Palm Sunday March

This is a day late, but I have to tell you about the Palm Sunday March I participated in.
This is the first time that Passover week has coincided perfectly with the JC Passover week activities, which is amazing. My semester seems to be full of firsts (ie - first semester to be in Egypt during riots/see Bent and Red Pyramids...there are more firsts, I just can't think of them right now).
So, the Jerusalem Center is on the Mount of Olives, so we just walked up and over to Bethphage where the march starts. We left around 1:45pm and got there fairly early. There were lots of Arab boys selling water and palm fronds, which just helped add to the mood. We waited around for about an hour and boy was it hot. Sunday was probably the first really hot day we've had here, which is pretty good I think.
My first view of the march was some priests dressed in white followed by boy scouts. There were security guards who were keeping the public back until they had passed, and then everyone rushed in. My favorite part was the music! I hung out by a band that was just walking along and singing their hearts out. We learned the song pretty fast because the main word was HOSANNA! It was also great to see the assortment of people: old and young, all different races and religions. The coolest part was knowing that everyone who was marching was marching to commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ! What a powerful thought and feeling!

1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

2 Saying unto them, Go into the village aover against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

One of my favorite moments was seeing the gate in the distance and then walking through imagining what it must have been like when Jesus Christ walked through declaring His divinity. I am so blessed to be here and be able to experience what I have.



This was such a great way to start off this week. The past couple of days (Monday and Tuesday) we have been going to the various sites that the Savior visited during the last week of His life. I am so grateful for my Savior and for what He did for me. I can't wait to come back and share what I have learned with all of you!

Falafel Thursday

I am in love with falafels. I don't know how to explain what's in them, but I bought some falafel spice in the Old City and I when I get home I plan on attempting to recreate them!

The picture is of my friend Sarah and I eating falafels from the Old City. The Oasis (our cafeteria) makes falafels every Thursday, and boy do I love them.
Here's how wikipedia describes a falafel: a falafel itself is a ball or patty made from ground chickpeas. The falafel balls are then put in a pita or wrapped in some flatbread. Usually you put in some veggies and french fries, then top it with a sauce. So yummy! I heard there is a falafel restaurant in Salt Lake and I want to find it when I get home!

Well, today and tomorrow are finals. We took one final this morning, and we have two more tomorrow. Just to rub it in to those of you who aren't graduating...these are my last finals EVER. I am so stinking excited! ha ha

Anyway, I can't procrastinate studying any longer, so I'm off! (P.S. - today marks the one week mark until I come home - CRAZY!)

Med - Red - Dead Seas anyone?

I love that that names of these bodies of water rhyme! I've been excited to write this blog post for that reason alone! ha ha

I've visited the Med[iterranean] Sea a couple of times now, which is pretty exciting. My birthday post has a picture of me in front of the Med Sea, but during our Galilee trip, we visited the Mediterranean Sea several times (Acco, Haifa, Caesarea Philippi). The day this picture was taken, we were in Acco and it was windy!



The Sunday after we got back from Galilee, we went to Eilat, which is on the shore of the Red Sea. It was a fun day of snorkeling and sunbathing. I loved it! I've never been snorkeling before, so I was a little nervous, BUT I LOVED IT! The water was just the right temperature, and I got to see some amazing coral and fish. I would love to go snorkeling more when I get back home. (I'll definitely have to find somewhere exotic/islandy because Montana and Utah aren't exactly coral-filled! ha ha)





The Dead Sea was our last aquatic adventure. We went there this last Sunday and spent less than two hours there. We had a whole day of field tripping before we made it to the Dead Sea. We were all exhausted by the end, but so excited to float in the Dead Sea! As we walked into the water, we could sea salt covering the rocks so that they were white! I had my sandals on, so I couldn't feel it, but the girl next to me wasn't wearing shoes and she said it hurt to walk on them! Here's my best explanation for what floating in the Dead Sea is like: it's similar to having a couple of water noodles underneath you at all times. You just float. It is the craziest feeling. You don't have to try to stay above water at all! (Now that's what I'm talking about.) It was painfully salty though (literally). If you had any cuts or scrapes they stung like crazy. If you tasted even a drop of the water, your face puckered up and you wanted to gag, and if it got in your eyes you were rendered blind and ended up crying for about five mintues. Don't worry, none of these things happened to me, but I witnessed it, and it looked painful!
Getting out of the water was cool too. As the wind dried you off, you could see the salt covering your body! I couldn't stop looking at my arms and legs! It was crazy!



