7 months ago was April 27

You may or may not know that I went to Jerusalem over the summer. You probably already knew that if you have ever read my blog or talked to me or overheard me talking to someone else or heard about a conversation that I had with someone else. Yeah...it's pretty hard for me to restrain myself from talking about it all the time. Especially as a Sunday School teacher, geeeeeeeze! Which is why my loyal blog readers get to read aaaaaaallllll about it. thanks/sorry.

The other day I was looking through some old pictures on lappy and I stumbled upon this gem:
This was my first picture in Jerusalem. You can tell it's early on in the trip because of how warmly we're dressed. Ha! I'm pretty sure that jacket never saw the light of a Jerusalem day again. I love everything about this picture. I love the backdrop and the people and most of all I love that when I took this picture I barely knew them! I remember everyone standing around and jumping in each others pictures even though no one knew each other. Now it feels like they're family. You might not understand this unless you went to Jerusalem but it's true!

Lindsey is on the far left. She was one of the first Jerusalem people that I met because we flew with only one other girl from SLC to IAD. Right off the bat I knew I would love her. She is maybe the nicest person on the planet. Truly. She remembers everything you tell her about your life and then she'll ask you about it later. This isn't a skill I possess so I always feel a little bad when I meet people like this because you realize how good it feels to have someone who cares about your life! She's a piano performance major and she makes playing the piano look soso sexy. Just when you think you have her all figured out she'll tell you something about herself that will totally rock your world. Like maybe that she was almost engaged to a guy she met in Ireland a few years ago. WHAT?! Or that her parents are hippies?! But everything I found out about her just made me love her more. And is she not bea-u-tiful? Come on. You know you were thinking it.

Brooke "the tall" is next to Lindsey. Over the summer, if you wanted to distinguish between the two Brookes you would either say "the tall Brooke" or "the short Brooke". I don't know if we just couldn't remember their last names or what but that is how it always went. She really is tall. She's a few inches taller than me which means she's at least half a foot taller than "the short Brooke". Brooke and I both went to DI for most of our Jeru wardrobe but got one pair of perfect Jerusalem pants from F21. Unfortunately, I left mine in a hotel in Luxor and Brooke's shrunk ever so slowly over the summer. Really! Like 1/8 of an inch every time she washed them until it was to the point that she had to roll them up to make it look like she was wearing capris on purpose. Luckily we managed to get one really great picture before these catastrophes struck. If you could determine how cool someone was by the number of stamps in their passport (which might actually be a pretty good gauge), Brooke would be my coolest friend.

And then there's Christian. What to say about Christian? He is like no one else I've ever met. If you knew him (and you might) then I'm sure you would agree with me. Christian is a singer/dancer/thespian/counselor/historian/scriptorian/etc. Basically he's a renaissance man. Christian and I formed a special bond over the summer because he was the only one who appreciated the videos Adam would send me of his niece as much as I did. Maybe even more! He would always ask me to replay them for him and then he would quote them to me at just the right time. Exactly when I needed it. How did he always know?! I was lucky enough to see him when I was in Utah and we got to break it down together at our friend's wedding. Maybe for the last time! In January Christian is leaving to preach the good word to the people of Paris, France. I know he'll be great. As Brother Whipple put it, "it's perfect for you because you're so flamboyant".

So there you have it. I miss these kids and all my other JC peeps. The good news is that it's almost time for our one year reunion trip to Jerusalem! Right guys? Right?

trifecta

I guess I can go home now.

Med
DeadRed

The Suk

A couple of weeks ago the roommates decided to go to the Suk on Shabbat and then pass through Mea Shearim on our way home so we could be judged by the Haredi. Cool.
veg

challah! (bread)

flava flav

P.S. Please pray for our bird.

P.P.S. I'm going home in a week. Who stole my summer?

"You do not need to know dates for the test. You do not need to know dates for the test...

