Back to the Burg

I have now been home from Jerusalem for almost 4 months and it has been even longer than that since my last entry. I apologize and will try to be better…not that anyone reads this thing anyways.

This winter semester has been a crazy one. From school to dating to working to being ill, it has been a ride!

Lets start with school. I had the opportunity to take some really good classes this semester including Social Psychology, Social Problems, Adult Development, a Vocal class, Professional Development and a religion class.

Favorite: Social Psychology

Reason: We studied things like; why people get mad, why people help, personality, aggression, understanding yourself, the need to justify, and other awesome and interesting topics. Class was so much fun and interesting. We also had such a diverse group of people that it made class that much more interesting. Downfall was the tests….killer.

As for my social life, it has been a lot of fun this semester. Lucky me had three engaged roommates, so they were pretty much useless when it came to a social life. I ended up meeting tons of new people and had lots of things to do. Not much more to say in this area…maybe it wasn’t as great as I thought? No, it was great!

Working is work? I am now working in the office mostly, which means I get to talk to some very interesting people when they come in. I am in on most of the scoop and I am learning how to do tons of stuff. Part of me misses the kids, but then I get the chance to work with them on Mondays and Wednesdays. They are fun and cute, but they have their moments. I think I like them better from a distance…

As most of you know it has been an interesting semester with me being sick most of it. I got sick at the beginning of the semester and just never really recovered. I got sick again about 2 weeks ago and it got really bad. Body aches, headaches, temperature, extremely sore throat, and the feeling of death approaching. Tuesday morning I went to the Health Clinic on campus, they looked at my throat and then sent me to a specialist who sent me to the hospital to have emergency surgery to have the abscesses on my throat removed and take out my tonsils. Went to the hospital where they hooked me up to an IV. By this point I hadn’t been drinking water because it was extremely difficult so getting the IV in was an interesting experience. It took about 10 minutes of them tying my arm, flicking the back of my hand, and sticking me a needle to find the vain. Once they got it in, they gave me some morphine so I was no longer mad at them. They gave me a few more drugs, took me into surgery and I was a goner. Next thing I know, I am awake and life still sucks. If you don’t have to get your tonsils out when you’re an adult, I recommend that you don’t do it—not a fun experience. My mother was awesome enough and drove to Rexburg to get me. I went home for the rest of the week, which means that I missed a full week of classes right before exam week. Exam week was fun J

That pretty much sums up my semester.

See you again in 5 months! (Just kidding. I will try to be better about writing in this thing)

Boker Tov!

It has been a while and I apologize, but then not because I have been having too much fun! A lot has happened and so I wont be able to tell about everything. We went to this biblical park, crushed our own olives and eventually get our own oil, went to the Dead sea, and went to Jordan!

So the Dead Sea was pretty cool, but I honestly loved hiking and swimming in the near by waterfalls much better. We had to pay like 6 Shekels (a little less then $2) to get into this park and we just hiked up to these waterfalls. I climbed up the waterfall and jumped off and it was so much fun! I wish we spent more time at the waterfalls and then less time at the Dead Sea, but it was still super fun. This park is also part of several tour groups, so we had an audience while swimming and it was kind of funny. They probably thought we were idiots, but we didn’t even care. So after we were in this park for a couple hours we walked over to the Dead Sea. First off, it is really gross. Second, it was the weirdest thing ever! I could sit in the water and raise my hands and feet our of the water and not have any problems at all. That was a lie. I had problems getting out of the water because it took some work to get my feet under the water to stand up. The rocks on the side of the “beach” were coated in thick layers of salt. So there was a big group of us that were all just hanging out and talking in the water and all of a sudden we see this guy just covered in mud. So Jeremy and I decided to go find where his source was because we wanted the full Dead Sea experience. He ends up leading us to it and handing over piles of mud. I can not even begin to explain the odor that was coming from this sometimes expensive product. I almost threw up several time, but I got the pictures and the experience! I swear I could still smell it after several showers, but I knew I was just making it up. So overall, Dead Sea experience was good and we are going back!

