fat and happy

It’s been a while since my last blog post partially because I’ve been really busy and the other part because I haven’t really done anything of huge significance that seems blog post worthy. But since I leave for Galilee tomorrow I figured that I should do a little blog update. The past two weeks have been crazy because it’s been finals. By the way, if you’re thinking about coming to the Jerusalem Center (which you should because it’s amazing) make sure you come after you’ve been accepted into your program at school. School is really great here but it does not do anything to help out your GPA. Mine is taking a pretty rough beating. My expectations for myself have lowered significantly. School is hard! Haha ok that’s all I think I need to say about finals. They’ve been rough, but I survived. Now all I have left is New Testament and Ancient Near East.
Because school is so hard, I’ve been staying in the center a lot more than I wanted to. Looking at the calendar the other day I realized that I now have less than five weeks left! So I made a commitment to myself that I was going to go out every single day. There is always a ton of schoolwork, but I will get it done. I always do. It’s not worth wasting this experience for. So I’m officially hitting the streets!
I’ve had a lot of fun little adventures lately that have made me love this city even more. When I went out last Monday the whole city was having a carnival! It was some Muslim holiday that I think marked the end of the hajj but it was so neat! And the best part? They had cotton candy!! I’ve been craving cotton candy for so long! I seriously was so so happy! And it was only 2 shekels for a HUGE stick of it! My life rocks. They also had popcorn everywhere and snakes (I have no idea why), and balloons, and all the little boys were wearing the cutest sweaters. The city was so happy! I loved it!



The other best discovery of the week: jelly filled doughnuts at the shuk (the open market in west Jerusalem). Oh my goodness they are amazing! Our Hebrew teacher told us as it got closer to December they would start selling them and so when I saw them I had to try it. Well if I come home 20 pounds heavier, I’m blaming it on those doughnuts. I now feel like my day isn’t complete unless I have one of those doughnuts. Good thing the light rail is free and we’re allowed to ride it now or I’d be calling a taxi everyday to take me to the shuk. I went again yesterday and the man at the bakery let me go in and help him make them! It was so cool. They make the jelly fresh right there with fresh strawberries and serve the doughnuts hot. Oh man I’m dying just thinking about them. Haha oh gosh I realized that the highlights of my week revolve around food. Oh the fat kid skills are kicking in… Fat and happy right?



Yesterday I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the first time. This is the site most of the world thinks that Jesus was crucified and resurrected. I had walked by it a ton of times but had never actually gone in. It was sweet! I really loved it. I touched the rock where they believe the cross of Jesus was placed and the stone where they think Jesus’ body was prepared for burial. It was super packed in there so I think it’ll be cooler when I can go back without it being so crazy. I’m going to research it and write a paper on it so I’ll have more cool things to say about it later.





Today I went to Zedekiah’s cave outside Damascus gate with a few friends. It was really fun. The cave is huge! It goes right under the Old City. They believe it is where the stones were quarried to build the first temple. Cool huh?





Ok well now that I’m drooling thinking about jelly filled doughnuts, I think it’s time for me to get ready to head to Galilee tomorrow! We’ll be there for almost two weeks on an intensive New Testament outing. I’m really excited, but I think classes there are going to be really difficult. We have it for three hours at a time some days! But I’m going to be learning so much cool stuff. It’s going to be so great!
And Happy Birthday Melinda!! And Happy Birthday tomorrow Eliesa!! I love you both soooooooo much!!!