Curses, foiled again

I just thought I'd let you know that I tried my hardest to get some pictures up on this thing. Although we can't post pictures with the computers at the JC, we can post them from Hebrew University, so I went there with a group of people a couple days ago to do so. It was a great plan... except that Hebrew U's computers are absolutely ancient, and didn't have a slot for my memory card. Darn. Well, I got smart. I realized that the ancient computers did have USB drives, so if I put some of the better pictures onto my thumb drive here and brought that to Hebrew U, I'd be able to post some pictures. That was a great plan, too... only when our group got there today, we realized that it's closed on Fridays. Curses, foiled again. So, I'll probably get some pictures up eventually, but not anytime soon. Also, don't expect me to be updating my blog at all for over a week, because we leave for Egypt on Sunday. As a side note, has anybody noticed how much I've enjoyed using italics in this paragraph?

This has been quite a busy week. Our teachers decided that it'd be a good idea to give us quizzes this week before we leave for Egypt and forget everything, and though it was a good idea, every teacher deciding that we needed a quiz in their class resulted in quite a few quizzes, and quite a lot of studying. We still got some time in the city, though. A group of us paid about 11 shekels to do the ramparts walk and go around the Old City wall, and that was pretty fun--we got some good pictures, at least :) I also made my way to Omar's, an amazing man who sells beautiful olive wood carvings, and have pretty much picked out the nativity set that I want to buy. Also, because I know that you love to hear about my shopping expeditions while I'm here, I bought a really cool bag, an engraved ring (which I wear around my neck now, because it didn't exactly fit the same way the tester ring did), a little box for the 5-shekel earrings I've been accumulating, and, for some reason, a pillowcase. I didn't actually mean to buy the pillowcase. I just started bartering with the guy without thinking about it, and once he finally came down to my price, I was kind of stuck--it's really rude to back out of a purchase once a price has been reached. It's a pretty pillowcase, though, so I don't mind :) I'll actually probably head back later to buy a couple more than him, because he was a really nice guy.

It seems like the longer I stay in Jerusalem, the more I come to love it. It's not just the city, either--I've started appreciating the people a lot more than I did before. For instance, the pillowcase-man. After I bought the pillowcase from him, I was stuck in the store for a little while longer because the rest of my group was looking at skirts, so I started talking to him. He started showing me some of his sons' wedding and engagement pictures, and it was absolutely hilarious. He had this pictures of all four of his sons out, and was pointing them out to me saying, "This one's so-and-so, and he got married two years ago, so he's 'finished.' This is so-and-so, and he just got married two months ago, so he's 'finished.' I still have these sons left, though, and they need to hurry up and 'finish!'" I laughed and told him that I was almost "finished," too, but that I didn't have a picture with me. We parted on really good terms, and I'll be happy to go and see him again.

Shabban, the man who runs the "BYU Store" (seriously, it sells BYU Jerusalem t-shirts and scripture cases!), and Emad, the 5-shekel earring man, are two other men who've been fun to get to know. Aladdin the money-changer is also a lot of fun, and it was so funny to see a Utah Jazz sticker in his shop. :) Omar is absolutely incredible, though. His only business comes from LDS people, and he's met all of the prophets since Ezra Taft Benson (though I don't know if that includes President Monson or not). His shop has the standard carvings, like the nativity, the Last Supper, and various carvings of Christ, but it also has Joseph and Emma Smith, Nephi, Father Lehi (which he says is the one President Hinckley bought from him), Moroni, Captain Moroni, and the Liahona. He has two sons who went to BYU, and his shop is covered in BYU posters and LDS pictures. What amazed me about him, though, is how open he is. Somebody asked him almost as a joke why he wasn't LDS yet, and though I won't write the story he told us here since we promised him we wouldn't spread it around, we were all touched by the trials he's been through and the faith that he has. I'm starting to realize that, many times, there is more to people here than meets the eye.

