My lovely friend, Carrier Warner had the good sense to turn 23 yesterday and decided to modify the Jerusalem Center tradition of gelato in West Jerusalem sorta birthday party. It still included gelato and West J-ru, but it also included singing on the streets to raise money for the gelato. So, check out Facebook and the pictures of an activity looking like that. It was so much fun and I think I should probably pick up the guitar or ukulele and see how successful it could be.......maybe.
We made 125.8 shekels! Gelato for the masses!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Palm Sunday!!!
Don't worry, I'll still keep reporting on Galilee, but in the meantime, I have to tell you about the awesomeness of the Palm Sunday walk from Bethany through Lion Gate to St. Anne's Church. This commemorates the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, when He rode on a donkey, while the crowd hailed Him with palms waiving and shouts of 'Hosanna.' I imagine it was very exciting and was accompanied by a great feeling of love and brotherhood among the believers.
So, I'll tell you how we did it. We gathered in Bethany with Italians and Filippinos and Egyptians and Palestinians and Haitian/other Caribbeans - Christians from all over the place. MUSICA!! So lively! Eventually, it all turned into a massive parade and a few of us decided to march with the Filippinos, who were singing IN ENGLISH, so we proceeded to sing the most awesome song for at least 30 minutes as we walked down the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley and up to the Lion Gate at the base of the Temple Mount. The really cool thing is that one of the girls in our group just got her mission call to the Philippines Iloilo Mission, so she was on cloud 9 as she shmoozed with 'em. When we got to the church, there was an Arab Christian rock band playing and plenty of dancing and waiving palms around. Exciting! We wandered through the Old City and out the New Gate, near which we watched a parade of scouts! Playing bagpipes! Even the little little ones! Tons of Arab Catholic Scouts! And I took pictures of it all. And someday you'll see them!
So, I'll tell you how we did it. We gathered in Bethany with Italians and Filippinos and Egyptians and Palestinians and Haitian/other Caribbeans - Christians from all over the place. MUSICA!! So lively! Eventually, it all turned into a massive parade and a few of us decided to march with the Filippinos, who were singing IN ENGLISH, so we proceeded to sing the most awesome song for at least 30 minutes as we walked down the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley and up to the Lion Gate at the base of the Temple Mount. The really cool thing is that one of the girls in our group just got her mission call to the Philippines Iloilo Mission, so she was on cloud 9 as she shmoozed with 'em. When we got to the church, there was an Arab Christian rock band playing and plenty of dancing and waiving palms around. Exciting! We wandered through the Old City and out the New Gate, near which we watched a parade of scouts! Playing bagpipes! Even the little little ones! Tons of Arab Catholic Scouts! And I took pictures of it all. And someday you'll see them!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Spring Break in Galilee!
I love the Galilee!!! This trip (just shy of two weeks) has been the refreshing the vacation that my soul has needed for a very long time. I'll add one day at a time and pictures soon, so you don't get overwhelmed, because this was the crowning jewel of my Jerusalem experience and I want you to get the scope of the awesomeness. Enjoy!
Day 1- March 15th) We left Jerusalem at about 6:30 in the morning and headed for the coast. There are three ways to go from Jerusalem to Galilee: through the Jordan River Valley, through Samaria, and by the way of the sea. So, we went by the way of the sea. Our first stop was Caesarea Maritima, which was built by Herod the Great, to give Judea a big port and to gain favor and legitimacy in the eyes of Rome. As many times as Judea was conquered through the ages, this port was also conquered. We watched a movie and spent some time in the ruins of an amphitheater, which is actually the one in which the Roman soldiers celebrated the destruction of Jerusalem. There is also the remains of a hippodrome – if you don’t know what that is, you should watch “Ben Hur”…..actually, you should just watch “Ben Hur” anyway. And of course there were ruins from the breakwater, a temple and other important buildings, but my favorite thing was being at the beach. The Mediterranean is pretty awesome. The beach at this port is made of shells – millions of perfectly halved clam shells of all sizes and colors – that’s it, no rocks, no sand – just shells. I grabbed a handful.
