harlot?
my favorite girls
awkard family photo
sexy ladies
all-star table
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
arabian nights
Dressing up is the best! Tonight we had an Arab culture evening where we dressed up, listened to real Muslim prayer callers, ate a traditional Arab dinner and learned Palestinian Folk dancing. It was so much fun! Dressing up was definitely the best part though. I was not really dressed like an Arabian at all, but I just decided to go crazy. I was more hippie. Ha. My roots shine through even on Arab night. Flower Power!
harlot?
my favorite girls
awkard family photo
sexy ladies
all-star table
harlot?
my favorite girls
awkard family photo
sexy ladies
all-star table
Sunday, September 25, 2011
turkish delight
Let me tell you about the discovery I made this week: Turkey is the best kept secret in this world. Seriously, my week there was absolutely incredible! Everyone needs to visit. Family Reunion 2013 anyone?
Here were some of the highlights:
Sunday we flew into Istanbul which is a HUGE city! There are 15 million people in the city! We had a beautiful view of the many mosques of Istanbul in the sunset on our drive to our hotel and dinner. I was in awe the whole time. The next day we spent the day touring some major sites in Istanbul. We went to the Topkapi museum which is an old Sultan's palace. We also toured the Blue Mosque which was absolutely stunning. Then we went shopping in the grand bazaar. After that we had a boat ride on the Bosphorus. It was soooooo beautiful! I loved it!
Tuesday was a super fun day. We went to the ancient greek city Troy... you know, the trojan horse... Then we went to our hotel right on the beach! And it was in a tiny little town so we basically had the beach to ourselves. Our tour guide hooked us up with speakers and firewood so we could have a bonfire and dance party on the beach. It was so much fun! We also had chicken fights in the pool and me and my friend Izak were undefeated.
Wednesday we went to a super sweet ancient city in Assos. It was up on a hill and had a beautiful view. Then we went to another ancient greek city Pergamon. It was supposed to be the home of Zeus. Remember the scene in Hercules when he goes up to talk to Zeus? yeah, been there. Except the whole time we were there it was absolutely pouring. It was thunder and lightning and hailing... None of us were ready for it either. I guess we upset Zeus for some reason. But I thought it was fun. we were so soaked that we had to have all the girls change their clothes on the bus. Oh and the bathrooms in Turkey are just holes in the ground that you squat over... So yeah, I really felt like I was roughin it. That night me and some of my friends went out in the city of Kusadasi and did some Karaoke. The old people loved us. ha
Thursday we went to the city of Ephesus. It was so cool! It was huge! It's the city Paul wrote Ephesians to. It was such a sweet place. And I had a super embarrassing moment at the place. There was an ancient greek library that me and my friend were taking pictures in front of that had steps leading up to it. Well on my way back down the steps I slipped and started falling down the stairs. Well, the bad news was I was wearing a skirt. So I flashed like a hundred people. I was laughing so hard! But I wasn't sure if it was actually very noticeable. But a little while later a boy from my group came up to me and said, "pink underwear huh?" hahahahaha it was soooo funny! So apparently it was really noticeable and quite a few people got a little show.
That night we stayed at a really nice hotel with a hot spring! It was so nice. Then the next day we walked around in this hot springs waterfall thing which was really neat. That night the pool at the hotel was down in the bottom level so a big group of us played this game we made up called watermelon polo. So each of the boys had a girl on their back and the girls would hold the watermelon and try and score a touchdown on either side of the pool. It was so crazy! I had scratches and bruises all over my arms the next day. It was so fun though!
Saturday we finally got to go the the Hagia Sophia! It was so incredible! It was huge! I loved every second of it. Saturday night we caught our flight back to Isreal. When we were at the airport there was this group of asian ladies that cut a bunch of people in the line waiting for customs and security came and they all got into it. hahah it was so funny to watch. One of the ladies was hitting the security guy and they were still trying to sneak around them to cut in line. Things are never boring here. We finally got back to our home (yeah, Jerusalem is my home) at four in the morning. I already miss turkey! It was so much cooler than I expected. I seriously loved everything about it. Actually I take that back. The food was terrible. But other than that my experience was perfect. God bless Turkey!
Here were some of the highlights:
Sunday we flew into Istanbul which is a HUGE city! There are 15 million people in the city! We had a beautiful view of the many mosques of Istanbul in the sunset on our drive to our hotel and dinner. I was in awe the whole time. The next day we spent the day touring some major sites in Istanbul. We went to the Topkapi museum which is an old Sultan's palace. We also toured the Blue Mosque which was absolutely stunning. Then we went shopping in the grand bazaar. After that we had a boat ride on the Bosphorus. It was soooooo beautiful! I loved it!
