Turkey!

Hello all! Last week the JC traveled to TURKEY!!! It was such an exciting trip and I'm so glad we got to go. Usually, the Center takes the students to Egypt, but with everything that is happening there, it wasn't a great idea to go. So Turkey it was! If you don't know, Turkey is FILLED with many treasures of the ancient world and the Biblical world.

Day 1:

ISTANBUL!! What a fabulous city! Istanbul was previously the capital of the Byzantine empire and essentially the 2nd Rome for the ancient world. So naturally, we needed to see the important parts of the capital city while we were there. All of the Byzantine Christian Churches were later converted into Mosques which makes sense now that the country is predominately Muslim. Anyways, as we drove through the massive city we could see large and incredibly old Domes and Minarets everywhere you turn. It's a sight to see. 

 The first sight we went to was the old Roman Hippodrome for games (no pics...sorry, there wasn't much to see) which was right next to the famous Blue Mosque!

Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque. Nice tile work!

We then went through the Topkapi Palace (which is the Sultan's Palace). Cool.

Ornate Doorway

Ornate Ceiling

We went to the Basillica Cistern. Its huge and it was featured on a recent season of the Bachelorette! haha

We went to the Grand Bazaar (Famous!!!)

Then we went boat cruising around the Bosphorus which seperates the Europe and Asian side of Istanbul!

The Asian Side

We then went to dinner where we ate a full fish and headed back to the Hotel for some free time in the market around the hotel. Great Day!

Day 2:

We went to TROY! It was definitely a cool experience to go there. Most of our day was spent on the bus  traveling but we made it and spent some time touring the site. The actual ancient city that we hear so much about in Homer's classic was probably the 6th city built on top of 5 others and then 3 other cities after that. 9 total!  It is amazing for me to go to old sites like this and realize the great city wasn't as big as you would think. Honestly, we walked around the whole site in about 40 minutes. That'a a little bit of a let down...but they did have the Trojan Horse there, so it's all good! A lot is still being excavated so there really isnt much to see. They uncovered a small theater and lots of columns and building stone. The fact that Troy was right on the sea was also hard to see since the water had silted up around the city and now it is farmland. You can still see water close by, but it isnt as close as you imagine anymore.

Probably the real trojan horse...Probably.

Columns!

Day 3:

Assos and Pergamum took up day three. Assos was a Greek city that had the temple of Athena at its Acropolis (highest point of the city). Aristotle lived in Assos for a while and the apostle Paul passed through for a short time. There, Paul recieved instruction from God to bring the gospel of Christ to Europe. Its beautiful from the top of the mountain and you can see the famous Isle of Lesbos across the water.

Lesbos!

Temple of Athena

At the Temple of Athena

Pegamum is another great ancient city that has many ruins still standing. The acropolis here was said to have rivaled Athens in it's time. It is also one of the seven churches of Asia talked about in Revelations 1-4. Unfortunately, our time here was cut short with a huge rain storm that started as we reached the top acropolis by cablecar.  Even in the rain we walked through the ruins and enjoyed splashing around in the cold. Our center doctor didn't like it as much as we did as he helped guide all of us back to the cablecars to avoid all 82 of us catching a cold (:

Pergamum Theater (RAINING!)

Roman Archway in Pergamum. Nice architecture still standing!

Day 4:

We traveled to EPHASUS next! This was my favorite site we saw! It was one of the largest cities in the Roman empire and there are so many ruins still there that give you a chance to get a good idea of what the city looked like long ago. One thing I never got sick of was seeing the theaters that are still preserved in these ancient Greek/Roman cities. The theater here was not the biggest, but it had the most meaning to me. It is where Paul preached to the Ephesians and created a huge riot, right there in the very theater! John also taught in Ephasus, making it just as cool.

Library in Ephasus

Front of the Library

Theater in Ephasus

We took a short stop nearby at the Artemision, which used to be a giant temple to Artemis. It is actually one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Unfortunately, the only thing to see are some stones that show some of the foundations and a giant collum. Both did give an idea of how large the temple was but it was still hard considering there ist much there at all.

