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.
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