Day 2) I am grateful for a break. We had three hours of New Testament class and then some time before lunch to just spend doing whatever. Since half the group was gone on the fieldtrip we would do the next day, the kibbutz was very quiet. I sat on the seashore (love saying that) and journalled but took breaks to pick up some of the squillion seashells on the seashore. After lunch we had our first free time, which mean the first time to test the waters. It was really windy, so there were some pretty good waves. That made the water fun but also difficult to be warm in. But the water was warmer than the air. I was lifeguarding for the first hour and had to wear my coat along over my swimsuit and board shorts, as I stood in calf-deep water. I’m impressed with the students’ adamancy to make the most out of every situation we’re in. They go out in the city when it’s cold and raining. They swim when it’s cold. They go all out in every condition and I think it’s because we all realize that we’ve only got one shot at every day here, so we have to make it count and if that means making memories in uncomfortable and precarious circumstances, so be it.
Day 1- March 15th) We left Jerusalem at about 6:30 in the morning and headed for the coast. There are three ways to go from Jerusalem to Galilee: through the Jordan River Valley, through Samaria, and by the way of the sea. So, we went by the way of the sea. Our first stop was Caesarea Maritima, which was built by Herod the Great, to give Judea a big port and to gain favor and legitimacy in the eyes of Rome. As many times as Judea was conquered through the ages, this port was also conquered. We watched a movie and spent some time in the ruins of an amphitheater, which is actually the one in which the Roman soldiers celebrated the destruction of Jerusalem. There is also the remains of a hippodrome – if you don’t know what that is, you should watch “Ben Hur”…..actually, you should just watch “Ben Hur” anyway. And of course there were ruins from the breakwater, a temple and other important buildings, but my favorite thing was being at the beach. The Mediterranean is pretty awesome. The beach at this port is made of shells – millions of perfectly halved clam shells of all sizes and colors – that’s it, no rocks, no sand – just shells. I grabbed a handful.
After Caesarea, we drove up the coast and stopped for 10 minutes at the ruins of the aqueduct that carried water to Caesarea. We climbed on it, jumped off, took pictures. The whole bit. The fun very ended, as we hit Tel Megiddo next. Who can tell me the significance of that place? The valley of Jezreel, which the tel overlooks is so beautiful and verdant. We had history and scripture lessons there and tried to imagine Ahab chasing Elijah across the valley. Brother Manscill pointed out to us that he’s felt that all of us who come to the Holy Land and learn the lay of the land and such will have some sort of role in the last days in this area. We left and moved on to Nazareth. The entire city is set high on a hill or plateau. It’s beautiful and covered in churches that memorialize the Annunciation to Mary of Jesus’ birth. We drank from the spring where this supposedly happened, which is inside the Greek Orthodox Church. Apparently the waters are supposed to help you get pregnant. No such luck. The Roman Catholic Church of the Annunciation is HUGE and contains mosaics from 100 Catholic nations depicting this event – even from China and Bolivia. Very cool. I didn’t think that we would find Palestinians there, being so far from the West Bank, but there were plenty. It looked a lot like the Old City of Jerusalem.
Eventually, we wound our way through the hills, passing herds of sheep and cows grazing in very green fields, and came to the lovely view of the Sea of Galilee. The sun was on its way down at the time, so by the time we got to Ein Gev (on the eastern side), we through our stuff in our rooms and watched the sun set with our feet in the water. There is a great feeling of peace and the luxury of taking one’s time to sit and relax and ponder for a change. There are many others here – mostly foreign pilgrims and even some nuns from France. Beautiful setting.