Another cute story happened while we were walking back to the Center. We were climbing up the hill to get back, and a girl named Teri Ann and I had lagged behind to take a picture together when a couple of Palestinian children came up to us and held their oranges out to us. We weren't really sure what to do--we kind of suspected that they'd want money in return, and we really had no idea where those oranges had been. :P We thought it might be rude to refuse, though, so we took them, figuring we'd just pay them whatever was in our pockets if they held their hands out. They didn't, though--they just smiled and waved and walked away. I don't know why, but both of us were very touched by this little act of kindness (and we really wished we'd gotten a picture with them!). I don't know what level of sacrifice it was for them to give us their oranges--it's a very poor area of town, but they might have had more at home that they could've eaten. It was sweet, though, and is one of my fondest memories of the Holy Land so far.

It's insane how quickly this week has gone--I can barely believe that we're leaving for Egypt in two days! I'll admit it, though, I'm not looking forward to the bathroom situation. Apparently you need to tip to use their gross, hole-in-the-ground toilets, and since the money changer was all out of any Egyptian currency smaller than 100 pounds (roughly equivalent to nineteen American dollars), it looks like I'll be forking out a dollar every time I want to use the bathroom on the way there. Theft is supposed to be worse there, too, as well as "unwanted attention from men," and if past years are anything to go by, I have about a 75% chance of getting sick. Somehow, though, I'm still really excited. Ever since I was really little I've wanted to go to Egypt, so this is like the fulfillment of a dream, if I may wax poetic for a moment. ;) It should be quite the adventure, too--while we're there, we'll be traveling by bus, plane, train, taxi, boat, carriage, and camel. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures while I'm there, and might even be able to post some when I get back, though judging from past experiences, that might be stretching things. :P

Thanks to those who commented last week, and to those who didn't comment, but read anyways. I can't judge you--I'm horrible at commenting on things. :P Also, as an unrelated note, the wedding date is set for June 26th (have I announced that here yet? I know I've hinted at it). Be there or be square.

Shabbat Shalom!

I'm not going to lie, this whole church-on-Saturdays business is really weird. I called home tonight (morning at home) expecting everybody to be getting ready for church... and then I remembered. Bizarre. :P

It's been pretty busy the last couple days. We went to the Western Wall last night (known also as the Kotel, or the Wailing Wall), and it was... well, it was an adventure. Before we went, we had a little orientation with one of our professors who told us to wear scarfs over our heads as a sign of respect, assuring us that we wouldn't stand out as much that way. Well, we don't want to stand out, right? Luckily, almost all of us have bought beautiful, bright colored scarfs in the city at some point, so we covered our heads and off we went. We all walked into the women's worship area together (they divide the men from the women when you go to the wall), and we soon noticed that we were some of the only people with our heads covered. We were also basically the only ones wearing jeans and t-shirts--most people were dressed in Sunday clothes, and almost everybody was wearing black. Hmm. Eventually a lady came up to us and asked us if we were married. Looking at each other, we agreed that we definitely were not (yet). The lady proceeded to tell us that only married women cover their hair here, and we would blend in much better if we took them off. Oops. We later found out from another lady that only Muslim women tie their scarfs in the front--Jewish women tie them in the back. Well, we've only seen the Muslim women wearing them in the city, so all of us had tied them in the front. To put it in the words of one of the ladies who approached us: "I wondered what all of these married American Muslim women in brightly-colored scarfs were doing at a Jewish holy site on the evening of Shabbat." So much for fitting in.

It was quite the experience, though. There's really not a lot of wailing going on, so it's kind of a misnomer. Instead there was a lot of dancing and singing. Well, there was dancing and singing on the men's side, at least--the women were a bit more somber. Apparently it's some Jewish law that women can't sing louder than men because women are holy and pure and men are basically animals, so being rowdier than the men distracts them from trying to think holy thoughts. We were able to dance and sing on the plaza above the wall, though, so we got a group of Jewish girls traveling to Australia to teach us a song. So, even though I think the guys had more fun than the girls (seriously, I saw some of them on top of each other's shoulders dancing around in their worship area!), it was still really neat. We're going this Wednesday as a group to go through the Kotel Tunnels that run underground along the Western Wall (because it goes pretty deep), so that'll be cool, too.