Tuesday was a super fun day. We went to the ancient greek city Troy... you know, the trojan horse... Then we went to our hotel right on the beach! And it was in a tiny little town so we basically had the beach to ourselves. Our tour guide hooked us up with speakers and firewood so we could have a bonfire and dance party on the beach. It was so much fun! We also had chicken fights in the pool and me and my friend Izak were undefeated.
Wednesday we went to a super sweet ancient city in Assos. It was up on a hill and had a beautiful view. Then we went to another ancient greek city Pergamon. It was supposed to be the home of Zeus. Remember the scene in Hercules when he goes up to talk to Zeus? yeah, been there. Except the whole time we were there it was absolutely pouring. It was thunder and lightning and hailing... None of us were ready for it either. I guess we upset Zeus for some reason. But I thought it was fun. we were so soaked that we had to have all the girls change their clothes on the bus. Oh and the bathrooms in Turkey are just holes in the ground that you squat over... So yeah, I really felt like I was roughin it. That night me and some of my friends went out in the city of Kusadasi and did some Karaoke. The old people loved us. ha
Thursday we went to the city of Ephesus. It was so cool! It was huge! It's the city Paul wrote Ephesians to. It was such a sweet place. And I had a super embarrassing moment at the place. There was an ancient greek library that me and my friend were taking pictures in front of that had steps leading up to it. Well on my way back down the steps I slipped and started falling down the stairs. Well, the bad news was I was wearing a skirt. So I flashed like a hundred people. I was laughing so hard! But I wasn't sure if it was actually very noticeable. But a little while later a boy from my group came up to me and said, "pink underwear huh?" hahahahaha it was soooo funny! So apparently it was really noticeable and quite a few people got a little show.
That night we stayed at a really nice hotel with a hot spring! It was so nice. Then the next day we walked around in this hot springs waterfall thing which was really neat. That night the pool at the hotel was down in the bottom level so a big group of us played this game we made up called watermelon polo. So each of the boys had a girl on their back and the girls would hold the watermelon and try and score a touchdown on either side of the pool. It was so crazy! I had scratches and bruises all over my arms the next day. It was so fun though!
Saturday we finally got to go the the Hagia Sophia! It was so incredible! It was huge! I loved every second of it. Saturday night we caught our flight back to Isreal. When we were at the airport there was this group of asian ladies that cut a bunch of people in the line waiting for customs and security came and they all got into it. hahah it was so funny to watch. One of the ladies was hitting the security guy and they were still trying to sneak around them to cut in line. Things are never boring here. We finally got back to our home (yeah, Jerusalem is my home) at four in the morning. I already miss turkey! It was so much cooler than I expected. I seriously loved everything about it. Actually I take that back. The food was terrible. But other than that my experience was perfect. God bless Turkey!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
welcome to the holy land
Well as much as I tried to fight it I’ve finally caved in and joined the blogging world. Not that I really think all that many people are so interested in my life that I need to post it on the world wide web for all to see, but as it turns out I’m a terrible journal-writer. I’m also really bad at emailing, so this is my lazy-girl solution.
For all of you who don’t know what I’m doing here in Jerusalem, I’m studying at the Brigham Young University Center for Near Eastern Studies on Mount Scopus. It is a four-month program designed for BYU students to come live in the Holy Land and study the Bible and the history of the Near East. I am taking Old and New Testament classes, a Judaism class, an Islamic class, and a Hebrew class. They are pretty tough (especially when all you want to do is go out into the city) but they are really good. And they have so much more meaning when you’re here learning about all of it. It’s a really great program that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has set up through BYU. It is a purely educational and non-imposing institution here in Jerusalem. I wish everyone could come have this quality of an experience.
Here’s a brief recap of the last two weeks:
Tuesday August 30th we left Salt Lake City on our way to Tel Aviv. Well, our connecting flight was cancelled from Phoenix to Philadelphia so a group of about 50 of us got stuck in Phoenix for 4 days. It started out as a bummer, but we made the most of it and turned it into a real adventure. While there I went to the Mesa temple, floated down a river on $2 floating mats from Wal-Mart, swam lots, saw the ASU nightlife, and had a barbeque at a girl from our group’s house. And best of all, started some great friendships.
I finally arrived in Tel Aviv Sunday September 4th! Brother Huntsman came to pick us up from the airport where we had only a few minor issues. Then we finally drove to the Jerusalem Center! It was a dream! I had seen lots of pictures and videos of the center and let me tell you, none of them did it any justice. It is so beautiful! And the best part is the incredible view we have of the old city.
