Whacking Willows

Saturday

            Today was a great day! I got called to serve as the First Counselor in the Young Women’s Presidency. We have three girls: Emma, Riley and Amanda. I’m so excited for this calling. I felt an outpouring of love for these girls. I can’t wait to love them and teach/learn from them. Elder Gary S. Price and his wife came for the weekend and spoke to us today. They’re awesome people. I sat down with them tonight after everything was over and we talked about nursing and classes. They are an amazing couple.

Sunday

            For clinical today I was in the PICU with Catie. It was fun to go back to the hospital and see the nurses that were there last time I came. My three favorites recognized me and ran up and gave me kisses on the cheek and hugs. It was such a fun reunion! They kept coming by the PICU to see how I was and give me a kiss or wave. I also saw the three young volunteers that spoke English and talked to them for a while. I am still so impressed with how friendly and accommodating the staff has been at the hospitals. They set a good example of love and charity. In the PICU there were four babies in there all under the age of one. We had a special experience partway through the day as we learned more about our patients. I came into clinical thinking ‘what’s wrong with my patient and how am I going to fix it?’ I just immediately assumed everything would work out and the babies would be fixed. The more we found out about the patients, the more we realized this wasn’t the case. There were three that were at the peak of their life. It wasn’t going to get any better for them. As Catie and I talked about the patients and their parents and the difficult decisions they are making we began to cry. We thought of all the things these sweet babies would miss out on. They’re never going to know how to play wall ball at recess or get their first kiss behind the music house and then be sent to the principal’s office. Their family won’t see them learn and grow and someday get married. This broke our hearts and we stared at those precious babies and talked to each other about how grateful we are for the knowledge of the atonement. We don’t know what their families believe about resurrection and seeing each other again, but we were grateful for our testimonies. We know that someday those kids will come up to us in perfect bodies and they won’t have any pain or difficulty breathing or any of the tubes and machines that they had attached to them as we cared for them. I am so grateful for my testimony of the resurrection. I can’t imagine how it would feel as a parent to wonder if I needed to “pull the plug” or not without my knowledge of life after death. We said a special prayer for those babies and their families that day, and I will never forget them and that experience.

            After clinical, we went and toured Zedekiah’s cave which is under the Old City. What a gem! It was HUGE!! I pictured a little cave we have to duck down in, but it is massive and goes so far under the city. I can’t believe the Old City hasn’t fallen down through. I had to live up to who I am and definitely had an experience where my skirt fell down here. I wouldn’t be Cali if my pants didn’t fall down in a foreign country! So…there I was. Hiking through the cave in my Cali the Explorer skirt and wearing a water bottle backpack on my back. Problem was that the bottom of the backpack hit right where my zipper was for my skirt. So as I hopped around and explored, the water bottle pushed the zipper down and before I knew it my mid-calf length skirt was now ankle length. It happens. Every time I leave the country…and the house it seems like.

Monday

            Today we had a half day field trip down to Jericho. It’s only 18 miles from Jerusalem but about 3000 ft. lower. It was sooo freaking hot! It’s the oldest city in the world and the lowest city too. We went to King Herod’s Winter Palace which ended up being a blast because I became the field trip guide and turned the site into an ancient Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. Wow. I remember every little detail about that site: the overly large size chocolate fountain, the diamond shaped tiles that had little spaces to put tootsie rolls in, the round small columns for the oompa loompas to decorate cakes on. Oh man, I will never forget that site! Then we went to the Judean Wilderness which is really deceiving. It’s not a wilderness like the mountains in Idaho, its pure desert mountains. There are no pine trees or streams or even anything green. It’s just desert. It was

