Belated Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I know, I know, I missed it, but chronology doesn’t really bother me too much. When I got accepted to the program, Easter was one of the best events I looked forward to—it didn’t disappoint (although, I must admit I missed our family traditions quite a bit).

Let me begin with Palm Sunday, this is generally the starting point of our celebration at home anyway. We were scheduled to have class all morning, but after a bit of complaining and some professors sticking up for us we were able to shift some things around. There is a traditional celebration done here every Palm Sunday. The Christians begin on the Mount of Olives at Bethphage Church. Bethphage is a Catholic church that like most has all the official gear. There is a rock inside that apparently Jesus used when he got on the donkey.

There were thousands gathered there. We bought palms and all marched together; it as a moving experience for me. Oh and just for your information, there is an unofficial competition with who can get the largest palm. I was pretty sure I had it all wrapped up, but there was at least one that was larger than mine. Still, second is pretty good.

For part of the time we were singing and dancing with some of the evangelicals from somewhere in South America—their songs always come with drums and are really catchy. There were other times that we sang our hymns as well. One moment in particular comes to mind when we were singing Nearer My God to Thee and people from other groups began to sing with us. There were people from Korea, Norway, Germany, all singing with us. It was a wonderful unifying moment. We marched through Lion’s Gate and to the First Station of the Cross.

During the week we focused on a couple of other things in classes (not relating specifically to the life of Christ during that week). We did get to visit Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank. For the sake of time I will refrain from discussing the West Bank much, but I will post a few pictures from my trip there so you can get an idea about the idea.

This is the separation wall that divided East and West Jerusalem. It is kind of a scary deal. While this section isn't the part in Bethlehem it is pretty much the way it is all over.

For our trip to Bethlehem I decided to sport my Pro-Palestine gear. It was a great plan. Everyone on the street would yell how much they liked my shirt. People would tell me that they like Americans, just not America. I guess I can understand that.

This is inside the Church of Nativity. The spot that I am touching is the supposed exact location of where the manger was. There is actually some pretty good evidence of it, so who knows. I was a really neat place to be though.

This picture I found interesting just because of what it is. We visited a university in Bethlehem that is for the Palestinians. It was interesting to be able to interact with them. They had a panel discussion where we could ask them all sorts of questions. We did get in a little trouble because one of the people from my group called the shootings at the Jewish school an act of terrorism, thus inferring that they were terrorists. It was rather touchy. Anyway the picture is of a hole in the wall from some Israeli rockets launched at the university. They keep this hole there as a reminder. Really the whole situation is fascinating, but like I said, I really don't want to get too much into that.

The other great thing about going to Bethlehem was that we got to spend the evening on the Judean plains where the shepherds were when the angels announced the birth. It was wonderfully cold, but spectacularly beautiful.

The rest of the week we were prepping to go Galilee. We were actually scheduled to go travel on Easter morning. We all were a little upset about that—I mean honestly, who planned it like that? We were able to negotiate a few other activities to compensate. The night before we went to evening mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and on Easter morning we got up at 4 am to go the Garden Tomb. It was an interesting contrast as one can imagine, Catholic vs. Evangelical.

I have a couple pictures from the Garden Tomb. I hope they give you an idea of what it was like.

Well, that is rather long, but somehow I still feel very bare bones to what we did that week. I hope that we can talk about it more when I get back.

Gone Fishing

Everyone--I am going to be gone to Galilee (the site of so much biblical fishing) for the next ten days. I am unsure if there will be internet for me to use or not so chances are there will be no updates on my blog until I return. I know that this is severely disappointing to many of you, especially since you were all anticipating my account of Easter here. I am afraid that will have to wait. The combination of waiting for pictures to load on a slow internet connection and my lack of actual written material have hindered the publication of such a blog. I will give a better account when I return.

Indiana Jones and Last Crusade....Gross Over Generalization

We have all seen the movie a hundred times. Well, I got to experience it (more or less) first hand. Of course I realize that there are some among you who would argue that just going on the ride and Disneyland is firsthand, and in all reality, you have a very good point. This is a brief idea of what we did in Jordan though.

We began our trip by crossing the Israel/Jordan border near Jericho. This involves the crossing of the Jordan River. I never realized this until now, but the supposed site of Jesus' baptism is very near the locations of three miracles. The first was the parting of the Jordan so that the children of Israel could enter into the Holy Land. The other two are when both Elijah and Elisha parted the Jordan. It makes for an interesting parallel, especially considering that John is the forerunner of Christ.