Yup. The Med - Red - and Dead Seas were amazing!

If you ever visit a castle, BRING A FLASHLIGHT

Hello family and friends!

I feel very fortunate because in the past month or so, I have visited three castles! We visited one while in Galilee, and two in Jordan. The first castle we visited is called Nimrod's Castle. Apparently Nimrod is in the Bible and actually has nothing to do with that castle, but that's the name regardless. As soon as we got off the bus, we all "stormed the castle" and explored as many nooks and crannies as we could. It was a gray, stormy day, which just added to the mood. It was a huge castle and was very well preserved.



The second castle we visited was in Jordan and is called Shobak's Castle. We had blue skies that day, but I actually spent very little time above ground. We had about an hour to explore, and I ended up finding a "secret tunnel" with my friend Sadie. We went down the stairs, turned a couple of corners, and discovered that it was waaaay too dark to go forward. So we climbed back up to find someone who had a flashlight. Right as we reached the surface, we ran into my religion professor, Brother Muhlestein, and his son, B.J. We asked them if they had a flashlight because we had discovered a tunnel that was too dark to explore! Brother Muhlestein got really excited and told his son that maybe it was the same tunnel he had found last time! Both of these prepared men had tiny flashlights with them, so we all went down together! Brother Muhlestein confirmed that it was the same tunnel he had found last time. He didn't have a flashlight last time though, so he didn't get very far. We all clung to each other while climbing down this crumbling staircase. It was so much fun! A fairly large group ended up following us, but they didn't have flashlights! Yikes. For the most part they just crept their way down carefully and used their cameras to send random flashes of light into the dark abyss before them...ha ha. We didn't go to the very end, but Brother Muhlestein decided it was probably a cistern that we had discovered! We went as far as we could in the amount of time we had. It was so much fun! Climbing up was much easier. Right before we turned around though, two of my friends (who weren't in the original group) popped out of no where and scared us. I just about had a heart attack! Who do they think they are? ha ha It was pretty funny.
I didn't see any more of that castle because we were underneath it for most of the time! It sure was fun though.





We visited the last castle because another activity fell through. This castle was the first castle we visited where we weren't the only ones there! We've been lucky with regards to the other castles. I wandered around this castle with my new castle buddy, Sadie, and another girl Katie. We had lots of fun.



I sure wish I could have seen these castles in all their grandeur!

Galilee continued...

Picture 1: synagogue at Capernaum
Picture 2: Church of Beatitudes
Picture 3: view at the end of our hike
Howdy folks!

I'm trying to catch up on Galilee posts, but this week in Jerusalem has been so much fun! It's hard to believe that three weeks today I'll see my family and friends! (You should be freaking out right now, because I sure am!)

Anyway, here are some more journal entry excerpts:

CAPERNAUM
"Capernaum is the site where the Savior performed many miracles and taught many great lessons. It’s also the town where Peter lived. We had a little devotional in the synagogue in Capernaum. The synagogue standing now is different from the one in Jesus’ day, but it stands on the exact same spot where the synagogue of Jesus day would have been. In fact, you can see the basalt stones that would have made up the synagogue Jesus taught in at the very bottom of the current synagogue. There are also a ton of basalt ruins from houses and streets, etc. that are pretty cool...When we looked at Peter’s house, Brother Muhlestein pointed out that Jesus never had a home. He didn’t have a house to call his home. I had never thought of that before. Then Brother Muhlestein pointed out that Peter made his home open to the Savior at all times. In the scriptures, whenever it mentions “the house” it usually refers to Peter’s house because that is where Jesus spent the night when He was in Capernaum. We also reviewed one day in the life of the Savior and I can’t believe how much good He did in one day. Jesus loved His people so much because even when He was tired or hungry, He always took the time to perform miracles and heal those around Him, or answer questions and teach His people."

MT. OF BEATITUDES
The Mount of Beatitudes was beautiful. It was so green and the landscaping was exotic and carefully planned. The church was really cool too. The inside wasn’t extravagant, but the outside had beautiful columns and a cool dome. I liked it. It makes sense that the emphasis is on the groundwork though: that’s where the Savior gave His sermon on the mount (on a hill). We had the opportunity to browse the church and then we went to a shaded area with benches and had a short testimony meeting. Brother Muhlestein had us read the beatitudes, then we had the chance to go up and share our thoughts. I got up and bore my testimony, which is pretty cool! That’s right – I bore my testimony on the mount of beatitudes.