            When we got back from Jericho, the nursing students all got on a bus to go to Tel Aviv. Everyone else had gone already, but we had clinical most days so we were never able to go with them. Tel Aviv is right on the Mediterranean Sea and has gorgeous beaches. We got there and walked around the flea market that surprisingly looked like a DI outdoor market and then got ice cream as we walked around to the beach. It’s Sukkot for the Jews, which is a week long holiday celebrating the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness. We had some Jews come up to us with the special Sukkot emblems and we recited some praises with them and waved them around in the air. It was fun, I was a little worried they just converted me to Judaism, but then I remembered it was a much harder process than that. So we continued on to the beach and spent the rest of the night there. It was a blast. The waves devoured me and the sand felt oddly sticky. But the sea was so warm and so was the breeze coming off of it. It was gorgeous to watch the sunset over the sea. Such a beautiful day! Then we walked down to the port to get dinner and I bought some chocolate thing that looked like fudge but definitely wasn’t. It was still chocolate though so I was happy. We got back very late and I just went straight to bed.

Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday

      Today was full of classes and homework. We played lots of volleyball and ping pong in between classes. Wednesday morning we woke up early to go to the Western Wall and see the whacking of the willow branches to celebrate the end of Sukkot. It was pretty cool to see. The kids thoroughly enjoyed whacking each other with the willows. It was fun to watch. Thursday we had classes in the morning and then I went out with a group to go find a windmill in West Jerusalem. We took one of the most hilarious taxi rides of my life there and totally got jipped. We were trying to get a bus to take us to West Jerusalem, but we couldn't find one so a taxi stopped and was willing to give us the bus price which was 5 shekels. So all EIGHT of us squeezed into a small four door car!! We had two up front and then six of us in the back. I was on Jordan's lap with my head on Nichelle and Makenna's shoulders and my feet on AJ and Sean. Everyone was laughing and honking at us. It was a blast!!!

The windmill was in the Jewish neighborhoods and was sooo gorgeous! There were gardens everywhere and cobblestone streets and fountains and beautiful doors, OH! It was so great and beautiful. The windmill was awesome and huge.

That night after dinner we went back out to West Jerusalem to go to the festival at the end of Sukkot where the Jews dance to the Torah. About 30 of us went and we pulled up in a bus to this residential neighborhood and of course, we were the loudest things in the world. Apparently it upset some woman because she walked across the street over to me and shoved me into Ryan and Nic and then walked back to her spot across the street. After that we all split up into littler groups to walk around until the dance started. It was a good time. She was angry. So we came back to the building at 9:30 when it was supposed to start. The women all went to the top floor to watch the men dance on the bottom floor. We were given instructions not to dance but the Jewish people are so friendly and they grabbed all the guys and made them come join the dance circle with them. I was soo jealous as I watched from above so I was bouncing to the beat and clapping. Suddenly a young, small beautiful Jewish woman came up and grabbed my hand and told me to come dance with them. I grabbed two of my friends and we ran down to the little huts they had outside and there was a massive woman dance party!! We had a blast!! We danced in circles and sang and waved our hands in the air! Picture the song from Prince of Egypt called "Looking Through Heaven's Eyes". THAT WAS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!!! They were such nice people. We danced with Dana and another woman. When we had to leave they both held me so tight for about five minutes and kept telling me that we were friends and gave me their email so I could keep in touch. They were amazing women. I love them! We all got back exhausted that night and went straight to bed, well, after I beat everyone at ping pong. Lies, I lost miserably.

Friday

     We had classes most of the day and then we weren't allowed to go out into the city because things had been heating up out there. So we all stayed inside and had a movie night, volleyball night and dance party. I can't think of a better way to spend my time if I'm stuck inside here! It was so fun. Everyone here is incredible and I love hanging out with every single person here. They're all a blast and we have way to much fun. I'm getting pretty good at my volleyball spikes. There's a guy named Lee here who is way over six feet tall and he's the tallest and I'm the shortest. We are the best at volleyball together though! We dominate wherever we are and everyone wants pictures of us together because the height difference is so drastic. He's my volleyball bud. We stayed up way late watching Jumanji and I slept through it of course. We watched it in the Shekel Shack and put tons of bean bags down and it was a fun time. I love these people. 