The below site is a the remains of a couple of Byzantine Churches dating back to the 5th Century. They were built over the supposed site of baptism of Jesus. The water originally flowed directly from the Jordan (from up to down in this picture) resulting in a font that was full of running water.

This is me on the banks of the River Jordan on the Jordanian side. The river really isn't that large, in fact it often looks more like a canal. Anciently, it was a lot larger. The Israelis pull a lot of water away from the river so that they can irrigate in the desert areas.

After the Jordan River we went to Mt. Nebo, which is the mountain where Moses looked upon the promised land. I hope the picture below helps explain where everything is in relation to the summit. Luckily we didn't have to actually hike up it. We drove up and just walked a short way. I will be honest and tell you that it really didn't look all that great from up there (and bear in mind it is spring here). I suppose it was better than from where they came.

Just FYI. Jordan has the best Coke in the world and I don't even like Coke. There was something about it that just made you want to drink more and more. We each probably downed three at lunch. I really don't know why.

These are a few of the pictures from Petra. As you may or may not know, Petra is the site of the the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Also Petra was voted the second Wonder of the World in the latest polling to determine the Seven Wonders of the World. It was an amazing place. Very similar to southern Utah, but a southern Utah that has been inhabited for millenia. In the movie, you see a building cut right out of the wall. That of course is there as is another one that is very much like it. There really isn't anything inside. Of course they don't let you go all the way in--they just say there is nothing more to see down that dark tunnel in the back. Blast--I really should have checked it out, guard or no guard. There is a lot more than just that there though. This was an amphitheater that was also carved right into the cliff walls.

Many years ago the entire area was lived in and protected by beduoins. When Jordan began to really use Petra as a tourist site the government moved the beduoins from the land and built them a city. The beduoins are kind of like Native Americans in that they just kind of get moved around whenever it is convenient for the other people of the country. They do sort of still hang around in Petra though. They live in the caves which are prevalent in the area. The next picture should give you and idea of what I mean.

To get up to the monastery we decided to ride donkeys. Riding said animal resulted in countless jokes which because I wish to keep my posts family friendly will remain unwritten. I only mention it because I don't want you to think that it went unnoticed. I took a video that I am sure Luke will love, but videos take time to load so a picture will have to do. I called my donkey Tonto, I am not sure what his name really is, but I liked Tonto. He was probably the fastest of all the donkeys with a real competitive streak. Anytime another donkey came close he would race ahead so as to always be in the lead. It was only slightly frightening because we were going around steep cliffs on a very narrow path.

After Petra we went to an old Roman city known as Gerash. The spelling is different, or at least I have seen four different versions. Most of the ruins are from the first century. Part of the visit included a gladiator/chariot show. Nothing like a little blood and guts to really make you feel at home in Jordan.

The next picture is really kind of stupid. There wasn't a lot for us to do at night in Jordan. It seems that anything really worth doing was off limits. We did however go the mall--Mecca Mall. It was huge and contained a lot stores with nothing I could afford or even ever want. Reminded me of about every other mall in the States. I include this picture to merely relate to you one of my most embarrassing moments of my trip so far. We were messing around in some stores taking stupid pictures when I decided to show off my incredible basketball skills. It seems harmless enough right. Well actually the basketball hoop was attached to rather precarious shelf. Once I touched it the whole thing came crashing down. I managed to catch the shelf from completely falling but everything else was sprawled out on the floor. The store manager just happened to be walking by. I just kind of looked at him and smiled. The rest of the people pretended not to know me. I left just as soon as I could and never looked back.

Ok, that was my gross over generalization of Jordan. I hope it gave you a flavor of what my trip was like. The people there in Jordan were really quite wonderful. They really didn't try and rip me off or anything--at least not a lot. Anyone who is willing to treat me like that is a friend in my book.

Free at Last

It was a breath of fresh air (Jerusalem fresh) today as we walked out the gates of the Jerusalem Center and back into the city. This post is mainly by way of announcement. The lock down has ended, which is great because my secret stash of food has long since been depleted and I was beginning to wonder any of the new plants springing up would make for good eats. I am now content with life and have enough treats to help me survive the long hours between dinner and breakfast (I guess I should really just go to bed earlier).

