I am official finished with school in Jerusalem!!

I just finished my last final and I am so happy and excited to be finished with it. I have been waking up every morning this week at about 5 am, with todays exception being 4 am and have been juggling field trips and studying all week long. I am tired and so proud to be finished and have had survived this long week. Now i can truly enjoy the last week here, and really cherish Jerusalem with no distractions!! I am celebrating and rewarding myself with a shopping trip in the old city!! :)

Family Mail

It is always exciting to be one that receives mail, since mail takes along time to get here, and we receive it about 3 times a week, so I was excited to see that I got two letters from home today. I knew they were coming, and were articles from dad, but it was still exciting to receive a little letter from home.
Part of the article that dad sent, was due to me visiting a relative's grave site while in Galilee area. Our class went to the gravesite of John Clark, who is my great-great-uncle, becuase he was my grandpa's uncle, is what I understand so far. He was sent to turkey on a mission and came to the area of Jerusalem to teach Arabic to the visitors that come. He died of small pox, I believe, and was buried rather quickly for fear the disease would spread.
So I was excited to see the grave site of a relative all the way in Israel, and to know that he is part of my family. Here is a couple of pictures of his grave site, more to come once I get the pictures others took of it due to my camera being out of commission that day.

Masada, Daniel in the Lions Den?

On the same field trip to the Dead Sea, on Monday, we also went to Masada. This is a city ontop of a huge moutain making it the perfect fortress that is isolated from anything else. Herod the great built a huge palace on the edge so that it had some shade from the hot sun. We were allowed to wear shorts for this field trip, and I am very greatful we were able to because it was really hot, and I do not understand how these people survived the heat. Then again I wonder the same things with people from AZ and UT hahah. We went around exploring the area and we found a huge cistern, a place to store water, and it reminded me of the story Daniel in the Lions Den. Here is a picture of me in the cistern...

It is True, you do float in the Dead Sea!

I have always enjoyed swimming, I love being in the water and have always had a hard time floating. I just sink, but I have found a body of water where I can and did float!! The dead sea has such a heavy amount of salt, that you will float. Want evidence? here you go...

After my time in the dead Sea, which was short because the salt was hurting a cut I recieved from getting in with the huge salt blocks surrounding the shore line. I went to get a mud treatment. The mud is famous for making skin very soft, and I had to try it out. My friends and I walked to where the mud was located at, and I saw many ladies loading up plastic bags with this black mud. I had a blast just covering up my entire body with mud. So here is another lovely picture of me covered in the famous Dead Sea mud...


The best part, is that my skin is very soft, and it was free!!
(The white stuff i am standing on is not snow, that is the salt that is slippery and sharp)

Here is me in front of the tomb. The service was alot of singing, by a very cute man with an attractive accent with a couple of passage readings. It was another Jesus party, and it was awesome! I really enjoyed it because of the happiness, joy that was felt because he has risen, and that is what is important about the Easter season.

Easter Week in Jerusalem

I have always loved the month of April because of a week off from school, warm weather but mostly because of Easter. my love for Easter grew alot this past week because I was not only able to be in the place where Christ died, but follow the account of the entire week with reading passages in the New Testament and was able attend different churches.

It started off with palm sunday, the day that Christ came into Jerusalem. It was a Jesus loving Crazy Mob! here are some pictures

I ended the week, the following Sunday, attending a service at the garden tomb. the service started at 6:30, right after sunrise, meaning we had to leave the center at 5:15, which meant I got up at 4:30 that morning. Boy was that hard, its been a long time since I have gotten up that early for anything. It was worth it though. The service was amazing, the place was packed with people from all over the world. I loved my spot, I was on the stairs just a few yards from the tomb inside the place. It isnt the exact tomb of Christ, but they believe it to be in the place but the important part is that "He has risen".
I am also on TV, they had a live broadcasting of the service.

Who is the true Disney fan?

I have been enjoying the sea of Galilee, but it isn't the same as the beach. It did make me miss the beach even more because I was so close to water, but knew how much better the ocean is then a sea. So when we were able to go and see the Mediterranean Ocean, I was really excited. I know its not the same as the Pacific Ocean, but it comes from the same body of water right?
In honor of my ability of speaking Disney fluently, I decided to take some great pictures inspired by one of my favorite princesses. So lets see who knows their Disney Princesses..