Saturday

       Today is Sabbath and we had two of our young women come! It was a blast. We stayed inside the center today and watched movies and studied for our Old Testament midterms we have coming up this week. It should be a fun week but way too many tests and classes.

Yarn, Albino Cookies and Pool Therapy

Sunday:

Today was the best time I've ever had at clinical!!! We had so much fun. I was on the Pediatric unit at Makassed Hospital. Only a few of the nurses spoke English and I only know "thank you" and "I love you" in Arabic so we had quite a few language barriers. We can't really do any nursing skills here since it's a different country, but we observed a lot and I got to do a few pediatric and newborn assessments. 

One little girl was walking down the hall, wide eyed at us white girls and I leaned down to say hi and she grabbed my stethoscope off my neck and put it in her ears so I put it on my heart and she thought it was even cooler!! She followed me around forever and would smile and wave at us. 

There were some teenage Arabic girls there volunteering in the play room. The whole floor is wide open and if you can't find the patient in their room, they're either wandering or in another patient room or they're in the play room. The parents do most of the cares here, even taking vital signs. The nurses just do an admit assessment and medications. That's it. But anyways, these volunteer girls in the play room spoke english and we talked with them for a while. Then after clinical, we students were all in the lobby of the hospital and those girls were leaving too and they came up to me and I thought she was coming in for a hug but she kissed me on each cheek and my first thought was, "i'm hugging a girl that's kissing me..." Then I realized what was happening and kisser her cheeks. They kept saying how nice we were and how much they liked us. They were awesome. I loved them. Such sweethearts! We had so much fun. 

The nurses there were hilarious. They were incredibly nice to us and kept having us come sit down in the nurses lounge with them so they could feed us and ask us questions. They were appalled that nursing was only 2 years at BYUI and we told them how much tuition was and it turned into this crazy discussion between all the nurses about how much that was in shekels and how it compared. It was hard to tell if they were angry or not, I can never tell. The way they talk just sounds like they're always mad. They were sooo funny though. One kept talking about going to New York and she would come up and lovingly flick her finger off our chins like cheer up Charlie. She was so nice. They all were. I loved it!! 

After clinical we walked around and explored the Old City 

Monday:

Monday we went on a field trip down to the Negev desert. Our first stop was at a Bedouin weaving place. It was really neat. They make rugs, blankets, pillows, Christmas ornaments and tons of other things. They were beautiful and take a few weeks to make. I bought some balls of yarn because they had such beautiful colors!! Here’s their website: http://www.bedouinweaving.com/

Then we went down to Beersheba. It was really neat to see the altar there and think about the symbolism. There are four horns around the altar which symbolize the four corners of the Earth. It’s really neat to think about the blood of the sacrifice covering the entire altar to the four horns. We’re all covered by Christ’s atonement and it’s not just for certain people, it’s for EVERYONE!!

Beersheba

This is the giant well and cistern in the city. We hiked down those steep stairs and it was this massive underground cistern that was impossibly huge! It was really neat. We sang “Nearer My God to Thee” in there which sounded beautiful!

It was cool to think about how important water is out there. It’s soooo hot outside in the Negev desert and I thought about how Christ represents water and contemplated if I have wanted Christ in my life as much as I wanted water in that hot desert.

Here's a well at Beersheba

Then we went to Tel Arad which is in eastern Negev. It was a city that tried to stop the Israelites from entering into the Promised Land (Numbers 21:1). There was a massive well there too! Makes sense, it’s a desert.

It was cool to see the temple and the three different rooms with different degrees of glory. The outermost one was for sacrificing and washing. The middle one was where the bread was and incense, representing prayers and the sacrament. The last and smallest room was the Holy of Holies which was where the Priest went to talk with God. It was neat to think about that and to realize that it’s the same church, the same religion that they practiced back then as we do today. Mind boggling!! Even though it was just piles of rocks, you could still feel the Spirit and tell it was a special place. We talked a lot about sacrifice and what we needed to bring to the altar. It was a great time and a really hot and exhausting day!