The final stop of the day was at Miletus which was yet another old Greek city. It wasnt quite as interesting as Ephesus, but we still learned about the end of Paul's 3rd missionary journey in Acts 20 and him saying goodbye to the people he had taught, probably for the last time. We had a nice devotional from Brother Skinner and Brother Huntsman in the theater and sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again."

Day 5:

We started the day in Heirapolis which was another Greek ancient city. It is located next to Laodicea and Colassae, which were two New Testament sites as well. Heirapolis is on top of some awesome hot springs that turn the rock white called Pamukkale of "Cotton Castle." It looks like a mountain with snow bundled in one spot, but really it is white rocks with warm hot springs running over them.

Pamukkale

Hot Springs at Pamukkale

Another cool part of this city was the Necropolis which means "City of the Dead." It literally is a whole other city filled with tombs. Now they are very old tombs...it was WAY cool to see.

Sarcophagus in the Necropolis

We went to the theater there and talked about the Lord's warning to Laodicea (the city nearby). The Lord rebuked them for being "neither hot nor cold," which makes more sense in the symbolism with hot and cold water because of the hot springs.

Me and my friend Asia in the Theater at Heirapolis

Day 6:

For our last day in Turkey we went to Iznik which is the modern day NICEA! COOL! This was also a pretty awesome site, maybe not for the actual remains of the city, but for the things that happended there. Constantine had his winter palace in Nicea and this is when the Byzantine philosophers were deciding on the nature of God...if Christ, Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost are one or 3 seperate beings. We went to the actual church where the council met to make the decision. We then went across the street to the remaining foundations of the winter palace and had a devotional about what we, as members of the LDS Church, believe about God. All I can say is,

"We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."
(Article of Faith #1)

ALL as seperate beings. We listened to our leaders talk about the history there and our own beliefs and then we sang "I Believe in Christ." Unfortunately, people believe that memebers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints are not Christians because we do not accept the final declarations of the coucil that met and toiled over what was truth and what was not. We believe the words of revelation to prophets, even modern prophets. We are Christians indeed!

The Church in Nicea where the Nicean Creed was created 

Brother Skinner giving part of our devotional on the foundation of Constantine's Winter Palace in Nicea. 

The last stop was back in Istanbul where we went and toured the Hagia Sophia! Another huge domed Byzantine church changed Mosque, and now is a Museum. It is beautiful and definitely on the inside. You first look at it, and all the ceilings and walls are plastered, but at second glance you see small parts of the plaster torn away, showing beautiful gold mosaic that is so characteristic of the Byzantines! As we toured more, we could see more of the uncovering of the mosaics that had many depictions of Christ and Mary. When the Muslims changed it over to a Mosque, they got rid of all of the ornate Christian depictions. It was very cool to see. As the day ended we headed to the airport and made our way back to Jerusalem. Back HOME to JERUSALEM!

Hagia Sophia Domed Ceiling

Hagia Sophia

Part of our group with Papa Hunts in the Hagia Sophia

Byzantine Mosaic of Jesus Christ- Hagia Sophia

***

In Revelations 1-4 (especially1:11) it states 7 churches of Asia that John needed to teach. On this trip we went to or at least passed through all 7 areas:

Ephesus- went to

Smyrna- passed thru

Pegamos- went to

Thyatira- went to

Sardis- peassed thru

Philidelphia- passed thru

Laodicea- city by hot springs

***

Western Wall on Shabbat

What an unforgetable night! Our entire group went on a "field trip" to the Western Wall for the start of Shabbat, or the Sabbath. In Jewish culture, Shabbat starts on Friday night at sundown. We all dressed nicely and modestly in order to respect the people and culture at this holy site and walked to the complex where the Western or Wailing wall is. What we saw brought a whole new meaning to welcoming the Sabbath day. The wall has a divide on it that seperates the men and women. So we seperated as students and went to our places near the wall. There were so many different Jewish worshippers there to pray by the wall or put in small slips of paper that act as prayers. On the women's side, I waited until there for a spot available for me to go and touch part of the remaining wall that surrounded the 1st century Temple.  I touched the stones that are worn down by the worshipping hands of so many and thought to myself about the blessings that I have been given in my life and thanked my Heavenly Father for them.

