From Brains to Breastmilk

So today was a really cool fieldtrip, not just because of the great places that we were able to see, but also because of the great peace that i ironicly felt in the great city where the Savior was born. Bethlehem is a great little town and just has this feeling about it, I don't really know how to explain it, but we had a great time going there and we got to see alot of things and learn a lot as well.

Our first stop was at a think tank for the Palestinian people with a mission to find a solution to the issue here with Israel. We had about an hour there and were lectured to by the head of the think tank, which was the first time that I really had heard an educated opinion on the subject. In the past here the things we have heard was mostly rhetoric, and so it was nice to be able to hear some numbers and graphs to go along with the things we are told about all the time. It was an interesting lecture, and while many of the things are true that we hear, we could really tell the things that get exaggerated from time to time. On the other side, it was neat to see the things that are brushed over quickly from the Israeli side as well. As always there is an explanation for the things that they do, but they try not to bring some things up if they can help it. So yeah, all in all it was educational experinance.

I think that the best viewpoint that we got of the day though came from our experinance at Bethlehem University, the first and I think only institute of higher education in the West Bank. This was an interesting visit not only to see another institution that is in the middle of such strife and caters to those types of people, but also because we got to meet some of the students that go here and talk to them and get thier perspective on things in life and school. We got to spend a great deal of time asking these student questions, not only about why they wanted to go to school, but also what they think about the whole conflict that is going on where they are seem most of the times as victims. School wise they are very similar to any other college kids, except for the fact that they have an interesting Christian, Muslim mix of students there in the college. They talked alot about the frustrations of the wall and of the different aspects of thier life that is affected by the conflict.

I should probably put in a little kick about the wall while I am on the subject. The separation wall was put up in the 00's I love Bridget Wood!!! to help with all of the terrorist attacks. Of course some people think that it's more than that... but it has helped with the suicide bombers, that's for sure, and I think that if it works, keep it! But yeah, it was a little intense to cross the wall and to go either way. Getting back into Israel was more intense than going to the WB of course, this armed guard had to board our bus and make sure that we weren't harboring any refugee's i guess, so that was fun, but yeah, you could tell by the graffiti that some people didn't like the wall much!

So yeah, after the tour at Bethlehem U, we went to "The Tent" for dinner which is this big Bedouin tent where they fed us these great salad things that went well with our pita's. OH man, it was great food! Some of the salad things that we had were wonderful, especially this little plate of garlic hummus stuff. I don't know exactly what it was, but it was really good with a pita! In fact, we finished off the first one fast, and then Cam asked for a second one and you could tell that he was excited to get more. When the waiter guy brought it for us, he put one on the table, then pulled out this other one and handed it to Cameron and said "this is is just for you!" and then winked at him! We all were rolling after that little episode! Almost as good as him trying to sneak out two 1-L bottles of soda in his pockets when he left! Oh dear, we had fun.

Then we went to the Church of the Nativity, the oldest church in Christianity. This is a really neat church that has gone though 3 renovations of the door. It was nice and big at first, then they renovated it to bring it up to modern standards at about the time of the crusades, and then they were tired of animals coming in and bothering people during mass, and so now the newest door is so small that you have to duck to get in! The church itself has been through quite the ordeal as well. It were almost destroyed by the Mongols (i think?), but when they came in, the leader saw a picture of the 3 magi's and said "Oh, they are our people, we shouldn't destroy this church" and so they didn't! Then this one time some guys came to destroy the church, but lucky for the church, hornets came out of one of the pillars and drove them all the way to the arch of the city. They came out of 5 holes that form a cross, which i promptly put my fingers into! Of course you can also go down into the little cave where Jesus was born, and so down there is the place where he was born along with the place where the manger was. Of course, it is not actual cave anymore, although you can still put your hand down through the 12 pointed star and touch the rock that Jesus was born on. The ornamentation down there is elaborate of course, but I really liked the place and respected those that spent so much time to make this shrine.

We also stopped by and went to the opposite side of the cave to where the Roman Catholics have their claim on the area. This is the cave where St. Jerome tranlated the old manuscripts into the Roman Vulgate bible. This was more like a cave, and so sat here, the two classes together, and sang Christmas songs and read the Nativity story. It was really neat to have done the same thing my whole life, but now to have that chance to read that sacred account in the place where it happened. We are going to have a whole Christmas program later in the semester out on Shepherd's hill, so that should be exciting.

