Goodbye Jerusalem

Well, my time here has ended. I've had an amazing time here in the Holy Land. I've made friend who will be with me for the rest of my life and found a home so far away from any previously that I had known. I have found laughter, love, spirituality and an appreciation for other peoples and cultures. I have been to 3 countries on this trip and 2 continents I had not previously gone to. I have grown and I am happy. It hurts to leave this place because I've had such wonderful memories. I have loved every minute of it. I'm so grateful that I have been able to do this. I cannot wait until I once again am in Jerusalem.

Oh Jerusalem, if I forget thee...

Until the next adventure, Auf Wiedersehen.

3 days

That's the number of days I have left in the city.

THREE!

Where did the time go?

Oh yeah...

It went here:

Jerusalem, Kidron Valley, Bus 75, Hebrew University, Mt Scopus, Mt of Olives, Augusta Victoria Hospital, Crash Corner, Salah El Din Street, Damascus Gate, US Consulate, Rockefeller Museum, Orson Hyde Garden, Lion’s Gate, Dung Gate, Jaffa Gate, Zion’s Gate, New Gate, Garden of Gethsemane, Garden Tomb, Jimmy, Omar, Baghdadi, Shaban, Five Shekel Shop, Good Samaritan, Citadel, Israel Museum, Shrine of the Book, Knesset, Ben Yehuda, Jaffa Street, Mahane Yehuda, Western Wall, Upper Auditorium, Oasis, Upper Room, Seven Arches Overlook, Haas Promenade, Nebi Samwil, Under the Center, Bomb Shelter, Synagogue, Beth Shemesh, Azekah, Elah, Bet Guvrin, Lachish, Micah’s Cave, Laundry Room, Computer Room, Tel Beersheba, Wilderness of Zin, Ben Gurion’s Grave, Mizpe Ramon, Taba, Cairo, Dead Sea, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Suez, Pyramids, Sphinx, Saqqara, Memphis, Tut, Papyrus Factory, Oasis Hotel, Sheraton Hotel, Luxor, felucca, Karnak Temple, Carriage ride, Luxor Temple, Luxor Train, Egyptian Museum, Khan-al-Khalili Bazaar, Hard Rock Café, Old Cairo, Muhammad Ali Mosque, Mt Sinai, St Catherine’s Monastery, Morgenland, Jericho, Quruntul Monastery, Tree of Zacchaeus, Herod’s Winter Palace, Wadi Kelt, City of David, Area G, Warren’s Shaft, World Cup, Basketball outreach, Chess, Student Concert, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Pool of Siloam, Arab Culture Evening, Passover Dinner, Yad Vashem, Mt Herzl, Hebrew, Arabic, Judaism, Islam, Ancient Near East, Old Testament, New Testament, Luke, Israeli Folk Dancing, Arab Folk Dancing, Forum Lectures, Announcement Sessions, Linen Exchange, Passports, Choir Practice, Lina’s, Gym, Jordan, Mt Nebo, Madaba, Shobak Castle, Turkish Bath, Petra, Monastery, High Place, Amman Branch, Jabbok River, Jerash, Green Valley Restaurant, Old Amman, Baptismal site, Bethlehem University, Tent Restaurant, Church of the Nativity, Manger Square, Shepherd’s Field, Kotel Tunnel, Davidson Archaeological Park, Wohl Museum, Burnt House, Sheep herding, Sack lunches, Snorkeling, Separation Wall, Mosaics, Humanitarian Kits, Mural painting, Caesarea, Megiddo, Nazareth, Ein Gev, Sea of Galilee, Nof Ginosar, Mt of Beatitudes, Tabgha, St Peter’s Primacy, Capernaum, Kursi, Gamla, Qazrin, Fish Restaurant, Ice Cream in Tiberias, Bonfires, Mt Tabor, Nain, Bet Alpha Synagogue, Gan Hashlosha, Beth Shean, FHE, Hazor, Tel Dan, Banias, Nimrod’s Castle, Akko, Al-Jazaar Mosque, Bet Shearim, Sepphoris, Muhraqa, Bahai Gardens, Templar Cemetery, Haifa, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Church of the Redeemer, Terra Sancta, St Mark’s, Alexander Nevsky, Herodion Fortress, Messiah Film, Security, Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, Exams, Bethany, Lazarus’ Tomb, Bethphage, Pater Noster, Hymnals, Dominus Flevit, Dormition Abbey, St Peter’s in Gallicantu, St Anne’s, Church of the Flagellation, Class Programs, Schindler’s grave, Violins/cello, S’ Mores, Flute, Piano, Musical Groups, Organ, International calling cards, Whipples, Jacksons, Emmetts, Manscills, Hamblins, Browns, Okiishis, Eran, Tawfic, Security, Oasis, Journey of Faith, Testimonies, Scarves, Olive Wood, Taxis, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Gummy Candy, Hospital visits, Head Sets, Scriptures, Cell Phones, Security Cards, Free Day, Ein Kerem, Caving, Hiking, Jordan River Rafting, Falafel, Shawarma, 4th of July, Pomegranate drink, Halva, Pita Bread, Nutella, Hot Chocolate, yogurt, money changers, Old City, Austrian Air, Delta Air, JOTT Buses, Palestinian home, Shekels, Crusaders, Byzantine, Cisterns, Birthdays, Group Study, Photos and many, many more.

