New Life In An Old City : October 2012

Friday, October 26, 2012

The big 2 0.

Hey folks! Guess what! I am no longer a teenager...to say that is super weird. It was my birthday yesterday. It was amazing to be able to celebrate it in Jerusalem. Everyone here was so nice and it made the day really special.

I woke up in the morning to this on my board above my bed. My roommates are so sneaky...

I walked into the bathroom and found this on the mirror. The rest of them I found throughout my drawers, back pack and books. I literally have the best roommates ever.

As roommates we went out to west jeru and went to the delicious Waffle Bar!! :) :) sooooo yummy!

Our oreo waffle

White chocolate Nuttella. Probably my favorite one.

I am just so excited!!

We stuffed our faces...pretty sure we were done in four minutes flat

My awesome roommates

After we went on a fun walk through the city

This just made me laugh...its "corn in a cup"

This guy was singing for us :) Definitely listen

My good friend Grace Jackson sent me this in an email...oh how I love her.

To finish off the day I had my final interview with my Stake President and now....MY PAPERS ARE IN!!! Now I just have to wait for my call.

Livin' life the Biblical Way

On our field trip on Monday we spent the day at a Biblical reserve. We pulled buckets from wells, herded sheep and goats, smashed herbs, made pita bread, and worked at an olive press. It was quite an experience. Our guide was so crazy and was just yelling at us the whole time. I'm pretty sure "those stupid Americans" was running through his head. Oh well...:)

I don't know if I could be beautiful Rebekah at the well if this is how I pull out water

Herding difficulties

Our guide got a little crazy and grabbed a girls pony tail

Sheep herding video

This is what we used to crush our herbs

I am kneading the bread!

Torah writer

A copy of the Torah

Caitie and Sophie

This sheep was best friends with the horse

Reenactment of Boaz and Ruth

My favorite little girl

Olive press

Night Out on the Town

So in West Jeru it is basically like your average city. You can walk around all night, see a movie, get dinner, and just experience the night life. Last Sunday we decided to get out and have a good old American experience. We got burgers, saw Taken 2 (don't worry it was in English with Hebrew subtitles) and probably walked 5 miles. We had to ask for directions dozens of times...I think we got pretty annoying by the end.

Yup...they do have McKDees in Jeru

We decided to settle for the more high class place...Inside we had a tourist moment when I asked if there was an English menu and it ended up being right behind me.

My mini sliders :) sooo good!

Me and Catherine with our yummy burgers

Abi and I at the movie with Dal and Cassie creepin from behind.

Finals Week Splurging

So basically..I am super behind in my blog because of one thing...FINALS WEEK. This literally was the craziest, most stressful week of the program but it is now almost over. I am about to take my last final in an hour. The nice thing about finals is it means the end of most of our classes. We no longer have Palestine, Israel or Hebrew to worry about. For the last half we only have two classes...so that is super nice. To survive finals we had a bunch of treats...and when I say a bunch...I mean a bunch. Caitie's parents came to visit on a tour and they brought 12 pounds of candy....insane right??? Suddenly we became everyone's best friends. I also added in a bunch of candy I got from my family. Life couldn't have been better. You definitely miss all of the delicious american candy. Its just not quite the same... But anyways...we ate a ton...and now we have to hide lots of the bags in the closet so we wont eat to much.

The stash...

Our home teachers were SUPER excited. I think Paul stuffed 10 M&M packs in his scripture case

We decided we probably should be working out since we were eating so much...

The Greatest Calling in the Church

So here in Jerusalem we are part of a family ward. Because of this some of us are lucky enough to be part of the Primary/Nursery. I get to be part of the nursery. Me and two other girls get to work with the 2-4 year olds every week. Basically its just play time for two hours. They are adorable and have the cutest personalities. I am so happy that I get to work with these adorable children and I am really going to miss them when I go home.