Feliz cumpleanos, that's how they say it in Spain.

Happy birthday to my amazing mother!

Here are some reasons

why I love my mom.

She gave me life. She changed my diapers and let me make messes. She taught me what was right and wrong. She dealt with my growing up years. 

She gave me 3 amazing brothers.

She gave me a love of the outdoors. 

She gave me fun, family adventures. 

She gave me an incredible heritage and family name. She took me often to visit my grandparents, cousins, and relatives.

She gave me a love for reading, cooking, and family traditions.

She gave my family a cute dog. :)

She gives me great enthusiasm for life. 

She gives me courage to do hard things.

I love you, mom!

Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars?

I could really use a wish right now. 

photo source here.

Today

@ 11:11 11/11/11

I could've wished

for a lot 

of things.

Like a pint of

Ben and Jerry's

half-baked

ice cream.

Or a magic carpet

to transport me from

the 3rd

to the 8th floor 

of the JC.

5 minutes to play

with my family's

new puppy

Ginger.

Someone to 

magically write

my Bashir Bashir

paper. 

A snowstorm

in Jerusalem.

But I made

another wish.

A better wish.

I'd tell you

but then

of course

it won't come true.

It's not too late,

you know,

to make the ultimate wish.

11:11 happens 

again.

Tonight.

Happy wishing!

Not all those who wander are lost.

Thanks Nicole for the sweet pic!

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wandering around the Old City might be my new favorite thing. After living in Jerusalem for over two months, I'm starting to feel like this is my city. I know my way around the different quarters, can point out which way is north, south, east, or west (this took a while because I lacked the trusty Rocky Mountains as my guide), and I've visited most of the major sites around town. Now when I go in the city, I'm not as rushed to see things; I take my time and enjoy every moment. I open random doors, explore hidden allies, and interact with the locals. The past several days have been filled with exciting discoveries, good friends, and amazing food. 

The Kings' Tombs. This site is in someone's backyard which made me jealous.

This wheelbarrow is in honor of James and our Grand Canyon hike. :)

Random cave at the rock-cut tombs in the Kidron Valley. The entrance looked
like a piano. This made me happy. So naturally a picture was taken.

Creepy crawler.

Jewish school children near the Western Wall. (Thanks Danielle!)

Early morning at the Western Wall.
(Awesome photo credit, above and below, to Eliza!)

Women praying at the wall. 

We found a playground in the Jewish quarter. This may or may not
have been the first thing I did when I saw it.

Me and Eliza riding down the slide. :) 

Me, Jared, and Eliza eating pita and hummus at Lina's. Soooo good!

Door to the Greek Orthodox church we got to see.  

The little Greek lady that invited us to see the above church.
She was so friendly and gave us all hugs and kisses after we talked to her.
I love the friendly and accepting the people I have met here in Jerusalem.

Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card!

"No eating or drinking and shhhhhhhh!" This is the usual message conveyed at any library you visit. Of course, Harold (BYU Provo's library. Yes, we're on a first name basis.) added the phrase "going into a room with no natural light and studying till your brain explodes" to my library phrases. 

But not at the Jerusalem Center library. I broke all three of the cardinal no-no's in one sitting. Gasp! It's different here, I guess, because there's just 82 of us and there's only one tiny library to study in. So you always know the people in the library. This leads to talking and laughing and music and sometimes dancing. Seriously, if youtube wasn't blocked we would get nothing done here. And then people start breaking out the snacks and water bottles to survive the long hours of studying and reading, because no one really monitors the place. Tonight, an FHE group even brought in cookies for us poor library kids. As you can see, the library dynamics here are different then normal. I'm starting to miss the good old Holladay and Harold B. Lee libraries, which prompted me to write my "10 things I love about the H&H libraries" list.

1. The music section of the HBLL--studying with background music makes everything better. Plus, it's hilarious when people stumble across the section that have never heard of it before. They get this confused look on their face and I want to tell them "don't worry, you're not the only one hearing the music." 

