Egyptian Dance Party

So after we got back from Egypt we all had to sport our Egyptian souvenirs... so what better way to do that than an EGYPTIAN DANCE PARTY!!!! haha The costumes were awesome!! We had Lisa wrapped in papyrus (pic 2), mummies, Egyptian soccer jerseys, and authentic galibeah's (spelling?)(pic 1)!! Haha gotta love it!! (pic 3=roommates-LOVE THEM!!)

Ein Kerim

So for our free day we decided to go to Ein Kerim, which is where it is believed that John the Baptist was born. This was a ton of fun because it was a really relaxing day and I had the BEST company :) We started off by going to the Chagall windows, which are stained glass windows, each one representing one of the 12 tribes of Israel. This was amazing! We listened to a tape that explained them and it was very interesting. I guess I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but I didn't realize that.

Next we went exploring as we tried to find the church of visitation. There were about 6 trails 

we could choose from (none of them were very well marked) so we all decided to use our internal boy scout skills and just go with it!! At some points we were honestly trucking through 

the bushes, with not much of a trail in sight. But, somehow we made it EXACTLY where we wanted to be, without even realizing it! We made very good timing too!! It was a blast!! Plus the nature around us smelt really good and reminded me of the cabin :) That 

alone made it great!!

We tried to go to a few other churches, but unfortunately they were all closed, so we hiked around f

or no reason... but it was still enjoyable! We also made a GREAT s

top at this little gelato place!! MMMMMM!! It was AMAZING!! Overall... It was AWESOME!! Perfect weather, 

perfect people, perfect sites.... CAN'T BEAT IT!! 

Exploring JERU

So we had a bit of time to kill, and decided it would be a great day to go exploring. We wandered the streets of the Old city and went in the MOST RANDOM streets, buildings, etc to see what we could find. It was so much fun to get off the beaten path and just see what the city had to offer! We found some beautiful hostiles and met some wonderful people!! We were able to find a cool church service and also a traveling art gallery. And of course, when we saw "Casa Nova Street", Brent needed a picture!! haha It was a great day.... definitely one of my favorite things to do here! 

Picture #1: Just a cool looking place we discovered with a little well :)

Picture #2: We love the signs because they never spell anything right in English. Notice the "Ncreased fine". haha

Picture #3: Woops!! We exited a street this way, and hadn't noticed the private sign. The people didn't seem to mind we were there though! haha

Picture #4: Brent's Casa Nova picture. go figure, he would. lol

Pools of Bethesda

The Pools of Bethesda:

Here is the quick biblical summary, taken from President Thomas S. Monson's  (Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) talk entitled "Christ at Bethesda's Pools". This scripture reference can be found in John 5: 2-9

“For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

“And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

“When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

“The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

“And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.” 

My pictures do not to this place justice, though we will go on a field trip back here next month so I  am hoping to take some better pictures. When we walked into the church next to the ruins of the pools, it was quite humorous because some monks were giving a tour to a large group of people, but when we walked in (our group of about 8-10), he said "Oh good! The Mormons! Sing for us!" And he had all of his group sit in the pues as they waited for us to sing. haha I guess they know us Mormons well. Unfortunately many of us did not have our hymnals with us, so we had to wing it, but it was still a fun experience. All of the churches here have great acoustics!! 

Day 8: Mt. Sinai

Well, the morning kicked off with a wake-up call at  2 am (after going to getting to the hotel and starting dinner at 10:30 pm). The early rise made it worth it once we hiked to the top of mt. sinai and were able to sit and watch the sunrise up there. It was BEAUTIFUL!!  SUCH an amazing view! Believe it or not, it was actually really cold at the top though, so we all had to huddle for warmth! We were able to split up into our religion classes and hold a testimony meeting at the top, which was a really neat experience. Unfortunately, this was the roughest day for me as far as my health goes, so I may not have had the same experience as everyone else, but nonetheless I'm glad I did it. I was even able to make it down alive!! (even after our group took a little detour on accident, taking a different route down.  It was basically down the Cliffside. Of course that would happen to me while I'm sick and just trying to get to the bottom so I could curl up. haha  Luckily we still found the buses after our little adventure and I was in one piece). Afterwards we stopped by the red sea before making our way to the border (Which took FOREVER!) and had dinner at the kibbutz we had stopped at our first day. All in all, it was another GREAT DAY!! =)

Sweet pic- compliments of Jenna. it goes Karen, me, Rachel & Jenna. Top of Sinai.

