It's only taken me a month to sign in.

Yes, I know

I am very behind in blogging and updating and everything.

I happen to be a bit behind on homework, but I am procrastinating (sort of) and blogging about how I am behind in everything.

But here's the dl.

I have been writing and keeping up with photos, but it is the actual publishing of these posts that are difficult to keep up with. So much so that I'm more than a month behind and this week we're leaving for Negev for the next 4 days, so it leaves me with no time to catch up. On top of that, next week is crunch time as everything is due right before travel study. I'll try to update as much as I can, although I don't even know who is keeping up with this thing now that I've been gone for a month...Slicha! But on a cool note, update, this time in two weeks I will be in Egypt. Whoa. Isn't that crazy?

why yes.

But I'm excited for what's ahead; although i'm very sad this all has to end soon....but we're not there yet, so for now living it up!

What is so special...

Being in Israel is truly a great experience. Being in a new land, a new country; having a new exciting experience, but it’s hasn’t been until recently that I’ve truly started to think about me being here.

Yesterday we went onto the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock stands. Seeing the Dome of the Rock didn’t make me stand in awe to such a structure or praise God. If anything I felt rather uncomfortable and just confused about it all. How could such a structure stand where God’s temple was? How can the Muslims claim such a Holy site and take hold of it so? It also made me start to reflect about what is so special about this place. Why do we as Christians still find the Temple Mount so significant when such an abomination to the name of God lies where the Temple used to sit? Why do I feel as if I the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem is such a great place when it has fallen so far from what used to be so connected to Him in Biblical times? Times are definitely different now. The Dome of the Rock truly does display how far mankind has fallen away from God and will continue to fall away from God, but when I reflect upon the significance of the Temple Mount or even the significance of Jerusalem, I start to really realize…there was once a time that God dwelt there. God’s presence was in the temple, within the Holy of Holies, and yet Israel was always at risk at falling away from Him. There has never been a time in history that man hasn’t exchanged the glory of God for a lie. It is human nature to worship and it is human nature to worship anything but God, yet God continually worked to bring His chosen back to Him to the point that He brought death upon Himself. Upon His Son, fully God and fully man. And that was done within this city. God dwelt within the temple and Christ cleansed the temple because man continued to make it into an abomination. Christ walked the streets of Jerusalem, healing, preaching, having compassion upon the lost. Christ prayed desperately in the Garden for God’s will to be done, even when He desired to have this cup taken from Him.

Why are all these places so significant? So special? Because God simply being there has made them so. In the same way, God has made each of His own significant. His holy temples where His spirit dwells. We no longer need the temple as Christ dwells in us, but it’s still amazing how at one point God did dwell on the Temple Mount on the Holy of Holies; at one point God did work in Jerusalem and bring redemption to all mankind. That’s what makes this place so beautiful in the first place. That’s what makes it so significant even down to the last piece of rubble found within the Kidron Valley. And what is amazing is that God isn’t done yet working here. If God wanted to He could take out the Dome of the Rock in one blow and yet He has allowed for man to exchange the Glory of God for a lie. A lie. He has allowed this all for a reason and all we can do is continue to push forward and wait patiently upon the Lord to reveal His plan in His time.

It was continually humbling as after going to the Temple Mount, we were also able to go through the Kidron Valley up to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. It was tiring and I’ve been sick, so I wish I could have appreciated it more than I did, but looking back, it was amazing being able to be there. You could see all of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and I could just picture Jesus coming through the Mount of Olives on His triumphal journey weeping for Jerusalem. Jesus had such great compassion over His city that would soon be destroyed; that was so lost.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you

He knew of the fate that would befall upon Jerusalem, the city of the great King, and they didn’t recognize it. They didn’t recognize God in human form. And they still don’t. People out there are lost and will meet their own destruction because they haven’t recognized God’s coming to all of us. It continues to make me mourn for this city; feel compassion for them. I can only continue to pray. Pray that God will soften the hearts of those in Israel, of those in this world. That they would realize that Christ is the true Messiah, the High Priest that has come to intervene on man’s behalf. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem that would not only come within its walls, but within the hearts of the people of Jerusalem. Pray that God’s plan for Jerusalem and for Israel would come soon and very soon.

”By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion...If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand wither…If I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.” –Psalm 137

everyday a flurry of people, mainly Jewish, come to the Western Wall to feel close to the presence of the Lord that once dwelt among the Temple Mount. They come for prayer, to feel close to God, in hopes that their prayers will be answered. I wonder what they pray about. What they’re waiting for. This day I went up to the wall and touched it. It felt like a slab of stone. Something that I wasn’t truly connected, and yet, I still desperately prayed. I prayed for Israel. I prayed for these people. I will continue to pray for them; that God would show Himself to them through His Son, the answer to their prayers and all their waiting.


