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. 

Jordan Part II

The second half of Jordan was just as great at the first.

We went to this ancient Roman amphitheater

We put on a play for the class

We also went to Jerash, an ancient Roman city. The boys had a race. In this picture you can see in last place is professor Chadwick, and in second to last place is a random local boy who decided to join in the games. 

Featuring: modern day Jordan in the background.

Gossip Girl promo photo shoot: Jordan Edition 

The sun was too bright to handle. 

We are attempting to be the Muses from Hercules. But that probably needed no explanation. 

A picnic shawarma lunch post museum

We went to a mosque and the girls had to wear scarves and put on these robes. But as you can see in this picture, the boys could enter in their street clothes. 

seen en route to the Jordan River

This is apparently where Christ was baptized. Unfortunately, as you can see, there isn't any water here

On the way to the river-the part with water

Learning. 

Some Russians were getting baptized across the water where the stairs are. Good thing the water is so clean.

Here we are waiting at the Israel/Jordan border to load the bus that will take us back to the Jerusalem. Getting into this country is much harder than leaving it. Many of us were reading for class-because there is always reading. Always. 

In Amman, Jordan, we would go exploring the streets after we got back to our hotel. We found an amazing corner ice cream store and a delicious crepe place. I swear all we do is eat around here.

Another fun fact is that in our Amman hotel some of us had suite rooms. So I got to sleep in a king sized bed all alone for two nights. It was glorious. Some people even had full kitchens in their rooms. No roughing it for the Jerusalem kids.