Jericho field trip day! We were all pretty excited, not only because Jericho is cool, but it was also the first of our two trips to the West Bank. To be honest...it wasn't that much different than Israel. All the road signs were in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, like they are here. There was still trash everywhere. I guess there were more Palestinians than there are here, but it is the West Bank.
Our first stop was a place called Wadi Qelt. We climbed up a mountain overlooking a monastery that is traditionally theMount of Temptation. The Judean wilderness by Jericho is a dry, bleak desert. In every direction, there is just nothing there. There really is nothing there, except monasteries and random wadi's. And it's hot. We were there at 9 in the morning, and it was already an oven. But being there really puts into perspective the stories of the Good Samaritan and when the devil tempted Jesus. It really helps to appreciate the stories when you have a visual of the setting.
Jericho itself is very much an oasis in the desert. Because of it's proximity to the Jordan river, and a good, clean spring, it get's some good water. We stopped and looked at the ruins of the city. At Jericho, they found the oldest known human made structure. It's a tower, dating back to 9000 BC. Most things, like towers and walls, don't really stand the test of time, and when you go to the various sites, many are a reconstruction. But this tower, it was still at least 10 feet high, which is very unusual. Especially considering how old it is. Professor Stratford, my Ancient Near Eastern Studies professor, explained that the most likely reason for building the tower would be to protect some kind of agricultural surplus. Again, with it's water sources, always warm climate, and good soil, Jericho is a great place to live, especially if you're a farmer.
Next we visited the source of the Jericho spring, the one that the prophet Elisha healed by throwing salt into it. Being there, and talking about Elisha, it really made me realize how many amazing things happened in Jericho, besides the walls coming down. Near there was the place where both Elijah and Moses were translated. Elisha spent time there. A not so cool thing was that Zedekiah's sons were killed near there. It has a lot of history. Well, everything here has a lot of history. But Jericho, you don't think about as much. At least I didn't.
Our last visit was to Herod's Winter Palace. Apparently, when they first uncovered it, the archaeologists thought that it was a gymnasium because of all the pools. It wasn't till later that they put together it was a palace complex. Herod's Winter Palace had quite the bloody history. It was the place where he had his brother-in-law, Aristobulus, drowned in the pool. It was also where he had his oldest son, the heir to the throne, killed, just five days before Herod's own death. And it was the place where Herod himself died. When Herod was on his deathbed, he ordered all the local Jewish leaders to be taken into the nearby hippodrome, and that upon his death they were all to be killed so that someone would be crying at his funeral. It was only through the efforts of his sister that the Jewish leaders were spared.
At the Winter Palace, we talked about legacies, and what kind of legacy we want to leave behind. Herod was a great builder, built beautiful impressive structures, but no one liked him. So much so, that he wanted others to be killed at his death so that someone would be sad. His own family was probably excited to see him go, just so that they knew that they would be safe from his paranoia. Is that really the way to be remembered?
So that's it for Jericho. It was only a half day field trip, so we had the whole afternoon to play! After lunch, I went with a group of people into the city. We're having an Arab culture night on Wednesday, and they encourage us to dress up, so I went into the city with a group of people to look for some clothes. There's a shopkeeper named Shabban who gives really good prices to the BYU students, so we headed there first. I found a skirt, but as we were walking through the old city I kept seeing these beautiful white shirts with embroidered flowers at the bottom, sleeves, and neck. I finally stopped and asked a random shopkeeper for the price, and we started haggling a little. As we were talking, he asked where I was from, and I told him Utah, that I was at the Mormon university. He got so excited, he had me come to the back of his shop, and showed me notes left for him by previous Jerusalem Center students. Like Shabban, he just loves the students, and gives us really good prices, no haggling involved. It made me so happy, he was so excited to meet me and the other students I was with. It just made my day.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Why'd Constantinople get the works...
...that's nobody's business but the Turks!
Great song, great song. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) cover by They Might Be Giants, was more or less our theme song this week, or at least while in Istanbul. According to our tour guide, the name was changed because there was a sign leading into Constantinople that read "to the city" that foreigners thought was the name to the city, and started to call it that.
Basically, this last week was an educational vacation in Turkey, and it was AMAZING! I very much hope that I get the chance in the future to go back. There were so many sites, and just not enough time to see them all. Especially the museums! Ah, just so amazing.
This blog post is going to be the highlights, but there are just so many, it's hard to choose! I think what I'm going to do is make a list of all the places that we went to, and then just talk about my absolute favorites. Here goes. The Sultanahment Mosque (or Blue Mosque), the Basilica Cistern, the Topkapi Palace, a boat ride on the Bosporus Straight, Gallipoli battlefield, Troy, Assos, Pergamum, St. Johns's Basilica, Ephesus, Prienne, Sardis, Thyratira, Bursa, the Hagia Sophia, and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
The first that I'm going to talk about is the Gallipoli battlefield. We watched a movie made about it the Friday before we left for Turkey. It's a very good movie, I highly recommend it. In World War I, Great Britain and ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Allie Corps) forces attacked the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, hoping to gain access to the Dardenelles, a water way that leads to the Sea of Marmara and then to the Black Sea to open a second front. The allies eventually were forced to pull out, but not after a great loss of life.
The reason I liked this site so much was because of the Turkish attitude towards it. Every year, on the anniversary of the first attack by the ANZAC forces, people from all over Turkey gather to the battlefield. So many people come that after a certain time they close the road, just because there isn't any more room. As the night goes on, they narrate the battle. But they just don't revere and honor the Turkish troops. They very much honor and respect the ANZAC troops as well. The best way that I can really show this is by a quote from Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, a very influential Turkish leader who fought in that battle. "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom, and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
Assos was beautiful. We just visited the acropolis at the top of the hill, but it was so beautiful. It was right on the Aegean sea, on top of a mountain. Behind you there were these beautiful green mountain, and in front of you the sparlking Aegean. It was just beautiful, and peaceful. It's mentioned in Acts 20:13-14 as the place where they picked up Paul, after he wanted to walk by himself from Troas to Assos instead of sailing with his friends. This was during Paul's journey to Jerusalem, and he knew that he wasn't going to be coming back to that place. You could imagine him, walking the 25 miles across the peninsula, thinking about his time as a missionary, and what was about to happen. Walking by himself, so that he could have some time alone to think.
Ephesus is a HUGE city. Well, was a huge city. It was very impressive. It would have been very beautiful. When were were there, there were also several cruise ships in the harbor, so the place was packed. One of the program directors likes to say that "The number one attraction at Ephesus is the cats. The number two attraction at Ephesus is people taking pictures of the cats. The number three attraction at Ephesus is that thing over there (referring to a gladiator show that was put on for the tourists). And then way down on the list is the antiquities." After seeing all the tourist, and taking a few cat pictures myself, I can attest to this.
Before reading the rest of this paragraph, dust off your scriptures and read Acts 19:23-41. Finished?
I was there! I sat in that exact theatre! I stood on the stage of that theatre! As my Old Testament professor put it "There are very few places that we can look at and say with complete certainty that this happened exactly here. But we can say that about this!" To put that scripture in a bit more perspective, that theatre seats 25,000 people. It was such a cool experience, to be there.
