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.