As I mentioned before, the men and women are seperated and they are SO different from eachother. To sum it up, the women's side is much quieter and emotional. I stood with a woman who had her head against the wall, crying a quiet Hebrew prayer. It touched me. Other women quitly read their Torah's close by. Further away from the wall, some women were dancing with eachother in a circle singing Hebrew hymns of praise. I had to join in at one point! The men's side was so different! Closer to the wall, there were many different types of Jews next to the wall reading from the Torah and praying. The thing that was very evident was the mass of men singing and dancing in order to welcome the holy day, Shabbat. There were so many different kinds of men of all ages and of all levels of Jewish practice celebrating together. Even our Mormon boys got to join in the loud dancing and singing. I was able to move further from the wall so I could look at the mens side and see the large crowds. There were even soldiers from the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) welcoming in the Sabbath day! They were actually the ones that the JC boys danced with the most and they were probably the loudest ones.

While I was watching, I was able to talk to our new Program Director Brother Andy Skinner who told us about the different types of Jews we were seeing and the different ways of welcoming th Sabbath. I was intrigued by was the answer Brother Skinner gave us. He said that these people are all in different phases of their lives and while some were celebrating another day, some were mourning their loved ones. I thought it was interesting to see the IDF's in this new light. Brother Skinner mentionede that tensions are high in Israel and these young men and women who are required to give years to the IDF are still celebrating another peacful day of their lives, and in a way, "living it up."

The night was beautiful, the people were beautiful and I was so grateful to be able to see a new way of welcoming the Sabbath. Brother Skinner, who has lived in Israel multiple times, was saying that it's almost a let down to go back to a Sabbath in the States because it is not celebrated. I want to at least recognize the beautiful spirit of the Sabbath in my life from now on because of the example I saw tonight.

Shabbat Shalom!!!

At the Western Wall on a regular day... not as busy but still awesome.

Misc. Items

Just so everyone knows, I would love to post pictures but the JC has "fragile" internet. I would need to go to Hebrew University to get the internet needed to upload pictures. I will do that in the future, but not all the time. Don't worry! I am just as excited as you are to post the pictures I've taken!
Also, feel free to comment on any posts. I'll enjoy it ( :

Happenings

So I haven't written in a while and I wanted to update on what has happened in the last few days. Things have started to calm down as all of the students arrived at the beginning of this week. Last Saturday we had observed Shabbat which is the Sabbath. Now in the US we observe the Sabbath day on Sunday, but in Israel it is the tradition on Saturday, so that is when we have our church services in the center. It is amazing to be sitting in our main meeting (Sacrament meeting) overlooking the same city that Jesus Christ administered the first sacrament. That in itself is a trip to think about. The view of the city is beautiful from our seats in the auditorium and it makes the church services have a new light to them. The people in our branch are really amazing. From what I can tell, many of them work for various government organizations or in some cases the UN (example: my Relief Society President). Their stories are as amazing as they are. After church, a group of us walked to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. Most of the Christian population gathers to one part of the garden to honor Christ and commemorate his divine actions in the garden. We Mormons, as Christians, went to this site first but soon discovered that there was a separate garden just across the street that our church leaders and other LDS members gather and recognize as the Gethsemane Christ was in that night. We had to say we were Mormons to get into the gate of this site that had "Private" on the gate. There we were led into another garden of many old olive trees. I was able to sit on my own and contemplate the divine love of my Savior and visualize the place he was that night.

