Jerusafun

 So much happens here so fast... where do I even start? I guess I'll start at Saturday, the Sabbath, when we were finally let out of the center after church! We all walked as a group to the garden tomb, a park in the middle of east Jerusalem that has a tomb that might actually be the tomb where Jesus Christ laid before he was resurrected. Also at this park there is a hill that might be Golgotha, where Christ was crucified. Historians say these places may be the actual location of these incredible events, but that even if they aren't they are a great representation of what these locations would have looked like. A tour guide talked about the history of these locations and we were able to enter the tomb where Christ supposedly laid. We then got to sing hymns about the resurrection and lots of people stopped and listened. It was a cool experience to say the least.

Garden Tomb

A hill that might be Golgotha, where Christ was crucified on the cross

On Sunday, we got a walking tour of the city in order to orient us enough for us to get around the city by ourselves. We then were set free by our professors and were able to explore the city! The city of Jerusalem is AWESOME. Wayyyyy cooler than I had ever even imagined! The old city is lost in time and not ruined by tourists- its full of merchants who are super friendly and locals going about their daily lives. There are lots of old churches and everything is super packed in and you go into a shop you think is tiny and then they'll lead you up hidden stairs and its big and cool on top. I cant even describe to you how cool the city is. The old city is big, in all the time I have here I bet I still won't be able to see all of it. And east Jerualem, where the Palestinians are is really cool too with tons of street vendors. West Jerusalem, where the Jews are, is really nice and reminds me of a California city or something. East Jerusalem is definitely dirtier and there's lots of garbage and we live on a hill in a nicer area just up from east Jerusalem.

Here are some stories:

A group of friends and I were exploring the old city and the merchants are super friendly and some of them are obsessed with the mormons. They know who we are when we walk down the streets and so does like everyone in the city. One of them named Naser was begging us to come into the shop because he had something to show us and he leads a few of us into the back of this little shop and shows us where a ton of these notes left from BYU Jerusalem kids are hanging on the walls. He tells us how much he loves the mormons and is convincing us that we need to come back all the time and buy our scarves from him. Then he turns to me and says "for you, free gift because I like your eyes" and goes and gets a stack of scarves and lets me pick one out. Haha it was so funny and sweet!

This mirror is covered in notes written by former BYUJ students, and this is a picture of the scarf Naser wrapped around me for a gift.

The best part of the day we were exploring the city was when I was with a few people and we looked in these gates inside the old city and there was a group of Palestinian boys playing soccer on this dilapidated cement field. My friend Kara ran out into the field, asked if we could play, dribbled the ball down and made a goal. The kids thought it was so funny and welcomed us to come play. It was super fun and I totally fell HARD on the pavement at one point haha. All the kids were concerned and stopped but I was totally fine. Palestinians are SO nice. They loved playing soccer with us, and it was so fun! They didn't speak english so listening to them yell stuff in arabic was kind of funny but some of the guys were older and could speak some. They invited us back to play more soccer with them because they had some much fun!

Playing soccer with cute Palestinian kids

This sweet little man saw me with my camera and really wanted me to take a picture with him

My first day in the old city was awesome, and it made me really excited for all the time I'll be able to spend there this semester. On Monday we went on a fieldtrip to all sorts of overlooks of the city of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other biblical towns. It was really cool and we learned a lot.

You can see my school just to the right of the middle of this photo with the arches

Bethlehem overlook

Overlook of the city

The next few days were packed with studying for a test I had this morning, then after the test I went out and explored Jerusalem again with some friends. This time we ate schwarmas, stocked up on candy from shops in the old city, and met a few more hilarious shopkeepers.

Old city

Mitchell + candy

Lunch in the old city. Love my friends!

Life in Jerusalem is great and SO busy. The schoolwork is hard but I'm learning a ton. I've made some awesome friends and am looking forward to many more adventures with them!

View off the balcony of my school one night. The fireworks were for a wedding.