Under our Skin!

I never realized how cool documentaries could be. I always thought they were just boring and didn't have a plot. But actually, they can be super intense and exciting. Just because it isn't fiction, doesn't mean that it can't be a story. My friend Chelsea (who is in public health) asked me to join her at a presentation on Lyme disease. The film was actually very fascinating and so informative. I recommend it to anyone. Its called "under our skin." I didn't know that Lyme disease was such a controversial disease and that lots of people have it and don't even know because it is so often misdiagnosed. Frankly, i'm slightly opposed to traditional medicine and doctors in general. They scare me. Or maybe its just illness that scares me and they represent that. Also, apparently, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is also related to the bacteria that causes Alzheimer's disease. And its similar to syphilis bacteria. Who woulda thought?! Me being a nerd again. Why didn't I go into science or biology, we wonder again. I have a friend who has Lyme disease. He'll probably never read this, but I feel bad that I wrote of his distress and symptoms as being over-dramatic and his need for attention. I understand now that those neurological symptoms are not psychosomatic, they are genuine. Some people really do have problems where they can't move or get out of bed and they are sleepy. They forget things and get "foggy brains." Its real and now that I understand what it can really do and what it is really about, I want to be a part of helping people fight it or at least fight the ignorance about Lyme disease. New lifetime goals: teach people about Lyme disease & never go anywhere that ticks live (everywhere in US and lots of countries in Europe) and never get bit. 

I am such a NERD and a NATURE FREAK!

So, for anyone who knows me, its no secret that I'm kind of a nature freak. I love rocks, especially funny shaped or colored ones. I love climbing trees. (my favorite tree on campus is on the northeast corner of the JKB by the covered bike racks) and I love animals. I have two fish, both betas. Well, one pretends he's an alpha. Anyway, one of the tanks, which is actually a large vase, has an aquatic plant in it with the roots hanging in the water and the green leaves growing out of the top. I keep this fishy (his name is spartafish, but I didn't name him) by my bedroom window on my dresser. After a while of sitting there, the water got super super dirty. Like it looked like actual dirt was coating the inside of the glass in the water. I didn't think my fish ate that much food if you get my drift. Never had a chance to clean it. Went on vacation. Fishy lived in the dark living room so roomies could take care of it. I came back and the sides of the vase were clear again. The gunk had sunk to the bottom or something because it wasn't cleaned for sure. I put it back by my window and a few hours after I did that, I noticed a whole bunch of gunk all in the water. I hadn't shaken it up or anything. Some of the goo was old roots from the plant but they were covered in brown and green algae looking stuff. Being slightly curious, I observed for a while and while i did, a particularly large glob of green slowly rose from the bottom of the vase to the top. It had bubbles all around it. Using my nature freak and biology background, I deduced that small portions of the plant had broken off as an algae organism and, reacting with the sunlight, was performing photosynthesis and producing oxygen bubbles which adhered to the goo making it float to the top. Live plants help keep air more clean and fresh and the extra oxygen helps our brains function better. My fish loves it and I do to. Golly, I'm such a NERD!

My friends ask my why i'm in the major I am, especially when I get so nerdy and excited about science like that. I took AP biology in high school and LOVED IT. Yeah, sometimes I wonder the same thing; I love it so much, why am I not studying it? Answer: If I studied of everything I love, I would never graduate. I love so many different things. I made a choice to actually apply for a program where not only do I love what i'm learning, but I feel it has the most potential for different opportunities and to do good. Speaking of which, I chose to be in the Communications Studies program at BYU. Not only does this program totally apply to the future and life as it is now with technology and media, but I can use this major as a gateway into almost any industry. I may choose to teach high school journalism, or go to grad school and study science and research. Or I could even go to law school. Just because I didn't choose departments in science or English or art or music (other things I do love) doesn't mean I don't study them or forget everything I've already learned about them. I still try to read and look into lots of different things.

I ultimately want to be a mom, so I know it is important to have a broad understanding of everything. This frustrates me sometimes because the world wants us to specialize in just one thing so that we have marketable skills. What about people like me who want to just understand everything? I'm still working on the solution to this problem.... While I stare at the bubbles in my fish tank. BUBBLES!

Tips from Mom

So today in Media and Family class, we talked about advertising and obesity. This class makes me think a lot about how I was raised and how I do or do not contribute to statistics like the ones about child hood obesity. Something that really stuck out to me was the comment someone made about food stamps and how most of them are spent on TV dinners and junk food. We briefly discussed how so many people don't have alternatives because they don't have the education on how to make healthy meals. It seems so basic and simple to me how to make food but that is because I have a wonderful mother who has taught me so much more than I realize. My mom major in home economics from BYU years ago. And she went on to teach home ec. at Lehi High School. Now she is just a home maker but she does a great job at it. My mom is great at providing my family with food that is not only nutritious and natural, but it is affordable. I wouldn't really say my family is poor, we are blessed more than many, but I know there has been a distinct financial pressure on my family for the past decade. I'm probably more aware of it than any of my siblings, because, as the oldest daughter, I pay attention to the mechanics of running a household. I am just overwhelmed with gratitude for the way I was raised and all the blessings I have because of my mom's desire to educate and nourish my family. Among other luxuries, I didn't have TV as a kid. We watched movies all the time, but the only time I really saw commercials and ads was when I went to my grandma's or a friends. I honestly do believe that this was one of the best things my parents could have done for my family. No TV was probably just part of a financial factor. If my parents had plenty of money, I think they maybe would have spent it on cable. But i'm so glad they didn't. Honestly, half the time, I thought that all little boys and girls lived like I did. I thought they all ate oatmeal for breakfast and had rice and fresh beans and granola and wheat bread. If I had watched more T.V. and seen more commercials for food and sugary cereal, I probably wouldn't have been so willing to eat the healthy things my mom fed to me. I do remember always wanting to try TV dinners and hot pockets and pop tarts, because (lets face it) I did get exposure to ads for those products. But now that I am an adult, and I can go and buy what ever I want and eat anything I want, I am so grateful that healthy habits were taught to me and I was educated about how to cook for myself and what a balanced meal is. I honestly can't go and buy sugary cereal. I have the power and maybe a little bit of the desire, but I just won't do it. Its almost like I feel guilty, like I know better and want to be smarter than that. And honestly, to me, it doesn't taste that good. So thank you mom. For shaping my life as an educated consumer and for helping me prepare for taking care of my own family.