Day 2) I am grateful for a break. We had three hours of New Testament class and then some time before lunch to just spend doing whatever. Since half the group was gone on the fieldtrip we would do the next day, the kibbutz was very quiet. I sat on the seashore (love saying that) and journalled but took breaks to pick up some of the squillion seashells on the seashore. After lunch we had our first free time, which mean the first time to test the waters. It was really windy, so there were some pretty good waves. That made the water fun but also difficult to be warm in. But the water was warmer than the air. I was lifeguarding for the first hour and had to wear my coat along over my swimsuit and board shorts, as I stood in calf-deep water. I’m impressed with the students’ adamancy to make the most out of every situation we’re in. They go out in the city when it’s cold and raining. They swim when it’s cold. They go all out in every condition and I think it’s because we all realize that we’ve only got one shot at every day here, so we have to make it count and if that means making memories in uncomfortable and precarious circumstances, so be it.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Fill your canteens...
Bahhh! This has to be quick - a short ditty to tied you over until I get back from the Galilee....8D.
We were favored with TWO field trips this week. The first was Bethlehem, which you read all about in my last blog.....you did read it, didn't you? Anyway, the second was a great day of adventure at Neot Kedumim, a sorta man-made Bible Lands natural preserve. Thousands of acres of natural and old-looking stuff! We were educated quite a bit about land, climate, and daily life in the days of the Old and New Testament. We pulled water up out of a 2000 year old cistern, herded sheep and goats, visited the threshing floor about which was growing wheat and barley, made pita and popcorn wheat over the fire, watched a master writing calligraphy on a Torah scroll, ran in the giant hamster wheel that powers the water wheel that fetches water from the pond. It was like Outdoor School. Really hot out. Hydration cures all what ails ya! This was my favorite field trip thus far. Hands-on!
Shamrells will be proud of me. On Sabbath (oh, by the way, in case anyone doesn't know this, we actually observe the Sabbath on Saturday, which is basically in accord with most of the country. Interesting place, this - three major religions, three different holy days),...anyway, on Sabbath, there was a group of Italian LDS tourists visiting our church meetings. I wasn't able to talk to them during the meetings, but afterward I asked their tour guide to ask the group if anyone knew Sciammarelli from Calabria. No one did, but a very nice lady came and talked to me. She had just moved from Milan to Calabria, so we exchanged information, so maybe she'll be able to help me track down any relatives we may still have in the area. Cool!
Today, I took a trip to the sea with several classmates. Tel Aviv! All I really wanted to do there was go to the beach. I was so determined to enjoy it the way I would in Hawaii, that I ran out into the water (that's probably about the same temperature as the Columbia River - not warm!) and swam out to one of the jettis that protect the bay for swimmers. The Mediterranean has woefully wimpy waves. But no matter. It was beautiful. So, in and out of the water, burying people in sand and making them into mer-people here and there and the occasional llama or centaur. I wish I had time to post pictures before leaving, but you'll see that and more in about two weeks. So, hang tight and enjoy your fortnight.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Betelehemu! Betelehemu!
Yesterday morning, after a lovely run around the Hebrew University campus (I do run here and I still have to take showers afterward - no fantasy vacation here), we set out to go to Bethlehem, which actually implies leaving Israel and entering the West Bank, which is considered Palestine, and must therefore include a trip through the Separation Wall. This is a high security military operation. This wall is 8 meters tall and stretches 770 kilometers (by comparison, the Berlin wall was 3.6 meters high and stretched for 155 kilometers). They mean serious business. Palestinians may call it a land-grab (there are other parts to that, like LOTS of Israeli settlements being built in the West Bank) and Israelis call it security, but the fact of the matter is suicide bombings in Jerusalem have virtually stopped since the barrier was built. And a lot of land and freedom have been taken. Okay, on to the next topic…..
