My Exodus

I am finally back at the JC and home it seems like. Our 8 days in Egypt seemed like much longer. We were able to see so much. I suppose I can summarize each day, or at least try.

The drive there on our bus was very long and slightly boring. We stopped at several places on the way out of Israel. Beer'sheva. Advat. (the desert..or valley of Sin?) Ben Gurion memorial/school. and a kibutz Yatvata, which is famous for their chocolate milk. We stayed our first night at a kibutz about 45 min away from the Israel/Egypt border. The concept of a kibutz is very interesting. It is a small community which..is more or less socialist? Everyone has a job within the fenced/walled community...and they all get the same salary to support their families. They grow many things there and the ones we visited also had dairies.

We left early (thursday/friday morning...dont remember which) for the border at Eliat...which took about 2 or so hours to walk through...with our backpacks and "carry-ons". The drive through the Sinai desert is barren and hot. There is nothing...except the Suez Canal, which we saw with several oil tankers going through. Cairo is unbelievable. crowded. huge. underdeveloped. It is almost like a city that was only built half-way. Nearly every apartment building/tower is unfinished with rebar jutting from the top. Clothes are hung off the balconies to dry. We stayed at the Oasis..which wasn't too far from the Pyramids in Giza. That first night we arrived later and hurried to the Pyramid Sound and Light show. It was a very neat experience to witness such a magnificent creation by mankind. It was difficult to stay awake towards the end of the show, because I was so exhausted from the ride.

The next morning we rushed to the pyramids to get tickets to get into the tomb...or inside chamber of the largest pyramid. They only sell 200 tickets per day, beginning at 8am. So we arrived before 8am in hopes of getting enough tickets for our group of 90ish. Unfortunately 5 or so students were not able to get tickets, which was very upsetting. The climb into the pyramid and to the chamber where the pharaoh's tomb was located was much better than the crawl space at Micah's Caves. The actual chamber was not very large, though it probably fit...40 or so people. It was very hot because there was no outside air. The outside tomb was in there (emptied of the sarcophagus, etc). Many of us students crawled inside it and laid down pretending to be mummys. We also were able to see the Sphinx. The craftmanship and massiveness of these works does not disappoint in real life. I found it hard to imagine the sheer numbers of Egyptian workers "aka slaves" it took to build these massive structures of solid stone. The same day was also visited Memphis, once a capital during the early dynasties of Egypt, and later a military outpost for many pharaohs such as Ramses II. We saw many other things that day, but I really do not have time to describe them all.

After this first day in Cairo we took a flight to Luxor which is in Upper Egpyt (or Southern Egpyt). Luxor is very different from Cairo. The population is around 200,000 I believe...regardless it's not 18 million like Cairo. The majority of people there work as farmers, or in the tourism business. It is beautiful there. The drastic difference between the green farmland near the Nile and the desert of the Valley of the Kings (which are not far apart at all) is mindblowing. The Nile River really equates to life in Egpyt. With just a little water, trees and shrubs sprout out of the desert and become an oasis. We stayed at the Sheraton in Luxor...right on the Nile River. In the mornings at Luxor I got ready for the day out on our balcony overlooking the Nile and the beautiful trees surrounding it.

While in Luxor I saw the Valley of the Kings, including King Tut's tomb and mummy! The mummy was kind of gross...he seemed like a very small man. I do not think his mummy was any larger than me. The tombs at the Valley of the Kings were so intricate and detailed. I was amazed at the preservation of the frescos within the tombs, which occurred so easily because of the sand, sealing of the tombs, etc. I also saw the Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut. This was my most favorite structure/site. It is so beautifully situated in the red cliffs there in the desert. It is grand, and yet simple. She was the only woman to be a pharaoh, as she took the place of her son who was too young. She even displayed herself as a man in sculptures and frescos describing her and her actions as pharaoh.
Each night in Luxor, we went out as groups to explore the city. The carriage rides were very fun, and also interesting. We quickly learned how the system worked there with people. I got some descent souvineers.
In Luxor we also visited the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple, built by several pharaohs. I wish I could put pictures up of these wonderful structures, but I have yet to find the time to visit the Hebrew University next door to the JC, who has much better internet quality/speed.
One of the highlights of the Luxor trip was our camel trip! We took a faluca across the Nile, and afterwards rode camels for an hour through neighborhoods and the farmland.