Visiting the Hagia Sophia is a dream come true for me. It was something that would have been on my bucket list had I ever though that there was a remote chance that I could have gone there. Having the chance to actually be there...I can't even describe it. The building was beautiful. Just beautiful. The archetecture, what was left of the mosaics, it was just all so breathtaking. It's a museum now, but they left elements up from when it was a mosque, and have uncovered some of the things that were leftover from when it was a church, so it's just a very interesting building. My tour guide said, "I see the Christians come here and cry because they want it to be a church again. I also see the Muslims come here and cry because they want it to be a mosque. I think that it is good that it is a museum because of this." I think I took more pictures there than of anything else in Turkey. It was just...it was literally a dream come true.
The last thing I'm going to talk about is the Istanbul archaeological museum. As I was getting ready to leave the Hagia Sophia, I saw a group of student from the center running out, legitimately running out. I asked them as they passed "Where are you going?" "To the archaeological museum!" "Is it cool?" "They have the oldest know peace treaty in the world there!" That was enough for me to give up my shopping plans and run after them to get there in time. I saw so many just amazing things there. I saw things there that I remember seeing pictures of in history books. One of which being the oldest peace treaty in the world, between the Hittites and the Egyptians. There's apparently a copy of it in the UN building. There's also a sarcophagus there, I believe it's called the Tomb of Alexander the Great, not because it was made for Alexander the Great, but there is a relief covering the outside of it of a battle scene, featuring Alexander the Great. It was amazing. And I got to see real, cuneiform clay tablets! It was so cool! We only had an hour there, but I could have spent a day, at least. We basically just rushed through because we didn't have a lot of time. If I ever get the chance to go back to Turkey, that museum is going to be my first stop.
So, that's the Turkey trip! As I'm sure you've noticed, I skipped over a lot of really cool things. I'd very much encourage every one to look them up. Everywhere we went in Turkey was amazing. The places I talked about were just my favorite.
To end this post, I'm going to talk about the fish. From the beginning, we were told that our very last meal in Turkey was going to be a fish, and entire fish, eyeballs and everything still there. I don't really like fish, but I tried all the meatballs, even though I don't like ground meat, and so I determined to try the fish. It was actually really, really good. And I ate all of it. Yes, I ate an entire fish. Except the eyeballs. I wasn't willing to go quite that far.
Well, that's it for the Turkey trip. In the airport, and again at a few of the hotels, I was able to get pretty good wifi, and they don't block facebook at airports. :) I've posted several pictures, of both Jerusalem and Turkey on my facebook. There's aren't any descriptions, as I couldn't figure out how to put them on with my ipod. But check them out!
Great song, great song. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) cover by They Might Be Giants, was more or less our theme song this week, or at least while in Istanbul. According to our tour guide, the name was changed because there was a sign leading into Constantinople that read "to the city" that foreigners thought was the name to the city, and started to call it that.
Basically, this last week was an educational vacation in Turkey, and it was AMAZING! I very much hope that I get the chance in the future to go back. There were so many sites, and just not enough time to see them all. Especially the museums! Ah, just so amazing.
This blog post is going to be the highlights, but there are just so many, it's hard to choose! I think what I'm going to do is make a list of all the places that we went to, and then just talk about my absolute favorites. Here goes. The Sultanahment Mosque (or Blue Mosque), the Basilica Cistern, the Topkapi Palace, a boat ride on the Bosporus Straight, Gallipoli battlefield, Troy, Assos, Pergamum, St. Johns's Basilica, Ephesus, Prienne, Sardis, Thyratira, Bursa, the Hagia Sophia, and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
The first that I'm going to talk about is the Gallipoli battlefield. We watched a movie made about it the Friday before we left for Turkey. It's a very good movie, I highly recommend it. In World War I, Great Britain and ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Allie Corps) forces attacked the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, hoping to gain access to the Dardenelles, a water way that leads to the Sea of Marmara and then to the Black Sea to open a second front. The allies eventually were forced to pull out, but not after a great loss of life.
The reason I liked this site so much was because of the Turkish attitude towards it. Every year, on the anniversary of the first attack by the ANZAC forces, people from all over Turkey gather to the battlefield. So many people come that after a certain time they close the road, just because there isn't any more room. As the night goes on, they narrate the battle. But they just don't revere and honor the Turkish troops. They very much honor and respect the ANZAC troops as well. The best way that I can really show this is by a quote from Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, a very influential Turkish leader who fought in that battle. "Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom, and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
Assos was beautiful. We just visited the acropolis at the top of the hill, but it was so beautiful. It was right on the Aegean sea, on top of a mountain. Behind you there were these beautiful green mountain, and in front of you the sparlking Aegean. It was just beautiful, and peaceful. It's mentioned in Acts 20:13-14 as the place where they picked up Paul, after he wanted to walk by himself from Troas to Assos instead of sailing with his friends. This was during Paul's journey to Jerusalem, and he knew that he wasn't going to be coming back to that place. You could imagine him, walking the 25 miles across the peninsula, thinking about his time as a missionary, and what was about to happen. Walking by himself, so that he could have some time alone to think.
Ephesus is a HUGE city. Well, was a huge city. It was very impressive. It would have been very beautiful. When were were there, there were also several cruise ships in the harbor, so the place was packed. One of the program directors likes to say that "The number one attraction at Ephesus is the cats. The number two attraction at Ephesus is people taking pictures of the cats. The number three attraction at Ephesus is that thing over there (referring to a gladiator show that was put on for the tourists). And then way down on the list is the antiquities." After seeing all the tourist, and taking a few cat pictures myself, I can attest to this.
Before reading the rest of this paragraph, dust off your scriptures and read Acts 19:23-41. Finished?
I was there! I sat in that exact theatre! I stood on the stage of that theatre! As my Old Testament professor put it "There are very few places that we can look at and say with complete certainty that this happened exactly here. But we can say that about this!" To put that scripture in a bit more perspective, that theatre seats 25,000 people. It was such a cool experience, to be there.
Visiting the Hagia Sophia is a dream come true for me. It was something that would have been on my bucket list had I ever though that there was a remote chance that I could have gone there. Having the chance to actually be there...I can't even describe it. The building was beautiful. Just beautiful. The archetecture, what was left of the mosaics, it was just all so breathtaking. It's a museum now, but they left elements up from when it was a mosque, and have uncovered some of the things that were leftover from when it was a church, so it's just a very interesting building. My tour guide said, "I see the Christians come here and cry because they want it to be a church again. I also see the Muslims come here and cry because they want it to be a mosque. I think that it is good that it is a museum because of this." I think I took more pictures there than of anything else in Turkey. It was just...it was literally a dream come true.
The last thing I'm going to talk about is the Istanbul archaeological museum. As I was getting ready to leave the Hagia Sophia, I saw a group of student from the center running out, legitimately running out. I asked them as they passed "Where are you going?" "To the archaeological museum!" "Is it cool?" "They have the oldest know peace treaty in the world there!" That was enough for me to give up my shopping plans and run after them to get there in time. I saw so many just amazing things there. I saw things there that I remember seeing pictures of in history books. One of which being the oldest peace treaty in the world, between the Hittites and the Egyptians. There's apparently a copy of it in the UN building. There's also a sarcophagus there, I believe it's called the Tomb of Alexander the Great, not because it was made for Alexander the Great, but there is a relief covering the outside of it of a battle scene, featuring Alexander the Great. It was amazing. And I got to see real, cuneiform clay tablets! It was so cool! We only had an hour there, but I could have spent a day, at least. We basically just rushed through because we didn't have a lot of time. If I ever get the chance to go back to Turkey, that museum is going to be my first stop.
