Right Up to the Walls of Jericho!

Jericho.  My new camera is doin some sweet things.

So I don’t know if you can guess from the title, but my latest field trip was a doozy.  Thats right folks, I marched right up to the walls of Jericho, and the walls came a tumblin’ down!  Okay well, I kind of took a bus, and the walls actually have been down for quite some time now, but it was still sweet.  When the scriptures say that a certain man went “down to Jericho” they were not kidding, its about 853 feet below sea level, so it was only natural that on our way down we sang “Under the Sea” when we crossed the sea level sign.

Blow them ramhorns Joshua cried!

 This was also my first official time in the West Bank, so we had to cross through a type of border crossing thing, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  It was interesting to see the difference between West Bank Palestine and the Israeli state.  I guess the Russian president is coming in a day or so, so there were Palestinian flags and Russian flags lining the streets, trees that looked like they were just barely planted also were featured along the roads.  It was really cool though, to be immersed in that area of the Holy Land... it pretty much dismantled any preconceived notion I had of the West Bank.  

We started at the ancient tel, or mound of dirt and ancient runes.  This is the old city of Jericho, you know, the famous one that came down.  It was so cool to see archaeology actually help support the stories of the bible.  You can literally see the bricks in piles knocked over at the base of the tel that date back to Joshua’s time.  How freakin cool is that!  Also from this place you have a clear shot of the Mount of Temptation, this is the traditional spot where Christ was tempted by Satan to cast himself down.  We then walked across the street to Elisha’s spring.  After Elijah was taken up in the chariot of fire, Elisha was in Jericho.  This is the account.

9¶And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.

20And he said, Bring me a new ^acruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 

21And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the ^asalt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these ^bwaters; there shall not be from thence any more death or ^cbarren land.

22So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

There are very few place in the Holy Land where you can say, this is exactly where a particular biblical event took place.  This is one of them.  There is only one spring in Jericho, there has always only been one spring in Jericho, and it is beautiful.  

Elisha's Spring, where miracles happen.

After that we took a short drive to Herod’s winter palace.  Apparantly Jerusalem winters are too cold for the king, so he built a complex outside Jericho.  This is where he drowned his nephew in order to secure his status as heir to the throne.  He also died here.  Jerusalem is full of legacies, Herod’s legacy is a bad one, but it lasts and lasts.  The lesson we learned here was that we need to do all we can to be remembered in good ways and for good things.

The Judean Wilderness

Me and Britt, St. George's Monastery 

Then we drove to two overlooks of the Judean desert.  From one we could see St. George’s Monastery, its an awesome building carved into the side of a steep cliff along the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.  The same road Jesus walked.  Here is also where the parable of the good samaritan took place, and you can bet that we read that parable here, and then sang A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.  From the second overlook you could see all the way to Jerusalem and then on the other side, Jericho.  It was surprisingly beautiful for being a barren wilderness.  

When we got home Spencer (not to be confused with Spence), Corey, Kelsey and I went and studied in the Old City at the hospice, it was probably one of the cooler places I have studied.  Definitely beats Level 2 of the HBLL.

A pretty sweet study spot.

On a side note, I’m going to Egypt in five days!  I wonder what my friends in Provo will be doing? ;)   Haha, don’t call me Shirley.

Four Cubes, Cut Into Eight Equal Pieces

I don't know how equal these pieces are.

Today, was pretty awesome.  I love free days.  I slept in until 7:20 this morning, it was so wonderful, and my sluggishness in getting out of bed was probably a good thing, considering that I left the center at 8:30 and was on my feet walking and walking for about eleven hours.  It was good though, I got to go to some sweet caves, a very artistic garden with “four cubes, cut into eight equal pieces” such a descriptive name!  After that we climbed up to the top of YMCA tower to play the carillon bells with President Ohman.  I got to play Nearer My God to Thee for about a million people...not many people can say that now can they!  It was way fun, for the rest of the day we just wandered through West Jerusalem, and went to the mall.  It was so refreshing to have just a regular day out, in a normal and familiar environment.  West Jerusalem is very European, and it was like we were just hanging out for a while.  We ended the night with the spiciest Schawerma I have had so far (don’t give the guy free range in making it the way he likes it) and delicious white chocolate crepes.  Mmm mmm good.