So...

Insomnia plus exhaustion and a complete lack of sleep = bad.

I think I'm getting to the point where I feel like I don't have nearly enough hours in the day, so I'm like... AAH!

Either way, today I wanted to drop the entire day and yet I can't sleep. I've tried. It's not working. So I came upstairs to try and see if perusing the internet will help.

Nope.

So wish me luck. I'm going to Masada in 6 hours.

Boo insomnia...

Jordan!!! :))

:))))

Jordan was AMAZING!!!

We got to explore a castle!!!!

And we explored the tunnels!!!

Then the next day we went to Petra. It was pretty epic.

Still don't believe me?

Bam!

The treasury! :D

To show the size, I'm standing forward quite a bit in front of it. :)))

Here's a pic of everyone in the program :)

We also went to the Monastery (also in Petra)

Oooh...

aah...

Then the next day we went to Jerash! It's soo cool! It's the best preserved Roman city in the Middle East, and the best preserved outside of Italy.

It took me FOREVER to get this shot....

Yay discovering the wide shot function on my camera!

Ok... that's enough for now. It's 2 am and I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow, the Israeli Museum! :)

Oh, sorry for not updating that recently. I've been SOO ridiculously busy! Oi....

And I only have 13 more days here. AAH! :(

Oh Jerusalem... If I forget thee...

Galilee!!!! Day One

So... overall Galilee was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I want to live there. I could be SO happy there. The water is amazing, the landscape is amazing, everything around that area is incredible. It was such a wonderful experience. I'm so glad that we went. All of us were like, I don't want to leave Galilee! :((( But we're back in Jerusalem.

So what have I done for the past 11 days. well, here's a breakdown:

Day One: Caesarea, Nazareth(Church of the Well, Church of the Annunciation, Church of Joseph, Church of the Synagogue) and Mt. Arbel

We went to Caesarea and that was really fun. It started out with a typical Israeli propaganda historical movie. The national parks people have... interesting videos. So it was built by Herod the Great. The amphitheater was where the Romans celebrated the destruction of Jerusalem and set animals against Jews. We also saw the remains of the palace where Peter likely had his trial there. It was interesting to be there.

(This pretty much sums up Jillian and my relationship)

After that we stopped by the aqueduct. It was neat.

After that we headed over to Nazareth. First we went to the Church of the Well. It was a spring that has been around since Christ's time and was probably where she would get water each day. As a result, the water around it has become associated with fertility. It was funny, Brother Manscill told us to each take a sip and while we were getting our cups filled with them, he was like, you'll be the most fertile class at BYU! *pause* I hope that none of you find that out soon though...