2. Finding a place in the library that's exclusively yours, and going there, studying really hard and feeling really good after accomplishing a hard paper or assignment. 

3. Becoming friends with the librarians. I'm still working on this one, but I like talking to the librarians at my home library and asking their advice on really good books.

4. The restocking of movies at the Holladay library. Such a good feeling to race into the library and realize there are movies there other then random foreign films or 15 copies of Sons of Provo.

5. Becoming a regular at the library. You know your way around and can find books without walking around like a confused, lost child. 

6. Going to library parties. Confession, I went to the Harry Potter library party this summer and I enjoyed myself. I went to potions class, planted a magical plant in herbology, and dueled with several young wizards. Jealous?

7. Going to the library not knowing what you're looking for and leaving with an amazing find.

8. Meeting friends at the library. It's where all the cool kids hang out.

9. Books for free! Thank you Benjamin Franklin for yet another awesome invention.

10. Using a library card. My favorite part is when the machine spits the card back out, and my brothers and I try to grab the card the second it pops up. It never gets old. Plus, Arthur approves of library cards.

source here.

When I got my library card, that's when my life began.

~Rita Mae Brown

Reading in the rain.

photo source here. 

Well, not exactly. More like reading in my room while it was raining outside. But you get the general idea.

I love the rain. I love the moment right before a big storm, when dark, angry clouds roll in across the horizon and the wind makes the trees dance and my hair fly. My brothers and I love to make movies right before the storm, when there’s a palpable excitement and thrill in the air. When anything could happen. Then we race inside before the big downpour and wrap ourselves up in blankets and listen to the patter of rain on the roof. Secretly, I love it when the power goes out because there are no distractions. No TV or computer or phone or appliances. Just me and my family in the darkness with candles flickering on the table. Then, after the storm, I love walking outside and smelling the rain.

photo source here.

So yesterday I had my Old Testament final from 7 to 9. At night. This might possibly be the worst time to take a test. But I got through it! When it was over, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I decided to walk back to my room and when I went out along our corridor I realized it was raining. I was so giddy I did a little jig right there in the rain! This is the second time it has rained here in Jerusalem. I got ready for bed early and curled up with a good book. The rain was super loud and the room occasionally lit up with the lightening. I loved combining two of my favorite things: reading and the rain. 

photo source here.

The last good book I read was The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Here's a quote from the book that I love. 

"Sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."

Come to Bethlehem and see.

November 1st was our field trip to Bethlehem. Could the Christmas season start off better? I submit it could not. (Sorry to all of you that don't start celebrating Christmas till after Thanksgiving. I've already been listening to Christmas music. And I'm loving it.) Visiting Bethlehem was a perfect reminder to me of why I really celebrate Christmas and the holiday season.

Our first stop was at Herod's Mountain Palace Fortress. Underneath this site are cisterns and tunnels that Jewish rebels used during the Bar Kokhba Revolt to hide from the Romans. We got to walk through them which was a lot of fun. The stairs were super steep! I've officially decided that Herod was paranoid. This fortress is just one of the many that he built because he was afraid of losing his throne. He also killed a bunch of people, like his father, innocent baby boys, and his wife. Not quite sure what was going on upstairs. But he left behind some awesome ruins.

Me and Danielle basking in the sunlight.

Joe, me, Danielle, Josh, and Desiree. I like when the Ludlow boys
come on our field trip because it reminds me of that once upon a
time when I had brothers. 

Next, we went to Bethlehem University. This was the highlight of my day. First, one of the professors took us on a tour of campus. We visited the Chapel of the Divine Child, which I nicknamed "The Pink Chapel."

One of the paintings along a chapel wall.

The front of the "Pink Chapel."

The chapel is named after the Christ child around the age when he preached in the temple. All the paintings in the chapel depict children, including those who died because of their beliefs. I loved the warm colors of the room and the bright, stained glass windows.

Next, we got to talk to a panel of university students about their education. Bethlehem University is a Christian Catholic University, the first in Palestinian territories. 70 percent of the students there are Muslims, but the students emphasized the great relations and respect there for all religions.

