Halloween???

This will be my first Halloween away from home ever. Mom just has too many fun traditions I couldn't miss it in previous years, even at school.

Just re-living the good ole days:
- Boiling black cauldron with DRY ICE and grape juice!
- Carving pumpkins
- Cooking "home made" pumpkin seeds
- Listen to the Monster Mash (Actually mom sent it to me this year. Its already been put to great use!)
- give king size candy bars away to the few kids that make it up our driveway
- Deck out the house in Halloween decorations
- play with the fake spider web
- Get pumpkins from the "Pumpkin Patch"
-  make haunted houses out of Graham Crackers
- Eat soup out of a pumpkin
- Neighborhood hot dogs and soda. It has been a tradition ever since we've moved into our house (17 years!)
- Brother Cutlers masterful pumpkin carvings
- Glow in the Dark Halloween scary books. (my personal Favorite. I ADORE these books)
- Mom waking us up in a Halloween costume
Mostly, I just love my family and the traditions we've created. I'll never forget my Israeli Halloween, but love to reminisce on the amazing times we've had!

For our Halloween: Thursday is the actual party and I am most definitely excited about that. Last night at midnight on the dot I yelled as loud as I could "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!" and danced to the Monster mash. This morning I woke up to cute Tessa wishing us all Happy Halloween. I ran up to breakfast and yelled, "I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!!!" Then proceeded to play Monster Mash while decorating each table with confetti in the shape/color of Pumpkins, Bats, and skulls while wearing my candy corn necklace. (All of this made possible by my cute mom who sent me these) Breakfast talk was all about our past costumes and traditions.

It's been a busy day with LOADS of studying, but completely great. The electricity even went of two different times today, just for Halloween! We're celebrating on Thursday for the Muhlestein and Judd families, we're all stoked!

Day in Tel Aviv with Israel

We had a fantastic day spend the majority of our time with Israel, Jacquelines farthers friend. Her dad works over seas and met Israel as they were working at distributors with the Gerber company. They have become close friends over the years, and when Israel found out Jacqueline was going to be here he's been trying to setting up a time to show her around Tel Aviv. Now he supplies a large portion of Israel with all sorts of products.. many of what we use here in the center! I could tell he didn't have a lack of money at all, but he was so incredibly humble.

He came to pick us up around 2:30 drove us to Tel Aviv (about an hour away) and met his son Ariel and his girlfriend Anat. They were all so hospitable and a blast to be around! We were walking along the beach with HUGE waves. I really don't know if i've ever seen them that big. As I was walking and talking to Anat she told me that she never uses english. She had learned it in secondary school, like everyone else that grows up here, but never used it as a form of communication. I was amazed because her english was beautiful and she understood everything I said.

We headed over to Jaffa and climbed the beautiful streets as they told us the history of the town. This is one of the oldest towns mentioned in the Bible many times. Israel reminded me that Jonah and the whale took place there! We stopped to get drinks before dinner, something I had never done, but Jacqueline explained how that is a very European thing to do. I liked it! Mostly, I realized how sheltered of a life i've lived. Honestly this was almost a culture shock to me. The whole experience was so different because they didn't even know what the Mormons were. They wanted to know more, but we can't. I wish so badly I could just tell them a little bit about it!

Tel Aviv is a fairly new city of about 20 years, now very modern and beautiful with high rise towers. The city has made a conscious effort to make beautiful paths for bikers and walkers to get around the city. It was so fun to see the bustle of families and friends relaxing on the beach.  They said their main leisure activities were to do just that, mostly bike on the beach, and hang out at cafes. I've never done that! We then walked over to a train station that used to be in service, but they had renovated and now it had all kinds of shops, art galleries and restaurants. We walked through one gallery that claimed to have the very few remaining propaganda filled advertising posters. I wish we knew all the languages they were in, but we could get some idea of the importance of them.