After getting a bit wet and sandy, I knew that if we are by water some more, I was going to go all out because I am already wet and sandy why not become more.

So when we went to Caesarea, a very prominent and flourishing city during Herod's time, there was a spot where the waves would splash over. All I could remeber was flashbacks to Sea World and wanting to be in the Splash Zone. So i knew I was wet and sandy and wanted to do something I would not do usually, so i went and waited for the perfect wave to come over and get me soaked. It was so much fun just watching this huge wave and leaning over the rail and getting soaked. I loved smelling the sea salt and just wanted to be on my beach again. This is how I know that you can take the girl away from the beach but you cant take the love of the beach out of the girl.


Here is Dane and I a few moments after the big splash. The back was alot worse due to having my back to the water the first time so that I could look at the camera when the water would come over.

Church at Tiberias, Galilee

I was really excited to be able to go to church with the branch in Tiberias, as well as seeing the view that is second to the centers view in the church. Plus I really wanted to see how their branch was and how big it would be. The branch is small and new, but the branch meets in a house that was dedicated by Elder Holland to be a church building.

Here is Lizzie and I in front of the church with the Sea of Galilee behind us.


After church we went to Yardenit, a major baptismal site on the Jordan river. HEre they had lots of people being baptized with many gates and rails installed inside the different areas on the river. There was also a video station where they could record the baptisms as well as a huge store and a nice looking resturant. It was cool to go and watch the baptisms, escpecially when there was a large group of singing going on and the group looked like they were from Eastern Africa. I knew they looked liked the people from Ethiopia or around that area due to how their skin was.
Here I am holding the picture from the Bible pictures that is the exact spot of were the photo was taken. Its been fun trying to find all the places that are in the bible and to see them in real life.

Galma and Hippos, Galilee

I was able to be in Galilee for the last 10 days and I miss it already... I have noticed that I havent written that much about my experiences or sites visited in Galilee so I will try to do a bit of catching up.

This "camels hump" is Gamla, where the Jewish people revolted against the Roman and were able to win the first battle but wasent able to come back for the second battle. So the leader then was able to convince the people to jump off the mountain instead of being conqured.

So there is a little piece of history, which is werid for me to write about but I have to show, to my dad who is reading these blogs, that I am learning here. The hike down to the mountain was a beautiful hike and we were able to do it on a great day. located on the hill was a synagoue, houses and other small structures that are still able to see during the time of the Revolt.

We then were able to hike to a waterfall, which was another amazing hike and a bit more easier to get to. I did have my judgements of the waterfall because I now compare it to the Victoria Falls, but it was still amazing to see.

Here is some of my friends Rachel Bennett, Amanda Walker and Amy Washburn.







We then headed to Hippos, another site that is what to have been believed the city that christ referred to as the "city that cannot be hid" druing his sermon on Mt.Beatitudes in Matthew 5 or 6 I believe.

Today we had to stay on the trail because there is still mines not found. Here is Rebecca and I posing for the sign. It is thriling to be in a "dangerous" place. But what I felt bad was for the cows that were out wondering in this dangerous land. How sad would that be if a cow found a land mine.

The Sea of Galilee and I
In Capharnaum, the place where Peter's family lived and Jesus and apostles stayed at for many meetings.

Chilling in Galilee, land of Jesus

So i have been in Galilee for a couple of days now, but its been hard to blog since the internet service isnt that great here in the Kabutz. I have a little apartment like that is right on the sea of Galilee and it is gorgeous. We are able to go around the different areas surronding the sea of Galilee and study the miracles and teachings Christ did here, and it has helped alot with connecting the stories to the places. I really enjoyed the boat ride our class took out in the sea and learn more about the New Testament stories that took place, like how Christ came to his apostles on a stormy sea to comfort and guide them. I have really enjoyed my time here because it has helped imensly on understanding who Christ was as a man walking and healing others in this area and to see the views that he might have seen, and stand int the Sea that he stood in thousand years ago.
Its been great to have more thinking and pondering time here. Every other day we are taking field trips and on the other days we have class for about 3 hours and then rest of the day is free to study, read or even go play in the water. I really enjoyed just laying out and trying to get some sun on my white skin, thanks to Idaho, but thats ok I am getting the sun and that is what matters.
Another fun thing, is at night some of us girls get together and watch a movie in the double twin size bed on our next door neighbors. Last night we watched "Return to Me" and had at least 9 girls on the bed, and it was a blast. I really like these types of sleepovers because I am able to go back to my bed and sleep comfortably while still getting the girl time in that is required for sleepovers.
I will try to upload pictures and write a little about each place, but dont hold me to it...

