The City of David

Not too much time so I'm just going to post some pictures and quick descriptions!

Standing in an area where King David's palace might have been and looking to the north and imagining Solomon's glorious temple being right there!

Looking down into the Kidron Valley from the high place where David's palace might have been and realizing how easy it would have been to see someone on their roof. Not to mention someone bathing on their roof. :) Standing in front of some ancient ruins that date back to the time of the prophet Jeremiah...just before 586 BC...that is a LONG time ago! So cool!

Getting ready to enter Hezekiah's tunnel...built in the early 700s BC! It was a miliatary tactic to keep their water safe from the Assyrians. Brilliant.Me walking through Hezekiah's tunnel! There is still water running through the tunnel so we got kinda wet. Not a good idea to wear jeans when you're doing this. Just a hint if you ever decide to go. But they do dry surprisingly fast in the Jerusalem heat. SO FUN!

One grecian urn....two grecian urn....(name that play!)Pool of Siloam - where Hezekiah's tunnel ends - story of blind man in John 9 takes place here. It was really neat to read the scriptures in the area they took place. That is one of the best things about being here!
We are leaving for Bethlehem in just a few minutes...I am so excited!

Egypt.

(sorry this might be a long post but we were in Egypt for a week! :))

Wow. I don't even know where to start. Egypt was basically amazing but I was so glad to get back to my Jerusalem home! Going to Egypt was a dream come true because it is a place I've been fascinated with since elementary school. It was amazing to actually see the places I'd come to know so well!

Driving into Cairo was shocking - the place is HUGE. And dirty. And the bathrooms are gross. Oh, and you can't use the water for anything if you want to avoid intense sickness. Our tour guide said that Cairo has millions and millions of people living there, and 3 million more commute each day to work there. Most people are extremely poor and live in dirty government housing. Those types of apartment slums seemed to go on forever in every direction. None of the apartment complexes were finished either because they just keep having to add new stories to accomodate the growing population. I can't imagine living like that. The guide also said that many people can't hold steady jobs - they have to go into town each day and find temporary work as a day laborer. So crazy to think about.

The next days we spent touring the pyramids and the sphinx in Giza and then we went and saw one of the first pyramids ever built. Climbing the pyramids was surreal...I mean this is the stuff we've seen in history books our whole lives. They really are a wonder to behold...they are so immense and I am in awe that an ancient people could have created something like that without modern technology. The sphinx was also cool to see! I took a picture of me kissing it but my camera battery died so its on someone else's camera and I've got to find it.

So happy to be there!! Aubrey and I on the great pyramid of Giza!Trying (and failing) to get a picture of me looking like I'm leaning on the pyramids

That night we flew to Luxor in southern Egypt and spent the next few days touring the Karnak and Luxor temples, walking through the Valley of the Kings, sailing the nile on a falouka, going on a camel safari (basically one of the most amazing moments of my life) and bargaining at the bazaars! I loved bargaining. The shopkeepers were a little creepy because they have this image of American women being really loose (thank you American media). Nothing big, but they would just make some crazy comments and cat call to us. But stuff is so cheap there and I loved tried to get the price down even further. I always thought I was getting a good deal but then I'd go back and find someone else who had gotten the same thing for even cheaper. I decided it was okay though because I was doing my humanitarian work for the people of Egypt by pumping my money into their economy. :)

Yes that is a pirate flag on my falouka. Made the journey ten times better. Also I didn't have hairspray this week so my hair is scary. Deal with it. :) Valley of the Kings pic with my roommate Rebecca!

After Luxor we went back to Cairo after an 8 hour overnight train ride. I could go into a lot of detail about how miserable that trip was and how disgusting and dirty the train was and how I'm not even sure if they change the sheets on the beds and how I was afraid to touch anything or how going to the bathroom was an adventure because you get slammed against the wall as the train jerks along. But I won't. However, I will share with you one bit of humor from the train ride. The picture below is of a sign that was posted on our train room wall. All I can say is that I think every overnight train should have a belly dancing contest after dinner. It makes everything else worthwhile.

Our last day in Cairo was spent at the Khan al Kalili bazaar (again so fun), the Egyptian museum (I loved the mummies and king tut's treasure!!) and at Cairo's Citadel.

I came to one huge conclusion after being in Egypt. That my mother should never go there. I don't think she could handle how dirty it is (really mom this is for your own good). Since we can't drink the water or eat anything that was washed in the water so we had to avoid eating fruits and veggies, brush our teeth with water bottles and use hand sanitizer at the bathrooms which looked like they hadn't been cleaned in ages even though you had to tip the little lady at each restroom for handing you toilet paper. That brings me to my other conclusion about Egypt...nothing is free there. You tip for everything and anything and they may even ask you for more of a tip if they're not satisfied (in that case you avoid eye contact and leave quickly). Also if shopkeepers tell you they have free things for you it is a lie. They just want to get you in the store to buy something. I don't think they know what free means because they throw that word out there a lot. And when you take it they expect you to then pay for it (I have experience with this).

