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.
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.
Love the singing
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