Monday, June 29, 2009

jordan 3: Jerash

We had the opportunity to go to Jerash and visit some ancient Roman Ruins. They were gorgeous! And so remarkable!! It was a ton of fun to just walk around and imagine what the city used to look like in its prime!!

Afterwards we went to this AMAZING restaurant!! They had the most amazing pitas that were bigger than the size of our plates!! Fresh out of the oven too!! MMM.... what will I do when I don't get a pita everyday!?! :X 

Our third stop was an overlook of the Jabbok River, which is where Jacob wrestled an angel and had his name changed to Israel. This was a gorgeous view!! 

Our final stop was to where the branch in Jordan met (the Mormon members in Jordan). It was a simple little room, but it was fun. The Branch President then talked with us for a while about his experiences there. He shared some great thoughts about how we can use our experience and studies of the middle east that we've had this summer for good and to help others.  


That night we had some free time, so we decided to go to the Automobile Museum!! It was pretty fun! But the best part came afterwards when we went to the Mecca mall!! It was SO much fun!! We went up the escalator where they had a food court full of American restaurants (just like KFC, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, quiznos etc) but you should have seen the look on our faces!! I don't think our eyes have ever been so big! We didn't even know what to do with ourselves, it was heaven to have some regular food! lol

Okay, the funniest story of them all was our taxi ride home. We were running out of Dinars (Jordanian currency), but usually everyone/everywhere takes American dollars, well this cab driver wanted more money than most of the other cab drivers had previously, and wouldn't accept American dollars So we had to pull together everything we had, including the coins that we couldn't read because they had arabic numbers. So we handed him 2 dinars and whatever coins we had, not knowing how much it was (we had a rough estimate that it was JUST short of another dinar). So Elise hands him the bills, adn then held out the coins in her 2 hands in front of her, making the BEST puppy dog face ever!! He said it wasn't enough so she tried to give him US dollars but he wouldn't take it. So then I find another coin in the dark and she hands it to him, he looks at it, laughs, and tells us to get out. I got thinking about it, and I realize I think I handed him some Israeli shekels. HAHA Us Dumb Americans!! Perhaps you had to be there, but we all killed over laughing for the rest of the night!! It was GREAT!!

Petra

Petra was basically AMAZING!!! I didn't really know what to expect, other than the treasury that I had seen in movies. We started out the day by taking a nice 2 block stroll down the street from our hotel and entering in through this siq (which basically is a crack that was originally made by an earthquake that then wore away and created this amazing cavern-ish.... yeah, basically i have incredible descriptions, let's be honest. lol) So anyways, we walk through the siq quite a ways and then turn a corner and in between the rocks is this amazing view of the treasury, that just gets more and more incredible as you advance towards it. Afterwards we all kind of split up and did our own thing all around petra. We took a hike up to the monastery which took about an hour and was 850 stairs plus the uphill path... but it was great!! The monastery was amazing. I think I liked it more than the treasury. (In my opinion all the camera crews couldn't get all their equipment up there, otherwise all the movies would've been filmed there). Then we went to a ton of view points and hiked around and explore up there. It was A BLAST!!!! (I need to steal pics from some people to give everyone an idea of what it was like).
Overall, it was a GREAT day!!

K this camel almost ATE MY FACE OFF!!!!!!
In front of the treasury--recognize it from Indiana Jones,
 and from what I hear... the new Transformers movie?!?!
Some cute kids we met on our hike up to the monastery.
On the way back down from the monastery... this donkey kept following us all the way down and we didn't know who it belonged to. But it would follow us, and if we stopped and turned around, it would stop and turn around like this picture, then it would continue and follow us as we started walking. haha it was great!
Our hardcore shot from the "viewpoint" above the monastery.
Just in case you didn't see it, this is the "view".
 I'm so glad that it was marked well!!
The Monastery. It is absolutely Gorgeous!! So amazing!!
Elise and I saw this guy and couldn't resist the kodak moment.
Aubrey and I + our camel friend in front of the treasury. 

Jordan, Day 1

This day we went to Mt. Nebo (where Moses was translated), then to the Greek Orthodox Church Madaba (where the earliest mosaic/map of the Holy land is, and to the Qal'at Ash-Shawbak= Crusaders castle ruins. Finally (4) Arrive in Petra!!! :) It was a great day!!! 

playing around the crusaders castle :)


Mt. Nebo
In the back is an artistic representation of the bronze serpent that was lifted up on the stick. The children of israel had to look at it to be saved.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

celebrating!!!