The sign said Zedekiah's tears, that is the reason I have a weird sad face goin on.

We like to jump.

Hunchbacks of the YMCA Belltower.

Parkour! 

Don't call me Shirley!

A Saturday Sabbath

         

Sabbaths here are great.  I suppose that it really started on Friday night, when we all went to the Western Wall to welcome the Sabbath with all of the Jews. It was so incredible, we went up to the wall said a prayer and were just hanging out, when a huge group of Israeli soldiers came buy grabbed us and we joined in dancing and jumping and "singing?".  Definitely one of the coolest, funnest, most interesting cultural things I have ever done.  

        I love waking in the morning, looking at the ancient temple mount from my balcony as I brush my teeth, then making my way to church.  Our branch is small, and the students definitely make up the majority, but it’s wonderful.  I was called to be the primary chorister, and I love it.  These little kids are so funny, at one point today Sister Jackson was holding a picture of Lehi’s dream and she asked the kids, “What tree is this?” Dr. Muhlestein’s daughter, Alexia, raised her hand and said, “It’s either one of two trees.  It’s either the tree that catches on fire and burns, or the tree of yummy fruits.”  Haha.

After church our whole group walked to the Garden Tomb.  I had been there once before, but this time was definitely different.  We had our guided tour, showing us Golgotha and then the tomb itself.  After we had walked through, we met with our classes and had a small devotional.  It was extremely poignant and moving.  We sang a few hymns, and then had a quick testimony meeting, the testimonies given were perfectly timed and perfectly said.  It was noted that, the location of the tomb isn’t important, but the fact that we have a visual representation for such a foundational truth is wonderful.  The important thing to know is that the tomb is empty and that Christ the Lord has risen.  

We came home had a delicious dinner with the spiciest spaghetti I have eaten, mmm, soooo delicious.  Now we are just chilling here with our new family watching a movie (Tangled! Yes that's right!  I will marry Rapunzel one day).  This is the craziest living environment ever, I love it, and don’t call me Shirley.

Madi is here and wants to mentioned.  So here is a mentioning of Madi and all our great memories.

Just around the city street... (sung to the tune of 'Just Around the Riverbend')

This is the view from my bedroom balcony.  For reals.

I can’t believe that I have been here for less than a week.  I feel like I’ve done and seen so much already.  This is a good thing.  Things are starting to feel a little more natural and comfortable.  Today we were wandering around the Old City heading for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and my little group was talking, laughing, and looking in all of the little shops and all of the sudden we were at the church.  If you haven’t been through the streets of the Old City then you probably don’t think that finding a church is a big deal, but to do this without using a map and not really paying attention is kind of awesome.  

The best thing about the Old City is that there is always something new to see or do.  You turn a corner and you are in a place that you’ve never been before.  We randomly wound up in the Armenian quarter today and found this awesome church that was having a service, it was such a beautiful chapel, they had all of the seminary students there singing, incense was burning and the sun beams broke through the stained glass and smoke in distinct beams.  It was seriously so cool.

We ended up having lunch on top of the Austrian hospice which is just in Damascus gate, but you get such an awesome view of the city from the top.  While we were up there the Muslim call to prayer sounded and it was like all parts of the city were just there a part of it all, its really hard to describe, so I apologize if this blog isn’t more exciting than it is, but man I can’t help but feel so incredibly lucky to be part of this program right now.  I have awesome experiences every single day.

Other highlights of the day.  

-Taking awesome sunglass reflection pictures on the temple mount of the Dome of the Rock

-Seeing all the Israeli girl soldiers, pretty attractive for women holding huge automatic rifles

-Laughing my head off in the computer lab at awkwardfamilyphotos.com with Madi

-Hot Chocolate with dinner

-Finally being able to go to bed and say, don't call me Shirley.