It was hilarious. The church was pretty though, albeit small.

Next we went to the church of the Annunciation. It was funny because I kept saying Anuncion instead of Annunciation. I couldn't remember the English word... It was gorgeous, and MASSIVE. It's apparently the largest church in Israel. It was neat to go there though.

Next we went to the church of Joseph. It was a cute little church. We sang a few hymns in there. It was neat to see the grottos in the bottom of the building that had been there for a long time.

After that we went to the Church of the Synagogue. That was another cute little church. I got to sing in a quartet there. :)

After that we drove over to Mt. Arbel. It overlooks Galilee. It was my first view of the Galilee. It was GORGEOUS.

And then my first view of the Galilee at sunset. :))) Basically it's amazing.

Oh, and I found kittens outside my bungalow! :)))

I learned something new!!!

I found out where the term white elephant comes from!!!!

Read this article.

It made my day!

:)

DONE

I am DONE with Judaism and with Palestinian classes!

YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY

I loved Judaism but Palestinian was merely a review of stuff I've already learned.

I have class tomorrow and then Hebrew and Old Testament finals on Thursday, and then Field Trip test on friday.

I'm so excited for Friday. Because then I'll be done. And it will be 6 weeks until I'm home!!! Which means it's only 46 days until I get to see Drew! :)))

And then Galilee!!!! I'm so excited to go to Galilee. It'll mean being gone for a long time, but it's totally worth it. I get to visit all of the important places of Northern Israel.

I'm super excited. While we're there we're going to be reading the Four Gospels and I'm also going to try and get through Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. It's such a good book so far.

It's been a really emotionally and mentally draining day. Adieu.

Seder!

So last night we had a mock Seder. It was rather interesting. It went for like 3 hours. It was so cute though because Professor Yardin had brought his daughter and she was maybe 2 or 3. Such a little doll. She kept giggling at random moments throughout the service.

But the food was SO good. There was so much of it as well. We all were waddling/rolling out of the Oasis (our dining hall).

It was a very good ceremony and it was neat to do the different things like dip the leaves in salt water, eat the bitter herbs, eat the matzah and bitter herbs, etc. The apple cinnamon dip that we had with the matzah was very tasty.

It was a good event. It lasted the entire evening and after it was done, all I really did was homework and then I went to bed.

I'm excited though, I'm done with finals next week! Hallelujah!

And then off to Galilee for 10 days!!!! YAAAYY!!! I'm SUPER excited for that! It's been the trip that I've looked forward to the most. It's going to be so much fun! It'll mean that I'll drop off the face of the planet for about two weeks, but I promise that I'll update this as soon as I get back!!! I won't take as long as Egypt! :P

Cheers!

October 22, 2010

So... 4 months from yesterday and I'm getting married.

I'm so excited. It's funny because I never thought that I would be getting married so young, and yet now that I'm in this position, I cannot think of choosing any other option.

It's not just that I'm getting married, it's who I'm getting married to. I still think that it is funny that I grew up in the same stake as Drew, had the same friends, was in basically the same age group, and never met him. And yet he gets back from his mission and I help out this poor return missionary.

And it's been amazing ever since. The best decision I have made was to go up and talk to him. After that it was pretty easy for him to win me over. And the poor thing has somehow been smitten by me. But it's so amazing. Words cannot describe how amazing it is to know that there is someone who loves you so much that they never want to be without you ever again.

This summer has especially highlighted that last part. It's been more painful than I thought possible to be without Drew. But at the same time we're improving our communication skills and we're learning different things about one another and learning to rely upon one another in different ways.

So... this is a little bit of my reflection on him and a shout-out publicly saying: I love you, I'm so glad that I'm marrying you, and I cannot wait until August when I can see your face again. My world is so much better because you are in it.

Thanks for everyone else for tolerating the mushiness. :P

I'm going to post pictures of my engagement ring if they'll load!

And it's all worth it because I'm marrying him:

:)))))))

General catch-up since Egypt

So... the past month has been SO busy! I feel as if I've done everything and nothing at the same time. Oi...