This is me, still alive after the race! :)

I survived the run!!

Ok so I have survived the 10K run in Jerusalem and I am sore but I am alive.
We left the center around 7:30 and got bused to the meeting area for the runners in West Jerusalem. From there we waited in the pouring rain, and strong wind for 10:15 to come because that is when the race would official start.
I just mostly walked around and looked at booths and to see if there was any free food or prizes I could grab before the race. I did get a key chain which is pretty sweet after spinning the wheel that had hebrew on it, so i have no idea what the wheel said or what I landed on. I basically tried to keep warm, even though I was soaked, and kept thinking positivly and not allowing myself to get nervous.
Now I did not train for this run at all, I have only ran one time while being here, and basically signed up so I could get the cool t-shirt, medal, friends were doing it and the experience to run around Jerusalem. So keeping that in mind, I was hoping to walk most of the run and to take pictures, maybe get off the track a bit and grab a shwarma or some type of food, but with the rain my plans changed alot.
I knew I needed to run this entire course, to be warm and battle the rain and to get the race done as fast as I could. That is when I started getting nervous because I have never ran that far in one run, never have done a race and now had weather conditions to battle against as well as the hills on the course.
I decided to then just do the best I can do, and not to allow myself to walk at all, because that would only make it worse when trying to start up the run again. I ran by myself, and I really enjoyed it because I was able to get that independence and alone time I have been craving for the last 3 months being here. It was hard to run after the 6K mark because it started to hail, and it was stinging my face and the wind was picking up making it hard to breathe at times. I just started laughing because I never imagined myself in Jerusalem, running for an event I never trained for, making a rash decision to do so, trying to rain against the hail and wind, while having one of the best times of my life.
I was just loving every moment, and found that I can really push myself on those times were my legs were crapping up and I didnt think they would give me another 3K more. But they did.
As I came up to the finished line, it looked like it would end at the bottom of the hill I was running on, and had tons of people cheering as well as my ipod telling me that I had only 200 yards left, so I ran hard to end strong, only to realize I wasent finished and the finish line was at the top of a hill I was now approaching around the corner. THat is when i had to get on my game face and keep going.
It was very helpful finishing strong because I recognized familiar faces cheering me on. They were other students from the program including Grace, Travis, Sarah Brown, Dan, Ashley, Bonnie, Sheleigh, and others that I feel bad I cant name off right now.
When I did cross the finish line I wanted to have that moment to myself, so i let a big group of people pass me so that I was finishing by myself rather then in a big group of people.
The announcer called my name, and where I was from and it was exhilarating feeling. I could not believe I did it, and that I did it in my opinion at a decent time for never training at all.
Plus I burned 754 calories during that race.
I am now trying to finish my last final paper for my Palestine class and then hoping to crash and take a nap. I may load pictures of me from the race, but it depends on how nasty I look in them...

I am running a 10K in the morning!! :)

Alright so I have noticed how long it has been since I have blogged, and since trying to catch up will be too overwhelming for me as well as time consuming, I am just going to be re-capping what is going on today and not do catch- up as much.
I did take plenty of pictures of Turkey, and for me seeing those pictures is what helps me remember events that occurred, so if anyone wants any stories I am happy to share, just wont be able to blog about the events right now.

So yesterday, today and tomorrow have been "race days". I say that because I have been trying to finish my last final paper for Palestine class, that has been taking me forever to do, as well as the other papers I am required to do for New Testament and Ancient Near History, while at the same time going on field trips this week and getting ready for Galilee as well as my 10K race.

That is right, I am running my first 10K race tomorrow in Jerusalem, and I am really excited for it but a little worried because I it is suppose to rain tomorrow during the race. But i think the rain will force me to run a bit faster and may be refreshing to cool all of us hot runners down. On top of trying to prepare for the race, end the papers for finals, while trying to get money and packing for Galilee, I am still remembering to breathe. Which is hard for me at times cause I do get stressed and try to perfect everything along the way. Also to add to my plate, because I can never have too much to do, I am helping to coordinate about 55 students to go to Tel Avi on Sunday, which I am really excited for as well. I am hoping to not be in control that much and just plan the rides to and from and let everyone else take it from there. But I am really excited for what this weekend holds, next week in Galilee, and hopefully to remember to breathe on these hectic times.
Well I have to really go work on my paper now, just needed a quick break and thought parents would appreciate a quick update on the blog. See ya!

