Sabbath – 10/19
I got to teach Young Women’s today about charity. These
girls are so great and such a fun time. After church I got some reading done
and played games with some people. Then Becca and I went to Sister Wood’s
apartment to knit. I’ve never knitted before. I’m going to be the worst grandma
ever because it looks so bad. I have tons of holes and bulges everywhere.
That’s alright. I’ll keep trying but I’ll just bake for my grandchildren. We
were there for a few hours and had some good deep talks. It was good to feel
like we were away from the center for a while and in a real home talking with a
friend while knitting.
We’re singing a Christmas Concert in December that a lot of
the people around here come to. It’s the only time we’re allowed to sing about
Christ. We had a practice tonight and we’re singing this islander Christmas
song that is entirely too much fun. I’m excited for it.
After that we watched part of Ice Age and then got almost
all the students to play Sardines in the center. It was a huge game and we all
had a blast. Then I stayed up late with a group that played a bunch of games in
the hallway. It was so much fun!
Sunday – 10/20
Today was one of my favorite days here. Everything that
happened was the best thing that could. We woke up entirely too early and got
on the buses, just us students…no teachers, to drive down to Elat to snorkel in
the Red Sea. Yes; the same Red Sea that Moses parted. It was SO FUN!
It was a four hour bus ride down and so we slept, studied, played games and read on the way down. We drove all along the Dead Sea which was gorgeous to watch the sunrise over. It was so hot down in Elat and it was beautiful. We could see Saudi Arabia and Egypt from the beach we were at. It was so much fun. I grabbed all my snorkel stuff and jumped in as fast as I could. It was really choppy and windy but we saw some gorgeous fish and reefs. My favorite was diving down and trying to catch the fish. I was in heaven! I just swam around forever and swallowed a couple gallons of salt water thoroughly enjoying myself. When I got out I played Smash on the beach with Nichel. It’s like ping pong without the table. Then we laid out in the sun and talked. I got a handful of sand down my swimsuit thanks to the one and only Jordan. That stuff didn’t come out til we got home and when I went to the bathroom later that night at dinner I had rocks falling out of my swimsuit. Such a good time. Nichel and I walked around the beach and had a good heart to heart.
Then we all jumped back in the water to
snorkel for another few hours and I loved it. I could not have been any happier
with my salt covered skin and dreadlocked hair. It was pure bliss. We left
around 4 to drive up to dinner and ate some delicious schnitzel. Schnitzel is
my favorite. We had it at the center and it’s the most scrumptious chicken
ever. At the center they roll some chicken breasts in mustard and spices and
then in cornmeal then egg and then a few sesame seeds and fry it. Gosh it’s
good. But we ate dinner and they gave us a free scoop of ice cream. While I was
in line some Spanish speaking tourists turned around and started talking to me
in Spanish. Thank goodness I’ve been practicing with the guys here! They were
from Columbia and they’re going to Turkey soon so I told them how much I loved
it. It was fun to talk to them. Then we had a long bus ride home where we
played more games and talked on the bus. Partway through the trip home we
realized the driver wasn’t going to stop for a bathroom break. We talked him
into pulling over and a group of us girls ran behind a pile of rocks and peed
in the moonlight by the Dead Sea. Not gunna lie,that was one of my favorite
pees ever. Are you allowed to have favorite pees? I’m not sure. But that one
was mine because it was in the moonlight by the Dead Sea. When will that happen
again?! When we got home we were all exhausted and I just laid around on the
bean bags and watched a conference talk then went to bed. Such a good day!
It was a four hour bus ride down and so we slept, studied, played games and read on the way down. We drove all along the Dead Sea which was gorgeous to watch the sunrise over. It was so hot down in Elat and it was beautiful. We could see Saudi Arabia and Egypt from the beach we were at. It was so much fun. I grabbed all my snorkel stuff and jumped in as fast as I could. It was really choppy and windy but we saw some gorgeous fish and reefs. My favorite was diving down and trying to catch the fish. I was in heaven! I just swam around forever and swallowed a couple gallons of salt water thoroughly enjoying myself. When I got out I played Smash on the beach with Nichel. It’s like ping pong without the table. Then we laid out in the sun and talked. I got a handful of sand down my swimsuit thanks to the one and only Jordan. That stuff didn’t come out til we got home and when I went to the bathroom later that night at dinner I had rocks falling out of my swimsuit. Such a good time. Nichel and I walked around the beach and had a good heart to heart.
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| Neesh and I! |
Monday - 10/21
Today was another beautiful day where we didn’t have any
classes. We got to sleep in and didn’t have breakfast til 7:30! Then we went
out and got to press the olives that we had picked last week. It was an awesome
experience.