So, that's the Turkey trip! As I'm sure you've noticed, I skipped over a lot of really cool things. I'd very much encourage every one to look them up. Everywhere we went in Turkey was amazing. The places I talked about were just my favorite.
To end this post, I'm going to talk about the fish. From the beginning, we were told that our very last meal in Turkey was going to be a fish, and entire fish, eyeballs and everything still there. I don't really like fish, but I tried all the meatballs, even though I don't like ground meat, and so I determined to try the fish. It was actually really, really good. And I ate all of it. Yes, I ate an entire fish. Except the eyeballs. I wasn't willing to go quite that far.
Well, that's it for the Turkey trip. In the airport, and again at a few of the hotels, I was able to get pretty good wifi, and they don't block facebook at airports. :) I've posted several pictures, of both Jerusalem and Turkey on my facebook. There's aren't any descriptions, as I couldn't figure out how to put them on with my ipod. But check them out!
Friday, May 17, 2013
One short day...
A friend requested that I do a post about what a normal day is like here in the Jerusalem center. So I'm just going to go through my day today, give an idea of what we do here every day. One thing to realize though is that really, there is no such thing as a normal day here. The class schedule changes from day to day, week to week. We generally have church on Saturday, free day on Sunday, field trip on Monday, and then classes the rest of the week. Emphasis on generally.
Today is Friday. I woke up, went to the gym, took a shower, breakfast, turned in a paper for my Palestine class, then went Old Testament. I've been trying to go to the gym every day I don't go out into the city or have a field trip, because I'm really afraid of gaining weight. Apparantly it's a thing for people to gain weight while in the Jerusalem center. It's super easy to see why. Three all you can eat meals a day, plus a ton of amazing food out in the city...if I can come out of this place the same weight I was when I came in, I'll be happy. In Old Testament today we talked about the tabernacle, then Joshua, then back to the 10 commandments because we ran out of time to move on to Judges. Next was our Judaism class. We finished talking about the Torah and the Talmud today, and did a brief overview of Jewish history in the middle ages. Not a lot of good things happened to the Jews in the middle ages.
Lunch, hummas today (fresh, real hummas and pitas are the best ever!), then to Palestine class. We talked about the law systems of Islam, and kind of how they formed. After that, I went to a class taught by one of the professor's 12 year old daughter on how to write the letters of the Arabic alphabet. She's been taking Arabic in the international school she's been attending, and so she imparted her wealth of knowledge to us.
An hour break, and then dinner! Today was ice cream day! I got passionfruit and cookies and creme. So good, and so good together. Mmm, passion fruit. They do a good job at this cafeteria making Mediterranian style foods, while still having enough Western foods and variety that we don't get tired of it.
And that's a normal day for us here. Notice, I spent the entire day in the Jerusalem center. One of the religion professors here told us that after a month we'll all be singing "We all live in a limestone submarine...." I'm starting to feel it.
Over the course of the semester here we take a total of 15 credit hours. However, they break the up the courses into two terms, make the first term about a week longer than BYU's spring term, and front weight it. To put that more simply, I'm taking 10 credit hours of classes for the rough equivalent of a term or a block class, and then 5 credits for the remainder of my time here. In a normal BYU term, you generally don't take more than 7, and the limit is 9.
To put that even more simply, we have a ton of homework, at least 6 hours of class on the days that we have class, and we're all dying a little.
But, it's Friday night, tomorrow is the Sabbath, and I'm going to Turkey on Monday! In the words of my friend, Bryce, "We live in Jerusalem, and we're going to Turkey. Dang." So while classes and homework are crazy, we're going to have a week-long extended fieldtrip, and it's all going to be great!
Today is Friday. I woke up, went to the gym, took a shower, breakfast, turned in a paper for my Palestine class, then went Old Testament. I've been trying to go to the gym every day I don't go out into the city or have a field trip, because I'm really afraid of gaining weight. Apparantly it's a thing for people to gain weight while in the Jerusalem center. It's super easy to see why. Three all you can eat meals a day, plus a ton of amazing food out in the city...if I can come out of this place the same weight I was when I came in, I'll be happy. In Old Testament today we talked about the tabernacle, then Joshua, then back to the 10 commandments because we ran out of time to move on to Judges. Next was our Judaism class. We finished talking about the Torah and the Talmud today, and did a brief overview of Jewish history in the middle ages. Not a lot of good things happened to the Jews in the middle ages.
Lunch, hummas today (fresh, real hummas and pitas are the best ever!), then to Palestine class. We talked about the law systems of Islam, and kind of how they formed. After that, I went to a class taught by one of the professor's 12 year old daughter on how to write the letters of the Arabic alphabet. She's been taking Arabic in the international school she's been attending, and so she imparted her wealth of knowledge to us.
An hour break, and then dinner! Today was ice cream day! I got passionfruit and cookies and creme. So good, and so good together. Mmm, passion fruit. They do a good job at this cafeteria making Mediterranian style foods, while still having enough Western foods and variety that we don't get tired of it.
And that's a normal day for us here. Notice, I spent the entire day in the Jerusalem center. One of the religion professors here told us that after a month we'll all be singing "We all live in a limestone submarine...." I'm starting to feel it.
Over the course of the semester here we take a total of 15 credit hours. However, they break the up the courses into two terms, make the first term about a week longer than BYU's spring term, and front weight it. To put that more simply, I'm taking 10 credit hours of classes for the rough equivalent of a term or a block class, and then 5 credits for the remainder of my time here. In a normal BYU term, you generally don't take more than 7, and the limit is 9.
To put that even more simply, we have a ton of homework, at least 6 hours of class on the days that we have class, and we're all dying a little.
But, it's Friday night, tomorrow is the Sabbath, and I'm going to Turkey on Monday! In the words of my friend, Bryce, "We live in Jerusalem, and we're going to Turkey. Dang." So while classes and homework are crazy, we're going to have a week-long extended fieldtrip, and it's all going to be great!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Shavuot
This post is the story of how twenty some odd college students and one stressed out security guard walked to the Western Wall at 5:30 in the morning.
That's basically the story. Today is the holiday of Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks. I've been told that it it Pentecost in Christianity, but I'm not sure about that. It's the holiday to celebrate when Moses received the Torah. Jews celebrate by going to the synagogue at 11 pm and reading the Torah all night, until 4 in the morning. At that time, everyone in Jerusalem leaves their synagogues and walk to the Western Wall and say their morning prayers together as the sun rises.
So naturally, we had to go check it out. They don't like us leaving the center that early, before it's fully light out, hence the security guard. It was very different being at the Western Wall today as opposed to Friday night. Everyone there was a lot more solemn, more reverent. There wasn't any dancing or singing, just praying. And it was packed. There was no way to get even close to the wall. They extended the dividing line between the girls and the boys side because there were so many more people. I saw a couple of guys carrying a legit Torah to the wall.
After walking around for a bit in the square, we found a way to the top of an observation tower, where you could look out and see the whole square. It was super beautiful, to see the sun come up over the Mount of Olives and hit the Dome of the Rock. From there, the men's side looked a solid white from all the prayer shawls. At the top of a house behind us were a group of people reading from the Torah. They were just hanging out reading the Torah. Even on top of the house, the women were separated from the men.
