Ramparts and Wall Walks

Today was our first free day. It was so much fun. Basically everyone left for the city right after breakfast. I went with a group of seven people; Brooke, Emily, Heidi, Alex, Kirk, and Sean. One thing that I have learned is that it is really hard to coordinate all the places that every single person wants to go. For the most part our group was good, expect towards the end when everyone was getting a little tired and irritated, me included. But regardless of that, the day was really fun. I am getting more and more comfortable with being out in the city. All the venders know who we are and they call out "mormons" or "byu" all the time. It is really fun that they all know exactly who we are and they told us it is because we always look well dressed and clean. We started off the day at the money changers. I exchanged $40 and got about 120 NIS (New Israeli Shekels), so it's one U.S. dollar for 3.67 shekels.
Then my group went through Damascus gate, (this gate is probably my favorite) and we walked towards the other side of the city towards Jaffa gate. I bought some pistachio baklava. IT WAS SO GOOD! We looked at a lot of candy, leather bags, genie pants, sandals, and other things. As soon as you look at something that a vender is trying to sell, he immediately pounces to try and get you to buy it. It is crazy. Everyone always wants out attention which is fun, but also a little annoying.
We bought tickets for what is call the Rampart Wall Walk which is the walk way on top of the wall around the city. It was so beautiful up there and we could see every part of the city and everything that surrounds it. It went almost all the way around the city.
After that we stopped for some lunch. I had packed a lunch from the center, so nothing exciting, but some people bought pizza. haha. We are actually starting to miss American food already.
After that we left the old city and went to West Jerusalem which is the Jewish side. It is more modern and where everyone likes to hangout. We just did some shopping. I bought some ear plugs so that I can sleep through my roommates and the call to prayer.
We tried going to the Dome of the Rock, but we didn't make it in time before it was closed for prayer. We even asked a Jewish lady for directions and she was like, "WHY WOULD YOU GO THERE? NEVER GO TO THE MOSQUE!" But then when we asked her for directions to the Western Wall, she showed us the way no problem. It was funny, but really interesting to see the harsh feelings that the Palestinians and the Israelis have for each other.
After that I was so tired, so me and three others split from the group at headed back. Going back up to the JC is so hard because we have to climb up to the top of Mt. Scopus and after a long day in the city, it is hard. But, it was a good day. Tomorrow we have a field trip all day!

Pictures Finally!

My new backpack

My nametag

The view from my balcony

My bed

My room number

Another view from my balcony

Left side of the Center

First day of school!

Dome of the Rock

Jerusalem Cats....

...and kittens

The Jerusalem Center from the Old City 

The Tomb

The Garden Tomb

Golgotha

Market Street

Candy

The West Wall

Saturdays

Today was the Sabbath so we have church on the eighth floor of the building. It was really interesting to worship on a Saturday. I keep having small panic attacks that I forgot to do my homework for class on Monday, but then I realize I still have all day tomorrow. Some people are having a hard time with us changing church to follow the Jewish people, but one, it makes it easier for the JC employees that are Jewish, and two, Sister Nickel (housing admin) said that "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Her meaning was that it's not the specific day that makes it a holy day, but the activities and the worship we participate in during it.

The eighth floor auditorium where we hold Sacrament meeting is a huge glass room where we can see the city from the seats. It was really amazing to partake of the sacrament in the very city that it was first instituted. Very humbling. There were a few branch members there and then some local tourists. Today was Fast Saturday so the testimonies were great. Relief Society and Sunday School were also very good. There is also a very small youth program and primary. The branch president is currently working on callings. 

After church basically every student ran out of the building to get to the city. We have been stuck in there since Thursday afternoon and we were tired of it already. It was really fun to actually be out on our own. We have security badges that we have to scan every time we leave and when we come back so that they always know who is inside and who is out in case there is an emergency. 

We went to the Garden Tomb and Golgotha. It was so interesting to compare the feeling of the Garden Tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Garden Tomb was so quiet, peaceful, and reverent while the Church was busy and loud. Both are considered sacred places, but one just feels different. On the door of the tomb is a sign that reads, "He is not here, for He is risen" and that was so powerful. Seeing the site where he was probably crucified was also pretty humbling. I was with a couple of girls and we were talking about how we have seen all of these places in the pictures in the back of the bible, but we never thought we would actually get to see them. We joked about taping our own pictures on top of the other ones. 

After that decided to go back through some of the city. We walked through Damascus gate and down the street all the way to the West wall or the "wailing wall". It was really interesting to see all the people putting their prayers into the wall. We didn't stay long because it was almost time for dinner and since it was Fast Sabbath we were starving, and everything in the city smelled sooooo good! 

Tomorrow is a free day so we might be getting a group to head to Tel Aviv to go to the beach, but we aren't sure if they will let us yet. And I still haven't been able to post pictures which has kind of been frustrating. But, hopefully tomorrow. 

The highlight of the day was definitely the Garden Tomb. I know that even if that isn't the actual place of His burial it does not matter because He is risen. I know that He lives and I know that He is the Son of God. I am so grateful to be here in this holy city. 

Classes

We started class today. We started out with Old Testament at 8:00-9:50. My professor’s name is Brother Belnap. I actually had him my freshman year for the first half of Book of Mormon. He is a fantastic teacher and I am very excited. We spent most of the class going over the syllabus and his teaching method, then we started Genesis chapter 1. It was really great and insightful.

The second class was ANE and it was interesting, but kinda a lot of information. Professor Seely kept telling us that this is a survey class so we will be going fast through the material. Most of the people I talked to all agreed that the class was a little hard to follow so that made me feel better.