Stoned.

I’ve been stoned, and essentially peed on today, and I still love it here.

Well today was our first real day here, and (this may surprise you) I loved it!  We woke up bright and early, party because we had to and partly because my body is still somewhere in England’s time zone.  First item on the agenda today...breakfast!  Okay, so I’ve only been here a few days, but my heck I love the food at the Oasis.  Its delicious, I feel so lucky to get three solid good, tasty, balanced meals every day.  If I weren’t walking everywhere I would definitely be gaining some serious weight.  

Classes officially started today with Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies.  I am so excited for both, Brother Judd my OT professor is amazing, I seriously hang on every word.  We had two hours with him today and it felt like half an hour.  I can’t wait for more.  ANES kind of caught us all by surprise because our schedule said we only had it for an hour, but lo and behold it was two, so it was kind of difficult to pay attention towards the end.  It’s going to be a tough class I think, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.  Main lesson of the day was this.  Israel is not a desert, it is a land that floweth with milk and honey.  This is true, Israel is much greener than I was expecting.

After all of that we decided to go to the city by ourselves for the first time.  Dun, dun, dun!  So we packed up and left at three, because on Friday’s we can’t go to East Jerusalem or the Old City until after 3:00.  (I’m still learning where I can go and when, and how to get to these allowed places without passing through the forbidden areas, but it will come)  So we made our way down the bottom entrance of the center to make our way, and just outside the bottom entrance is a public playground.  There were a few kids playing and they started waving at as, so we being the friendly mormon americans we are supposed to be, waved back.  They then prompted to throw stones at us.  Okay, so they were more like little pebbles, but a stone is a stone...therfore I have been stoned in Jerusalem.  Anyways, we being the friendly mormon americans we are supposed to be, did not stone them back.  We made our way to the Old City and went in Damascus Gate for a while, just looking around.  This was still kind of a test-out-the-waters visit, since we are still very very new, but I think in a week or two we’ll all be very comfortable.  So after a bit of walking around we made our way back to the center.  We were walking down the sidewalk and then we began to wrinkly our noses because there was a very foul odor in the air.  Thats when we saw the running water down the street that was bubbling up from a pothole.  Before we could do anything about our placement, a car comes speeding down the hill, drives right through the puddled running water and sprayed us all with this less-than-pure water.  Needless to say, we got home and showered pretty quickly.  

After dinner our movie showcase began, tonights feature was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Complete with a full review by Professor Chadwick, a leading archeologist here in Jerusalem.  “A handsome rogue archaeologist, being the fancy of all the women, saving the world one artifact at a time?  What’s not believable about that?”  It was great, this is seriously going to be the best semester ever.

Where dates grow on trees.

I can’t even begin to describe what is happening right now.  I’m still kind of in awe at where I am and what I get to do for the next few months.  

I’ll start somewhat towards the beginning.  The process of getting to Israel was somewhat long and difficult, it seemed like we were traveling forever.  After four flights and layovers I was thrilled to finally arrive in Tel Aviv.  What was somewhat less thrilling was the fact that I arrived in Tel Aviv with no luggage.  What makes the finding process a little more difficult is that it could be in any of the four major airports that I made my way through to get here.  Here’s to praying that it will come soon, because mooching razors, shampoo, socks, and toothpaste only stays a fun get-to-know-you game for so long.  Luckily, past students have left clothes here to be donated via church humanitarian services so we can use those while we are waiting for our own cloths.  Unluckily, I wear the most impossible sizes, I guess no one who wears a 29/30 wants to donate pants.  

