MYLO XYLOTO

This post actually doesnt have anything to do with Jerusalem or anything Biblical but it might be just as important. I'm sure that everyone knew that Coldplay's new album came out on October 24th and it's called Mylo Xyloto!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOO! HOOORAY!!! BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!! haha

Anyways, Coldplay is pretty much my favorite band and their last album "Viva la Vida" was a masterpiece! Needless to say, I had high hopes and expectations for this one.

Unfortunately, we left for Jordan the day the album came out and I couldnt download it! As soon as we got back I took a trip to Hebrew University to download it from Itunes, because naturally the Itunes store (and Facebook) are blocked at the center. Anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

I have enjoyed it so far ....  I'm not going to lie though, I still love Viva la Vida the most, but I definitely appreciate the stylo of Mylo Xyloto. Paradise, Charlie Brown, and Hurts like Heaven are my top three at the moment, but it will probably change after I've listened to every song 85 times (at least).

I just had to have a real life moment on my blog for a second... thanks for reading (if you got this far).

MYLO XYLOTO

Update: In June 2012 my mom and I went to the Coldplay Mylo Xyloto concert in Tampa Bay and it was the best concert in the history of concerts....

An UNFORGETABLE Birthday!

In my last post I mentioned that it was my birthday on the last day of our trip to Jordan! Well, Jordan is close to Israel and we got back in time for me to celebrate with some friends in West Jerusalem. We went to an outdoor lifestyle mall (Mamilla Mall) that has great night life and was lit up with tons of twinkle lights going up and down the narrow street.... probably just for me. It was a cool night and the atmosphere was fun and relaxing, perfect for a night out after a long trip. A band was playing and my friend asked them to play "Happy Birthday." Too bad we figured out half-way through the song that it was the Hebrew version of "Happy Birthday" that we weren't familiar with. It was a fun cultural experience anyway! Dessert was next at a small cafe where I realized I have some great friends here who all make me feel so loved (and especially on my birthday)! 

It was an unforgetable birthday.
Spent in both Jordan and Israel.
At the River Jordan and in Jerusalem.
I'm a (20-year-old) lucky girl!

Friends and I in front of the Ark of the Covenant at Mamilla Mall ... nbd

Jordan Trip

We recently ventured on a 4-day trip to Jordan where I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Jordan is next to Israel on the other side of the Jordan river and is predominantly Muslim. It also was anciently known as Philidephia and was the site of some major events in Biblical times.

Here are some of the most notable things we did while in Jordan:

We went to Mt. Nebo where Moses was said to have died, although we believe he was translated.

Looking down from Mt. Nebo

We then went to Herod-Antipus' Palace where John the baptist was beheaded. It was seriously in the middle of nowhere....and when I say that, I mean it. It was all desert and hills. We hiked up to one of the tallest points where there were remains of a palace that overlooked the wilderness and out in the distance there was the Dead Sea. The sun was setting which made the scene so beautiful. Unfortuntely, it was a place that had such a sad event.

Evening sun over the Dead Sea

The next day was PETRA!!! It was the coolest place ever! If you have seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade you know what I'm talking about! Maybe the holy grail wasn't there, but we still got to see the awesome mausoleums carved straight out of rocks. We first went though The Siq which is a long and super narrow valley and it opens up to The Treasury, which is the most famous of the Mausoleums carved in Petra. After some camel riding and getting over the awe of being at such an awesome site, we walked around some more where I realized how HUGE the site was. There were these stone mausoleums everywhere and of all different types. One of my favorite parts of the day was hiking up to the monostary at the top of a mountain. Let me rephrase...the hike wasn't my favorite, but the Monostary was incredible...which made the hike completely worth it! It had to be 5x bigger than the famous Treasury and is in just as good condition. Honestly, it probably isn't as famous because it is so far up the mountain. We hiked a little further where we could see a panoramic view of all of Petra! It was so beautiful! The day was amazing and I dont think Ive ever experienced anything like it. We started walking back...past all of the mausoleums, past the camels, past the treasury and finally through the Siq once again. My friends and I took horse rides back to the busses where we ended our day!

In the Siq

The end of the Siq with the Treasury at the opening. Suprise!

The Treasury

Camel ride!