 

Another giant well!

Tuesday and Wednesday:

These two days I just did homework and classes the whole day. Tuesday was really fun because Jenny, Julie and a few of our friends and I made chocolate chip cookies with the chefs at the Jerusalem center. It was soooo fun! They didn’t have any brown sugar or molasses so we just put normal sugar in! They ended up being albino chocolate chip cookies that tasted like sugar cookies with chocolate chips. But they were really fun to make and delicious. It was a fun break from class. We made over 500! The chefs were sooo fun and a blast to hang out with. We turned on some American music and all danced around as we made them. They were a blast and they’re going to let us make more when we come back from Turkey.

Thursday: Today was a blast at clinical! We got there right at the end of Pool Therapy and jumped in and swam with the disabled kiddos. They were sooo cute. I loved it!! Then Reagan got locked in the bathroom and I almost peed myself because I was laughing so hard. Here's Sister Garbett trying to get her out!

 Then Lindsay realized she didn't bring underwear or anything to change into. Oh gosh, I gave her so much crap for that. Then we had music therapy which was pretty much just organized chaos and everyone had jingle bells and shook them like crazy. Then they finger painted which was really an awful idea for disabled kids. Paint everywhere. Then they all ran around and we all played and jumped on things and played with the parachute and down the slide. The kids would come up and blow us kisses and wave all the time. They were so sweet. Their moms were there the whole time which was an awesome example. It was neat to see the love the mom's had for these kids. They're so perfect in their little bodies and I wish I could tell them all about the Resurrection and their bodies being restored. It gave me a much better understanding and example of love as a mother. It was really touching to see that. This hospital is set up so that they spend all week there and go home to the West Bank on weekends for a few weeks.

This is the outdoor court for recess

They have murals all over the hospital that BYU Jerusalem students have painted in previous semesters

Friday:

Today was the best. I had classes all morning but they weren't too bad. I kept myself entertained by counting how many times our Palestine teacher said "My friends" throughout the two hour class and then I collected bets. Ryan won with the guess of 52. Our teacher said it 47 times. It was great and the only way I stayed awake. We were done with classes at 3 so I went out to West Jerusalem and the Old City with Jenny, Julie and our other friends James, Michael, Aaron and Cam. Holy cow it was a blast!!!! We got to West Jerusalem which is the Jewish side of the city and most of it was shut down because tonight is the start of Sabbath and Sukkot which is a Jewish holiday where they build little huts outside their houses to remember the wanderings in the wilderness of the Israelites. But the one open place was a gelato shop. I don't even like ice cream too much but I ended up with chocolate ALL OVER my face!! It was pretty good. Then we went to the Old City and shopped/wandered forever. It was sooo fun! Jenny and I bought some skirts and talked the guy down to 50 shekels which was good. We've learned to block out everyone whistling or clicking their tongues or yelling Mormon or Pretty Lady but Jenny, of course, went into a shop and so I stopped to get her back. The guys were really nice and funny. They spoke really good english and are good friends with the Jerusalem Center people. I bought some earrings for 8 shekels and then went inside the shop to save Jenny. She was stuck talking to the owner guy. When he saw me he ran up and said, "You beautiful woman! You have husband?" I said no and he put his arm around me and said "Such pretty eyes. Such pretty eyes!" Jenny and I were laughing and he said, "I always have a gift for the Sarah's who come into my shop." I said, "Well that's a bummer, I'm Cali, not Sarah." So he excitedly said, "Oh good! I have gifts for Cali's who come into my shop too!" Then he grabbed a scarf and wrapped it all around me. I told him thank you and he kept saying how pretty I was and how beautiful my eyes were. I told him to stop because I was blushing and then he turned to Jenny and said, "I give you 20 camels for her!" Jenny said, "I won't settle for anything less than 50!" So he offered 50 camels! It was hilarious. You guys almost got 50 camels instead of me. Then we wandered a little more and we were walking down a pretty empty street laughing about what had happened and a guy overheard us talking about camels and he said, "Man offer 50 camels for her?! NO, no no!! I give you 100 camels for her!" We just laughed and kept walking. It was a pretty great time. I'm not quite sure the exchange rate for camels to cows but I really hope 100 camels is equal to an 8 cow woman. It was so fun. We had no plans really so we just wandered and explored and that was the most fun time of my life!!!! It was soooo nice compared to when I go out with nursing and we only have a few hours so we just hustle and bustle about with no time to just go out with no plans and explore. So this was my day from heaven. Plus this was the first time I got to go out with Jenny and Julie. Sooo fun!! 

