When we went to the Elah Valley to reenact David and Goliath, our Old Testament class built a giant Goliath out of water bottles and 'our Goliaths' for us to knock down with slings.

At the 6 Day War Museum. Great group of people and beancy little museum. Love it.

Kayla, you'll appreciate this pic. We woke up at the crack of dawn to go to early morning religious services. This is in the center of the Old City. It completely caught us off guard because these roads are normally covered with vendors.

Okay, catch up...

I'm going to just put up a smattering of pics from the past couple of weeks.
here is a cave that goes under the Old City. Zedekiah's Cave:


And this kitchen is life size and made completely out of tiny beads. It was inspirational to stand in front of this art work.


And these are our favorite kids across the street that are amazing. We love to play futbol with them.

CATastrophe!

Happy Birtday Meg Megsicle Megara!!!! So I love birtdays! and it was my roommate, Meg/Cat/Catherine's (all the same person) birtday a few weeks ago. She has been my roommate for 2 years in Provo,So Didi and I loved to celebrate it. It was super fun so I wanted to tell you all about the weird parties that a building full of 80 college students have. It was incredible. It was CAT themed. We had bobbing for sardines, kitty litter refreshments, pin the tail on the cat, cat dance, cat limbo, cat beat boxing, ~30 definitions of Cat around the wall, cat burglery (which included turning and entire play room into a burglery obstacle course). The best part of the night is that we actually surprised her. It was incredible. I almost cried. The second best part of CATastrophe is that Didi and Russell and everyone distributed the most ridiculous assignments that everyone carried out. We assigned one kid - Mason - to gather stray cats and put them in boxes as gifts. He did! He caught a cat and gave it to Meg as a gift. Hilarious. While he was catching the cat, there was a formal concert going on at the center, so our guests watched a man dressed as a cat, catching a cat....I find much humor in that mental image.

so here is a taste of her joy when she first arrived.
the fliers that Russell made
and Cat receiving a cat as a present

Anyway, we love meg and birtdays!

ps. It was especially hilarious because Cat hates cats.

Finals Week Explosion

READ:
I did not write this blog. A hilarious girl in the group wrote it. Lisa Foote. I am very privileged to be balcony neighbors with her. and yes, we have had slumbered on the balcony and it was the greatest night's sleep. almost as incredible as the night on the train. Anyway, this blog is hilarious and completely true. I love the JC. and finals season at the JC is unreal.

"This post is pictureless, because these words will paint the picture at the Center that a camera could never capture. Imagine this: (but don't close your eyes, because you need to keep reading...)

79 highly intelligent people (or at least 60) all in the same building, all competing for grades in the same classes, all taking 5 finals in one week- finals which are not like normal hard tests where success is possible if you study long and hard, but the kind where you have no idea what is going to be on the test and it will be impossible no matter how long you study, but you study anyway, for hours, because you have to keep your grades up for Med school or Law school or because your parents still care or because you need to get into the nursing program or because you're a perfectionist or whatever.

In this situation there are several ways to react, and we've seen everything:
- There are people bartering study guides based on how long it took them to make it, with vows to not share it with anyone.
- There are people singing hymns at the top of their lungs in the study rooms, and people outside of the study rooms getting angry.
- There are people crying like I've never seen before.
- There has been a lot of hypervenilating.
- Everyone is gaining weight because the intake of pita and peanut butter has at least doubled.
- Some girls made a music video in the midst of all the studiers.
- A list of countries bordering the Red Sea, Dead Sea, and Persain Gulf was erased from the board when we walked in with the explanation "I'm not allowed to share that with anyone; I got it from someone else and she'll kill me if I share it."
- At the Old Testament review the tear filled question was asked "IS IT ACTUALLY POSSIBLE TO SUCCEED?"
- Russell turned 25 today and is begging everyone to go get gelatto with him, but no one will.
Ilike2learn.com is the most visited website of the week as everyone tries to learn the countries and capitals of the Middle East by playing matching games.
- The dinner conversation is: "Tell me the 2 mountain ranges in Iran." "No. I'm not talking about that right now." "Okay, then let me tell you a joke... What's the capital of Lebanon?" "That's not a joke Brent!"