On the third day we went to the ruins of the ancient temple of Hercules. It was alright, there were kids there on a school field trip who all wanted their pictures taken. We were probably more interested in them than the actual site. Next, we went to the site of  Jerash. It was an entire city under excavation and it was amazing how much of it was intact. We walked though the main street (cardo) and up to the temple of Athena. We also watched a reenactment of a gladiator show with Roman soldiers, gladiators, and chariot races! The commentary and the acting was priceless...it was the best 7 Jordanian Dinars ($10) i have ever spent!

The last day was my BIRTHDAY!!!! It also was the most important trip we had in Jordan. We went to Bethabara Beyond Jordon, where Jesus Christ was baptized. Again, we traveled through tons of desert until we came to a small patch of green. The green grew close to the river and as we got closer to the river, there were more and more plants. It was an interesting contrast. We got to the narrow river and we had a small devotional where we sang the primary song, "When Jesus Christ was Baptized" and we  listened to my professor give his testimony. When he finished he asked two of my classmates to give their testimonies. During those testimonies, I thought about my own baptism and the privilege it is to be baptized as Jesus was. We then sang "Come Follow Me" and Brother Skinner gave a prayer. I loved the feeling that surrounded us and the spirit that was there. I am so grateful for Christ and His example and love for me. See the next post for more on my birthday!

Learning about the Seperation Barrier

If you didn't know, there are huge walls in Israel that seperate one people from another. These walls were built recently and are a sad part of the country's history. We were very lucky to have Danny Seidemann (a prominant expert on Jerusalem, Journalist, and activist) speak to us about some of the political issues pertaining to the seperation walls and he actually took us to some places, not even 5 miles away that you can see the structures up close. The walls were put up to seperate the Israelis from terrorism but they have not made anything better for anyone. Unfortunately, the walls seperate families and friends and make life on the other side 3x harder. Danny talked to us about his opinion on the wall and what should happen in the future. It was good to see what his thoughts are and an important learning experience for all of us.

"When ignorance reigns, Lives are lost"

City of David!!!

On Monday we went on one of the best field trips EVER and it was right in our frontyard! The City of David! The City of David is King David's city that he established during his reign as king of Israel. It is southeast of the Old City of Jerusalem and about a 20 minute walk for us here in the center. So we embarked on our walk early in the morning and went to the small visitors center for The City of David. We watched a cool 3D movie about what had happened there and then walked around some of the excavations that had been done. I felt like I was at Disney World watching the pre-ride movie that would prepare me for a cool simulation of archeological digs....except for it was real! After seeing ruins of what was probably David's palace and part of the broad wall, we went to the highlight of the trip.....Hezekiah's Tunnel!

Looking down on what would have been the rooftops of the City of David. You can see some archaelogical sites on the bottom right.

King Hezekiah was a later king who was trying to prepare Jerusalem for an attack by the Assyrians. Jerusalem's major water source, the Gihon Spring, would be a perfect way for the Assyrians to attack the city. If anything tainted the water source, the whole city would be in jeopardy. To combat this strategy, Hezekiah decided to build a tunnel under the city that would house the water and run it within the city walls, away from anyone who would try to harm it. It worked and the tunnel is still here, even after 3,000 years (approximately)!! The best part is that we got to walk through the whole tunnel! The water still flows through the tunnel and it is pitch black inside. Good thing I packed my headlight for this exact occasion! Going through the tunnel was an adventure. The water level would change every once in a while and  would sometimes go to my mid-thigh. The tunnel itself would also get taller and then shrink down to tiny spaces where you had to duck with just enough space to move your body through the small space. Something that showed the age of the tunnel was the holes in the walls where torches would go, probably during the construction of the tunnel. It was about a 30 minute walk and we all made it to the end!

On our way down to Hezekiah's Tunnel.

 At the end of the tunnel, we were brought out to some excavations close by. We found out that we were standing at the Pool of Siloam where Christ healed the man that was born blind. Jesus put mud on the man's eyes and told him to wash in this pool. The man was miraculously healed. The excavations showed part of  the pool as it would have been in Christ's time! Unfortunately, the rest of the pool was built on top of and the owners wouldnt allow more excavations. Still, you can see the stairs that lead into the pool and part of the pool itself. We stayed there and had a devotional where I was able to feel the spirit testify of the Savior and his power. It was a beautiful opportunity!

Standing in the Pool of Siloam.

Eilat of Snorkeling!