The security situation in Jerusalem appears to have improved greatly. They were expecting some sort of repercussions, but none came. Generally both sides exchange blows in order be the last one to hit the other. A Palestinian shop owner presented his theory of why there were none today. He said that an attack of this nature always happens around Easter. He believes that somehow the Jews were behind the attack in order to keep the Christian pilgrims from coming here. I wanted to ask him if he thought the U.S. government was behind the attack on 9/11, but we didn't have the time. So take that for what is worth.

Secert Tunnels

For some reason I have been fairly lax about updating my blog, I am hoping to remedy this. Hopefully you will be seeing a few more updates from me in the next couple of days.

I have decided to throw chronology out the window. Instead of trying to talk about what I have been up to these past few weeks, I will write instead about last night. It was a class field trip to the Western Wall. We are still in lock down mode here, so I am really glad we were still able to go.

So I am pretty sure that most of you have seen the Western Wall before, but the section we got to see was so much cooler than you normally see in pictures. The below picture is our the outside section that pretty much everyone has seen.



We went through what is called Kotel Tunnel. After the Jews left Jerusalem, the Muslims came and took over the Temple Mount to build the Dome of the Rock. When they did, they pretty much changed the entire landscape of the area. It use to be that a market street ran next the the wall. When the Muslims came, they raised their homes and built them right up against the wall. The basements were used as cisterns to store water. I am not entirely sure why this was done, but it was.

A few years back the Israelis began secretly excavating the site. Now bear in mind that there are Palestinian homes above them. They tunneled under all the homes from one side of the Temple Mount to the next. Then one day they just popped out the other side in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem. This of course resulted in a lot of problems and bloodshed. Things are a little better now, but you still need to be escorted by Israeli soldiers from the Muslim Quarter back to the Jewish side.



The tunnel itself is amazing. There is one stone (shown below) that weighs approximately 600 tons. It is amazing that it is even there. Supposedly, even with our modern technology we cannot move a stone of that size.

There is also a really cool spot in the tunnel that is the closest point to where they believe the Holy Holies was. There is a small synagogue there. Below is a picture of that arch over that portion of the Western Wall.



So I have developed a terrible habit of touching everything here. I believe it comes from our history professor, Dr. Seely, who also has the same habit. Just the same it is great to feel like you have touched stones that people in the first century (or earlier) built, carved, or leaned against.

Security Update

I just wanted to let everyone know at once what the security situation is like here. Due to the problems in Gaza, there have been some issues here in Jerusalem. It is not as bad as you might expect. Hamas (in Gaza) is slightly different than the group that controls the West Bank, and many Palestinians here don't approve of some of the things Hamas is doing. However, there have been some strikes and a couple of days ago there was a shooting in West Jerusalem (the Jewish side--we live in East Jerusalem). I am sure that many of you have read about it in the news. We have missed a lot of the major problems because we have been in Jordan and we also spent a day down at the Red Sea--all of which I plan on posting about. Lately we have been locked down here in the Center and that isn't likely to change for the next couple of days (it is day to day though). I believe things will change for the better. It often seems we walk a razor's edge here. It seems that everyday we pray for peace in Israel. Not only for the people's sake, but also so that others can have the opportunity of coming here to study.

Anyway, I should have a couple of post up soon, but I just wanted to satisfy any curious people out there that may have been paying attention to the news.

Hell Freezes Over

"When hell freezes over." is a term thrown around every once and awhile--probably not by anyone who reads my blog, but by some people. The colloquialism is meant to describe the impossible--however in my present condition it represents the all too painful reality.


I have heard tales of all the snow that people are receiving and have quietly chuckled to myself. Despite the unusually cold weather here, I have only needed to ever wear a jacket. Two days ago I woke up to see a veritable winter wonderland outside my window. While it was beautiful, I merely groaned and rolled over to stare at the wall and pretend it was nothing more than a dream.



Also by way of note, the reason I say that hell truly froze over is because there is an actual hell here. Which sets up nicely for my next story.

