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

Dry shouts pierce my broken heart

Well, crazy as it seems, it's almost next year, which means that I should probably start thinking about my application for the visual arts program. I think I'll be able to use a few of my high school pieces, but there's definitely room for improvement in my portfolio, so I'll be working on some new pieces over Christmas break.

This post is a plea for help.

I need photo references. Aunt Suzanne, if you have some pictures of Noah that you think are cute, that would be great, because my portfolio is severely lacking in boys right now. Also, pictures of Emma, Alyssa (sp?)... really, any of them would be great. I'm kind of trying to stay away from "look at the camera and smile" shots, though, which is probably something to keep in mind.

School's going great. Finals start in about a week and a half so the stress level is rising (incidentally, that's also the reason I haven't posted in awhile), but at least the end is in sight, and Jerusalem is coming up faster than I thought possible. Hope to see some of you again before I leave! And don't forget the pictures!

P.S. For those who don't know it, my email address is aperplexingpuzzle@gmail.com

P.P.S. What does the title of this post have to do with anything? ...I have no idea. Maybe it's me, shouting out my pleas for help... dryly... oh, who knows :P Jordan should know what I'm quoting, though, if he actually reads this thing :)

Rules of Engagement

I'm engaged.

...Not really. Apparently that's the rumor circulating around the ward, though, which has been... interesting. Chris said that the question he kept getting yesterday wasn't, "Are you engaged?" It was, "When did you get engaged?" You'd think it would be easy enough for people to look at my finger and see the lack of a sparkly, but I guess that doesn't occur to them. I think I know the girl who started it, though. She keeps going around telling people that we're "practically engaged," and somebody must have missed the "practically" part. Part of me thinks it would be funny to go up to her with a ring on my finger and record her reaction or something, though then the rumors would never cease... better not ;)

I discovered an amazing grocery store the other week! Have I mentioned it? It's awesome! It's called the Sunflower Market, and it has a huge variety of produce at really good prices. This week, grapefruit is on sale 8 for $1. Now, normally I don't eat grapefruit, but I had to buy some because it was 8 for $1! How could you not? It's also the only place in Provo I've found that sells ground mild Italian sausage, which is an essential ingredient in Zuppa Toscana, and tastes really good in place of ground beef in other things, too. It even sells tahini, which doesn't exist in any grocery stores in the Kaysville/Layton area (I checked). In short, I'm in love with this store, and we'll probably be announcing our engagement any day. Now I just need to figure out how to tell my boyfriend...

P.S. For some reason, I never could get Pyzam layouts to work for me, but I'm just cool enough with HTML that I managed to make my blog look exactly like the layout I wanted just by editing the coding of the default template. Bam!

P.P.S. *sigh* Sometimes I hate blogs. Well, I'm back to the stupid black layout again until I can figure out how to make my clouds work without taking away the comments feature. It'll happen, I promise you! Plus, when I switched to black again, it got rid of my Blog List which took me at least a half an hour to put together today. *grumble grumble grumble* Yeah, so if comments don't work now, I might swear off blogging completely. Not like I'm exactly an avid blogger anyway... but oh well.