Oh happy day!

Good morning starshine, the earth says hello! Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it. Currently I am sitting at Hebrew U with fast, unblocked internet. In other words, hello facebook, youtube, movie trailers, and most importantly iTunes! Yes, for those of you who were worried about my sanity, I just downloaded the new Coldplay album, Mylo Xyloto. All is well. I am listening to the songs right now and they are brilliant. Coldplay, I always knew why we were friends. Later today I am going to get Indian food and tour Knesset, the Israel parliament building. Oh, and I live in Jerusalem. Life is good. :)

To wrap up my Jordan trip, here are some last pics. 

Visiting the King Abdullah Mosque. All the girls had to wear
black capes. We were just like Death Eaters!

Danielle, me, AnnaLeah, Susy, and Desiree on top of the Ammon citadel.

Danielle, Maddy, and me at the Jabbok river, where Jacob "wrestled
with a man." Check out Genesis 32 for the story. 

Practicing my chariot skillz at Jerash, an ancient Roman city. I think I'm
ready for some real chariot racing, like in Ben Hur. Bring it, Messala.

Not another headset lecture!

Ruins at Jerash. The site was as cool as Ephesus, just minus the crowds. 

My attempt at an artsy pic. 

Nicole, Elyse, and me at Jerash. 

I hope everyone has a great day! 

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." 

~Henry David Thoreau

Pocketful of Jordan.

This past week was our field trip to Jordan. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect there, but Jordan did not disappoint. For such a small country, it is packed full of sites from the scriptures and also many fun places. 

The first day, we successfully crossed the Jordan-Israel border (hooray! but we didn't get a Jordan stamp. boo!) and headed straight to Mt. Nebo. This mountain top is where Moses looked out to the promised land. Our guide told us that from 1933 to the present day, archeologists have been looking for Moses' tomb on this mountain. Good luck with that. 

(Pictures: 1. Modern sculpture of the staff that Moses held up and commanded the children of Israel to look at. 2. Jessica, me, and Danielle posing at the Mt. Nebo sign. 3. View towards Jerusalem from Mt. Nebo. 4. Map at the top of Mt. Nebo showing the directions to all the surrounding areas.)

Here is an aside about the bus. We spent some quality time on it. Starting in Turkey, our teachers have trained us to fall asleep on the bus. I'm not sure they meant for this to happen, but it's too late now. Brother Harper has the most soothing voice that puts me to sleep. He should think about narrating a book on tape. But, in a nutshell, the bus consists of sleeping, snacking, listening to our guides/professors, and talking. Also, I have mastered the art of "socking-up." In case you were wondering, this is where I take off my sandals and put socks on to be more comfortable during the long rides.

Yes. We love the bus THIS much. 

Also, I thought I should introduce you to our guide, Mohammed. During the four days, he wore 2 outfits. The first was all shades of green (see below), and the second was all shades of tan. It was pretty easy to pick him out of a crowd. Also, during one of his lectures, I counted how many pockets he had on his outfit. 17 POCKETS, people. I even counted twice to make sure. Pretty classy, huh? Mohammed was an excellent tour guide. I loved how excited he was about his country and its history. He gave many great insights on Islam, his religion. Plus, he affectionately nicknamed us "tigers." 

Here's Mohammed teaching us at Madaba. 

Part of the map mosaic. It's found on the grounds of the church.

At the city of Madaba, we saw a huge Byzantine-era map mosaic of the Holy Land.

Whitney, Sarah, Desiree, Susy, Danielle, Kaylee, Mary, and me
outside the church at Madaba.

Our final stop of the day was at Machaerus, the supposed place where John the Baptist was beheaded. I really enjoyed singing some hymns up at the top of the ruins. We were there during the sunset, and the views of the Dead Sea and surrounding wilderness were beautiful. 

Me, Danielle, Andy, and Lindsay. 

View from the Machaerus.

Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?

Dum dum dum dum, dum dum dum. (The theme song, obviously.)

That's right folks, I recently visited Petra on my Jordan field trip. So exciting! And, surprisingly, Petra is much bigger then the treasury they show in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Which just shows you to never trust Hollywood, in case you hadn't figured that one out. Still, it was very awesome to walk down the narrow siq knowing what would magically appear at the end. Here I am making my way through the cool, narrow passageway. 