Olive Trees at Gethsemane

 Something I really like is having church on Saturday and a free weekend day on Sunday. It's nice to go to church and know that the next day is a day to play and do whatever you need to do before Monday. It's nice. Anyways, on Sunday I went with some friends out to the city where we visited a few different sites. We went to the Tomb of Mary, which is actually located right next to the Garden of Gethsemane. There, Armenian priests take care of a church and grotto where they believe Mary was buried. People light candles and line the stairs with tons of them, which leaves a beautiful site. Next to the church is a grotto or cave that they now have a church service in. Amazingly, it is directly under the "Private" part of Gethsemane that the Mormons visit and is believed to be the place where the Apostles slept that night.

The stairs at Mary's Tomb

After visiting Mary's Tomb and a slight detour along the Eastern wall of the city, which has future significance in the Second coming of Christ, we were able to visit the Pools of Bethesda. The site is owned by the French and they make the whole place BEAUTIFUL. It's one of my favorite places in the Old City. This site is where the bible says that Christ healed a man who had been ill for 38 years. The pools themselves have an interesting story as well. The area now has a garden and a Cathedral (Anne's Cathedral) along with ruins of past buildings. Everything is beautiful there. The Cathedral has the best acoustics I've ever heard and we were lucky enough to get to sing a few hymns inside. The ruins near the back of the property seemed to be remnants of buildings from the Crusaders. There were large cisterns that would even store the water of the pools. There was one area where you could take stairs down a long way to see the water from the ancient pools.

A sign at the Pools of Bethesda complex

We then went exploring through the Old City and met some more Mormon friendly shopkeepers and then made our way to Jaffa gate into West Jerusalem. In West Jerusalem we ate dessert at a small cafe that was really nice and looked at the shops around. A fun thing for us girls was getting a facemask in one of the shops that is made from minerals from the Dead Sea! Fun! After a little bit more exploring we ended our long day of walking and went back to the Center.

The girls in Western Jerusalem

Since then, I have been getting used to a new and rigorous schedule of classes and homework. In a way it ends a bit of freedom, but it is really fun to get to know our professors more and learn so much. We all take Ancient Near East Studies, Modern Near East Studies (Palestinian Perspective), Modern Near East Studies (Israeli Perspective), Old Testament, and we can either take Hebrew or Arabic. I am taking Hebrew! Like I said, It's fun, but rigorous.

This week, we had our first field trip with everyone here. We went to different high areas in Jerusalem so we could see the whole city from different views. It really is a beautiful sight! We also were able to look down on Bethlehem and see the Herodian. We were able to see where the City of David is located in reference to the Old City as well as Bethany and were able to visualize paths that Christ would have walked frequently. An area that I was very interested in was where Caiaphas's palace would have been. It is next to an old Church that has 1st century dungeons underneath and could have been were Jesus was imprisoned for a time as well as where Peter would have denied Christ 3 times. It's so cool to see all of this stuff!

The Old City taken from the 7-Arches Overlook 

 Today, in between classes, I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is another location that is said to be the location of Christ's crucifixion and burial. It was beautiful and worth seeing. Definitely an awesome way to spend time between classes too!

I'm excited to get more involved with our classes and take some more field trips. Next week we go to Jericho!

Israel Foreign Affairs Forum Speaker

Tonight, after a long day of classes, we were able to have a guest speaker for all of the students in the center. Our speaker was from the Israel Foreign Affairs and he was able to talk to us about the political situations going on right now in the Middle East and Near East. It was interesting to find out more about the conflicts that are underlying in the area that I am studying in. It is true that we get to see the people and places in Jerusalem and in other places throughout Israel, but even though we are here we don't always understand some of the political struggles. Our speaker was able to shed some light on what may happen with the Palestinians and their request for recognition by the UN and some basic resulting senarios. Among other things, he talked about the threats to the Middle East and around the world and also on the deteriorating relationship with Israel and Turkey and why that is happening.