ELISE...my fellow redhead roommate!! WOOH!!! +red sea.

The red sea!!!!

Gorgeous sun rise on top of Sinai

So pretty...

Conquered. period. lol

It was FREEZING!!!!!

Sunrise...sunset...sunrise...sunset (the song)

Let's be honest, I look like a bear! GRR!

Body heat! Body heat!! It was SOOOO COLD!!! Also... it's like 4 or 5 am.. we started with a wakeup call at 2 am, on the bus at 2:15 am... that explains the pure beauty you see-hah!!

day 7: my birthday :)

I don't have enough time to really write about it, but pictures are always fun nonetheless.

My birthday was great and everyone on the trip was super kind to remember and continuously wish me a happy birthday. the night before a bunch of us that had birthdays got sung too and were able to blow out candles on a cake. When we arrived at our hotel in Sinai and ate dinner they did another "birthday announcement" for me, and then all of the egyptian workers came and made me stand up so they could dance circles around me and sing in another language. haha it was great!! I can't believe I was lucky enough to turn 20 in EGYPT!! WHAT A BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER!! THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO MADE IT A SPECIAL DAY! From near and far!

3rd stop made by the children of israel: Exodus 17:1  this is the hill that the two men had to go to the top and fought, and moses had to hold his hands up (others helped him hold them up longer) to determine who would win the battle. Again, I need to look up the details.

First stop talked about in Exodus made by the Children of Israel... The second stop can be found in Exodus 15:27 I believe. For the second stop, in the scriptures say exactly how many trees (3 score and something trees) it was so true!…. It really was NO VEGITATION, until that little place filled with trees, it was just that tiny patch. Unbelievable to recognize the hand of the Lord. I don't see any other way that a little patch of vegetation could have persisted randomly among the rest of the dry, sandy plains.

mosque of muhammad ali

mosque of muhammad ali

Raven and I...& some sweet doors =)

Sydney, Kristen, Rachel, and I

Alex, Heather, and I. Say Cheese!! (while we listen to the professor on the headsets! haha)

Day 6: back in cairo

We went to the Cairo museum, but unfortunately no cameras are allowed in. It was awesome. We saw all of the gold that was found in King Tut's tomb and tons of remnants from throughout history. The highlight of the museum was the MUMMY ROOM!!! Yeah, I definitely saw Ramses II among many other amazing historical figures! It was crazy to see there bodies preserved so well from thousands of years ago!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Unfortunately We didn't have very long on the museum because our bus got stuck in terrible traffic. We tried to turn around and go the opposite direction on the freeway.... twice. haha The other bus made it through before the traffic, but we didn't so our time was 2 hours shorter in the museum.

Oh well though, because it was off to the Hard Rock Cafe!! Yum!! They turned on music and you know when you are in such a large group of college kids...its bound to immediately turn into a dance party! haha

Unfortunately my camera got dropped at the hard rock cafe and broke, so I didn't have any more pics from the day. but we headed to the world's largest bazaar. So fun! not enough time of course, but still a blast! Then it was back to the hotel to hang out for a while where we jammed with the live singer in the lobby! haha!!

Believe it or not.... my camera got better that night. It was truly a miracle because we had played with it and tried to fix it for hours, and had given up hope, but when I checked it that night, it worked again!! 

Hard Rock.... MMMM!!! 

^Dance Party in the middle of the Hard Rock Cafe!!!^

So you can't tell... but our bus is trying to turn around on the freeway, we are taking up all 4 lanes and then going to head the wrong direction on the freeway. Traffic just drives wherever they feel... I have a new technique to bring to Utah! Joke!! haha

that sign says "Diet Corner" hahah Savannah and I found it entertaining.