Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Old City

It has only been a few days that I have been here but i am exhausted already, we have been so busy touring around and exploring Jerusalem. I am loving every minute of it.
In Jerusalem they commemorate the Sabbath on Saturdays so yesterday we had our first Church meetings. Our branch meets at the Jerusalem Center and where we have Sacrament meeting there are huge windows that overlook the Old City. There is a million dollar view and it is amazing to have church and take the sacrament while looking at the exact places where Christ was.After church we went to the Orson Hyde Gardens and then just hung out and enjoyed our last night of freedom before school starts.
Today was our first day of classes and I had old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. I love my Old Testament teacher and I feel like I learned so much just in one class period. We had the rest of the day to go out and explore the city. A group of us went into the Old City and explored the various Quarters. There are so many side streets and alleyways that it is just fun to walk around and get lost. All of the street vendors know who the mormons are. We will walk through the markets and all of the vendors will say "hi mormons, we love you!" "Mormons, we are your friends." It is pretty easy to identify who we are because we have badges and matching water bottle carriers and of course we are a group of American students walking around. They are all so nice and will give special deals to us students because they love us so much.
I was able to see the Dome of the Rock but by the time that we got there it was closed but it was so magnificent to see in  person. I cannot wait to take a tour and learn the history of it. Tomorrow we take another field trip out to various locations of Jerusalem.
We have had the greatest weather so far, it has been mid 70s and slightly windy so it perfect walking around. We are all embracing the weather because we know that soon enough it will be scorching hot.
Other than that I have stayed busy getting to know everyone and adjusting to my new life.

2 comments:

  1. You are now on my tool bar. Sounds exciting already! I hope some exciting things happen, because it is boring here in Michigan. xo

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  2. noooo... my mom beat me to comment! in my defense, i did try this morning, but it wouldn't let me for some reason. (fingers crossed this one works).
    a.) nice blog heading thing- with the pictures. haha. yesss!
    b.) rob and i were reading your post, and seriously so excited for you. it sounds amazing!!! keep posting, lady!

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