Our last little stop was the Milk Grotto church. This is where supposedly Mary was feeding Jesus and spilled a little of her milk on the rock there, turning it white. It was interesting to see the church, a little uncomfortable to see that many pictures of Mary breastfeeding Jesus, but ya know, ya got to let people know what happened! But that was the day. We traveled back through the wall and then came home. It was quite the day, i love Bethlehem, and the spirit there was really amazing. It is too bad that the current conflict will keep us from going there again, so I do hope that a solution can be found soon!

Government and Politics

So today was a free day again, and for the most part I really love these days, but today there was a big group going to the zoo, and I really didn’t want to go to the zoo because one, it cost a little much, even with our discounts, and two, it’s a zoo, they have them everywhere, it’s not like I’m on an African safari or anything! So yeah, the only bad part was then I had to find something else to do, and that was a little bit of a problem. I didn’t really wasn’t to be out all day, but I wanted to make sure that I did something. So long story short, I found two friends, Allison and Cameron, and we made plans to go to the YMCA bells and then to the Knesset, which is the Israeli Parliament building. The bells were fun, but I think that I already told you about those from last time, so let me just skip to the new stuff, the Knesset.

First of all, for a place that says that they let anyone in to watch when the Knesset is in session, the security when they are NOT there is appalling! They let anyone come and watch the proceedings of the committee’s and the legislature, they let protestors in, they let anyone with an Israeli ID or passport to come in, but man, did we have the time of our lives trying to get into this thing when it’s empty! The three of us got to the building about 45 min before the tour was about to start, so we just went across the street to look at this huge menorah that they have in a little park. It was a cool little park, we met a cat that was posed like Simba from the Lion King, and then we also helped another little cat with lunch. There are cat’s everywhere here by the way. There is not a Bob Parker to tell everyone to get their animals spayed or neutered, so they all just run wild and free here causing quite the overpopulation. Anyway, this cat was a little cute, and Cam really has a soft spot for cat’s, so we gave it some food and some lovin’. When we had about a ½ hour before the tour, we decided that we would just go through security and then check out some of the place before the tour, so we went up to the place where security was, and the guy asked us what we were there for. We said that we were here for the tour, but before we could say anything he told us, “tour is not until 1:45 [it was 115 at the time], you come back then. Go and look at the menorah.” I told him that the website wanted us there 15 min before the tour to make sure we got through security on time, and he said fine to that. We went to see this little sculpture that was down the sidewalk on the Knesset side, and after we looked at it, we sat down next to it in some shade. Next thing we know, we are getting yelled at in Hebrew by an armed guard who, if he could speak English, would have been saying, “you can’t sit there, go across the street and look at the Menorah!”

We are a little frustrated at this point, there are a few large groups of children that just got to the little square by the menorah, but we didn’t have a choice. The next 15 min were full of little exciting things like Cam being told by a native not to touch the cat’s because they have disease, a little school girl farting, and this woman totally sporting this Beyonce shirt that was amazing! So, 15 min later at 130 we go and follow this large group of school children into the security area. At this point, and much to our frustration, we got stopped by the guard. “It is not time yet, 145 I say, go and look at the menorah.” He said. “But you told us that we could come in 15 min before” I responded. “No.” he said, “you cannot come for 15 min, go across the street and look at the menorah! Come back when it’s time!” Anyway, we were just a little peeved, and we really didn’t know what was so great about the menorah, but I think that it was the only true words this man knew in good English. So yeah, needless to say, we waited, we finally got in, (no cameras here, sorry!) and we almost missed our little tour. Security… failed once again! Anyway, the tour itself was about an hour, and we learned a lot about the government and the way that it is run. I won’t go into detail here about the architecture and what it means or anything, but a few little points that I think are neat.

First, I think that it is cool that the seats in the legislature are in the shape of a menorah (I recognized that when the tour guide asked!) and the wall in front of them is spit into a secular and a religious side to remind all those who are making choices about the background here. There is a lot of Jerusalem symbols here too because at the time that the building was built, there was not a Jerusalem for the Jews, it was still in Palestine, and so they always wanted to remember what they could not get to. Second, while the Israeli’s have a declaration of independence, they do not have a constitution. Fun fact: because of a few factors including a Sabbath and some English holiday, Ben Gurion (first PM of Israel) wanted the Declaration of Independence signed and sent off before Shabbat, but they didn’t have time after all the deliberations to write what they had agreed on down before sunset, so the Declaration was signed by all parties on a blank parchment, they declared their independence that day, and then actually wrote the words above the signatures a couple days later! But yeah, they don’t have a constitution because they don’t know what kind of government to have, the 3 options being a Jewish, a democracy, or a Jewish democracy. Anyway, there are obvious differences to all of these options and it causes quite the problem. Without a constitution, the legislative branch and the Supreme Court just go back and forth with laws being made and then overturned. Our tour lady said that she liked that because it made things fluid, but in reality I think that there really just isn’t any stability in a government like that. But yeah. They have a committee whose job it is to decide on laws that are able to fall under all of those 3 types of government, and then the hope is that when they have enough, they will be able to compile them into a constitution. From the 1960’s to now they have come up with a whopping 12 laws so far that they are able to agree on like that, things like freedom of speech and stuff. No wonder there are issues here!