Jumping off in Pergamon, an amazing place and offers great steps to come off.

I am on the Trojan horse, in Troy!! It was awesome being part of the experience and realizing there isnt much left of this place

Back from Turkey with a Turkey gut to show off! :)

So we got back to Jerusalem today at 4 am and was able to sleep in till about 11 to get food and get ready for our mini church service at 12. It was weird to sleep in again to 10 but then realizing that I got less sleep then I do other nights when I get up earlier but go to bed sooner.
I do love Turkey and the amazing structures it offers as well as the wonderful delicious food. Oh my goodness what great food we had, I could just eat it all day but wait I did eat it all the food all day long. The bread was my downfall but also amazing and great to eat all the time. The hotel places we stayed at was very nice and realized how greatful I am that it was not the tourist time so that we could stay in these nice hotels instead of the cheaper hotel rooms.
For about 3 nights our hotels were on the beach, which really made me excited and miss home. I loved watching the sunsets on the beach and a couple of times I thought I was at my home beach watching the sunset in gorgeous SD. But that is what is so great about sunsets, they are wonderful and magical no matter where in the world someone may be.

I have great stories to share about all the places I went, so I will try to mention them as the pictures come on to the blog.

Turkey Baby!!

I am offically been in Turkey for a day, and i love it here! The food is wonderful and so amazing that I could just keep on eating all day long. I realized that I will be coming back with a turkey gut and I am ok with that. The mosques and the landscapes are gorgeous and our hotel's dinning room looks out to a major town square, across from Instanbul university and a gorgeous mosque.
Today we were able to tour Instanbule on foot, and not on a bus which I was very excited about and got to see amazing sites.
We then were able to take a ship cruise and see the bridges that connect Asia to Europe and it was such a wonderful trip. I really love how the food we are served here is in the perfect size, its a great proportion for the food which allows me to enjoy many other selections of amazing food Turkey has to offer.
we were able to go to the Blue Mosque, which was gorgous and amazing, the Basilica Cistern and teh Topkapi Palace. It was wonderful and I took amazing pictues that I am really excited to share and tell more about, but I will do it later.
we are going to Troy tomorrow, and I am super excited but also have to get up super early tomorrow so good night!!

I found the snow!!!

Today, March 2, 2012 it snowed in Jerusalem!
I have heard that it has snowed in Jerusalem, but had no idea that it would occur while i was here! I woke up early this morning, and looked outside and saw what I thought was snow. So i went outside, forgetting my shoes and coat because I was so excited, and felt hard hail coming down on me. I was depressed because I thought that this is what they may think snow was, and was pretty upset about it.
Don't worry, during my first day of New Testament class, it was snowing! I was so excited that we were let out early for a break to go and enjoy the snow. It was a blast, and a dangerous place to be with all the snowballs being made and thrown at random people. It was amazing and so great to be outside, overlooking Jerusalem in the snow. That does not happen everyday.
We then came back inside, soaked through all my clothing, but thats ok I will just up the vitamin C pills. I then really wanted to be outside and enjoy the snow, since I didnt get any at school this last fall, and was able to participate in another snowball fight. It was great, even though i am horrible at throwing snowballs, I am good at dodging them. The teachers' kids got out of school early today due to the snow, and we were able to benefit from their snowman. It was adorable and fun to take pictures with.
Our friend Sterling had to leave today, so he wanted to go out to the city one last time. Unfortunately due to it being friday, we were unable to go out to the Old City until 4 so we went to W. Jerusalem. We were able to get a cab,which was nice to not walk in the snow, and go to the shuq. The shuq is so much fun to go into. Just imagine a alley way filled with pastries, dried fruits, fish, candy, halva, and everything else possible along both sides with men yelling out the different prices for their items. It is a huge market, and reminds me of the one in Aladdin. I bought some really great pastries and dried fruit, which is almost done but oh well.
I then was able to enjoy a delicious shworma, which was the best one yet!
I then had to hurry back to take the last final for Old Testament, and guess what I am officially done with 3 of my classes, and only have 2 classes now to focus on!!!
It is an amazing feeling to be done with those classes and to know that I get to go in Turkey in 2 days, and then will go to Galilee and will have many more days of free time for the city.