On our free day this week, we went on a trip to Eilat to SNORKEL! Eilat is at the southernmost tip of Israel and is right on the Red Sea. Apparently, it is one of the most popular diving locations in the world, so we had to go! It is such a small area that we could see Jordan on the other side of the Red Sea and just beyond the hills is Egypt. It took about 3 and a half hours to drive down from Jerusalem and everyone from the center bussed down together, even our professors and their families! The funny thing is that the whole time we were driving, it was straight up desert; dry and desolate. Eilat was definately a much needed oasis. There were tons of fish and coral and the water was beautiful! We snorkeled together for a couple hours and then went through the popular touristy area of Eilat, ate dinner, and bussed home. It was a great opportunity to have a day to relax and enjoy the salty water, sea life, and sun!

Me, my snorkel, and the Red Sea! Jordanian mountains in the background.

Free Day at last!

The Tower of David Citadel Museum (online picture)

The other day we had a lot of free time, so we took that time to go to the city! We went to the Tower of David Citadel Museum which is incorrectly named and has nothing to do with King David. It is actually where Herod the Great built a fortress and where I have heard some people say Jesus was tried. It is now a museum that goes over the history of Jerusalem. It is cool to see Jerusalem's rich history becasue it is such a small piece of land.

Best picture of the day! Me at the museum. I have no idea where this face came from.

The view from the top of the Museum looking towards Mt. Scopus. The BYU Jerusalem Center is the arched building in the distance!

After lunch we ate at an awesome pizza place in the Jewish Quarter called Jacob's Pizza. Its a family owned business and it was fun to talk to them and eat delicious pizza!

My friend Sam and I at Jacob's Pizza by Jaffa Gate.

The rest of the day we walked around the city and went to places we hadn't gone before. We walked through the Jewish quarter and even walked on the rooftops of the buildings in the Jewish quarter. We felt like we were in Aladdin!

Then I bought stuff i didn't need. . . When in Jerusalem, right?!?

Olive The Jerusalem Center!

Clever title right!? Especially since yesterday we devoted a large part of our day to OLIVE PICKING! Since Fall semester is the only time that the olives are ready to pick during the year, fall semester at the Jerusalem Center is the only semester that gets to pick and harvest the olives so we can turn them into olive oil. The JC is a large property on Mount Scopus and it overlooks the Mount of Olives and the Old City down below. The location is beautiful and it wouldn't be complete without all of the olive trees that cover the gardens and terraces. I have one on my balcony and that is where I began picking the olives. The JC also has many olive presses that are like the ones in ancient times. We will be using them to press our own olives! Olive my LIFE!

Day 2:

A week after the initial picking of the olives, we pressed them! It included soaking the olives in brine for a week and then crushing them with a large rolling stone, putting the olive paste in ancient style wicker baskets, and then pressing the oil from the paste. It was a beautiful day to be outside pressing olives for oil in the gardens of the Jerusalem Center. 

Field Trips/ Cultural Dinners/ Jewish High Holidays

It has been a busy past few weeks. Do you know what isn't very fun to do in Jerusalem!?! MIDTERMS!!! haha So we just finished a few weeks of heavy schooling where I learned a lot, but felt trapped in a prison where I could look out the window and see a city with thousands of years of history, but could never go! It was rough! Anyways, i havent blogged in a while so I wanted to give an update about what fun things HAVE happened in the last few weeks.

Neot Kedumim:

When we got back from Turkey our next field trip was to Neot Kedumim, which is a garden area that has much of the landscape and vegitation from Biblical times. We had a great time as a group going through the gardens and seeing fig trees, almond trees, olive trees, pomegranate trees, date palms, grape vines, etc. We even had the opportunity to see how the olive press works, learn about grafting olive trees, turn a water wheel, pick the fruit off of trees and eating it (Pomegranates and almonds yummy!), and we had some date honey. SO GOOD!

A Pomagranate that I picked and ate.

It was awesome to see all of these things in a nature preserve that we often read about in the bible. Our guide took us to a pen where there were sheep and he had us herd the sheep to the other side of the pen. Im not going to lie, it was difficult. I cant even imagine doing it by myself. We  then were able to grind up the Hyssop herb which you can read about in the Bible multiple times. It is also known for its cleaning and healing power.

Grinding Hyssop 

The next thing we did was make pita bread! We went to fire pits and mixed the dough and made them on hot iron over the fire and then dipped the bread in olive oil and hyssop. It was so good! We even made some kind of popped wheat over the fire which was super good. Although it may not seem like the most exciting field trip in Israel, it has been one of my favorites!