Anyways, the first night we got here we took a tour around the center and tried to get acquainted with this amazing building.  More on that later.  Sister Harris was my tour guide, she and her husband live up in Tiberius and come down for major events, like our arrival.  She is awesome and I was lucky enough to have her give me a tour of the city today.  Later that night we had to stay awake and go meet with our professors and listen to the first school day syllabus talks...let me just say that they could probably make a Survivor challenge modeled after that.  Make the contestants travel for 24 hours, change to opposite time zones and then have them try and stay awake while learning about the syllabus.  Impossible.  To be fair all of the professors that I have met so far are incredible, both academically and personally.  They are all very welcoming and nice.  After that, we went to our rooms to “unpack” its a relatively easy thing to do when you have nothing, so I went to bed.

This morning we woke and ate breakfast (the food is amazing here, I will definitely be able to get used to this gourmet restaurant feeding me breakfast lunch and dinner) then we had some more orientation meetings before we had our first walk to and through the city.  I was amazed at everything around me.  Everything is so close, it looks like a long ways away, but its just a short walk and you are at Damascus gate, ready to get your Israel on.  I would discuss what its like, and I will, but I feel like I should wait until I’m even more acquainted with what its like.  We just did a basic get your bearings type thing.  So more on that later, but the city is incredible, its just old and awesome.  Anyways, I’ll write more later and hopefully at some point I can put up pictures, but class starts tomorrow and so I thought I’d get the intro out there so I can write about the cool stuff later.

I’ll end with a quote and possible new slogan for this program from today’s city walk.  “BYU Jerusalem, where dates grow on trees.”  I think thats probably pretty accurate.  

Anyways, things are going well, and I’m loving it.  You can call me Spence (my mandated Jerusalem nickname) or Spencer, but don’t call me Shirley.

Lasts...

I can always tell when I am excited about something, because I keep thinking about the stupidest ways to count down my departure.  Not only that but the number of days become muddled.  If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would have told you a definite 21 days til I leave.  However, now that the time is much shorter, I begin counting down to the day before, or even two days before because the way I figure it, my adventure really begins with orientation which is the day before my flight leaves, or I could convince myself that it begins two days before because thats the last day I have anything planned that I need to do.  Yes, it's irrational, but hey, it is what it is.  Having all that said, three is the atomic number for lithium, notes in a tritone, strikes before you're out, number of little pigs, wisemen, blind mice, and Musketeers, it is the number of children Celine Dion has, and the number of Number 1 albums Carrie Underwood has had so far.  Oh, and its the number of days til I leave for Jerusalem.  Yes, its coming very soon, and I can hardly stand it.  It's at this point that I begin to realize when i've done something for the last time, for example... I have experienced my last trip to cafe rio made my last drive to SLC until I leave to the airport, served my last function at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, filled up on gas for the last time, tomorrow will be my last free Saturday and this coming Sunday will be the last one I worship the Sabbath on.  I can't believe that this time next week I will have been in Jerusalem for a whole two days!!!  Crazy.  Keep following, hopefully the posts will be more exciting in the near future, and don't call me Shirley!

Now that school is out, and my weeks of full-time work are over, I have had some time to actually think about things going on in my life.  Well, actually that may be a bit of a stretch, I have had some time to think about thing (singular) that is going on in my life.  The only thing that is worth talking, or blogging about is my upcoming journey to Jerusalem.  I have  been so insanely busy that I haven’t really had to realize how incredibly excited I really am.  In just over two weeks, I will be on my way to the Holy Land and it will be incredible.  I saw this on a facebook page and thought it was awesome.  Jerusalem here I come, and don't call me Shirley.

Lessons in pretension...

I am sitting here in class, pretending that I am somewhat interested in what my professor is talking about, which I think is the introduction of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.  It is pretty clear that I am not paying attention, but I don’t want my professor to think that, so what do I do?

Type random words and sentences + looking at professor with a slightly furrowed brow and tilted head = looking interested and participatory in a class that I can only describe as Pretensionism in America 101.  If anyone has a lifelong goal of being able to effectively act and talk as though you are a Gilmore from Connecticut, this is the class for you.  This is the class where course goals include: 1) changing tie preference from long regular tie to bow tie, because it makes you look smarter 2) be able to, when asked a probing multiple choice question, remove ones glasses in a slow sweeping manner, then gently bounce the hand holding them while saying with succinct wiseness “both”

Oh, man, now I just need to be rich or popular so that I can be invited to functions where I could use my new skills.  Someday, but for now just don't call me Shirley.