We had more orientation meetings about security, field trips, and emergency situations. It was really boring. But, we are going on our first field trip on Monday to different outlook sites to see every part of Jerusalem.

We can’t go out into the city today so it has been kind of boring and I am still really really tired. But, luckily I have been able to meet a lot of new people and get to know them. My roommates and I have started to get along really well and talk about our experiences in the city. It makes the whole thing so much better to discuss it with others.

Walking Tour of the City

   Today we took our first tour of the Old City. We headed west down one of the main roads called Sultan Suleiman past Herod’s Gate, up passed the Garden Tomb, and then we entered the city through Damascus Gate. It was not what I expected at all! Venders crowed the tiny walk ways with fruit, clothes, artwork, and everything else you could possibly think of. Everyone smokes! Even little kids carry cigarettes around and pretend to smoke them.

A few facts that I learned about the city:

-The city is divided up into four quarters. The Christian Quarter is in the North West corner, Muslim Quarter is in the North East, Jewish in the South East, and Armenian is the South West corner.

-There are eight gates into the city. Herod, Damascus, New, Jaffa, Zion, Dung, Golden, and Lions or St. Stephen’s Gates.

   Once we got through Damascus Gate, stop at a hospice and climbed to a tower so that we could look over the city from inside. It was really beautiful, however some parts are ugly, meaning that there is a lot of trash and crumbling buildings. They are very old and the people are very poor.

   We walked down the Via Dolorosa towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was extremely crowded because it happened to be a Roman Catholic holiday so everyone was making the journey to see the place where they believe Christ was buried and resurrected. We saw many different people kissing pictures and shrines of the Virgin Mary and carrying basil because we were told that basil was found on the tomb. When we finally got to the Church, we watched everyone come in, kneel, and kiss the top of the tomb. It was very humbling to see the devotion that all of these people have for their beliefs.

   After that we headed west and exited through Jaffa gate. After walking around a little longer, we stopped and Professor Woods and his wife (our guides) taught us some more random facts about the city and Jerusalem:

-Hebrew University, which is right next and above the Jerusalem Center, is ranked 59 in the nation.

-A Bedouin boy named Mohammad found the Dead Sea Scrolls when he was throwing rocks into the caves. When they were first discovered, they were broken up into pieces and sold to tourists!

-And we had walked over 4 miles, but luckily the weather was really nice and breezy.

  We got to try these Israeli bagels that were basically bagels covered in sesame seeds, but were a foot long and crunchy. So far all the food that they have served us has been authentic and has been pretty good; lots of meat and spices and potatoes.

  We have been doing a lot of orientation meetings, but tomorrow we finally start class. I have Old Testament and Ancient Near East History. Both required a lot of reading already which was somewhat interesting, sometimes not so much. Starting next week I will also have an Islam class, a Judaism class, and a Hebrew language class. It will be really cool when I can walk down the streets and read some of the signs!

  This place is just amazing. People from all over the world gather here and it is incredible. One of the professor said that “by being open-minded, we will be able to see the truths in all religion”. I want that to be one of my goals; to see the truths in all of these religions and gain a respect and an understanding of them.

Travel and Arrival

Longest day of my life. We met up at the Salt Lake City around 9 and our flight was supposed to leave at 11:15 a.m., however due to a medical issue, we didn’t actually take off until after 12:30 p.m. We were all split up around the plane and I sat by the nicest lady ever. She was traveling home to New York and we talked all about my trip to Jerusalem and what she was doing in Salt Lake. It was really fun to get to know her! When we finally reached New York she handed me a small case and told me to have fun in Jerusalem and buy something fun. She gave me forty dollars and hand sanitizer! I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t ever exchange names and I really wish that we had because I want to thank her, but it was really cool.

Once at JFK all 80 of us met up at our next gate and then took turns getting food and using the restroom. We had to go through another security check and then we boarded. I sat clear in the back next to a guy that basically took up both seats because he was all sprawled out. So needless to say of the entire 9 hour and 45 minute flight, I barely slept. It. Was. Awful. But one cool thing was that all the airplane announcements were said in English and Hebrew. Hopefully on my flight home I will be able to understand them! Finally at about two o’clock in the afternoon Jerusalem time, we arrived in Tel Aviv. Going through the passport check was simple. The professors had instructed us to never say that we were students because by Israeli law, we technically aren’t, and if we said it than we wouldn’t be able to pass without some form. So we all said, if asked what we were doing here, “I am participating in a program at the Mormon University”. Nothing serious happened to me though. Same with going through customs, I seriously just walked through the door, and there where our professor’s and their wives holding BYU signs. It was really exciting to see them. We then loaded buses and headed up to Jerusalem. We were told we could not fall asleep, which was really hard for me because I had a super bad headache and was exhausted. But, I made it.

The Jerusalem Center is gorgeous! The city is amazing and is literally right outside my window. We went through a few more orientation meetings, had a tour, ate dinner, meet some of the professors and their families, and then finally we were allowed to find our rooms and unpack around 9 p.m. Long day.

I have three roommates, Julie, MJ (Melissa Jo), and Becca. They are all super sweet and we are getting along great.

I felt like I was doing so good at meeting everyone, but every time I turn a corner there is a new face that I haven’t seen. We are constantly introducing ourselves, telling where we are from (which is an interesting question for me to answer), what school we go to, and our major. Those are the basic questions everyone asks. Everyone is so amazing though. The staff was so excited to see us. The shock of being in this holy city hasn't really hit me yet. 

We are going on a tour of the city tomorrow!!!