Thats right Girls Dominate and destroy! :)

Yep thats right, girls rule and will dominate! :)

Ammunition Hill

Yesterday was my free day, which meant going out and exploring the City! I was so excited to get out and go see the city and do something outside and not worry about time or anything. I knew that this would be the only day i would be out in the city since all this week I have Finals.
I am excited to be done with most if not all my classes, but know this week will not be fun at all with all the studying I have and will not have time to go out in the city. So I wanted to live it up yesterday and just stay out as long as I can, and probably wont be writing the rest of the week because I wont be in the best of mood! :) haha

But ammunition hill is a museum and a park the commemorates the Israelite that died in the 6 day war in 1967. It had a huge tank, which was really fun to climb it and then soon later found out on a sign with arabic and hebrew that said "no climbing" but oh well I havent studied enough arabic to know what it means and I can use the excuse of a dumb American I guess. But the movie was amazing to see, and I was surprised to know it wasn't free to watch. We soon found out that the place may close due to lack of funds, so I am thinking of the money I paid for the movie as a donation. It was just really funny to be charged by the workers there, and in front of us were discussing how much to charge us. At least the movie was cool, and we got to sit and have the entire room to ourselves.
Afterwords we headed to the Old City to get lunch at a local restaurant. Lina's has the best hummus in the world with amazing pitas. You just have to be comfortable with the next table touching you, and able to eat with an occasional bump in the back by people walking through the aisle. I am getting better at just going in and shoving my way in to get a table or to pay for stuff because here, if you wait in "line" you will be waiting a long time. It was hard to realize that no one really waits their turn, but rather when you are ready you shove your way up there.
I then did a little shopping, which is always a fun time to bargain down the merchants and able to get a good price if you are really friendly. Some of my guy friends complain how girls are able to get a better price then them, but I think it is perfectly fair and I dont mind flirting a bit to get a better price.
I then headed back and started some studying, and since then have been going to class and studying, so thats about it. But stay tuned because next week I will be in Turkey!! :)
That is when things will get interesting, and I can hardly wait!!

Mini- Field Trip

For our mini Field Trip we went to see the Separation wall. It was a huge wall and our guide told us how it is more of a symbol for the tourist, and we could see that because all of the grafitti was in English, not Arabic. He also told us how the kids are able to climb up the wall in about 9 seconds, and he knows cause he timed it! I did enjoy the views we were able to go see, and it was nice to get out for once.

I will be mentioning about the Holocaust Museum, soon I just have to get to class.

Seperation Wall

With my Israel Professor at Sedar dinner. I was the Afikoman meaning I found the bread that he hid, alot like Easter, and got that huge thing of candy bars! Thank you Easter for the years of being able to analyze the seeker and finding the prize.

leading the sheep, thats right a born sheep herder. All I need is my dog, Circa...not Dazey.

Me with my sheep

I am now a Sheperd!!

We went to a place Neot Kedumim Field, and it was an area that has been reconstructed to look like the place that it would have during Old Testament time. It had many of the same trees that would have existed them including an Almond tree and fruit trees as well as the tree that made the crown placed on Christ.
What i really enjoyed was the opportunity to heard some sheep. I learned that the sheep follows the other sheep and that they get scared when walking in front of them for they will feel boxed in. I also learned that if I grab the bigger sheep or the one that stands out in the front and use that one to lead, the others will follow. It is all about having respect in a way and not forcing them to do what you want but to think out what you want them to do and how you are allowing them to do it. I can see how it relates to parenthood. If a parent wants a child to do impossible tasks and then keep interfering or giving them more directions, it can overwhelm them and will start to panic and not be able to succeed.
I also was able to make some pitas over the fire, which was really fun but i smelled like smoke the rest of the day and my eyes were burning being in that smoke the whole time. But it was a great experience to make them.
I just had a great time on this field trip and would not mind getting some sheep, I think I am a natural at being a Shepard. So if all else fails and I am not able to succeed in life I will be a Shepard.

Another photo of the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church aka Jasmine's Palace

This is me in frount of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was a gorgeous day to go and the sky was very clear. We have been getting alot of rain, which is great to have moisture and it makes me appreciate those gorgeous blue days!!

We are demonstrating one of our vast skills of being a fountain. An added bonus to the picture is shown behind as well..