Here's where we got gelato!

West Jerusalem

This is a hut outside for the Jews to celebrate Sukkot and live in to remember the travelings of the Israelites in the wilderness.

After that we came back for dinner and watched a beautiful sunset over the city and our neighbors lit of fireworks which was way nice. Then we came in and everyone sat in the stairwell and played songs and sang. Jenny, Julie and I played Rivers and Roads on the guitar and ukelele. I was shocked with myself. I hate singing in front of people but i sang in front of 80 tonight and played the guitar for them! It was so fun. After an hour of that we played volleyball for the next three hours. We just got done. I'm sooo sweaty and gross. They don't believe in AC in the gym. But it was fun!! I was between the two tallest guys here, Ryan and Lee. That pretty much meant I spiked it like crazy which was hilarious because they're half my height. We were all three out at the same time and decided to do a brilliant green giant plan where they put me on each shoulder and we served it and tried to spike it from there. It was hilarious and i can't believe I didn't die! They almost dropped me so much and they were sooo sweaty and gross. I was soaked in their sweat. Nasty!! We had a great time!! They also did a Cali Press competition which is where they see who can bench press me the most. I'm glad I can be of some service while I'm here!

I'm picking my spanish back up here because there's a lot of guys that served Spanish speaking so they only talk to me  in Spanish. It's been good! I'm trying to get over my fears and get it back. I've been doing pretty good so that makes me happy! 

That was my day! It was fun!

Not so Permanent Retainer

This is my house!!!

This last week has definitely had it's ups and downs. I had no idea how much time would be spent reading for all these classes. I don't think I've ever read this much in my entire life! Sometimes it seems a bit much and outrageous, but I'm trying to look at things optimistically and not get myself down. 
Fast Sabbath in Jerusalem was an incredible experience.  I will never forget it! The Sacrament was a very sacred experience. The windows in the auditorium are huge and the Old City is the backdrop of the podium. I can see the Old City and the Wall and the Dome of the Rock. I walked through the Old City, the same place that Christ walked through as He carried the cross. I'm going to the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ suffered for my sins. I'm living were Christ lived, where Christ bled and died for me. Can you believe that!?!

The Sacrament was unforgettable. The Spirit confirmed in me that Christ truly did bleed and die for me. FOR ME! For me here in this place I'm living. 

After church, we went to the Garden Tomb. It's owned by the Catholics and may be the tomb Christ was buried in and it also has Golgatha, the skull rock, in the beautiful gardens around the tomb. It was a gorgeous garden with an amazing Spirit! I sat in there forever and read my scriptures. It was such a peaceful place and very quiet despite being in the middle of Jerusalem right by the Old City where it's very busy and loud. We're not for sure that's the tomb Christ was laid in. President Kimball said that this spot "feels good here" and I think other prophets have said similar things, but we don't know for sure. If anything, it looked similar. I learned that it's not the exact location that matters because I feel like everything is all speculation anyways, but it's what was done that is important. 

As I sat there I read from the Four Gospels about Christ's resurrection. It was an awesome experience! As I read in Matthew 28:6 something soo cool happened! I read, "He is not here: for he is risen," and a beautiful yellow flower fell down into my lap. It was a wonderful reminder of spring, rebirth, the atonement, and the resurrection. Things die, but will live again because of Christ's sacrifice. It was like the flower was bearing it's testimony to me and shouting "He lives!". Christ does live and I know that. 