Monday morning we were off to a busy start. We had an overlook field trip of the Old City of Jerusalem from a few different places. I was still in shock that I was really here so everything was so breathtaking to me. Then we had some classes and then I had my orientation tour of the Old City. I fell in love! The streets are so busy, the buildings are so beautiful and the people are so friendly.
The rest of the week was filled with classes and dashing to the city whenever we had a chance. It just never gets old. Then on Friday we had a field trip to the Western Wall. We aren’t allowed out in the Old City or East Jerusalem past sundown so this was a special occasion. We went for the start of the Sabbath and it was incredible! I made so many friends and learned to love the people here so much more. I wish I could be as welcoming and loving as these girls were to us. There was a class group of 11th grade girls who would grab our hands and sing and dance with us and hug and talk… It was so much fun. I just wanted to cry afterwards because I was so overwhelmed.
The Sabbath is celebrated on Saturday here for us. So on Saturday we had our district conference, which I’m pretty sure covers all of Israel. Everyone came to our center for the conference. It was so so good. Every meeting was super powerful and the whole time I looked out the huge windows to where the Savior walked, talked, healed, loved, suffered, died and was resurrected. It is so amazing! After our meetings I made my first trip to the Gethsemane. Wow. I walked where the most important event in all of the eternities took place. I still don’t think the magnitude of that has sunken in.
Sunday was a dream. A big group of us went to Tel Aviv for the day. We spent most of the day on the Meditteranean Sea which was fabulous. The water was so warm! Which is a big deal for me because little Oregon girl here isn’t used to warm beaches. To me the beach is where you go all bundled up to fly a kite or go skim boarding if you’re feeling real crazy. We walked around a market in Tel Aviv, ate dinner at a little French restaurant and lay on the beach for the rest of the evening. Just imagine a perfect day in paradise and you’ll see me in Tel Aviv.
Monday we had a field trip to Jericho. We saw the ruins of Herod’s Winter Palace, Tel-Jericho, and went on the Mt. of Temptations. Everything was really neat, but SO HOT! It really put into perspective some of the things the Savior and other people from the Bible experienced. Especially on the Mt. of Temptations where the Savior fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan. That place is desolate! There is literally nothing around. And I can tell you that my name would probably be listed right next to Laman and Lemuel’s in the Book of Mormon when it talks about them murmuring in the wilderness. I am so grateful for the Savior and His strength on that Mount and for the diligence of Nephi to listen to his father Lehi and trust that what he said came from God.
Thursday I went to the Garden Tomb for the very first time. It was amazing! There is a lot of speculation on the actual site of where Christ was taken after His death, and most believe that the Garden Tomb is not the actual tomb, but I don’t think it’s really that important. The most important thing is that He really did die for us and was the first to ever overcome death and be resurrected. My teacher asked the question the other day, “What is Christianity without the resurrection?” It’s nothing. The resurrection is so central to the gospel and our eternal potential. And the Garden Tomb was the most beautiful and visual way for me to contemplate the resurrection and the events surrounding it that I don’t really care if it is the actual tomb or not. I love that site more than any other I’ve visited so far.
After the Garden Tomb I went to the Dome of the Rock for the first time also! It was so beautiful! It was very interesting how much controversy there is over that site and the security involved. There is a very religious feel at that site also because you have to be dressed modestly and appropriately to even be allowed on the site. My friend had her Bible in her purse and they wouldn’t let her in with it. But seriously, it was so beautiful. I can’t wait to go back.
Sorry that was really long and overwhelming but now I feel like I’ve gotten caught up so now I promise they will be shorter and hopefully more interesting. Well actually I’m leaving for Turkey tomorrow for the week and I wont have my computer, so next week when I get back it’ll probably be another blog-post-overload. Shabbot Shalom!
For all of you who don’t know what I’m doing here in Jerusalem, I’m studying at the Brigham Young University Center for Near Eastern Studies on Mount Scopus. It is a four-month program designed for BYU students to come live in the Holy Land and study the Bible and the history of the Near East. I am taking Old and New Testament classes, a Judaism class, an Islamic class, and a Hebrew class. They are pretty tough (especially when all you want to do is go out into the city) but they are really good. And they have so much more meaning when you’re here learning about all of it. It’s a really great program that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has set up through BYU. It is a purely educational and non-imposing institution here in Jerusalem. I wish everyone could come have this quality of an experience.