Overall, Egypt was a life-changing experience. It was fascinating to learn about the culture and see the ancient ruins. Each day here just keeps getting better and better!

Happy Shabbat!

Today is Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath and the day we have church. Switching to a Saturday worship schedule took a little getting used to, but I love it! After church today a group of us went to the Orson Hyde Park and the Garden of Gethsemene. It still seems so crazy to actually say that I am going to these places. The Orson Hyde Park was beautiful and looked more like what I thought Jerusalem might look like with lots of terraced rows of olive trees and rocks. The church apparently donated the money to create the park, although the city still owns it. The picture below is a plaque that stands at the top and bottom of the park commemorating the donation. I especially love that it was made possible "trough" the Jerusalem foundation.Not exactly sure what that means. :)The Garden of Gethsemene was also beautiful. Like many other holy places in this country, there is a church built right by it and and a wall surrounding it. I don't think it was very smart for us to go on Shabbat because there were lots of tour groups there and we weren't able to find a quiet spot to read our scriptures or write in our journals. We decided we're going to try and go back down on another day. In spite of the crowd, it was still wonderful to take and moment and remember our Savior's Atonement and the events that transpired at the garden. As I was reading one of the plaques at the church that described Gethsemene simply as the place the Savior came "to pray before the passion," I was struck with gratitude for the fullness of the gospel that we have and for the Book of Mormon that explains the Atonement of our Savior in a more complete way.
I am still so happy to be here and to be learning so much. Tonight at dinner we were all commenting about how wonderful it is to study the scriptures together and then actually go to the places we are reading about. Sara told me before I left, and I completely agree with her, that you absolutely do not have to come to the Holy Land to gain a testimony of the Savior. However, there is something wonderful and tangible about actually seeing what you are reading about and having the scriptures come alive. I know I say this a lot but I am so grateful for this opportunity!

Happy Israeli Independance Day!

Today Israel celebrated their 60th year as a country so a bunch of us decided to go to Tel Aviv and spend the day celebrating at the beach! We didn't do much sightseeing in town, but it was wonderful to sit by the ocean and relax. There was a cool air show too and I tried to take pictures of it but my camera isn't that great. But I'm posting them for my dad!! Dad - I think the first one is of F-15s being refueled and the second is of F-16s. I couldn't really tell though...sorry to let you down. :) Love you all!

PS I'll try and post more pictures that I'm actually in so you can believe that I'm actually here doing stuff and not just taking pictures off the internet. Its just that usually when we take group photos I just decide to get the picture from someone else later so that we're not having to take pictures with 10 different cameras...I really am here I promise!

Shalom!

I don't have much time to post things but I just wanted to let everyone know that I made it safely to Jerusalem! I got in at 3:30 am on Thursday morning after an 11 hour layover in Vienna. Really long but amazing! We got to go out into Vienna for about 5 hours and see some of the sights. I ate gelato and saw a beautiful cathedral first (in my jet-lagged state I didn't think to write down the name of it). Then we went to a summer palace called Schloss Schunbronn (I think). The architecture and gardens were amazing! The gardens seemed to go on forever so we walked around them for a while and then walked up to the top of the hill behind the castle to overlook Vienna. We took a train ride around the city after to see lots of stuff at once but we were all so tired that we fell asleep soon after we got on. And people kept pointing and laughing at us! When we got to the Jerusalem Center we all walked out on the balcony to overlook the city of Jerusalem. We kept pinching ourselves because it didn't seem real!
While in Vienna I found my future home...A palace fit for a queen right? Too much to ask for? :) (Also I wore this outfit for 2 days straight while we traveled to Jerusalem...I felt so gross)

We've gotten to see a lot of things already. Classes are hard and will demand a lot of time but I think in the long run it should be beneficial, right? (well, at least thats what I keep telling myself!) Its just so hard to think of studying when I want to be out touring the Holy Land during my free time. We've have two field trips and lots of time to go out into the city and explore. Here are some pictures of my favorite places so far!

At the Garden Tomb on Shabbat - one of my favorite things so far

GolgothaOverlooking Bethlehem (we're standing on some shepherd's fields) - I can't wait to actually go there!

Tower of David Museum Church of the Holy Sepulchre Standing in a Burial Tomb in the Valley of Guvrim

Our teacher told us this is how all of the shepherds are wearing their slingshots these days...Me pretending to be David with a slingshot getting ready to kill Goliath at the Valley of Elah!Ok I'll try to keep adding pictures and little updates often. I am loving it here and I'm so grateful for this opportunity! Hope things are going well for everyone! Much love!