Today I went to the Garden of Gethsemane. I think it's probably my favorite place I've been so far. A lot of holy sites are stuffed with tourists and topped by gargantuan churches, like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even though I don't really think that's where Golgotha is or that that's where Christ was buried, I don't understand why you would take that hill and build a huge, gaudy chapel over it. I understand the need to mark holy places so they're not forgotten (it's the reason Constantine's mother was brought over to find the holy spots in the first place--because they were starting to pass out of memory), but I don't see the need to entirely cover them. Gethsemane's different, though. Next to it is the Church of All Nations, which is actually relatively small and understated, but still very beautiful. The garden was a little smaller than I thought it would be, and it's not kept or landscaped in quite the way I would do it, but I really appreciated its simplicity. There's also a private part of the garden that you can go to (if you're willing to pay, of course) that looks a lot more like what I always imagined, and we're planning on paying for that next time. It's a little more quiet and secluded, too, since the main garden that everybody can walk through is right next to a road and is pretty noisy.

Still, sitting in the main garden, it's easy enough to block everything out. I think most of the Christian world doesn't quite recognize the significance of what occurred in Gethsemane, so it wasn't full of tourists, or incense-bearing priests. In fact, for most of the time it was only us BYU students and the gardener there. We sang some hymns together, took a couple pictures, then separated to read scriptures, write in our journals, and think. It was a great way to spend a shabbat afternoon, and I can't wait to go back, though I think we're actually doing the Garden Tomb as a group next week. Not that I'm complaining, of course--I'd like to see that place, too :)

So I really am kind of curious about how many people are reading this thing, since I've pretty much lost track of everyone who's been given the link. Do you think we could do a roll call or something? Just leave a quick little comment or something--I'd like to know who I'm talking too :)

Well, even though it's over here, the sun shouldn't have set where you are yet, so shabbat shalom! Have a peaceful Sabbath, and laila tov (good night).

Is-thay is y-may ecret-say ode-cay. Ikey-lay?

Today was the type of day that every day in Jerusalem should be like. You know that part in Miss Congeniality where the airhead blonde girl is asked to describe her ideal date, and she says it'd be some time in April because "it's not too hot and it's not too cold--all you need is a light jacket!" Well, I would've never even thought to list January 15th as my ideal date back in Utah, but today was pretty much the perfect day--sunny and in the 70s, but with a nice cool breeze to keep things from getting too hot. Add to this the fact that I bought myself a beautiful golden scarf, and today really couldn't get any better (well, I suppose there's one thing that actually could make it better, but I'm trying not to think about that!). I also split the cost of a hair straightener with my roommate today, which was our main reason for going out into the city--none of ours have worked in the Holy Land, even with our various converters. I wanted to get a ring, too, to put on that finger until I get a new one, but we got a call from security telling us to leave the Old City through Jaffa Gate and take a taxi home because of demonstrations going on outside Damascus Gate, so I didn't get the chance. We're still not sure why we had to leave so suddenly, since the "demonstration" really wasn't a big deal--we even passed it on the way in. Still, it's security's job to be paranoid for us, so we left and called a taxi like good BYU students and I didn't get my ring. Apparently there's a merchant who'll engrave names in Hebrew on a ring for fairly cheap, though, so I'd really like to eventually buy one from him. Another day, I guess.

I've been working on developing a secret code today. Actually, it's not really very secret--it's Hebrew cursive, with a few modifications to compensate for English letters missing in the English alphabet. Still, not a lot of people know Hebrew (especially in America), and even people who do might only know block letters (especially in America), so it's practically like having a secret code. It's really fun, though. In fact, I'm probably having too much fun with this. I was just kind of thinking in Hebrew today how cool it would be to write things in class, and have somebody look over your shoulder and have no clue what the heck you were writing. :P Odd things like that appeal to me for some reason, and I probably just classified myself as a freak, but oh well. It's cooler than any other secret code I could come up with. Pig latin, anyone?

Legally Blonde

I really should start remembering my room key. Well, since I'm locked out of my room once more and the people at the ping pong table are way over my league, I figure now's as good a time as any to post.