So I picked up that little yellow flower and smelt it forever and adored how happy and yellow it was and then I put it in my scriptures for later!

Me and my wonderful roommates!

Sunday was a free day for everyone here but nursing students. They all went out and explored the city, but we had to stay back for classes. That was kind of the theme of the week. We had class until 1 in the afternoon and then we all went out together to the Old City. We were able to go to the Western or Wailing Wall and in to the Temple Mount and see the Dome of the Rock. That is such a beautiful building and very sacred to the Muslims. The Jewish people don't go in there because they believe the Ark of the Covenant is in there somewhere and they don't want to accidentally step on it. The Western Wall is as close as the Jews get. It was really neat to see how they worshipped and put so much devotion in the wall.

Western Wall

This is one of the holiest sites to the Muslims

The Dome of the Rock

After that, we shopped around the Old City which is sooo much fun. There's tons of little shops everywhere. We went to this store, Alibaba's. He's the best. He loves the Mormons and every BYU group goes to his shop and he's friends with all the faculty. So he sells things cheap so we don't have to barter. As soon as we walked in he said, "Oh the Mormons! Come in come in! I love the Mormons. Here drink this juice." And he gave us lemon pomegranate juice that was divine. Then we all sat around the shop and talked with him and shopped and he made each of us girls some rings that are really great! He's awesome. I bought a slingshot so if anyone starts attacking us I'll be ready. Actually, the real reason I bought it was because I got so excited about teaching primary someday and pulling it out and all the kids would have these huge eyes and I'd tell them it's from Jerusalem and teach them how to do it and we'd beat a paper Goliath hanging somewhere. That was my first thought. I can't wait! I'm so excited for that!!!

Monday we had a field trip. We made a big circle around Jerusalem to try to get our bearings. Our first stop was the Augusta Victoria Church and Hospital. This is one of the places I will get to do clinical at. It has a huge bell tower with 220 stairs that we climbed to get to the top and see out all over the land and all the way to the Dead Sea. It was awesome. It's incredible how much desert there is. Just rolling hills of desert! We sat in the gorgeous chapel and observed how even though this wasn't a church of our faith, everything testified of Christ just as it says in Moses 6:63.

 It was beautiful. Then we went to the 7 Arches hotel overlook and saw the gigantic cemetery and the City of David. 

We went South to a mountain where we could see a lot of the geography that is talked about in the Bible like the Kidron Valley, City of David and many others. I loved that lookout because we connected it to Abraham. When Abraham was coming up to sacrifice Isaac he came from the South and as he came to the top of the hill we were on, it was the first place you could see Jerusalem from. This is mentioned in the scriptures in Genesis 22:4. It was awesome to think that my ancestor came over this hillside I was on and saw Jerusalem "afar off" as I did right then. I wonder how he felt as he looked out and saw the city and contemplated what was going to happen. 

After that we went to an overlook of Bethlehem. We are going to Bethlehem later in the semester and I'm so excited for that. That's the reason I came on this trip. I heard someone talk about their experience here and as they talked about sitting in a shepherd's field in Bethlehem, reading the story of Christ's birth, I was overcome with the Spirit and knew I had to come on the Jerusalem study abroad. Something that stood out to me here was that thorn bushes covered the hillside overlooking Bethlehem. This was another example of Moses 6:63 and how everything testifies of Christ. He lives and everything testifies of that! It's incredible! Then we circled to the North and stopped by Nadi Samuel. It was a really fun field trip and I'm finally starting to get my bearings around here. It's amazing to connect the scriptures to the areas that I'm in! 