We also went on a hike for one of our free afternoons. It was SO MUCH FUN. Here's the journal excerpt for that adventure:
"This afternoon was free time, but I signed up for the hike to the waterfall! We left at 1:30 and took a bus to the trailhead. We had so much fun on the bus because it was the first time the classes were intermixed! Usually it’s the “Judd bus” or the “Muhlestein bus” but today we were combined! 39 people went on the hike accompanied by our tour guide.
The hike wasn’t too strenuous, which kept conversation good! I wore my swimming suit underneath my clothes so that I could jump right in to the water. I also wore my chacos the whole time, which was good and bad because I’m grateful I had them for when I was in the water, but hiking in wet chacos always hurts my feet afterwards.
The scenery was beautiful. We hiked down into a valley and just curved around these mountains. We saw a few waterfalls on the way, but the one we swam at was in the middle of the hike. We were all stoked to get in the water, but let me tell you, this water was ice cold. It took your breath away as soon as you immersed yourself in it. I went in o my own the first time, but I didn’t get my hair wet. The second time, I was dragged in and dunked by Kevin because I had pushed him in earlier. I suppose I deserved it, but still! The water was so cold that getting out of the water made you warmer than staying in the water!
We stayed there fore quite some time and took lots of fun pictures. We didn’t hike back the same way we came; instead we hiked up and out and the bus picked us up on the other side. I went with a group of people who left early, so we were a head and by ourselves for the hike back. Jared found a crab along the trail which was odd because we were on a mountainside, not next to a river/stream/lake/sea, whatever. As it turned out, Jared kept the crab with him the whole time and it got loose on the bus. I know - crazy. The hike back was beautiful because as we got higher we could see into the valley and see the curves of the mountain and the stream at the bottom of the valley. It was gorgeous.
When we got to the top and back to the road, Laurel, Addie, Heidi and I took some fun jumping pictures. Sadly none of them were perfect, but we have some fairly decent ones."

Well, I suppose that's enough for one entry. Hopefully you all made it to the end!

-Audryn-

O Galilee

Picture 1: a view of the city from up on the tel; you can see the effects of the earth quake because all of the columns are toppled over!
Picture 2: A Roman street at Scythopolis; you can see the tel (hill) where the canaanite city (Bet She'an) would have been in the background

Hello family and friends!

Galilee was AMAZING. We spent ten days at a beach resort at the Sea of Galilee and toured so many of the sites that the Savior would have visited. For the first week we were there, our agenda included New Testament class/free afternoon some days, and field trips to the various sites that Jesus visited on other days. It was really cool to have class and then visit those actual sites the next day!

I wish I could tell you about each of the sites that we visited, but I'm afraid there are just too many! Here is a list of the sites that we visited though:
Bet She'an (a city in the Decapolis)
Nazareth (Nazareth Village, Church of Annunciation)
boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
Ginosaur (museum of an ancient boat that would have been used in Christ's time)
Capernaum
Tabgha (Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes)
Church of St. Peter's Primacy
Mt. of Beatitudes
Tiberias
Mt. Tabor (possible site of Transfiguration)
Hazor
Dan
Megiddo
Caesarea Philippi
Akko
Haifa
Caesarea

Those are the sites at the top of my head, and I can guarantee that I forgot some!
The last four days of our trip in Galilee were all-day field trips and by the end of the whole experience, I was exhausted!

There were so many amazing sites, but my favorites were Bet She'an, Capernaum, Mt. of Beatitudes, and Caesarea.
I was very impressed with myself because I was very diligent in writing in my journal, so I'll just include a few excerpts from my journal about the different sites we visited. I will do this over a few blog entries so that you guys can actually enjoy the entries and read them all the way through, but there's your update!

BET SHE'AN/SCYTHOPOLIS

FYI - Bet She'an was the canaanite name and Scythopolis was the Roman name

"Bet She’an was so cool! It was a Canaanite city a long time ago (the city was on top of the tel) and then under the Pax Romana reign, the city spread down and out. The Roman ruins were absolutely amazing. There was an earthquake at some point during the city’s life and you can see the destruction from the earthquake because the pillars/columns are toppled over. It was pretty cool. My favorite part was the bath house. I love hot springs so much so I think it would be so fun to go to a bath house. "

Well, we have our New Testament midterm tomorrow morning, and my study group is about to begin, so I'll have to write more later!

