Class recap!

Studying hard or hardly studying

 September 18-21

          We spent the majority of our time in class these days. Our classes are all held on the sixth floor of the center where we live and eat, so it's easy to have three or four days go by without ever leaving the center. The study program here is very front loaded so we have most of our class work to complete in the next month and a half. It is crazy how long I can spend studying and still feel like I have made no progress. We had our first Palestine quiz and i surprisingly got a 9 out of 10! Due to the intensity of the reading and my lack of understanding i expected much less than that. Thankfully I am practiced in the art of educated guesses. One of the days this week we got to go on a tour under the Jerusalem center. It was fascinating to see the underbelly of this incredible building. they let us sign our names on the foundation somewhere and look at the names of the groups of the past. 

          Thursday night we held the informal talent show. It turned out to be a great show! i am amazed at the talent in this group and their willingness to share. I got to sing Journey to the past from Anastasia and also be a part of a group that sang One Day More from Les Mis. Alex and Zak were a part of the one day more group as well. It was amazing and so much fun! I forgot just how much I love singing and performing. It is something that makes me feel at home and brings joy unlike anything i know. 

Click here to watch the journey to the past performance!

Click here to watch One Day More!

          On Friday we did a humanitarian project where we built hygiene kits to send to children in Gaza and other struggling areas around us. We had so much fun and put together hundreds of kits. I got a little teary eyed as we worked thinking about the boxes similar to this that showed up by the truckload in the Dominican Republic just a day after the huge tropical storm washed half the town away. We were there to help build food bags and distribute them to those desperately in need and i can just picture the sweet children in need of these kits. What a great way opportunity we have to do something so seemingly small that can have a great impact on the life of someone else. I'm excited for the next humanitarian project day!

          Friday evening we decided to take a taxi to West Jerusalem and wander around the market and the neighborhoods. There is a vividly different feeling on that side of town. West Jerusalem is the Jewish side of town and Friday night is when Sabbath begins, so we saw family after family preparing to welcome the sabbath. The streets were littered with children dressed in sabbath dress, singing and playing as the adults prepared things inside. There was an overwhelming feeling of peace as I made my way through the streets. It was as if God was reminding me just how much love He has for all of His children.

From Tel Aviv to the Negev

Free day and field trip 

September 16-17th

          Sundays are free days and this particular Sunday we decided to join a big group going to Tel Aviv. The bus ride was a great opportunity to get to know more about our classmates. I really enjoyed it. It takes a little over an hour by bus to get to Tel Aviv. Driving through the country is always fun! We arrived in Tel Aviv and the bus dropped us off right next to the beach. The smell of the Mediterranean sea and the cloudless sky made for an amazing day at the beach. I had all intentions of going into the city and finding a cool museum or shops, but i ended up staying at the beach all day playing mom and watching stuff. I wasn't mad about it though! there are worse places to be stuck. We finally decided to leave the beach and find some food. We found and amazing Shawarma place. I ate way more than i should have but i am a sucker for good food. I wish i had a picture of the plate... Instead i have a picture of me at the beach though! One of the few pictures captured that day. It was nice to just take a day to relax and not worry so much about school and the stress of living in a new country. 

          The next day (Monday the 17th) we set out early on a field trip to the Negev. First stop was Tel Beer Sheva. This site is commonly referred to as Abraham's Well for the giant well found just outside the ancient city walls. There is also an altar built there that gave greater insight to the scripture found in Genesis 26:25 "And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well" 

          We talked for a while at this site about the significance of the Altar, Tent, and Well. If you haven't read or listened to the talk already you should look up "Altar, Tent, Well" by A. Theodore Tuttle. In It he tells of the three priorities in life. The altar represents our personal worship, the tent is our home and family and the well is our work or relationships with fellowmen. 

On a side note: right next to me when I took this picture was a tamarisk tree that is said to be a few hundred years old. It was huge! 

          After we walked around the city ruins and climbed up the tower to an overlook we headed to Tel Arad where we looked at  potsherds and their history and explored a temple site. The design of temples today and temples of ancient times remain very similar and it is amazing to study about all the similarities. 

          We also went to Avdat which was a way station on the spice route of old, built by the Navatians. Our last stop was an amazing overlook where we could see into the Valley of Sin. When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt through this valley. Even though it is a desolate valley, they were led to more fertile parts of the wilderness. This is like our own lives, as difficult as times may be and as dreary as the wilderness may seem The Lord is Leading us to the more fertile parts whether we realize it or not. I have often thought of why God choose such harsh environments like this desert for his children to live and to grow and I came to the conclusion that it had to be that way. If they were placed in a wilderness that flourished and was filled with life then they would never know hardship and never learn how important it is to rely on God. We are all put here in our own wilderness and must learn to rely on God to lead us to the promised land.