Don't worry, we made it back in time for breakfast, but just barely. As we were walking back, all the kids were leaving to go to school. It was fun to see them all in their uniforms waiting at bus stops.
Have a Happy Holiday!
That's basically the story. Today is the holiday of Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks. I've been told that it it Pentecost in Christianity, but I'm not sure about that. It's the holiday to celebrate when Moses received the Torah. Jews celebrate by going to the synagogue at 11 pm and reading the Torah all night, until 4 in the morning. At that time, everyone in Jerusalem leaves their synagogues and walk to the Western Wall and say their morning prayers together as the sun rises.
So naturally, we had to go check it out. They don't like us leaving the center that early, before it's fully light out, hence the security guard. It was very different being at the Western Wall today as opposed to Friday night. Everyone there was a lot more solemn, more reverent. There wasn't any dancing or singing, just praying. And it was packed. There was no way to get even close to the wall. They extended the dividing line between the girls and the boys side because there were so many more people. I saw a couple of guys carrying a legit Torah to the wall.
After walking around for a bit in the square, we found a way to the top of an observation tower, where you could look out and see the whole square. It was super beautiful, to see the sun come up over the Mount of Olives and hit the Dome of the Rock. From there, the men's side looked a solid white from all the prayer shawls. At the top of a house behind us were a group of people reading from the Torah. They were just hanging out reading the Torah. Even on top of the house, the women were separated from the men.
Don't worry, we made it back in time for breakfast, but just barely. As we were walking back, all the kids were leaving to go to school. It was fun to see them all in their uniforms waiting at bus stops.
Have a Happy Holiday!
Monday, May 13, 2013
To the Fortress!!!
Today was field trip number two. We went to an area known as the Negev. If I remember right, Negev in Hebrew means dry. It's just about as far South as you can be and still be in Israel. And it's a desert. Dry, hot, but also suprisingly windy. It was so windy, you didn't feel sweaty until you were out of the wind or went inside. And then it felt super gross. But out in the wind it was great.
Our first stop in our trip to the desert was a place called Lakiya to visit a weaving factory there. The weaving factory is owned and run by Bedouin women. The Bedouin people were more or less forced to stop their nomadic lifestyle by the State of Israel. They settled down in towns, some sanctioned by the state, others not. The men would go out and work, and the women would stay home and take care of things. The women would rarely leave their homes because they didn't know how to act in the outside world. They had no skills necessary to really do anything outside the home. The weaving project was created to help these women learn skills in management and finance, more or less basic buisness skills, by selling their weaving, something that they had passed down in their communities for generations. It was really amazing being there, and seeing everything that those women were able to accomplish on their own. They have started to market their wares all around the world. If anyones's interested their website is http://www.lakiya.org/. I'd very much reccoment checking it out.
Next we went to Tel Beer Sheva. A tel is the word for an archaeological site where you can't see any ruins on top, it more or less looks like a big hill, perhaps where a hill shouldn't be. After digging down, the archaeologists will run into walls and other things. The tel dated to the Iron Age, so it's not the Beer Sheva that is mentioned in regards to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The site of that Beer Sheva is most likely under the modern city of Beer Sheba. (From what I've been able to tell, the names Beer Sheva and Beer Sheba are more or less interchangeable. My Old Testament professor today referred to Beer Sheva as the tel and Beer Sheba as the modern city. It's Beersheba in the bible. Wikipedia made me think that it doesn't matter. Confusing? Sorry. :P) The Iron Age is the during the time of King David, Solomon, basically through the first temple period. They had a cistern there underneath the city that you could walk through. It was huge! Crazy huge! There was basically a deep, stone lined pit with a hole in the bottom. You walk through the hole, and into a series of huge plaster lined water chambers underground. It was just cool.
The next place that we visited was tel Arad, and the place where I got the title for this blog. Arad had both an Iron Age fortress on top of the hill, and a Canaanite village at the bottom of the hill. We explored the fortress first. My Old Testament professor told us about how when they were excavating the tel they found in one house pottery shards called ostracon. Ostracon are special pottery shards because they have writing on them, used more or less as disposable letters. A few of the pottery shards deal with events leading to the fall of the the Kingdom of Judah in 586. My professor read a few of them to us. When reading about the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, I've always thought that the people deserved what they were getting. They weren't listening to the prophets, and this was their punishment. But even though they weren't doing everything right, they were still people, people who were doing everything that they could to defend their home against the coming armies, but in the end just couldn't do it on their own. They weren't necessarily evil people, just people who weren't listening to the right people.
The Canaanite village was huge, and had a good sized wall all the way around it. It reminded me of the Great Wall of China. The village dates to 2500 BC, so before the time of Abraham. There was a huge well at the very bottom of the village. My professor explained that we don't know a lot about the various buildings in the village, but it was easy to see walls, and what would have been rooms. There are a lot of places around here...well, Jerusalem, where the city is much higher than it was at the time of Jesus. More or less, the only areas of the city that are the same hight as they would have been at that time are the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. But walking through these ruins that have been excavated, people actually walked there. People build that wall out of mud bricks, and you can still see the bricks. People dug that cistern. People who are gone now, but they actually lived. And you can see what they left behind.
One thing that we talked about in regards to the sites we visited were when the people weren't following the God of Israel. In each site that we visited there was some kind of alter or temple that you can tell from various signs that weren't following the Law of Moses. Arad actually had a temple patterned after the temple in Jerusalem. You read about in the scriptures how the people aren't following God, but it's different to actually see the evidence, and to discuss what they were doing wrong. Most of the time they were following a lot of the tenets of the Law of Moses, but there was something, or a few things, that were just off, and they completely missed the mark because of it.
All in all, it was a really great fieldtrip. It was a ton of fun to explore the ruins. And we saw camels! There were camels everywhere! They have camel crossing signs like we have deer crossing signs. Also, there were sheep herds all over the place. We got to see a shepherd herding sheep! It was so cute, the sheep at the front, if they got too far ahead of the shepherd, would stop and wait for the shepherd to catch up before continuing on. Super cool.
Our first stop in our trip to the desert was a place called Lakiya to visit a weaving factory there. The weaving factory is owned and run by Bedouin women. The Bedouin people were more or less forced to stop their nomadic lifestyle by the State of Israel. They settled down in towns, some sanctioned by the state, others not. The men would go out and work, and the women would stay home and take care of things. The women would rarely leave their homes because they didn't know how to act in the outside world. They had no skills necessary to really do anything outside the home. The weaving project was created to help these women learn skills in management and finance, more or less basic buisness skills, by selling their weaving, something that they had passed down in their communities for generations. It was really amazing being there, and seeing everything that those women were able to accomplish on their own. They have started to market their wares all around the world. If anyones's interested their website is http://www.lakiya.org/. I'd very much reccoment checking it out.