Some basic things I learned from mom and I use in my own kitchen:

• You don't need a recipe book as long as you have kitchen basics. You can throw anything together if you have some milk, chicken or beef in the freezer, a fresh onion or cloves of garlic, and potatoes or rice handy.
• Spinach can be used so many different ways and is good with lots of things especially pasta and stir fry. 
• if dinner is behind schedule, but you want to make it seem like you are working on it and its going to be great, throw some fresh garlic and butter in a skillet before your hubby walks in the door. Works for dinner guests too
• Teriyakki sauce is as simple as garlic, soy sauce, sugar, and ginger
• left over orange peels? down the disposal. chop half an orange and put in a pan of water and a cinnamon stick. Will make a room smell heavenly. 
• frozen peas, a boiled cut carrot and an onion tossed with your ramen makes it a great soup. Add some chicken and then its chicken noodle soup. 
• Beef stroganoff is just browned ground beef and an onion/seasonings, with a can of cream of mushroom soup over pasta rice or potatoes. 
• fresh zuchinni and garlic sauteed with butter makes the simplest side dish to any meal. 
• Bell peppers are great both cooked and cold
• If you have all the different colors of the rainbow, you will have a broader variety of nutrients and vitamins. 

Disneyland

This past week I went to Disneyland. It was really interesting thinking about the concept of families taking little children to Disneyland even when they are so little. My family never took us kids there mostly because we couldn't afford it, but also because my family didn't think the youngest kids would appreciate it and wouldn't be able to understand. I think there are a lot of parents out there that waste that experience on little kids because their two year old is too young to understand what is going on. And yes, there are other little kids that Disneyland is a highlight of their youth. Or maybe I was just deprived as a kid and only just realized it. Another interesting aspect of Disneyland is the materialism it is all centered around. Things are expensive there and sometimes, it felt like disneyland wasn't a complete experience if you didn't buy all the stuff they wanted you to. For someone who is on a college budget and a family that is frugal, this can sometimes be really stressful. But it was still fun. It would be interesting to do a social experiment about the people who go to Disneyland. 

Vacation

Without consistent internet this past week and only a few wifi hot spots in California, homework hasn't been easy. But I guess vacation is supposed to be an escape from everything mundane and typical. Its nice to just go to the beach and sit by the waves and not have to worry about tests or phone calls or emails or getting a text. Sometimes, its nice to unplug for just a moment and enjoy nature and life as it really is. I think God created this world for us to enjoy, and if we get too caught up in technology and things that ultimately don't matter, we forget about the blessings we have like family and nature. I love it. 

random things about me

So for ward prayer this past Sunday, my apartment had to introduce ourselves. We decided to come up with three facts about ourselves and then switch them up and make the ward guess who's facts belonged to who. So, here are some of the random facts about me that I cam up with .

My family has chickens that lay green eggs.
The only bone I've ever broken is my brow bone. The broken/chipped peice still floats just below the skin.
My car's name is Alexander
I lived in a closet under the stairs for several months when I was 8. I empathize with Harry Potter
My second toe on both feet is longer than my big toe.
Every month or so, I dream a recurring dream about the future house I want to live in. Its always the same house, and all I do is walk around in it. Its literally my dream house.
I used to wear HUGE bows on the top of my head and I had bangs that were cut straight across my eyebrows.
I have to sleep with one foot out of the covers.
When I was little, I thought I would grow up and marry Elvis Presley.
I have to mount a bike from the left side. If I try from the right, I will fall over.
I can name almost every shrub on campus. Most of them are girls. (kidding)
I used to think that if I jumped high enough on the trampoline, I would be able to fly. I even tried jumping off my deck onto the tramp to see if it would make it work better.
I also would jump from the top of the staircase into a pile of pillows at the bottom. (I always thought it was the top, but it was probably just like the third from the bottom step)
I didn't know that pickles were actually cucumbers until 6th grade.
I love Chinese fire drills.

Would multiple personality disorder technically make everything an inside joke?

Yolo
You only lose....only....

That became the new definition of our Jerusalem kickball team name when we determined that we just couldn't win any games. Pretty much, no matter how hard we tried. YOLO (which actually stands for you only live once) was a theme of our Jerusalem winter 2012 study abroad group and became a silly inside joke we all mocked ourselves for. I personally love inside jokes, but only when i am inside them. Naturally. I don't think i know anyone who likes other people's inside jokes. That would be weird. The following list of phrase's/words are among my favorite inside jokes (from Jerusalem and others), that pretty much no one else reading this post would understand. but I just  feel like posting for myself....