So when I got back from Egypt, I got a little bit sick and so I relaxed for the next few days and got back into the swing of classes. On one of my free days I went and got my nativity set and I also went to the YMCA. We get to play the bells on sundays and so I went and heard Brother Whipple play it. He then let a few of us try it out and play hymns and I got to ring the bell two times for noon. :D

That was fun! Oh, man, the Whipples are AMAZING. They are seriously the cutest couple. They started dating, 11 days later they were engaged and 6 weeks from their very first date they were married. How crazy is that? (Although last saturday I heard a story of a couple that met and got married 6 days later!-they're going on 50 years together!!! Oi...) But Brother and Sister Whipple are just so funny and so cute. Whenever the call to prayer goes off, Brother Whipple goes and finds Sister Whipple and kisses her and tells her that he loves her. Also Sister Whipple is so funny. She is smart as a tack. She always has the funniest comments.

After that we went and I got my nativity set. Yay! Then we headed over and went to the Third Temple Institute in the Jewish Quarter. That was an interesting experience. It was neat to be able to see all of the different artifacts that are described in the Bible.

One of our field trips was going around different sites that were important in terms of conquest. We went to these bell caves and those were neat to see the lime caves and the way that they have been dug out throughout time. We saw where Sampson was probably raised and where David probably killed Goliath. That was neat. Then we also went to Lachish. That was SO cool. I've seen so many pictures of that tell and I've learned so much about that siege (one of the first instances of a siege ramp in history). After Lachish we went to this cave and got to crawl around and that was fun.

A little bit later we had an arab cultural night and that was WAY fun. We heard the muezzins that do the call to prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. That was cool. It was a father and a son and it has been done in their family for hundreds of years. After that we went in and had food. Oh man, it was good. It was SO tasty. After that they then made us dance. Haha, that was good but a little difficult on a full stomach.

On the 6th, I had another free day and I went down to Eilat. Eilat is on the Red Sea and it's where we went down to snorkel. It was AMAZING!!!! Oh man, I loved it! The water was gorgeous and there were so many different types of coral and fish. I can't wait to go back there!!! On our way back we went and had dinner at that same Kibbutz that we had eaten at on our way back from Egypt.

A day or two later I went with Greta, Erin and Lindsay into the city. We wanted to get some errands done and make sure that we went to the Citadel for Hamblin's class. We got falafel and found a side street to sit down and eat. As we were eating on some steps a guy came down them and invited us up. His daughter took us into her living room and we talked and finished eating lunch. It was such a neat experience to talk with her! She gave us this drink called tamarhindi which is like dried dates that is boiled with cucumbers and something else into this thick syrup. If you taste just that it almost tastes like cough syrup. But then you add water to it, and it was a super good drink! It was really cool to be able to try that and listen to her story. Her name was Rabiyya' and she had an interesting life. She had studied at University in Amman to become a nurse. And she came back to Jerusalem and was one for a while. But then She became a headmistress for girls schools all over Israel. However, she got imprisoned for political purposes and then couldn't find a job. She became imprisoned again for political purposes once more and this time in prison she was beaten. Ever since then she has a bad memory and cannot remember certain things. She is so disabled that she cannot even live alone anymore and that's how she came to live with her parents in their hospice.

It was incredible to just talk to her and get that perspective. But we couldn't stay too terribly long and so we went on our way to the citadel. We got there and sat in on the movie that was played and it was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen. Oh man, it was interesting. Then we explored the rest of King David's citadel. It was neat, but not the most interesting thing.

The next few days were fairly rough. Since Egypt I've had: 2, 15 single space page papers, 2, two page papers and 6 tests. But we still had some fun. Some people found some wedding dresses in the Manna Cabana (our snack place) and so a few girls pranced around in dresses. It was hilarious. Riley came up to me and was like, why are they so excited? So I had to explain to him that it was big girl dress-up. :P

Our next free day I went to the Biblical Zoo! It was so much fun! I love going to zoos. It was also really fun because we read a few stories in front of the animals. Riley, Chris and I read about Elisha and the bears in front of the Syrian Bear exhibit, we read about Noah's ark in front of the ark (it was a welcome center thingy), and we read about Daniel in front of the Lions.