The tension in the building is escalating by the minute. Anyone who is not stressed out is shunned and yelled at for being happy. Jokes have to be used very sparingly and only with other non-stressed individuals when not in the presence of the temporary psycho-paths. My stress level is approximately 0% so it has been a hilarious experience for me to see everyone explode."

hence why I have not posted a blog about Jeru since Egypt. Sorry fam. I'll catch up soon. Love you all.

EGYPT!

Egypt is the greatest! I love it there. All around, the greatest trip. So for Egypt there are a million stories and facts and things I want to show you all. Since pictures are worth a thousand words I figure it might be best just to show you a smattering of pictures with minimal commentary. Good Idea?

oh keep in mind that all the Egypt posts go in backwards chronological order because I don't know how to work technology and didn't think ahead of time. sorry.

This is the Red Sea.

Completely different than what I imagined. I’m not sure what I had in mind, but it wasn’t an Oasis in a desert with perfectly clear blue water and colorful choral reefs. The Red Sea is gorgeous with perfect temperature all the time. Who knew?

p.s. this is Trisha Zemp. She is such a great girl that I accidently stay up till early hours of the morning chatting and laughing with. whoops.

Okay, this is the best bathroom I saw. Truly. On the side of Mount Sinai and kept up by the Bedouins themselves. This is for you Mom, Tara, Amada, Steph and our days in NYC.

Mount Sinai

Hands down, the most amazing, glorious, perfect, transcendent experience of my Egypt. It was incredible. Our wake up call was at 1:54 am after arriving at Sinai at 11pm that night. So on 3 hours of sleep I hiked the greatest hike of my life. It was incredible. I felt so lifted as I climbed with the Bedouin. At the top we climbed 750 stairs to reach 7,000ft. It was beautiful. Then, at the top we had a testimony meeting. I cannot even explain the divine spirit there. an unforgettable moment.

It was freezing at the top of Sinai so we got a few laughs out of everyone huddling to stay warm.

The sun rising on the top of Mount Sinai.

Mom, remember how much we love agave nectar and don’t know what agave is....this is an agave plant. they are everywhere.

We have our own personal body guard. I tried to catch a picture of them the whole trip but I was afraid they were going to see me taking pics of them and I didn’t want to be too creeper. But I loved this one. You can see his amo poking out.
and there are metal detectors EVERYWHERE but they never check anything. There would be guards there and everything. With all 80 of us going through there was just a constant “beeeeeeep” from our cameras, belts, etc and it was like they didn’t hear anything. hilarious. sketchy.

Greatest night of my life! We slept on a train! It was like a dream come true. We were in “first class” but it was so sketchy and a man that reminds me of the Adam’s Family movie served us and turned down our beds and woke us up at 6 in the morning to a bang and Celine Dion blasting. Hilarious. I heard some swear words that morning. I loved the experience so much. I recommend everyone spends the night on a train at some point in their life. I’d do it again.

The Nile at night from our hotel pool. I am not a photographer, but I was proud of my 30 second photo-shoot. And if it looks this good in a blog pic, imagine how beautiful that diseased water looks in real life. gorgeous.

One of my very favorite parts of Egypt was an accident. We got lost on our way to a Bazaar (shopping market). We ended up just wandering the streets of Egypt and really being with the people. It was a perfect afternoon. this photo was taken after it.
side note: notice all the coke bottles, everyone got sick and was drinking coke like water to flush out their system.

her husband. I love the Masters. I love their matching sun glass clip ons.

Cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Every time she took a pic, she would whip this paper character out of her bag and pose with it. I love Sister Masters. I love the fanny pack, wide-brimmed hat, stunna shade clip on combo. Our whole group looks this good. We don’t even attempt to blend in. Also, if anyone knows why the purple paper man, let me know...

Everything built by Ramses was HUGE. the top of one of those circle pillars can fit 100 people.