Date palms

Ramadan Dinner:

The Jerusalem Center is great at making sure we can experience some of the culture within the center. So one night we had a Ramadan Cultural Night (Even though Ramadan ended a month before) where we dressed up like Arabians. Well, what we think Arabians dress like (: We ate a great dinner and then the arabic teacher taught us all a traditional arab dance. It was a blast!

Ramadan Dinner

Negev Field Trip:

Our next field trip is called the Negev "dry place" field trip. This one was such a cool experience. We were able to go to a bedouin village where we could get a glimpse of what people may have lived like in older times. We were able to meet some bedouin women who do famous wool crafts for the Sidreh Foundation which helps improve literacy and economic status of bedouin women though the crafts they have done for centuries. One of the women showed us how they make the sheeps wool into their beautiful crafts (: 

They next place we went was Arad. There were Canaanite ruins there that was dominated by a later age fortress. The interesting thing here was the fact that it had a small temple which is one of a few temples uncovered in Judah. We were able to see the 3 levels of the temple including the Holy of Holies. 

The Holy of Holies

From Arad we went to Be'er Sheba where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had often stayed. Abraham and Isaac had even built wells. Here we read from Genesis 21, 26, 28, and 46 that describe Abraham, isaac and Jacobin reference to that area. Brother Huntsman also read part of a talk from A. Theodore Tuttle called "Altar, Tent, Well" which was a cool opportunity to learn about Isaac's faith. Isaac built an altar, pitched his tent, and dug a well at Beersheba, showing his faithfulness to the Lord through loving his family and hard work. We then sang, "Faith of our Fathers."

A well in Beersheeba

Yom Kippur:

The last few weeks marked the start of the high holiday season for the Jews. We were able to go through Rosh Hoshana in Jerusalem where the Jews blow the rams horn or the "Shofar" to mark the start of a new year and a new commitment to doing what is right. Then there is Yom Kippur which is "The Day of Atonement."

View of The Dome of the Rock and Western Wall

This is perhaps the holiest day of the Jewish year. They fast all day long and spend all day in the synogogue. I went to the city with some friends on Yom Kippur Eve where we could see many people preparing for the start of Yom Kippur at sundown. There were people dressed all in white, and everyone was eating and drinking getting ready for the long day of fasting ahead. So cool!

Dressed in white for Yom Kippur

Shephelah Field Trip:

This was a long and eventful field trip. We went to tons of sites that deal with famous stories in the Old Testament. The region called Shephelah is an area of low hills between the Judean highlands, where cities like Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron lie, and the coastal plain, which was controlled by the Philistines in the south and Canaanites in the north.

 We went to Bet Shemesh where Samson (from Samson and Delilah) grew up and where the ark of the covenant once sat!

We went to Azekah which controlled the valley of Elah. Then we went down to the Valley of Elah where David slew Goliath! We even got to sling rocks at eachother!

Valley of Elah with my sling and rock..I killed Goliath...

Lachish was the next stop. The Lachish fortress gaurded the southernmost valley in the Shephelah. it is mentioned briefly in the book of Joshua and then in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, and jeremiah. The fortress was built on a location where it was supposed to defend Hebron, Devir and the entire Judean highlands. Unfortunately it was overtaken by the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. We talked about the site and then sang "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," reminding ourselves that the only true comes from the Lord.

The next site explaination I am going to take from my professor's blog because I dont want to type it. Sorry for my laziness (:

"The last site we visited was Tel Marisha, which controlled the Guvrin Valley that leads up to Hebron.  Although described briefly in 2 Chronicles, it was more important in the intertestamental and then Roman periods, when it was known as Merisa and later Eleutheropolis.  After the Kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians, the region was occupied by Edomites, who are known in the New Testament as Idumeans. In fact, Herod the Great is identified closely with this site, perhaps having been born here. 

It is known for its extensive caves, that were dug into the soft chalk of the region.  Some were used for storage and olive presses.  Others were used for columbaria or "dovecotes."  In Rome and columbarium was most often a catacomb with niches for funerary urns, but here they larger niches seem to have actually been used for doves, which may have been raised for food, sacrifices, or even fertilizer.  Other very large "bell caves" were excavated in the Byzantine and early Islamic period for lime used in mortar."

In the Bell Caves

Passover Seder:

A couple nights ago we had a reenactment of a Passover Seder and our Judaism professor lead the meal. It was an awesome opportunity to learn about the Passover meal and the symbolism involved in it. It was really beautiful. I even got to be involved in the music and singing. I sang the 4 questions of Passover with a small group and even had a solo. Whoo!

Haggadah (explaination book)  and program for the Seder