Bethlehem

For our fieldtirp this week, we went to Bethlehem! First we went to Bethlehem University, and the interesting thing about this University is that its for both Muslims and Catholics so there is a Cathedral in the middle of the campus.  One of the fun things about going there was that a lot of the students spoke English so we got to talk to them and ask them about random things, like what they think about the Palestinian/Israeli problem, their majors, and what they want to do with their lives. And came to realize that they are just like us...

Here is the view of the city of Bethlehem from the top on one of their buildings on campus

After visiting the campus we went and had lunch in a Bediwin Tent and it was soo good!

(Natalie, Diana, me, Ryan, Emma)

First they came out with pita and tons of dips

And sadly i didnt get a picture of the main course but we had this really good chicken with tomatoes and onions and french fries, and more pita!

After stuffing our faces, we went to the Church of the Nativity which is where they predict that Jesus was born.  In the scriptures it says that he was born in a stable, well the picture in my mind was literally a stable like a little wooden shelter with the little lambs and donkey just chillen watching...but no they had to shatter my whole idea of the birth of Jesus.  Apparently, a stable is where they use to keep the animals, but it was more like a cave, and a manger is where the animals get their food, so he wasnt in a little wooden crip with the hay.  It was shocking to me, haha, but thats me and my ignorance, again.

The Church of the Nativity

The original flooring that dates back to the fourth century which was done by Emperor Justinian

This is a group of us going into the stable and manger

This is me sitting next to the grotto, which the 14 point star represent the 14 generations from Adam to Jesus, and the 14 different points of memorable places of Jesus on Via Delarosa.

And here is the manger/shrine-ish thing..

And sadly, the whole time we were there we were being pushed by these dutch old ladies on a tour, so i didnt get any good pictures...

But afterwards we got to wonder around Bethlehem.  We ended up at this church called The Milk Grotto

Its interesting what they decide to make churches for nowadays.  This church was created because this is supposively where Mary spilt some of her milk...

Here is a picture of Mary that was in the church, if you cant tell, yes that is her boob just out there...

Grateful for the church and that we dont do things like this...

Tel Aviv

In celebration of Finals being done and being able to get out (because there have been some demonstrations and rallying going on so the Old City has been off limits) we got a big group together and went to Tel Aviv! It was an amazing day! i loved every minute of it! The beach was beautiful, the shopping was fun, and food was yummy!

We started off first at the souke, which was nice to switch up the shopping experience and i actually got a couple of things too that i needed/loved too much :)

Some cool kids outside of the souke

(Gage, Mary, Kelsae, Natalie, Brooke, Andrew)

Here's a picture kinda of the city to show it it was.  I seriously forgot like multiple times throughout the day that i was in Israel.  I felt like i was in San Fransico, but like an 80 degree San Fransico that got flattened...haha

After that, we couldnt handle not being away from the beach any longer, and it was soo nice! I always forget how much i miss the beach!

(me, Jess, Mary, Lindsay, Emma, Anna, Kinzie, Elissa, Natalie, Gretchin, Kelsae, Brooke)

Then while we were taking boy pictures an Israeli soilder and his friend with some hooka came up and wanted to be in the picture too, so why not? But seriously, not that there was a ton of people on the beach but probably of them had hooka, it was really funny, i got invited to have some.

(Ron, Andrew, Jordon, Israeli soilder, Alex, hooka dude, Gage, Aaron)

Elissa and i <3

Then later that night we went on a bike ride along the coastline and rode around Old Jafa City, it was so pretty and relaxing

Then, we went and had pizza which i had been craving for sooo long! Dont get me wrong i love my pitas but i miss american food..or italian food...

Overall a perfect day spent in the sunshine

Studying!

So last week i finished 3 midterms, which hopefully turned out well...and this upcoming week is Finals week, so i have 5 finals within 3 days. Should be great right?! But after that we will only have 2 real classes! yay!

And not that im counting or anything but only 15 days until Galilee! So excited!!!
Bring it On!!!

Herodian Fieldtrip

Last weeks field trip was titled the "herodian" fieldtrip because we saw a bunch of different sites that all had to deal with the Herodian Age, which is exciting for me because the Herodian Age is when Jesus lifetime was! No offense to all the Tels, but im excited to start to actually focus on Jesus sites...

First we went to the Western Wall, except we went on this tour that led us to an underground level of it.  A fun fact about the Western Wall is that apparently only an eighth of it is actually showing because the rest of it covered by homes and building from the Jewish Quarter.  We went down where the Western Wall begins

Starting where it began also meant that we were on the same ground that was back in Herodian Age too, so we took a picture of the ground that Jesus probably walked on haha

Then we went on the outisde of Wall and went to an archeology site, which these are the rocks that were pushed off the Western Wall when the Romans were trying to destroy it during their destruction in 70 AD

Then we went around the Wall corner and went to Entry Gate, which is a picture in the scriptures, which is where Jesus was also likely to have walked

Here is the view from the side of the outside Wall, showing all the Jewish graves, which they are barried there so when the Savior "does" come they will have front row seats basically...

Then we also went to the Burnt House which was a musuem of an archeology dig where they had dug out a couple of houses which was neat to see the sizing and they had a few artifacts, but we couldnt take pictures in there.