These are some of the greatest/hilarious people alive. If you can’t tell from Cary’s outfit on the left. He bought that galabia and wears it every where in Egypt because he couldn’t handle the pants in the heat. So of course the headdress too. and the pillow - he was planning on sleeping on the bus to the museums. Too bad we took a felucca ride up the Nile and carriage ride between museums. So he carried it around all day.
p.s. the ipod hook up you see in the forefront of the pic has been a crucial part of this trip. Esther (middle) has a 6 man ear bud splitter. We get up to ten people on the bus all listening to one ipod. major bonding. so fun.
p.s.s. that is Catherine Taggart on the right. Hilarious. family - she is the one who came down to AZ last summer who you all love.

Our group went on a camel safari. ONe of the funnest parts of Egypt. Yes the actual camel was great (mine was by far the largest one there. I towered over everyone. and I got to steer mine so we went on a little jog/run past everyone else. weirdest sensation to be sprinting on a camel.) ....Anyway, it was my favorite because we went through the villages and saw the people. I love Egyptians and the children’s open hearts.

Yes. This is me touching the Nile with Mariah. They told us not to touch it because of all the contamination, but I couldn’t not touch it! It’s the NILE

Hatshepsut is a famous pharaoh who built a huge palace that reminds me of Emperor’s New Groove style (Carson reminded me of you). We are in front of one of her statues. She was a woman who dubbed herself pharaoh. Powerful woman. I actually saw her mummy in a museum. So cool.

a river running through Memphis. I think it is devastatingly beautiful. Yet we cannot drink or touch the water in Egypt because of rivers like this.

some more people that I just love and we’ve only been here a month posing in front of a much smaller sphinx.

Me and the Sphinx. Thought you would laugh at this Stanton.

The three main pyramids. Lydia Scruggs - hilarious girl. love her. love the pyramids.
p.s. each block weighs between 2 and 16 tons. crazy

Didi and I at the base of the Great Pyramid. Notice how huge the base blocks are! almost as tall as us. so fun to climb. And...we got to go inside it. I cried when we got to the King’s tomb inside. Incredible edifice. The grandeur is overwhelming/energizing.

This is another one of my roommates. Go Kim. One night I came home to this beautiful face! I love this girl. She is going to conquer the world. Hope she still loves me for posting her pic on the internet

600 cows

One night in Egypt we slept in a kibbutz which is a special communal type living. Everyone helps and works and they divide up portions according to the needs of each family. It is a remarkable lifestyle and really respect the individuals there. Yet the funniest part of the day was when they took us on a tour and spent the majority of the time telling us about the 600 cows they have. Oh I laughed that we came all the way to Egypt to witness 600 cows in one location.

We went to some ancient ruins and there was this beautiful structure behind us. So I made all these people pose in the scorching sun to make what I thought would be an awesome picture. Only, the person that took the pic forgot to get the structure behind that we are imitating. Still, I love this pic. Funny memories. (and garret, notice your buddy Daniel Ash on the right)

Governor Huntsman came to the Jerusalem Center for a forum. Everyone was stoked to hear him speak and spend dinner with him. I wasn’t expecting much out of the experience since I am not from Utah. However, I did become best friends with his head economics man. He sat next to me at dinner. We chatted, we laughed, we cried together. We really are best buddies. He gave me his card and took a picture with me. And in the three hours we spent he offered me a permanent well paying job and gorgeous husband in the Holy Land. All I could ever want.

Behind us is where King Herod’s Palace was. Also, here are some people in our group.

Garden Nome Maker

I saw this and had to take a picture for you Dad. I am not really sure why but I think because of that radio commercial “Mr. Garden Nome Maker.”

Walls of Jericho

The wall on the very right side of the picture under Steven’s arm is what is left of the wall of Jericho. I’m pretty sure we were trying to imitate the walls falling down - I can’t be sure. Anyway, a monumental sight. And Steven organized a sing-a-long to the famous choral piece “Joshua fit the Battle” that every high school choir sings. Guess what Garret....they needed more boys so I sang tenor. yippee. I thought of you.

Judean Wilderness

This is where the children of Israel wandered for 40 years. And this is one of my roommates, McKenzie. She is so great and hilarious.

bomb.com

Many religious sights have cases that look like this off to the side. This one is particularly aesthetically pleasing and is in the church for John the Baptist in his home town. These cases are for bombs. Yes, if you leave anything unattended (for example your scriptures) and they are not sure what it is, they put it in here and blow it up. I have yet to see it happen, but i look forward to that culture experience.