FYU
Don't get crepped/I got a creper cut
Matching thrift store ugly sweaters
Card Games
Alex the Caveman
Damp, moist (said in an British accent)
The stairwell of action
I.E ( I will never hear this phrase again without snorting uncontrollably  to myself)
Nophir
Hoover
Texas Man

Reminiscing on such joyful jokes makes me so pleasantly nostalgic. And no, nothing about that sentence is an inside joke. Unless it is just with myself. Can you have an inside joke with yourself? Or would that just be crazy? I guess if you have multiple personality disorder, it actually wouldn't be too hard.

What was that movie I watched all the time as a kid, but never actually understood? Oh yeah, there were lots of them!

So if you recognize this picture, and know what movie this landmark is significant in, you are either a sci-fi freak or you were at least raised by one. This is The Devils Tower, and is the featured location of extra-terrestrial contact in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. No particular reason I brought it up, except that i'm watching it right now while I multi-task on my computer. (I heard on the radio that the number of facebook or twitter comments regarding a TV show made during a TV show has increased from thousands a month to millions in the past couple of years.)

Anyway, watching this movie brings back funny memories. My dad really liked it and as a kid, we owned it and i saw it several times. But I never actually understood it. I just remember that the little aliens freaked me out and the part where the little boy is abducted it terrifying.



Other than that, it was boring and just weird. Now that I'm an adult and understand all the political references and know what half the things they talk about mean, its a pretty interesting show. Great effects for the day. 


This whole show makes me reflect on other movies I didn't understand but watched a whole lot as a kid. like...


E.T. (yes, another alien movie, I know)

and this one...

I watched Johnny Lingo probably every when I was 5.

But why is she in a tree! And why all the cows!



 These questions plagued my little mind and aliens and flying creatures haunted my dreams. Some times, I can watch these movies and flash back to that childish mindset. I can imagine myself with popsicle all over my face and cheerios stuck in my hair; eyes glued the screen and the bizarre creatures and images. It interesting how, even though I didn't understand half the things I watched on TV before I was 7, I was still thoroughly entertained. Now, on top of the enjoyment of movies, I have understanding. Hooray!



Potential comment topic for fellow classmates:
What movies did you watch as a kid but never really understood?

Catch Up

So for some reason my blog hasn't been posting the writing I've been doing. I set it up so that I could post blogs from my phone by just texting it in. As you can tell, the first post was all chopped up into a bunch of different posts instead of one long one. So i fiddled with the settings a little bit and thought I had fixed it but after checking on my blog a few weeks later, I realized it didn't post A SINGLE post I thought it had. It did save them as drafts though.  I'd post them all now, but they aren't really relevant any longer. I guess I will just log in and blog the old fashion way.

it's easy to be anonymous on the internet

The anominity of internet media can be a good and a bad thing. My roomies and I just watched a movie called "the perfect man" where a daughter emails her mom pretending to be a secret admirer trying to make her mom happy. It blows up in her face of course. But it made me think about the effect of being anonymous has on a media personality. Lots of people say and do things online that they never would in real life because they have the false security of being semi-anonymous. You can say things and not be afraid of what people think or of getting in trouble. Anominity can be both liberation and a deception. You can facebook stalk someone and leave no proof. But also, with FB a person can't say anything without their name attached. On a flip side, this makes it easy to frame someone. Facebook hackers. We all know them. But most don't stay anonymous for long. Few give up the opportunity to gloat...;)

average of 11

he average person consumes an average of 11 hours of media per day... Time wasted? Depends on whether the experience was average or not. While meeting a goal to post at least twice a week on a blog for a class on media may contradict a goal to consume less media (a goal set after a shocking realization of how much media I do consume) I'm not too worried about it.

I changed this blog to accomplish this assignment for my Media and the Family class Fall 2012 semester. The blog previously was supposed to be a record of my study abroad to Israel last winter semester. I think I actually posted like 6 times while I was in Israel. A fact I do regret. But then maybe I don't. While in Israel, I wasn't so absorbed with my computer or the media or the internet. I didn't have a cell phone over there. I also didn't have face book. I spent a lot of time with friends or outside. I developed talents and friendships because I wasn't spending hours on a computer each day. Wish that lifestyle could have stuck (and in some ways it did) but I do now spend a lot of time at the computer. And it's always more minutes online during school, even without blogging assignments.

What would the world be like without media or even technology as a whole? I can picture myself out in nature, listening to sounds typically drowned out by speakers blaring music or the constant click of keypads or almost inaudible but still irritating buzz of a TV left on. Confession: I'm a nature freak. I'd be perfectly happy if the only "streaming" meant catching a fish up the canyon, or if "downloading" was dropping a pile of sticks I plan to build a fire with; or if the only "wall" I had to worry about was the granite one I plan on scaling to reach a great view. Ok, maybe I sound more adventurous and outdorsy than I really am. I talk about these things like I do them all the time, but really that ideal is an unfulfilled dream.... I'll get to it.... someday..... but I just got a text......

Dinner on one continent dessert on another

Today, I walked around one of my new favorite cities ever. Istanbul, Turkey. World, did you know what a great secret turkey is? Why have you been keeping this from me? What with all your Byzantine history and Roman ruins. Muslim culture, great baklava, nicest people ever... Why did no one tell me?

We went to the hippodrome. ( i can never decide if i want to pronounce this hiPODromee or HIppodromm) and then to the blues mosque. The blue mosque isn't officially called the blue mosque, that's just what it is known as by the tourists because of all the blue tile in it. The dome ceilings are so cool. apparently, they aren't just a characteristic of mosques like i thought. I had fun sketching them along with the towering minarets. Theses minarets and domes are on so many of the buildings. they just dot the hillsides. It makes the landscape look very "disneylandish."