We went on our first field trip today! The focus of it was learning the geography of Jerusalem and surrounding areas mentioned in the Bible, so we went to a couple of good "lookout" places that had great panoramic views of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, Bethlehem, the Judean Wilderness (where Jesus fasted for 40 days), the Mount of Olives, the Kidron Valley... basically anywhere in or around Jerusalem. We also went to a place called Nebi Samwil (named "Mont Joie" by the Crusaders because it gave them their first view of Jerusalem), which Muslims and Jews revere as the burial site of Old Testament prophet Samuel. It was an interesting place to visit, even though he probably wasn't buried there--he was actually most likely buried in the biblical town Ramah. Still, I guess it's kind of like the rock at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre--it's their respect for the person and not the accuracy of the site that matters most.

This being our first field trip, there were a couple of valuable lessons I learned from it:

• Lesson #1: Batteries, batteries, batteries. Cameras eat batteries, and are always low on battery power when you're least prepared for it (Murphy's Law), so just bring batteries. At least my camera lasted me through the church at Augusta Victoria, though, because that was quite a beautiful building.


• Lesson #2: Contrary to popular opinion, fanny packs are ultra-sexy. Well, that's kind of a lie, but they're useful, at least.


• Lesson #3: Try not to pay attention to men that wolf-whistle, or blow kisses, or try to convince you to ride away on a camel with them (seriously). If only I weren't so darn blonde, I might be able to get some peace around here!


• Lesson #4: Public bathrooms are gross. End of story.


• And finally, Lesson #5: Sometimes, it's cold. Occasionally, it's really really cold. Don't forget your jacket when it's really really cold.

All in all, it was a fun little trip. I even managed to get in my workout for the day (did you know that there are over 200 stairs leading up to the top of the Augusta Victoria tower? My legs are still feeling it!). Egypt's in less than two weeks, so I have that to look forward to/obsess over/be ecstatic about (did you know I'm looking forward to going to Egypt???). In the nearer future, we're planning a trip to the Western Wall, and I think we might be visiting some caves, too (I'll have to check my schedule). 'Til next time, shalom y'all!

I think I'll never get tired of saying that. ;)

Shalom, y'all!

"Shabbat shalom! *clap* Shabbat shalom! *clap* Shabbat, shabbat, shabbat, shabbat shaloooom!"

Sorry about the random beginning. I just thought I'd share with you the lyrics to the song that's been running in my head all day. It doesn't help that people keep randomly singing it in the cafeteria, either. Kind of a repetitive song, isn't it? :P

So, they finally decided to let us into the Old City yesterday! They've put on a couple extra restrictions, mainly that we have to be in groups of five instead of three, but I really don't care--I'm just glad that we're finally free! Yesterday, my group and I decided that it would probably be best to save the shopping for another day because we knew the lines at the money changer would be so long, so we explored the Church of the Holy Sepulchre instead. That place is really cool, though the scent of the incense becomes a bit overwhelming after awhile. Right in the building's entrance is a rock that Christ's body was supposedly laid out on after his burial, so we took pictures of us kneeling down and touching it. I highly doubt it was the actual rock, especially since Brother Huff (one of our religion professors) told us that the original stone was actually replaced 500 years ago. That's probably not common knowledge to most Christians, though, because a lot of people were praying over it and rubbing their precious belongings against it, believing that it had been touched by Christ. In the end, maybe it doesn't matter--it was still very touching to see their faith.

We ended up spending a couple hours there, which is maybe a little much for that place, especially if you place any value at all on good, clean, incense-free air. :P We did meet our professor there, though, and he made things much more interesting. For instance, there was one room that we had wandered around taking pictures of crosses inscribed on the wall, and only when our teacher brought us back to it did we find out that the room was the cistern where Constantine's mother supposedly found the cross, and that all of the crosses inscribed on the wall were left by crusaders and pilgrims. Honestly, though, my favorite part was taking pictures of the candles. :P I don't know why, but I have at least 15 pictures of candles--from the top, from the bottom, to the side, close up... Don't worry, I'm not alone in my strangeness. Everybody else was taking pictures of the candles, too, and we all know what a great excuse that is. ;)

Today I finally got to go out and actually shop, and it was probably the better day to do it, because it was pouring outside yesterday! We stopped by the money changer Aladdin (who is, by the way, hilarious, and he totally called me a "Molly Mormon." That's when you know he's been spending too much time around BYU students :P), and then we headed into the Old City. They told us that most of the merchants know us, and they weren't kidding! In almost every store we went to the merchants told us they had "special deals" for the Mormons, and there was even a merchant who sang to us everytime we passed! "Mormons, we love you coming to Jerusalem...", basically to the tune of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful." It was awesome.