It was incredible to see how something so bitter and disgusting could be put under such intense pressure and stress and then have time to sit and separate itself from the dirt and water and become delicious olive oil. I was shocked to see the amount of pressure that is placed on the olives. I knew it was a lot but it was so much that when me, Jordan and Makena tried to roll the press over them, we struggled a lot.
And then they had to be pressed with a giant screw that was too hard for me to even try. And it transforms from something bitter to something so delicious and good. Wow. Think about that one for a while.
The rest of the day I just did homework and took a nap (the
sun drained me yesterday) and went and got a one shekel popsicle from the 7 to
11. We watched Sunday morning of conference after dinner and then I got a few
more things done and went to bed.
It was incredible to see how something so bitter and disgusting could be put under such intense pressure and stress and then have time to sit and separate itself from the dirt and water and become delicious olive oil. I was shocked to see the amount of pressure that is placed on the olives. I knew it was a lot but it was so much that when me, Jordan and Makena tried to roll the press over them, we struggled a lot.
And then they had to be pressed with a giant screw that was too hard for me to even try. And it transforms from something bitter to something so delicious and good. Wow. Think about that one for a while.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Classes were crazy and busy all day these last few days. I
had a lot of nursing tests I had to do for NCLEX prep, but it was kinda nice
because everyone here had a big test for the class I’m not taking so it was the
first time we were all studying at the same time. Nick and I discovered a
foosball table in the bomb shelter and we have spent every waking minute in
there playing. We are equally matched and have some intense games. We’re tied
right now for games won and it’s a touchy subject. Foosball has become
everything we live, breathe and eat.
Tuesday night we had to watch a video for our Israel class. It was a Jewish film that was pretty funny. We had some nursing practice skills we needed to do and it was quite the experience because we didn't have any of the needed supplies so we made due with what we had...
Wednesday we had classes and then I went to the Old City with James, Jamison and Becca. We found some fun shops and stopped by all our favorite shop owners. For Forum tonight we had a Holocaust survivor who is 96 years old come talk to us. He told us his story and it was so spiritual and incredible. It left me feeling like I could never complain about anything again. He has gone through so much and is an inspiring man! When he talked about returning to his home in the ghetto a few years after the war started I began to cry. He returned and none of his family was home and he learned from his neighbors that they had all died. As he talked about this he got choked up and started crying. I can’t begin to imagine how that would feel. At the end someone asked him how he was able to get through this and all he could talk about was how important his family was to him. This made me cry to and taught me that family is truly the most important thing in this life. I hope that is something we never forget as the world is trying to demoralize the family right now. Without family units, we would be nothing. He was such a happy young man and so sweet! I loved him and am grateful we got to hear from him. What a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from a Holocaust survivor while in Jerusalem! He ended his speech telling us that he survived because God needed witnesses. That was a neat thought and I learned a lot from him. Thursday was such a GREAT day!!!! I went to clinical at Red Crescent Hospital which is a hospital for women. I was in the ER which was also the admitting floor. The rooms were incredibly small with about two to three rooms that had three beds in each room. It was very compact but we had a fun time. I got to listen to fetal heart rates and learned a lot from the nurses. Then the best thing in my life happened!! I GOT TO WATCH A C-SECTION! It was such a powerful experience. As that precious little baby was pulled out of the womb into this life, the veil was so thin. She came out blue and started crying after a little bit. She was perfect. I wanted to hold her and love her and welcome here to this new place and let her know she’d be alright. I could imagine her just a few minutes before I saw her, waiting up at heaven to come down. I’m sure she was getting a pep-talk and being told that she’d return soon. Mortality is so short, don’t waste it. It was a great experience. Then I raced home from clinical because I was in charge of the Seder Dinner (Passover) that night. It was a fun night, but really long. The food was incredible and we successfully made it the most memorable Seder Dinner ever by serving wine instead of grape juice. Oops…luckily no one really drank any since you have to drink it at certain times. We caught the mistake and fixed it but everyone felt so bad. The bottles looked so similar and they’re in a different language. Honest mistake, but hilarious. Definitely left my mark here. Friday after classes I went down to the Belnap’s apartment to make homemade brownies with Emma, one of the Young Women and Megan who is a YW teacher. It was fun to make them and they tasted like America. I missed it a lot. After dinner the Belnap’s drove me, Megan and Emma to Sister Baltz’s house in West Jerusalem for Young Women’s. We watched the first Harry Potter movie on their massive big screen projector. It was so fun. We played with her little girls for a while too. She had made some delicious treats and pumpkin desserts that made me the happiest girl in the world. It was so fun to be in an actual home and play with kids and have homemade American food. I loved it. Exactly what I needed! We came back to the center and watched Hocus Pocus. Best way to finish my day!