Now JORDAN!!! I LOVED Jordan. I liked it better then Egypt just because it was a lot more relaxed, but Petra and Jerash was just as cool as the Pyramids. First we drive to Petra and we get there pretty late so it is already dark. We went and walked around the streets and talked to the shop owners and we ended up dancing with a bunch of Jordanians and tourists in the streets outside a restaurant. We had just had our Arab dancing night so we knew all the dances and everything. It was way cool, but not as cool at PETRA!! We get up pretty early the next morning because our tour guide wanted to get there first. Great idea because there really wasn’t that many people there in the morning. I have tons of pictures without others in it and the weather was awesome. I don’t really know what to say about the famous treasury in Indiana Jones, except it really is that awesome. I would love to be able to verbally express the grandness of it all, but I know I cant. The details and the idea of it all being carved out is just amazing. We also hiked up to the Monastery which is just as huge as Petra and I had never heard or seen pictures of it before. Petra was huge and there are caves everywhere and carvings and theaters and just awesomeness. The colors of the rock are also indescribable. I think I got a few good pictures of the colors of the rock. So moral of the story: PETRA WAS AWESOME!

I had never heard of Jerash either and this was also pretty dang cool. It is an ancient Roman city and it is huge! This girl in our group went to Rome not too long ago and she said that Jerash blew all of that the pieces. There were remains of hundreds of pillars, a theater, fountains, and churches.

The last big place we went to in Jordan was the River Jordan. First off, it was really gross. I took a picture with my finger in the water and I had to hanatize it right after. Second, it was really skinny, probably seven feet. And Israel is right on the other side of that river.

I know my blog entries get long, but I just get so excited about everything I get to see and do and I don’t want to leave anything out. So if you don’t want to read details, I am doing great, having a blast, and I am not returning as the person I came.

Grandpa Elder Holland

I felt like this topic deserves a separate post because it was so amazing and this experience alone will make me a changed person. I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 48 hours with Elder Holland. He came two weekends ago because he had some church business in Lebanon. He was in charge of the Center and he always makes a stop here. He came on Sabbath (Saturday) and we got to eat dinner with him before he gave his fireside. The fireside started with a musical number given by 8 people in our group. They sang Master, the Tempest is Ranging. It was the most beautiful musical number I have ever experienced. I have never really been a huge fan of the song, but the arrangement and the voices were all just too perfect. I started crying at this point and I knew I was in trouble. Elder Holland, as we all know, is amazing. He spoke on mercy and how is the Christ’s main attribute that we all need to work on. The ultimate example of his perfect mercy is the Atonement. Before he got into the heat of his talk he spoke on the Center and his love for this place. Then in the Elder Holland tone he commanded us to never return as the person we came. He said if we did we would be a disappointment to this church. I mean, I was always motivated to be a changed person, but now it is on a different level. I don’t mind the extra encouragement. Everyone I spoke to thought that Elder Holland was speaking right to them during his fireside. But they are all WRONG, because he was talking to me! J He influenced us all and we all needed to hear it.

Elder Holland was staying in the Center so we got the unique experience to see him several more times. We saw him later that night and got a picture with him. We also got to see him the next morning. A bunch of us were going to the Dead Sea so we were all upstairs waiting for our taxi and all of a sudden someone grabs my neck. Lo and behold it is Elder Holland. He just stood there for a few minutes and talked about going to the Dead Sea and told us to have fun. I feel like he could be my grandpa or something. He is very kind and very funny. His wife is very cute and little. I received hugs from both of them. I know that this experience alone was awesome. Combining it with the fact that I am in Jerusalem just makes it that more unique and that more amazing. I am definitely a changed person. 

More Pictures!

Me really happy about the sunset

Steve, me, and Derrick happy about the sunset again. 

Leanna, me, Kaylie, and Taren in the ocean.

This is the morning of the last day of Sukkot at the western wall. Dome of the rock in the background. 

Matisyahu. We were closer at one point, but none of those pictures turned out as well. 

Me and Hailey before the concert. 

Jerusalem, If I Forget You

Lea Bea the Great (aka Leanna Davidson's blog which is better then mine)

The Ballad on Stairs

Morning light to setting dusk
climbing stairs is a must

Top to bottom, bottom to top
the merciless stones is a must

Sweating 'n Panting as I climb
If it does not stop I'll lose my mind

Weak calves, complaining toes
this is a hell I have not choose

Right left I can't escape
They haunt my dreams and when i wake

When will it stop when will it end
the wrath of the stone will not bend

If your reading this hear my plea:
Drown my sorrows and send cookies to me.

Leanna Davidson

btheholyland.blogspot.com

Jerusalem, if i forget you...

During all the anticipation of coming to Jerusalem I was going through all of my stuff because I had to move out of my apartment and organize things at my mothers house. One of the things that I did was go through some of my old journals. I am not going to lie; I think the most I had written in one journal was about 30 pages. I have about 6 journals and they all start “I know I have been really bad about writing in my journals before, but this time it is different.” I was shamed. So I found an empty journal that I bought so long ago I can’t even remember (probably a New Years resolution that never happened) and I made it one of my main goals to write in it everyday during this semester and hopefully develop a life long habit. I am happy to report that I have not missed one day! It makes writing this blog a little easier because I have forgotten what has happened already!