The next day we went to Bethlehem. That was a really neat experience. We went to Bethlehem University and it was neat to be able to talk to a few of the students and hear their experiences. After that we walked around the city for a little bit and then visited the Church of the Nativity. That was gorgeous. It was very ornate. It was also neat to explore the city and see where Christ was born.

Also while we were there we had lunch at a Bedouin Diner. It was SOOO good. Seriously the best meal I've had here. There were so many yummy dips. They had this garlic one that was SO good.

After Bethlehem I didn't really do anything because I was busy with tests.

This past sunday we went to Yad Vashem which is the Holocaust memorial. It was pretty intense but it wasn't as bad because the tour guide really rushed us through and I didn't really have time to appreciate the events. Yesterday was probably even more impacting than Yad Vashem. We had a guy come and speak who had been a survivor of the Holocaust. He had been a worker and traveled around to 9 different places in 5 years. He had been at Auschwitz and Dachau and a few other camps throughout the war. He had been in the Lodz ghetto and while he was working his father died of starvation in the ghetto and his mother, 5 sisters and brother were sent to Chelmno and murdered. It was an incredible story and it was made all the more incredible by the fact that the man was so happy and cheerful. He had met his wife in a rehabilitation camp and they moved to Guatemala before they moved to Israel in the 60s. It was quite humbling to hear his experiences.

Today we had a really awesome forum speaker. We heard from freelance journalist Matthew Kalman. He was really fascinating and it was a fun experience to hear from him. It was an interesting view of journalism. He told us a story about when the second intifada started and 3 weeks later there was a meeting between Mubarak, Clinton, Sharon and Arafat and they made a deal to end the intifada. He went to a family's house to listen to Arafat's announcement of this, but it never came and on that day he learned that things in the Middle East really happen different from expected. As he put it, the Middle East is a different mindset, it's crazy, it doesn't make sense. He also told a funny story about how he was with this palestinian christian comedian and they were visiting his village and as they were driving, the guy told him to turn into an olive grove. Matthew and his driver were like umm... ok. And they did and then midway through the grove there was an Israeli checkpoint with cars backed up on both sides. They pull up and explain what they're doing and ask the comedian to get out of the car. The guard looks at him and says, "ok, do Arafat" and so he did an impression and the guard called to everyone else saying "look everyone, it's the guy from tv!" And so the guy did a few more impressions before getting back in the car. The guards let them go through and they gave directions to his village. They were like, yeah, at the third olive tree on your right take a right and then follow the road. Mr. Kalman said it was one of the most bizarre experiences he had ever had. It was so funny to hear that. He was very enjoyable and it was an interesting perspective on someone who is published in multiple news sources.

So... phew! That's basically it for here in Jerusalem up to this point! I have finals next week and I'm preparing for that. I have a talk on Saturday in church. Then we leave for Galilee on the 4th of July. I'm so excited! :D I'll be there for 10 days.

And I'm sorry about not posting pictures, I've tried but the server here is not very cooperative.

Cheers!

Egypt! (Days Six through Eight)

Day 6: Cairo, Coptic Churches, synagogue, the Egyptian Museum, Hard Rock Cafe, Khan al-Khalili Bazaar

So... the day starts off pretty awfully. The train ride was abysmal. I hardly got any sleep. And then we were at the train station in Cairo at 5:30 am. Eew...

So we get to our hotel and thankfully we were allowed to sleep for a few hours. I get up, go to breakfast and hop onto the bus to go to the Coptic area of Cairo. They were neat to look at. There were a few places that all claimed to be the place where Christ and his family stayed when they fled to Egypt. In the same area we also went to a synagogue that was fairly neat as well.