Hiking in Hezicia's tunnel

Today for our field trip we went exploring the city of David. The city is located outside of todays Old City, and is the place where David and his son built their palaces and cities. It was awesome going through the little tunnel that carries water through the once city of David. It was dark, so I am glad that I brought my headlamp, and it was a tight squeeze, so I am greatful I am not claustrophobic. Alot of the taller people in group were bent down most of the time, but I was lucky and didnt have to do it the entire time. The water greets you right away when you get in, and it was clean water so no worries there. I was happy that the deepest parts was in the beginning so I could just get over the shock of cold water and being wet. I had a blast just walking in the water and trying to find my way through the narrow passage way. It did remind me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he was looking for the tomb of one of the brother's tomb and there was all those rats. So imagine that, minus the rats and the bodies, and it was water instead.
I was in the back because I wanted to take my time and take some pictures and not to get splashed in case someone fell, because I did have my camera with me.
I just could not imagine working to make that tunnel, it was amazing and I was impressed with the work that these engineers back did were able to accomplish.

I do have great photos of my friends and I pretending to be fountains, and they are great ones so stay tuned. Oh and it was always a great day when behind us were European guys who didnt want to get wet, but didnt have a swim suit. Thats right alot of my photo backgrounds have middle age men in their underwear. It was amazing to see how shocked and panicked some girls were. I thought it was hilarious and wanted to go take a picture with them, but i didnt think my teacher nor my parents would approve... see mom I still can hear your council across the world.

Well i have a paper to write and two midterms to study for, so adios!

I found a man!

This is David that Florance gave to Jerusalem. He is mighty attractive no?
Cassidy is on the other side of me, we thought that he would like attention from both of us. We are at the David Museum, which is in a Citdel of a military fortress located in the Old City. It was really interesting, and had a "great" movie for us to watch. The fort was fun to climb on the top and go on the tower parts and look over the city. I like it alot more because I am able to understand and spot out more churches and structures rather then just the Dome of the Rock. There is hope for me learning about the history of Jerusalem!! :)

At Orson Hyde Gardens.

At Dominus Flevit Chapel where Christ looked over Jerusalem and replied- "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem"

Garden of Gethsenme

I am at the Garden of Gethsemane, it was amazing there.

I am still here!

I have realized that i havent written in a very long time, and I have been lazy by letting my blogs become picture blogs. I do have to admit that it may happen more then once because it was nice letting the pictures do talking for me.But I am in Mid-term weeks, which is crazy that we have it already and have only been here for a month now, and we are half way through our studies. It is nice because we will be finished with the majority of our classes by march 2 which is our finals. Then after that we will be going to Turkey for a week and Galilee for about 2 weeks. So because of that, I may not have Old city trips or adventures until I get the studying done.
So I feel kinda of lame not having anything fun or exciting to write about, but stay tuned more will come, I promise...

The Jordan River!

Here is my friends David and Cassidy and our amazing tour guide Muhammad. we are in front of the Jordan River. Muhammad would refer to our group as "Tigers" and would always start a lecture with "Ok, Tigers".

I found Indiana Jones in Petra, that is a good sign that I was at the place where the Holy Grail was!! :)

Here is me on my camel infrount of the Treasury with my friend Hailee. It was so much fun riding one and getting up and off the camel. I have a really cool video of it to, that my friend Grace made me.

some roman guards i made friends with...

THis was a little further from the Monastery, and was an overlook of amazing views, the next photo will show a couple..

a view looking down from my climb up to the Monastery.

here is a picture of me at the Monastery, which is the furthest place from the Treasury and took about an hour and half to get to, with about 950 "steps" to climb to get here. The steps are used in a lose term, more like a big step from the last, that is curved into the rock. It was a great hike, a long and hard one but was worth the trip. I really liked the Monastery and I will show some pictures of the view during the hike and other cool sites I was able to see around the Monastery.

Here is a photo of the Treasury coming out of the siq, it was breath taking I could hardly believe my eyes and it was amazing and so wonderful to see. We had to start off a half a mile away to get into the siq, and then the siq is about a mile walk to get to the treasury. Around every curve I would hold my breathe just imagining that this time I will see the Treasury, so I was a little anxious to see it as well. I just couldnt imagine anything so pretty and gorgeous before. The siq was amazing how large the rocks form and it makes sense how this city of Petra has been hidden for so long

Back from Jordan!