Next we went to Tel Beer Sheva. A tel is the word for an archaeological site where you can't see any ruins on top, it more or less looks like a big hill, perhaps where a hill shouldn't be. After digging down, the archaeologists will run into walls and other things. The tel dated to the Iron Age, so it's not the Beer Sheva that is mentioned in regards to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The site of that Beer Sheva is most likely under the modern city of Beer Sheba. (From what I've been able to tell, the names Beer Sheva and Beer Sheba are more or less interchangeable. My Old Testament professor today referred to Beer Sheva as the tel and Beer Sheba as the modern city. It's Beersheba in the bible. Wikipedia made me think that it doesn't matter. Confusing? Sorry. :P) The Iron Age is the during the time of King David, Solomon, basically through the first temple period. They had a cistern there underneath the city that you could walk through. It was huge! Crazy huge! There was basically a deep, stone lined pit with a hole in the bottom. You walk through the hole, and into a series of huge plaster lined water chambers underground. It was just cool.
The next place that we visited was tel Arad, and the place where I got the title for this blog. Arad had both an Iron Age fortress on top of the hill, and a Canaanite village at the bottom of the hill. We explored the fortress first. My Old Testament professor told us about how when they were excavating the tel they found in one house pottery shards called ostracon. Ostracon are special pottery shards because they have writing on them, used more or less as disposable letters. A few of the pottery shards deal with events leading to the fall of the the Kingdom of Judah in 586. My professor read a few of them to us. When reading about the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, I've always thought that the people deserved what they were getting. They weren't listening to the prophets, and this was their punishment. But even though they weren't doing everything right, they were still people, people who were doing everything that they could to defend their home against the coming armies, but in the end just couldn't do it on their own. They weren't necessarily evil people, just people who weren't listening to the right people.
The Canaanite village was huge, and had a good sized wall all the way around it. It reminded me of the Great Wall of China. The village dates to 2500 BC, so before the time of Abraham. There was a huge well at the very bottom of the village. My professor explained that we don't know a lot about the various buildings in the village, but it was easy to see walls, and what would have been rooms. There are a lot of places around here...well, Jerusalem, where the city is much higher than it was at the time of Jesus. More or less, the only areas of the city that are the same hight as they would have been at that time are the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. But walking through these ruins that have been excavated, people actually walked there. People build that wall out of mud bricks, and you can still see the bricks. People dug that cistern. People who are gone now, but they actually lived. And you can see what they left behind.
One thing that we talked about in regards to the sites we visited were when the people weren't following the God of Israel. In each site that we visited there was some kind of alter or temple that you can tell from various signs that weren't following the Law of Moses. Arad actually had a temple patterned after the temple in Jerusalem. You read about in the scriptures how the people aren't following God, but it's different to actually see the evidence, and to discuss what they were doing wrong. Most of the time they were following a lot of the tenets of the Law of Moses, but there was something, or a few things, that were just off, and they completely missed the mark because of it.
All in all, it was a really great fieldtrip. It was a ton of fun to explore the ruins. And we saw camels! There were camels everywhere! They have camel crossing signs like we have deer crossing signs. Also, there were sheep herds all over the place. We got to see a shepherd herding sheep! It was so cute, the sheep at the front, if they got too far ahead of the shepherd, would stop and wait for the shepherd to catch up before continuing on. Super cool.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Welsome Welcome, Sabbath Evening (and morning too!)
Yesterday evening, we went as a group to the Western Wall to welcome in the Sabbath, Jewish style. I honetly didn't know what I was expecting. People more somber, praying, reverant. I was not expecting a party, which was what it was. There was a bunch of singing and dancing, from both the guys and the girls. From what I understand, Jews worship with the men seperate from the women, so to go up to the wall, the men go to one side, and the women to the other. We met a bunch of American girls on the girl's side. I guess they were touring the Holy Land for their senior trip. They also assumed that we were also Jewish Americans at first, but then they still let us sing and dance with them anyway. It was really fun to see the soldiers singing and dancing with everyone else, dancing around with their assault rifles. Some of them also had some interesting colored berets. As in, turquoise blue, lime green, and orange. All in all, it was really fun. We've decided that we want to have our own Sabbath welcoming party every Friday evening.
To add to that, this evening I was with a big group of JC (Jerusalem Center, for now on) students watching the movie the Prince of Egypt, since we're studying it in Old Testament right now. When it got to that one really fun song when Moses is with the Midianites, we all got up and started dancing in a circle. It was so much fun! I dare anyone who reads this to try it next time they watch Prince of Egypt. Hold hands, sing, and dance in a circle. You'll thank me. :)
Today, after church (don't forget, I have church on Saturday, not Sunday) we walked to the Garden Tomb. It is another site that is thought by a lot of people to be where Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. We were given a tour, shown the skull image in the side of the mountain, then the olive press that they found, and then taken to the garden tomb. Afterwards, we went to a group of benches and sang hymns for about half an hour. It's amazing how the same songs that I've been singing all my life take on such new meaning when singing them here. Probably my favorite was Nearer, My God to Thee. There were several other groups of people there who were taking pictures and video taping us singing. It was so peaceful.
I've talked in this blog about both the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Garden Tomb, and so now I want to say a word on both. The truth of it is, there is no definitive proof to really support either site as the site where Jesus was crucified and buried. There are historical inaccuracies with both. And there is also no definitive modern revelation from any leaders in the LDS church to support either.
Protestants coming to the Holy Land felt out of place going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It wasn't the way that they were used to worshipping, as in, much more ornate and Catholic than they liked, so they began to look for another place that they could worship in a way they were used to. The result of that search was the Garden Tomb. It only follows reason that the LDS church would choose to rever the Garden Tomb for the same reason.
Honestly, whichever you choose as the place where you think Christ was crucified and buried, doesn't matter. Both sites are beautiful, and you can feel the presence at the Holy Ghost at both. All that really matters is the reason why you're there. There are spiritual insights that can be had from both places if you're open to it. Don't just dismiss something because it's different that what you're used to.
To add to that, this evening I was with a big group of JC (Jerusalem Center, for now on) students watching the movie the Prince of Egypt, since we're studying it in Old Testament right now. When it got to that one really fun song when Moses is with the Midianites, we all got up and started dancing in a circle. It was so much fun! I dare anyone who reads this to try it next time they watch Prince of Egypt. Hold hands, sing, and dance in a circle. You'll thank me. :)
Today, after church (don't forget, I have church on Saturday, not Sunday) we walked to the Garden Tomb. It is another site that is thought by a lot of people to be where Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. We were given a tour, shown the skull image in the side of the mountain, then the olive press that they found, and then taken to the garden tomb. Afterwards, we went to a group of benches and sang hymns for about half an hour. It's amazing how the same songs that I've been singing all my life take on such new meaning when singing them here. Probably my favorite was Nearer, My God to Thee. There were several other groups of people there who were taking pictures and video taping us singing. It was so peaceful.
I've talked in this blog about both the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Garden Tomb, and so now I want to say a word on both. The truth of it is, there is no definitive proof to really support either site as the site where Jesus was crucified and buried. There are historical inaccuracies with both. And there is also no definitive modern revelation from any leaders in the LDS church to support either.
Protestants coming to the Holy Land felt out of place going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It wasn't the way that they were used to worshipping, as in, much more ornate and Catholic than they liked, so they began to look for another place that they could worship in a way they were used to. The result of that search was the Garden Tomb. It only follows reason that the LDS church would choose to rever the Garden Tomb for the same reason.
Honestly, whichever you choose as the place where you think Christ was crucified and buried, doesn't matter. Both sites are beautiful, and you can feel the presence at the Holy Ghost at both. All that really matters is the reason why you're there. There are spiritual insights that can be had from both places if you're open to it. Don't just dismiss something because it's different that what you're used to.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Jerusalem Day!
