Petra

Hello party people. 

We just got back from Jordan, and it was fantastico. 

But before I go into Jordan, just appreciate these pictures of Jerusalem.

The sunset on our way home from a field trip-taken from the bus

I'm telling you guys, it's like I'm in Europe sometimes

Alright. So we went to Jordan. Here are a few pictures from the first two days.

This was where John the Baptist was beheaded. 

Then we went to Petra!! 

This is me just on my way to drink from the fountain of youth. Good thing Indie taught me to use the most simple chalice. Also, don't you just love that Jerusalem center issued water bottle backpack?

Then we rode camels. I'm sorry about my posture, Dad

We ended up riding camels twice. The second time I led a camel caravan of 4 and held the reigns and directed the camels. I'm a natural if I do say so myself. 

Then we went hiking hiking hiking

the stairway to heaven

Side note: They definitely didn't stress enough the need to wear actual, comfortable hiking clothes.

We did a lot of walking. My legs were shaking while in the line for lunch

The Monastery 

Petra is pretty much is the St. George of Jordan 

Lunch time is the best time

It was pretty much one of the most amazing places I have ever been. 

There is a Green Hill Near At Hand

Well people. Two weeks have come and gone. And they have been great. As much as I would love to go into great detail full of wit and humor about my adventures in the Holy land, I will have to just give you some highlights. Free time is a rare commodity around here. I honestly don’t think I've been alone since January 5^th.

We have now been out and about a lot of times. We have traveled all around the old city and also into west Jerusalem.  I will try to tell this story through photos. I wish I had more, but since my camera is not the greatest, I hardly pull it out. Whoops. I guess I will have to rely on my peers to post them via social media.

These next couple of pictures are from when we went to a market place in western Jerusalem. It has been one of my favorite places so far. What can I say? I'm a sucker for food. 

Those pastries though. 

Here is a fancy pancy mall in western Jerusalem. I can't afford anything but it's fun to look. 

A cool alleyway we found on accident in the Old city. 

Damascus Gate 

This is a well from the ancient cite, Tel Sheva. We went down here and it was pretty darn cool.

We also got to wear these awesome hard hats while we did it

Our professors at Tel Arad. They are about to perform a ritual sacrifice on the ancient temple altar. Things got pretty serious.

Brooke!

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

A random montesary

A pretty cool classroom if  I do say so myself. 

Shout out to Brooke for taking half of these pictures and letting me use them. 

The field trips we have taken so far have been to various look out points, ancient city ruins, Jericho, and King Herods summer palace. Some of which were pictured above.

Random Tid Bits:

There is a little shop across the street called 7 to 11.

The shawarma is delicious.

Rachel will be happy to know that I have bought a couple of kinder Beuno bars and it was the best decision of my life. They are life savers when I need a sweet snack. Plus there is no lunch served on the Sabbath here. People get desperate.

We have Friday movie nights.

As you saw, we went to the Israel Philharmonic orchestra this week. Only the people who were willing to pay went. It’s way pretty amazing. I could have done with less contemporary pieces though. Just a fact for all Philharmonic orchestras to keep in mind.

The unglamorous side of this program is the school work.  Remember the, “rigorous classes” comments? Well just to give you a little insight to that, a 93 is a b+ in the Near Eastern Studies class. What is that all about?? We also have been graced with a ton of reading. And when I say a ton, I mean like 100 pages. Seriously. All we do is read around here. It is ridiculous. To give you a little insight, if we are not sitting in class, or eating, then we are reading for class. It’s crazy.

In The City

Remember that tour we needed before we could go out to the city on our own? Well we finally got that tour. So we have finally been into the old city! It is more of what I imagined Jerusalem would look like and also nothing like I thought at the same time. Let me explain. The East side is represented by the Palestine’s. The roads in the old city felt more like alleyways that were crammed with shop after shop and food places.

Lots of people were calling out to us and asking if we were Mormons. I’m guessing they don’t know what that word means and to them it just means white kids who buy souvenirs. 