Bethlehem

The Dead Sea is way out in the distance right behind the mountains

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were very uneventful. I didn't leave the center at all because I have been so busy with homework. My most exciting times of the day are meal times because that's when I don't have homework to do. They say it dies down and that all the classes are front loaded. I hope so because these few days were rough. The only exciting part was Wednesday night when I was flossing and my permanent retainer popped off my bottom teeth. How crazy is that?!? Since when does that happen, especially in Jerusalem! It was pretty chaotic all Thursday trying to figure out if I should go to an orthodontist here or just leave it. All I've really done is homework these last few days which is no fun. I gotta get out of this center more! 

Friday morning was full of homework and classes. After lunch we did a service project and made school kits for children. We had a blast racing down the assembly line and dancing all over the place. I loved it!! Then Jenny, Julie and I played soccer with a bunch of people here and it was a blast. Problem is, they don't believe in AC in the gym. That's a huge mistake. That place is pungent! After soccer, the entire group went on a walk to the Western Wall. On the walk there, there was definitely a young boy that threw a rock right behind me and hit a car. I like to think he was throwing it at the car and not me... but it was an amazing experience. We sat there and I wrote a prayer on a note that will forever be in that place! I was amazed to see their devotion and that they weren't afraid to stand up for their religion. I hope that I can do that. I loved that example. They practice their religion without fear of what others think. Then we came back and watched a movie on the bean bags in the Shekel Shack and did some homework. I'm excited for the Sabbath tomorrow! Today was a good day to end my crazy week on. 

YOJO

You're Only in Jerusalem Once

That's what all these kids keep telling me. So I guess we'll make the best of it!!

Yesterday we woke up and ate breakfast. I could end it right there because every time I eat here it's my new favorite meal ever. Breakfast.

The food is insanely good here!! Half the time I don't know what I'm eating but I don't even care. It's just sooo good. I weighed myself today because I can't stop eating. Don't worry, I've lost weight. It's probably all the stairs in this freaking eight story building. I still can't get over my house I'm living in. It's so beautiful!! Every window has a breathtaking view of Jerusalem. The gardens are incredible, except for when they're full of nasty kitty cats. Speaking of cats and breakfast, you won't believe what happened at lunch today. Every meal there is a flock of cats that come meowing and complaining at us for food. They look all mangy and gross and all they do is cry. The cats are extremely afraid of us though so they never get very close unless you give them food. Well guess what...despite their snaggle tooth and patchy fur, people still try to feed these things. Ok, the cats don't look that bad but they're still gross. Everyone has warned us about all their nasty diseases and fleas and gave us strict orders to NOT TOUCH OR FEED THE CATS!! I was fine with that. I don't want to touch them. Well here's the problem and so there I was, eating lunch out on the patio while enjoying some nice company and a beautiful backdrop of Jerusalem City when out of no where I feel sharp pokes in my left leg and I look down to see a mangy kitten on my leg. He jumped up out of no where INTO MY LAP!!!!! Not ok. At all. I screamed the deadliest most terrifying scream I could muster which in turn terrified the cat who dug his claws in and froze in fright as he screamed some weird cat meow hiss thing. Then I jumped up from the table, knocking everything over, and successfully got the cat off my laps. Gross. Not a fan of that moment. My heart was pounding out of my chest!

Anyways, yesterday we went for a walk in the morning around the Old City. It was beautiful. We walked through Kidron Valley to get to the wall. The Jerusalem Center is right between East Jerusalem (Palestinian side) and West Jerusalem (Jewish side). The Old City has four different quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. It also has eight different gates: Lions, Herod's, Damascus, New, Jaffa, Zion's, Dung and Golden. We came into the Christian Quarter through Damascus Gate and walked through it to Jaffa Gate. Imagine being in packed little streets with vendors on both sides and as many people shoved in there as you can fit. There are different stations along the roads that are important parts in Christ's walk with the cross. I got to put my hand on the stone that has a hand print on it from where they say He placed His hand to steady himself. It's comforting to know that Christ stumbled too, just like I do. We saw where Simon offered to help carry His cross. Can you imagine helping the Savior carry His cross? I'm sure every one of us that were watching from heaven were aching to go to His aid as well but we couldn't. He had to bear all of that on His own. It was a powerful experience to walk through those crowded streets and try to imagine the Savior walking through them carrying a cross. I can't wait to go back to the Old City and see more of it...and shop of course. We just quickly walked through in small tour groups to get a little bit of our bearings down. When we came out of the Old City, we were in West Jerusalem.