We walked throughout the city as I marveled at the modernity we were experiencing. I think i've realized that the Jerusalem that I see, which isn't much because we've had so much school work, is a very sheltered part. We go throughout the Old city and don't see the modern world at all. They were explaining to us that they don't visit Jerusalem very much because of all of the extreme people that live there. They feel so out of place, which we do, but we're used to it. In the old city we're around the Palestinian people, and some of them really make us girls feel uncomfortable because of their lack of filter, but Tel Aviv is majorly Israeli secular Jews. The Jews in the old city are usual orthodox so they pay no mind to us. It was nice to be with people exactly like us, but with no practicing religion.

We arrived at a beautiful little restaurant, that had all sorts of beautiful decorations. (I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I felt like a tourist around them) I got to eat Goose liver, which was delicious. Before I put it in my mouth I had to keep telling myself, "Don't think about what you're eating. People eat this all the time and survive. You're going to be ok." Then I could enjoy it. We used it as a spread on delicious bread. It had a sweet taste to it because we were told they used jelly in the liver mixture. Jacqueline and I shared lamb, which i've never had before! It was comparable to a lot of other meat, but it was topped with garlic (mom, you would have loved it!) I felt like a weakling because it was so hard to cut and I took the longest to eat, thank goodness everyone gave Mike their food so he didn't make me feel so bad for eating so slow. Then desert came... it was to die for. We had chocolate crunchy bits of amazingness, 4 kinds of pudding-ish dishes, and some sort of cake that all six of us shared.

The conversation over dinner was a little bit difficult for me because he had spent about 4 hours with them and asked them every question to my knowledge without talking about the gospel. I feel like the church is so much involved with my life I find it hard to not refer back to it. Our cultures are just so different, for example I asked if they played any musical insturment. No, it's not in their culture. Most everyone in the church plays musical instruments. They didn't play any sports in high school because It's focused on studies. What holidays did they celebrate? All the ones they knew about were the Jewish holidays, but they don't celebrate them because they are secular Jews. Have you met my mother? We look SO forward to every holiday, and it's what we discuss a lot of the time. When I was home for the 6 weeks before I came here I spent every week in the mountains either at our cabin, four wheeling, or hiking. I love being out doors! Their mountains are the beach. Each citizen of Israel is required to serve in the Army for 2 years. I didn't even know what kind of questions to ask them about the army, because I know so little about it. It was so so SO great to meet people so different than me! Then I realize we're all the same. They're my brothers and sisters.

I was so impressed by the focus of family here. They had 5 kids in their family, which is big for families around here. I asked Israel about his grandchildren and he said, "each kid is required to have 6 babies. Even ask Ariel." We turn to Ariel and ask him how many children he is required to have, he replied 6! I asked Anat how she felt about this and she said, "no way am I going to have six!" They teasingly told her when they started dating (They had been dating for 3 years, moving in together next month and possibly getting married next year) that she had to have six babies. All the children stay close to their parents here! Ariel explained to me that Beersheva where he was attending school was SOOOO far away being 1 and 1/2 hours. He still came home every weekend to be with the family. How cool is that? It's the culture.

On our drive home we got to hear Israels point of view on the Palestinian- Israeli conflict. He was so level headed compared to the extreme opinions we have gotten from the people we associate with. He explained it if Utah became too dangerous for my family we would leave for several years and then try to come back when the problem had been subdued, but other people lived in our house. It would be so hard. All reserve a right to be there, but that was their house. The same with the Palestinians. They had to leave because of fear, but their houses got resettled with Israeli people. It's such a hard issue. I hope one day it will be figured out. Maybe, not for some time, but it seems so difficult right now.

Travel is also such a major part of their lives. They have visited Spain multiple times, turkey, South America, America multiple times, and a couple others I can't remember. It's their culture. Then I asked if they had ever been to Egypt, because that's really the only place I might be able to relate with them. They replied of course not. That's Palestinian land, and way to dangerous for them. I found that so interesting. It made the conflict real to me. A place that most people in the world love to visit because of the history, and they are so close to it, but can't go in fear of their lives.