We watched a short film about one student of Bethlehem University who was forced to return to the Gaza Strip and had to finish her education there because Israel won't issue passes for education. Some of the students we talked said they had to commute 2 hours everyday to the University. The time all depends on the soldiers' moods at the check points and wall crossings. The students living in the West Bank talked about how they don't know the definition of vacation or entertainment. It is very difficult for them to to get the passports and visas to travel outside the West Bank. I realized how often I take my education for granted.

I also realized that the students are very similar to me and my friends. They emphasized their want to live a good, safe life. They laughed about dating and complained about not having enough boys at school. They talked about their families and favorite restaurants. One boy said something that really struck me. "It's not about the religion, it's about the person."

The panel of students we talked to.

Some of our students and student-guides at Bethlehem University.

Our next stop was Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. There was a huge line of people going to a part of the grotto that has altars and incense and memorials for the baby Jesus. We went to another part of the grotto and sang Christmas songs. I loved this cave better because it was quiet and there weren't a bunch of images and trinkets. It reminded me that it's not about the place, it's about the person.

The simple things in the church made me the happiest.

Light shining in from the windows in the front room of the church. 

Stained-glass lamp in the grotto.

Stars carved into the walls of the cave. 

Sign at the exit of the church. 

Nicole, AnnaLeah, Danielle, and me in a courtyard of the church.

Danielle and me outside the entrance to the Church of the Nativity.

Our final stop was at Shepherd's Field. We got there right at sunset. There was a yellow-pinkish tint of light left on the horizon as we read about the Savior's birth in Luke. We sang Christmas songs until it was dark and a 1/2 moon was bright above us.

AnnaLeah, me, Danielle, and Josh at sunset at Shepherd's Field.

How silently, how silently

the wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

the blessings of his heaven.

No ear may hear his coming;

but in this world of sin,

where meek souls will receive him,

still the dear Christ enters in.

We build too many walls and not enough bridges.

A couple of weeks ago our class went on a tour of the Separation Wall, a separation barrier that Israel started building in the West Bank starting in 2002. We were very lucky to have as our guide Danny Seideman, a prominent Israeli human rights lawyer, who shared his knowledge and opinion of the current situation here in Jerusalem.

The first day we arrived in Israel, our teachers and directors encouraged us to not takes sides in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. I am a fly on the wall, just listening to people's opinions and observing the situation, trying to understand both sides and peoples. It is very interesting to live at the core of the problem. The Jerusalem Center is actually located between the 1949-1967 Armistice "green line" and the municipal boundary (separation wall). 

Danny Seideman shed further light on these pressing issues. Here are some of his comments:

"Israel = too much history, not enough geography."

"History happens here 10 minutes ago and 3000 years ago."

"The Old City is roughly 1 square kilometer. Malls in the US are bigger then this. Inside the city, it's Zionism vs. Palestinian nationalism. But it's also Judaism vs. Islam vs. Christianity. But the good news? Jerusalem is a meeting place of 3 great religions and currently there is very little bloodshed in the city."

Concerning the Israeli settlements, Israel has been building these towns since 1967 in East Jerusalem and Palestine area. While Israel calls these places neighborhoods, everyone else refers to them as settlements and illegal. They have been built to keep Israel an undivided city. But how do you justify taking land away from the Palestinians?

The Wall.

                     

Separates Palestinians from Palestinians, not Jews from Palestinians. 

Cuts through villages. A 5 minute walk to hospitals and schools becomes a 25-mile drive. 

"The wall is not a solution. It is a limited, tactical tool. The result is a harsh, humanitarian impact." 

"The fence is taking shape as both a physical barrier and a psychological separation that literally sums up  in concrete and barbed wire the many dead ends of the peace process." (source)

I wonder what the future holds for this part of the world. There's a lot of hard work ahead, but hopefully people will see the wisdom in working something out. After all, as the old Chinese proverb says, "The more you sweat in peacetime, the less you bleed during war."