Anyway, that was the Knesset adventure. We had a really long walk home, a short stop in the Old City to get a scripture case for Allison (as well as some juice from Shabaan’s) and then a very-much-needed purchase of deodorant for Cameron. Anyway, it was not the short trip that we had hoped for, (we got back at 6) but we had tons of fun. There was quite the view of the Jews playing in the park… it is quite the cultural thing here to see! But yeah, I really needed a break for my legs after that!! Anyway, Fun day, but I’m also ready for Bethlehem tomorrow!! Fun times!

More Water Experiences

So today I got up and I wasn't feeling all that great. Not really because of my burn, but I think that I am getting a little bit of a sinus infection thing... tolerable, but not fun. I took a nice cold shower though and got woken up so that I could go on this great field trip, a local one, to the City of David. Now this doesn't mean Bethlehem (that's next Monday) but this is the original city that King David dwelt in after taking it from the Jebusites near the beginning of his campaign as King of the United Monarchy. Today this site is a national park area just to the south of the Old City in the Arab town of Silwan. Silwan is actually named after one of this area's main attractions (archeologically anyway), the Pool of Siloam.

After a very nice 3D movie that introduced the site to us, we first got to go down and see the remains of what they are pretty sure was the palace of King David. This was a little crazy for a few reasons, first of all, this is the palace of King David, the other, well, you could totally see the view that David would have had looking out over the city, and where he would have seen Bathsheba. Not too much has changed over the centuries, and so just to think about standing where these people would have stood is an amazing experience. Actually, the only major difference is that today one of the major valleys that existed in Biblical times is gone, filled in throughout the centuries, so we don't quite get the sense of isolation that the city would have had, just being on the top of this hill with the huge valley's on either side, but other than that, it works!

We then got to see the walls that they uncovered in a place called 'Area G' which showed a few of the houses that they would have had here, as well as supports for the walls since it was built on a steep hill. These were the same walls that Nehemiah repaired to prepare for the Assyrians attack and we could see where the enemy was camped across the valley when the Lord slew them in the night to preserve His city. Just crazy things that went on there, so m uch history in one spot! We also went to one of the more exciting parts which was Warren's shaft and Hezekiah's tunnel.

Warren's shaft is the place that they believe that Davids general, Joab, used to penetrate the city and open the gates so that David's army could take the city from the Jebusites. This was used as a well by the Jebusites and the entrance was located outside the city walls, a serious mistake if you ask me (or them!) but it would be quite the travail to get up that thing, it's not very pleasant for a shaft to climb. But yeah. Right below that is the source of the Gihon Spring which Hezekiah had a tunnel built from there to the place of the Pool of Siloam in order to get the water they need for the city at that time. The cool part is that you can go and actually walk the length of the tunnel, with the water still flowing around your feel out into the city for use today! It's a lot longer than i thought it would be at 1/3 of a mile, and some parts are kind of small, but it was so much fun to walk through this narrow little tunnel that they built, we sang "Lead Kindly Light" among other hymns as we all turned out our flashlights and just felt our way along.

It was neat too because in a place that is that dark, it doesn't take much for you to be able to see, and at one point, our teacher at the front was the only one that had his light on, and even though he was about 50 ft in front of me and was around turns at some points, the light coming from him was enough to see the tunnel by so that I could navigate safely. I couldn't help but think of the world today, how dark and oppressing it can be with all the different options that we have and choices we could make. It was also be overwhelming to compare the amount of good in the world to that of the dark, but really, there doesn't need to be that much light in order to lead a great many people, and the Light of the Savior is bright enough to keep us from stumbling along the path.