Also, he told about his son Ariels experience with cancer. He had been in the army, with a very prestigious group of to-be-commanders (i believe) and then found a lump on his tongue. He had to leave his troop, which was excelling and raising in ranks. He got it checked out and they flew him to New York to the best surgeon in the world. He had a 14 hour surgery and a very VERY difficult 3 week recovery in the hospital (his father said that Ariel watched grandmas zoom past him in their walkers, while he was too week to walk very far) and multiple months at home. He had a 6 inch scar on his throat and a 8 inch scar on his wrist where they took the veins from his arms to use for the tongue and then plastic surgery from his leg to patch his arm. With many hard times for multiple months he suffered, but eventually after special permission got to join his squad again in the army. He served in Lebanon and Syria in dangerous circumstances, and from what I could tell (because of his humility) he was in prestigious ranks.

We spend the most wonderful day with such generous people. It's an understatement to say I'm learning SO much. I feel like my brain is on overload way too often. I am so grateful for these experiences that I am having here.

West J-Ru

Today was filled with our Old Testament Mid-Term. Thanks to wonderful people like Amy, I understood the chronological events of everything in the 2nd half of the bible SO much better! She took around 4 hours to study/teach me all about the history. What an angel.

Finished the test and reviewed for our test the next day.

To celebrate the completion of one of our finals 21 of us loaded in a van and headed to West J-ru! I've never been there in the evening before, what a different world than i've seen here! It was fairly modern and we even got to see people our age hanging out. The Western Jerusalem is where the more modern people hang out and I loved to feel completely safe again. No one called, "Hey baby!" , and not too many men looked at us like we were pieces of meat, more like "hey, they're the Mormons." It was so fun to watch the street performers playing the harp (yes, a mini-harp), jazz piano, guitar jam session that Brandt joined in, singing, and drawing. West J-ru is famous for their waffles, gelato, and crepes. Meggie and I shared one smothered in milk and white chocolate sauce, butterscotch sauce, muddy buddies, and white chocolate chunks.... Oh just a little piece of heart-attack-heaven right there. They have the most divine pastry and bagel shops I can't wait to try. Israel DEFINITELY knows how to make some dang good bread. You can't tell I love food, right?

Crepe man! What a jewel.

We got to talk to a cute Jewish couple from New Jersey (that lives here for 3 months every year) at the Crepe store. They kept asking us about our religion, which we couldn't answer much, but they kept say, "Good, clean kids." I think talking to people is one of the best things about being here. We really get to experience the Jewish/Muslim life.

Ben Yehuda!

Just gettin' cozy with Ronald McDonald.

 Because Halloween isn't celebrated here our Branch is doing their own trick-or-treat, so we got some candy, and waited at the McDonalds for the Taxi. When Cheryshs' parents got out of the taxi we were getting in! Oh they're so wonderful. They let Amy and I hang out with them for a couple hours and I loved to notice all the similarities in Cherysh and her parents. She is truly a mini mom and dad. I'm excited to see them at church on Saturday!

We met a bunch of people on her parents tour that went to the JC before-- There are 5 siblings here with their spouses and parents. AH! I want that to be me one day... but actually LIVING here. Only in my dreams....

I came home to a PACKAGE! Mom said because I was missing Autumn, she sent it to me! (This is just a tiny example of what she does for me) The package Included 2 strands of Autumn leaves, (YES!) , Tootsie Rolls and Sweedish Fish (my favorite that i've missed sooo much)5 pages of Thanksgiving stickers, A roll of paper to write our blessings, and 4 turkey visor hats. Yep, those hats will most definitely be worn by most people here at the center. (I don't mean to sound prideful, but.)You can argue all you want but I SERIOUSLY, honestly, completely, entirely, and truly have the best mother in the whole entire wide universe. I don't understand how I got to be born to her. Heavenly Father is way too good to me.

I came in my room to see my cute roommates watching the last 10 minutes of "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton." Chick flicks are so great, a few tears shed at the tender moments and mostly I just love them a lot. They encourage, uplift, excite, support, and help me make my dreams come true. I don't want this time to end. 48 Days left and the thought brings tears to my eyes.