To celebrate my acceptance into the Accounting Program,
a large group of us went out to a movie and then to 
West Jeru to go get some dessert waffles! 
They were quite tasty, you can get all sorts of different toppings... but can't go wrong
with any of them. We like to go with the Carl's Jr. Slogan 
at this place... 


"If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face!"
Heather and Lisa :)

BIBLICAL LANDS

Monday was a field trip to the Biblical Lands! It was AWESOME!! We went to a well and reinacted when Rachel drew water for the servant .... (sorry spacing the name right now) and his 10 camels. I gained a TON more respect for her! She must have been strong--It's not easy drawing water...and to think that she did it for 10 camels (mind you each one drinks 30 gallons at a time... so we concluded she had to pull up water over 300 times if she really did!! Insane!) Then we got to go herd sheep! Yes, you heard me right... me, herd sheep! haha I got some great talk material out of this experience. It's interesting to me that the shepherd chooses an alpha male (not always a male), which he will educate so the alpha male will know his ways, and it is that sheep that the rest all follow. (this reminded me of the church, with Christ as the head, but he chooses a prophet that we all trust and follow in order to lead us back home) And the difference btwn a good shepherd and just a shepherd is that a good shepherd knows each sheep individually and is able to adjust to fit the needs of each (ie. he knows which sheep will follow which, and therefore know which order his sheep should come etc). This is  A SUPER BREIF description, but it was way good.
 
We divided up into 3 groups and each group would go and have to take the sheep around a "pond", not letting them inside the circle, becuase that meant they would drowned. Then you take them to a circle on the other side and get all of them to stay inside the circle. So the first group went and they tried to push the sheep, kinda tap them with the stick, etc. They tried to force it and the sheep wouldn't budge. Instead they would scatter (it was really entertaining). Then the next group went and they had a better idea. They would make a noise to distinguish themselves and they would simply lead the sheep where to go. This level of trust worked like magic... off all the sheep went in a line, following Camille. It was awesome to see. Then I was in the final group adn we had to separate the goats from the sheep adn take them to different "ponds" and then back home. The goats were easier to gain the trust of, so I was able to shepherd them around, but the sheep get scared and don't know what to do so they all huddle together and turn to face each other instead of following. Eventually we were able to lead them all safely "home". It's interesting that you must gain the trust of the sheep, and even still you cannot make them move, you can only show them where they are to go, and let them follow. Sometimes they may go down the rock instead of across it, but then they find their way back to you.... yeah.. all in all...great talk material! haha
 
Then we learned about some of the plants, (I'd have to look up which ones, it was the plant the children of israel used to put the blood on their doors before they escaped Egypt)... it comes up a lot in the scriptures, and I learned it was becuase it's a symbol of Humility. So at one point its compared to a cedar, which is supposed to symbolize pride. We got to use this plant and some other herbs we picked to make Zatar, a spice that we eat here in the Old city... it's really good, I'll prob. bring some home. and we made our own pitas over the fire!! We even made cracked wheat... yup, a full biblical lunch (and then we ate our sack lunches hahaha, we're spoiled!)
 
Brittany, me, Lydia, and Erik on our train ride. Best little ride!! lol
I made a pita!! :)
Chadwick was a trooper when he was breaking wood... he stepped on a GIANT nail!!
our zatar (spice)... so good. at least when they make it in the old city!
It's blurry, but I needed some kind of proof that I herded sheep! haha

C'mon. Just FOLLOW already!! haha


A little role playing :)

EARLY JERU- Holy Sepulchre

So for one of our free days we got up early to make the 6:30 am Mass at the Holy Sepulchre... make that plural. It was very interesting. We were able to attend a catholic one, ethiopian, and a few others. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was interesting to see the different types of worship, prayers, etc. I couldn't really handle the incense for too long, but that's okay. The Holy Sepulchre is crazy on Sunday, there are services going on everywhere!! Every corner you turn is a new religion!! Very neat!! We also went out to breakfast which was very yummy!! I really enjoyed being in the old city that early, before it became super lively. It was nice to see the market calm and not so overwhelming with the incense and people. I LOVE THIS PLACE!! NEVER GETS OLD!! =)

Heather, Monica, and I on the top of the roofs, deciding what to order...

The girls
Just walking through the old city in the early morning, i love it.