Happy Jerusalem Day! Today is a holiday to comemorate when Israel took all of Jersalem after the 6 Days War in 1967. So, it's a party in West Jerusalem, and not a party in East Jerusalem. We walked into what looked like the beginnings of a demonstration as we walked out of Damascus Gate this afternoon. We left the area quickly. The entire Old City was full of military people. We saw them everywhere, where normally there are only a few near the gates. Some of them even seemed like they were touring some of the sites in the city.
The group that I was with decided to go to West Jerusalem for lunch. Falafel is the best food EVER! Walking through West Jerusalem, it feels like a Europen city. As in, there's a train, like the Utah Trax, and people playing jazz in the streets. Couples actually touch and hold hands, and the women dress...not so conservatively. It's just...odd, especially coming from the old city, or East Jerusalem.
After wandering around for a bit, we headed back to the center by taking the long way through the old city. We had some time to kill, and we've heard a lot about it, so we decided to check out the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I was very much not prepared for going into that church.
From the outside, it seems very unassuming. And you can't tell at all how big it is. It just looks like a big stone building, with a random ladder on the outside (I talked about it in an earlier post). But then you walk in, and it's just amazing. Amazing. I can't describe how beautiful and amazing and awe-inspiring that church is. And that's just the church, when you consider what all is believed to have happened there...
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the place where Christ was thought to have been crucified, beautified, and then buried. The site was chosen by a women named Helena, who was Emporor Constantine's mother. Constantine was the Roman emperor who decided to make Christianity the official religion of Rome. Helena came to Jerusalem some time after that to find as many holy sites as she could. The Church of the Holy Sepulcre is one of them. A church was built, but was destroyed in 1009. The Crusaders rebuilt the church, and Saladin let the Christians keep it after he conquered the city.
Inside the church it felt...the best way that I can describe it is holy. The church felt holy. Not like a temple. I'm having such a hard time describing it. Like, you could feel all the prayers, the faith, the devotion of everyone who had ever and would ever come there, like it's seeped into the walls, and is resonating from every stone. I know that a lot of people dispute the actual places of things in and around the Old City, especially when dealing with events in the New Testament. Whether the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the "right place" or not, that place is sacred. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to visit, and to be able to go again.
The group that I was with decided to go to West Jerusalem for lunch. Falafel is the best food EVER! Walking through West Jerusalem, it feels like a Europen city. As in, there's a train, like the Utah Trax, and people playing jazz in the streets. Couples actually touch and hold hands, and the women dress...not so conservatively. It's just...odd, especially coming from the old city, or East Jerusalem.
After wandering around for a bit, we headed back to the center by taking the long way through the old city. We had some time to kill, and we've heard a lot about it, so we decided to check out the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I was very much not prepared for going into that church.
From the outside, it seems very unassuming. And you can't tell at all how big it is. It just looks like a big stone building, with a random ladder on the outside (I talked about it in an earlier post). But then you walk in, and it's just amazing. Amazing. I can't describe how beautiful and amazing and awe-inspiring that church is. And that's just the church, when you consider what all is believed to have happened there...
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the place where Christ was thought to have been crucified, beautified, and then buried. The site was chosen by a women named Helena, who was Emporor Constantine's mother. Constantine was the Roman emperor who decided to make Christianity the official religion of Rome. Helena came to Jerusalem some time after that to find as many holy sites as she could. The Church of the Holy Sepulcre is one of them. A church was built, but was destroyed in 1009. The Crusaders rebuilt the church, and Saladin let the Christians keep it after he conquered the city.
Inside the church it felt...the best way that I can describe it is holy. The church felt holy. Not like a temple. I'm having such a hard time describing it. Like, you could feel all the prayers, the faith, the devotion of everyone who had ever and would ever come there, like it's seeped into the walls, and is resonating from every stone. I know that a lot of people dispute the actual places of things in and around the Old City, especially when dealing with events in the New Testament. Whether the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the "right place" or not, that place is sacred. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to visit, and to be able to go again.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Some of the Coolest Things
So, I realized today while we were out on our fieldtrip, that I'm not going to be able to write about everything here. After writing in my journal, and then various emails that I send out to people, just not going to happen. But the coolest things for sure are going to be here, so don't feel like I'm leaving things out.
I don't know how many people are reading this (I know that my mom isn't :P) but feel free to comment, or make suggestions. Like, if there's something that you want to know about in particular, or something that you'd like to know more about. Just, whatever. That is all.
The first of the coolest things. On Saturday, after dinner, we had some time before sunset, so I got together with 4 guys and 2 other girls to go check out the Western Wall. We had just gotten into the old city when we passed by a school playground with a soccer field. It wasn't a legit field, it was made of concrete, and the goals posts were concrete. But it was pretty large. As we walked by, one of the guys in our group noticed that there were a bunch of young Palestinian boys, like 9-10 years old, who were playing soccer together. One of the boys noticed us, and invited the guys in our group to come play with them. Which they did. It was so much fun to watch, the American college students playing with the Palestinian kids. The two other girls and I were wearing skirts, so we opted to just watch. After they had been playing for a while, a group of Palestinian boys about our age started gathering at the entrance to the soccer field. These older Palestinian guys challeneged our guys to a legit soccer game. They played until we had to leave to get back to the center before it got dark. The end score was tied, but our guys claimed that the Palestinians were going easy on them. While the older guys were playing, all the younger kids came over and were talking to me and the other girls. They took pictures with us, and laughed at our names. It was really fun, and really unexpected, and just all around awsome.
The second of the coolest things. In my Old Testament class last Friday, my teacher had tickets for the Tower of David museum, and encouraged us all to go. I took a ticket, and made plans to go with some people on Sunday. (Remeber, Sunday is like Saturday for us. Church is on Saturday, free day is on Sunday.) We walked up to it, and next thing I know I'm crossing a bridge over a moat built by the Crusaders to enter in the front doors of a legit castle. A CASTLE! It was a castle, in the middle of Jerusalem! It's been around for a crazy long time. It was apparantly first built around 300 BC. Herod added on to it, and the Crusaders used it, and it was even used during the 6 Day War back in 1967. It was being used as a castle in my parent's lifetime. I dunno, I just think that's so crazy. And cool. And it's the first castle I've been able to go to! Just so cool.
Today was our first field trip. To get us aquainted with the area, we drove to various outlooks around the city, pointing out various landmarks, also to help us get ready for our test on the area on Wednesday. Probably my favorite was going to a place my Old Testament teacher called the Bethlehem overlook. Our bus took us to a monastery, and then we climed up the hill behind it to get a panoramic view of Bethlehem. Bethlehem is located in the West Bank, so there's a concrete wall seperating it from Jerusalem. While looking at the city, we got out our scriptures and read about some of the things that happened in Jerusalem. First, we talked about Rachel's death, and her tomb. Apparantly, when they were making the wall to seperate the West Bank, the Israeli government put Rachel's tomb on the Jerusalem side of the line. There's a synogogue there, and according to my teacher it's a very significant place.
We then talked about Ruth, and her coming to Bethlehem with Naomi from Moab. Moab is in what is now Jordan. It is really neat to be able to know this area, and where things are. The places in the bible aren't just names anymore. I've had to learn where these places are. Mostly because I have a test on it on Wednesday, but still. These are actual places, actual people.
