Saturday, January 30, 2010

Okay, where are we?

So, personal inventory. I just got back from Egypt.....almost 48 hours ago.....and you'd think I'd have already given massive updates, but darn it, I'm tired!! We didn't really ever sleep enough on that trip and it's hard work sitting on a bus.

I really enjoyed the trip. I think I said plenty about the first part of the trip, so I'll pick up where I left on. Off, rather. See, I told you I was tired...and obviously too lazy to back up and fix a mistake. Okay, a whole line later.......

I wrote from Luxor. We lived like kings, I tell you! I'll try to include some pictures to put your doubts to rest. Very few people actually contracted the "Cairo Quickstep" or "Pharaoh's Revenge," otherwise known as traveller's diarrhea. Yay! We simply had to avoid ingesting the water and any fresh fruits or vegetables......but toward the end, I broke down and ate some strawberries, which were awesome......and I didn't get sick! Apparently the group from last semester had a 60% rate of ick.

The last day in Luxor, that is after the boat and camel rides and all the other great stuff, consisted of touring the Luxor and Karnak Temples, which are collosol restored ruins of columns, statues and high ceilings. There was also so bartering in the bazaar. I think I won! I drive a hard bargain. Makes me want to go back to Hawaii, so I can successfully barter with the vendors at Swap Meet.

That evening we boarded a train to travel overnight back to Cairo. I think the trip took 5 or 6 hours. It was a fun experience - made me feel like I was living "White Christmas," minus Christmas and Vermont and Bing. Everyone should have that experience at least once. We checked back into our hotel and then hit the Cairo Museum - THE Cairo Museum! It was fantastic, of course, and contained way more than I could even appreciate. We did get to see a bunch of mummies, including Rameses II - probably the most widely photographed mummy, the face that saw the face that saw the face of God. So......I now have the face that saw the face that saw the face that saw the face of God! And what rounds out a trip to Egypt like lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cairo?

After a bit more shopping began our pilgrimage to Mt. Sinai. We drove back under th Suez Canal and around the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula to the Morgenland Hotel, where we enjoyed a nice cold night before waking up at 2:15 AM(!!) to climb up the very rocky 4 mile trail, dodging camels all the way, to the summit of Sinai. It was pitch black, ice cold and holy windy!! Then the sun started coming up VERY slowly and eventually was glorious! The summit was packed with Koreans and various Europeans, all singing hymns as the sun rose. It was another neat experience of joining with lots of fellow believers in a once in a lifetime, faith-building pilgrimage. So cool. We had a testimony meeting at Elijah's Spring on the way down.

After St. Catherine's Monstastery, we checked out of our hotel and then stopped to lunch at a resort on the Red Sea. I MISSED HAWAII SO MUCH!@! The water was warm, the sand was lovely and I ran down the beach like a little kid, trying to get far away from the group and just bask in the glory of the waveless beach. I picked up some great shells. They finally coaxed me back on the bus. Crossed the border. Tried and failed to sleep on the bus. Laughed my face off with my classmates. We've bonded so much in the last week. It's been awesome for me, forcing me to break out of my shell and make a bunch of friends. But I've realized that in order for this experience to make a big impact in my life, I need to invest emotionally. It's beginning!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Borin' ol' Egypt

Marhaba. This will all sound very sarcastic, but Adam asked me to tell him about all the boring things I'm doing and seeing in Egypt, so you're getting my response...because I'm really short of time online, so .......

Well, hello. Today I rode a camel named William Shakespeare. It was really boring. We climbed in a bunch of really boring tombs in the Valley of the Kings, which I think they should rename the Valley of the Snores, because I was so bored by the well-preserved boring colors that were painted on the boringly carved walls thousands of years ago. We also saw the boring, shrivelled, mummy body of King Tut Ankh Ahmen. The only interesting thing about all those Rameses' tombs (why did they all have the same name anyway?), is that one of them almost collided with the shaft of the tomb of Amen Messe - glance at that name really quick and then look away reall fast....do it......humor me......okay, please!!!........is that vaguely familiar to you? I saw the boring cave where the scrolls and mummies that Joseph Smith purchased and from which he translated the Book of Abraham - I actually took a little nap there.....I'm not kidding - I did. We also took boring pictures at the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, who locked her step-son, the rightful king Tut Moses III, in the palace while she assumed the throne herself in the guise of a man. There was also something about the Nile and a sailboat, but the details escaped me...clearly not memorable enough......

