Learning Israeli Folk Dancing

This was from a while back when we had a teacher come

in and teach us Israeli folk dancing.  I'll teach you when I get home if you want.

BYU v. SDSU

This is a day and moment you should all remember.  

This is when we were able to catch the BYU SDSU game LIVE.

Oh and we won.

Wood that came from an olive tree...

It is almost a known fact that everyone that comes to Jerusalem has to buy some type of olive wood statue. Especially mormons, and especially BYU Jerusalem students.  So I would like to introduce you to Omar.  One of two 'carvers' who cater specifically to Mormons and BYU students.  This guy is like a legend, he's met more General Authorities than I have.  The carvings he has are beautiful, and the guy is pretty fun.  But having said that, the guy is a merchant and does like to make money, I feel like he generally gives good deals, but you know...he has to make a profit some how.  Oh and he has a University of Utah flag, ugh.

For humanity.

Not everyone was in a giving mood, so
they made lei's for our Hawaiian night.

Signing up to give life.

So, we at the JC like to consider ourselves as charitable.  So much so that we have a whole committee on all things humanitarian.  There is always a humanitarian activity going on.  Every other week we put together humanitarian kits with towels, soap, toothpaste and brushes, combs etc... Another project that has been worked on is a mural at a hospital/rehabilitation center/school just up the road from the center.  There is singing at a retirement home in the old city, and we're starting to teach English at a pre-school.  This is all great fun, and we all really enjoy doing it...BUT...every once in a while an activity comes up that doesn't necessarily appeal to me as much as the others.  This past week was once such occasion.  This group of women showed up in our gym and just started sucking the blood out of everyone.  Peer pressure got to me and this woman jabbed my finger causing blood to spurt out of my favorite index finger of all time.  The blood got all over my paperwork, and then they yanked me on to a bed and jabbed a giant needle into my arm and sucked out a pint of my precious blood.  So it may not have happened quite like that, but it was still painful and creepy, but whatever, its over.. and if my blood saves someone, I can literally say I gave my blood on the mount of olives to save someone else.  Blasphemous?  Yeah, probably.

I feel like I needed the most support.
Luckily Bez and Dr. Christine were
there for me.

Yeah, it was a blood bath.

Support and love was flowing
throughout the room.

                   

The sweet treats for the donors.

Mark and Me happy to be giving.

The blood was flowing.

Painting and Hygiene for humanity...

Workin our tails off

Cory, Lauren and Lawrence showing off the finished product.

Alexia, ready to be shipped off.

Oh, and we like to dance after we serve.  Or stand there in a power stance.

Madi and me gettin our paint on...the walls of course.

I was put in time out for being bad I guess.

What is a painting activity without getting some on your face first. 

Umm, this is Cor washing his paintbrushes.

Our progress so far.

Talent Show

This was my performance at the talent show back in February.   

Gone fishing...where fishermen became fishers of men.

Dear friends, family and foes (if I even have any that read this).  I would just like to inform you that I will be out of town for the next ten days.  I will be relaxing and playing and sight seeing in Northern Israel, on the beachfront of a little lake.  Maybe you've heard of it, it's called Galilee.  Anyways, as internet will not be accessible I have pre-written and pre-made a few posts to keep my faithful readers tuned-in and happy.  So they will be random and incongruous with what is actually happening in my life at the time, but I feel like they should all give you better insight as to what I have been up to the past few weeks.

I hope you have an awesome week in the snow capped mountains or where ever you are.  I'll be on the beach.

Anopol out.

Introducing Mr. Random

So this video has absolutely nothing to do with me or anything recent other than the fact that I love these girls.  This was on our train from Luxor to Cairo, and this attendant man came in and surprised these girls while they were making a video.  Umm, just look at his face... its so funny!  Thanks Jeni and Kels for letting me put this up.

Tidings of great joy...

Racquel and Me outside the ancient
swimming pool.

The top fortress area of the Herodian.

On Monday our field trips took us all into the West Bank once again, this time to a little place most of you probably have heard of.  Bethlehem.  The field trip actually started outside of Bethlehem proper at a place called the Herodian.  This is the ancient palace of King Herod, Herod was a builder, he had residences in Jericho, Jerusalem and here.  I can’t even imagine how huge and how amazing this place must have been.  We spent a lot of time at bathhouse and a giant pool that has a large “pleasure island” as Bro. Muhlestein called it.  After spending some time there we made our way up the pyramid shaped mountain where Herods fortress and mausoleum was located.

Me and Sarah

The group of students who came to
talk to us, and Professor Musallam.