But while we were walking around in the Jewish Quarter, there was a Bar Mitzva, which i decided i wanted to relive my 13 year and have one

And then here a lovely picture of our sack lunches..The yummy sandwitches that are basically mayo and corn, with maybe a bit of chicken, which apparently makes it into a chicken salad sandwitch..haha

But ill take a chicken salad sandwitch any day, to be here!

David's Citadel

Today for our free day we went to David's Citadel. I went there with Ryan and Alex, but met up with a bunch of kids there from the Center. We didnt stay long though because these next two weeks we have Midterms and Finals. Its crazy! So we only stayed for a little bit...

But some history for you, David's Citadel is also known as David's tower.  It was build in the second century BC but it has been destroyed and rebuild a bunch of times.

Here is the center of it, where the gardens are at

And then Alex, Me and Ryan

And then our model shot

Can you tell that we love to model..? haha

City of David

Today, we went to the City of David.  This is where Jerusalem all began, apparently...according to the 3-D movie that we saw. Here is John, me and Ryan with our sweet 3-D glasses on

Here is the view of the Kidron Valley in the City of David

Then we went to what everyone was most excited for, Hezekiah's tunnel.  Hezekiah built this tunnel from each end and met in the middle.  He created this tunnel when the Assyrians were attacking Jerusalem.  Creating this tunnel made it so that he could water in a safer location. Thank goodness the water level wasnt too high, because we were told that sometimes it can come up to your waist but it only came up to the top of my thighs.

(me, Anna, and Mary)

Then there was a pool area right out side of the tunnel that had some fun pillars that we, oviously, did some posing on

(Katie, Ryan, and me)

And sadly we kinda have a joke about Professor Brown.  He always does really funny hand motions, and i think he knows this, so he posed for us...haha, we all loved it

We also went to the Spring of Siloam which is where Jesus healed a blind man, it was all dried up so i didnt take a picture...haha

But i guess that can just be for your information :)

Chagall Windows

Every Sunday is our free day, so at breakfast we get a sack lunch and are totally free for the day to do whatever we want. This Sunday i went with 14 other kids and went to Chagall Windows which are located next to the Hospital in Jerusalem.  There are 12 windows, each representing a tribe of Israel. They were beautiful!

Afterwards we explored around the quaint town and went to two other churches.  I didnt feel like i was in Jerusalem anymore though because the town felt so European.

This is us at a super cute gelato cafe that had amazing gelato!

(me, Bentley, Emmy, Ron, Anna, Lindsay, Emma, Mary, and Kinzie)

The first chuch we went to was called The Church of the Visitation. This is where they believe that Mary met Elizabeth that she would carry the Savior.

Kinzie and i, outside in the beautiful garden

Next we went to another church called The Church of John the Baptist. This is where they believe that John the Baptist was born.  It was so neat though because on the outside wall there was a scripture that they put into probably like 20 different languages all over.

This is apparently where he was born..

It was definitley one of my favorite Sunday outings

Moustache Meeting

Seriously i think we have the best group that has ever been at the Center and here's some proof.

The boys in our group thought it would be funny to start a moustache group, which most of the guys did do it. The deal was that they all grew out moustaches for 10 days and after 10 days they could shave it. I guess it was to create unity or brotherly love or something?! So at the end of the 10 days they had a big meeting, but it was the best meeting! Personally i have nothing against moustaches, some are dirty and ugly, but whatever i dont have to kiss them anyways, so there's no harm, right?

Since i was a pro-moustache supporter, i was asked to speak during their final meeting. So Katie and i decided to do a little performance for them, first we started off with a poem that i created...

The Moustache

Some girls like the bods

Some girls like the mods

And while some girls like the cash

My man needs the 'stache

Its prickley to the touch

For some girls its just too much

And while the skruff is alright

The moustache is tight!

And it was sad to see

That some didn't grow so far

So i guess i can see

Who the real men are

No, no please don't fret

And dont shave those 'staches just yet

Some girls wont talk to you

But there just a bunch of foo's

And just to end this story well

I have one secret to tell

I know that most girls gave you trash

But i will miss the dirty moustache

-Ali Huish

So p.s. we kinda got really into it and yes, i do have a moustache and yes, i do have a picture of a moustache on my shirt. Sitting below me, is Katie with the bongo drums

And then there was the Rap...

The Moustache, cant trade it for cash

Them prissy girls all be cheesed

but here we are on our knees

beggin to keep the patch

that you all call the moustache....cant trade it for cash

many men grow it long

them we consider strong

shaving is not a choice

now men raise up your voice

Moustache, cant trade it for cash

i dont mean to diss

but when we kiss

i tend to miss, the pleasureness

The moustache, cant trade it for cash

I dont mind the style

mexi, french, or pedifile

10 days aint enough

now men show your stuff

Moustache, cant trade it for cahs

you few who want it gone

for you this is your song

boys will you please recruite?

to you we salute!

-Katie Bourne

Us getting a little too into it again, with our shades, and hoodies... breaking it down

Here i am with all the boys...

Another p.s. i am holding up my nuckles because i wrote moustach on each one. True Thug.

And here is their salute

Just another crazy fun night at the Center

(me and Katie)