THIS STINKS!!! No more lies. I'm amazed at what we're seeing and experiencing. I think the only thing I'm struggling with is how much they're trying to jampack into our schedule and how many times we get on and off the tour bus every hour. We drove to Eilat (still in Israel) and spent the first night in a kibbutz, after having seen tons of historical sites I didn't even know existed. The next day we crossed the border into Egypt and drove across the Sinai Wilderness. Actually that was kinda boring. We ended up in Cairo and saw the pyramids in the skyline of the city as the sun was setting. That night we went to the Sound and Light show, which I admit was kinda boring - just think Disneyland in the early early days. These are The Great Pyramids at Giza, where the Sphinx hangs out. THe next morning we went deep inside one of them and all 80+ of us sang in the tomb. So cool. I learned how papyrus is made. I think I'll pick that up too - doesn't look too hard. We jump on a plane and flew to Luxor, where we're staying in the nicest hotel I've ever been in, eating spectacular food and generally living it up on the bank of the Nile.

Sidenote: Some Egyptians look like Samoans very vaguely........don't know how that happens....

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Mas picturas!

Aloha. I've taken advantage of a quick trip to Hebrew University, where the internet can handle uploads, so I'm posting pictures, but I may not have time to tell all the stories in this post. There are videos too. So..............I hope this will all make sense eventually. There are also pictures from out journey through the Judaean Wilderness to Jericho. Enjoy!

The monks' rooms inside the monastery.

The ceiling inside the Monastery. This place was built by the Greek Orthodox Church.

Aloha. I've taken advantage of a quick trip to Hebrew University, where the internet can handle uploads, so I'm posting pictures, but I may not have time to tell all the stories in this post. There are videos too. So..............I hope this will all make sense eventually. Some of the pictures are of a spur of the moment adventure with a couple guys from the group that landed us inside tombs, in an idyllic olive grove, up the backside of the Old City and up on the rooftops. There are also pictures from out journey through the Judaean Wilderness to Jericho. Enjoy!

Jericho from the Monastery at the Mount of Temptation. The long, skinny, raised mound in the middle is the tel where the ancient city of Jericho was built. Google "tel" to learn more.;)

Okay, malfunctions have forced me to quit. Just as I was getting to the good stuff....... Anyway, I'm going to Egypt tomorrow morning, so I'll try to get caught up on my adventures before leaving and we'll be in touch. There's no guarantee of free wi-fi in Egypt. So until then, spread my blog. We'll be in touch.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Once again, Shabbat Shalom and Aloha!

So, I apologize for the great gap between updates. You've all been very patient. Speaking of which, is anyone actually reading this? Raise your hands....come on, raise 'em up........okay, now put them on the keyboard.......and leave a comment - just your name, if that's all you wanna say.

Now that that's out of the way....this week we spent in the classroom.....long hours....but the classes are great. We are taught Ancient Near East History by a BYU professor who talks 5,000 miles and hour and admits that he's grumpy. We take Modern Near East classes, one on Judaism, Israelis and the Zionist movement and the other on Islam and Palestineans. The first is taught by a Jewish man from New England, who is just a hoot - great sense of humor, very comfortable in front of a crowd, funny little bald man with a kippah, always with a kippah (or yamulka for you yiddish-speakers). The Islam class is taught by a Catholic Arab. Very nice man - kinda looks like a Palenstinean Thomas S. Monson. My Hebrew class is taught by a great Jewish lady who emigrated from Sacramento years ago with her family. I know how to write "Bob" in Hebrew. Old Testament class continues to be charming. We meet every day. We are studying Old Testament for the first half of the semester, follwed by New Testament, but unlike most BYU religion classes, we are going through the whole books in one semester - usually you take one half at a time - so we're covering about 4 times as much in the same amount of time. Phew! We blasted straight throw Genesis and already to the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20). Our professor prides himself on having gotten married at 40, just like Isaac.