After the blue mosque we went to the Topkapi palace. It had gorgeous gardens with these huge, hollow sycamores. I like tress and these were cool looking. The palace was basically a museum. It used to be the capitol and residence of the rulers of Istanbul/Constantinople. There were exhibits of ancient Turkish royalties wardrobes. The men wore dresses. ha. The refreshingly ever-reverent Huntsman (aka, my New Testament Professor) explained that the more cloth and material they had wrapped around their body, the richer a person was supposed to be. We looked at the treasury museum. Oh golly, there were some beautiful gems there. Among which was a 86 carat diamond called the spoon makers diamond. Do you have any idea how huge 86 carats is, because i didn't until i saw it. if you were to put that thing in a ring on my finger, with the center of the circular diamond on my ring finger, the radius would encompass all of my pinkie up to the nail and would go to the middle of my hand. That's huge! We joked that when us girls got married we would tell our fiancee that we only needed one diamond on our ring, and it wouldn't be as big as 86 carats. just 85.

At one part of the museum, i started sketching a curved knife. We couldn't take pictures but i really like the way this knife looked. an old Turkish man came up and watched me. He was pointing at the drawing and himself. I could tell he wanted it, but i had other drawings on the other side. So i flipped the page and drew it again and tore it out for him. He took my pencil and wrote down the description on the display in Turkish. The he gave me a huge smile and touched his lips and blew a kiss at me. It made me grin.I was really faltered he liked my drawing so much.

We then went to the basilica cistern which was a huge underground man made cavern from the time of the byzantine empire where they stored water. there were rows and rows of columns. and fish swimming around in the shallow water. The lighting was really interesting. and there was eerie music playing which set a creepy mood. Water dripped from the ceiling and it smelled dank and dark. I loved it. But it was really hard to figure out how to draw because of the lighting.

Then we went to lunch and at yummy food and then the grand bazar which was basically like the very first and oldest indoor mall. Bought some stuff. goofed off and made friends with happy turks.

Ferry ride on the Bosporus straight! loved it! the sun set behind us and the mosques on the hill. i didn't realize that i would be able so see asia on one shore and europe on the other. that was kind of cool to think about. I was freezing cold and ended up borrowing various additional layers from multiple kind people.

Then we at dinner. Good stuff. Then our tour guide Fati took a handful of us out into the city (at night) and to a world famous baklava shop. it was super good. They had a tray of baklava that was made to look like Obama. It was really impressive. and it tasted good too.

we rode the tram back to our hotel and called it a night.

Hooray for Istanbul!

Birthday

Unfortunately, i probably won't be able to do anything fun for my birthday this week since its the week before finals and we have extremely packed schedules. Last night i went out with a small group to a huge light show on the walls of David's Citadel which is basically just a fortress/ museum. i don't really know the story/history behind it yet because i've yet to go there in the daylight. But it was a really cool thing because these images were projected on these building walls. It made it look 3D because the walls weren't all flat, there were arches and a tower and different walls, but the images were huge and put together so it used these different surfaces to make it look like everything was moving and really alive. i kept trying to figure out where these really powerful projectors were and was just baffled at the complexity and technology that must have gone into the show. This adventure was kind of cool because it isn't very often that we go out after dark. We technically aren't allowed at all to go to the Old city after dark, but we got special permission for this show. After that, we went and got ice cream. So i guess i can kind of consider that the fun i had for my birthday. And I bought myself a pop-rock chocolate bar at the 7 to 11 down the street to celebrate with myself.


Oh, and i made a friend at the light show too. Her name was Ria and she's from Rochester, New York. We had to scalp three of our tickets because some of the people in our group backed out at the last minute. Ria was one of the people we sold them to. She grew up in Japan but moved to america to go to school and met her husband there. She said that she decided to go on a trip by herself to the holy land because she is in the process of converting to Judaism. Her husband was jewish and he wanted to raise their children as Jewish. She was originally Bhudist. Sadly, she said that she and her husband had just barely gotten divorced and that's why she was on the trip alone. Her husband took their boys on a cruise so she went touring the middle east. We told her we went to the Mormon university when we introduced ourselves. She asked us about a pageant that she had often heard of near her home in Rochester. I didn't know anything about the Palmyra pageant but i told her that she should go see it if she ever got the chance because they (pageants) are always really exciting. I really really wanted to talk with her about Mormons because she seemed kind of curious. She mentioned that it seems like there seem to be a lot more in her area and she sees missionaries all the time. I did explain to her after she asked that missionaries weren't required to serve a mission but all young men are encouraged to serve for two years. I figured that since she was from the states and she wasn't even staying here for long that talking about it didn't break the rule against proselyting. I really hope she goes to the pageant and maybe because of our friendliness she looks further into Mormons. I intend to pray that the missionaries find her. I really wish i'd learned her last name so i could have sent a card to her when i got home. She was so nice, but i could kind of tell that she realized there was something missing in her life. Things like this just make me think more and more that i want to serve a mission. That's where i'll be a short year from now. 

We have a birthday committee here that try to embarrass people as much as possible on their birthday. The last few birthdays, they have grabbed the victim and hoisted them up in a chair in the middle of dinner and thrown them up  and down as many times as they are old. Frankly, i don't intend to allow them to do this to me mostly because i would be really embarrassed, but i'm going to object under the excuse that it could really hurt my back. I don't know if it would hurt my back, but it is highly likely. I usually am not in the oasis during dinner anyway, so it might not be hard to avoid that birthday ritual. One thing that i do like that they do for birthdays here is that they have a basket next to a can of markers and papers so people can write birthday notes. I've already been promised by my friend tucker that i should expect a completely ridiculous and not serious note. i'm sure his note won't be the only one like that, which i like. People here are fun and the birthday committee is great. I'm happy people care so much. Overall, birthdays are great. This isn't my first one in another country. I'd like to make that happen more often. 