-Audryn-

Bethlehem, YMCA Bell Tower...and Galilee?

Picture 1: my friend Piers and I at the Church of the Nativity touching the Grotto (the place where tradition says Christ was born)
Picture 2: Church of the Nativity
Picture 3: where I played the bells!

Hello family and friends!

I wish I could write an in-depth blog post telling you all about our Bethlehem field trip last Monday, my wonderful free day I had today, and any other random stories I feel like telling you, BUT, I may or may not be GOING TO GALILEE tomorrow morning, and I still have to pack. I know. I guess I figure it's a good thing if I'm so busy I don't have time to blog about everything, right?
So, I'm going to cut and paste a few journal entries and I hope that will suffice!

"Monday was our field trip to BETHLEHEM. It was amaaaazing."


"Our agenda was as follows:
Herod’s summer palace
Bethlehem University
Lunch at The Tent
Church of the Nativity
Testimony meeting at Shepherd’s field

Herod’s temple was huge. It covers about 45 acres. Our class started at the lower section of the temple where Herod’s pool was, then went climbed to the upper part. It’s cool because his pool had an island in the middle that he would have had fun parties on! The palace was really neat, but the cool part is that they aren’t even done excavating it! His palace is so big that excavation teams are still going. Wow."

"Following lunch Professor Adnan (our Palestinian professor) took us on a tour of Bethlehem and led us to Manger Square, where the Church of the Nativity is). It was fun going underneath the church to the grotto where some believe that Christ was born. It is hard to say exactly where Jesus was born, but we know he was born in Bethlehem, and the tradition that the Church of the Nativity is the place where it happened is fairly old, so who’s to say it isn’t the spot?
My favorite part of the Church of the Nativity was when we sat in the chapel and sang Christmas songs out of our little hymn books. We all filed in and sat on the benches and sang Christmas songs while Rachel Jackson conducted. So many other tourists stopped to listen and take pictures and record us. I’ll be honest – we sounded good! I wanted us to keep going because the sound was so rich and the Spirit was very strong."

Following the Manger Square adventure we went to "Shepherd's Field" and had a wonderful testimony meeting. We got to watch the sun set on the beautiful hills where we know shepherds (such as King David) would have led their sheep. It was a very spiritual experience.

Now for a fun story from today. The Jerusalem Center always brings at least one person who can play the organ here - usually for a year and a half. Mike Ohman and his wife serve that (and many other) purposes right now. He is a music professor at BYU and his wife works in the film industry (she has helped do costumes for lots of LDS films such as The Testaments). Well, this particular professor has also played the bells at the bell tower on BYU campus, so when he heard about the YMCA bell tower, he volunteered his services! He plays every Sunday from 11:15-12:00 and today I got to go listen to him. And now for the best part...I PLAYED A SONG. That's right. All of Jerusalem got to hear the musical bell tower talents of Audryn Damron today. It was glorious and completely terrifying! It was the coolest experience though.

Anyway, I really need to go tidy up my room and pack because we have an early start tomorrow. I love you all and I hope you're happy and safe!

-Audryn-

Garden Tomb - Golgotha

It’s about time I told you guys about the Garden Tomb and Golgotha. The first time I went to the Garden Tomb was with my religion class after church one Saturday. We took the tour, went inside the tomb, then had a brief testimony meeting. I’ve gone back several times and taken some pretty sweet pictures. It wasn’t until the last time I went (about a week ago) that the tomb was clear of tourists and I was able to get some decent pictures.
The Garden Tomb is just that – a garden with trees, bushes, flowers, stone walls, etc. There are lots of little paths with benches and small mosaic tiles with scriptures on them. At the back of the garden is an overlook for Golgotha.