Duns-diddly-do.

Amy, Janelle, Lisa, Tarah, Lisa, Myself, and Ami celebrating

 14 page single spaced midterm finished FOREVER!

 ....Now 2 more papers and 5 more finals this week....

Happy Birthday Cherysh!!!

She's 21!!! 

This woman means the world to me... and she's LEGAL!!! 

It doesn't mean much in J-Ru, except that she's going on a mission!

Things that define Cherysh:  being a farm girl, nursing, her broad array of faces, twirly gummies, giving, giving and giving, big bear hugs, laughing in miserable circumstances, knowledge of the Gospel, mt. Sinai squattin', Bedoin scaring, her missionary Bryan (I practically know everything about him and never met him officially), Camel loving, hilarious/adventure filled stories, love of coke, ability to stay in touch with friends, piano, violin, teases with no end, rolls with the punches and handles them so well, she's an IDAHOAN! This means I get to actually see her weekly (if I get lucky).

Lastly, She is truly a blessing sent from Heavenly Father to my life. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY you amazing ADULT!

A Whole Lot of Goodbyes

Goodbyes are always so hard, even if you'll see them everyday still. Today was our last class with Brother Muhlestein. Tears were shed and hearts were bore. There is a different relationship that has been created with our teachers.

I sure love these people. 

 This was our Hebrew teacher Judy. She is a wonderful lady!

Butterflies

What about when they're in your stomach every day? 

Yep, that most definitely happens to me.

Sometimes I forget what place i'm in, and then I think, "I am in Jerusalem? What?!" 

Then I get giddy.

I'm here.

I adore this place.

Bethlehem

It SNOWED IN UTAH! I can't explain my excitement each year when I watch the snow fall for the first time. It's always a dance in the snow for me... I missed it this year. It's ok though, because i'm here... In the Holy Land. It's unreal even now 2 months into my stay.

So we went to Bethlehem today! No big deal. It was incredible. Way fun, way busy, but not an exhausting day.

I would have to say today was probably in the top ten of best days of my life, but I kinda feel like that every day. 

It started out with g-chat. What a beautiful thing. I got to call to Janelley.  Our bus was even late so I could talk to her longer! That was most definitely Heavenly Fathers doing. I got to hear Devin's voice and it made me want to be sitting on the beautiful Hawaii beach with them.

My bus buddy today was Jordan. He's a BYU Iderhoan! We 'idahoans' are pretty tight here. (tonight byu I people all ended up on the same table by chance and we planned out our Sunday Hot Chocolate/Stadium singing... when we're in the snow again. Yipee!)

On our way to Bethlehem Brother Muhlestein was talking about this Separation Wall between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It really is a 20 minute drive (because of traffic) around 5 miles away from us. He really put it in perspective. He lives in Lindon with all of his family living in Payson and Orem. So if Orem and Lindon were waring against one another. This war was seriously putting your family in danger every day and it was so hard for you to see them go through so much persecution from the Orem-ites. They put a separation wall between Lindon and Orem. He works at BYU in provo and can't go to work, can't see his siblings anymore. That's exactly how it is for these people. It hit me hard. This separation wall is a big deal. It now keeps them so safe and secure, but keeps them away from the world in a big way.

 We hopped off the bus and saw sheep. Yep, this is Bethlehem.

-We had a very biased lecture by a professor from Bethlehem University. That was... Interesting. We have been warned multiple times since by teachers to learn more about the issue and create our own opinion. Mostly, be open minded.

-Next we headed to Bethlehem university and got to talk to the students! That was my favorite because they are so wonderfully friendly. They're normal people just like me. Duh, right? It's so hard to think that when we have the language barrier and such dramatic culture difference. 

This chapel was inherited by the University in 1893. The university used to be a secondary school and was established as a University in 1973. This chapel "Chapel of the Divine Christ"  is for those that are religious to come worship every Friday. It has a lot of representation of Christs childhood and the innocence he lived.

