Some Pics

So...it's still raining here in Jerusalem, at least t was until about 30 minutes ago. I went outside to stretch my legs and it was amazing. It's not very often you see great clouds and the city literally sparkling from the rain and the sun, but today was one of those days. All of the pictures below (except the minaret) were taken on the 7th and 8th floor just a few minutes ago. Enjoy!

This is the city outline. It's a good one.

This minaret is actually at Davids Citadel. I went there earlier in the week and really enjoyed it.

These are the famous arches looking northish.

I liked this picture because of the sun peaking under the arch.

Stormy days

Hello world!! It's been stormy here for the past two days, it's wonderful!! I love it becasue it's cool, and I miss the cold, we need rain, and I think it's beautiful when it rains here. So here are some pictures I took this morning on the 6th floor looking over the city.

Here's a wide sholt of the old city and the Arab villege next to the center.

This is looking north up the Kidron. And just in case you're all wondering, yes, I use photoshop to make the contrast a little more intense.

This picture was a luck one. I used Photoshop to make the contrast more intence, but the picture was a good one.

So, I thought I would post some photos. These are from all over, but mostly from yesterday. We were in the City again, it was an interesting field trip.

This is the Step Pyramid, it's the oldest one in Eygipt and it was my favorite.

This is Lynett and I waiting to get into the Burnt House. Lynett is in the other class so I still don't know her super well.

This is taken up in the Jewish Quarter of the Western Wall. There were a number of Bar-mitz-fas yesterday. It was interesting to see how differnt sects of Judaism do it. The Orthodox was pretty chill while that Arab Jews were having a party.

This is on the the nw courner of the Temple Mount. There are very few places we know where Christ actually walked and this is one of them. It was really neat.

The over-night train from Luxor back to Cairo, it was an experience!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcom to Cairo.

This is in an old water tunnle, same function as Hezikiahs Tunnle, but this one is along the western wall of the Temple mount. This whole escavation is right under modern day homes and churches.

This is another place we know Christ would have walked. These are the steps leading from the City of David up to the Temple Mount. This was part of the group I was with yesterday.

They believe that this pillar was part of Harods Temple.

This is Brooke, Ana, myself, and Beverly. We're all in the same class. This is right outwide of the Davison Archiological site.

Another Free Day

It was a good day. This morning I went to Hebrew University, it's across the street, to get some fast Internet. I needed to do some updates on my computer that I couldn't do here, so my computer is working again! The good part of the morning was going to David's Citadel. For a long time this was the believed spot of Davids Palace, they have since found a more probable location, but it was neat. There were some really good views of West Jerusalem from on top of the walls. We walked back to the center via the fallafal/shuarma shop at Damascus Gate, it was tasty! The rest of the day has been homework, it's going to be a busy week. I did apply for another job at BYU-I, this one is a more probable score, it's a full time grounds crew member, I think it would be fun. Anywho, wall is well. Have a wonderful Sabbath!

Lent

Hello Family and friends!
Life is good in the Holy Land, super busy with finals coming up, but that's how it is with school. I did however just get the chance to escape to the city for a few minutes this afternoon. As many of you know, Catholics all over the world are celebrating Lent this month. Jerusalem is one of the most sacred sites for Catholics according to my understanding. Wit that in mind you can imagine that the City is busier then usual. But what I want to share is actually a thought for some dear friends back home. Many of you know the Ometts, they're my neighbors and they're wonderful. This afternoon I went and walked the Via Dolorosa with many of the priests and nuns of the city, along with many catholics from all over the world. The Via Dolorosa is believed path that Christ walked with the cross to Golgotha where he was crucified. Now, why did I think of the Ommets? Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I don't do are believe in most of the traditions of the Catholics, I do however respect them. The Ommets are special people to me and I'm just doing a shout out to them, even though they don't read this blog, commending them for being a few of the many faithful Catholics I have seen here and around the world. This devotion is one of the things I like about Jerusalem, you see people from everywhere coming here because it is sacred and holy to them. So if you ever get a chance to go and walk with the clergymen and women, and the many devout people here in Jerusalem, I say do it. Anyway, life is good, just missing the snow and the cold (and I don't say that in jest). Chau!

Hello

Just a quick update. We have finals in about 2 weeks so I''ve been doing homework like crazy. But the upside is that in two weeks we'll be down to just 2 classes (in stead of 5) for the rest of the semester. Life is good, it's getting hot in Jerusalem, I miss the snow and cold. Well, hasta luego!