After that we went to the Egyptian Museum. AAH!!! It was SO cool!!!! But I couldn't take pictures. :( And we weren't in there NEARLY long enough. But I got to see the Narmer Palette, the Merneptah Stele, famous depictions of Akenaten, King Tut's treasures, a copy of the Rosetta Stone and the mummies of King Ramesses II, Thutmosis II, Thutmosis III and Hatshepsut. It was so neat to be able to see these famous things that I have learned about. But alas, we could not stay but a few hours. It was still worth it. And it was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. :D

After that we dove to the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar. It is the largest bazaar in Cairo. It was ENORMOUS. There were so many different shops and things to buy and places to see and just it was sensory overload.

I ended up getting a soccer jersey and that was interesting. He tried to get me to buy it for 280 Egyptian pounds and I was like heck no! I had gotten two in Luxor for 70! It was the exact same shirt too! So I talked him down and that was fun. After that we went back to the hotel and relaxed and passed out early.

Day Seven: the Citadel: Muhammad Ali-and Sulmaniyya Mosques, crossing the Sinai, Morganland near St. Catherines

So we were allowed to sleep in to make up for our lack of sleep the night before and that was greatly appreciated. After that we packed up the bus and headed to the Citadel before leaving Cairo. While there we got to explore the Muhammad Ali mosque and the Sulmaniyya mosque. They were so beautiful. They are some of the most famous mosques in the world, let alone just Cairo. Which by the way has thousands of mosques. It was some of the most in any one city.

After visiting the Citadel, we headed back across the Sinai. We travelled south along the Suez channel and ended up at Morganland, a hotel near St. Catherine's Monastery at the base of Mount Sinai.

For in the morning we would ascend upon Sinai!

Day Eight: Mt. Sinai, Kibbutz for dinner, back to Jerusalem

So... we got up at 2 am to climb Mt. Sinai so that we could have a sunrise service. I rode a camel up because I knew coming down would mean climbing, and my stupid knee could only handle one of those activities. Well, let's just say that I now hate camel rides. It was TERRIFYING riding a camel, that kept going off the trail, in the dark, going up a mountain with sheer sides. Eep. I was happy to be at the top and just relax.

After that we went to a side level of the mountain and we split into our classes and had a devotional. It was neat to be able to read the scriptures about the events that had happened at Mt. Sinai. It was very spiritual.

After that we hiked down to St. Catherine's Monastery. There are 3,000 steps from 2/3 of the way up Sinai all the way down to St. Catherine's. By the end of it my legs were shaking visibly. But it made me feel better to see that everyones legs were shaking as well.

St. Catherine's was neat to see. It was a very pretty monastery and it had the "burning bush" from Moses. Riiiight. The more "authentic" artifacts I see, the less I tend to believe them.

So after that, we came back, ate lunch and drove back to Israel. The border crossing took a while but then we got through and continued on our way.

We had dinner at a Kibbutz and it was so good! We could eat veggies again!!! Yaay!! And we got Gelato. So it was fantastic. I had Bueno Bar Gelato. It's this wonderful chocolate that they have here that's a German brand that makes this hazelnut creme filled chocolate wafer bars. They are very tasty. :)

After the kibbutz, we drove back to Jerusalem. It was nice to pull around the hill and see the city again. It felt like we were coming home. Jerusalem is fantastic and it's nice to have a place that is familiar in this land that is 6,441 miles from my love and home.

Egypt was fantastic, but I'm glad to be back in Jerusalem. I cannot wait until Galilee and Jordan!

Egypt! Day Five

Note: I'm so sorry for not updating. Ever since I got back from Egypt I've had nothing but tests ever since. :(

Day Five: Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak, the Temple of Luxor

Omygoshomygoshomygosh!!! I've ALWAYS wanted to go to the temples of Luxor and Karnak! Like... way, way WAY wanted to go! And it was AMAZING!!! :D :D :D

And the best way to describe Karnak and Luxor is massive. But to that later.