Fun Facts about Islam

I didn't know much about islam before i came here and took a class. Some of these things may seem like common knowlege, but they were new to me.


Muslim's pray to the direction of Mecca. In Palestine, that would be south. Some genius designed watches with comnpassses that point toward mecca so that anyone who travels can figure out which dirrection to pray.


Muslim's pray five times a day. Early before sun rise, at sunrise, noon, mid day, at sunset. There is a call to prayer that happens to let people know to pray. There is an Iphone app for call to prayer. How cool is that?

questions and answers

So my darling friend Cassidy Bronson wrote me an email with a few questions about Jerusalem I figured others might be curious to know the answers to these too, so I decided to just post them.

1. What is the weather like

This has been the coldest and wettest winter they have had in Jerusalem in ten years apparently. I've been freezing cold here. They did not prepare us for  weather this chilly. All i brought was "a light jacket" because they told us "it can get chilly in the late evenings." Chilly my frozen nubs! Every now an then, the rain has come down as snow, but never enough to even hit the ground as snow. The wind howls sometimes and is so loud. Its funny because, even though the bedrooms are all attached to the same building, we have courtyards that we have to go to get to them. So there is no roof from my room to the main stairway and the whole rest of the building. So, even if i do my hair, if its raining in the morning, i get wet on my way to breakfast. But because of all the rain, everything is gorgeous green. Lush grasses and little yellow flowers dot the hills everywhere. Also, the last couple of weeks, the air has been super hazy and not clear at all. we can barely even seen the city from our balconies. I figure out its because of all the smoke. They have these huge, metal dumpsters everywhere here where people put their trash. Then when it is too full, they burn it in the dumpsters. We often walk past them on our way to the city. It is not a pleasant smell AT ALL.....I didn't want to have to do this...but.. Here comes the smolder. Ok, Your turn...can you make a smolder while smelling a smoldering diaper? Didn't think so.

2. Who are your best friends?

Everyone here is my best friend. I seriously love the social dynamics here because anyone can sit down next to anyone else and feel perfectly accepted and comfortable. Free time is great because I don't have to make any plans or anything, I just find a group of random people and either go in to the city or do something else and no matter what, I have a ton of fun. My roommates are great fun too. We love to tell stories and chat late at night. We can be goofier and silly in our rooms. I go out with SJ often and she blogs about it. (sjcurtis.blogspot.com) My visiting teachers are the greatest and I feel pretty close to them. We've done a few fun things outside of the city. (see cave crusaders) and we had a girls night the other day and did our nails and told all about our love lives. I don't know everyone's life stories yet, but I feel I do know quite a bit about everyone. I'm sure by the end of the semester we'll all know everyone really really well.

3. What is My favorite place?

so far, my favorite place to go is the garden tomb it is in the city but not inside the old city walls. I feel the spirit so strong there. And i'm a big nature freak. I like the garden and the trees there. I sketched a picture of an ancient olive tree. I'm having fun drawing lots of things i see, especially plants, because i haven't had my own camera that works. Its great. My other favorite place to go is this shop in the old city owned by these two brothers Nassir and Nabir. they are really friendly and love us Mormons. They give us really good deals and have given me and my roommate lots of free gifts. Nabir helped me make a pair of earrings from the sea shells i picked up in Tel Aviv. 

4. What is some thing i've learned about the Arab culture

well, about the arab culture... most of the stuff i'm learning, i get from my Arabic professor. I know a little bit about the language. Arabic has a gorgeous script but its unlikely i'll learn how to write it because its kind of complex and we only have a 14 class periods with Ayman anyway. one reason that Arabic is so very pretty is because it has developed into a form of art for the islamic culture. In the religion of Islam, engraved images i.e. art or painting of anything living, is forbidden. There is arabic art, but a lot of it is in the form of glorious architecture and geometric patterns. And the script of course. I'm in a class on Islam and Palestine and I wrote a midterm paper on the emergence of islam into the religious conflict of the arabian peninsula. It taught me a lot about the history and context of Islam, but I wouldn't bore you with my academic writing. Also, one thing about Arab culture is that they are all very friendly. They truly are helpful and care about people. They are defensive of strangers and if ever anyone is being harassed or is in trouble, nearby arabs will jump to your aid.

5. What are some similarities between Islam and Mormonism

One thing that i thought was really cool was something our tour guide in Jordan told us. Mohamed was the name of the man who took us through Jordan. On the last day, his son Odai came along with us. Odai is 23 and majoring in mechanical engineering. He was easy to talk to and kyle and i asked Odai about what its like to be a youth in jordan. One thing we asked him was whether he had a girl friend or not. He and his father explained to us that relationships are actually forbidden in their religion. This kind of took us by surprise until Odai explained that he believes "virginity is a nobility not a lack of opportunity." we understood that he was taking the term "girlfriend" in the Hollywood and worldly sense rather than the innocent meaning we know it it be. He dates and has a girl he likes, she just isn't his "girlfriend". We told him that it is the same for us too, we think the same thing about  marriage and abstinence. We asked him if he was going to marry this girl soon, he laughed and said, "probably not. I don't think i'll get married soon." we asked him when then, and he said "not till after i'm thirty" which made all us Mormons guffaw and laugh and stare at him like he was absolutely bonkers. They explained to us that the believe it is the man's duty to care for and support his family and they don't usually get into a marriage relationship until they are absolutely certain they can guarantee that. So you graduate and get a career and a home and once you're absolutely stable, then  you think about marriage. Women marry pretty late too. they get educations.