Hezikiah's Tunnel

Good morning Gil...I said good morning Gil.
I guess this works considering it is morning over yonder in the USofA. It's been a good day, I even got to take a nap this afternoon! This morning however was great! This morning we went and visited the City of David. It's interesing to get a good feel for where things happened and where they were. But the hightlight was Hezkiah's Tunnel. The tunnel is like half a mile long and still has water flowing forth, the deepest it got was to about mid thigh (my thigh). Anywho, the tunnel was just neat, I enjoyed being in there and playing in the water. Dad's camera was really neat in there, I was able to get some cool video/pictures of my feet under the water. Anyway, life is great. Love ya all!

V-day

It has been a very nice day. I want to a Greek orthodox mass this morning in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it was interesting, as usual. One thing that made is quite different was the back round noise. It's important to remember that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared by a number of different churches, so it's possible to hear multiple things going on at once. After the church we (a kid named Bryan and a girl named Allison) went to the YMCA to play/hear the bells. This was my third time doing the bells, but I really enjoy doing it. It was then off to the Suk (that's with a long "u"). The suk is an outdoor market, it was a lot of fun. I bought myself a really good fake Argentine jersey, I love it. After all that it was back to the center for a tasty dinner and a movie (or two). We watched "Charade" and then I watched much of "The Blind Side." The latter is one I highly recommend with the language edited. There wasn't much, but it was enough to not be good. But the movie and the messege was incredible. A lot of the movie reminded me of the projects in New York, it brought back a lot of memories. Anywho, all is well, I"m happy and good. Have a happy Valentine.

It's a new day, it's a new dawn, and I'm feeling good....

That title comes from a Michael Buble song, it's a good song and it just came to me. Anywho, life if good. School work here is busy, tons of reading, but it's good. Life is kind of in limbo right now, we're all waiting to go to Galalee here in two weeks and so all that really happens is school and trying to stay busy. I continue to look for work, I've sent out a number of resumes (I think I'm over 15), I've been told that often times you need to send out over 60, so I'm still shy a few, but I will continue the hunt. There really isn't too much to report. Have a good one!

The Hill Country

Well, we had another great field trip. We were in the foothills below Jerusalem and it was beautiful, I really enjoyed it. Here are a couple of photos.



This is the Valley of Elah, yep, the same one where Daved slew Galioth. This was a fun place, we spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to use the slings!

This is at Tel Lequish. This was one of Isreals biggest and strongest forts back in the day, it was neat.

This was the caves of Micha. In this picture I'm about 10' above the ground. The caves were cool and really dirty, the stone was really soft and would rub off on everything.

Hola hola

It's raining in Jerusalem!!! I went out to the city this afternoon, it was fun, and really wet. The great thing about the rain is the Old City is way less crowded, I didn't have to fight any crowds! There isn't anything real new, I've just had a free afternoon. Actually...I guess that applying for jobs is new. Over the last two days I've found time to apply for 19 jobs, or something like that. I applied at Coldwater Creek, Back Country, The North Face, and Madason Memorial Hospital. I actually feel pretty good about the Back Country job, I actually fit all of the requirements. Anywho, I'd love to chat, but not now. Chau!

p.s. I'd love to know if you read my blog (in other words, COMMENT).

Observation

I just noticed something that made me chuckle. You know how at school, or in life, people form clichs? It's funny how even here, 8,000 miles away form home and with only 82 students, the same thing happens. I just noticed that the California girls are with the other Cali girls, the artsy folks are with the artsy folks, and so on. Anywho, I found that funny. Hasta luego!

Mid-terms

Life is good. This week has been a crazy homework week, it really makes sense seeing we didn't do any in Egypt. I took two mid-terms this morning, I didn't do too hot. My Old Testiment one went fine, I think I'll get a "B" on it. After my OT test I took my Judaism mid-term, I got a 66% on it, GRRRRRR. This was frustrating because I really do know the material. I spent almost all of yesterday studing. I did something I'm natorious for, changing my answers. If I had kept my original answers I would have scored a 87.5%, but I didn't go with my gut feeling, I'll learn to do that one of these days. But I"m optomistic about my grades, there are a number of extra credit opportunities, so I feel ok. Life really is good, I'm happy and having fun. Chau!