First off, the Valley of the Kings!! It was pretty cool to go there and see the different tombs. We saw Ramesses II, III and IX(?). We then went and saw the tomb of king Tut. That was cool. I had previously seen his treasures that were on tour, and then through this trip to see his tomb and a later trip to the Egyptian Museum, I have been able to see all of the treasures attributed to King Tut. So the tombs were cool, but we couldn't take pictures and the tombs were fairly stuffy.

So they were cool but we were glad to move on.

Then we went to the temple of Karnak. Aah! It's SO cool!!!! The columns are MASSIVE. You see in pictures how big they are, but then actually being there, it puts it into perspective. It took 11 people holding hands to be able to circle one of the pillars.

It was so cool to be able to see the drawings and hieroglyphics which have lasted for thousands of years. There were still colors visible that have been there for thousands of years. So then after that it was cool to hear how they were able to achieve these wonderful architectural/engineering feats. What they would do is they would build up a section, then fill the entire area with sand (it's one resource they have in abundance) and then build it up some more, and then fill it with sand, until they had reached the height that they wanted, and then they just carted out the sand after they were done and voila! You have a massive temple!

We went around and looked at the different motifs. There were descriptions of the things that the priests did to appease the Gods and also ceremonies where the kings became deified. It was cool to see that.

After exploring Karnak, we took a carriage ride over to the Temple of Luxor. It was starting to get hot at this point. It was only 113 F at this point in the day...

Luxor was so beautiful! It was so neat to be able to see the front of the temple and have these HUGE statues of Ramesses II staring down at you. It was so neat though! And there was an inscription of the unification of Egypt.

But it was neat to walk in and see the colonnade and how gigantic all of it was. It was truly impressive to be able to walk in and just be dwarfed. But it was so neat!

We went further into the temple and then we got to see the portion that was built as a homage to Alexander the Great! Aah! :D It was soo cool to see him portrayed as a Pharaoh and to realize that I can put a specific date on that building! Holy cow!

So... after exploring around the lovely temple, we were all starting to feel not so good. It had gotten up to 120 and even though it's BLAZING hot, I was cold. So... I decided to go back to the hotel and so a few of us got a carriage ride back to the hotel and went and had lunch and relaxed.

After that we got prepared to leave. A few of us went back to the Souk to get some things and I went with Stacey, Melissa and Lauren to get some scarves. After that we came back and relaxed. I hung out with Ashley and Mac and chilled before dinner. After dinner we all went to the train station and took a train from Luxor back to Cairo.

Uck, it was a horrible train ride. It was bumpy and no one could sleep at all. Blech. But now I can say that I've been on an overnight train... in Egypt.

Egypt! (Days One through Four)

So... Egypt was absolutely amazing. Day by day breakdown:

Day One: Traveling, Beer Sheva, and the Kibbutz

Beer Sheva was soo cool. It was the beginning of the way of the Patriarchs up to Jerusalem. It was also where Issac, Jacob and Esau were born. While I was exploring the ruins I found the handle of a pot.

(The horned alter where sacrifices were performed)

After Beer Sheva we traveled some more and went hiking up a canyon. It was a lot of fun but it was incredibly hot and hard to do. It was pretty cool to see how far we had come though.

(We hiked from the beginning of that canyon to the top of the walls)

After that we drove to the Kibbutz for the night. It was such a different change to go from the ultra-conservative atmosphere of Jerusalem to the rather liberal atmosphere of the Kibbutz. It was funny because our guide was like, yeah, we're all a bunch of educated Jews from New York. Our guide took us to a sand dune and that was really fun. We played on it and then our guide had us sit away from others and just contemplate the desert and nature before we were to read a response. It was such a neat experience. It was very spiritual and it was incredible to be able to sit there and just be one with nature. The sun was very pleasant, the sand was cool beneath me and the wind was gently blowing. It was so amazing.

After that we came back and had dinner and went swimming. It was so nice to be able to go swimming again. Either way the experience was fantastic.