A couple of days ago, on one of those perfect days we have here I decided to Hell. It is a part of Jerusalem where the Kidron and Hinnom Valley meet. It has some symbolic meaning (obviously) since it is the lowest part of the area. It contrasts with the Temple Mount on Mt. Moriah and Mt. Zion which are two of the highest points in the city. Just for reference the valleys converge at the southeast corner of the city--very near where David's Jerusalem was located. The valleys are lined with cemeteries because the area is prophesied to be the location of judgment. Apparently everyone is anxious to be first in line for that day.


While in Hell, we came across a really interesting situation. We were walking by a goatherd when we saw him grab a goat by its feet and flip it on its back. It wasn't all that odd until he tied the legs of goat. Some of us thought that we were going to witness an animal sacrifice or something--right there in Hell. Much to our surprise he simply reached in the goat and pulled out a pair of kids. It was so crazy. For some odd reason I felt a need to pet the kids--odd i know, but for a couple of shekels the guy let me take some pictures. It was a pretty cool experience.


The other experience I wanted to share deals more specifically with the Temple--sort of. To set this up, let me remind you of a little history. When David became king he had the challenge of unifying Israel both politically and religiously. Part of his solution was to establish Jerusalem as the political capital and make it a religious center by moving the Ark of the Covenant there. It worked and the kingdom became unified.

On the the modern era. We went to a mount outside of Jerusalem called Mt. Herzl. It is located just above the Holocaust Museum. There is this really interesting parallel with Mt. Herzl and Mt. Moriah (the Temple Mount). I have already mentioned another David, David Ben-Gurian. When he became president he was faced with a similar problem that faced King David. Israel had just beat the Palestinians and were trying to establish a nation. The Jews had been separated from the Holy Land for nearly 2,000 years. They needed to establish a new identity and claim on a land they once inhabited. David Ben-Gurian brought the remains of Herzl to the mount. He was the man who began the Zionist movement. He established Mt. Herzl as a place similar to the ancient temple. It became a focal point for modern secular Jewish "worship." Obviously, there were no ordinances performed there, but they do most of their political ceremonies there.


Around this site large cedars were planted by dignitaries from countries that recognized Israel as a new nation, to stand as a witness of the action. The cedars are to parallel the cedars of Lebanon used to construct the ancient temple. Visiting the site I was really struck with how elegantly the Jews seem to mix symbolism into their society. Despite the fact that such references to ancient Israel are deliberate they are not tacky nor do they feel contrived. I mentioned this to Mom the other day and she mentioned how this seems to be part of their biblical heritage. It is neat to feel like I am witnessing the fulfillment of Biblical promises.

SEAGL (The Five Valleys)

I wish to apologize for not updating my blog these past few days. I have wanted to, but I have also been waiting for some pictures to be able to supplement the writing.

Not very long ago we went on another geography-type field trip. I have heard some interest in this area from some people, so I will write a little about it. There are five main valleys that lead from the lowlands up into the hills. I would tell you the names, but they probably wouldn't mean much to you. These valleys were significant though because they were the main battle grounds for much of the ancient Israeli/Philistine conflict. We visited the site where Samson grew up and where he set fire to the fields of the Philistines' and wrestled the lion. In fact his whole story pretty much took place in one small valley.


Another slightly more well known valley is the Elah valley, which may cause something in the back of your minds to stir a little. This was the place where David fought Goliath. We did a little reenactment that I have included below. For those of you concerned, not rocks were actually used in the this shot. And if there were, I would have had more luck if I was facing the other direction since almost all of my shots seemed to go directly behind me. We took the pictures because there is an artist in our group who plans on painting the scene--so who knows, one day I may be hanging on the wall somewhere.


This is a picture of a site known as the Bell Caves. They are actually mines that are the sources of chalk used in making of plaster. I think the only reason we went there was to sing some hymns, but it was also just a cool place to see.


This other picture, I just wanted to include because it was just fun. These are some tunnels that where made for some reason--I really don't know why. They have no historical significance, but they were really fun to crawl around in. It was really narrow for the most part, in fact many places I had trouble fitting in. It really brought out my more adventurous side. Lots of climbing, lots of dirt, and lots of exploring.


This was a short blog. I have a big hole to work myself out of, but at least it is a start.

Meaningful Moments

With a title like that I almost feel like I should share some gushy sappy moment that would tug on the old heart strings. Well, if you are expecting Rich's Middle Eastern version of Chicken Soup for the Soul it isn't going to happen. However, I wanted to not talk so much about places that I went in Egypt, but things that I experienced. This may be my last post on Egypt, because there is always so much else to tell, but we will see how I feel about that later.