The Bethlehem University is awesome. If you need a cause to which to donate – this is a really good one. I haven’t really shared any political views throughout my blogging, but here’s a glimpse into my mind of what’s going to be an effective source of resolution for this conflict, at least on the Palestinian side. I think that a change of national identity and focus is vital for Palestinians, especially the upcoming generation. What I mean by that is that many Palestinians see their nation and people as martyrs and not much else. As Americans I don’t think we can imagine not having “Old Glory” and baseball games and “purple mountain majesties” and “The American Dream” come to mind whenever we hear, “America!” or “USA.” That’s part of our national image and it means that the sky is the limit. That is not the case for a lot of Palestinians. Children’s books catch this theme of being oppressed by the development of the state of Israel (and really, there’s a lot of truth to that), so from a very early age, they are often conditioned to not look at the possibilities for breaking out of the cycle and changing to situation, which is part of why the conflict continues. BEFORE YOU CAST STONES AT THIS…remember that this is only half of the story. Not even half. I have plenty to say about both sides, both for and against. But this is the part that has something to do with our visit to Bethlehem University. Anyway, the university gives many young Palestinians the chance to get a great education and make a great future for themselves. Most, even if they go to other countries for school, want to return to live in Palestine. This is a group of individuals who can help the effort to move into the future of trying to resolve conflict between the two countries. It is a Catholic school, so the student body is a mix of Christians and Muslims. We were toured around, had a Q&A session with three students and then got to mingle with the students in the courtyards of the school. Some of the guys even played pick-up basketball with the student. They are just like us.
We ate lunch in a Bedouin tent restaurant. Fun! But they forgot to tell us that another course was coming after the pita and dips course. I hate being overly full and I could commiserate with Mary a little bit as we strolled through the streets of Bethlehem toward the Church of the Nativity, which is the traditional birthplace of the Savior, feeling uncomfortable large. :P
The Church is really neat, and big, and OLD. It’s the oldest surviving church in all of Christianity. There was a huge crowd there, but we made our way down to grotto which is beneath the altar. It’s basically a cave. Stick your hand through the 14 pointed star and you’re touching the stone on which the birth occurred. Turn around and you see the manger (carved out stone), where Baby Jesus was laid. There are three denominations that share this church: Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic. I didn’t really get to see the interaction between them, but I’ve heard how a similar situation works (or causes scuffles) at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City.
Uncovered original mosaic floors, dating back to the 4th Century and Emperor Justinian
Really cool 4th century pillars
Rock where the birth happened(?)
Manger (?)
Pretty angel
Leading to the Nativity Grotto
For every church in the Holy Land there's a mosque
Hi, Allie!
Back to that separation wall. It’s easy to get through to Palestine (unless you’re Israeli, in which case it is in fact forbidden by your government), but coming back to Jerusalem is a challenge – basically impossible if you don’t have a proper permit, which you can get if you work in the Jerusalem (like our Relief Society President does – she’s my hero, by the way), are a student, are a Palestinian living in Jerusalem (interestingly, this group has no official nationality), or it’s Christmas and you’re lucky enough to get a permit to visit…or you’re a complete foreigner to the area and have a passport. But even then it can take hours to get through the checkpoint. Apparently, the Israeli soldiers guarding the checkpoint tend to give the crossing Palestinians a pretty hard time. For a few minutes our bus was stopped, straddling the border and it just so happens that I was sitting with one foot in Palestine and one in Israel! Talk about conflict! But eventually we got home. This was a really cool experience. We don’t get to go into the West Bank often. It’s such a touchy situation, but actually being there was wonderful. And I didn’t feel like I was in any danger.
The Bethlehem University is awesome. If you need a cause to which to donate – this is a really good one. I haven’t really shared any political views throughout my blogging, but here’s a glimpse into my mind of what’s going to be an effective source of resolution for this conflict, at least on the Palestinian side. I think that a change of national identity and focus is vital for Palestinians, especially the upcoming generation. What I mean by that is that many Palestinians see their nation and people as martyrs and not much else. As Americans I don’t think we can imagine not having “Old Glory” and baseball games and “purple mountain majesties” and “The American Dream” come to mind whenever we hear, “America!” or “USA.” That’s part of our national image and it means that the sky is the limit. That is not the case for a lot of Palestinians. Children’s books catch this theme of being oppressed by the development of the state of Israel (and really, there’s a lot of truth to that), so from a very early age, they are often conditioned to not look at the possibilities for breaking out of the cycle and changing to situation, which is part of why the conflict continues. BEFORE YOU CAST STONES AT THIS…remember that this is only half of the story. Not even half. I have plenty to say about both sides, both for and against. But this is the part that has something to do with our visit to Bethlehem University. Anyway, the university gives many young Palestinians the chance to get a great education and make a great future for themselves. Most, even if they go to other countries for school, want to return to live in Palestine. This is a group of individuals who can help the effort to move into the future of trying to resolve conflict between the two countries. It is a Catholic school, so the student body is a mix of Christians and Muslims. We were toured around, had a Q&A session with three students and then got to mingle with the students in the courtyards of the school. Some of the guys even played pick-up basketball with the student. They are just like us.