The stained glass windows all theme around Christs life and his teachings. The ceiling was painted with the history of the world. It started with Adam and eve until Christs reign.

This school is Catholic that the Muslims feel comfortable to attend with about 70% muslim and 30% Christian. We had a pannell of people that would answer questions for us about anything. They have all sorts of majors and bachelor programs with about 3,000 students. I thought it was so interesting how the Christians and Muslims were such great friends, they didn't care at all what religion you belonged to. It made me think.. "Why in the world can't Jews and Muslims act the same?" Too much history. Too much animosity.  They are forbidden to marry out of their culture, which i found interesting. They will be disowned by their parents and have friends that have been, because of their decisions to marry outside of their religion. 

There were 70% girls and 30% boys because most boys are shipped abroad to other countries for education and girls always stay with their family until they are married. Something that would be hard for me. Our society is so different.

Blast to the past? Yep.

 Our wonderful Islam professor... what an interesting man.

We were ravenous and headed to "The Tent." What an absolute blast. It literally was a massive tent that we ate under. They brought out about 10 plates of things for us to try with delicious warm wheat pitas. We gobbled the food up and they brought more. Fries, meat loafs and chicken in a new spice. One thing i've noticed here... there is a very massive plethora of spices for food. I like it. Actually, I'm learning to like it.

Church of the Natvitiy

Church of the Nativity is the oldest continuously functioning Christian church on the earth. Because it has been contiuously used, they had loads of scaffolding when we arrived. Dr. Chadwick said in his 30 years of visiting the sight he has never seen it as busy as it was for us. Aparently the Palestinian president arrived in Bethlehem that morning and had closed down the whole city for the majority of the day. There were three cruise ships docked and planning on seeing this sight, all of them got into town at 4:00, naturally the same time we did. It was a bit chaotic when we were in there. We waited for about 2 hours and moved about 100 feet. Got severely yelled at once, but it was still a really great experience. We got to stand in line for about 20 minutes for a one-stalled bathroom and no toilet paper. It was super hilarious. We started talking to some British ladies that were a hoot, and loved our silly jokes (especially Lindseys laugh). I feel like we bonded with class mates standing in line for so long, and we get to bond even more... about 60 more hours of field trips the rest of the semester!

The building housed three different churches:  Greek orthodox, Armenian church and Catholic churches. They were beautiful, but all three were there with much conflict. Originally this building was an 8-sided basilica. This style was only built for buildings directly related to Christs life. It got damaged in 339 AD and was remodeled into the form of a cross after 529 AD.The decorations of the place were very old, but beautiful from antiquity.

We were shuffled along as we squished into the actual 'cave' Christ was born. It was really amazing to see the actual place. I STOOD there! We had about 30 seconds of chaos inside, but we saw where his manger laid and the place he was born. The actual place of his birth there was a 14 point star (which actually started a war) with a hole in the middle to touch the actual ground underneath. We practically ran out of there to make it to the bus. Running to the bus I talked to a bunch of people about what they thought of the experience. Most were very bothered how people have made such a massive deal of this and built a huge church on top. The hustle and bustle angered many of them. Mom had warned me a head of time of this. I was so grateful because I could focus on what we were seeing instead of the circumstance we were in. On the bus ride home we got stuck in traffic to pass the separation wall. We actually drove through it this time, as before we didn't... i'm not sure why. It was a weird feeling passing from one place to the next that some have such animosity towards each other. We've been studying these issues so much lately, and I'm trying to create an opinion on it from the little information I know.

-It was our last field trip with Brother Muhlestein. I am really really REALLY going to miss him.

1. Name 3 OT figures who were buried or born near or in Bethlehem? Rachel, Naomi’s husband, and David. 

2. Which OT prophet foretold the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem? Micah
3. Explain who Constantine was and what he built in the 4th century?  Roman Emperor built a shrine-basilicas
4. Who was Jerome? most learned of early Christianity’s Latin Fathers.  Made a translation of the Bible into common Latin from original manuscripts.
5. who built the existing Nativity Church? Emperor Justinian built a new cross-shaped basilica