We took an overnight train back to Cairo, instead of flying. I was anticipating this very much, since I have never ridden on a real train before. I am not sure this was the...best experience for my first train ride ever. Even though we were in "first class", it was a very primative train (which is a nice way of describing how much it lacked...in comfort..or cleanliness haha). I spent much of the night talking with other girls from my group. There are so many different kinds of students here and I am so glad we can learn from each other. Anyways, we stayed up half the night on the train talking about auras and oils. I do not think I really slept that night, which showed the following morning when we got off the train in Cairo around 5:30am. This day was very hard for all of us.

We visited some older Coptic churches, as well as a synagogue. Then we went to the Egyptian Museum which holds so many famous ancient Egyptian sculpture and artifacts. Unfortunately while we were there I got really sick. I had to sit down for a while, before I could walk again. Luckily we have several nursing students with us here. I think it was probably a combo of the Egyptian curse/dehyrdation/exhaustion. One of my professors stayed with me while the rest of the group toured the museum. I did mange to see the Mummy Room and the artifacts of King Tut's tomb. The mummys were very interesting. They were preserved so well! King Ramses II even had lots of blonde hair on his skull (blonde from the mummification process. it was gray) I also so the mummy of Hatshepsut, Amonetep (or something like that). After the Egyptian Museum they took us to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, which I had never eaten at before. Eating a burger and fries after so long, was nice, except we weren't allowed to eat fruits/vegetables in Egypt because it was contaminated by the water, etc. So we ate...dry burgers. I felt guilty listening to the YMCA...and eating hamburgers while on this trip...because we're really supposed to be immersing ourself in the culture...and we were cheating the system or something. My friends just thought i was silly.

Our final day in Egypt we visited several Mosques...the Muhammad Ali mosque which was unique and beautiful in a way very different from the other sites. After that we drove through the Sinai to stay at Morgenland near Mt. Sinai. This was probably the worst place we stayed at on the trip. My roommate Alex smashed a cochroach on our bedside table. We woke up around 2am to get to the base of the mountain to hike. It took about 2 hours to hike up the mountain and make it in time for the sunrise. This was most definitely the hardest hike I have ever done in my life. (it might have been made more difficult by the fact that i was still feeling sick). Near the top of the mountain, there were 700ish uneven stone steps to climb to the very top. At this point, I thought I might heave over and die, or roll off the moutain from exhaustion. The only thing keeping me from quitting was the fact the sun was rising fast and I was not about to miss it after putting forth so much physical effort. It was priceless. One of the most beautiful sites I have seen in my life thus far. And also very cold. We walked back down the 700 stairs and had a testimony meeting. It was probably the best testimony meeting I have been in. The spirit could be felt so strongly there, which is sensible since Mt. Sinai is a holy place, and can even be considered a temple. I am so glad I had the opportunity to hike and afterwards bear my testimony there. An unforgetable experience.

There is so much more that I saw and experienced...but I just cannot recount all that happened. I am glad I was able to visit Egypt and interact with the people there. I am also glad that we are living in Israel, and not in Egypt...because I would have had to buy several hundred bottles of sanitizer.

Hope yall are doing well! Now I'm off to get some sleep...and study for my classes this week.

Spelunking, Tells, and Underground Dove Coops

Today was field trip day. They always seem to pack so much into 10 hours. We visited 6 or 7 places today. 1st was Beth Shemash...which means house of the sun...or something like that...It's right by a valley...whose name I do not remember without my field trip manual. Anyways...after that we headed over to Elah Valley which is where David fought Goliath. We went to the "brook" and picked out stones and threw them into a farmer's field with relatively similar slingshots. I was horrible. I got my stones to go...no more than 5 or 6 feet. Supposedly in David's time one could throw a rock 100 yards with a slingshot. It was pretty neat...but also pretty dangerous since 40 or so of us were attempting to "sling" our rocks. Some when forward. Most backwards or sideways and actually hit a couple of people. I was very excited to finally realize what I should bring home as a present for one of my brothers. It's completely perfect.

Then we went to another tell...I think the largest...(tells are basically ancient cities built ontop of the rubble of the previous city. It eventually gets built up enough that it resembles a mountain or large hill with a flat top...and lots of rocks sticking out) Anyways...we went to Lachish. It mentions this city several times in the Bible I believe. You can see Hebron, and Palastinian cities in the West Bank. I believe they said that was the closest we would get to these cities that are "off limits"...they were about 25 miles away. There was a small ancient Israelite temple there which allowed us to see the layout...with an open courtyard..then a small room before entering the smallest room, the holy of holies. Lachish was captured several times over the centuries, by the Israelites, Assyrians, and Babylonians.