Here you see me, Jeff, and Maddy right before exiting the siq. Can you taste the anticipation? Maddy is sooo excited. The treasury is just visible in the background. 

Ta da! Here's the famous treasury. And now for a quick history lesson. Petra was built sometime in the 6th century BC by the Nabataeans. The Nabataeans were obsessed with death. Many of the carved buildings in Petra are tombs. They also were very skilled in gathering water in such a dray place. They carved canals along the siq that would send the water down to their homes. (Thanks, wiki.)

The further we walked into Petra, the better it got. Besides all the crazy-carved buildings (I still want to know how they did it. Aliens?), there were little shops everywhere. I think at least 37 people came up to me asking if I wanted to buy something. "Good price for you. Today sale only. Buy for your boyfriend?" These are only a few of the gems I heard. The 3 words I used most the whole day? "No, thank you."

Me and Danielle at the "Why Not?" shop. 

Some of the royal tombs carved into the mountainside.

During free time, some of us hiked up the the monastery. It was even more impressive then the treasury. After huffing and puffing up a steep trail, we came around a corner and there it was, huge and majestic.  

Brielle (my trip roomie!) and me at the monastery.

From the monastery, we took a quick trip to the end of the world, or a really awesome view of the surrounding country and the Dead Sea.

Signs directing us to the view.

View of the end of the world! We could also see the Dead Sea from up here.

Petra was a highlight of my time in Jordan. I would love to spend hours there, hiking around and exploring new places with my brothers.

A rush of blood to the head.

*You might be obsessed with a band if:

1. You own every single one of their songs.
2. You've been to their concert (and wish you could go to every single one).
3. You stalk their website.
4. You have been anxiously waiting for their new album to come out.
5. You cried when you realized it was going to be released when you were going on a field trip sans computer.
6. You listened to their new single every day on the field trip.
7. You returned home anxious to make a trip to Hebrew University to download the album, because your internet blocks iTunes, only to feel completely devastated because Hebrew U was closed. You go to a service project for 3 hours, feeling somewhat better because you're helping others. But then the last song at the service project is by the band and you start to cry.

*All of these things might not relate to you exactly. Manifestations of obsessions vary per person.

What I am trying to say, my friends, is that I am in love with Coldplay. Their music is beautiful, yet haunting; upbeat, yet deep. Their lyrics express my thoughts sometimes better then I can. Seriously, listen to their music if you haven't. And not just their popular songs, i.e. the only three ever played of them on the radio. Listen to the obscure ones.

My song is love

Love to the loveless shown

And it goes on

You don't have to be alone

Your heavy heart

Is made of stone

And it's so hard to see you clearly

You don't have to be on your own

And I'm not gonna take it back

And I'm not gonna say, "I don't mean that"

You're the target that I'm aiming at

Got to get that message home

My song is love, is love unknown

And I've got to get that message home 

The baffled king composing hallelujah.

This past weeks field trip might be my favorite one so far. We spent the day in the City of David, the oldest built neighborhood of Jerusalem. The city is located between the Tyropoeon, Hinnom, and Kidron Vallies, which makes it easily defendable. It was very interesting to visit the city after just learning about King David in the bible. The more I read about David, the more tragic his story becomes. It reminds me of the saying, "Never give up what you want the most for what you want at the present." 

View of the city of David from David's palace. 

Before seeing the archeological sites, we got to watch a cool 3D movie about the City of David, "where it all began."

Danielle and I were pretty excited about the 3D glasses.

My favorite part about this field trip was walking through Hezekiah's tunnel. This may or may not have been because we got to wear headlamps. ;)  Hezekiah's tunnel was built under the city of Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign, sometime before 701 BC. The tunnel is mentioned in 2nd Kings 20:20. The water comes from the Gihon spring and travels down to the pool of Siloam. It was so cool to walk through the narrow tunnel with the water running across our feet. The water even got past my knees a couple of times!

Wearing our headlamps!

Me and roomie Taylor before heading into the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel with Danielle.

Claustrophobic anyone?

Some of the Jeru Crew at the end of the tunnel. Can you spot me?

I'm halfway gone, and I'm on my way.

