First full day in Jerusalem

Thursday, September 6th

The view from the top  plus our smiling faces.

   

        On our first full day here we woke up bright and early for breakfast. We made the mistake of unpacking into the night and ended up sleep deprived, but our excitement in being here kept us going. After breakfast we embarked on our very first field trip! In groups of 10-12 we set out with a professor or service missionary to explore the Old city. To get to the old city from the center we have to go down into the Kidran Valley and then back up the steep hill to the Old City. There are only eight gates to get into the city, of which, three or four are off limits for BYU-JC students. We entered through Damascus gate and headed down the street to a beautiful Austrian hostel.

       At the top of the hostel there is a magnificent observation deck with a panoramic view of the city and surrounding valleys. It seemed we could see for miles and it was breathtaking.
       The rest of our tour through the old city was an adventure. Our tour group was led by Professor Isom-Verharron. She is brilliant when it comes to her area of study, but hasn't spent enough time in the Old city to really know her way around. We made quite a few wrong turns and ended up going a different route than most groups but we all ended up in the same places. The best part was the security personal from the center that followed all the groups. By the end of the day we had our very own security guard to keep our team on the right path. We had a good time! We briefly stopped at different historical sites such as the church of the holy Sepulchre and Zion gate. I learned a lot on the tour and became familiar enough with the city to be comfortable going without a teacher or security guard, which i think was the goal of that field trip.
        That afternoon we sat in hours of meetings regarding our personal safety and security, and our academic responsibilities. It was extremely difficult to keep from drifting during the meetings due to our lack of sleep and the physical excretion of our morning trip. After the bulk of the meetings we took a 15 minute break to nap and relax before meeting with our assigned committees. Zak, Alex, and I get to be a part of the talent show committee. How fun is that?! Next week there are try outs for the formal talent show and we get to be the committee that plans the whole show. It should be fun!
       One cool thing about the center is that they hold concerts here every week that are open to the public. This week we hosted an Israeli jazz band. Jess, Alex, and I volunteered to be ushers for the concert and it was amazing! We just became greeters and passed out programs, but i enjoyed every minute of it. I learned a Hebrew greeting and each time i used it they would get so excited that i cared enough to know the greeting of the season. "Shanah Tovah" is the saying and it means "have a good year". Since Rosh Hashanah is near it was the ideal greeting to learn. The concert itself was fabulous. I really enjoyed the music, though trying to stay awake was again a mighty task. Someday i'll catch up on sleep and get used to the time zone.
       After the concert Alex and I stayed up way too late working on our readings for class, but we also ended up spending a good deal of time contemplating and discussing may gospel topics in depth in a way that i really needed to hear and discuss. It is amazing to me how when you least expect it the Lord will answer your prayers, or how He will enlighten your mind in a way that just reminds you of your purpose and mission here.