So there are some answers to some questions. Its easy to think of things to write when there are questions to answer...

Can you tell from this post how scatterbrained midterms make me?

So I've slightly been overwhelmed with things going on to post about them all. I'm the type of writer that if i don't have time to say everything about it, i'd rather not say anything at all. Which is kind of silly because years from now, it would be better to have an incomplete record of my adventures, rather than no record at all.
Some things i intended to write about:
The rest of my jordan trip i.e. Petra, Jerash, Mohamed and his son Odai.
Tel Aviv
Hezekiah's Tunnel
The Biblical Gardens
The Jewish Quarter and my new friend Elazar

Midterms have eaten up a lot of my time. Sometimes i feel lost and confused in classes because all of them are teaching me similar things. Its kind of hard to compartmentalized all the things i am learning.

New goal: From now on, i'm not going to worry about making my blogging perfect or super interesting. This is all more for myself anyway. I want to post something, if only just a list of things each day. I wish I could be as good about my blogging and pictures as my roommate SJ. Her blog is fabulous and her pictures are even better. I'm slightly jealous of her skills.

Random:
To audition for the talent show or not?....How to find time to exercise?....What is my professor talking about and why does he use i.e. so often?...Did the postal strike accidentally cause all the letters sent to me to disappear?.....These are my questions...

I can't wait till I get my first letter! 

The Garden

I sat by an ancient olive tree and slowly sketched the twisted, knotted trunk. Leaves shimmered with every breeze. Brilliant, warm sunlight shone through the canopy above warming the back of my head and lighting my paper in patches. Birds perched on low branches twittered and chirped softly as though with reverence. Moist, emerald moss grew among vines, brilliantly contrasting on the white limestone wall. The wall, crumbled and ancient, is an almost supernatural barrier from the city's bustle and pollution, mere feet away on the other side. Dispersed throughout the trees are benches with people; people of all countries and nations, all come with the same purpose. Jubilant, yet subdued voices harmonize together in strange languages. The words may be unfamiliar but the meaning is not. Slick, well-worn steps lead down to a doorway, cut into soft limestone many years ago. People stoop to pass through this insignificant hole in the rock. On the other side is an empty chamber, empty in form but full in spirit. At one point, this tomb may or may not have held someone important. There was once a large round stone in front of this small carved hole. This stone may or may not have been moved away by angels. Many years ago, a young woman like me knelt in a garden, overcome with emotion. And just like He knew her name, and He knows her pains, He knows mine. He lives. Whether or not it happened right here doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that it did happen.

Your typical Sabbath game night at the JC

Sabbath night at the Jerusalem center is just one huge party. So many games and movies and laughs. The most played game here is probably Mow. If you haven't played this game, its probably the most fun you will ever have with a deck of Uno cards. The game starts with one person being "mow" or the chief of the circle. That person controls the game and comes up with a specific rule that everyone has to follow. There are three original rules: 1) no talking. 2) when playing a blue, you have to say "blue" and then the number. Ex "Blue two". 3) if you play a seven of any color, you must say "have a nice day". If someone plays a seven on top of a seven, they must say, "have a VERY nice day" etc. The longer you play, and the more rounds that happen, the more rules that get incorporated. You become mow by going out just  like in uno. Some of the funniest rules that i have ever played with here are: when you play a skip, you swap hands with the person to your left. If when the color changes, everyone must run around the table. The game we had tonight was really funny. Just picture all of these rules combined: If you draw a card, you must say, "ouch, that hurt."
if you play an odd red, you must creatively propose marriage or profess love to another in the circle. if you can make that person laugh, they must take a card.
If you play a green, you make an animal noise.
If the color changes, everyone stands up, someone sings "everybody dance now!" and you boogie in place.
(This next rule made all of these absolutely epic)... when you play a wild card, you must choose a color and then select a language/manner of speach which everyone must then incorporate.
Some of the languages we had were...
African clicking language
Gibberish
Valley Girl
Underwater
Irish accent
Frech accent
latin
Mexican
Gangster
Cowboy
Sign language
Gay voice
Indian
Pirate
So for and example scenarios, lets say someone had to draw and then got a red seven which changed the color. They would have to say "Ouch that hurt" then "have a very nice day" in clicking language then propose to someone in the circle in clicking language and the get up and sing while eveyone dances, in clicking language.
SO MUCH FUN!

Jordan Feild Trip: Day 1-- Through a Wilderness

Days in advance we prepared for a major trip, four days in Jordan. “No Hebrew writing” They warned. “Make sure you are wearing modest clothes because that is the best means of preventing harassment”. No matter how many pictures they showed us or how long they oriented us, there was no way to prepare us for the wonderful things we would see and experience in Jordan. I didn't exactly know what to expect either.

Bus rides are fun, but I've discovered i can't do any homework on the bus or it makes me sick. Sometimes i feel antisocial because turning around and talking to people gives me a headache. And then I get drowsy and tend to just nap on the bus even though I'd rather look out the windows at the country. It didn't take us long to get to the Jordan river which is the physical and political border between Israel and Jordan. We went through border control, which they told us would take a long time and the people would be grumpy if we didn't get there early to avoid the masses. Like usual, they (meaning the teachers and administration) over dramatized the situations and we passed through security and passport control quickly and without problems.

The landscape near the dead sea was empty and barren; somewhat flat and very brown. The atmosphere was much warmer and more humid. It changed slightly as we began to climb through the desert mountains up to the top of mount Nebo where Moses led the children of Israel. We could see Jericho in the distance. A sliver of the dead sea, a faint black line which was the river Jordan, and only because it was a rather clear day, a blur so distant it could almost be imagined, which was the hills of Jerusalem, the backside of the mount of olives.