For me, I am grateful to have listened to this address because I feel more informed on what is going on here. Just from being here for a week, I have a better grasp on the culture of the people and the locations of these places that we hear so much about in the news in the US. Knowing what I know now about the Holy Land and the people who love it, I have a better understanding of why it is so hard for both sides to come to an agreement on boundaries. As for Israel's relationship with Turkey now, I'm sad to see a good and long standing  relationship dissolve so quickly, especially since our group is traveling there in about a week and a half.

Israel Museum and the Garden Tomb with a little walking in the city

September 2, 2011
 Today was another awesome day! We went to the Israel Museum which is supposed to be one of the greatest museums in the world! I can see why. We were there for 3 hours and only got 1 and a half sections done out of about 7 sections. We even saw the Dead Sea Scrolls! There are tons of things from Biblical times like a burial chest from Caiaphus' tomb...like the New testament Caiaphas! And there are sections of buildings, like a section of a roman bath which they reassembled and part of a Crusader church. They also had a  large replica of the old city of Jerusalem in New Testament times. So that was cool!

Enterance to The Garden Tomb

We then went to the Garden Tomb. It's owned by a British church society and they have service couples who give tours and run the garden.Tom Atkins was our guide and he just retired as a preacher for the Church of England in London. I'll tell you more about him later.  Anyways, the Garden Tomb is in the middle of East Jerusalem which means it's in the middle of an Arab city and it is closed in by large stone walls like the rest of the areas. We had an appointment with our 30 students today and our two religion professors (who are so great!). We were all waiting outside the doors to the garden and decided to sing sacrament hymns before we went in. Brother Eric Huntsman (who is currently my Old Testament Professor) was just released from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir  about two weeks ago so he could teach here for a year, so he lead us in singing. It definitely brought the spirit. I think most of us were very touched and we hadn't even gone through the doors yet. When we had finished, we heard" It's the Mormons" on the other side of the doors and there was Tom Atkins and another man opening up the door and telling us to come in and how beautiful we sounded (they couldn't get over it, it was really sweet!). Like I said, we were in the middle of a city, but when you go in, it is definitely a peaceful and cool (as in weather) garden that smells so good.

Skull Rock or "Golgotha"

We first went up and looked at a hill that they call Skull Rock because the large rock looks like a skull from the side. This is where Tom said the crucifixion of Jesus could have taken place according to the location and other aspects too. Tom wanted us all to know that he wasn't going to tell us that this is definitely where everything had happened, like the crucifixtion and the actual tomb of Jesus, but he said what matters most is the Man and what had occurred with the ressurection. Everything that he had said concerning that exactly coincided with what our professors had told us to remember going in. We now love Tom and know that he loves Christ. Is was evident that he has felt that love and knows how to share it with others. Tom took us to another section of the garden where he showed us a large man-made hole in the ground. It's covered up except for a small area to put a ladder, but it is similar to a huge underground pool for storing water that dates back to the time of Christ. He said that the cistern was too large to be for just some random garden and that it had to be for some kind of commercial  work. Then he showed us a commercial wine press close by that explaines the water containement. It was a Vineyard in Christ's time! Anyways, Tom said that they are lead to believe that it could be the Vineyard of Joseph of Arimathea (Of the Council yah know!) and that is how Christ would be buried there.

He then took us to the tomb. The tomb was in a stone wall and the entrance was fairly small. We sat and talked about how the tomb was set up and what happened the third morning with the angels saying, "He is not here, for He is risen." There is a door now on the tomb that has those words on it. When I went in, it was interesting to see that my head almost touched the ceiling. Brother Huntsman said yesterday that Jesus was probably actually only about 5' 4" in his mortal body. He said that's probably not the case with his ressurected body but people were A LOT smaller then than they are today. Well, now I believe him because it was really small. It was cool to be inside though because even if it wasn't actually Christ's tomb, it was a tomb from that time and like His. Everyone was reverant as we went in and out. I mostly  felt the spirit when thinking about the resurrected Christ and not necessarily about the actual spot, like Tom Atkins said to us. Many prophets have been there and said they had felt the spirit, but in particular, President Hinkley said that he felt the spirit definitely and that Christ was buried there in that spot or close by. Apparently, there were a few more tombs around there, but I don't think any are still around. So after our official tour we gathered as a goup again under a canopy close by and had a small devotional and sang "I believe in Christ" and "I know that My Redeemer Lives." It was very spiritual and calming. We walked around a little bit and almost didnt want to leave because of the calming spirit we felt there.