The differences between East and West Jerusalem are incredible. West Jerusalem is a lot cleaner and nicer and more Americanized. It's the Jewish side. We walked through a little shaded area that looked like it had huge pillows outside to sit on. I thought that was very convenient because I was exhausted so I sat down on one expecting delicious relief and it was concrete! They all were! Then we found these bikes that had drums, flower pots, record players, and other things attached to massive poles on the top. It was hilarious! As you peddled you made the flowers grow or music play or the drum beat. I played the drums and I couldn't stop laughing because it reminded me of Dr. Seuss.

That night and all of today has been full of homework. I had some classes today and finally got to start my nursing class. This is going to be a heavy load but I know that I'll make it through if I put the Lord first. Tonight we're eating dinner. I'm so excited. Every meal is heaven! Then I think we're going to get everyone together to watch a movie or play sardines in our beautiful building. There's tons of great hiding places. Tonight was supposed to be our first night that we were able to go out into the city on our own. But Rosh Hashanha just ended and there was some uprisings by the Dome of the Rock and the police were there with tear gas so we can't go out til things settle down. Tomorrow is Fast Sabbath. I'm excited to meet everyone in our branch. The bummer/great part about that is two fast Sunday's in one week! What are the chances of that!?!

Jerusalem!!!

After flying for I have no idea how long, we finally made it to JERUSALEM!! It's beautiful here and very hot. It cools off at night like Boise. There are hills everywhere and tons of rocks. We haven't gone out into the city at all yet but we will tomorrow.

The plane ride was a blast. We sat in alphabetical order and I was by some guys from Driggs and Sugar City, one of them that I knew before this trip. It was so fun. I had to pee like a race horse when we landed in New York. We were delayed leaving Salt Lake so our plane in NY couldn't pull into the gate because the other plane was there. I was dying and afraid of peeing my pants! The pilots kept announcing we would be there soon and that we needed to stay in our seats. The guys kept telling me I should just get up and go but I was too scared. Finally, with determination, I said "All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage." And I got up and sprinted to the back of the plane. I climbed in the door just as the flight attendant said to stay in your seats. As I peed the pilot made another stay in your seats announcement but I was too happy about finding relief that I didn't care. I heard the flight attendant turn a few others away and I felt bad for them. Then on the flight to Jerusalem, the second I got into the bathroom to pee again the pilot turned on the seat belt sign and said to stay in your seats. I have the worst of luck when it comes to peeing. We saw a guy in Jerusalem peeing in the middle of a park on this random white thing. He was out in the wide open. Maybe I'll just do that next time...

The Jerusalem Center is one of the most beautiful buildings in the entire world! It has gorgeous views and open patios everywhere! I can lay in bed with the sliding glass door open and stare at the Temple of the Rock. It's amazing at night! And the breeze just flows through the doors and cools everything off. There's four of us living in one room and my roommates are great. They french braided my hair tonight. Oh goodness it felt soooo good to shower and brush my teeth. I don't even remember the last time that happened... This is kind of weird, but the water in the shower smelt soo good. I don't know why. It was kind of like a fresh water spring or filtered or something incredible like that.

I just can't believe how beautiful of a building I'm living in! It's breathtaking and feels like a dream. Maybe that feeling is just coming from lack of sleep...I'm not sure... Hopefully I'll get to post some pictures soon. Tomorrow we are heading to the Old City and get to walk all over there. I can't wait to see it all. This still doesn't seem real, well the classes do. We're already swamped with homework. I can't wait to get into the hospitals for clinical.