Golgotha means “the skull” and it’s just that: a skull face embedded in the rock. The mouth has eroded away, but you can still see the eyes. We are fairly certain that Christ was crucified somewhere around this rock face. One of my Professors, Dr. Chadwick, gave an excellent lecture on the Garden Tomb and Golgotha in class back in January. He explained that the Romans usually crucified people at crossroads because crossroads are generally public areas and therefore would send a very poignant message to all who saw these men. Golgotha is currently a bus stop, so the tradition still lives that Golgotha is at a crossroads. The fact that Christ was crucified at a crossroads also lets us know that He wasn’t on top of a hill. When I thought of the crucifixion, I always pictured it on top of a hill. It appears that he was crucified at the bottom of a hill right by the skull mountain face.
Dr. Chadwick also told us that the Romans thought crucifixion so painful and unbearable, that they wouldn’t crucify their own people (Romans). This shows you just how agonizing the crucifixion was. Our Savior was crucified because He loves us. This sends such a powerful message to me and I hope you will ponder this yourself.

Now that I’ve sufficiently depressed you, let me bring you back up. After travelling to the back of the garden and seeing Golgotha, you turn around and go back the same way you came and take a right to go where the tomb lies. Although tradition says that this particular tomb is the same one where Christ was laid, it has been discovered that this particular tomb was not made until after Christ’s time, so it’s not the correct site. BUT it helps you visualize what it would have been like and it’s still a revered and sacred place. You have to walk down steps to the floor where the tomb is, then you can walk inside the tomb. The door into the tomb has a sign that says “HE IS NOT HERE, FOR HE IS RISEN.”

The beauty of the Garden Tomb is that it reminds us that Christ has risen again. He lives and He loves us. I know that Christ died to save me and He died to save you too. I’m grateful to be in this beautiful city where I can be where Christ was so long ago.

-Audryn-

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Picture 1 - Eating ice cream in Tel Aviv
Picture 2 - Statue of Faith in Old Jaffa-Tel Aviv
Picture 3 - a jumping picture of ME ON THE BEACH OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA (my dear friend Ashley is a professional photographer and she edited this picture for me)
Picture 4 - L-R: Greg Hudnall, moi, Kevin Collier; beach of Mediterranean Sea

I had the best birthday in the entire world...and it's all because of my friends here. I have no idea how I have been so blessed, but boy did I get lucky.
Birthday adventures began way before my birthday even started! I went out into the City a few times during the week and whenever the shopkeepers found out it was my birthday, the promised me gifts or gave them to me there on the spot! In fact, when my friend Laurel told one of the owners that my birthday was coming up, he gave me a free pair of earrings, and a free t-shirt. Granted, the t-shirt had a small whole in the back and he was planning on getting rid of it, but hey! That's easily fixable, right? ha ha
Then on Saturday, my friend Ashley threw me a surprise birthday party!!! It's funny because I was in my room for most of the day writing in my journal, calling home, etc. while everyone else was baking, blowing up balloons, and peeking around corners to see if I was coming. My friend Piers lured me out of my room by saying I had a meeting with my branch president. He took me on a little detour to "get his scriptures" and led me right into the surprise! I was in shock and clutched my heart for a good while afterwards. Sadly I don't have pictures of that moment considering it was a surprise...and therefore I didn't have my camera, but I'll get pictures from friends. :) As soon as everyone finished singing happy birthday, they started shouting "Speech! Speech! Speech!" So they put me on a chair and I gave a little speech and thanked the little people and my roommates, and then invited everyone in for a mass hug. Well, everyone crowded in for a hug (while I was still on the chair) and it is possibly one of my favorite memories of all time.
My birthday could have ended there and I would have been perfectly happy, but no! Sunday, my actual birthday, I went to Tel Aviv via a bus! Tel Aviv is on the coast and it is about 45 minutes away from Jerusalem. Four other friends and I took a bus to Tel Aviv and went straight to the beach! The day was quite pleasant with a slight breeze. It wasn't exactly sunbathing weather, but we had enough fun in the sun to get a sunburn! Who would have thought I could get a sunburn on my birthday! It certainly hasn't happened until now. We met up with a friend of Ashley's who is living/working there and he took us to Old Joffa and the port. We finished the evening eating pizza at an Italian restaurant, then hunting down some ice cream. My friends paid for everything because it was my birthday...like I said - best friends ever!
As soon as I got back, I was showered with more Happy Birthdays and some my best friends gave me a necklace that was a pocket watch/locket! They sang me a wonderful song and made it quite the affair. I absolutely loved it.

Thanks to those of you who said Happy Birthday in a letter, package, email, facebook...whatever. I miss you all and love you more!