After coming out of the tunnel, there was this little pool where the water collected and we had a fun time getting each other, and our beloved teacher Bro. Manscill, all wet! It actually felt really good to be that soaked because it was really hot outside, yes, very hot. It was only a short little jaunt over to the actual Pool of Siloam but before we got there we got to see some cool things that they found in the excavation, like a women's toilet, and the tunnel that the Romans used to dig from the pool area up to the temple mount during the siege of Jerusalem. It's a really small tunnel, and maybe they haven't found the bottom yet, but yeah, that was quite the feat for sure! The Pool itself is only partly excavated because most of it has some guys garden over it! It is a recent excavation (relatively) and so they don't really have all of the area for all of the things that they would like. But the fact that they found it is neat since it is under about 10 ft of dirt! But yeah.

Anyway, it was a lazy day after that. We got back for lunch, and then I ate lunch, and then I took a nap for a long while (4 hrs ish) so that I would not get sicker and then I woke up and started to work on my Palestinian mid-term. It's a joke... so not helpful to my education, but oh well, we once again bow to the rule of the teacher! Here's to tomorrow!

A Day in the Sun

Well, I think that first I am going to have to apologize to my wonderful mother, and then I will have to defend myself for the result of my actions... but yeah. Let's just say that despite 3 coats of sunscreen, parts of my back look like a watermelon, the inside of a watermelon. But I also had tons of fun doing it, and I don't think that i'll regret it too much, especially since I tried really hard to keep my back safe! The rest of me is fine, I just think that the back took the brunt of it all. Why? you may ask? Well, it's because I have the chance for the first time in my life to go snorkeling!

This is not one of the prescribed field trips, but as students we all pitched in a got 2 buses, rented the snorkeling gear, and got a meal to eat, all for the low price of 145 NIS! Really a great deal when you think that we drove for 4 hours to get to Eilat, the border town that we had all the activities in. We got up at a bright and early 530am for breakfast so that we could get down to Eilat by about 10am. We got there about 1030 and then after a little orientation talking to us about safety and where we could and couldn't go, we got to get in the water. Now, this was my first time snorkeling like I said, and so at first I really was nervous, and my body really couldn't get used to the fact that I could have my face in the water and still breathe, so I would hyperventilate as I looked down through my mask. It took about 15 min to get used to it, and then a little more courage to get to diving, but man it was amazing. The reef here it just so amazing! I could not believe that I was actually here with the fish all around me, and all of the beautiful things that you normally don't get to see!

I had one of my friends here, Tyler, as a guide since he has done these things a lot, and he taught me how to get the hang of the whole thing. We were at a preserve, and so there were certain parts of the reef that were off limits. All of the shallow reef was off limits, but you could swim right along the cliff reef and see all of the coral and the fish that make this place their home. It was about a 15 ft cliff and we could swim along about 300 yds of it. I saw all kinds of fish in all kinds of colors. I just remeber having the thought, "Now i finally get to see in real life what I have only seen on TV!" and I loved it! One of the favorite fish that I saw (and learned the name of) was a parrot fish, and I actually dove after one and got about 3 inches from touching it before it saw me and dodged my hand. It was also one of the bigger fish that I saw there, although there was this big black one.... i don't know what that one was.

One of the coolest parts though was this rock that was about 50 feet towards the deep part of the sea. This rick was covered in coral and had become it's own little isolated ecosystem with all the things that you would expect to see in a shallow reef. This was also a really cool place because there were just schools of fish that surrounded the reef, and you could actually get up close and with gentle swimming, join the school and swim with them. As long as you didn't make too sudden of movements, they didn't mind that you were there! These were Dory-like fish, all blue and a little color here and there. I did see little clownfish as well swimming in their anemones and other fish that I recognized from the ever so popular "Odell Down Under" PC game! I knew that would come in helpful some day!

One of the other cool things about this rock was that the top of it was only about 4 feet from the surface, so it was really easy to dive down and get really close to the small animals and coral that were growing, as well as many of the animals that live right on the reef itself. It was here that i learned better how to dive and I could get about 10-15 feet down and stay there long enough to really enjoy what I was seeing. My ears still don't appreciate what I put them through, but my eyes are thanking me still! I really am still in wonder at the wonderful creations that God made for us. There is a whole new beauty of the world that I have gotten to appreciate now, and i'm so thankful for the great opportunity that I had to enjoy this part of His creation.

When I wasn't diving I was on the beach just relaxing (with my shirt on mother) and enjoying life. It was one of the first real times that I have felt like I wasn't worried about anything. I true 'vacation' moment where i didn't even have to worry about getting to see everything in time, I could just sit and enjoy where I was. One thing too, swimming in salt water for a while really gets your lips all weird. I remember getting out of the water and taking a drink, and I could just feel my lips perk up! I know, that's an odd way of putting it, but that is what it was like! And then the salt dries on you and makes you all crusty... yeah, there are some things about salt water that and not the best, but It is really worth the sacrifice I think!