Protection from the Pope

So Mom knew this....but the Pope was my next door neighbor for a week or two. Yep. His guards stayed at the center and had the whole set up. 24 hour guards at multiple posts. They turned our art museum room into a security surveillance room. There were guards on every floor with amunition. They installed satelites and blocked the roads to everyone but us and the pope - turning the center into a fortress. Great little culture experience. Since we could not actually take a pic with the pope, here is the next best thing.

p.s. A hilarious kid in our group waved to an armed guard during lunch once and said "Thanks for protecting us from the Pope!"
It kind of became a universal joke that even the stiff guards would laugh at. The kid even made thank you fliers for the guards that had a pic of the Pope with "Thanks for protecting...".

Happy Birthday Stanton and Dad!

Sorry I haven’t written much. It was a crazy week with two killer fun tests and quizzes galor. Fun.

So not much happened. However..... I leave for Egypt in 8 hours! I am so excited!
So for the next 8 days I have no internet access or phonage. I will certainly miss you all for the week. But I will have a lot to catch you up on. So until then...I love you all. Stanton, have fun with Dad and graduation.

And Dad and Stanton: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! I will celebrate by climbing a pyramid for you or swimming in the Red Sea. I love you two and wish you could see everything. You would both love it. I think of you guys everywhere I go and pray for you everyday.

The Garden Tomb

Today after church our entire group went to the Garden Tomb. This, by far, is the greatest thing we have done thus far. The Spirit is strong. Christ is risen.
It was better than I thought it could be. We had time to walk around, see the gardens, the wine press, the stones. A group was reading the account of his last days and resurrection. Another group was singing hymns. I just sat there writing in my journal soaking up the whole experience. I’m not going to lie, tears openly fell. And by “openly fell” I mean I could not contain the feeling of joy and love and truth. I wish you all could have been there!

Western Wall

Okay, one of the greatest things we have done here. Judaism is a beautiful religion. We went to the Western wall last night and there were hundreds of Jews praying in preparation for the Sabbath. It was an incredible sight, and incredible experience, and an incredible feeling of desperation, devotion, and love. I loved it.

ps. bad pic because you can’t take pics after sundown. So I had approximately 8 seconds to snap this pic

Overlooking Bethel

This rooftop overlooks Bethel. For the fifteen minutes surrounding this picture, there was complete cloud cover and fog. Whoops. But it is the most beautiful site. Also, this building is so significant because it is on Christian property. In the basement is a Jewish synagogue. On the main floor is a Muslim mosque. Kind of remarkable huh? Three religious places of worship in one building. Not quite the tension of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but that is why I love it. The three religions are very respectful to each other. For example, we were able to go in the mosque and cover our heads to walk through the synagogue and read our Book of Mormon on the roof. Peace is possible.

Porcelain Hole

I hope this makes you laugh.
There was a small group of us that did the “Ramparts Walk” one free day. It is a walk along the top of the entire outer wall of the city. Really cool. You can get on and off the wall a number of times on the tour as long as you keep your ticket. (kind of reminds me of those double decker blue tour buses in NYC)

Well, three of us got off the wall to go to Aladdin’s to exchange money and when we got back to finish our tour, we couldn’t find the stairs to get back up. After a few minutes, we found a set of stairs that we ran up only to find a women’s restroom. Perfect! I had to use the restroom. So I ran in, opened the stall, and found a porcelain hole in the ground. Was not expecting that. I laughed so hard and made this boy come in an take a picture of me next to it just for mother and Tara. Doesn’t that just bring back memories of NYC? Love you guys

Jump.

This is Bethany. One day we went on an adventure to Gethsemane and the Russian Church of the Ascension and the Orson Hyde Gardens and a billion other places. It was great. At one point we were so far ahead of our group that we stopped to take jumping pictures. Well, while we were struggling to take a pic while we were both in the air, a clan of 20 or so Greek grandparents stopped and cheered us on. They were so happy to see young college kids jumping around like six year olds. It was a funny little moment in the day’s adventures. Just thought I’d share that since I know that my jumping has brought my family so much entertainment in the past.