City of David

Picture 1 - overlooking the Kidron Valley (the Jerusalem Center is right around the corner and up a bit)
Picture 2 - the water level in Hezekiah's Tunnel (can you see me cute little face?) he he
Picture 3 - going down to Hezekiah's Tunnel
Picture 4 - the millo that supported David's palace (one of our professors is telling us all about it)

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote – life at the JC has been busy busy! We’re in the middle of finals and I’m a little nervous. It should be okay though…at least that’s what I’m hoping!
So last Monday, the 21st, we went to the ancient City of David. This was the original Jerusalem during King David’s reign. It’s not actually within the walls of the current Old City, but it’s right outside and down the hill a bit. When we first got into the “city” (it’s now a national park), there was a golden harp and harp music playing. It definitely put us in a King David sort of mood!
We watched a 3-D movie that told us the history of the city, and then we went on a tour. The first thing we saw was the ruins of King David’s palace. They are underneath the main floor because Jerusalem is one layer on top of another layer, so Kind David’s palace was underground until it was excavated. The next thing we saw was the millo that held up King David’s palace. (A millo is basically a stone wall.) The millo is important because it made sure that the palace did not collapse.
We went to a few overlooks, then we went to HEZEKIAH’S TUNNEL.

2 Chronicles 32:30 says, “ This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the City of David…”

In the ancient days, cities were built in areas that had good defensibility, water, and trade route accessibility. The City of David is built amidst three valleys: Kidron, Central, and Hinnom, (trade routes), on top of a hill (defensibility), and right next to the Gihon Spring (water). Originally there was a channel built to get the water from the Gihon spring to the lower part of the city, but it was outside of the city walls. Hezekiah built a tunnel in order to keep the water source safe in case of a siege.
The tunnel is approximately 1760 feet long, and we got to wade through it! The water could get pretty high in some areas, so we had to roll up our pants to stay dry. We wore headlamps because it was very dark, but it was SO MUCH FUN!
After the tunnel, we saw a few more ancient ruins, then headed back home.
All in all, it was a very good field trip! I LOVED going through Hezekiah’s Tunnel and I just might go through one more time before I leave! We’ll see if I can fit it into my schedule.

Love you all!
-Audryn-

FYI - I can't post pictures at the Jerusalem Center because the internet is funky, so I have to wait until I can go to Hebrew University. Some day I'll get there and include some pictures with these posts! (this statement can no be re-called because there are finally pictures!)

Sunset at the JC

We had a spectacular sunset the other night, so I thought I'd upload a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Impersonating David...

Everyone had the opportunity to sling rocks into a field using the same sort of sling (and the same kind of rocks!) that David would have used when he killed Goliath. My roommate Addie took these pictures and caught some excellent candid shots. I figured you might enjoy them.

On a spiritual note, one of our professors, Brother Chadwick, told us the story of David and Goliath and he pointed out that when David prepared to go against Goliath, he went down to the stream and gathered five round stones. David was confident enough that he would kill Goliath within five tries. Why was he confident? Because he knew he had the help of the Lord. On the same line, David chose his stones well. He made sure that the stones were about the size of a golf ball and fairly round. This assured that the stones would go where he wanted them to go. In applying this to our life, are we choosing our weapons (against Satan) well? Are we reading the scriptures and praying? Are we surrounding ourselves with good friends? We need to prepare to go against Satan just as David prepared to go against Goliath, and we will be blessed to come out conqueror.

David and Goliath

Picture 1 - ancient Gath
Picture 2 - ancient Gath
Picture 3 - me on top of Lachish with a rainbow in the background!
Picture 4 - a baby turtle someone found at the top of Lachish!