Once we were in Bethlehem our first stop was at Bethlehem University where our Islam/ Palestinian class professor, Adnan, teaches.  We took a quick tour of the chapel there and then went to a room to watch a movie on the university and have a Q and A with some of his students.  This was one of my favorite parts of the day was just talking to Palestinian students, learning about their lives, school, work, play, ambitions, fears etc...  Bethlehem is an interesting place, it is completely surrounded by a giant separation wall.  Israeli’s are not allowed in, and Palestinians need special passes and permits in order to get out, there are big gates where permits are presented and cars/ busses can be searched.  This all was a result of the latest intifada, it is a hinderance to many, including these students.  After the formal Q&A we got to just go out and talk with some other students, Sarah was the first girl I met, she’s really cool.  She is Muslim, speaks English perfectly which she learned from American movies (mainly Fightclub).  She studies English literature and has hopes of studying in America for her masters degree.  All in all this was a really interesting, and fun portion of our Bethlehem field trip.

Merry Christmas.

When we had finished at Bethlehem University we went to lunch at the famous Shepherds Tent Restaurant.  Umm, let me just say...best lunch ever.  Best feature was certainly a plate of red sauce,  when I tasted it I was thrilled beyond belief.  SALSA!

The Church of the Nativity
oldest functioning church
on Earth.

Whitney and me at the place were Christ was born.

After lunch we made our way to the main attraction.  Manger Square.  Musallam took us on a quick walking tour of the city which ended in the giant plaza outside the Church of the Nativity.  Each Christmas Eve thousands of people fill this square to celebrate the birth of the Savior.  Lets be honest though, I didn’t come to Bethlehem to see the square, I came to see the grotto.  The grotto is in the basement, underneath the church.  We had to wait in a short line full of pushy Europeans who kept trying to get in front of our group.  Anyways, we made our way down the 14 steps to the small cave where tradition says is the birthplace of Jesus.  Again, there isn’t any actual proof that this is the place, but the tradition has been in place for so long and it fits the story perfectly so its generally accepted as pilgrims and scholars alike.  The church is divided between three main groups.  So after our time in the Orthodox part we went over to the Catholic church and sang a few Christmas hymns.  Underneath this part is the tomb of St. Jerome, the guy who translated the Hebrew bible into Latin.

The highlight was definitely our devotional and testimony meeting that we had in the shepherds fields outside of Bethlehem.  I love Christmas so much and prepared myself by listening to my favorite Christmas song and what is affectionately known to Nate and Bryce as “the note”.   Lets just sum it up by saying, God Bless us Everyone…and don’t call me Shirley.

Well, its close enough.

The Palestinian side of the separation wall.   

Manscaped...

This week was fun.  On our free day a group of us decided that the hairs upon our heads had gotten too long for our liking.  So we headed to the Old City, the girls went to one fancier salon up in the Christian Quarter and me, Mark and Cory went just inside Damascus where I had previously gone for a trim.  I guess you can call me a regular at this particular barber because I just went in, the guy recognized me, asked if I needed a cut, I said yes, he asked, same as last time, I said yes, and he just went for it.  The style I get is interesting, and probably not one that I’ll continue when I’m back in the US, but I like it good enough.  I will say that the men who cut my hair are like machines, the scissor action they wield is like nothing i’ve seen before.  An unfortunate part of the cut is the gel or industrial cement or whatever you want to call it that they smear onto every strand of hair that has emerged from my scalp.  Seriously, this is the hardest gel I’ve ever felt in my life, and its slathered on like butter on my toast.

Later that night Cory and I fulfilled one of the goals that we had made weeks ago.  We had wanted to experience the smoothness of skin that girls get to feel on a regular basis.  So after an intense soccer tournament, Cory and I slyly made our way out to the patio and were then joined by Spencer E. and Taylor  where we proceeded to remove the hair from the lower two appendages.  I'll let the pictures and this short sentence say the rest... sliding into bed was a wonderful experience that night.

Where are you Christmas?

I was sitting in my Ancient Near Eastern Studies class yesterday preparing for our field trip to Bethlehem, when all of the sudden Brother Chadwick started ruining the traditions of my youth.  It was almost unbearable to hear; so I have decided that I don’t want to live by myself in this defiled Christmas land of false traditions, so all of you better read this, ponder and question everything you have ever known. JK

First hope, dream and tradition of happiness dashed: Jesus was not a wood carpenter.  He was a stone mason.  No one used wood in Jerusalem in that time (or in this time really).  Also see number 4.

Second hope, dream and tradition of happiness dashed: The City of David is not Bethlehem, it is Jerusalem, and Jesus was not born there.  

