First is TEL AVIV! Tel Aviv is an older, Mediterranean city on the coast and about seventy students went there a few weeks ago to swim in the Mediterranean Sea, go shopping in the old market place of Jaffa (another coastal city), and just to hang out on the beach for a day. This has by far been one of the best days except for the fact that I got very, very sunburnt. Now for some pictures!
The view of the beach and Tel Aviv in the background. So beautiful!
Kaylino, Em-dog, and myself looking smashing in our swimmers
Pretty much the best smoothies in the whole world came from this place! The two guys were super funny and thought we were like 15 and then they put the bananas up around my head during the picture?? How strange :)
We wandered through the Carmel Shuk (aka the Market for all you noobs who don't know what that means :) and we found CARVED RAINSTICKS! Definitely a highlight.
Pools of Bethesda was another adventure I went on recently. I was able to go to the Pools of Bethesda where Jesus Christ healed a lame man. A large white cathedral is there called St. Anne's and it has the best acoustics in the world--I was able to sing here with a group and it was amazing to the ears.
Me standing in front of the church.
The door of the church, so pretty!
The next adventure was our field trip to the Southern end of Israel, called the Negev. In the Negev we went to a Bedouin weaving village and they taught us how to weave sheep's wool. We were able to sit in a tent, drink home-made herbal tea, and watch the Bedouin women weave. It was a very enlightening experience and I wanted to share just a few pictures.
All of the dyed wool hanging to dry. It kind of looks like blue spaghetti right?!
This is a Muslim, Bedouin woman who was weaving, I believe this is the most perfect picture to capture the experience I had.
Me... trying to make yarn out of the wool--I failed miserably.
This was the large tent we were in, it's made completely out of dyed sheep;s wool!
I will put up some other pictures to show you what a normal day is like for me in the city--I tend to get done with class in the early afternoon and then I take off to the city for a few hours to wander around, window shop, or I go to see actual sights--all are super neat experiences! I will put up just a few pictures to tell you some of my more normal days!
I found this pretty door and thought I looked good in front of it, so I took a picture :)
This is what the Old City looks like when you first walk in, so diverse!
A spice shop, they make pyramids out of the different colored spices--I have found some of the most interesting smells here.
Me and friendies painting our nails on a random Saturday after church. (Yes, I have church on Saturdays here while my Sundays are free days like a normal Saturday would be--it's still weird to get used to!)
Me and friendies at the Garden tomb which is a beautiful, quiet place in the middle of the city to commemorate the place Jesus Christ may have been laid to rest after he died.
Em-dog and I got to write our names on this pipe in the basement of the center, for all you future Jerusalem goers please find our names! We had to wear hard hats in case of falling rock!
More highlights in my life:
-I bought more genie pants and they are super colorful :)
-I don't shave my legs very often...
-I am on the official JC Cheer squad, we have a routine and everything!
-I play volleyball everyday and I am trying out for a volleyball team tonight!
-I volunteer at a Muslim Maternity hospital which is super neat
-We had a Sedar dinner to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, my teacher came to the school and did the whole feast with us--very, very neat experience!
-A random man asked me to marry him in the city, that's the third time it has happened...
-I was told I have beautiful eyes by a random man, at least he is feeding my vanity right?
-I went to Jericho and it's super green!
-I went to the Old City of David and went through Hezekiah's tunnel which is very, very filled with water--I got soaking wet!
-I also spent a day at the BIBLICAL ZOO! The animals were awesome :)
-A large group of us gets to go paint the interior of a homeless shelter on a free day, which is so stinkin' cool!
-I have been in Jerusalem for approximately a month, how strange!
-I still have a strong love of chocolate pitas, but honey-butter pitas are slowly climbing the ranks!
-I have two more big posts to do because I have been a slacker... TURKEY and the week after Turkey... not quite as cool, but still fun!
Enough for now, more later :)
Ellen,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Wow, a lot is packed into one month, and you've only reported some. You've got great style. Let down easy those poor guys making marriage proposals!
Love, Uncle Tad
I'm so glad you are enjoying Jerusalem. Reading about your time there reminds me of my own experiences. The time goes by way too fast. Don't worry about having a 20s crisis. I think that's normal. Are you enjoying your classes in Jerusalem. I loved them so much and that's one of the reasons that I decided to study history. You will figure it out.
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