them at least twenty times. And one girl in my group was being super irritating and being a dictator, she was making it harder than it had to be. Nonetheless I still loved it. I just wish that we could have just played with the kids for a while longer. Once we were done teaching I went down to the city with Leslie and Kaitlyn. Our original intention had been to visit Sam, but she wasn't at work when we got there. Bummer. So we ended up walking around and doing some more shopping. It's fun that a bunch of the shop keepers recognizes us and are chatty. We walked all around the city, we even went up to West J and had some pizza for lunch. Once we got back to the center I finished filling out my NT field trip guide. After dinner we had (F)HE, they asked me to give the lesson just a few minutes before we started. Oh gee thanks. We then played wizard chess, where we were the pieces. It was actually super lame and not organized very well. But luckily it didn't last long. I then watched the Christmas Devotional in the forum, who even knew that those existed? Well apparently just about everyone but me. After that I went to a poetry reading, The Dead (Sea) Poets Society. Ha. A bunch of kids had a whole area set up. I stayed for a while and listened to some poems, most of them were pretty funny. Although one girl recited a super deep poem that she had written, I don't feel like it was the time or place for her lovely little poem. Oh wells. I then did a smidge bit more homework then went to beddd.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Day 97

Masada

Actual wall art

Whitney and I in Masada

The siege ramp

Masada

See that path? That would be what grandpa walked all the way up.

The Dead Sea

Andy and I just floating around.

The Dead Sea

Ein Gedi

Ein Gedi

Katie and I walking Ein Gedi.

Pretty much holding Ben up by myself. Ein Gedi.

Ein Gedi.

Katie and I are pretty strong.

The Qumran Caves

Cave number 11(it might have been 4, we were having a bit of a debate),
where most of the scrolls were found.

Awkward tourist photo with Lauren.

Mikvah, it was ruined by an earth quake. 

Sunday. The 4th of December.

Another field trip day! This morning we had breakfast at six, so I had to get up nice and early to shower. Our first stop of the day was at Masada! The entire time I just kept thinking about grandpa and how he walked up, we didn't have time so we all took the tram. But the walk up is pretty long, I was impressed that grandpa did it. I didn't want to walk it. In our field trip manual says that it is an impregnable fortress, which is a bit ironic because it actually was conquered. Although it took years for it to be taken, because it is in such an inaccessible spot. The Romans, who took it, had to build a giant siege ramp. Huntsman toured us around for a little while, then we got to wander by ourselves. I walked around alone and searched for pottery shards and just explored the whole area. Masada was a pretty fascinating site. We got back on the bus and drove to the Dead Sea! We each had to pay two shekels to get into the bathroom, which was lame. Because it took forever for all sixty of us girls to get through and changed. And we were only allowed one hour on there. When I finally got through the line I walked with the little Ludlow girls down to the beach, okay it wasn't a beach. It was a rocky shore line where the waves were crashing into the shore. But the rocks were crystalized by all the salt, making everything super pointy and sharp. So everything hurt to walk on. And once you managed to walk on the awful rocks and didn't get pushed over by the huge waves you could actually float! It was super fun, you literally just sit there and do nothing and just float! It was a weird feeling. But after being splashed by the big waves and feeling all of my skin stinging from the poisonous water, I successfully got out with out dying. There was a handful of people who got pushed into the crystalized rocks by the waves and got cut up pretty badly. I had to pay two more shekels to use the showers and change back to my clothes. So floating was fun, but I don't think I would ever do it again. A fun once in a life time experience. But my skin hurt from the salt, my feet were about to fall off from the pointy rocks, and I got some of the disgusting water in my mouth. We then drove across the street to Ein Gedi Nature Reserve. It was where Solomon chased David. It had a bunch of little waterfalls and some little animals. It was a pretty area to walk around. Our last stop was at Qumran. Which is were the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, a community of Essenese Jews lived here as well. It is thought that perhaps they wrote the scrolls and hid them up in the caves of the mountain, where the scrolls were found. The site is full of mikvaot, ritual baths that the Essenese purified themselves in at least twice a day. I asked Huntsman today what the difference between mikvah and mikvaot was. Obviously mikvaot is the masculine form, the suffix -ot makes it plural. Whereas mikvah is the feminine singular form. We then ended our day and went back to the center, a short thirty minute drive. I then showered for the third time today and finally got all of the salt off. We had chocolate cakes at dinner, they were delicious. After dinner I watched the Sound of Music and Jack Frost with Leslie and Kaitlyn. Fun day! Were on our last page of the calendar, only twelve days left.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Day 96

Ben, Whitney, Allison, Kaitlyn, me, Leslie, Bro. Bentley

Whitney and me.