This week marks my half-way point in Jerusalem. I am loving life in the Middle East! Immersing myself in the different cultures here has opened my eyes to new ideas and customs, but has mostly shown me how similar we all really are. I can't believe I have been living at the Jerusalem Center for eight weeks. Lately, I have been thinking about time and the importance of using every minute wisely. After all, I have less then two months to soak in all the sights, smells, and sounds of the Holy Land. This quote from General Conference has been running through my mind:

"Time is never for sale; time is a commodity that cannot, try as you may, be bought at any store for any price. Yet when time is wisely used, its value is immeasurable. On any given day we are all allocated, without cost, the same number of minutes and hours to use, and we soon learn, 'Time flies on wings of lightning; we cannot call it back.'" (Ian S. Arden, A Time to Prepare, General Conference Oct. 2011.) 

The past weeks have been full of exciting and memorable moments. Our student group got to help pick and press olives a few days ago. We spent one day picking all the olives from the 60 olive trees around the Jerusalem Center. Our director, Andrew Skinner, reminded us of the symbolism of the olive tree. For example, if you bite into a recently picked olive, it tastes extremely bitter. Let me just say, I tried this and it is very true. The taste stayed in my mouth the whole olive picking time. But once you press the olives, the olive oil tastes sweet. Brother Skinner also told us that when the Jerusalem Center was being built, the brethren of the church requested that there be an olive tree at the center. There is a tree here over 2000 years old, transplanted from the Galilee.

Me, Cara, Susy, and Adam picking olives.

The olive press. The green stuff = smashed olives. 

Nicole, Danielle, Me, Susy, and Callie mashing the olives.

The olive press. The smashed olives are in baskets underneath the circular press.
Weights press down the olives, and the liquid then seeps down into the round holes.

Another day, Eliza, Tiffany, and I climbed up a tower close to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The view from the top was stunning. It was really neat to see surrounding Jerusalem after we had been to many of the sites in the Old City. I felt like a giddy school girl spotting all the sites I had been to. 

Tiffany and I at the top of the tower.

One of the views from the tower.

After the tower, we got 10 shekel falafel and ate it at the Austrian Hospice. I'm going to miss the falafel and spices of the Old City.

Me and Eliza eating our falafel.

Random picture of the day: graffiti in the Old City. 

I had to put this last picture in, because it sums up walking home from the Old City every day. We walk through the Kidron Valley and 9 times out of 10 are really sweaty and hot. But there's a little shop in the valley that offers popsicles for 1 shekel. (That's around 30 cents, in case you were wondering.) It's brilliant! Somehow, with a lemon popsicle in hand, climbing the hill up to the center becomes short and happy. It's the perfect end to a perfect day.

Eliza and Me eating popsicles in the Kidron Valley. 

Eilat of fun in the sun.

Last free day basically the whole center went on a day trip to Eilat. Eilat is located right on the northern tip of the Red Sea, about a four hours drive from Israel. (In case you were wondering.) We got up really early so we could get to the beach by 10 AM. I made sure to sneak out some snacks from the Oasis for the long bus ride. And when I say snacks, I am of course referring to the chocolate cereal, filled in the center with little bursts of a nutella-like substance. Too much chocolate for breakfast, but the perfect mid-morning snack. Yum. 

When we finally got to Eilat, closer to 11 AM, the whole bus was itching to get on the beach. The temperature outside was perfect. 

Entrance to Coral Beach.

We spent the morning and early afternoon at Coral Beach, chilling on the sand or snorkeling along the reefs. My first attempt at snorkeling consisted of continual salt water pouring into my goggles and swimming against some pretty rough waves. I probably looked like I was drowning. However, attempt two was a success. The waves were less choppy and we were able to swim out to a better reef. I swam through a huge school of fish and saw some super skinny and brightly colored fish. Then I read The Things They Carried on the beach. The book is haunting and gut-wrenching, but insightful and thought-provoking. I love reading a good book on the beach.

danielle + charlotte + beach = happiness

 Me, Danielle, and Annahleah at the Red Sea. 

Couldn't resist the jumping picture.

After the beach, we spent an hour wandering around some of the hotels and shops in the city of Eilat. The area was definitely touristy and more European, but it was a nice change from the streets of Jerusalem. We enjoyed people watching. 

Reminded me of Mall Cop. 

Alyse, Me, and Eliza having fun at the Three Monkeys Pub. :)