We also went into a national park...called Marisa I believe. It was believed that Herod the Great was from there...when his family was forced to convert to Judaism. There are series of underground buildings and cisterns and houses there. They would cut blocks of chalk out and use the underground rooms for things such as bird coops...where they would be in little notches...and use the fertilizer and birds for sacrifice. There were also olive presses and houses underground.

My favorite part of our exhausting day was the spelunking in Micah's Caves. It was the coolest experience ever. I had my little flashlight in my mouth half of the time...crawling on all fours..or on my stomach through littles holes underground..and through passage ways. I crawled through the tiny tunnels for 45 minutes until our teachers said we had to go. (tiny meaning it was the width of my shoulders and usually not higher than 2 or tops 3 feet) Everyone was completely filthy when we crawled out. Dust and chalk covered our faces, arms, backs, and obviously pants. Several people are thinking of taking taxis back on a free day to do some more exploring.

It was an awesome day.

Jerusalem Branch Relief Society Newsletter 9/12/09

(I was called to serve in the Jerusalem Branch to create the Relief Society Newsletter each Sunday summarizing our meetings for the sisters who cannot attend church, because of sickness, or they are not permitted to enter Jerusalem by the government to come to church.)

Jerusalem Branch Relief Society Newsletter
September 12, 2009

Announcements
Branch Family Home Evening at 7pm in the Oasis
Forum at 7:30pm Tuesday, Sept. 15th featuring 3 graduates of BYU
Saturday, Sept. 19th Linger-longer after Church meetings. Food assignments will be emailed.
Sis. Rebekah Jensen is the new Visiting Teacher Coordinator. Report visiting teaching or assignments to her.
Birthdays: Rebecca Peterson (Sept. 13) Guada Soriano (Sept. 15)

Opening Song: "Love at Home"
Lesson: "How Glorious Are Faithful, Just and True Friends" by Brooke Stoneman.

Personal Story by teacher: She met a woman while at a dinner who said she was "really into friendship". Usually we do not think of friendship as being a hobby.

Joseph Smith had several people with whom he had a deep love and close relationship.
Journal entries from the manual were read describing Joseph's friendship with many different people.
The first journal entry described Emma, his wife. Characteristics he used to describe Emma were undaunted, firm and unchangeable. She gave him unspeakable delight. A comment was made that "every woman craves [the ability to give their spouse such happiness]"

The next journal entry read was about Hyrum Smith, and expresses Joseph's appreciation for his faithful brother.
"Oh, may the Eternal Jehovah crown eternal blessings upon your head, as a reward for the care you have had for my soul!" This was expressed as a model of friendship to seek after. Several comments were made regarding asking blessings upon ones friends. "We should ask 'What can I pray for you this week?'" We have great power as friends to call down blessings.

Joseph Smith also spoke of Newel K. Whitney in a journal entry saying, "Thou art a faithful friend in whom the afflicted sons of men can confide..."

The question "Why is their friendship so meaningful to Joseph" was posed.
Answers included: Joseph's friends let him know he was not alone, and that they were with him. A link was also made between Joseph and Jesus Christ. When Christ was teaching people and it became hard, they walked away. He asked his disciples if they would also leave, to which they replied they would have no where to go.
Friendship is commitment, including friendshiping someone when it is not easy.

Are there ways you have been buoyed up by friends during diversity?
(Personal stories responded to this question.)

The idea of fellowship and friendshiping is true doctrine. If you cannot think of those people in your life, you can be one of those people. We need friends in joy, not just in sorrow.

Quote by Benjamin F. Johnson, personal secretary of Joseph Smith "Joseph the Prophet’—as a friend he was faithful, long-suffering, noble and true. … As a companion, socially, he was highly endowed—was kind, generous, mirth loving. … For amusement he would sometimes wrestle with a friend, or oftener would test strength with others by sitting upon the floor with feet together and stick grasped between them. But he never found his match. Jokes, rebuses...matching couplets in rhymes, etc., were not uncommon."

1. What helps you understand the prophet Joseph in this quote?
2. How can mirth loving help our family/friends?
It is good to have all kinds of friends, serious and silly.

"Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of ‘Mormonism’; [it is designed] to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars and contentions to cease and men to become friends and brothers." p. 463

Another question was asked: How have presidents of the church been examples of friendships with all people?
Many comments were made about President Hinckley and his sense of humor. A story was told about President Hinckley when he was at Hill Cumorah and wanted to climb it. He had the help of 2 other men, each one latched at his side to help. While climbing he was to have said "You know I can make it up to the top of the hill okay, but it's hard when I have to drag you two."

Quote from Joseph Smith after receiving a letter while being imprisoned at Liberty jail.
"...but those who have not been enclosed in the walls of prison without cause or provocation, can have but little idea how sweet the voice of a friend is; one token of friendship from any source whatever awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling; it brings up in an instant everything that is past; it seizes the present with the avidity [eagerness] of lightning; it grasps after the future with the fierceness of a tiger; it moves the mind backward and forward, from one thing to another, until finally all enmity, malice and hatred, and past differences, misunderstandings and mismanagements are slain victorious at the feet of hope.”
Think of the power that the gesture of friendship can have! It can rid another of vices.

Sister Stoneman read the 1st, 2nd and 5th verses of the hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief".
As we give to others and serve, our own wounds will be healed.
May it be said that any sister we come in contact with will not be in want of a friend while we live.

Closing hymn: "Nearer My God to Thee"
Have a splendid week sisters!

Marhaba Dome of the Rock

This week has been slightly painful. Mostly, because all of us (the students) have been nearly restricted to our rooms from such large homework loads. We've all come to agreement that 2 credit hour classes should not be permitted to assign 100 pages of history reading each night. At some point, most of us just break and run into the city to escape the drudgery that is our Ancient Near East history class.

I love my classes, just not the reading. It is fascinating to learn about the Jewish culture (not religion...because as many of us are learning...Judaism is more of a way of life than a religious denomination) from its beginnings along with Isalm. Arabic is fun. Our first class was mainly introductory, and our teacher is outrageous. I think I will like it, if I can remember the words that we learn. We might even get Arabic names. There is a place in the old city that can translate your name to Arabic or Hebrew and make it into a necklace.

After Old Testament class with Brother Emmett (which is probably my most favorite class right now. Which has surprised me. I have never really studied the Old Testament, but I suppose it takes on a different meaning when one is living where the events and stories have taken place.) we went to the Old City again and finally were able to get onto the Temple Mount!

A group of us have tried several other times unsuccessfully to see the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount, but because it is Ramadan the hours are more restricted. Police guard every entrance to the mount, but tourists and such are allowed before 11ish a.m. during the day. We spent quite a while just walking around it. The Al Aqsa mosque next to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount and is one of the most holy sites in Isalm. It was nearly imaginable for me to think I was standing (not on the same stones or level) where the temple used to be. Where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac. The holiest place in Judaism. Where Christ would have taught the people of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, it is not allowed to bring religious books or music, etc through security onto the Temple Mount. I think it would have been an even more profound experience if one could actually read the Bible there.

It is amusing to see the other tourists around the city. Usually the are in huge groups wearing matching red hats, neon colored shirts, or yellow scarves. They are impossible to maneuver around. Us students are always trying to squeeze past them while they leisurely clog the small alleys in the Old City. I am confident that we will feel more like residents here by the time next month is over, rather than tourists. Already it has been 1 1/2 weeks and I have a fairly good grasp of the Old City at least.

The food at the JC is becoming less appealing by the day. I have tried almost everything, some of which has made me feel I would instantly regurgitate my food. I don't like meat so much anymore. Pita is the best thing since the invention of a paved road. I eat it when I can't stomach the other food...with nutella it's delicious. And you can even make pb&j with it. It's a nice backup.

Well I'm off to watch at movie on Egypt since we are leaving in one week! Amazing? Yes. (Although many of us are preparing by buying quantities of packaged food so we do not end up sick.) If anyone has any purchase requests for while I'm there...just let me know.

Free Day in the City

Holy Cow. What a busy 24 hrs I may say. First may I congratulate BYU on actually beating OU Saturday evening (morning here). About 10 of us here at the JC watched the game...which happened to start at 2am here because of time difference. It was pretty crazy! (embarrassing for the big 12...but I was pretty impressed with BYU) By the time that the game finished it was around 5:30am here...and breakfast started in 1 1/2 hrs...so i took a 1 hr nap and got up for breakfast. Sundays here are our free days because we have the sabbath on Saturdays, like the Jewish and Muslim people here.