We ate lunch in a Bedouin tent restaurant. Fun! But they forgot to tell us that another course was coming after the pita and dips course. I hate being overly full and I could commiserate with Mary a little bit as we strolled through the streets of Bethlehem toward the Church of the Nativity, which is the traditional birthplace of the Savior, feeling uncomfortable large. :P
The Church is really neat, and big, and OLD. It’s the oldest surviving church in all of Christianity. There was a huge crowd there, but we made our way down to grotto which is beneath the altar. It’s basically a cave. Stick your hand through the 14 pointed star and you’re touching the stone on which the birth occurred. Turn around and you see the manger (carved out stone), where Baby Jesus was laid. There are three denominations that share this church: Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic. I didn’t really get to see the interaction between them, but I’ve heard how a similar situation works (or causes scuffles) at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City.
Uncovered original mosaic floors, dating back to the 4th Century and Emperor Justinian
Really cool 4th century pillars
Rock where the birth happened(?)
Manger (?)
Pretty angel
Leading to the Nativity Grotto
For every church in the Holy Land there's a mosque
Hi, Allie!
Back to that separation wall. It’s easy to get through to Palestine (unless you’re Israeli, in which case it is in fact forbidden by your government), but coming back to Jerusalem is a challenge – basically impossible if you don’t have a proper permit, which you can get if you work in the Jerusalem (like our Relief Society President does – she’s my hero, by the way), are a student, are a Palestinian living in Jerusalem (interestingly, this group has no official nationality), or it’s Christmas and you’re lucky enough to get a permit to visit…or you’re a complete foreigner to the area and have a passport. But even then it can take hours to get through the checkpoint. Apparently, the Israeli soldiers guarding the checkpoint tend to give the crossing Palestinians a pretty hard time. For a few minutes our bus was stopped, straddling the border and it just so happens that I was sitting with one foot in Palestine and one in Israel! Talk about conflict! But eventually we got home. This was a really cool experience. We don’t get to go into the West Bank often. It’s such a touchy situation, but actually being there was wonderful. And I didn’t feel like I was in any danger.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Is anybody still there? ZOOOOOOO!
UPDATED WITH PICTURES!!!!!
You've been waiting for a while and I apologize. Slikha! The honest to goodness truth is....um...all of our fieldtrips for the last two weeks basically didn't happen due to bad weather and violence in the city. And we literally spent the rest of the time sitting in make-up sessions for our Islam/Palestine class and cramming for and taking finals.....literally. I kid you not. So, sigh of relief, exams are over and now we move into the phase of the semester in which we only take two classes (New Testament and Ancient NearEastern Studies) and spend the rest of the time beachin' it up in Galilee and exploring Petra and other parts of Jordan and generally just loving each other all the more. This has really been one of the coolest, funnest, most judge-free experience of my life. The people here are CRAZY!!....like me!
