A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

Alright, I am posting right now, but there are no pictures to be had! I have been a wee' bit lazy with loading  my pictures on my computer, so they shall have to come at a later date!

First off, I am in the hardest weeks of school right now because finals are in about two weeks, so all of my teachers are cramming in lots and lots of things! I am going to make it through though I promise! Amidst the hard schooling, it's nice to finally be used to everything around me. I love going to the city everyday, I finally know my way around the Old City, I feel super comfortable talking to people and buying things, I have a routine down in the Center, and I am making friends that will last a lifetime! In the last couple weeks I have gone and done some awesome things!

I went on a field trip to the place where David, in the Old Testament, actually fought Goliath! It was so neat to stand in the very stream where they had fought! I got to sling rocks just like David too :)

I then went to a Jewish Seder dinner with my professor, Ophir Yarden. That was a super neat experience to learn how the Jews celebrate Yom Kippur in Israel. I was a narrator for the dinner, so I got to speak the words that take place during an actual dinner.

I was able to go to Dormition Abbey which is a cathedral created in honor of where Mary, the mother of Jesus, fell asleep. Close to Dormition Abbey are the symbolic tombs of David and Solomon, also I got to see the room of the Last Supper where Jesus Christ and his apostles had the sacrament for the last time.

I went to see St. Peter in Gallicantus, a gorgeous church built over the ancient rock prison where Jesus Christ was supposedly kept before he was taken to Pilate.

I went to the Israel Biblical Zoo which was seriously awesome! I got to see tons of animals from the Middle East and it was just a super fun way to spend a free day!

Sukkot took place this last week which is a Jewish holiday, so I was able to see an Israeli parade and I got to see how the Jews celebrate the last day of Sukkot. I went to the Western Wall Sunday morning and thousands of Jews were there with their luvlas. A luvla is a special leafy branch that the Jews use to worship at the end of Sukkot. It was the most inspiring event to watch. I am so fascinated by how other religions worship and I love seeing how they do so.

 

A little boy wearing a prayer shawl and a kipa (the cap on his head).

 

A man who is holding his luvla close to his body to worship at the end of Sukkot. 

After going to the Western Wall, I was able to go to the City of David. The City of David is Old Jerusalem and I was able to go through Hezekiah's Tunnel. It's a very long tunnel that fed water into Jerusalem and now the water is fairly low, so you can walk through the tunnel! It was so cool to walk through and see :)

 

In the actual tunnel :) 

 

I got  wet all the way up to my thighs! 

 I also spent the weekend going to the Garden Tomb which was unique because there were not a lot of people there--usually it is overrun by other groups who are worshipping on Saturdays, but it was a nice change for hardly anybody to be in that quiet, beautiful place. I also went to the cathedral at the Pools of Bethesda and sang lots of hymns with a few friends :)

Hmm... I am just about to hit the halfway mark here in Jerusalem! I cannot believe the time is flying so quickly! Goodness I am just loving the journey:) I shall post again quite soon with lots of pictures!