a bit of home in j-ru

So I took these pics with the intention of posting this blog... but never got around to it!! So I decided to post them even though it was late...

DUBLIN
IRISH PUB
(location, west Jerusalem)
Dublin... home sweet home

Then I found some family members there too.. well sorta....
LEE COOPER =)

"J"... Hal, you calling jess "J" has kinda stuck.
When I saw this store I immediately thought of you 2!!
And Michelle.... some may think this is a stretch, but she has been known as "Meesh" at times so when I saw this down at the Red Sea I couldn't resist.

Unfortunately I'm missing my little sister McKenzie + all of the in-laws and newborns, but they too were thought of and missed! These little touches of home always brought a smile to my face. My summer was amazing, and the only thing that would've made it more perfect would have been to have my family there with me! These signs may seem like a stretch for some, but it just goes to show that I was always thinking of them and trying desperately to find a way to put them into the picture of my summer adventure. SURE LOVE YOU GUYS!! <3

home again, home again, jiggity jig

..... at least I think that is how that nursery rhyme goes.....

Well, as you have probably noticed, I kinda gave up on the blog. SORRY!!!! BUT, even better, how about I just tell you about the last month or so here in person!? Great idea!! And in case I don't see you, here's a SUPER quick summary...

We stayed in Galilee for 10 days and while we were there, we visited some of the most AMAZING sites! Mt. of Beatitudes, Gamla, Tiberias, well-just tons! Heather Andersen did a great post about it, so check out her page (linked over on the right). Those 10 days were awesome because we had fields trips, class, and then pure free time on the beach. It was the best of every life to tell you the truth!

Back at the center we had a week before it was time for finals. Unfortunately I got really sick the past 10 days and basically couldn't get out of bed... but after 2 trips to the hospital, tons of tests, x-rays, and gallons of blood later...... they never found out what was wrong with me. No worries though becuase i'm back on the mend and should be better in no time!!

I fly out tomorrow at 3am to start making my journey home, so I should be back in SF at thursday night. So i'll have plenty of stories, pictures, and experiences to share if you ever want to hear.

This post is not very reflective, nor does it do this place justice. My experience here has been amazing and I have truly loved it! I am so grateful to have had so many wonderful experiences that I never dreamed I'd have. I've been truly blessed.......

and I even get to go home and meet my new niece and nephew. Life couldn't get much better. Love it all!

over and out!

Snorkeling in the Red Sea

So the best recovery method from finals is a nice, relaxing day at the beach!!! On Sunday we all boarded the bus and took a 4 hour drive down to Eilat, where we chilled on the beach and went snorkeling in the RED SEA!!! It was AMAZING!!!! The water was so clear and so blue, it was remarkable!! It was incredible!!!

Heather and I in front of the Red Sea

Some of the Jeru Crew

After staying at one beach for a few hours, we drove a little ways down and went to another beach. This place was more active with TONS of HUGE hotels!! There was a small street along the beach, lined with shops and stores! It was so much fun just to go hang out there! They also had these incredible slushees that definitely HIT the spot!! ^^

Elise and I saw this and couldn't resist. It was so much fun!! It launched us into the air and the view was INCREDIBLE!! It was so gorgeous to look over Red Sea and to see all of the hotels.

SUCH A GREAT DAY!! DEFINITELY beat finals!! 

Jordan 4: Mosque & Jordan River

Well, this day was a blast, but it also definitely took the gold for the hottest day yet this summer!! A scorching 113 degrees in the scorching sun, as it reflected off of the barren ground!! wowzers!! 

Anyways, we had the opportunity to go a Mosque in Amman. Out of respect, all of the women had to wear these black cloaks and cover our heads. It was very interesting to be able to go in and sit inside while our tour guide told us how he worships. It was very beautiful too!! It's interesting to me how similar some of the mosques look inside, but all are incredible!!

Before we reached the border to come back to Israel, we went to the Jordan River, where Jesus Christ was once baptized by John the baptist. The color of the water reminded me of the delta... it wasn't quite that clear blue like the Red Sea. It was really cool to stop and think of the events that took place there and the significance of it. My favorite part was sitting just above the Jordan River and hearing a devotional from our Religion professors. They did a tremendous job. We were able to read the account of Christ's baptism in the scriptures, and then sing some hymns & primary songs relating to it. Of course we had to sing "When Jesus christ was baptized", and songs of the like, but we also sang, "Come, Follow Me" and that was incredible. It added a whole new perspective for me as I sung it and overlooked this river. It was such  A GREAT way to end an amazing trip!!

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.