Passover Seder & Synagogue



Our Jewish theme continued throughout the week with a Passover Seder. This was really awesome. It was led by my Judaism teacher and his 2 little kids were there (they were adorable!). We all had specific parts to play, so some sang the Hebrew songs, some prepared the meal, some were narrators etc. I was a narrator, which was a good choice on my part because I was assigned the best seat in the house!! Right at the head table! Haha We were able to experience passover as all Jewish families do. We would read from the Torah, and say the prayers before we could eat of the bitter herbs etc. It was a really neat experience! I thoroughly enjoyed it! 
^The roomies^
Ophir Yarden, his son, and myself (he's my Judaism teacher)
^mmmmmmmm.....

Then Friday night I was able to go to a Jewish Synagogue. This was very interesting! We attended a Reform Synagogue, and unfortunately many of their "regulars" were missing, so it was a small congregation, but still was awesome to be a part of. The Rabbi was so incredibly kind to us and was willing to answer questioned afterwards. Throughout the service he would come over and tell us what page they were on so we could follow along in the prayer books (it was written in Hebrew, but sometimes had an English Alphabet with Hebrew words...it was fun to try to read and see where we were). I really have come to love other religions and the people of different cultures. There is just so much goodness in the world, even amidst these conflicts in the country. The people were so very welcoming and kind to us. I loved it!!

Yad Vashem

Our Judaism teacher took us on a field trip to Yad Vashem, which is a Holocaust Museum/Memorial. It was very interesting to go with him and to hear him speak of those tragic events. I was glad that no cameras were allowed in, so nobody was worrying about any of that and we were able to concentrate more on why we were there and the significance of it. It was EXTREMELY crowded that day (an unusual amount) so that kept it pretty interesting. This was a very powerful place and the museum was very well done. I wish we could have had some more time. We also had a tour guide for this museum who gave us some great insights, on top of the personal application that my Hebrew teacher gave as she talked about all of her relatives that were killed in the holocaust. I don't know how to verbalize this experience because words simply cannot do it justice.  

I also found it sad that on the same day that I was in the holocaust museum in Jerusalem, there was a shooting at the Holocaust museum in DC. It's horrifying to think that some people in this world still have such prejudices and terrible beliefs.

hezekiah's tunnel....

Still playing catch-up....
So for one of our fields trips we got to go to the City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel. This was a BLAST!! Hezekiah's Tunnel is a little tunnel that was created to take the water from the Gihon Spring (a water source outside of the city walls) to the Pool of Siloam (where Jesus healed the blind man by placing clay over his eyes and told him to go wash it off at this pool). As we went through the tunnel we were splashing through the water. At the beginning it was almost to my waste, but most of the time it didn't get higher than to me knees. We all had to have our flashlights and were winding our way through. It was a TON of fun!! =)

On the way back to the buses we stopped and saw where ^ David and Solomon were buried^
^In the tunnel^
^I WAS TALL ENOUGH TO GO IN!!!^ haha

BIBLICAL ZOO

June 6th
So for our free day, a group of us decided to go to the Biblical Zoo!! 
It was so much fun!! It really was like a normal zoo, with the exception of "Noah's Arc" at one side of the zoo :) We had a blast though!! Unfortunately I haven't gotten the pictures from this day, so I don't have very many, but it was awesome. 
We met a group of little Israeli girls that were all too excited to show us around. It was hilarious, we couldn't move fast enough for them! They would be tugging at our hands trying to show us the next exhibit! Communication was humorous--they didn't know much english, but I didn't know very much hebrew either... we stuck to english because there little english was much better than my hebrew skills (I didn't get much further then hi, how are you, and then whatever random phrases I could remember! lol) Eventually one of the more shy girls spoke up and she had lived in the states until 2nd grade, so she translated.

 We also got to see the 3-d movie in hebrew! haha All in all, it was another awesome day!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Philistines Field Trip!









 Okay I'm EXTREMELY behind on my blog.... you wouldn't know, but this is all from May 31st! haha woops!! anyways, this was our sweet philistines field trip!! We went to the Valley of Elah (where David slew Goliath), and he Bell caves, a couple overlook points, and we went SPELUNKING (where we were literally on our hands and knees, sometimes army crawling through caves as we went through small tunnels)!!! I have to steal the photos from a friend from that one, but it was AMAZING!! Anyways, I started to master my sling skills in the valley of elah, it's sure a lot harder than I thought!! haha