Five Happy Jerusalem Moments This Week

So....I guess I've learned here that I shouldn't go more than a few days without blogging. A day in this place adds up to at least a week in my normal world at home! I will try and summarize with five happy Jerusalem moments this week. :)

1. I wrote in my journal in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Sabbath. In Jerusalem, the Sabbath is on Saturday. Everything is closed and although there are many views and beliefs, there is a very reverent spirit of worship. I have been humbled to see how dedicated the people are to keeping the Sabbath day a holy day. Half of the students in my program take Hebrew class from a Jewish woman. She shared with them that every Friday at sunset, she and her family turn off all electronics, gather together, begin their Sabbath worship with a prayer and spend the next 24 hours together, electronics and technology-free. It inspired me to make my Sabbath day a little more holy.

2. Today I tried falafel for the first time. Soooo yummy! We went out into the city today in between classes and found a stand that sold it for 6 shekels! It's as good as everyone says it is (shout-out to Aunt Becca). It exceeded my every expectation!

3. We went on our first field trip this week!! It was really fun! We went around to neat spots where we saw great views of Jerusalem from every angle. We also visited a national park called "Nabi-Samuel." A mosque and a synagogue are both are built on this land because it is the place where the Prophet Samuel is believed to be buried. I remember reading about Samuel as a little girl. I love his story and admire how dependable he is (1 Samuel 3). My favorite part of our field trip was standing atop the Bell Tower of the Church of the Ascension. We climbed many flights of stairs to get a tall glimpse of Jerusalem and surrounding cities. It was amazing to imagine Jesus ascending into the heavens right here in this very place.

*Wesley and I looking cold and feeling cold. It was cold. Hehe. Note: Dome of the Rock in the background!

4. We walked into the city on Tuesday and on our way there, we got distracted by the "Arab Costco" here. Hehehe. Courtney and I headed straight to the candy section. It is fun to see what products are sold here. After that, we went to the Old City. I am still just loving every minute of soaking in this culture here. I love to watch the interactions.

5. On our free day, we went to the National Israel Museum. OKAY IT WAS SO COOL. I saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls for crying out loud!!! I kept thinking "Wow...this is neat. All of these things here are really old and really sweet. How did this museum obtain such neat artifacts?" and then I would remember that I was in JERUSALEM...i.e. one of the oldest cities in the world....i.e. they have first dibs on a lot of neat things. Hehe. Did you know that an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus is actually made of wood!? My whole life I imagined it was made of clay. The entire museum was awesome and it put me in the mood to watch National Treasure.

I should go do my homework. I am still enrolled in school, after all.
I love it here! This week was wonderful!