Me at the tomb (pic taken later in semester)

 We did eventually leave and broke up into random groups to go and adventure into the city. I went with some friends and we basically just went wherever in the city not really knowing where to go, but just knowing that the Damascus Gate would get us back home. We actually ended up in a little row of Musilm apartments and they were all telling us we were in the wrong place. Its hard to find your way around there. Honestly I feel like the old city is one HUGE marketplace. You can't drive cars into it and the roads are super small and narrow. Everything is made out of the limestone but it's super smooth and almost slippery from so many people over so long. Every now and then you will see security gaurds and police with big guns but they are actually pretty nice and will tell you where to go if you need it. We were stopped by some telling us not to go close to the Dome of the Rock because we weren't Muslim and it was time for another prayer call. I wonder how he could tell...jk! We took another route and ran into the enterance to the Western Wall. You have to pass a security checkpoint to get there and it was reall interesting to go through and see all of the orthodox Jews again. But yeah...I saw the Wailing wall today...nbd (no big deal). We only spent a little time there because we are going to go as a group at some point. After that  we ended up in the Christian Quarter and actually ran into a large procession of priests singing and carrying a cross through the streets. there were tons of people following them and we kind of joined in and then took a small street out of there to get away from the crowd. That's where we ran into a Palestinian shop owner in the Christian quarter who brought us into his shop and just gave us the best time. Now, all of the people around here know who we are. They keep on saying, "Oh, you're the new Mormons!" and yell "BYU!" at us or even one guy was like "Go cougars!" haha! But mostly everyone knows that we are the Mormons and that we will be buying things in their shops. So this man took us into his shop, gave us each a fanta and dressed us in old Palastinian clothes and just chatted with us calling us Mormons the whole time. He was SO nice. I bought a beautiful scarf from him for 20 shekels which is about $5. He also has handmade leather scripture cases pretty much just for us that have the city on them and Jerusalem on them which I'm going to buy. He has a good collection of things and all of us in our group fell in love . He was so sweet! So that was the end of our excursion around the old city today. We had to get home before sunset because of the start of Shabbat (the Sabbath).

Dressing up at Shabon's

We had 17 students arrive today! We were happy to see them. I don't think i told you but i havent had any roommates and I actually still dont have one yet. Im still waiting for the three other girls to get here. I've made some good friends. With just 30 of us we pretty much all got to know eachother fast and I like all of them. Going into the city today, I just left with a random group and had a great time.

Here is a random thing I dont think I've talked about. I wake up every morning at 4:30 am to the Muslim prayer call. The prayer call happens 5 times a day and i love them. They seem to always be different! A lot of the locals are so genuinely loving, it's crazy. They really want us (the Mormons) to come and just talk to them in their shops. It's really interesting what the BYU center has done with the perceptions of Mormons in the community...as far as I know, they love us!

First day around the city

September 1, 2011

We just went through the city today. It's so cool! I've gotten to know a lot of the people here already and we all feel pretty tight already. Im pretty sure it's because we are all so unbelievably happy and excited to be here. Constantly we are saying, "Are we really here? Is this really happening?" It's nice not to be the only one in total awe of everything around me. Anyways, we toured the city all morning and just came back for lunch, and now I have some extra time before another orientation type meeting to write a little bit. The Jerusalem Center is in East Jerusalem which is the Palestinian part of town, then there is the Old City which is in the city walls with different parts like the Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter and Christian Quarters. Then there is West Jerusalem. West Jerusalem is super nice and right next to the old city. Both places are so cool, but so opposite of each other. The Old City is like a huge bazaar with tons of shops everywhere and the roads are all very narrow. The West City is new and very nice, its obviously a newer (and richer) part of the city. We walked through both of them today and I was able to just glimpse a little bit of what is to come. All I can say is, I love it!