I created this blog for two main reasons; one, so that I can relay my experiences when I get to Jerusalem, and two, to share things that make me happy.  I did not want, nor expect to use this as a means for ranting.  Unfortunately, at this time I am finding it absolutely necessary to unleash the feelings that have consumed my heart for nearly one whole day.  

Academic Writing.

I just hate it.  I actually enjoy writing, when I can do it my way, write how I feel, incorporate personal stories, examples etc...  I get frustrated when i have to write a paper that is basically a compilation of quotes from various books, newspapers, and magazines, with a few original thoughts incorporated throughout.  The style just doesn’t fit me, I almost feel like I’m lying to my reading audience (which is always only one person, a TA who probably graduated with me and has no real training or experience either).  So in order to demonstrate that fake feeling that I have been feeling, I will use one of the great products of the nineties.  Friends.

In this scene, Phoebe (me) doesn’t feel like her originality and personality (writing styles) are good enough for her boyfriends parents (history professor).  So she tries to change so that she can meet the expectations of the aristocratic parentals.  I totally get symbolism.

Okay so I’m not that mad, mostly I just wanted to put a Friends clip on my blog, and don't call me Shirtley

Family

I think if anyone really knows me, the know that I really love television.  I think I always have, I don't know what it is about it that makes me so happy, but alas, it does.  So you are probably not thinking to yourself, "Well Spencer, what are you watching these days?".  Well let me share with you my favorite TV show.


Modern Family.


This show is absolutely brilliant.  Not only is it absolutely hysterical, but usually at the end of each episode a short commentary on how important families are is included, they can actually be quite endearing.  I think a big reason I love the show, is because it reminds me of my own family.  The loving and caring mom who just has to roll her eyes at the extremely bizarre dad.  The sister who is always pushing the envelope a little bit, and is stupid enough to be convinced that she can recharge her cell phone battery by rubbing it on her static-y hair.  I was trying to figure out how my older sister Whitney fits in to the show, then it hit me.  She's the Colombian woman, mostly because I can't understand what she says half of the time.


I dare you to watch this show and not laugh.  And don't call me Shirley.

Utards in Califoolnia.

We began our trip at church, which is always a good way to begin a suppose. I actually think that it was under inspiration because one of the talks given by a 16 year old sister, was all about dating.  Yep, I’m ready to find my eternal companion now.  

Then came the long part, the drive to LA.  It was pretty much your typical 12 hour drive.  Thanks to one Miss Laura Burton, we were able to keep occupied by looking out the window, scrupulously searching for animal carcasses, hoping to the first to spot one without mistaking a carcass for a shredded tire.  Another thing that kept me busy was the baffling realization that two of my best friends didn’t realize that “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was from a movie.  Hmm, that one kept me bewildered for hours.  One other difference was the traffic coming out of Las Vegas.  Apparently lots of Californians like to take a weekend trip to Vegas.  Why?  I don’t know.  If Celine was performing in Vegas still (like she will be, come March 2011) I would understand the 2 hour long traffic jam all the way to Barstow, but without her I’m just a bit puzzled.  In fact now that I’m thinking about it, I am positive I must have done something wrong recently and the traffic was just a way for the Universe to get back at me.  How did it get back to me, you might ask?  Well that 2 hour delay was perfect timing for us to reach the freeway next to Disneyland right during the fireworks display.  Touche universe, touche.  So as a single tear drops from my left eye we continue our journey to Huntington Beach towards the home of the Lockharts.  When we arrive we get settled in and join Matt in his office for an hour long tutorial and explanation on the use of twitter.  I’ll sum it up by saying @voldemort_7 is my hero.  