Here’s a brief recap of the last two weeks:
Tuesday August 30th we left Salt Lake City on our way to Tel Aviv. Well, our connecting flight was cancelled from Phoenix to Philadelphia so a group of about 50 of us got stuck in Phoenix for 4 days. It started out as a bummer, but we made the most of it and turned it into a real adventure. While there I went to the Mesa temple, floated down a river on $2 floating mats from Wal-Mart, swam lots, saw the ASU nightlife, and had a barbeque at a girl from our group’s house. And best of all, started some great friendships.
I finally arrived in Tel Aviv Sunday September 4th! Brother Huntsman came to pick us up from the airport where we had only a few minor issues. Then we finally drove to the Jerusalem Center! It was a dream! I had seen lots of pictures and videos of the center and let me tell you, none of them did it any justice. It is so beautiful! And the best part is the incredible view we have of the old city.
Monday morning we were off to a busy start. We had an overlook field trip of the Old City of Jerusalem from a few different places. I was still in shock that I was really here so everything was so breathtaking to me. Then we had some classes and then I had my orientation tour of the Old City. I fell in love! The streets are so busy, the buildings are so beautiful and the people are so friendly.
The rest of the week was filled with classes and dashing to the city whenever we had a chance. It just never gets old. Then on Friday we had a field trip to the Western Wall. We aren’t allowed out in the Old City or East Jerusalem past sundown so this was a special occasion. We went for the start of the Sabbath and it was incredible! I made so many friends and learned to love the people here so much more. I wish I could be as welcoming and loving as these girls were to us. There was a class group of 11th grade girls who would grab our hands and sing and dance with us and hug and talk… It was so much fun. I just wanted to cry afterwards because I was so overwhelmed.
The Sabbath is celebrated on Saturday here for us. So on Saturday we had our district conference, which I’m pretty sure covers all of Israel. Everyone came to our center for the conference. It was so so good. Every meeting was super powerful and the whole time I looked out the huge windows to where the Savior walked, talked, healed, loved, suffered, died and was resurrected. It is so amazing! After our meetings I made my first trip to the Gethsemane. Wow. I walked where the most important event in all of the eternities took place. I still don’t think the magnitude of that has sunken in.
Sunday was a dream. A big group of us went to Tel Aviv for the day. We spent most of the day on the Meditteranean Sea which was fabulous. The water was so warm! Which is a big deal for me because little Oregon girl here isn’t used to warm beaches. To me the beach is where you go all bundled up to fly a kite or go skim boarding if you’re feeling real crazy. We walked around a market in Tel Aviv, ate dinner at a little French restaurant and lay on the beach for the rest of the evening. Just imagine a perfect day in paradise and you’ll see me in Tel Aviv.
Monday we had a field trip to Jericho. We saw the ruins of Herod’s Winter Palace, Tel-Jericho, and went on the Mt. of Temptations. Everything was really neat, but SO HOT! It really put into perspective some of the things the Savior and other people from the Bible experienced. Especially on the Mt. of Temptations where the Savior fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan. That place is desolate! There is literally nothing around. And I can tell you that my name would probably be listed right next to Laman and Lemuel’s in the Book of Mormon when it talks about them murmuring in the wilderness. I am so grateful for the Savior and His strength on that Mount and for the diligence of Nephi to listen to his father Lehi and trust that what he said came from God.
Thursday I went to the Garden Tomb for the very first time. It was amazing! There is a lot of speculation on the actual site of where Christ was taken after His death, and most believe that the Garden Tomb is not the actual tomb, but I don’t think it’s really that important. The most important thing is that He really did die for us and was the first to ever overcome death and be resurrected. My teacher asked the question the other day, “What is Christianity without the resurrection?” It’s nothing. The resurrection is so central to the gospel and our eternal potential. And the Garden Tomb was the most beautiful and visual way for me to contemplate the resurrection and the events surrounding it that I don’t really care if it is the actual tomb or not. I love that site more than any other I’ve visited so far.
After the Garden Tomb I went to the Dome of the Rock for the first time also! It was so beautiful! It was very interesting how much controversy there is over that site and the security involved. There is a very religious feel at that site also because you have to be dressed modestly and appropriately to even be allowed on the site. My friend had her Bible in her purse and they wouldn’t let her in with it. But seriously, it was so beautiful. I can’t wait to go back.
Sorry that was really long and overwhelming but now I feel like I’ve gotten caught up so now I promise they will be shorter and hopefully more interesting. Well actually I’m leaving for Turkey tomorrow for the week and I wont have my computer, so next week when I get back it’ll probably be another blog-post-overload. Shabbot Shalom!
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