Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Today we had church and had the area 70 for Eastern Europe speak, so that was cool. The choir also sang an amazing song which the choir director (who plays the organ for the San Francisco Opera) wrote. Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Galilee for 10 days, but before we go we're attending a sunrise church service at the Garden Tomb. How cool is that? I'm really excited to be at the Garden Tomb on the day that Jesus was resurrected. I hope the Easter Bunny treats everyone well! I'll update you all when I get back.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

On Tuesday, I went to Bethlehem! We had to pass through the Separation Wall, whose construction is very controversial, and then we went to Bethlehem University, where we toured the campus and talked to the students. I found out that the students totally condone the Palestinian terrorism, because they feel it is just reciprocation for what the Israelis have done to them. While they profess to be for peace, when they actually talk about what’s going on, it seems like they’d rather keep fighting than just take one for the team and try to negotiate for peace. It’s frustrating because although they were biased (who isn’t here?) they were probably right about Israel provoking them to action. However, how juvenile is it to react to the provocation? It’s like trying to police third-graders; you can make them stop getting back at each other, but it won’t be due to their own logic. It will be because you made them stop. I think that’s the only way that there can ever be peace here. If the US just puts both sides in “timeout” until they behave, then they will have to be civil to each other and then peace talks can start from there. It was really interesting hearing all of the students’ experiences though; one girl has to travel from Hebron to Bethlehem every day. This trip would usually take half an hour, but with all of the checkpoints she has to pass through, it takes two hours. A lot of passing the checkpoints has to do with the soldier’s moods, too; some days it’s easy to get through and other days you can be detained for 5 hours. I can’t understand their mentality though; they say they’re used to the checkpoints and that they would never move. If it was that hard for me to get to places, I would definitely move. It makes me grateful for the freedom I have as an American; I can really travel almost anywhere I want to without being harassed. Another thing that I found kind of depressing about the Palestinians was their total lack of optimism. They kept a hole in one of the walls of their building to remember when the Israelis sent 4 missiles into the university when it was shut down during the Second Intifada in 2002. They say that the missiles were just shot there to provoke them since they weren’t housing any wanted Palestinians. They’re just so negative about the past that it seems like they can’t look forward to the future, and it’s really frustrating to be an onlooker listening to them complain about how they’ve been wronged. I know they have been, but so have the Israelis. Both sides like to play the victim, which makes it difficult to differentiate between lies and truth on either side. I just hate it because if they would work for peace they could so easily achieve it, but it seems like both sides would rather sit and complain (and beat up on each other).

Going into the Church of the Nativity. The door has gotten progressively smaller since it was first built to keep animals, especially people on horseback, out of the church.
Later we went to Manger Square and saw the Church of the Nativity. It was so cool to finally see because before I came here I watched a documentary about Bethlehem and saw the church and learned about its history, and then I saw it!

This is where Jesus was supposedly born.

This was a cross hanging that covered a part of the church. I thought it was a little disturbing since there was a skull and crossbones in the bottom of the cross.

This was in a cave under the church. This light was a little weird too because the hands looked real in the light.

This is a courtyard outside the Church of the Nativity. It's really pretty.

Palm Sunday!

Parading through Lion's Gate

Yesterday was Palm Sunday! Whenever I saw that written on a calendar before, it didn’t have any meaning to me. But now I know that Palm Sunday means a parade in the streets, with everyone singing and waving their palm fronds. It’s such a party! There were a few thousand people gathered in Bethphage, where the procession begins. There is a little church in Bethphage where they have the supposed stone that Jesus used to get on the donkey as he began His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. All of the students at the Jerusalem Center participated in the parade and we even got filmed and got our pictures taken by the AP. So look for me in the international news! It was also fun because everyone was speaking different languages, and one time we were singing “How Great Thou Art”, and a group next to us started singing with us in their own language. It was awesome to have that connection with them even though we couldn’t actually communicate with each other. Two hours (and less than a mile) later, I made it through Lion’s Gate to the church where they have Mass. I didn’t stay for that part, but it was such a fun outing!

Jesus' "stepping stone"

Yay for palm fronds!

Look at all of the pilgrims!

A Tour of the Jerusalem Center

Enjoying a good book on the porch

Right now, we're in lockdown at the Jerusalem Center due to the shooting that happened last Thursday in West Jerusalem. Basically, we can't go anywhere. To keep myself from going crazy, I decided to give you a tour of where I live (ok, it did take a little push from my mom!).

The computer lab is usually really crowded. I'm glad I brought my laptop!

The view from the auditorium (where we have church). If you look closely or enlarge the picture, you can see the Dome of the Rock.

The auditorium, where we have an organ! Every Saturday it accompanies us during church.

This is the entrance that all the visitors and tour groups use.

The Oasis, where we eat all of our mediocre meals.

My room. This was on a cleaning check day so that's as clean as it gets.

My bathroom. The floors are marble and they're FREEZING! Especially now that they turned off the heat and switched to A/C.

My bed is the one on the right. There are 4 people to a room-my other 2 roommates' beds are to the right of the door. Pretty nice digs huh?

The Jordan River and the Red Rock of Petra

By the side of the Jordan River. Right before I took this picture a man baptized his 2-year-old infant. That would be the coolest to be baptized in the same river as Jesus!

My class and I traveled to Jordan for 4 days, and it was awesome! The first day, on our way to Petra, we stopped at the Jordan River and saw the traditional site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. The Judean Wilderness surrounding the river was sparsely vegetated, and a lot different than I had imagined. It kind of reminded me of Tucson because it was pretty deserty, but it had a little more greenery. We also went to Mount Nebo, which is where Moses saw the promised land from before he was translated.

On Mount Nebo

The first view of the Treasury in Petra from the canyons

Monastery in Petra

The next day was Petra! Our hotel was right near the entrance to Petra, so at 7:30 we started walking down the canyons to the actual ruins of Petra. As I was walking down the last canyon, I turned a corner and saw the treasury building in Petra. It was amazing; so ornately carved yet also so large. I honestly find Petra more amazing than the pyramids, which is saying a lot because I’ve wanted to see the pyramids ever since I was 8 years old and checked out every book in the library about it. There are tons of buildings in Petra, and in its heyday there were 30,000 people living there! I would highly recommend seeing this to anyone. It’s incredible.

On our third day, we went to Amman, Jordan’s capital city. We went to the old Roman city of Jerash, and it definitely reminded me of Rome. We saw lots of ruins and then went to a gladiator show! The costumes were pretty authentic, and they had gladiator “fights” complete with fake blood as well as a chariot race. It had a lot of history intertwined with the fighting, so I learned interesting things. Afterward we went to the branch in Amman and met the branch president and district president. I learned that the Church was given property in Abu Dhabi (which is in the U.A.E), but right now a refugee camp is on it, so before we can build a church there, we’ll have to relocate them. Later that night I went to the Mecca Mall and saw a movie! I haven’t been able to feel American like that for 2 months, and it was so nice.

At the Mosque

Roman ruins in Amman

Today we went to the King Abdullah Mosque and then the Citadel in Amman, which had more Roman ruins. It was a pretty low-key day, and we actually made it back to the Center in 4 hours, including border crossing time. Tomorrow we’re going to Eilat snorkeling, so I’ll keep you posted!

Crepes!

Today the part of Jerusalem we live in was closed to students because of the protests going on as offshoots of the fighting in Gaza. So we decided to take a taxi to West Jerusalem (which is the nicer part) and went to a crepe cafe. It was really good! I think one of those would really flourish in Provo. I'll have to look into it... Tomorrow we leave for Jordan and we'll be gone for 4 days. I'll write again when we get back!