On the way back we stopped at the same kibbutz that we had on our way back from Egypt, and had a great meal. Of course by this time i was already starting to feel a few of the worse burns, and i'm not even going to mention what the ride back and that night was like... but i'm getting better now, and two days later, a lot of my back is starting to heal and get better. There is just one nasty little spot that was right above my swim trunks that must not have been gotten at all, or only once, cuz it's bad, but other than that it's all just a light burn now.

Anyway, I hope that you are all having fun! I'll hear from you all soon I hope, and Congratulations Carmen! That's really exciting! Hope all works out for you!

Talk laters...

Oh, and this is a video of Cameron, one of the friends that I have made here. Let's just say it was quite the bus trip down!! :)

A Day as a Arab

So this day was a fun filled adventure to learn more about the Arab culture in general. We knew a little of what was coming of course, but we really didn't know how neat it was going to be to learn and actually see a chunk of Arab culture in true form. The whole night included a live call to prayer and reading of the Koran, a dinner of true Arab food, and then a night activity of learning how to dance Arab style.

To tell you the truth, I didn't really know that much about how the Islamic religion functioned as far as it's Koran reading went or anything like that. I had seen the prayers at the mosque in Cairo, and I had heard the call to prayer (of course) but to actually see it live and to be able to ask questions about what was going on was a great experience. There were two men that came to do the readings and the prayers and we were actually greatly honored to have them. They are a father and son and they are the main two that get to say the call to prayer from the al-Aqsa mosque which is the mosque that accompanies the Dome of the Rock (al-Haram ash-Sharif or the Sacred Noble Sanctuary) on the Temple mount. This is the third most important place in Islam after Mecca and Medina, and now that it is a conflict area, it was the opinion of our translator that this is seen as one of the more important places now in Islam, if not the most holy. So to say the least, the guys that came and showed us all these things are some of the best in Islam. Actually, the job to call at the al-Aqsa mosque is a family responsibility, and these guys are in the 520th or so year of doing this for their family! It was really cool to actually hear the call live, and the voice of the guy that did it was simply amazing.

Here is the whole prayer that i took, I think that it's really neat. This happens 5 times a day every day reminding people that they need to pray now. Back in the day they would actually have people go to the top of the minarets and call, but now there are loudspeakers and the caller can just do it from the base of the mosque.

He also read to us from the Koran, the sura of Mary which tells the story of the virgin birth along with the story of her dealing with the persecution of afterwards. She didn't hook up with Joseph for al while after Jesus' birth win their version of the story. Jesus also rebukes the people of the town as an infant.. pretty cool if you ask me.

I think that it is amazing the way that the scriptures are read in Islam. When done correctly by an imam, the scriptures are 'sung' although they don't want you to say that. They still say that they are reading the Koran, but it has a melody to it, something that really gives it ebb and flow. It takes a lot of training and talent to read the Koran the way they do it, but they have the whole Koran memorized as well, so you tel them to start in any sura and verse, and bang, there they go! The guys that were with us had the Koran by the time they were about 9 or 10! Get going Luke! You're getting a little too old to get your chance!

They then showed us the way that they prayed, which was the same way that I had seen in the mosque, so i wont worry about going in to great detail here.

The next thing on the docket for the night was the meal that they prepared for us. We had the same cooks in the kitchen that we always do, but they had not cooked us lunch that day (we had sack lunches) so that they could have the whole day to cook the food for tonight. I tell you what, they cook up some mighty great stuff! There were really some foods that I don't think I would want to make again at home (there was this weird fish thing wrapped in steamed cabbage) and then there was stuff that was good that night, but when they gave it to us the next day... not too much! Anyway, it was fun because we got to try alot of new foods and it was a great time.

The last activity of the night was learning some fun Arab type dancing! We had 4 natives come in and teach us some simple steps to dance the night away. So now if we ever go dancing at the weddings around here, we will know what we are doing! It was all group dancing, and so we just got in big circles and would do the same steps over and over, curling around to the inside making what would have been a sweet pic from above us if we could have done that. We danced for a good hour though and really got into it all. I think that the native guys though we were a little nuts, but hey, if you tell us to get into something, we get into it!

Anyway, I think that about does it for today. I hope that you are are having fun! Laters!