After breakfast I left with a good sized group to explore more of the old city. I was really questioning how much I would be able to survive today living on 1 hr of sleep...but I just returned at 5:30pm! And I am very exhausted and looking forward to going to bed very early tonight.

We began with the Rampart Walk at Jaffa gate in West Jerusalem. Basically it is a path that walks along the walls that surround the Old City. There were so many beautiful outlooks from being so high up! That only took about an hr or so. The steps were pretty steep at times and narrow, which was a little scary. It is so nice to see Jerusalem in a different perspective, instead of one of many in a jumbled crowd.

After we finished the Rampart Walk, we made our way to a restaurant in the Muslim quarter off the road that enters Damascus Gate. It was a little hole-in-the-wall place, but delicious. Ashkabars..or something like that. It was a difficult name. The 8 of us shared 2 chips (french fry baskets) 3 different kinds of humis with pita bread, folofal balls and coke in an arabic can. Yum Yum Yum. I was completely full afterwards. And it only cost us like...17 shekels apiece. ( so like...$4)

Several of us have been dying to visit the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock, but have never been able to thus far. The visiting times are all scrambled because they are celebrating Ramadan. I was able to hang out in the Jewish quarter, which is very clean and nice, but also more expensive.

There is a shopkeeper in off Chrisitian Quarter that has a special relationship with BYU or "Mormon University" students. Shaban at Ali Baba gives us good deals...and doesn't rip off the students like many vendors will do...so we finally found his shop today and I bought some Jesus sandals! A pretty dress and a sling over purse to haul all my touristy things I take while on our field trips. All of this cost me 95 shekels..or like $25. It's great not being ripped off.

And finally after the shopping I went over to the Tower of David Museum in west Jerusalem by Jaffa gate. We are required to go there for one of our classes, so that's one assignment partially out of the way. It was basically a citadel...that was built by the many people that invaded, conquered and ruled Jerusalem over the past several thousand or so years. The history gets so complicated.

I am officially give out after a fairly insane day. Hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day Weekend. (which is obviously not celebrated in the Holy Land)

Shalom Jerusalem

I am officially a pilgrim. After a horrid long flight, I am finally in the Holy Land! It is so incredible to be here. We arrived Wednesday night at sundown, with sounds of the city filling our ears (mostly in celebration of Ramadan) Christmas lights were strung from buildings, twinkling everywhere. The city is much more modern than I expected.

The Jerusalem Center is beautiful. We are so lucky to actually be living here! It is like a temple. I awoke this morning to the blaring of the Call to Prayer aroud 4a.m. Since we live in East Jerusalem it consists of Palestinians, Muslims, & Arabs. The speakers sit right across from the center, so it sounds as if it is someone outisde on our balconies. (Needless to say...my first night in the Holy Land was a restless one.)

If I had to leave after spending only today here, it would have been worth it. What an experience. After an early breakfast & more orientation we walked through many parts of Jerusalem & the Old City. From the Jerusalem Center we walked all the way to the Old City and entered through Domascus Gate. The vendors crowded nearly every space. The smell of foreign spices filled the air to the point my nose burned with its scent. Trash, spoiled fruit, and cardboard boxes littered the alleyways and streets...adding to the ocassional smell of urine. (understandable though, I suppose since buildings are just stacked upon each other in so close quarters)
We were able to stop at an Austrian hospice and use their decent bathrooms. It was tucked away on a corner almost, with a fairly small door which we buzzed and it was opened...which led to another gate inside (almost like "The Sound of Music" when the children visit Maria" It was strange how such a nice little place surrounded by flowers and plants on the inside was amongst the clutter and bustle in the muslim quarter.

We followed the Via Delarosa to the Church of the Holy Seplechure (or the Church of the Reedemer). There were only a couple other large tourist groups there. While many believe this to be the place were Christ was crucified and burried, there is also the Garden Tomb which is thought to be the place as well. The controversy that has risen out of the Church of the Holy Seplechure is extensive and (in my opinion...the opposite of being Christlike) It is amazing how different churches will fight...even literally for a larger piece of the church. I have quickly discovered that many of the disagreements, fighting, and violence in Jerusalem can be linked to desire for political power. West Jerusalem is so different from East Jerusalem. It is so modern and developed compared to the small buildings and shacks in the East.

There is so much more I could say about my first day exploring Israel, but just as I will never be able to see everything here, I think it would be impossible for me to also write everything I am feeling and have experienced in just one day.