(The pretty sand dunes)

(We played jumping games)

Day Two: Traveling across the Sinai, arriving at Cairo

We crossed the border into Egypt and then crossed the Sinai. It is completely barren and ugly. Why anyone would fight over it is a mystery to me. There is nothing useful there.

It was neat to get to Cairo and see the city for just a little bit. We had a church meeting and it was in a really really nice part of Cairo. I was able to see my friend Ryan Coles and that was so cool! The last time that I saw him was in Utah. We went to our hotel and called it an early night.

Day Three: The Pyramids, the Sphinx, Rameses II, The Papyrus Factory, the tomb of Pti and King Djoser Step-Pyramid

So the day was wonderful and started out by going to visit the Pyramids. It was soo cool to see them in person. We went up into the tomb of Khafre and that was quite an experience. It was so incredibly tight and stuffy in there. But still, I've been inside a pyramid! After that we went to the Sphinx and that was cool. Many of us took kissing pictures with the Sphinx to be silly. It's actually a little bit smaller than you would think.

After that we went to the famous papyrus factory and I got some cool papyri. We then ate and went to see the statue of king Rameses II. It was so big! I then was able to see the alabaster sphinx which was also cool. I went and talked to one of the vendors and I spoke to him for a bit in arabic. He brightened up so much after that. It was neat to be able to chat with him, if only for a little bit. He was so nice, he gave me a pyramid figurine. He wouldn't let me pay for it and just shooed me off and bid me a good day.

(The guy showing us how to make papyrus)

(The statue of king Rameses II and Ramzi)

After that we went to the tomb of Pti. He was a rich nobleman and it was cool to see his tomb. It was completely covered in drawings. The colors were still vibrant and beautiful.

After that we drove to the airport and flew to Luxor. It was a long day and we happily collapsed into our beds. We were in the Sheraton and it was a 5 star hotel. It was so amazing. I've never had such a good night's sleep in my entire life.

Day Four: Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's Tomb, Pit 33, Faluka ride, Camel Ride, visiting the Souk

So the day started out early because we wanted to beat the heat. Luxor is incredibly hot. We got up at 6 am and went to the Valley of the Kings. We saw Rameses I, III and IX's tomb in addition to King Tutankhamun's tomb. It was actually rather chilly that morning because of the wind, but it was still getting up there in temperature.

After the Valley of the Kings we went to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. That was really neat to see the temple. It was rather neat. And near the temple was pit tomb 33 where the mummies were found that contained the papyri that Joseph Smith translated. That was cool to stand near it and hear the story that was behind it. It was cool to hear all the things that happened that brought those papyri from Luxor in Egypt all the way to Kirkland, Ohio. Pretty awesome.

(Temple of Hatshepsut)

(Pit 33)

After that we went back to the hotel and I was pretty spent so I took a nap before the Faluka ride. We went on the ride and it was quite eventful. The coast guard pulled over our boat and made us give them registration. After that there wasn't much time until we had to be on the other side so that we could go on the camel ride. So we get over there and get on the camels and went on about a 30-40 minute ride. It was pretty fun. Not too exciting. It was more relaxed than anything. The camel was named Casanova and he was pretty chill. It was neat to be able to look out across people working in the fields right next to the Nile with the sun coming down.

(Me on my camel)

(A cool picture I took from astride the camel)

The faluka ride back probably was one of the highlights of my trip. My boat was the smaller one and our captain put on music and we all started dancing. The light was perfect for photos and I got some amazing ones. :)

(A man and his son waved at us)

(Pwetty)

(Kids swimming in the Nile)

(This was an awesome shot of Brother Manscill's Class on Camels)

(Cool shots of boats)

(A cool contrast between the Nile, the boat and the sunset)

After that we went back, had dinner and a few of us went to the Souk and explored a little bit. I was able to get a really pretty dress and it was fun haggling with the guy. I got it down from $54 to $15. I swear, I'm going to come back to the United States and not understand why we don't haggle for prices. That would be fun to try and do.

Well, that's all for now. I'm exhausted. I can finish up later.

Ma'saleme!