Last night (Friday) we went to the Western Wall to welcome in the Sabbath with the Jewish world...at least the ones in Jerusalem. Great experience - all of us dressed in Sunday best, the guys replacing their ties with a kippah. The areas for men and women are separated at the Wall. So you slowly make your way up to the Wall, and wait your turn to get close enough to tough it. As you do you notice thousands and thousands of wads of paper stuck into the holes and cracks of the wall, upon which are written prayers. But keep in mind that you better write them before the Sabbath, because once the sun sets on Friday evening, there is no writing, no recording, no photography at the Wall......and there are police to make sure this is observed. So write up close to the Wall is very reverent and solemn - it's a beautiful thing to think of all the prayers that have been or will be offered by the women, daughters of Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel (and others) at this Wall. The men's side is much more boisterous with groups of Israeli soldiers, students of the Torah and many sects of Orthodox Jews venerating is many ways. Lots of dancing and singing. We actually joined a group on the women's side who were dancing and singing all the great songs of Shabbat. I only know one. But it was incredibly fun. We rounded out the evening by watching The Prince of Egypt.....oh, man, did I mention we're going to Egypt this week!!!!????!!!!

As for our Shabbat......Saturday morning began with normal church business. I've been called as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency - the others are a local woman (she lives in Bethlehem, so she must be Palestinean), and two Americans, one whose husband works for the government and the other whose husband is the district President. Did I mentiont that we are part of the Jerusalem Branch of the Israel District of the Church? Pretty neat. Anyway, I got to speak in Sacrament Meeting, on top of that. So, I woke up feeling about 5 years old and very inadequate today, but the Lord doesn't set you up to fail. He helped me. After Church we went to the Garden Tomb as the whole group. It's right in the middle of the hurry and noise of the city, just outside the walls of the Old City, and one of the most peaceful places in all of the Holy Land. Our tour was guided by a lovely man from England - reminded me a lot of a ever-so-slightly younger Gerald Mullet - who was just here volunteering (like a missionary!!) and he was very enthusiastic and kind. The garden is sprawling and lush and full of winding paths and beautiful places to sit. After we looked around and went in the tomb (!!), we sat and sang hymns together and then took some quiet time alone. This is probably the most peaceful I've felt in any of the places we've visited. Apart from the Kidron Valley, which will always be an untouchable favorite, it's my favorite place we've been to. There is a very special Spirit though and although no one can really say for sure whether or not is was the very tomb where Jesus laid, you can tell it's a very special place shared by so many millions of Christians throughout the world. And I got to go! I'm really lucky!

I'm headed off to a fireside about the making of the Jerusalem Center.......Enjoy your Sabbath!! And the other free day of your weekend, whatever it may be!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Yay for Pictures!!!

Ruins on top of the hill by the Elias Monastery - it used to be a battleground between Jordan and Israel.


A bloomin' almond tree and view from the top of Nabi Samwil (a church/mosque/synagogue dedicated to the Prophet Samuel)


Look who I found!


Great light inside the Nabi Samwil building.


Me and my domicile.


"Mormons" in the Old City


Pretty Dresses, Kira! You can't walk 10 feet in the Old City without seeing something beautiful to buy.


The Kidron Valley. I love this place!

Me and Diana, my roomie, in the Kidron Valley. She accidentally knocked down a 1,000 year old walll right after this picture was taken......just kidding.....



A bunch of us on the Sabbath at the Church of All Nations Garden of Gethsemane

Me in the Orson Hyde Park, overlooking the Kidron Valley, the Old City and the Dome of the Rock.

