Jerusalem Week 1

I wake up every morning (at about 4:15am on the dot -- jet lag is still going strong) and have to remind myself: I'm living in the Holy Land! 

It's hard to comprehend that here we are on the Mount of Olives looking out over the Old City where thousands of years of history lie. 

It's breathtaking, it's humid, it's exciting and it's humbling all at the same time!

Although words and pictures can't do it justice, here's a look at our first week:

Thursday:

- We heard our first early morning call to prayer from the loud speakers! Muslims make the call five times a day and it's actually really admirable how time stops for many as they kneel down to worship.

- Took our first trip to the Old City! I'm grateful they didn't let us take pictures that day so we could just be present and take it all in; the smells of spices, the feel of uneven cobblestone beneath our feet, see the colors of scarves hanging from vendor doors, hear quiet prayers and breathing in the candle-lit churches and taste our first sourdough bread. Everything is within walking distance from the Center and my feet are tiiiiiired. Welcome to the next 4 months I guess!

The view from our bedroom porch. Each room has a balcony with a view of the city. We are so spoiled it's crazy.

Friday:

- First day of school! Maybe I had become de-sensitized by the routine of going to school in Provo but classes here have such a different feeling! It's about as far from my accounting major as you can get (We take Old and New Testament, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Hebrew, Jewish Civilization, and Arab/Islamic Civilization) but it's amazing to be living what we study. We live in an archaeological dreamland; we'll be seeing and touching the important biblical sites we read about and entering the holiest of holy places for Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike. It's one hundred times cooler than all my humanities classes before this, no offense provo :) But we also have a ridiculous amount of homework every day since the semester is front-loaded so there's that.

- After lunch and a security briefing (don't worry mom, we have a bomb shelter so we're set) we headed to the Western Wall for sunset and the start of Shabbat! We learned that Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath day. It starts on Friday at sundown and goes until Saturday at sundown. And since the holiest place on earth for Jews is the Western Wall, we got to be there for the best day of the week! They sang, danced, prayed, read scripture, touched the wall, and meditated to welcome in the Sabbath. It was humbling to witness their reverence and devotion -- a few of us commented: What if the Sabbath meant this much to us?

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by so many people of incredible faith. I hope to be more like them.

[We weren't allowed to take pictures that night, but here's the Western Wall courtesy of Google]

Saturday:

- The Sabbath! We observe it on Saturdays here as do the Jews. Can I just say that NO ONE TOLD ME THAT THE BYU JERUSALEM CENTER BUILDING IS SO AMAZING?! The auditorium where we have church has 30 foot glass windows overlooking the entire city (it's a little hard to pay attention to the speaker as you might imagine). Also the grand piano is the most expensive European Steinway in the Middle East, no biggie. Almost everyone participated in choir and it was so special to sing "Because I have been given much" together. I was filled with gratitude and awe during the meetings. "Because I have been given much, I too must give." 

- And my favorite part of the day: walking to The Garden Tomb! We sang "He is Risen" in the garden and listened to testimonies of the Savior. I felt the Spirit confirm to me that the Resurrection happened. It is real; and not only real, but the greatest miracle to ever occur on the earth. 

And because of Him, all will live again.

That is amazing.

Golgotha. Can you spot the shape of the skull?

The tomb. 

My cute roommates!! Mandi, Sarah, and India.

The Oasis! This is where we eat all our meals and it's so beautiful. Easy to see where they got the name.

Here's an average meal! Rice, green beans, fish, pita bread, vegetables and that purple/dark fruit is a date! I've loved the food so far. Again, we're way spoiled.

 Sunday:

- Sunday is our free day! We can do whatever we want: study, explore the city, or even leave the city (with permission). We headed out right after breakfast to explore!
Over the course of 8 miles, 21,000 steps and the equivalent of going up and down 81 floors we: got lost, met some really cool people, had fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice, spent time in cathedrals, people watched, walked and walked, and navigated the old fashioned way: with our map!

The coolest couple from Tel Aviv offered to take this photo for us in exchange for our subscriptions to their YouTube channel hahaha

Sarah, Jane, Joslyn, Matt, and Makaela!

Joslyn, Jane, and I at Church of the Holy Sepulchre!

This is arguably the most sacred spot on earth for Christians. We saw people from all over the world here on a pilgrimage to see it and kiss the spots where they believe Christ's body was prepared and laid to rest. 

Lance and Stuart -- funniest guys you'll ever meet.

Jaffa Gate

Joslyn and Matt.

It took us FOREVER to find this Roman Column we were supposed to find on our list (it's a homework assignment). Literally walked an extra 2 miles and talked to 50 people before we found it hidden in an alley, hahaha.

Quote from the student handbook: "Frumpy can be cute if you've got a smile on your face" lol gotta love the jerusalem center dress code.

Asking an Armenian guy for directions. Almost everyone speaks basic English here. #blessings

Fresh pomegranate juice: 10/10 would recommend.

Monday:

- Field trip day! Every Monday we have a field trip to different locations. Think school on the road like The Magic School Bus! We have receivers that we plug our headphones into and our professors teach us while we see the sites. It's crazy how much we've learned thus far. We get to stand in the exact locations where the scriptural passages we read about occurred. It's the coolest!

The Augusta Victoria Church.

HUGE mosaic on the dome. It's amazing to see how many miniature tiles go into a piece like this.

After climbing what felt like 984627 stairs, we reached the top of the tower! It's the highest point on the Mount of Olives and in all of Israel. From there we can see EVERYTHING -- Jordan, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, all of Jerusalem, etc.

Nabi Samwil. This is an ancient Palestinian village that contains the cenotaph (empty tomb) of the Prophet Samuel. 

The Bethlehem Overlook. 

After singing a few hymns together, Dr. Schade let us go off on our own for a while. I sat there looking out over Bethlehem and tried to wrap my head around the fact that Christ was born there in that city, over 2000 years ago. So much has happened since then and so much has changed. 

But He is still the same -- our Savior and Redeemer.

And a photo of the Center!

Phew! In all, it has been a crazy week. I'm still trying to register the fact that this isn't just a vacation, this is home for the next three and a half months!

I feel incredibly blessed and can't wait for what's to come.