The girls, Orson Hyde Garden
The Bentley's


Saturday. The 3rd of December.

Today was fast Sabbath so no breakfast, which means we got to sleep in. I took full advantage of that and actually ended up being late to church because everyone in my room was trying to get ready at the same time, so I let the other girls use the bathroom first. Church was nice, I only have one more Sabbath here. After church our entire group walked over to the Orson Hyde Garden to consecrate the olive oil that we made earlier in the semester. We split into small groups with at least two boys in each, my group got Brother Bentley and Mark Ben. And they blessed all of our little bottles, mine was blessed by Bro. Bentley. I have never known really anything about consecrated oil, so it was interesting to see it done. We then walked back to the center and I finished my essay. Had about five cookies at dinner. Then went to choir practice, our concerts are this week. Now I could study for my three tests this week, but I won't. Where is the fun in that?

Day 95

Friday. The 2nd of December.

Well frankly today was pretty boring. I had two hours of NT and then two hours of Ancient Near East. And then we had lunch. Next I talked to security for a few minutes to try and get permission to go to Sam's house, it looks good but we just have to get more details. Then I may have taken a two hour nap, sleeping right through the humanitarian project. Then did some homework. Had dinner. Then we had a formal talent show. Pretty much all of the students here have some amazing talent. Thus the show was fun to watch, it was kids who were too good for the normal talent show but didn't get a spot in our Christmas program. Next I was going to finish up my homework, but I ended up watching the movie One Fine Day. I have decided it is in my top five for most annoying movies ever. The children in it are so irritating. Just don't tell Kaitlyn that, because she absolutely loves that movie. Then I went to bed. Yep, that was all.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Day 94

Russian Orthodox Church

Inside the Church

The Russian Orthodox Church

View from the Church
Entry to the Russian Orthodox Church


Tombs of the Proophets

Going down to the tombs

Inside the tombs

Inside the tombs

With my candle
Bundled up at the light show

Leslie and I at the light show

The Waffles Place


Thursday. The 1st of December.

Oh my goodness gracious it's December! Crrrzy. This morning I got up woke up early and laid in my bed for an hour reading more of my NT. Once I rolled out of bed I got ready then cleaned the room a bit, as in I picked crap off the floor and washed out the sinks. Rumor has it that it was our last room check. We passed with flying colors, like always. I ate breakfast quick and when I put my tray away they have sinks and mirrors in the washer room. I looked in the mirror and I had powder sugar all over my face! Oh well thanks to the people who I was sitting with for not feeling the need to tell me. We had NT for a fun two hours, we even got a couple minute break today! After class I wasn't planning on going out, but I ended up deciding that obviously going out is way better than trying to do any homework. So I left with Whitney, Ben, Lindsay, and Coral. We walked down to the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene, it is only open like twice a week. So we finally timed it so that we could go. It was surprisingly really pretty inside, there were a lot of gardens/foliage. And the Church is really fun from the outside, I just now learned the name of it. I have always called it the golden onion church, reference the photos to understand this name. We then walked up this steep mountain of a road to the Tomb of the Prophets, it is pretty much just in someone's backyard. You walk down into the cave and get a candle and just walk around and look at the stone tombs. It was pretty fun actually. I didn't learn anything about it but we enjoyed it. According to a sign though apparently Haggai and Maleachi were buried here. We the walked back to the center and had falafel's for lunch. Most people hate them, but I am actually quite a fan. We had to fill out evaluation forms for the Oasis while we were eating, just a little more JCLDS (JC last day's syndrome). I then studied for a bit and went to a little study group. Although I wouldn't say it was the most effective study group but it sure was fun. It was Lauren, Katie, Elyse, Whitney and me. A fun group. Next I studied a bit more. Had a ten minute dinner then went out again! We planned this in advance so we were allowed to go out at dark. A group of seventeen of us went to this light show at the Tower of David. It is where they project pictures onto the old walls. It was fun to watch. It was super cold though, but I carried a backpack just full of clothes. I ended up wearing three jackets and my scarf the entire time. While I was in line some old woman asked me how I had done my hair, because she thought it looked so beautiful. So I took my hair out and re-did it for her, she was so impressed that all I did was flip my ponytail inside itself. There were a couple local boys that were in front of me and talked to us for a little while, they were a bit odd. I think they were in the military. When the show ended we walked around West J for a while and got some waffles. Wendy and I shared one with cinnamon cream cheese and the other with vanilla and cookie crumbs. They were delicious. We then went back to the center and I took a quiz for NT and tried to do a bit of homework. Ya as you can tell it's going pretty well...Anyways, I'm probably going to go to bed now! Peace.