First a moment specifically for Mom (don't worry it will be short). On our way down to Egypt we made a couple of stops. To completely understand this let me give you a little background on the geography. We came from Jerusalem, which is located in the hills. The area isn't really all the fertile, but it is green and not desert like. As we moved south we entered some lowlands that were similar to the midwest--very green and lots of farms. A little further south things get ugly. This area is known as the Negev. You look around and pretty much all you see are rocks and I am not joking. There is nothing. Ok, moving on. Here we visited the grave of David Ben-Gurion.


Ben-Gurion was the first Prime Minister of Israel and is referred to as the George Washington of Israel--hence is inclusion in my post today. He was very popular and easily could have maintained power for himself, but after a time he decided to retire and become a farmer in, of all places, the Negev. He devoted the rest of his life to developing methods for people to farm and live in that part of the country. I placed a stone on his grave, because it is a sign of respect. I suppose it has to do with how they used to bury people in that time by piling stones on them and to care of the grave you place a stone on it to prevent animals from getting to the body.


Now to Egypt. Here is just a quick snippet. Below is a picture of some authentic food in the area. It was a really cool restaurant that instead of wall had hanging carpet. All the pitas were cooked in a wood burning stove by an old lady who likes to make that noise that is usually associated with "Kill the infidels!" Luckily, she didn't say that--she just tossed us a pita.



On to Luxor. This was a rather exciting place. First of all, the city thrives on tourism (I think that is what every person is geared towards there). On the street there are hundreds of carriages that we used to see some of the sights as a group. The organized trips were great (as you can tell by the smiling faces in the picture). They are really nice to you, they even let me drive. This wasn't a good idea, because I was really driving, not just holding the reins.


Ok, so the carriages are good right? Wrong. They are evil--pure evil. Later in the evening we wanted to do some shopping in an open air market. We left the hotel and were immediately offered a ride in the carriages to where ever we wanted to go. It was pretty cheap so we decided to go. We all hoped on (there were about twenty of us, so five carriages) and headed off. We when arrived, the open air market didn't look like an open air market, in fact it looked like a seedy tourist shop located on a dimly lit street. This was of course not the open air market. Naively, we got out and investigated. The carriage drivers ushered us in--apparently they had some stake in what was going on because they were all buddy buddy with the shop owners. We quickly realized that this was not where we wanted to go so we all left and started walking away. This was a problem, because apparently we didn't buy anything and we were supposed to. We tried to pay our drivers and leave (even though we didn't know where we were, but they wouldn't have it. Pretty soon all the Egyptians started arguing with each other. It as possibly one of the scariest moments in my life to find myself surrounded by about fifty Egyptians screaming at each other in Arabic--obviously arguing over us. We wanted to leave, but found it really difficult. Eventually we got the drivers to take us away, but they refused to take us back or to the market. They just took us from one shady store to the next. Our American patience quickly ran thin and we began yelling in English (not nearly as scary). Eventually we just got off in an area that we knew and decided to walk home. After we got off we found out that the first place we stopped at was part of the Egyptian mafia. The whole thing is a big con to rip off the tourists. They get you to buy stuff to see where your money is and then little kids (who are everywhere) steal all your money. So, rule to the wise--the carriages are evil.

The thing you should do in Luxor is go on the boats. We got out on the Nile and had an awesome dance party. The teachers were in a constant state of worry because many were hanging off the boat and dancing on the top level or aka roof. I defiantly recommend doing that when you are in Luxor.



The last thing that I will write about is Mt. Sinai, but because it was so awesome. We woke up around 2 a.m. so that we could make it up to the top for the sunrise. This was one of the most anticipated events, for me, of this whole trip. The hike wasn't all that bad. The area is pretty harsh though. There isn't much of anything except rocks there, I can't imagine how the it must have looked to the Israelites. I feel a certain amount of pity for them. Egypt really did look a lot better than the waste land that we were walking through, and once you were on top, that was all you really could see. I was glad to have some time to sit and ponder and enjoy the beauty of the moment.

Return from the 8 Day Exodus

I arrived back in Jerusalem two days ago and have struggled since then to find a way to share my experiences with everyone. There is simply too much to tell in one post--so be expecting more.