Last Monday we took the whole day and travelled through the valleys east of Jerusalem. The area where these valleys are is called the Shephelah (pronounced sfelah) and means low land. Our focus of the day was mostly from stories in Judges, and we talked a lot about the Philistines. (Just a hint – the second person in my title was a very famous Philistine.)
We started the day off at Tel-Tsafit, or ancient Gath. This is the town where Goliath would have grown up. Gath was much larger than Jerusalem was, so we said that Gath was a big town where a big man grew up! Then we head to Tel-Maresha where we saw an old olive press, a large dovecote (an underground area where doves were raised), an ancient cistern where water was kept, the Bell Caves. The Bell Caves were really cool caves that are shaped like a bell because they were likely the product of plaster mining during the early Islamic Period.
Following these cool sites we went to Lachish, which has some well preserved walls, gates, temples, fortresses, that were excavated awhile ago. It started raining when we got on the top, but don’t worry – I had my rainbow umbrella and was prepared!
Our next site was the Elah Valley, where the battle of David and Goliath occurred. Each of us was given a slingshot and we got to practice slinging rocks into a nearby field. (I didn’t do very well…) Our next stop was on top of Tel Azekah, which was the site of an Israelite fortress probably constructed during the era of the Judges, but best associated with the story of David and Goliath. From the top of the hill, we could look into the valley where the battle of David and Goliath happened!
Our last stop was Bet-Shemesh, which was the fortress city that guarded the Sorek Valley. By this time it was getting pretty late and chilly, but we were all happy with our day.
It’s funny, because for each field trip we keep saying, “This is the best field trip ever!” Every field trip we go on is so carefully planned out and we get to see the coolest stuff. This next Monday we’re going on a field trip where we will get to see what life was like during Biblical times…and rumor has it we’ll be herding sheep!

Some fun times

So this week has been good so far. The week after Egypt has been kind of exhausting because I feel like I've been trying to catch up on sleep for quite some time. It was so worth it though.
Basically, I just wanted to share some fun pictures with you. :)
After classes yesterday, I went to the Citadel of David with some friends. It was a rainy day, so the sky wasn't particularly stunning, and we got a little wet while exploring, but it was so much fun! I took my first ever amazing jumping picture that I wanted to share with you guys. The Citadel was sweet. It's HUGE and there are so many passages and walls and insides and outsides to check out. We wandered all over the place. And it's all very well preserved, which is really neat.
After classes today I went to West Jerusalem and went shopping in the mall. It's kind of crazy how East Jerusalem/the Old City are a completely different world and time period compared to West Jerusalem. You just cross the street and people are wearing more modern dress, you recognize stores and brands (gap, adidas, nike, kodak, etc.). It's kind of weird. I have no desire to buy anything here that I can buy at home though, so I just kind of went along to have fun. A few of us separated from the group and had lunch at a place called Cafe Hillel. We actually ran into a religious group on a pilgrimage from California. It really is a small world.
After my Arabic class this afternoon, we had Arab Night! We dressed up the best we could (we all looked completely ridiculous and not even close to what everyone here really looks like) and went to a lecture, had dinner, then learned an Arabic dance. The lecture was really neat because a father and son came in and demonstrated "saying/reading" the Qu'ran. (They actually sing it, but you don't call it singing.) It's actually their job and they went to a special school to be trained. The son had been doing it since he was 8 years old and he had the Qu'ran memorized when he was 16! I guess it's a family thing and the job passes down from father to son and if the son does not have that talent or does not want to do that, then the father will find a cousin or something. I really enjoyed listening to that.
Dinner was fun because the tables were set up especially for the evening with table clothes and fabric napkins and all sorts of fun things. The picture of me and some friends was taken after we finished eating. We're a great foursome. :)
After dinner we went into the gym for a dance lesson, but after about half an hour, some people just got too excited and it turned from a dance lesson into a dancy party and everyone just went crazy dancing and getting their wiggles out. We had fun.
Well, I need to get back to homework - we have a quiz in our Judaism class tomorrow!
Love you all!

P.S. The last picture is with my Arabic teacher - Ayman. He is such a funny man!

Egypt was a riot!

Picture 1-the view from the top of Mt. Sinai
Picture 2-the beautiful sunrise
Picture 3-freezing on top of Mt. Sina

Ha ha – get it? Egypt was a riot? One of my friends coined the phrase and I thought it was funny.
Throughout this whole trip, we were being updated on what was going on concerning the riots in Cairo. We actually barely missed those by going to Luxor. Our whole day in Cairo we had no idea what was going on because we were never anywhere close to them.
Sadly we had to change our Friday and Saturday plans to make sure that we steered clear of the chaos and danger in downtown Cairo.
So, we went to the Red and Bent pyramid Friday and then stayed in the hotel Friday afternoon. We didn’t get to go to the Egyptian Museum, which was quite the disappointment, but we got to do some AMAZING things, and no BYU JC crew has ever gone to the Red or Bent pyramid before, so we were a special case. We were very well taken care of though, and I never felt like I was in danger. The internet was shut off, along with cell phone connection starting on Friday, so we were basically cut off from the world for awhile. We watched updates on the news just like everyone else and couldn’t stop thinking how crazy it was that we were in the same-ish area as the demonstrations. It was kind of cool to be there when Egypt was trying to make a statement and see some changes in their government. I don’t understand everything that is going on and I don’t know what will happen, but I do know that everything worked out for us perfectly. If these things had started happening any earlier or if our trip had been scheduled for just one week later, we wouldn’t have been able to go and I never would have had the most amazing experience of my entire life! I loved every minute of my trip – even though a few things were cut out of our agenda. I hope you all know that I was safe from harm the whole time and we could feel your prayers and are grateful for all that you did!