A lovely grassy slope inside the Jerusalem Center. It goes down to a terrace that overlooks the city.
The Dome of the Rock in the Old City, as seen from Orson Hyde Park, across the Kidron Valley.


So these are just a few of my pictures - just to give you a small taste of the sites here. Thanks for the support. Much love, Allison

Monday, January 11, 2010

I've taken 437 pictures in 5 days.......

Greetings! So, today was special, not just because I got to live in Jerusalem, and not just because I miraculously found a couple people to run with me OUTSIDE(!!!!), but because we took our first fieldtrip, and I kid you not, I took a zillion pictures.........but I haven't wandered over to Hebrew University yet to take advantage of their better internet connection and upload photos and videos - I understand how boring this must be without pictures, but I promise that you'll get them someday soon.

Quick version, since I am due to be at Family Home Evening in 15 minutes and I left all my notes in my room. Basically the jist of our trip was to look at Jerusalem from several different vantage points around it: Nabi Samwil, the Haas Promenade, Augusta Victory Tower, Elias Monastery and the Seven Arches Hotel lookout. Wow!!! I've learned so much about the geography of the area. You can see it on a map, so I'm not gonna try to explain it, but I just want you to know that I have seen the drop-off that is the Jordan valley and I have glimpsed the Judean Wilderness, and I've seen Bethlehem, and the Kidron, Tyropean and Hinnon Valleys, and they're all really there. AND(!!!)......I live on the windward side of the Mount of Olives. Yay, windward!! What has surprised me most about this geography is how there are no flat areas. The hills are steep and very significant. The valleys are deep and not very wide. It's all smashed into such a small area that the land formations are small by Pacific Northwest and Hawaiian standarsd, but they're incredibly monumentous at the same time.

I spent quite a bit of time in Genesis today. If you want a good sibling rivalry drama, just read about Rachel and Leah and their bout about Jacob. Oi.

Pictures soon........

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Picture-taking and shop shop shopping!

So after breakfast, since it's our free day (yeah, it didn't even register in my mind that it's Sunday), I went with some friends on a slow-walking tour of the Old City and some of East Jerusalem. We started in the Muslim cemetery, which slopes down from the Temple Mount into the Kidron Valley. Long story short, it's a sprawling stone cemetery that is extremely visible from the center, and it was really cool to walk through. Great views. So we went into the Old City through Lion's Gate and continued to spend a lot of time taking pictures. Great lighting, interesting structures, beautiful views and striking colors...I took a lot of pictures. Some are good.

We revisited a few places and then went to a few that were new to us. We headed to the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock sits, but there is only one gate that haoles, I mean non-muslims, can enter through, so we tried many gates, getting turned away by Israeli soldiers at all of them. Finally we went in the right way, which is through a plaza where sits the Western Wall, which in itself was cool to see...Sidenote: All these sites we've visited, especially the religiously-connected ones, are awesome and even if they don't stand for exactly the same Gospel or convey the same Spirit or feeling our sacred sites and things convey, it's been a really neat thing to witness the devotion of so many people to their own faiths. They stop what they're doing and pray five times a day, the symbols of the faiths are numerous and all over the place, and the women are so modestly dressed - it's just expected here - a very different world than the one we live in. It's a wonderful thing to experience.....So, we went through the Israeli security and got on the Temple Mount or the al-Haram al-Sharif with about 15 minutes to closing time. Enough time for pictures with the Dome of the Rock and then scat.

