This is the the view I see everyday (the snow was special, just for us!)
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Old City
Today is Sunday, but there was no church!! We have church on Saturday, so to day was a total tourist day. We left for the city around 9am to have an orientation tour. One of the faculty showed us around until 11:30 or so. We saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a hostel with some REALLY nice bathrooms, and my favorite: Saint Johns church. I guess that Saint Johns usually is only open Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning when we have class. We were really lucky, when we walked by it was open! It was BEAUTIFUL inside, the walls were covered in paintings and mosaics. It is a greek orthodox church and it was very ornate. There was such a feeling of reverence and awe there, I loved it. Everyone was silent when we went in and they hadn't turned on the lights, so it was all in natural light and it was serene and peaceful. All of my favorite places so far have been churches. I don't know why, probably because they are very beautiful and peaceful. You can tell that the people there think that they are on holy ground, and they are so happy and in awe to be there. For example, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, right inside the doors there is a raised stone slab on the floor that they say is the stone slab where Jesus' body lay in the tomb. We passed by it reverently but kept on walking into the church. When we were walking out, I noticed three people who had just walked in. When they saw the stone, they fell to their knees and were crying as they touched and kissed the stone. I started to tear up a little too. To many Christians the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the holiest site in all Christendom. To see the emotion and faith that those pilgrims had meant a lot to me.
After the tour with our faculty member, we were able to stay in the city for a couple of hours. You have to stay in groups of at least three when you go outside the center, and there were six of us that were walking around. The Old City is amazing. The part that we were exploring was awesome! It's these really narrow alleyways with little shops on both sides, with people taking and trying to sell you stuff from every direction. You can buy everything there: candy, clothes, food, olive wood carvings, jewelry...it was amazing to see. I'll try to send some pictures because words aren't really doing it justice. Just know it was awesome, and I am really excited to explore some more. One of the coolest shops that we saw was a shop that was selling spices. We got to try some and they were so good! There were special spices to put on bread, in rice, on meat along with the regular cumin, cinnamon, cloves ect. If I can, I definately want to bring back a big bag of the rice one because it was SO GOOD!!! Hopefully I'll be able to find that shop again because the shop keeper was really nice, and was going to give us amazing prices!
After the tour with our faculty member, we were able to stay in the city for a couple of hours. You have to stay in groups of at least three when you go outside the center, and there were six of us that were walking around. The Old City is amazing. The part that we were exploring was awesome! It's these really narrow alleyways with little shops on both sides, with people taking and trying to sell you stuff from every direction. You can buy everything there: candy, clothes, food, olive wood carvings, jewelry...it was amazing to see. I'll try to send some pictures because words aren't really doing it justice. Just know it was awesome, and I am really excited to explore some more. One of the coolest shops that we saw was a shop that was selling spices. We got to try some and they were so good! There were special spices to put on bread, in rice, on meat along with the regular cumin, cinnamon, cloves ect. If I can, I definately want to bring back a big bag of the rice one because it was SO GOOD!!! Hopefully I'll be able to find that shop again because the shop keeper was really nice, and was going to give us amazing prices!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Snow!
It snowed a lot overnight, 3 or 4 inches and the city is BEAUTIFUL!! The sun came out a little bit this morning and shone off the dome of the rock and all of the snow. The city looks pristine and white. I guess everywhere is shut down today because it never snows here. I got alot of good pictures, I wish that you could see them! I'm still super jetlagged, but hopefully it will get better!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Photos of the Jerusalem Center
Skyhawk can't send pictures because of a narrow band-width internet connection in Israel. Click here for a link to the Jerusalem Center website. There is a link at the top for a photo tour, which shows a map, and an introductory video. You can even choose the language you see it in. This a link to the Wikipedia page that has a couple of shots from the outside. Enjoy!
We FINALLY Got Here
Hi Mom,
Just writing to tell you that we got to Tel Aviv safely, and we are now at the center!!!! It's absolutely beautiful, if a bit cold. It has been snowing here for the past couple of hours (well, kindof snowing. It's weird snow, kinda like frozen mini hailstones half melted.) I guess all of the locals are freaking out because it hasn't snowed here since the early 2000's. The snow makes the center really cold, everything is white limestone and once it cools off, it stays cold. I'm really glad that I wore the extra sweater.
