Galilee and Jordan

long time no post haha. well since the last time we posted all us holladay girls spent 10 days in Galilee and 3 days in Jordan. Wow- there is so much I could say about both trips, enough to write novels and novels. but i will spare you the volumes.

Galilee: one of my favorite places on Earth. the time i spent there felt like a blink of an eye. i could have spent forever there. basically we traded days having 3 hours of New Testament in the morning and beach time for the rest of the day with a bonfire on the shore at night or going on NT fieldtrips. Best sites were: Gamla (synangogue from time of Jesus) Capernaum, Mount of Beattitudes, Tiberias and boat ride on Galilee. My mind was blown with all the knowledge I learned.

Jordan: loved it just as much, maybe even more than Egypt. Petra is indescriable. the Treasury had amazing detail but the Monastery (a hike of 800 stairs up out of the canyon= totally worth it) has a much grander scale. I almost got traded off to a Bedouin man while there. Justin and Austin thought it would be hilarious to marry me off. I started off for 800 camels, then it went to 1/2 a camel and finally ended with the guy's shirt. when he started pulling off his shirt thats when i ran to the horses and rode away. riding a horse in Petra was a neat adventurous feeling, and i even galloped. no walking for this girl- i had to get away from a marriage trade.

our time here is winding down and i refuse to think about leaving. i think my heart might break. as in it will break. the ONLY things pulling me back home are: family and Christmas. thats it. i love israel more than i ever thought i would.

West Jerusalem Treasures

this was eaten in less than five minutes...... and rightly so. this little molten piece of chocolate heaven was found one day in west jerusalem.

other treasures found in west jeru that day:
1) the Great Synagogue (i just realized that i look like a sister missionary in this picture.... what has jerusalem done to me? haha)

2) market shop with a whole shelf of my favorite candy!!!!!!!!! POP ROCK CHOCOLATE
3) the Shook (open air market)

at this shook i found an ice cream shop with a flavor called 'jerusalem". aka halva, white chocolate and pistachios mixed in with ice cream. they put whatever flavors and toppings in a machine that grinds it up together then swirls it out. delicious!!!!!

Gethsemane

every sabbath the students take turns between visiting the Garden Tomb or Gethsemane after church. it makes sabbath so special and indescribable. the spirit is strong and my testimony is reaffirmed at every visit. i love both sites very much.

on the way to Gethsemane you walk through Orson Hyde Garden. i adore this park- the stone path leads down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives. as you follow the switch back path you get an amazing view of the Temple Mount.

the Church of all Nations is the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane. the church is beautiful and the garden next to it is stunning. the olive trees are thousands of years old!

my favorite part are all the old people touring. they are all so nice and friendly - it is great to talk to them and find a connection. and here it is always a connection to Christ. no matter what type of Christianity people worship every one is so kind to other Christians sects. i think because there aren't very many Christians here compared to other religions. i had a sweet old french grandma start talking to me in french while i sketched a olive tree. and another elderly man told me that he liked my sketch and said something that i just love-
"its more important on how you feel while you sketch".

here is a sweet looking priest in the church. i love his beard and outfit:

the door to the church is iron and in the shape of an olive tree. awesome!!!!

so i am going to pass along something i learned.
the phrase "garden of gethsemane" is not historically correct.
Christ did not atone in a garden. the word "gethsemane" means olive press
which are kept in caves.
it makes better olive oil to press it in a cave where it is not so exposed.
so what happened was Christ and his 3 apostles go to an oil press and from there Christ goes 2 stone throws away to go pray.
and there is an olive press right next to the Church of All Nations........
that is where the apostles waited for Christ and when Christ came back where the Romans arrested him.
so we are not sure where from the olive press Christ went but it is 2 stone throws away in any direction on the Mount of Olives.
One of my professors taught me that- interesting huh?
so here is the sign entrance for the grotto :

there is a private garden that the owner lets us BYU students in for free.
they even lock us in (and others out) and guard the door so we don't have to worry about anything.
we can then safely spread out in the garden to think and study.
it is the perfect recipe for a wonderful Sabbath.

Friday Night at the JC and the start of Finals

so last week we had our first round of finals. we had 5 finals and they were beasts. but good news- we only have 2 classes now till december! tests started on friday and on fridays we aren't allowed out till 3. to kick off the start of finals we had a humanitarian aid project (pic above). we put together hygiene kits

this picture was taken to express our inner feelings about going into finals....... alyssa and i were on the same page. rach and lizzy were still just loving life.

then that night we had ISRAELI FOLK DANCING naturally. why study? we are doing finals week jerusalem style!
this was our teacher. his name was boaz. and he was a riot!!!!! we learned all types of jewish dancing and Hasidic was my fav.

Bethlehem

let me start off by saying i love love love Bethlehem. it was so quaint, beautiful and just so great. the streets were windy, clean, narrow and the houses were mostly white with blue shutters. and can i just tell you that this was my first sight right off the bus- just shepherds leading sheep across the street. too classic! so our day in bethlehem was a blast! we started off by going to bethlehem university where our islamic professor also teaches. it is a christian school that has both muslim and christian students. here is their lovely chapel:

after we got a tour of campus and had a question and answer session with some students. then we got free time to go mingle and talk with some more students. here are the new friends i made:
this girl and i started talking in line at the snack bar and we bonded over justin bieber. that's right folks. justin bieber. we might have even broke out into a chorus of "Baby". it made me really happy!

this was on the bus after bethlehem university. some of the boys played basketball with the other students.
justin came on the bus all sweaty from playing.
and to wipe off his sweat he took the bus seat cover and mopped off his face! sick nasty!
a minute later us girls asked chris to take a picture for us.
and as he counts down "one.. two... three..."
he suddenly throws the sweaty bus cover with justin's sick nasty sweat onto us! and this was our reaction:

for lunch we went to the Shepherd's Tent. authentic, local and delicious! it was actually a massive tent with low couches and tables you ate at. waiters came by with platters of hot pita, chicken on skewers, beef, and fruit. we ate with Dr. Muhlestein our Old Testament professor. we just love his stinkin guts!!!!!

after lunch was church of the nativity. and just like your classic christian sites it was 1. PACKED 2. long lines 3. dark chapels with lots of insense 4. parts under construction 5. only get two seconds at the site after hours waiting to see it. hahah but i really loved it. the chapel was beautiful and the grotto was as well. we sang christmas hymns as well and it was beautiful.

later that week we went back to Bethlehem to Shepherd's Field to celebrate christmas. we had a devoitional at sunset. we had musical numbers and bore testimonies. i played my violin and it was a very memorable night. it will be something i think of every christmas eve. i love the little town of bethlehem with all my heart.

NYC in J-RU

I stepped out of the taxi, and suddenly smelled New York.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a McDonald's M.  I looked toward the M and saw a Hasidic Jew walking toward me. I looked up, thinking I would see my family, believing that I was on 66th and Columbus or near Time's Square.  It was a strange little sensation.  I legitimately thought I was in the City for a second! 

In reality, I was on Emek Refaim street in West Jerusalem.  It was only fitting that we grabbed a pie at the "Big Apple." I ate it like a local new yorker, thanks to my local padre. Unbeknownst to everyone, I felt very much at home. [just as a sidenote, I realized I have lots of homes....home-home as in my family...nc/ny...jerusalem...provo...]

amy and I 

Meredith, Bekah, Amy, Heather, Me, Lisa
And to top off the night, we had gelato from Aldo's! It was heavenly to say the least. 

When I got home, I was talking to some people, and we realized that we don't have very much time left here.  I may or may not have cried because I am so in love with this experience!
xoxo,elizabeth anne