First, I think it is simplest to go over just some of the sights that I have seen. Now bear in mind that even this is somewhat edited and I am really just going over the highlights, which is sort of like picking your favorite flavors of ice cream.

Site Number One (in no particular order): The Pyramids

There is no way this would not make the highlights. We had a somewhat unique experience there, mainly because it was freezing cold and even slightly rained. They told me I should feel lucky--well, I didn't (is that wrong?). I think I would have been happy with lots of sun like they have every other day. Now, some people may be offended, but the pyramids are really just a pile of rocks, albeit a really big pile of rocks that is really old. We were able to enter in one of the pyramids. I do have some bad news though, there are no boobie-traps in the pyramids. And by none, I mean that there are not even old ones that have already been set off. Thanks Indiana Jones for setting unreal expectations for me.

Despite the lack of large rolling stones, slowing collapsing walls, and nests of poisonous snakes, the pyramids really exceeded much of what I ever imagined. These are structures that are really old--they were old when Abraham went to Egypt. All of sudden being 26 didn't sound all that bad. After we playing around there for a bit we all took camel rides. I have included a video that doesn't have any sound (don't worry I wasn't saying anything important or even all that funny), but I thought it was somewhat cooler than some of the pictures.

Here is a little cultural tidbit for everyone as well. They pyramids are surrounded by a rope and are guarded by soldiers to prevent anyone from climbing up to the top. It was once acceptable for people to climb up there, but in the last few years the government has really starting cracking down on people. So, as I was walking by them you can imagine how I felt when a guard motioned to me and sneakily pulled the rope down with with foot to allow me to cross. He was armed with an Uzi and I kind felt like the whole thing might have been some sort of trap, but there was no way I was passing this up. I hopped over and started climbing up. I didn't get all that far before I was yelled at by the soldier--apparently the offer was only to go up a little ways. I took a quick picture and started coming down. When I got back I started walking over to the bus when the guard stopped me. He held out his hand and said "basheesh" which is sort of translated as "tip." I guess the fact that he was carrying and automatic weapon made me feel generous so I gave him a dollar. This is just a small example of an important principle in Egypt. Nothing is free, but you can buy anything.

Site Number Two: Karnak Temple

I will probably embarrass myself on this one slightly, but I never really knew this place existed. It apparently was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, who knew right? It also took a little over 1700 years to build. I know, I know, that sounds pretty unreal, but go ahead and check--it really took that long. The complex is gigantic. Every inch of stone is covered in hieroglyphics and the color in many places is still vibrant. The over all structure is very similar to the tabernacle design. There are three different sections with varying holiness associated with them culminating in the holy shrine.

The columns in many places were over 24 meters high. I think I could have easily spent all day there just gaping at everything. Egyptians had a flair from making things look grand. Here are just a couple of examples for you.

This other picture may not seem all that interesting, but let me explain. The scarab is a very sacred icon to the Egyptians. It has a lot of meaning especially in regards to fertility because it contains both male and female sex organs. They made this pillar with a scarab on it and according to our guide if you run around on it five times you are blessed with wealth, if you go around it seven times you are blessed with marriage, and if you go around it eight times you are blessed with lots of children. Any guesses how many times I ran around it? That's right, zero--who needs that stuff anyway, I just took pictures (kidding--I made 16 laps just to be safe). I suppose if any of that stuff happens now I will know why (apparently the Egyptians had it right).



Site Number Three: Citadel Mosque

I really couldn't leave this one off the list either. It is located in Cairo up on the hill. The mosque serves as a government fortress as well as a mosque. I don't know if you noticed or not, but it looks a lot like Hagia Sofia in Constantinople. That is mainly because Muhammad Ali sent artists to study architecture there to help design the building.


This is the outside of the Citadel Mosque. There is actually a really large courtyard in the inside that I didn't really show. It is a really big building.

*I have a video that I want to add here, but I am having trouble loading it so I will leave it off for now.

We also learned a lot about Islam there. I think as a religion we have a lot of common ground. It is hard sometimes to get an idea of what these different religions are like from books, but being able to talk to the people and actually observe the religious practices have helped me understand a lot more. The people at the mosque were really helpful and kind. They even wanted pictures with us and were constantly welcoming us to Egypt.