I got to experience the amazing and incessant pushiness of shopkeepers trying to sell us scarves and camel-skin sandals, both of which I intend to buy, but hey, if you have no shekels, you have no shekels. People have to survive. A very different experience came when we visited the shop of a man who specializes in LDS olive wood carvings. Absolutely beautiful work. Fantastically expensive. But it's fun to walk into a store on the Arab side of town and see Captain Moroni and Emma Smith carved out of wood. A very nice man named Omar is the owner and artist. His kids went to BYU. He actually gave us each a key chain with the Jerusalem Center logo carved into it. So, I'll be going back eventually. After the money changer and stopping to buy some bread quickly, we went back to the center for a study-filled afternoon.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Shabbat Shalom

I just finished church. So awesome. We sit in the auditorium, which is inside the really big archways near the top of the center. Those archways are floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the city and since the auditorium has stadium seating and a stage that is lower than most of the seats, we get a panoramic view of the city as the backdrop for Sacrament meeting. My jaw almost hits the floor just thinking about it. This has got to be the most beautiful place in which to attend church. I imagine the ceiling is like that of an old awesome synagogue, being higher in the middle, as there are more arches about the arched windows in the auditorium.

Sabbath School and Relief Society are held in the dome theater, which has fantastic acoustics, making you sound really loud any time you speak. The Gospel Doctrine teacher reminds me a lot of my little sister’s husband – funny. The branch itself is extremely diverse and there are plenty of young families and newly married couples. The Americans are mostly students or people working for the U.S. consulate. Did you know that Costa Rica is the only country that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or maybe just that recognizes Israel as a nation at all? So that’s why the U.S. embassy is in Tel Aviv and not in Jerusalem. There you go. Other members are locals, Filipinos, Russians, Hispanics, and an interesting mix of a bunch of others. Our Relief Society President is an Israeli (born in Jerusalem) and was raised Greek Orthodox, but when she went to BYU in Provo, she converted to the gospel. And in her testimony today she said expressly said that location is not important – it’s the things happen in those locations that are important.
......................

Okay, I just got back from the Garden of Gethsemane……not such a peaceful place, at least the place in which it’s traditionally held to be. There’s a big Catholic church there and fenced in olive trees. It’s pretty, but there were a lot of tourist (including some from Nigeria, who wanted to take pictures with us!) and the noise of the city. We decided to take a detour on the way back and walk through the Kidron Valley. HOLY AWESOME!!! It’s a terraced valley between the Mount of Olives and the Old City, which sits up a few hundred feet from the valley floor. There are lots of rocks, rough and unclear paths, grassy patches and olive trees…and donkeys. It’s semi-wild, but since there are very few people and not cars, it’s very peaceful – just the Gethsemane experience that we were expecting. It was just an hour before sunset, so the dusk lighting was absolutely beautiful. I’ve been taking pictures….finally, so as soon as I find a good connection, I’ll upload the best ones. It’s been a great Sabbath.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Announcing the WINNERS....

And the winner is...........hey, wait, nobady actually identified BOTH greetings meaning love, although both were pointed out thanks to two different people. So Brigham and Aunt Katheryn each get half bonus points. And Brig, the best way to get a package to me is to bring it here yourself or to send it to Mom and Dad's house and I'll be happy to receive it in April! The deal with the postal service here is like that of Colonial America - you pay to receive packages, basically the value of its contents - so I'd rather just get it late. It's not your fault. Mahalo!

Today we started classes. Two hours of Old Testament, talking about accounts of the Abrahamic Covenant. Our classroom has floor-to-ceiling windows on one whole side which overlook the city. I've decided I should never sit on the end of that row because I will not pay attention. OT was followed by our Ancient Near Eastern History class. Ho-ly-cow. That professor went SOOOOO fast. I'm just grateful I had a full semester to study the history of the nations that conquered the land of Canaan, which he covered in about 5 minutes of a 2 hour class. At least I have that. Next week we'll start our culture/religion (Islam & Palestinians as well as Judaism & Israelis) and language classes next week, as well as starting our awesome field trips.

