Snorkeling, Shepherding, and Soup(ing)

What a good week! 

To being the week, we went to Eilat, where we spent the day at the Red Sea. We had to leave the center at 6 am and drive for about four hours. This was a student activity, so no teachers or administrators came with us. It's funny how the bus drive just flies by when you can be as loud as you want. After hours of music, games, and heated rounds of  Mafia (aka 'werewolf' in the Jackson home) I'm pretty sure our bus driver wanted nothing more than to get us off his bus. Needless to say, it was freeing to have just the students. Also, it was pretty crazy to one day be picking up snow, and the next day be swimming. 

The Red Sea was crystal clear and it wasn't too cold either. The sand could have been improved, but you can't have it all. 

It isn't a good day at the beach until you have a ukulele jam session

As Joe would say, "Good group"

Yes, this picture is not my most graceful moment, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy snorkeling! I'm not going to lie, I didn't quite grasp the concept for a good while, but after inhaling a few cups of salt water I finally got it down. 

The buoys were a popular hang out spot.

On the way home we stopped for dinner. And let me tell you, Israel is winning at ice cream

After a day of fun in the sun, it was back to field trip mode. I would describe this field trip as, Bible day camp. First we went to the shepherding station.  

If all else fails, the students at the Jerusalem center could probably all get jobs at herding sheep and goats.

After multiple failed attempts of trying to actually pick up a sheep, it was on to the "edible plants" station. We all got some hyssop and crushed it up and used it later on our lunch. This is used as a spice-usually with pita bread.   

The next station was the "cook a meal" station. It felt like we were camping. 

Bevan, Fitzy, McKenzie, and I had the job of dicing onions for the soup. 

Meg and Jen had the important job of breaking sticks. 

How many people does it take to start a fire?

Making the pita bread

It took a while, but after the fire was finally going we started cooking the soup and the bread.

The soup was delicious

And the company was even better. 

We're Hot Then We're Cold

Well everyone, another two weeks have come and gone here at the good ole Jerusalem Center. Here were some of the highlights that won't get a photo shout out. 

1. Valentines Day! It was great. We had a dance and a lot of people wrote valentines to each other.

2. Dodge ball tournament!! This has honestly been one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen. It was so hilarious, I was crying with laughter. Some people got super into it (let's just say that we saw some peoples true colors), while others were praying to get hit so they could be out. And guess whose team made it to the championship game? That's right. Mine. We don't need to talk about that game though. Regardless, it was extremely fun. 

4. We went to the holocaust museum on a field trip. 

3. I get called out by guys on the street a lot. They want pictures, and sometimes even a kiss. But then today someone threw a huge snowball at me (more on the snow later). I guess people show their desire in different ways.

Okay, picture time.

 Our favorite bakery. I don't know the name though because I can't read Hebrew. 

Never underestimate the power of a good baked good. 

A crooked photo of Dormition Abbey. 

Hezikiahs Tunnel! It was so cool. Definitely worth doing. 

At the end of the tunnel 

The Rockefeller Museum 

This is just a random picture from one of our field trips. It was so cold we were huddling together like a group of penguins. 

That is my home. Also, check out the satellite dish house. 

We got to play the Carillon bells in the YMCA tower, the bells that everyone hears when it is a new hour. This is Jace and I playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" for all of Jerusalem to hear. 

My lovely roommates-on top of the YMCA tower

The Western Wall

Here is an insider look. The Brother Anderson Old Testament class early in the morning. 8am class everyday.

It snowed again in Jerusalem. And this time, it really actually snowed. This was yesterday morning outside my bedroom. I can't believe it is snowing here and not in Provo-which was one of the main reasons I came winter, but don't worry, I'm learning to deal with it. We also decided to walk into the city later in the afternoon. We were all soaking by the end because not surprisingly, none of us brought shoes suitable for snow.  

The group the weathered the weather

The Underground Israel

This weeks field trip involved a lot of cool underground attractions. We went into ancient cisterns (where we sang, as sisters in zion- get it?), a family tomb, and a columbarium (a place where they once housed hundreds of doves) and of course, A tel or five. For the few of you who are not archaeologists, a tel is pretty much just an archaeological site with old ruins. I am getting really use to Tels.   

The underground dove hotel 

The cistern (I think-not 100% sure what this place was)

guys, this place was underground! I hope you appreciate how cool that is. 

We also went to the Elah valley, which is the place where David and Goliath had their infamous show down. Did you know that David actually had the upper hand with the sling? They have been teaching us wrong all along. But, in my opinion it actually enhances the story, but I won’t go into detail on that now. Ask me during a Sunday school lesson or something.

We had our own reenactment of the story 

The modern day David and Goliath 

The performers truly moved their audience

Then we all took a go at hurling rocks. I'm not too shabby, but  once after slinging a rock I had no idea where it went-so hopefully it didn't knock anyone out. 

Israel is absolutely beautiful right now. It is very green and the poppies are starting to appear. It is the only green time of the year, so us winter semester students really lucked out.

This week we had midterms. But on a break from writing a five page paper, five of us decided to go for a little walk down to the Tombs of Malachi and Haggai. It was actually kind of creepy but awesome. It was underground and there were several passages with tons of holes in the wall-aka the tombs. Our pal Pierre, the local priest, hooked us up with some candles and we were able to wander around these creepy passageways with only candlelight. One downside was that the wax would drip on our skin every once in a while. But that is the price you pay for not using modern technology I guess. 

We didn't take the tombs lightly. Pierre was pretty confused why we weren't smiling for this picture. 

We also had Arab night this week. We had some local Sheikhs come and do the call to prayer for us, and we also had these four young teenage girls teach us how to do cultural dances. We were pretty bad at it, and I think our instructor was pretty disappointed in our lack of skill. 

We are pretty into taking serious pictures. 

These photos are from a while back when we went to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was pretty small. But the church of all nations was next door so that was cool.  

The sunsets here are gorgeous. I am a sucker for sunsets, and the ones here are just wonderful. The pictures will never do them justice.

Not only do you get to see the sunset in this picture, but the street where we live. 

Obviously everyone thought it was pretty swell as well.