Third hope, dream and tradition of happiness dashed: The cave that Jesus was born in was not a stable.

Fourth hope, dream and tradition of happiness dashed: The manger was made of stone, not of wood.  It was not full of hay, because hay wasn’t used, it was a stone, watering trough.  

Fifth hope, dream and tradition of happiness dashed:  Santa isn’t real, yeah, I took it hard too.

So, just to clarify, “Once in royal David’s city DID NOT stand a lowly cattle shed, where a mother DID NOT lay her baby in a manger (but in a TROUGH) for his bed.  Mary was his mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.”  Oh, and Santa aint not comin to town!

Anyways, i'll post what else I learn after our field trip to Bethlehem on Monday.  Til then...Be good, don't be bad.  And don't call me Shirley!

Yad Vashem

Our field trip this week was headed by our Judaism professor Ophir, he took us all to Mt. Herzl (Israel’s version of Arlington Cemetery) and Yad Vashem (Israel’s holocaust museum).  To be quite honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to this, I’d been to Holocaust museums and concentration camps in Europe before and I don’t enjoy seeing the sickening and gut wrenching images that are usually there.  This museum however, was much more hopeful and historical than I had imagined.  It was interesting to have Ophir talk to us before hand about the Israeli perspective of this historical massacre.  Our tour started on what is called the Warsaw Uprising Plaza, here stands two statue reliefs.  One is of a group of Jews marching, presumably to their deaths, their faces are full of despair and you can see hints of Nazi soldiers behind them.  The other statue is of men and woman who were members of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, their faces are courageous, their arms strong and willing to fight for their freedom.  Ophir pointed out that this is how Israeli’s like to see the Holocaust, not as sheep heading to their slaughter but as heroes.  

We walked through the Path of the Righteous Gentiles where Carob trees have been planted in thanks of those who 1) saved Jews during the Holocaust and 2) did it for no personal gain.  One of the more famous trees here is that of Oscar Schindler. 

The view when you exit the museum.

The museum is very interesting, both for the building design itself and for the items and stories told within.  It is a long triangular tube that essentially cuts through the crest of the mountain.  You zig zag through the museum passing through that corridor over and over.  The displays are very well done, and chronological in order.  You start with a display of what life was like  for the Jews before the war began.  Then you move into a display of the Nazi rise to power, and then move into the more graphic and gruesome parts, featuring what life was like in the Ghettos, then concentration camps, and then how the camps were liberated.  Then you see what life was like following the war.  You end in two very moving rooms, one the hall of names where the names of everyone who died is listed in huge volumes of books.  The final room is dark, with cello music playing and quotes of survivors and those killed are projected onto the wall.   

We couldn't take pics inside, so this is as much as I can show.

Outside the main museum is the Children’s memorial, where mirrors are everywhere with a candle in the middle.  It is designed to give you an idea of how many Jewish children were killed during the Holocaust, over a million and each reflected candlelight is supposed to represent one child.  Its like trying to count the stars, its an unfathomable number really.  

Also outside the main section is the hall of remembrance, this is like a national memorial, with an eternal flame in the middle.  This is the first building that was built as a Holocaust Memorial and it is still where people come to lay wreaths in memoriam of those who were killed.

We then went up Mt. Herzl to eat some lunch and then see some graves of some very important people in the history of Israel, including Theodore Herzl who was the father of the Zionist movement, he died in Austria but was brought to Israel when the state was founded in 1949.  In addition to being a resting place for the VIPs, soldiers can also be buried in this national cemetery.  This was explained to us as the sacred mountain for the secular jews, whereas Mount Moriah is the sacred mountain for the religious jews.  We also saw the grave of Teddy Kollek, who was the mayor of Jerusalem, friend to Mormons and an instrumental part of the creation of this center.  

It was a fantastic field trip.  

Addendum #1

Pretty cool pic, right?

While we were up on top of Mt. Herzl next to Herzl’s tomb, I spotted a perfectly waving flag and decided that it would a wonderful shot to have me next to the waving Israeli flag.  So I grabbed JenGub and asked her to come take this pic for me.  To make it go quickly and to show her what I wanted, I had her pose for me so that I could demonstrate how to get the shot I desired.  I took a few of her and then told her to come where I was and I switched her places.  She struggled, and soon Bro Judd came by and told us to catch up to the rest of the group...So I never go the shot that I wanted... let me just share with you what the end results were

Well, this is what I got.  Not quite the same.

Luckily we found another flag, and this time we took a picture, had Jeni stand right next to me and just try and hold the camera as stationary as she could.  She redeemed herself.