My favorite store by far, though, is the 5 shekel earring store. Well, that's not what it's called, but for reasons that are probably obvious, that's what I call it. Basically, he sells earrings for less than two American dollars. Oh yeah, and his scarves? 10 shekels each--less than three dollars. I managed to only buy two of those today, and one set of earrings, but I doubt I'll ever be able to escape from his store without paying at least 15 shekels. Luckily, we don't go shopping every day, because my money supply could definitely deplete over time from doing that, even though it's so cheap!

There's so much more I could write, but this post is already too long, so I'll stop myself here :P Feel free to comment if you have a question. Jackie, it was great to hear from you--I always think of you whenever I see any sort of exotic food around here. Well, for now, "Shalom, y'all!" (No, seriously, I saw a wooden sign for sale that actually said that. It was great :)

Martha Stewart, anyone?

Sorry there was no post or email replies or anything yesterday! If I wasn't eating, going to meetings, or doing homework yesterday, I was probably asleep (although I mostly slept through the meetings and homework part, too). Conversely, I woke up almost every two hours last night because I wasn't tired at all, yet somehow managed to sleep through call to prayer and my alarm this morning. Isn't jet lag great??


So, after our 456th orientation meeting that morning (this number's just a rough estimate, though I think it's pretty accurate), we finally went on our walking tour of Jerusalem. My tour guide was Sister Huff, and all of us girls agreed that she was the best person for the job since she knew all the great places to shop :) She pointed out the cheapest places to get falafels, the cleanest bathrooms (located in the Austrian Hospice), and a little store that sells earrings for only 5 shekels each that I'm sure I'll be checking out later. She also taught us that when a big guy pushing a cart shouts "HELLO!", he's not being friendly--he's telling you to get out of the way, or he'll run you over. Actually, she was a little late in teaching us that, but she was kind enough to pull me out of the cart's way when I wasn't moving:)

The Old City is definitely my favorite part. First of all, there's no cars, so there's no crazy drivers speeding by and honking every couple seconds. Second, there's so much more to look at. The Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and actually most of the coolest sightseeing places are in the Old City, as well as a ton of little shops selling blankets, t-shirts, women's shawls, olive wood carvings, and all sorts of things. I was excited to see pomegranates in almost all of the food shops (just 'cuz pomegranates are cool like that), and I noticed that most of them also sell halva, a dessert that my dad always used to talk about that I think I might have to try someday. There's always so much going on that it's easy to get lost in it all... but don't worry, Mom, my antenna are "up." :P

Life in the Center is going great, too. The only problem is that they won't let us out. Security's decided that tensions are a little too high for us to wander around East Jerusalem right now, and since East Jerusalem basically contains the Old City and anywhere else worth visiting, there's not much to do aside from studying and, in my case, writing a talk (they caught me early :P). I suppose technically we could visit West Jerusalem, but the only way to get there is to either walk through East Jerusalem (which isn't an option right now) or to take a taxi, which we can't pay for yet because we haven't visited the moneychangers in East Jerusalem yet. So yeah, we're stuck here. Not that it's really a bad place to be stuck, per se, but it still kind of feels like we're under house arrest. Martha Stewart, anybody?

At least the people here are nice. I met a girl named Whitney who's also engaged (have I mentioned that?), so I have somebody to talk weddings and flowers with. I also have really nice roommates, which is quite the turnaround from last semester. I was a little thrown off when one of my roommates, named Sarah, asked if I wanted to go up to dinner with her. I've become so unused to people actually caring about where I go and what I'm up to, so it's really a nice change. We've both agreed that we're going to go out and get falafels together once the ban is lifted.