Tuesday night we had to watch a video for our Israel class. It was a Jewish film that was pretty funny. We had some nursing practice skills we needed to do and it was quite the experience because we didn't have any of the needed supplies so we made due with what we had...
Wednesday we had classes and then I went to the Old City with James, Jamison and Becca. We found some fun shops and stopped by all our favorite shop owners. For Forum tonight we had a Holocaust survivor who is 96 years old come talk to us. He told us his story and it was so spiritual and incredible. It left me feeling like I could never complain about anything again. He has gone through so much and is an inspiring man! When he talked about returning to his home in the ghetto a few years after the war started I began to cry. He returned and none of his family was home and he learned from his neighbors that they had all died. As he talked about this he got choked up and started crying. I can’t begin to imagine how that would feel. At the end someone asked him how he was able to get through this and all he could talk about was how important his family was to him. This made me cry to and taught me that family is truly the most important thing in this life. I hope that is something we never forget as the world is trying to demoralize the family right now. Without family units, we would be nothing. He was such a happy young man and so sweet! I loved him and am grateful we got to hear from him. What a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from a Holocaust survivor while in Jerusalem! He ended his speech telling us that he survived because God needed witnesses. That was a neat thought and I learned a lot from him. Thursday was such a GREAT day!!!! I went to clinical at Red Crescent Hospital which is a hospital for women. I was in the ER which was also the admitting floor. The rooms were incredibly small with about two to three rooms that had three beds in each room. It was very compact but we had a fun time. I got to listen to fetal heart rates and learned a lot from the nurses. Then the best thing in my life happened!! I GOT TO WATCH A C-SECTION! It was such a powerful experience. As that precious little baby was pulled out of the womb into this life, the veil was so thin. She came out blue and started crying after a little bit. She was perfect. I wanted to hold her and love her and welcome here to this new place and let her know she’d be alright. I could imagine her just a few minutes before I saw her, waiting up at heaven to come down. I’m sure she was getting a pep-talk and being told that she’d return soon. Mortality is so short, don’t waste it. It was a great experience. Then I raced home from clinical because I was in charge of the Seder Dinner (Passover) that night. It was a fun night, but really long. The food was incredible and we successfully made it the most memorable Seder Dinner ever by serving wine instead of grape juice. Oops…luckily no one really drank any since you have to drink it at certain times. We caught the mistake and fixed it but everyone felt so bad. The bottles looked so similar and they’re in a different language. Honest mistake, but hilarious. Definitely left my mark here. Friday after classes I went down to the Belnap’s apartment to make homemade brownies with Emma, one of the Young Women and Megan who is a YW teacher. It was fun to make them and they tasted like America. I missed it a lot. After dinner the Belnap’s drove me, Megan and Emma to Sister Baltz’s house in West Jerusalem for Young Women’s. We watched the first Harry Potter movie on their massive big screen projector. It was so fun. We played with her little girls for a while too. She had made some delicious treats and pumpkin desserts that made me the happiest girl in the world. It was so fun to be in an actual home and play with kids and have homemade American food. I loved it. Exactly what I needed! We came back to the center and watched Hocus Pocus. Best way to finish my day!
Sabbath – 10/26
Church was incredible today! I love every Sunday here. I’ve
been trying to decide if I should go back to Rexburg to work or move to Provo
and get a job in Orem. I haven’t gotten an answer but right before I went into
church my mom texted me to tell me our family friend could help me get a job at
his hospital in Orem. I asked her a ton of questions but didn’t have time to
get the response so I spent all of church thinking about it. As the sacrament
came around and I pondered moving to Orem, I felt the Spirit tell me it’s what
I needed to do and I started crying. I’m so excited! I love getting answers. It
will be such a fun adventure when I get home! We had some visitors in Young
Women’s from Sweden that were very sweet. After church I had “band practice”
with Jordan and Nick. We’ve got some pretty good stuff we’re working on. The
band keeps threatening to split up. I hope it doesn’t. Maybe I’ll just go solo
though. We’ll see. They showed the Priesthood session of Conference after
dinner so us ladies at the Center had a girls night! We painted our nails and
ate pumpkin chocolate chip cookies while we talked about dating and all that
good stuff. It was a really fun night and I ended it watching Lincoln til the
wee hours of the morning.
this was SO MUCH FUN!!! i loved this heart to heart ;)
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