Last, we read in Luke 2. Mind blowing is the only way to describe it. I've read that story so many times throughout my life, to think that I could actually see where it happened...everything is so much more real to me. It's like the stories in the bible have just come to live in front of me. It's indescribable and amazing. Just amazing.
I don't know how many people are reading this (I know that my mom isn't :P) but feel free to comment, or make suggestions. Like, if there's something that you want to know about in particular, or something that you'd like to know more about. Just, whatever. That is all.
The first of the coolest things. On Saturday, after dinner, we had some time before sunset, so I got together with 4 guys and 2 other girls to go check out the Western Wall. We had just gotten into the old city when we passed by a school playground with a soccer field. It wasn't a legit field, it was made of concrete, and the goals posts were concrete. But it was pretty large. As we walked by, one of the guys in our group noticed that there were a bunch of young Palestinian boys, like 9-10 years old, who were playing soccer together. One of the boys noticed us, and invited the guys in our group to come play with them. Which they did. It was so much fun to watch, the American college students playing with the Palestinian kids. The two other girls and I were wearing skirts, so we opted to just watch. After they had been playing for a while, a group of Palestinian boys about our age started gathering at the entrance to the soccer field. These older Palestinian guys challeneged our guys to a legit soccer game. They played until we had to leave to get back to the center before it got dark. The end score was tied, but our guys claimed that the Palestinians were going easy on them. While the older guys were playing, all the younger kids came over and were talking to me and the other girls. They took pictures with us, and laughed at our names. It was really fun, and really unexpected, and just all around awsome.
The second of the coolest things. In my Old Testament class last Friday, my teacher had tickets for the Tower of David museum, and encouraged us all to go. I took a ticket, and made plans to go with some people on Sunday. (Remeber, Sunday is like Saturday for us. Church is on Saturday, free day is on Sunday.) We walked up to it, and next thing I know I'm crossing a bridge over a moat built by the Crusaders to enter in the front doors of a legit castle. A CASTLE! It was a castle, in the middle of Jerusalem! It's been around for a crazy long time. It was apparantly first built around 300 BC. Herod added on to it, and the Crusaders used it, and it was even used during the 6 Day War back in 1967. It was being used as a castle in my parent's lifetime. I dunno, I just think that's so crazy. And cool. And it's the first castle I've been able to go to! Just so cool.
Today was our first field trip. To get us aquainted with the area, we drove to various outlooks around the city, pointing out various landmarks, also to help us get ready for our test on the area on Wednesday. Probably my favorite was going to a place my Old Testament teacher called the Bethlehem overlook. Our bus took us to a monastery, and then we climed up the hill behind it to get a panoramic view of Bethlehem. Bethlehem is located in the West Bank, so there's a concrete wall seperating it from Jerusalem. While looking at the city, we got out our scriptures and read about some of the things that happened in Jerusalem. First, we talked about Rachel's death, and her tomb. Apparantly, when they were making the wall to seperate the West Bank, the Israeli government put Rachel's tomb on the Jerusalem side of the line. There's a synogogue there, and according to my teacher it's a very significant place.
We then talked about Ruth, and her coming to Bethlehem with Naomi from Moab. Moab is in what is now Jordan. It is really neat to be able to know this area, and where things are. The places in the bible aren't just names anymore. I've had to learn where these places are. Mostly because I have a test on it on Wednesday, but still. These are actual places, actual people.
Last, we read in Luke 2. Mind blowing is the only way to describe it. I've read that story so many times throughout my life, to think that I could actually see where it happened...everything is so much more real to me. It's like the stories in the bible have just come to live in front of me. It's indescribable and amazing. Just amazing.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Fast Saturday
"Oh yea, tomorrow is fast Sunday."
"No, it's fast Saturday."
Here at the Jerusalem center, we follow the Jewish tradition of the Sabbath being on Saturday, and Sunday being a free day. Not going to lie, it feels really weird. But I like it. Instead of partying all day Saturday and then not wanting to do homework the next day because it's Sunday, we do Sunday all day Saturday then can do whatever we want on Sunday. As in, homework. Because yes, I still do have homework, and a lot of studying. In one of our classes, Anchient Near Eastern Studies, there are only 10 A's and 12 A-'s given out to 79 students. So yea, some studying is going to happen.
Today after church, being forced to fast until 4 when the cafeteria opens, the majoirty of the students decided to go out into the city. I joined a group that was headed for the Garden of Gethsemane. I say headed, because we couldn't find it. And we ended up getting turned around and a little lost on the Mount of Olives...but we made it back! And in time for dinner!
We knew that the Garden of Gethsemane was located somewhere south of the Jerusalem Center, and so we just started walking. There was this one road that we knew would lead us directly there, but some of our tour guides from Thursday had told us to avoid the road at all costs, so we took the long way around, and ended up exploring the Mount of Olives.
As was explained to me by a guy in our group, it's Jewish tradition that when Christ comes again, the first people to be resurrected will be those buried on the Mount of Olives. So everyone wants to be buried there. And the hill is just covered with tombs. They are everywhere, squeezed into every available space. It's kinda sad, the Mount of Olives is in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city where the Jews don't go, so the cemeteries aren't as kept up as they could be.
As we were exploring, we stumbled on Dominus Flevit, which is the church that marks the place where Christ wept over Jerusalem. From the church you have a perfect view of the Dome of the Rock, which is located in the place where the temple used to be. You could almost see Christ sitting up there, looking down at the city, and the temple, knowing exactly what was going to happen to it, and just being so sad.
After that, we just kinda took streets in the general direction of the Jerusalem center until we found it. We could keep our bearings because of the Hebrew University tower, which is on the hill behind the center. And we were in a pretty big group. Remember how in my last post I mentioned how we always needed to have a guy with us? The guys in the group I was with were very good about keeping an eye on the girls. Making sure that we were all there, not letting us get seperated in the crowds. They know that our safety is partially on them, and they're taking that seriously. Another reason why you all shouldn't worry about me. :)
"No, it's fast Saturday."
Here at the Jerusalem center, we follow the Jewish tradition of the Sabbath being on Saturday, and Sunday being a free day. Not going to lie, it feels really weird. But I like it. Instead of partying all day Saturday and then not wanting to do homework the next day because it's Sunday, we do Sunday all day Saturday then can do whatever we want on Sunday. As in, homework. Because yes, I still do have homework, and a lot of studying. In one of our classes, Anchient Near Eastern Studies, there are only 10 A's and 12 A-'s given out to 79 students. So yea, some studying is going to happen.
Today after church, being forced to fast until 4 when the cafeteria opens, the majoirty of the students decided to go out into the city. I joined a group that was headed for the Garden of Gethsemane. I say headed, because we couldn't find it. And we ended up getting turned around and a little lost on the Mount of Olives...but we made it back! And in time for dinner!
We knew that the Garden of Gethsemane was located somewhere south of the Jerusalem Center, and so we just started walking. There was this one road that we knew would lead us directly there, but some of our tour guides from Thursday had told us to avoid the road at all costs, so we took the long way around, and ended up exploring the Mount of Olives.