...however say I were to ask you Balfour Declaration. It should be obvious that the answer is November 2nd 1917. But you do not need to know dates for the test."
-Professor Musallam

This week we had finalsfinalsfinals so I spent all of my time learning about the 6 Day War, Ezekial eating a scroll (did you guys know about that? why didn't you tell me?), Theodore Herzl, the path of the Ark of the Covenant, Ayatollahs in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan, etc. Something you may or may not know about me: I'm kind of a stress case when it comes to being lost and tests. Foosball kept me sane. And I don't even like foosball! But now that they're over I can breathe for a second and then start stressing about finding a job. JK, JK. No, but seriously.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Islam and Palestine

pretending to study

Garden Tombing

separation walling

rocking the dome (Nick, Grace, Maddie, me)

celebration night in West J-ru (me, Maddie, Abby)

If you need me next week I'll be on the shores of Galilee. Peace.

one fish, two fish, red sea, blue fish

Salt in my suit, salt in my throat, salt in my hair, salt in my eyes and love in my heart.
We had Eliat of fun.
(pun definitely, definitely intended)

Jillian "I didn't mean to pose like that" Carr, me and Maddie, Nick and Nick's hair, moi.

spelunking

there's something in the water...

and it's sewage and dead animals and trash and lots of other gross things. But besides having to wash my face with bottled water Egypt was a blast! (a 120 degree blast)

want to ride my camel for lots of $?

I have a boyfriend.

but he's thousands of miles away!

I rode one.

Islam the tour guide. "Do you believe zus? Yes or not?"

here comes the sun and I say it's alright.

conquering my vertigo to experience the Sinai sunrise. totally worth it.

what I gained:

• a papyrus scroll with my family name on it (or future family name on it? am i being too optimistic here people?)
• confidence in my haggling abilities
• a greater respect for the ancient Egyptians and their ability to make some killer sculptures and artwork
• a keens tan line
  
• skepticism that anyone will ever do anything nice for free (including taking your picture)
• a stamp in my passport
• lots of ticket stubs that I might scrapbook later but will probably just end up collecting dust in the corner of a drawer somewhere until I can finally part with them in a few years. I always have such good intentions.
  
• some leftover Egyptian pounds (what am I going to do with these things?)
  
• a new family
  
• a stronger testimony of the fullness of the gospel

what I lost:

• a pair of pants
• a flashlight
  
• one flip-flop

yes, that's one item at every hotel.

a boy and his donkey

Judean Wilderness

Shabbat shalom!

I've come back to this city where names
are given to distances as if to human beings
and the numbers are not of bus-routes
but 70 after, 1917, 500 B.C., Forty-Eight.
These are the lines you really travel on.
Yehuda Amichai

geography field trip, dome of the rock, sabbath bread, western wall on shabbat, garden tomb, hAgGlInG! I'm beat. Monday- Jericho. Thursday- EGYPT!
modern shepherd
modern beggars
no girls allowed! (on a tame afternoon- there were HUNDREDS when we went on Friday night but I couldn't take pictures cause of Exodus 35:3)

floppy hats and sunglasses all around!

First Annual Double Elimination Rummikub Invitational

day 4: still pinching myself

Guys. It still gets me ever time I look out my window. Jerusalem has been exceeding my expectations since I stepped off the plane (and my expectations were pretty high). The sights, the sounds, the classes, the people. But mostly the people. I'm fascinated by them. I just want to sit and watch them for hours. (Well maybe like from behind a one way mirror or something since we can't make eye contact with the men.)

the view from my balcony.

Covet the juicer, Flippa. Covet the juicer.

Maddie, Jillian, Karlee and me. Room 309, baby!
This picture was taken earlier today when we went on the Ramparts Walk.

West side! Strong side!

Lauren, Heather (my new bffl who loves Rummikub almost as much as I do), me, Jillian, and Sabrina

In true Allison form I've been pretty remiss at taking pictures so far. Nevertheless, some things I've been loving about Jeru:

• The Palestinian boys who attacked us (literally, they threw a rock at my friend Brooke) with merchandise on our walk home from the Old City.
• The vendors who say "Mormon? BYU? Special price for Mormon!"
• Dance parties
  
• Sacrament meeting in the auditorium overlooking the Old City. Aaaaand my Relief Society president who is a Palestinian convert from Bethlehem who had to sneak into Jerusalem to attend church for a few years. Now that's dedication!
• Getting up at the crack of dawn to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with all my Greek Orthodox friends. And the kissing! Oh, the kissing!
• And there is just something about seeing the little Jewish boys growing payot that pulls at my heart strings.
  

I'll post more soon but right now I need to go read the Old Testament. When in Jerusalem....