Ok, so I really only covered three sites out of way too many to really describe. I have a couple of other things that I want to share, but those will have to wait until later. Hopefully I can get them all in before we go to Jericho--it seems that if too many days go by I will not ever be able to catch up.

Ok, I will apologize for everyone that reads my blog--especially for those of you who look daily for something entertaining. I know that it has been awhile since I last posted and sadly it will be even longer before there is another post. I am off to Egypt and likely won't have internet until I return. My number one goal on this trip is to avoid diarrhea (well maybe not number one, but it is high up there). I will let you know how that works out.

One word. Shorts. That is right everyone, yesterday I wore shorts and it was amazing. Now, I should explain because we are not allowed to wear shorts here in Jerusalem (be it for modesty, simplicity, or just to irritate us). Yesterday was different because a group of us rented a van and went to Tel Aviv. For those of you not up on your Israeli geography let me help you out. Tel Aviv is on the coast almost directly west of Jerusalem.


The weather was pristine. While it wasn't sweltering, it was plenty warm and allowed me go out in the Mediterranean. There were a bunch of jellyfish that washed up on shore. I know that you should probably leave those things alone, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. There were no sticks to poke them with so I had to just use my finger. For everyone's information a jellyfish feels a lot like a rubbery/flat kickball. We were able to play some ultimate on the beach which was a desire that I have had ever since we arrived in Jerusalem.




Tel Aviv is also the site of the ancient port of Jaffa. There are some Roman ruins there as well as some shops. While there we all got some gelato. Mine was pistachio flavored (an excellent flavor). We spent the day walking around the old part of the city and then moved on to the new part in the evening.

It was a nice break from the "usual" sites. The city is very different from Jerusalem. Plus who could possibly have pass up the chance to play on the Mediterranean? It is good to be back though.

Close to 830 pages--or rather somewhere around 70% of the Old Testament. That is what I saw yesterday. One of the most interesting things that I have noticed since I arrived is how close everything is here. Close as the bus drives I suppose. Every Thursday we go on field trips as a group. Yesterday was one primarily dedicated to the geography of the area. We visited four different sites which amounted to one giant circle around the Old City.

Here are a few highlights.

This is a brief video clip from the top of hill northwest of Jerusalem. On the top is a joint mosque and synagogue--unique for this area, that commemorates the prophet Samuel. It was really cold up there, colder than I think I would like to admit.

Another really neat place was called the Haas Promenade which is located on a hill referred to as the Hill of Offense because it was the traditional location of the areas of worship of Solomon's pagan wives. They reason I include this a highlight is because it is the first view of Mt. Moriah that Abraham likely had when he was going there to sacrifice Isaac. The Way of the Patriarchs goes near there and the scriptures say that at a location similar to that one he left his servants and loaded the wood on the back of Isaac for the final hike.



The view shown gives a good idea of what I am talking about. Mt. Moriah extends from around where you see the Dome of the Rock back towards those larges buildings to the left.

I will be honest and say that it is almost surreal to see these places and think about what has happened on that very spot. Things look different, but probably not incredibly different. Just the same, I know that I look at it with different eyes from what Abraham probably saw it, but with a similar type of hope and faith.

The Temple Mount--by far my most significant experience in Jerusalem yet. You can't look at the skyline of Jerusalem without noticing its most dominating structure, the Dome of the Rock. Sadly, it has been increasingly more difficult of people to visit the site. There are very few times that it is open to outsiders (non-Muslims).

We were able to get in yesterday though. I felt chills as my feet left the ramparts that led up to Temple Mount and stepped on the plaza. Perhaps it is because it is the site of the ancient Israeli temple, or perhaps it is simply because so many people for other religions consider the site sacred, but there was a definite feeling of holiness there. I felt sort of small standing at such a historically and religiously significant site.

It is a huge area, probably about three times the size of Temple Square. The Dome of the Rock is an incredibly beautiful building that only becomes more striking as you near it. They wouldn't let us in--not really surprising. What was surprising, was that as stood next the walls I noticed a tremendous amount of graffiti. It seemed that everyone felt a sudden need to etch their initials into the wall or other messages as inane as where they were from and the like. I really didn't know what to think about that at all. I guess everyone doesn't feel the same about the things they see.