Oh my goodness what an experience in Jordan! I loved every moment of it, and would love to go back some time. There is a little difference between the Jordan people and people in Israel. I think one of the differences is that there isn't a huge conflict over holy land there. So it was different to go into an Arabic country and not hear any sort of Hebrew being said.
I did a ton of stuff in Jordan, and I cant really remember all the details so I think I will show photos and talk about each place through that instead. This will also help jog my memory, but also mean that I may not have it all done today and it will be a slow process...

Here I come Petra!!

I am up early in the morning, my bags are packed, I had a delicious breakfast and I am on my way to Jordon!! I wont be on the internet for the rest of the week, so I wont be able to blog and update but just know my dreams of watching Indiana Jones all my life will finally come true!! So enjoy the rest of my blog while I am gone!! Peace out

Cave time

Yesturday we were able to go on an all day field trip. It was a blast!! We started off the day watching these women weave clothing, it was amazing how they do it and how great they were. They do all the work in this compound, including sheering the sheep, getting the wool into thread, dying it and then weaving it. This project was started to keeep the tradition of weaving alive and allowing these women to have income so they can go to school and be educated. The project has been able to raise enough money to send their daughters and other local girls to school as well. It is such an amazing project and its killing me I cant remember the name...but I will find out and update. We then headed to an Israelite temple and an old Canaanite city that was below. It was cool to walk around the ruins and be able to be in the Holy of Holiest place.
The last place we went to was Avgat, which is a huge city the Nabatean people lived in, and these are the same people that built Petra. It was amazing what was there. THey had so many houses, a wine making place, a huge courtyard, two chapels, lookout and then many caves. The caves were awesome, you just look around while descending and find an opening and go inside. There will be a nicely carved arch way and a room where people use to live it. I had a blast in those
Our teacher Bro. Harper showed us the first one and said hey go check this one out. So a group of us went in and saw Bro. Ludlow there as well pointing to where a dark section was. I used my flash on my camera to see inside, and say two figures standing there. I totally thought that they were other people there, that may be hiding from us, but never thought that they were part of our group. I turned around to go tell Ludlow, but then another kid went in and a bunch of people jumped out. Then I knew it was our group and we could hear the next person coming down. So i pretended to just have come in as well and was like "hey come check out this cave with me, it looks really cool". was able to do that about 4 more times to many other people coming down, and it was so much fun. They never doubted me and were allows very willing to come in with me because I had a "light" we could use in there.
I thought that place was amazing, and was just in awe at what these people could create. I am really excited to go to Petra next week and this field trip made me even more excited.
Best part about tonight, we are watching Indian Jones and the last crusade, in order to get ready for Petra as well!

An overview of Herod's Winter Palace, didnt show up with great picture quality..oh well
I think I like doing picture blogs better then written emails.

The very cute children that come to show us their goats at Herod's Palace, and the infamous goats that peed in Herod's courtyard (numerous times)

Here I am in front of a door way to one of the numerous rooms in Herod's Winter Palace, in Jericho

Jericho

Yesterday's adventure lead us to Jericho. We were able to see a huge tel, which is a big mound of dirt that civilizations have built upon other civilizations for a very long time. It was cool to see a piece of the tower that is the oldest man made thing in the world. Dont worry I have pictures but don't think it deserves a blog post by itself...
After that we headed to Herod's winter palace. It was cool to see what is remaining of it and to know and study this King a bit more. Man this man had problems. He was paranoid and believed everyone was out to get him. He killed his kids, wife, brother, brother in laws and a couple of friends because they were out for his throne. While looking at the ruins a little boy and girl with two baby goats came to greet us. Talk about a swarm of cameras attacking these two poor kids. Our teacher and some other students gave them so money, I think it was for their bravery towards us 83 students wanting a picture. I found it funny how our professor was telling us not to step on anything that is from the original piece and to watch this little goat pee on one of the places we should not step on. I bet local kids play all over these structures and we couldnt go into certain places or step in certain areas. Dont worry I totally went in these areas to get the cool pictures, of course when he wasn't looking... heheh
Then we went to see the st. George monastery. I loved all the photos I was able to get and I am so grateful for my camera and the remarkable zooming features it offers.
Well that is for now, lunch is served in one minute and have to get there before the boys..

here is a picture of the George Monastary located on the hills.