The flights here were good. The 10 hour one wasn't as horrible as it could have been because each seat had a touch screen in front of it, and you could pick a movie from a wide variety. They had alot of new ones, which was really cool. We also got fed, twice. I'm living the high life.
We had a mini orientation today, just a tour of the center and an introductory lesson in Old Testament and the Ancient Near Eastern Studies class. We finished just in time for dinner, and it was really good. One of the service couples told me that the person who cooks our food is also the cook for the King of Jordan, so I'm looking forwards to a lot of VERY delicious meals in my future. Good thing there are so many stairs, otherwise I would be packing in the pounds!
The room setup is weird. It's this corridor with open air courtyards every couple of yards with two bedrooms leading off the courtyard. I think there are 4 courtyards down my corridor. Just my luck, my room is the furthest one down the corridor. With the snow and rain, it's VERY cold in that part of the building, and there is some snow accumulation in them. I think that once it warms up it will be more fun to have outside courtyards and balconies, but for now it's just very cold.
Well, I'm going to sign off. I have been awake for close to 30 hours and I REALLY need to go to sleep.
Love you,
Skyhawk
Just writing to tell you that we got to Tel Aviv safely, and we are now at the center!!!! It's absolutely beautiful, if a bit cold. It has been snowing here for the past couple of hours (well, kindof snowing. It's weird snow, kinda like frozen mini hailstones half melted.) I guess all of the locals are freaking out because it hasn't snowed here since the early 2000's. The snow makes the center really cold, everything is white limestone and once it cools off, it stays cold. I'm really glad that I wore the extra sweater.
The flights here were good. The 10 hour one wasn't as horrible as it could have been because each seat had a touch screen in front of it, and you could pick a movie from a wide variety. They had alot of new ones, which was really cool. We also got fed, twice. I'm living the high life.
We had a mini orientation today, just a tour of the center and an introductory lesson in Old Testament and the Ancient Near Eastern Studies class. We finished just in time for dinner, and it was really good. One of the service couples told me that the person who cooks our food is also the cook for the King of Jordan, so I'm looking forwards to a lot of VERY delicious meals in my future. Good thing there are so many stairs, otherwise I would be packing in the pounds!
The room setup is weird. It's this corridor with open air courtyards every couple of yards with two bedrooms leading off the courtyard. I think there are 4 courtyards down my corridor. Just my luck, my room is the furthest one down the corridor. With the snow and rain, it's VERY cold in that part of the building, and there is some snow accumulation in them. I think that once it warms up it will be more fun to have outside courtyards and balconies, but for now it's just very cold.
Well, I'm going to sign off. I have been awake for close to 30 hours and I REALLY need to go to sleep.
Love you,
Skyhawk
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Hello from JFK!
Hi mom and dad and family and everyone else!
We have a little bit before getting on the plane at JFK, so I thought
I would say "Hi!" It's been a long day. The flight here was good, and
I slept for a good two hours of it. I'm meeting a lot of people, and
so far it's been a blast. I'm not really looking forward to the flight
across the pond, but when it's done we'll be in Tel Aviv! Then, it's
50 miles to the center...and hopefully there will be NO SNOW! Well, I
can wish.
They are going to call my flight in about 10 minutes, so I'll say bye!
I love you all!!
Love,
Skyhawk
PS- Brother J came up with the code name. It may change over time as "Skyhawk" sees this and approves.
We have a little bit before getting on the plane at JFK, so I thought
I would say "Hi!" It's been a long day. The flight here was good, and
I slept for a good two hours of it. I'm meeting a lot of people, and
so far it's been a blast. I'm not really looking forward to the flight
across the pond, but when it's done we'll be in Tel Aviv! Then, it's
50 miles to the center...and hopefully there will be NO SNOW! Well, I
can wish.
They are going to call my flight in about 10 minutes, so I'll say bye!
I love you all!!
Love,
Skyhawk
PS- Brother J came up with the code name. It may change over time as "Skyhawk" sees this and approves.
Monday, January 7, 2013
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