The adutorium and Talent show

This is the auditorium and chapel in the Jerusalem Center. The auditorium has the most amazing view, it is most definitely the best view I have ever seen from a chapel. This room looks over the Old City and has a perfect shot at the Temple Mount.
Anyway here is a small sample of the amazing talent show we had at the center.

Gage, Jane and Maria


City time!

A day with the Squires

The Squires were our amazing chorister and accompanist. Sister Squires directed the branch choir and Brother Squires played the organ and the piano. Every Sunday Brother Squires would go to the YMCA tower in West Jerusalem and play the carillon bells and then ring the bells to signal 12 o'clock. This day they invited a bunch of us to join them. It was pretty fun playing the bells!

In front of the YMCA tower

This is how we played the bells

playing the bells


The carillon bells


There were only suppose to be 4 people in the elevator, we fit 7!


After the bells the Squires took us to the Jewish Open air market (Machane Yehuda)!
It was a lot like Pike Place without the Puget Sound and with a lot more Jewish people.



Just some soldiers and their huge guns walking through the market



Getting lunch at the market! It was really good!

After the market we went to the Pita Factory. Only 5 shekels for 12 hot fresh pitas




All the girls!

The City of David and Hezekiah's Tunnel

Back in October we went on a field trip to the City of David which is located just below the south side of the temple mount. We saw some of the ruins of the city and learned a little about the ancient city's water system. These are some pictures inside Hezekiah's tunnel. The tunnel was created by King Hezekiah and was used to protect the city's water supply from poisoning. When we walked through the tunnel there was about of foot of water in it.




Me and Adam


Ali and Seth




Wet feet




We stood on the tallest roof top in the city of David and were able to look down onto the roof tops of neighboring Palestinian homes. The Palestinians use the roofs of their houses like another room in their house. It wasn't uncommon to see women up on their roofs with their children doing laundry or little children riding their bikes and playing on top of the roof. Learning about the culture of Jerusalem has really helped me understand the Bible better. I loved learning about the people and their culture and then relating my new knowledge back to the scriptures. I always thought it was strange that Bathsheba bathed on top of her roof and that King David was sitting on top of his roof. After being in Jerusalem I now understand why Bathsheba and King David would have spent time on top of their roofs.





A cute little Jewish family



The pool of Siloam.

just outside of Hezekiah's tunnel is the pool of Siloam. This picture isn't the real pool the real pool hasn't been excavated completely, but this pool is just across from the real thing. I loved being able to read New and Old Testament stories at the site where they happened.




Dormition Abbey



The ceiling of Dormition Abbey






King David's Tomb and Synagogue

Jordan

Petra!!

One of the many cute bedouin kids in Petra



A flash flood in Ammon


The ancient city of Philadelphia


Some of the columns


The columns rock back and forth


Roman solider


Dancing with some of the local Jordanian girls

Sukkot

Well this blog is a little out of order, but oh well. During the week of Sukkot (The Feast of the Tabernacles) the Jewish people build Sukkots (tabernacles) and live or eat under them. Every synagogue and restaurant in West Jerusalem had one of these sukkots. The sukkots are just tarps wrapped around 4 poles with willow branches or other leafy tree branches laid across the roof. On one of our free days we went to West Jerusalem to eat under a sukka and celebrate on Ben Yehuda street.


Ice cream on Ben Yehuda Steet


Eating under a sukka


We ended our day in the city in this grocery store. We were so excited to find an acutal grocery store, not a mini mart, or a sketchy street vendor.

The Whacking of the Willows

So While we were talking to the Jewish girls from New York at the Western Wall the other week they told us that some interesting things would be happening at the Wall for the next few weeks. Interested in what was going to happen we asked our Judaism professor about it. He was a little hesitant to tell us about this particular tradition at first, but eventually he told us. Apparently the morning before the last day of Sukkot (or something like that) Jews gather at the wall at 6:30 to pray. While they are praying they begin to whack the ground with willow branches. Our Judaism professor related this tradition to a temper tantrum. During the week of Sukkot the Jewish people pray for rain and on the last day they, according to my professor, throw a temper tantrum and start begging for rain.
So Monday morning at 6:30 a big group of us walked over the wall to watch this tradition. It was quite the event, I have never seen so many people at the wall. The men were partying, they stood in circles while they prayed sang and whacked their willows. The women like always were a little more
mellow, but they too had willows to whack.

I LOVE JERUSALEM STUDY ABROAD

I Love...

The Jerusalem Center

The Biblical Gardens
The amazing view from my balcony
The view from the chapel

Hanging out in Bedouin tents
The diversity of dress
The misspelling of Spanish and English words
Genie pants

The people who walk around Jerusalem with huge guns

Falafels

The Shekel Shack

Concerts in the Chapel on Sundays

Taking a whole week off of school to go to EGYPT!
Riding camels
Carriage rides that are cheaper than taxis
Pyramids
The Valley of the Kings

Aladdin’s

The Cairo Museum

Yad Vashem

The Old City
The vendors in the city that say "BYU over here, Mormons, Mormons over here! We have good prices"
Mercedes Buses
Dramamine
Technology
Security!
Living in the same building as my Professors
Brother and Sister Allen, Huntington, Huff, Wilson,Squires, Thomas, and Thomson
My BYU backpack
1.5 litter bottles
Room Checks with treats
chocolate wafers
Donkeys

Mt. Sinai
T-shirts from the Old City
The exchange rate in Israel and Egypt
Herding Sheep
Clean water in Israel
1 Shekel ice cream bars
Lana's
The Palestinian Costco
Bartering and getting the prices I want
Shopping and wandering through the city


Dormition Abbey
Olive picking and crushing
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Olive wood and Omar
The roses on my balcony
The Prayer Calls
Hebrew and Arabic
Damascus Gate

Ben Yehuda Street
Cute Jewish girls with their black skirts and headbands
Little Palestinians kids that live in the neighborhood
Augusta Victoria
Eating under a Sukkot
Jaffa Gate
West Jerusalem
The Jewish Quarter


The Western Wall
Jewish Holidays
Going to the Western Wall for the beginning of Shabbat
Eating chocolate pudding with whip cream everyday for breakfast
The green Orange/Lemon fruit
U.S. Consulate families
Hebrew U
Awesome movie Collection
Learning about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict
Learning about Judaism
Kissing the Sphinx

Day trips to Tel Aviv
The Mediterranean Sea
Rosh Hashanah
Parties at the Wall
Palestinian parties on Friday nights
Head Scarves
The cafeteria
PITAS
Honey
Forums
Learning about the Old Testament