But what I wasn't expecting was that some parts, the Jewish west side, looked like I was in Europe, specifically Spain or Portugal. I know I have never actually been to those places buuut I am pretty sure that is what they look like. And the crazy part was we were still in the old city, just a block away from the above picture. 

It’s like two counties in one.  It was very modern and nice. Across the street from the old city we walked into a mall and they even had Gap and American Eagle.  It definitely had a very nice, clean, and developed feeling. 

(it looks more like Spain/portugal in the places with palm trees)

Dad told me a lot that it would feel European but for some reason I didn't really internalize that until I saw if for myself.

The security guards from the Center were following us during the tour walk and were all coordinating with walkie talkies. I swear one point we would pass one of them just standing on the road, and then a few blocks later we would pass the same guard again. They are super legit and probably practiced magic at the school of Hogwarts for witchcraft and wizardry. I mean, it’s the only logical 

explanation.

Fun Fact: The Jerusalem center is FREEZING. Most people try to find the warmest rooms and I typically walk around wearing my coat. It is because the walls are made of stone to intentionally keep the building cool. It is definitely working.

Sabbath Saturday

Today was the Sabbath. Sabbath here is on Saturday instead of Sunday. It was also snowing this morning. Apparently this is a novelty? It’s happening on a daily basis right now. So because we are a bunch of 20 something’s we of course had to take a ton of pictures of the barely there snow. Seriously, the snow melts away pretty quickly.

Me and Gwen being those 20 somethings taking pictures. If you look real hard you can see the Dome of the Rock in the left of the picture. 

Then it was time for church. Having church in the auditorium was pretty distracting because there are windows that overlook the whole city and the Dome of the Rock. There is actually a branch here that meets in the center. So it is like we are in a family ward. The branch is only about 30 people-without the students. 

Then the big announcement came.  As a group we had a scheduled activity to walk to the Garden Tomb. WE WERE ACTUALLY LEAVING THE CENTER. After bundling up we were off to see the streets of Jerusalem for the first time.

The streets of East Jerusalem remind me a lot of other lower income countries I have been to. It looks the same with the shops, weird smells, trash on the roads, taxis honking at you, and random construction happening in the streets. We were told, as women, that we shouldn't look men in the eye. Let me tell you, that is pretty hard. It’s becoming kind of a joke among the girls here.  

Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of the garden, because I mainly took pictures using my phone. Then my phone decided it never wanted to turn on again. Awesome. I am cursing my mom for convincing me to postpone buying a new phone before coming to Jerusalem (for Instagram and snapchat reasons-obviously). But Mom, to your credit, you have saved me a lot already with other things you had me pack for “just in case” moments, so I’ll give you this one.

Anyway, the garden was beautiful and it was just so crazy that I was actually there. It is amazing how quiet and peaceful it is even though it is in the middle of the city. Our tour guide was Swedish and said he always lovs when the Mormons come to the garden and sing because we all have such wonderful voices. So we ended our time there by singing a few hymns. Then it got incredibly freezing. Seriously. I couldn't feel my toes. But luckily it was time to leave and we got back just when it started raining. Fun Fact: our bus on the way home was lined with LED blue lights on the inside. So you know, it probably functions as a party bus by night. 

We ended the night with a talent show, bread and spread (where we all go to the student commons and eat pita bread with peanut butter and Nutella), and games. I also talked for way too long with my roommates. Pillow talk is a real problem for sleep deprived people. But somehow it always happens anyway. I have come to the conclusion that I will always feel tired until I come home in April.

p.s. This time change is hitting some people pretty hard over here. Lots of unintentional 2 hour long naps are taking place on a daily basis. 

SOS. Trapped students in Jerusalem.

It is still too snowy to leave the Jerusalem Center. So while I may be in Jerusalem, I really have only seen the inside of the Jerusalem Center and the drive here on the first day. We do have an amazing view of the old city. I can see the Dome of the Rock from almost every window. 

This is not an amazing view of the old city. But it is a beautiful view of the stairs. Off the right and left of this corridor are our rooms. You actually have to go outside to get to your rooms. The level I am standing on in this photo has the gym, cafeteria (or as we call it here-the Oasis), classrooms, the computer lab, and the student commons 

Here is another amazing photo of my bedroom and my roommate Brooke sitting so photogenically on my bed. Don't mind all the clothes on top of the drawers. There are two other beds, a table, a desk with shelves, and a bathroom in the room. 