Naturally, a lot has happened but I will only tell some of the highlights. Sukkot and tensions, Jericho, Journey of Faith movie, General Conference, Heziekiah’s tunnel, and MATISYAHU!!

Ok, so Sukkot is a Jewish holiday and it lasts a week. They build these booths that they eat in and some children will sleep in them at night. They can decorate them with lights and fruit and all kinds of different things. It is to memorialize the journey from Egypt to Caanan and they give thanks for harvests and they pray for rain. This holiday has caused a lot of tension between the Muslims and Jews. Not really the holiday itself, but the Temple Mt. has been shut down and that has caused tension. It should open after Sukkot though. Lots of riots, rocks being thrown, and most everything has been shut down for us. We can only go to West Jerusalem and we have to pay for a taxi there and back so it gets a little old. But being here during Sukkot has been so great. We got to go to the Western Wall this morning for the last day of Sukkot. We were allowed to take pictures and I got some pretty cool ones (pictures coming within the week). They have their willows and their citron and they shake them and bang them while praying for rain. It was a really neat experience.

Jericho was pretty awesome. It was really small and the oldest known manmade structure is there.  Got a picture, don’t worry. Jericho is also below sea level and it was really hot. Right outside the walls of Jericho there was this guy with fruit and I bought a mango. I ate it a few days later and it was the most heavenly thing I could imagine. I want to go back and just buy lots and lots of fruit!

I don’t know if anyone has seen or heard of the movie Journey of Faith but we got to watch it here. It is a history thing about the archeological evidence that supports the Book of Mormon. Brother Brown is the head guy here and he was the one to find this evidence! That is so awesome! He is in the movie and my Ancient History teacher is in the movie as well. I would watch it sometime, I have been to most of the cites they talk about, and it is just pretty cool.

General Conference. Not much to say about this except that is was amazing as usual. I was one of the dedicated ones who stayed up to watch it live. They were on at 6:00 and then 10:00. They are playing them again tomorrow for those who missed them. I would have to say that Holland’s was my favorite talk. I just love how forward he is and just says it how it is. His whole talk was his testimony and man it is a powerful one. As for the rest of conference; basically we all need to love each other!

Hezekiah’s tunnel was so awesome! It is this tunnel that they built so that they could get water into the walls of their city. We got to walk through it and the water got above our knees. It was pitch black and it was just a lot of fun. I want to go back sometime with fewer people because they were kind of pushing us through with so many people.

Last, but not least MATISYAHU!! First off, it was the strongest base I have ever felt in my life and it was awesome! Second, it was right outside the Old City wall. I cannot believe I had the chance to see Matisyahu in Jerusalem. I have heard a lot of his music before and I liked it. I never owned any of his music, but this concert was so awesome! I have been to concerts before and everyone just mind their own business. This concert everyone was talking to everyone. This one guy found out that we were mormon and everyone was yelling for the mormons. At first they though it was weird that we were there and then he said it don’t matter what religion you are, Matisyahu is awesome! He was drunk, but pretty funny. We were pretty close and I got some pretty sweet pictures and even a video of him singing the Jerusalem song.

IT IS SO AWESOME HERE!! Hopefully, we will be able to break free of the center next week and hit some more cites. Sunday we are going to the beach in Tel Aviv again and I am so excited! It is the last day we can go because the beaches close in a week. It will be a blast, so ill post some pictures of that as well. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to come here, and I don’t regret any of it, even when we are stuck in this center. I am meeting some amazing people and seeing some amazing things and I am trying my hardest to soak in everything that I can. 

PICTURES!!!

These are some pictures from Egypt. They are in random order because i am in a hurry. Egypt was so much fun, i wish i could post all my pictures! Enjoy!

Veiw of the Nile from out hotel room.

In front of the big pyramid, which i went in!

This is a pretty good picture of how green egypt is, and in one step is pure desert.

Hiking down Mt. Sinai. 700 stairs was the last part of the hike. 

This is Dave and I on top of Mt. Sinai.

Kyle and I at sunset, i look pretty weird in this picture. 

Right when we got to the top. Best part of the Egypt trip!

At the pool in Cairo. These guys in our group like to through us and this is me doing a backflip.

Kaylie, me, Tess, and Leanna at the Oasis Hotel.

EGYPT!

Leanna and I outlining the pyramid!

This is our camel right at sunset by the Nile.