There's more that I could write, but I think I will do so later. I can answer a couple questions that people have asked, though. Grandma--we're not allowed in the Old City on Fridays until 3 p.m. because it's the Muslim holy day. We can go out after 3, but we have to be back before sunset when shabbat starts, so there's not much of a point to it right now when the days are so short. As the days get longer, though, that'll be more of an option. Wendy--well, none of the meals we've had so far have been quite up to par with the meal that they served on the very first night, but it's still been very good. Usually we have three options for a main meal including beef, chicken, or fish, along with side dishes that are usually unidentifiable but are almost always quite good. I know we've been served hungarian goulash and chicken boraccas so far, and I thought I tasted curry in the meatballs tonight, but there's not much more I can tell you. I guess I could ask for recipes, though I usually have trouble understanding what the kitchen staff's saying, so I'd rather not. There's one thing they serve though that's always amazing: pita bread and hummus. 'Nuff said :P

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

...Don't know when I'll be back again. Except that I already did leave on a jet plane, and I do have a pretty good idea of when I'll be back again, but let's not bother ourselves with trivialities, hmmm?

On the bus ride that took us from the Tel Aviv airport to the Jerusalem Center, one of our teachers mentioned that it took Orson Hyde 18 months to finally reach the Holy Land in order to dedicate the temple site. Now, as thankful as I am that I didn't have to go on that trip, I'm not going to lie--this trip was long. I also discovered that, contrary to what many people believe, I cannot fall asleep just anywhere. More specifically, I cannot fall asleep in an airplane. Having spent roughly 16 hours in an airplane recently, I am definitely a little sleep deprived. This is actually probably a good thing, though--at least I should be able to overcome jet lag tonight.

There's not really much to say about the plane ride, though I did discover that there was not a single sunny place in the world today. I mean, this might be a slight exaggeration, as it's based off a not-so-random sample of only five cities, but still. It's kind of sad to know you're going over England or Germany at the moment, and you can't see a thing. The only time the clouds cleared up was when we were flying at night over the ocean, which was pretty pointless, and when we were flying over Dublin, which was actually pretty cool. I mean, it was still dark outside, but the city was all lit up, and it looked beautiful. I commemorated the event by listening to "Ireland" from Legally Blonde the Musical on my iPod, and decided that I'm definitely visiting that city someday :)

Aside from reading the last Artemis Fowl book and listening to hours of music, the rest of the plane time was pretty monotonous, so I'll cut to the good stuff--I'm in Jerusalem right now :) It is so beautiful! We have a great view of the Old City from the balconies connected to our rooms, and we spent a bit of time out there before dinner started and it began to get chilly. The Dome of the Rock is definitely the most striking part of the view, but I also like turning to the side and realizing that the Mount of Olives is right next door. A Muslim call to prayer was going on as our bus pulled up to the center and later when we were standing outside, and it sounds so cool! Actually, it kind of reminded me of one of the songs from my dad's Tetris game, which plays songs from all around the world :P I'll have to see if I can record it and post it when I get back, because it's really clear from where we are. Of course, I've been told that students don't enjoy the call to prayer nearly as much when they do it at 4:15 am, so we'll have to see if it holds its charm :)

There's not much else to say. The lady at passport control in Tel Aviv scared me to death. Apparently I came off as "cocky," which I don't understand at all, since mainly I was halfway to hyperventilating. I got into the country okay, though (obviously), so no worries there. The people I've met so far at dinner and on our various plane connections have been really nice, and I'm starting to pick up a couple names. The food is really good, too. As in, really good. I'll definitely have to control portions here, or I'll probably start gaining weight. I kept reminding myself during dinner that I'll get to eat here again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, continuing for several months, and the food will be just as good those days so I don't have to stuff it all in my face immediately :P Seriously, though, it's that good.

Well, that's it for the night. Long post, huh? :) Tomorrow we're going on a walking field trip around the Old City, so I'll tell you all about it. See you later! I love you all <3