This is the oldest map in of the middle east. You can see Jerusalem right in the center

This is the sign outside the church which had the mosaic map. It made me want to go home and get a bunch of pieces of rock and make my own mosaic art. 

This is my roommate Sarah Jane. She is standing on top of Macherus. The dead sea in in  far is just beyond those hills behind her. I (attempted to) sketch this exact scene. (Minus SJ of course)

This is SJ and my other roommie Kylie standing by the (reconstructed) pillars on the ruins of Macherus

Our tour guide's name was Mohamed. He was very knowledgeable and very meticulous. He discussed the Muslim understandings about Moses and how the church on the top of the mountain was to commemorate Moses. He said that it was originally built and then excavated because people were looking for the tomb of Moses. After his lecture, we pulled out our scriptures and discussed with brother Harper how the restored scriptures help us understand that Moses in fact did not die but was carried up to heaven. Its not like he was trying to contradict what Mohamed was saying, but we were just exploring what we know and how we know it. Nebo was really cool to me because that morning I had written a paper on how Moses gathered the children of Israel to the base of the mountain and then Moses ascended up to the mountain (which is symbolic of the temple) to learn about the covenants of God and the higher priesthood. The children of Israel didn't understand and didn't want to understand the principles and ordinances of the Melchizedek priesthood which is a huge part of the reason why God had them wander around in the desert rather than go straight to the promised land. Even though it was in their sight if they just looked hard enough, because they weren't humble and obedient, they couldn't receive those blessings until they were ready. This makes me want to do everything I can to be ready to receive the blessings God has promised me and not waste time in a worldly dessert.

We then traveled to a special Greek orthodox church were the oldest map of the middle east has been found. It was a huge mosaic on the floor of this church originally displaying the whole area from turkey to Egypt. Now, because of damage over the centuries, all that remains is a small portion of Jordan and some of Israel. Jerusalem was the center of the map at it's full size. Also still in the mosaic is t part of the river Jordan and all of the dead sea. two bridges across the river could be seen. These are still the main crossing points today. One interesting thing about the mosaics was that there were originally images of animals and men. At one point in history (and this is where my facts are not all solid because I can't remember who or when, but the general idea is here) the leaders decided that worship in the church should have been more centered on god and less focus on distracting artwork, so they erased/destroyed any representation of beast or man. In this ancient map, we could tell that one image was a lion because the back legs are still intact and also because it it chasing a lamb The lamb wasn't destroyed and I think I remember being told that was because it was a symbol of Christ and could be preserved.

We drove for quite awhile and ate lunch and headed through more dessert. We stopped at Macherus. This was the place where john the baptist was most likely beheaded and where he was imprisoned. It was the ruins of a fortress on top of a rather high hill. The climb was steep and exhausting. After we got to the top we discussed how this was significant to our gospel understanding. We discussed the record in the scriptures about how Herod was so easily swayed by his wife and the dancer Salome. He was a rather pitiful man. I loved the view from this mountain top. We could see the dead sea again really well just beyond some hills. I sketched the cliffs and the also on of the capitals from the ruins of the Herod's fortress. One thing that amazed me about this view was the layers of rock in the hills. Being a bit of a geology guru and having taken some classes on this, it was fun to see the evidence of geological shifts in the earths crust. The folds in the sedimentary layers of earth were so fascinating. I know there is a word for when the earth bends like that rather than fracturing and breaking. It made me want to go out there and analyze the deposition and erosion. Also, there were many little cave homes dug into the hills and the soft limestone. They were from earlier civilizations I wanted to explore those hills some more. We left there just as the sun was setting behind the remaining fortress pillars atop the lone peak in that valley of folded earth. Breathtaking view

We drove about five hours all the way to Petra and ended up at a rather nice hotel. The buffet style food was very decorative with flowers and fruit cut into shapes, but it was a rather typical meal of the middle east. Rice, Chicken, Pita, and stuff to put with the pita. Our meal was accompanied by two musicians who played drums and a flute type instrument. Dinner turned into a dance party, which I left prematurely due to exhaustion, but I could still hear stomping feet above my hotel room as I got ready for bed. I had dreams about living in a tent and trekking across a desert. It might be nice to be a Bedouin? But maybe not. My sheets and mattress were much to familiar and comfortable. I knew i'd need a good sleep because we were going to spend most of the next day in Petra!

Cave Crusaders

So, i have a sad little story. I went to the Jordan river yesterday but I forgot to get water from the Jordan river. It was a suggestion from Cassidy that i bring a little vial of water home to treasure for ever. But i didn't Mostly because i didn't have anything to put some in when i got there. didn't think that far ahead. But i did get a picture of me standing in the river which is kind of cool i guess. Tonight, was  a friday, and we always have movies on fridays in the big forum. Tonight was a special movie though, it was a silent film, but we had our own silent movie organist who is also the branch president. You know how that goes, the organist watches the movie and just improvises to accompany the mood the film is portraying. It was so much fun. I think fridays are my favorite days. We typically have four hours of class on fridays and we're not allowed to go into the city before 3 pm because of the potential political conflict and such. if there was ever going to be a clash between Israelis and Palestinians, it would probably be on a friday. Its the beginning of the Sabbath for all the jews so any jewish store is closed all evening anyway. We all just get together and play games inside the center on friday nights. its super fun. 