When I say it is too snowy, it really means that it is too cold/wet for them to give us an official tour of the city, and we can’t leave this place till we get this official tour of the city. So it is like we are trapped here. Everyone is getting stir crazy. 

While we have been cooped up here we have had 1,000 orientation meetings, two classes, and eaten food. Thursday we were done with scheduled classes/orientations at 3:30 and then had nothing else to do. To pass the time I played Sardines with a group of people and then and did some reading for Near Eastern Studies. While playing Sardines the director of the center- Dr. Whitchurch, asked us what we were doing, when we said what we were playing he responded with “Oh not already!”. Apparently this game isn't new to the Jerusalem Center. 

After dinner we talked, played Mafia, heads up sevens up, and murder in the dark. While playing mafia I was one of the four mafia players. I was the last mafia player left and was about to win the game, when one of the “dead” players secretly told someone I was it and then my victory was gone. Hopefully we get out of this place soon so my posts can start being about Jerusalem. 

I figured this post deserved a picture of the view from the center-because when I wrote this, it was all I had seen so far, so I just went and took a quick photo. This is a photo from today (Sunday) not Thursday when it was snowing and wet.

I see this every day, guys. Every day. 

The Start

Well I am in Israel. This BYU Jerusalem study abroad has officially started.

But it really all started January 6^th. All of the students in the program met at the airport hours before our plane actually took off and just sat around and started to get to know each other. The flight to New York went by very quickly. I of course played the in-flight quiz and convinced the people sitting next to me to try it out, because for some strange reason they had never heard of it before (which is super unfortunate, but luckily for them, I enlightened them). By no surprise, I won. Granted there were only two other players- but hey, a win is a win.

We flew in over New York and from my window I saw Manhattan for the first time. I could identify the Chrysler building and the Empire State Building and it made me wonder if anyone was waiting at the top of the Empire State Building to meet a stranger to find out if they were their soul mate-just like in Sleepless In Seattle. I figured they probably weren't. How unfortunate.

 Once we got into the airport everyone was talking about the “shake shack”- a burgers and fries place that apparently is a big deal in the east coast. So we decided that we better check this place out. I looked at the menu and immediately recognized something called the “concrete”. Because I am an avid reader of the Lovetaza blog (a newyorker) I recognized the name. So obviously that was what I got. It was basically vanilla custard and it was delicious. We then got on the plane to leave, but then proceeded to stay on the plane for 2 + hours waiting to takeoff  because of some luggage issues. When we finally left I watched, The Holiday, ate my subpar plane food dinner, and then I actually fell asleep! Even with a baby crying, a group of orthodox Jews praying, and an uncomfortable seat. It was actually a huge deal.

When we got into the Israel airport, everyone was practicing what we were supposed to say at the booth which officially was – “I am here on a travel abroad program sponsored by the Mormon university on mount Scopus”. Then they didn't even ask me a single question.

Once we got our luggage it was off to the buses.  It was storming like crazy and the rain was pounding down so we ran out and got soaking wet. Inside our bus Brother Anderson  taught us a Hebrew song- a very common Hebrew tune that everyone recognized. Then we started to sing it faster and faster. Everyone was having a good time while singing and it felt like the perfect introduction to Israel. It was snowing in Jerusalem so we didn’t go to the Center because the roads were closed; instead we stayed at the Leonardo plaza- a five star hotel. 

                                                                     

This is the view out my window the next morning. The Mediterranean sea is to the left and the U.F.O crash landing was the entrance to the hotel. It looked cool at night, but pretty bazaar in the morning.  

Fun Fact: It only snows in Jerusalem every five-ten years. So I guess we are lucky? We went up to dinner and I again rediscovered that no one does desserts like America. Then after a small orientation we went to our rooms and everyone passed right out. 

The next morning we drove the Jerusalem center and had a very long orientation. And can you say, “rigorous academic schedule”? Because every faculty member here certainly can.