Monday morning we woke up and made our way to Dana Point to see some tide pool action, unfortunately for us it was high tide (we think) thus making tide pools prettymuch non existent.  So after a short hike through across the beach we made our way back to Huntington.  I would like to point out that I have never wanted to stop and eat at so many restaurants on a single road in my life.  California definitely has that on Utah.  

So we spent a lot of time at the beach in Huntington and I ate the best fish taco in existence I’m sure.  I could definitely use one of those right now.  A few hours later we crashed a ward corn roast on the beach.  Corn boiled in sea water, literally dipped into a can of melted butter, doused with salt...yes please.  That was a blast, great food, great location and great people (Hi Quinn). 

The next morning we wake up bright and early and head to LA for a session in the temple.  It was fabulous, and afterwards we went through the visitors center.  I’m amazed at what the church can put together.  The displays and presentations are fantastic.  So after our temple trip we took a drive to find a place called Tito’s Tacos that we were told was not to be missed.  I don’t want to cause the second Utah War or anything so I will just say.  They were good (but Cafe Rio’s better).  Then we acted like real tourists and went to Hollywood and Highland to walk the walk of fame.  It was kind of a bust, there was only one star I wanted to see, we even had an address and we couldn’t find her.  Its okay, my heart will go on, and on.  We drove back to Huntington and shopped around on main street where there was a big sidewalk sale/fair.  Then we made our way back to *sigh* Anaheim for an Angels game.  It was a blast and we met someone who basically keeps all Americans from being hit by an invading airstrike.  So yeah, he was cool.  That night, the Universe decided it hadn’t had enough with me, so of course right as we exit our portal of the stadium what is the first thing I see?  The Maliboomer, along with California Screamin’ in Disney California Adventure.  Sooo, soo close.

The next day was a long one.  We woke up and made our way to Valencia for a day at the lesser park, also known as Six Flags Magic Mountain.  We lathered ourselves in Sunscreen and then began the day.  It was a blast.  The rides were incredible, theming?  Not so much, but when you pay 30 bucks, it doesn’t matter.  The day did begin to wear on us as the heat continued to climb.  It was extremely hot, and the little misters they had everywhere didn’t do much at all, except for make us moist.  There were a few highlights of the day:  X2 (the first time), Tatsu (2nd time?)  If itS NOT one of the funnest rides, I don’t know what is, riding Goliath multiple times, fighting over which park is better with Nate.  The low moment of the day is without a doubt, Scream.  Do not under any circumstances stay on the ride for 4 rides in a row after you have been out in the heat that long.  Its not pretty.

Anyways, we finished the day, the park closed at 6:00 (something that doesn’t happen at Disneyland :)) but its a good thing cause I really doubt we could have stayed much longer.  We took quite a long drive trying to find what we can only assume is the only McDonalds in Valencia, just so we could get large drinks for 99 cents, only to find out that the 99 cent promotion is not available in California.  So yeah, the Wendys right off the freeway would have been just as good.  

We made our way back to Huntington to meet up with some of Nathans cousins on the pier to go to Ruby’s.  That was a blast, excellent fries and excellent people.  The most entertaining part of the conversation was describing our dream ways of dying inside Disneyland and later various theme parks.  I can’t remember how this came up, but I’m kinda glad it did.  Here were the top ways of dying inside Disneyland:  being flown from a teacup and getting stuck inside the little groves that the cups move in, and being severed numerous times, flying as Tinkerbell during the fireworks and having a firework blow you up, drowning in Pirates, then bobbing to the surface next to the people eating at the Blue Bayou, being engulfed in flames in Indian Jones and being eaten by the Yeti on the Matterhorn.  Like I said, this was a great night, it was a great end to a great trip.

The next day we woke up said our goodbyes to our awesome hosts and were back off to Utah, with sidetrips to Cafe Rio (good mexican food) and to get some cheese, because what kind of trip would be complete with out purchasing cheese.  

I loved getting out just one more time before school started, and I loved being able to spend time with some of my best friends who I look up to so much.  I’ll just end by saying, Disneyland is number 1! And don't call me Shirley.