As was explained to me by a guy in our group, it's Jewish tradition that when Christ comes again, the first people to be resurrected will be those buried on the Mount of Olives. So everyone wants to be buried there. And the hill is just covered with tombs. They are everywhere, squeezed into every available space. It's kinda sad, the Mount of Olives is in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city where the Jews don't go, so the cemeteries aren't as kept up as they could be.
As we were exploring, we stumbled on Dominus Flevit, which is the church that marks the place where Christ wept over Jerusalem. From the church you have a perfect view of the Dome of the Rock, which is located in the place where the temple used to be. You could almost see Christ sitting up there, looking down at the city, and the temple, knowing exactly what was going to happen to it, and just being so sad.
After that, we just kinda took streets in the general direction of the Jerusalem center until we found it. We could keep our bearings because of the Hebrew University tower, which is on the hill behind the center. And we were in a pretty big group. Remember how in my last post I mentioned how we always needed to have a guy with us? The guys in the group I was with were very good about keeping an eye on the girls. Making sure that we were all there, not letting us get seperated in the crowds. They know that our safety is partially on them, and they're taking that seriously. Another reason why you all shouldn't worry about me. :)
Friday, May 3, 2013
Safety, in case you were wondering...
This blog post is directed at my mom and her sisters. Hello mom, Aunt Marie, Aunt Jeannie, and Aunt Susie! I know that you all are probably worried about me being safe. This is to kinda to address all that.
First of all, to discuss the terrorist side of things. People really don't mess with Jerusalem. There are so many people who consider it a sacred, holy place that it generally get's left alone. While everyone would be ok with getting rid of their rival's holy sites, their own holy sites happen to be just down the street. And Jerusalem has the Dome of the Rock, the third most holy site in the Muslim religion. No faithful Muslim is going to do anything that could possibly harm the Dome of the Rock. What happened back in December is very, very rare. As a generally rule, Jerusalem is safe from terrorist attacks.
As I mentioned in my last post, the Jerusalem Center is located in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of town. We are surrounded by Muslims. There's a mosque across the street. No Palestinian is going to bomb the Palestinian neighborhood. They'd go to West Jerusalem, where the Jews are. So I'm safe in that way as well.
Also, they take no chances when it comes to bombs here. If there is a bag of any sort that is unattended, it get's blown up. They don't even inspect it, they get everyone away then blow it up. There are also Israeli soldiers around everywhere.
But if there were to be a problem, there are two bomb shelters in the Jerusalem Center. Both are large enough to hold everyone who lives and works in the center plus some extra. There are also bomb shelters throughout the city. If there is a legit problem, we would have about a minute and a half to get to a safe place. That's plenty of time while in the center, and security would help us if we were outside the center. So I would be just fine.
Bombings are something to be ready for and aware of, but not to stress out about here.
We have a lot of rules to keep us safe in and around the city. Whenever we're out, we have to be in a group of three, and there always needs to be at least one male in each group. We cannot be in the Old City or East Jerusalem after dark. Period. Not even to walk back to the center. We can stay out until midnight in West Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, but then we'd have to take some kind of transportation home, like a taxi. No public transportation after dark.
There are also some places that we just aren't allowed to go. There is one road that we were warned to never, ever go down, no matter how many people we have in our group. And to go to the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, we need at least 10 people in a group, and at least 2 boys.
We were all issued cell phones by the center that have the security for the center on speed dial. We are required to take these phones with us whenever we leave the center. They allow for us to keep in touch with security in the event of something happening. The security guys here are very good, they can get to us or get us whatever we need really fast. My tour guide yesterday said that she saw one security guy get to somewhere in the old city in about 3 minutes. They're good, and they've got our backs.
There is a problem here with Arab men having a poor image of Western, particularly American, women. Having grown up watching Western shows that show the women as being morally loose, they assume that we all are, and they can be a bit...forward...to put it mildly. If there is ever a problem with a guy messing with a girl from the center, we call security, and they will come, hunt down the guy, and threaten him with his and his family's lives if they ever catch them harassing another Jerusalem Center girl again. They are very serious, and very convincing. They don't get repeat offenders. So if there is a problem, there are people here who take care of things.
So, this was supposed to help you all not stress out. Basically, don't worry. We're being taken care of.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
First Day, First Day!!!
Last night things were pretty mellow. We got into Tel Aviv, then through customs with no problems. An hour bus trip and we were at the center! It was almost dark by the time we got here, but we were able to pick out the Dome of the Rock as we were driving in. A quick tour of the center, dinner, and then we were left on our own to unpack and get some sleep. Being tired from the flight, we were all just kinda "meh" about everything. It didn't quite feel like Jerusalem, you know? Hadn't really sunk in yet.
Today, however...
AHHHH! I'm in Jerusalem! This is so amazing! AHHHHHH!
After breakfast we went through a tour of the city. Guys, I'm in Jerusalem. The legit Jerusalem. I'm just so mind-blown right now.
An important thing to know is that Jerusalem is kinda in three parts. East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem, and the Old City. East Jerusalem is the Palestinian half of the city, and where the Jerusalem Center is. It's not very modern, and there is trash everywhere. According to Sister Shade, our tour guide, Muslim people do a great job of keeping their homes very neat and tidy, but there's no sense of community to keep the rest of the town clean. She said that we'd get used to the trash eventually. We walked from the center, through East Jerusalem to the Damascus Gate of the Old City. Damascus Gate is apparently THE gate, the one that was made to be super ceremonial and beautiful by Suliman the Great, the guy who built the current walls. It's also a great place to get pick pocketed. While walking through the gate, don't keep anything in your back pockets, and put your backpack in front of you.
And then we were in the Old City! It's Holy Week for the Greek Orthodox church, so there were several sections of the Old City that were particularly crowded. There was one time, there were so many people trying to get through at an intersection that nobody could move at all, we were just stuck there, with people pushing on us in all directions. Crazy. We walked down a part of the Via Dolorosa (I have no idea actually how to spell it) which is the path that Christ was supposed to walk from Pilate's to his crucifixion. We passed by the place where Simon helped Christ with the cross. We also walked by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but didn't go in because it was so busy. The church is the place where Christ was thought to have been crucified and resurrected. There has been so much fighting over that building, as to what religion owns what parts of it, that each religion knows to a centimeter what they own in that building. Like, one church will own one step, and another will own the next, it's just crazy and confusing. There's a ladder on the front of the building that's been there for centuries, apparently one church owns the ledge that the ladder rests on, and another owns the window sill that the ladder rests on, and they still quarrel about who's job it is to take down the ladder.
From the church we left the city through the Joffa Gate to West Jerusalem. West Jerusalem is the Jewish side of things. It's very modern, with big, open paved streets and something like a Trax. In our orientation packet we were given 30 sheckels, and we were shown a fairly busy street with several food places, and were given the chance to get some food. I tried falafel for the first time, and it was so good. Just so good. You take a pita shell, and put in hummas, then these balls that are chick peas ground up, mixed with spices and some other things, then deep fried, and then an assortment of veggies (one girl in my group described this part as like being at Subway). Just so good! It's kinda lame, because we have everything cooked for us, I'm never going to really learn how to cook middle eastern food. But oh well.
After that it was back to the center! It it completely surreal being here, and just crazy and amazing. I can see the Dome of the Rock from the back door of my apartment. It's just so surreal. It's weird to think that I'm actually going to be here for three and a half months. I'm going to have the chance to explore every part of that city, know it back from front. It's going to be so great.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)