Arriving in the Holy Land

August 31, 2011

I'm in Jerusalem and it's amazing! We got here only a few hours ago and are getting to know the BYU Jerusalem Center and our professors. It is so beautiful I can't even tell you! Yesterday, I was the first group of the day at the airport at 4:30 am. I went from SLC to ATL to JFK and that was only the beginning. My group (only 10 people) met up with another group of 20 people (who, mind you, left slc at 11:00 on a direct flight to JFK) at JFK to board our flight to Tel Aviv. Mom, remember how i told you it wouldn't be real to me until i actually got to Tel Aviv? Well, that is False. It was at the gate at JFK. I felt like I was already in Israel with all of the Jewish families waiting to go through a special 2nd security checkpoint that is specifically for flights going to Israel. Seriously, the first thing i thought was "TRADITION!" with all of the prayer shawls, side curls, and kippas. It was pretty cool to see. Anyways, the 30 of us got through security and made it on the plane where we were pretty much the only Americans on the 2 story airplane. Here is a cultural thing i noticed in the security line and on the plane, Jewish women are feisty! Just like in Fiddler on the Roof, they can gossip for hours without even knowing each other which I witnessed with the women sitting in front of me. Also, the men can argue with anyone for a very long time. It was so loud, people were talking and walking around the whole time! I swear, the plane was out of control! It was actually really interesting to see everyone together though. When we started flying into the morning time zone, the men got out their special prayer shawls and started rocking back and forth singing prayers. It was so cool to see so much devotion. The flight was COMPLETELY FULL! I got a window seat, but unfortunately i sat next to a heavy Jewish woman with TERRIBLE b.o. and her baby on her lap. I would say we got pretty close, especially when her baby's head was on my arm while she openly nursed him every 2 hours. That made the 11 hours on the plane fly by! haha! I did get slightly lucky though because they played Jane Eyre as one of the in-flight movies and it was when everyone decided to be sleeping, so i could watch it in peace. Anyways, we got to Tel Aviv which is a beautiful airport and me an the rest of the "Mormon University" students huddled together going through customs (thankfully I didn't get heavily questioned like some people) and getting our bags. We then walked out and found our professors holding BYU signs! What a relief! Especially because we found out that more than half of the students are still in the Arizona airport waiting to find out where they can go and what they can do to get here because their flight was cancelled due to the hurricane. There is only 1 flight a day leaving JFK for TLV and they are almost completely full every time! There are only the 31 of us here now out of the 81 students. We are incredibly lucky. Apparently the other students are coming in small groups of like 6 people every day, but it will take forever for everyone to get here. Anyways, some things are changed around for us but not everything. It actually just means that we aren't starting classed until Monday and we are going on a tour of the Old City tomorrow and the Garden Tomb on Friday!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, its gorgeous in the Jerusalem Center! All of us feel extremely humbled to be here. Tonight we got here and took a tour of the building. It has two bomb shelters just so you know! But actually, every building in Israel is supposed to have a bomb shelter. The center is on the "shoulder" or in between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives. It's UNREAL! Its heavily guarded by gates but when you go in everything seems very open and natural. The stone is beautiful and there are gardens and fountains all around. The view is probably the most intense thing of all. There are tons of large windows overlooking the Old City and you can see the old city walls and the Dome of the Rock from just about every window. Even from my apartment's patio you see all of the city below. Today is the last day of Ramadan, so when we were eating dinner on the patio overlooking the city we could hear parties everywhere. I've also heared the Muslim prayer call twice already. Apparently, it will wake us up every morning. What I have noticed is that the people are just concerned about their families and their beliefs so you just have to respect them and they will respect you