A group of us watched 500 days of summer. I'd never seen that before and i liked it a lot. We watched the movie while a few of us did some arts and crafts. Its this kid Alec's birthday tomorrow so a group made a present for him. It was a big thermometer on a peice of cardboard and its a "fun scale" to measure how much fun individual people are.

Tomorrow is the Sabbath. Well actually, its today since its 12:19 for me. Saturday sabbath is kind of funky mostly since it just not what i'm used to. I still sometimes use the words "sunday" and "church" in the same sentence even though here, they don't really work. Sunday is our free day too but i don't know what to do this week. Its rainy and cold and miserable here so i'm thinking i'd rather find an adventure indoors. There is this cave i want to go explore and caves are pretty warm and dry when its raining outside. I attempted to organize a group to go see this cave a few weeks ago and it sort of worked out. The driver ended up taking us to a different park with caves, so it wasn't what we planned, but it was still loads of fun. We took over 3 gigs of pictures all of our combined. I'll attach a couple. The funniest thing that happened this whole trip was Brennan. As we're walking out the door of the center, he saws, "every time i put on this fanny pack, i instantly lose any hopes of ever getting married." so to play off this hilarious comment, we took "couple photos". You know those really cheesy or really awkward couple photos they either make  you take at prom or those really unusual people do for their announcements? We did pictures like those. there were four couples. And there was Brennan and his fanny pack. My couple picture is particularly awkwardly painful and was funny because it was intentional. 

These caves we explored were pretty awesome there is one picture i attached of Brennan climbing out of this little hole. This tunnel was about two and a half feet diameter. we had to crawl on our stomachs to get through. It was pitch black and you couldn't' even see the person in front of you. it curved and snaked up and down for about 15 yards. I went first but i had a head lamp. the people behind me didn't i imagined what kind of reaction i would get if I screamed or pretended to fall down a hole or get stuck or fall into water or something. no one behind me could see anything. the cavern we crawled into wasn't that big, but it opened out to outside. Not all the caving was like that. most of it was just big cisterns which were still cool. the last one we explored just seemed like a massive system of endless cisterns and stairwells underground. It just kept going and going. it was like a whole city under ground. I love this kind of exploring. I'm a rock person and it was just incredible to me how all these were man made. Someone spent practically their whole life carving out this hole in the earth just to store water. Amazing. It was definitely  the coolest thing I'd done up till then. And it wasn't even the place we'd planned to go!  I told our security that when we got back and Tarrick, our chief security guy just laughed and said he'd have to give that driver a geography lesson. We basically ripped him off about 600 Shekels. the cost that Tarrik gave me was 600 shekels to get to the limestone cavern i'd researched. this silly driver took us about twice the distance we paid for. Oh well. I like planning trips like that. It took a lot of arranging and paper work to make that trip happen with the ten of us, but it was worth it.

Sunday is the new Saturday

Something that is really curious about this adventure here in Jerusalem, and something i may not get used to, is having Saturday be my Sabbath. I do really like referring to it as the Sabbath rather than Sunday though. It gives the day of worship a whole new meaning I'd never really grasped in the states. It was still Fast Sabbath and testimony meeting just like everyone else. One of my classmates bore her testimony and mentioned the peculiarity of the name which we refer to the day of rest and worship. She said, "Our ancestors called it the Holy Sabbath, our grandparents called it the Sabbath, our parents call it Sunday, and we call it the Weekend." This really did make me reflect on the level of respect I've had in the past for the day of our Lord. I especially reflected on the need for a weekly emphasis on the spirit after i spent the later part of my Sabbath in the old city. This was kind of a mistake for our group to go to the city. We're allowed to leave the center and do as we please after church. But it didn't really occur to us that because of the different religions, its not the Sabbath for everyone. Although it is the Sabbath to many, its not like all the shops are closed and everyone has a respectful and peaceful demeanor on this day. Nope, This definitely isn't Provo and there isn't a day of peace for the whole city. It's Jerusalem. Just like so many other areas of Jerusalem life consumed with contention and unrest no matter which day is your Sabbath, if its Saturday or Sunday, its not really a peaceful atmosphere in the city. After being jostled and hollered at and enveloped in smells and sights which, although very fun and adventurous during the week, are not my ideal Sabbath environment,  I felt like my Sabbath was not as Holy as it could have been. Next Sabbath, I'm going to walk in the gardens on the mount of olives instead of going into the city.

Later, I'll account what happened on our Sunday that was like a Saturday.

Arrival

I arrived in Jerusalem yesterday afternoon. Travel from Utah was long, boring, and void of sleep. Yes, I hate jet lag. Getting off the plane and traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the first thing i was reminded of was my trip to Belize. It was mostly the orange orchards. Then, as we started ascending through the  "mountains" it reminded me so much of southern Utah. Scrubby grey ground cover and sad looking conifers all backed by crumbling white cliffs. The limestone is gorgeous though. as we peeked over the last bend in the road and the Kidron valley and the city itself was revealed, i was stunned at how vast it seemed. Ultimately though, as discovered by this mornings walk, the city isn't really as big or as far away as it seemed.
The center itself is just gorgeous. I feel like I'm living in palace. There are splendid marble arches and huge glass windows. Everything is just filled with light and constantly glowing. The rooms are nice and practical. The staff is so friendly and helpful. My classmates are all really great. I can tell it will be so much fun to get to know them all. The spirit i have felt already, associating with these people and seeing what i have, is just wonderful. But i know its only a brief taste of what I'm going to experience here.
Its hard to fully grasp the idea that this is my new home. I live here now. I'm not just a tourist that has to see everything really quickly because I'm going home tomorrow. This is my life for the next three and a half months.

I'm so excited.

So now I'm going to go sleep.