I'm off!

To the testing center! Oh my first test of the new year. And my first interaction with the testing center since American Heritage final spring semester (don't worry I passed the class). Basically this post is just because I'm horrifically bored and don't actually want to trudge up to campus just to fail a test (low expectations lead to happy average grades- that's what I always say). I also want to share this experience with you. How? you might ask. Well luckily for you the testing center has a web-cam. Take a peek and you might see me in line in the next... oh *check watch here and then realize the time is actually on my computer* 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Count down 7

One week left? What de heck!?!?

Such a great day of doing absolutely nothing. (okay it was great aside from the studying I did/didn't do)

Woke up with 10 minutes left of breakfast (definitely excited about not having to be awake at a certain time to receive my daily rations) so I literally rolled out of bed got dressed/put my hair up in record time and ran up the stairs to get breakfast. Then we had choir practice for our Christmas concert. I then went out to the city and just explored more of East Jerusalem and got some delicious pastries. 3 pastries for 2 shekels? I'm going to miss how cheap things are here (that's like... 60 cents by the way)
That was followed by lunch, studying, a short nap, more studying, and then....
MAKING COOKIES!!! (literally)
Lauren's mom sent us stuff to make cookies with and we just used the Bentley's (service couple) kitchen. It was quite the adventure trying to figure out the Hebrew on the butter/conversion rates/how to work the oven. It was so fun baking (for the first time in like 6 months might I add) and getting to know Brother Bentley. The service couples/teachers here are absolutely amazing. There are 4 service couples: The Ohmans (organist/music), the Bentley's (Humanitarian mission), the Skinners (field trip teacher), and the Chapmans (doctor). President Ohman is like one of the top 3 organists in the world/nation(USA)- what's the difference right?- cue Bashir Bashir saying something about being reductionist/redactionist/redundant/etc. by the way that was a joke... But seriously he's one of the top organists. Brother Bentley was/is a lawyer and specializes in law with Joseph Smith- he's actually working on the Joseph Smith Papers. Brother Skinner might be one of the most intelligent and funniest men I have ever met and Sister Skinner is just the sweetest (as are all the women here). The Chapmans are one of the cutest couples I have ever seen- I honestly believe that they are just eternal young adults whose bodies just keep getting older while their spirits/personalities just stay 25.

These amazing people are my "count down 7" thing I will miss. The Skinners are leaving tomorrow as they were only here for 6 months though they will be back at some point to complete a mission here. All of the couples here are essential to this experience and this study abroad would not have been nearly as amazing with out them. I'll talk about the teacher another time... maybe after I get my final grades back. Though just for future reference they are all amazing whether my grades reflect it or not.

Shalom!

Not too much new here in Jerusalem. It's sometimes still a surprise that I'm here. We're closed off enough from the city that it almost feels like we're just at a really cool BYU campus (which we are) but then I go outside of the center and I walk down the hill with cars whizzing by and honking at us and I remember that I'm in one of the most historical cities in the world.

Today I went to the Pools of Bethesda- just a 20 minute walk from the center- and walked around the church and ruins there. The church had amazing acoustics so we started singing "How Great Thou Art". A group of people came into the chapel as we were starting to sing and they started singing as well- at first we thought they were singing a different song but the group leader came up to us and asked us to continue to sing. It turns out that they were a group from Germany and knew the same hymn and were singing it with us in German. It was really an amazing experience- a gathering of believers of Christ. I'm pretty sure they were of another Christian faith but we were gathered together singing for the same purpose. I have to believe that God appreciates the purpose- I know that I definitely felt the spirit more singing in that church than maybe any other experience I have had on this trip so far.

We continue to have classes- so far Hebrew is my favorite- and the easiest. There might be some connection there. I feel like I learn more in Hebrew than I have in my other classes so far though learning a language is more measurable. The way we're being taught is learning a handful of letters a day and the sounds that they make. Then we learn a vowel. Then we put them together to spell words but the words sound out as English words instead of Hebrew words. It makes it all a little more manageable. So far I know about 8 letters and 3 vowels. We are also taught "expressions" or common phrases everyday and how to use them. For example: Shalom! Ma neeshma? is like Hey! What's up? In response you would say Be'seder which means not much.

Anyway that's my day. Don't hesitate to email me- you can ask questions or just talk to me- I seriously won't mind and I definitely will have time. We're only allowed in West Jerusalem after dark and that's a taxi ride away so I don't really go out after dark.

Classes

So despite the fact that our little study abroad started with a little vacation we did start classes yesterday. For those of you who are wondering/asked me what classes I was taking before these are my classes:

Old Testament (which will switch to New Testament in a few weeks)
Modern Near Eastern Studies- Judaism
Modern Near Eastern Studies- Palestine
Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Hebrew
and a Field Trip class

The classes are randomly spread out throughout the week to accommodate our busy schedule which is kind of nice but also a little confusing. All of the teachers except OT and the Field Trip class are taught by local professors and the reason we have two MNE classes is because it would be unfair to both the professor and the students to hear about both sides of the conflict from a biased teacher- so instead we get a completely genuine and educated opinion from both perspectives and we are encouraged to form our own opinion on the matter but never take sides. All of the teachers are wonderful so far- they're very funny and personable- especially the native teachers.
I can already tell that this semester will be a juggling act but that I will be learning a lot. My Hebrew teacher told us today that by the end of the semester (only 13 classes with her) we will be able to read the 10 Commandments in Hebrew. It will definitely be an interesting semester.