In retrospect, it is one of the strange ironies of history that so many religions converged in the same place. I know that some might say that it is less ironic than tragic, but either way i suppose that much of it points in the same direction.

For the sake of updates let me fill you in a bit. Here is brief list of some of the sights over the past few days:

• The Church of the Redeemer
• The Western Wall
• David's Tower
• Orson Hyde Park
• Gethsemane
• The Garden Tomb
• The Wall Ramparts
• and a bunch of other little sights

Now, I know that probably isn't the greatest of lists, but bare in mind that we really haven't had more than two afternoons of free time and they make us come in when it gets dark.

Let me try and give you an idea of what life here in the Center is like. People are getting more and more settled and we know most everyone's name now which makes life a whole lot easier. Meals are often and often not all that great. The only real problem is that we eat relatively early (six) and then have to wait until six the next day for breakfast. Snacks are becoming a hot commodity. Generally we have class in the morning. There are two main classes--one religion (Old Testament for now) and a Middle East history course. Both are very interesting and assign a lot of extra reading which is where the majority of our "homework" come from. The afternoons are free. We do pretty much whatever we want, which pretty much means that we go hang out in the city. There are some people who decide to stay in and do their "homework"--I will never understand how reading classifies as homework, but whatever.

The Jerusalem Center sits on a hill probably about three quarters of a mile from the Old City. The Old City is the portion of Jerusalem that is still surrounded by walls. I wish that I could accurately describe what the Old City is like. Around every corner is some ancient site. The streets are large slabs of limestone and have been worn be who knows how many years of feet, carts, cars, tractors, and who knows what else. The most dominating feature though are the hundreds of shops that line the walk way. Every shopkeeper recognizes us. They are all apparently BYU fans--what a coincidence.

Well after exploring, we try to get back before dark and eat dinner. The evening we play games, watch movies, or do the "homework" for the next day.

I hope this helps some of you who may not know what things are like here. So much happens everyday that I hardly know what to write up here, but I think this will give you a good frame of reference for any of my other posts.

You know how we always sing that song from primary. You know the one, "Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday." Well, I never felt like Saturday was a special day for that reason. In fact, I kind of resented the fact that we had to leave girls' houses at midnight or that I would have to go to bed early so I could get ready for some Sunday meeting. While, I would be lying to say that my perspective has been completely altered, I can say that it has slightly shifted. Friday evening we took a trip to the Western Wall. It was probably a half hour before the beginning of Sabot. A few of the guys and I went down near the wall and listened to the people singing. It was full of Orthodox Jews. I felt a little awkward just observing, kind of like how I imagine others feeling if they came to our sacrament meeting and just walked around while we partook of the sacrament. As Sabot approached, they all turned and faced the other direction (away from the wall). Then as they sang they turned back around to face the wall. It was a pretty neat effect. A little further back we found some of the younger Jews greeting the Sabot in their own way. They formed circles and were singing a dancing. Of course when I say dancing, I really mean something akin to a mosh-pit and when I say singing I mean something more like cheers at a football game. So of course I had to join in. It was great way to welcome the Sabot. The guys there welcomed us and we all had so much fun together (regardless of the fact that we were obviously not Jewish). So from now on, I think we should standardize a party every Saturday night around 11:30 so that we can welcome the Sunday with some real style.

I have arrived. My pilgrimage of about 18 flying hours ended at 5:00 PM Jerusalem time on Wednesday. I am not really sure what time that is for all of you, but I figure you can do the math. Since my arrival, I have come to conclude that if the surroundings were not reminder enough of where I am, the Pharisaical rules do. I just finished my last orientation meeting. We have been oriented on just about everything you can imagine. In many ways I feel as if I have arrived at a new MTC--so much so that I often feel like I should be walking around with a companion. I am pretty sure the feeling will wear off soon.

I am in love the city though. It is just tremendous--more than I ever imagined. I suppose that it is just so odd to me that this place really exists. It is the center of so much, so much contention, so much history, just so much and the its importance almost seems tangible at times. We went on a brief tour of the old city today. It was very fast and we didn't stop to look at much, they were just trying to orient us. It was crazy what we just "walked by" in our little stroll, you know just the Garden Tomb, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Mount of Olives, the kosher McDonalds. It is really just surreal and a little overwhelming. I would hope that I can help you all get a taste of everything that I am experiencing.

Oh by the way, this is the view from my window.