Now, I have to tell you about our Mt. Sinai experience. That’s right – I HIKED MT. SINAI. We drove from Cairo to Mt. Sinai Saturday afternoon and got to the hotel at the bottom of the mountain before sunset. We tried to go to bed early because we woke up at 2:30 am and started hiking up the mountain at 3:45am. It was the hardest hike of my entire life. First of all, I literally hiked from the bottom to the top of a mountain. ¾ of the way were switchbacks, then the last ¼ were stairs that monks built long ago. These aren’t nice wooden stairs though – the stairs consisted of rocks strategically placed in a step-like fashion. Basically, my legs were on fire near the end and I couldn’t breathe. It’s also extremely cold up there. We were told to bring a lot of layers along with gloves, hats, and scarves to keep us warm. Hiking up wasn’t too bad, but once you stop moving and rest at the top, you get SO COLD. And boy were they right.
I brought a few hand warmers which basically saved my life (thank-you mom!). Enough of the coldness though – we made it to the top of the mountain just in time to watch the sunrise. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sunrise. Because we hiked in the dark, we had no idea what our surroundings were. But once a little bit of light started appearing, we could see that we were in the middle of a vast and endless sea of mountains. I took a ton of pictures, but nothing can compare with the feeling I got when I was up there. I don’t think you can get closer to heaven.
The hike down was beautiful because we could finally see where we were going! I loved the whole thing and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I loved my experience in Egypt and I didn’t want it to come to an end! I felt at home and enjoyed every moment. ☺

I'm in love...

Picture 1-Open court in Karnak Temple
Picture 2- Hypostyle Hall in Karnak Temple
Picture 3-Background of our bike rides: Luxor Temple

...with Egypt!
Okay – so we got through about half of the trip.
Thursday January 27th we took a motorboat from our hotel to the Karnak Temple. (Our hotel was on the Nile riverbank. Jealous yet?)
The Karnak Temple had one of my favorite rooms/areas: the Hypostyle Hall. There are 134 columns that just go on and on and it’s beautiful. We definitely got some good pictures there. A few of us would get up on the base of a column and then take some fun jumping pictures, but one of the guys who works there told us not to. I guess it’s not good to climb on the antiquities…ha ha
After the Karnak Temple we took carriage rides to the Luxor Temple and had a fun tour there. All of these temples are so well preserved. Some of the hieroglyphs still have color on them and you can still get a feeling of the grandeur that accompanied these temples.
Thursday afternoon was possibly my favorite part of our Egypt trip. Some girls and I rented bicycles and went on a bike ride with one of our professors (he was our body guard). It was the most amazing feeling to just ride your bicycle along the Nile. There was a nice boardwalk area that we rode along and we got some great pictures. I want to remind you though, that these were not nice, brand new bikes. None of our brakes worked, one girl’s tire went flat by the time we got back, and my bike was so shaky I felt like I had never ridden a bicycle before! But! That just added to the experience and made it so much fun.
When we got back to the hotel, almost everyone was out or doing their own thing, and we needed a guy to go with us into town, so we grabbed our tour guide who was chilling in the lounge. It was great having him go with us because he spoke the language and showed us the cool spots and could explain different areas of town. He also treated us to sugarcane juice because apparently it’s something you have to have! It was actually surprisingly delicious and you all should be very proud of me because I drank the whole thing even though it had a slight grassy taste. Ha ha After going to the market, we took a carriage back to the hotel and barely made it in time for dinner and departure for our overnight train back to Cairo!

The overnight train wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be, but I still barely slept. Those little rooms can get kind of stuffy. Oh well. The trip definitely wasn’t about getting sleep!

I’ll write more later!

-Audryn-