This afternoon we were free to explore the city, but since it's Islam's day of prayer, the Old City is closed until 3 pm, so some of us decided to go to Orson Hyde Park instead and read the prayer given when he dedicated the land for the gathering of Israel. That was fun and I took some pictures. The park is near the bottom of the Mount of Olives, just across the Kidron Valley from the Old City. Sounds vast and locationally important, right? Well, I'll tell you what. I could throw a rock across the Kidron Valley and probably beyond. Everything here is soooooooo close together and small, yet land formation is named and fought over by so many people that everything seems hugely significant. In fact, within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there is a staircase that is in the territory of one of the churches, but the courtyard that the stairway leads to is in another church's territory. The bottom step is only about 2 inches high, so there's a big contrversy over which church has charge over the care of that step, since it's nearly flush with the courtyard, yet it is a step.......so the stairway church cleans all but the bottom step because the courtyard church claims the responsibility to clean the bottom step. Wow.

Tomorrow we will observe the Sabbath with the rest of Jerusalem (minus the Muslims, of course...the the Christian churches, too I guess). This will be fun, trying to strike out against the conditioning I've had for 25 years, that Sunday is the Sabbath. Hmmm. Some people actually change churches over this issue. I think it'll be interesting. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Welcome to the Holy City

Aloha, Shalom and Marhaba! (*There will be bonus points for the first person who can point out which of these two greetings incorporates love in its meaning or expresses love.*)

We spent the whole morning, first walking through the Arab part of town (East Jerusalem), entering the Old City by way of the Damascus Gate and by so doing entering another century. Ali Babba and his 40 thieves could have ridden through the streets on horses with those curvy swords, shouting at us infidels, and they would not have looked out of place at all. Wow. The funny thing is that there's really no real Jewish presence in the Old City. There are quarters for the Muslims and the Christians, and of course there are tons of nationalities and denominations staking claims on the Christian quarter.

We went inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is where they suppose Jesus was taken off the cross, then laid on a stone and enbalmed, and then laid in the tomb, all of which are within about 50 meters of each other. Of course, the church was built over all these sites, but each has something of a shrine around it. The place was packed with Christian pilgrims for Russia, Nigeria and BYU(!), which was pretty exciting to see.

Cruising through the streets, I saw plenty of awesome things to buy and am getting a feel for the exchange rate: about 3.7 shekels to the dollar. And I also learned something really important. The Arab part of Jerusalem (by the way, they call Jerusalem "Al Kuds") is MUCH cheaper to shop in than the Jewish part (the Hebrew pronunciation of Jerusalem is "Yirushalayim"). Eventually we left the old city and explored the more modern, upscale community of West Jerusalem, the Israeli part. It was really beautiful. Of course it all was. I learned how to say "thank you," which is "to-DAH" (it's no "mahalo," by any means, but when in Rome.......no, I'm really looking forward to learning more Hebrew and trying to use it. All the signs here are printed in Hebrew, Arabic and English, the three official languages of the state.

I watched the sun set from one of the terraces overlooking the city. Holy cow. Then begins the call to prayer, maybe the 4th or 5th of the day. It was nice to be alone for a little while. I forget that we can wonder around the center alone because they sure pound the opposite into you about leaving the center. It was beautiful and I think it's what I needed to start developing a connection with this place.

As I catch up on sleep, I'm beginning to appreciate how awesome this really is. 18 hours on planes with no breaks was rough, but this will be worth it. I dare say it will even make the 18 hour return flight worth it.

Love, Allison

Friday, January 1, 2010

The suspense is killing me!!!

Happy New Year! I got to celebrate it 3 times with help of friends in Utah and Hawaii. I heard the fireworks in Laie all the way from Portland!!!

Ahhhhh! Nothing has changed but my location. Still waiting on financial aid to get processed. Holiday weekends have their charms......most of the time. This is not one of those times however. But, without knowing whether or not I'd be allowed on the plane Tuesday morning (the one that's headed to Israel) and realizing I probably wouldn't know until Tuesday morning, I packed my bags and kissed Oregon goodbye for a season. Now I'm in Utah. Waiting..........

Fortunately there will be some lovely diversions to help me pass the time - a wedding, lunch and a trip to the dentist. I'm set!

Go Ducks.