Today (hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to upload some picturas!!), we went to the zoo! The theme is (I bet you can't guess) Noah's ark!! Actually there was a big wooden ark at the end of the park. Highlights include a Hyacinth Macaw that used to belong to Winston Churchill (No joke, it's like 104 years old) and still shouts profanities about Nazis, a lion and began to maul the window through which I'm sure some other JC students were taunting it - I got a video, just like National Goegraphic, I swear! - and then there were Koi to pet:), and the chimpanzees - little ones picking fights with big ones and then getting clobbered and running off to their moms. I was totally impressed with this zoo. And after having been cooped up in our palace due to rain, fires in the street (check out http://www.blog.erictorrie.com/), stonings and FINALS, it was beautiful to take the day to be little carefree kids, frolicking in the sunshine through the menagerie and the Jewish quarter of the Old City. I feel like I can't do any of this justice with my descriptions.
I finally feel like I'm gaining an idea of the conflict in this area and what the opposing sides are wanting and upset about it. It makes me feel like a better member of society. Yay!!
Squirrel monkey
Climbing up rocks is super fun.
Bear
Three-legged leopard
Noah's Ark
Awesome scenary! Giraffes in the Holy Land!
Hebrew-speaking child-friendly Noah's ark story comics. The raindrop says,"Loooooooooooo!"
Koi are slimy.
I was totally impressed with this zoo. And after having been cooped up in our palace due to rain, fires in the street (check out http://www.blog.erictorrie.com/), stonings and FINALS, it was beautiful to take the day to be little carefree kids, frolicking in the sunshine through the menagerie and the Jewish quarter of the Old City. I feel like I can't do any of this justice with my descriptions.
I finally feel like I'm gaining an idea of the conflict in this area and what the opposing sides are wanting and upset about it. It makes me feel like a better member of society. Yay!!
You've been waiting for a while and I apologize. Slikha! The honest to goodness truth is....um...all of our fieldtrips for the last two weeks basically didn't happen due to bad weather and violence in the city. And we literally spent the rest of the time sitting in make-up sessions for our Islam/Palestine class and cramming for and taking finals.....literally. I kid you not. So, sigh of relief, exams are over and now we move into the phase of the semester in which we only take two classes (New Testament and Ancient NearEastern Studies) and spend the rest of the time beachin' it up in Galilee and exploring Petra and other parts of Jordan and generally just loving each other all the more. This has really been one of the coolest, funnest, most judge-free experience of my life. The people here are CRAZY!!....like me!
Today (hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to upload some picturas!!), we went to the zoo! The theme is (I bet you can't guess) Noah's ark!! Actually there was a big wooden ark at the end of the park. Highlights include a Hyacinth Macaw that used to belong to Winston Churchill (No joke, it's like 104 years old) and still shouts profanities about Nazis, a lion and began to maul the window through which I'm sure some other JC students were taunting it - I got a video, just like National Goegraphic, I swear! - and then there were Koi to pet:), and the chimpanzees - little ones picking fights with big ones and then getting clobbered and running off to their moms. I was totally impressed with this zoo. And after having been cooped up in our palace due to rain, fires in the street (check out http://www.blog.erictorrie.com/), stonings and FINALS, it was beautiful to take the day to be little carefree kids, frolicking in the sunshine through the menagerie and the Jewish quarter of the Old City. I feel like I can't do any of this justice with my descriptions.
I finally feel like I'm gaining an idea of the conflict in this area and what the opposing sides are wanting and upset about it. It makes me feel like a better member of society. Yay!!
Mamma's taken us to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow......and little Jon is a little hesitant.
Squirrel monkey
Climbing up rocks is super fun.
Bear
Three-legged leopard
Noah's Ark
Awesome scenary! Giraffes in the Holy Land!
Hebrew-speaking child-friendly Noah's ark story comics. The raindrop says,"Loooooooooooo!"
Koi are slimy.
I was totally impressed with this zoo. And after having been cooped up in our palace due to rain, fires in the street (check out http://www.blog.erictorrie.com/), stonings and FINALS, it was beautiful to take the day to be little carefree kids, frolicking in the sunshine through the menagerie and the Jewish quarter of the Old City. I feel like I can't do any of this justice with my descriptions.
I finally feel like I'm gaining an idea of the conflict in this area and what the opposing sides are wanting and upset about it. It makes me feel like a better member of society. Yay!!
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