Our Tread through the Kidron Valley up to the Mount of Olives

The view from the path on the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem

View from the Mount of Olives amongst the many graves

The sun shining on the Garden of Gethsemene

At the end of the day we were able to do some Temple Mount sifting. A number of years ago the Muslims began excavating in the Temple Mount to expand their Mosque that lies underneath the Temple Mount and dumped all this rubble within the Kidron Valley. We were able to sift through it to look for whatever we could that had archeological significance—pottery pieces, mosaic pieces, glass, bones, coins. We were actually sifting through rubble found within the City of David, but still it’s all pretty significant. Down to the last piece of rubble, yes.

From New Testament Walk

I can't believe it's already February....

Last night a group of people went camping. I didn’t. I don’t regret it. At all. Really, I don’t. It was nice being able to wake up in my nice cozy bed and not feel rushed, as I don’t have class until later this afternoon. It would have been great to greet the new month (is it really already February?) in the grass in the hill country of Israel, with the open sky above, buuuut I’m okay with missing it. I did go along for the walk last night, as hesitant as I was to go because I’ve been sick and it’s been taking me an awful long time to get over it since I’m on the go all the time. We ended up going to the Roman ruins we were at the night before. We built a large fire and just sat around it, talking and laughing and speaking on spiritual matters. I can barely recall what we talked about around the flame, but all I know that it was great. It would have been cool to be sleeping out there and to catch some pictures of the sun rising and the sun perfectly hitting Tel Aviv, but I’ll live. I’ll just have to catch it next time around I suppose. For now, enjoy some pics of the fire, while I learn how many different ways I can construct the word lomed [learn] in a sentence in Hebrew. Shalom.

Markets and Elvis

Today I had my first free day…

While mostly everyone has had just about 4 or 5 free days since we started this was my first, so instead of staying in and doing homework or just hanging around the Moshav I decided to go into the New City. Nothing new, just fun and a time to get off the Moshav again, even though I was just in Jerusalem yesterday. It was exciting though, getting to take the bus, try to use some Hebrew and not having to haggle for once, as the markets in the New City have set prices, a luxury not really prevalent in the Old City.

I went into the New City with my friends Rachel, Lydia, and Sandy, and the plan was to go to a coffee shop and do some homework.


From left to right: Rachel, Lydia, and Sandy waiting at the bus stop

That plan totally failed, but it was still fun. We just walked through some markets and tried to find lunch, which we ended up getting Pomegranate, some pastries, and pita. I also finally got the Fanta I’ve been craving all week AND it was European style Fanta, which is more juice than soda (yes!). It was all very yum, yum. Most of the time was spent walking and just exploring and we ended up going back early because we didn’t figure in the time to walk, so we never did get to the Aroma coffee shop that we so desperately wanted to settle at. Next time I go into the New City though it will just be to go to a coffee shop and hang out, I promise you that. It was pretty sweet though, as a handful of Israeli people came up to us at the bus stop and started asking about the bus schedule to us in Hebrew. We took that as a compliment as that might mean that we don’t look like tourists, which is the look we exactly want. We did get to go to the Elvis Café right in Abu Gosh and get some hot chocolate and the ever so coveted Elvis mugs that we’ve been wanting to use for class (getting the price for coffee/hot chocolate down to half a shekel, rather than one shekel). The Elvis Café is definitely saweet, so I’ll be back there again. Right now calls for a nap though and I guess people are going camping today, although I’m not feeling it so probably won’t go. It’s all good though. Time to try dreaming in some Hebrew. Until later.


The market in the New City

With Lydia and Sandy at the Market in the New City

Waiting at the Bus Stop in Jerusalem

Rachel and Lydia with their Elvis Mugs in the Elvis Café

Me with my Elvis Mug at the Elvis Café in Abu Ghosh

The Roman Road

Tonight we had our second Saturday Night Live, which was pretty fun, although I was really tired from the day in the Old City. It was cool though because we had a bond fire and a hike, which we took about a 45 minute walk to some Roman ruins up in the hills somewhere. So after having some hot dogs and smores around a fire at the Moshav, we set out, which I don’t have much of an idea why I went because I was seriously falling asleep on the walk. Oh yes. I will never get over my head cold at this rate, but whatev. It was a pretty sweet place to just hang around at and talk. It was funny because the guys built a fire just outside of the ruins for us to sit around at and talk, but everyone ended up sitting at the ruins talking and never going to the fire. I see where our priorities lie. That was probably the best part—sitting at the ruins and talking and laughing. Heard some pretty interesting stories and had some time to rest, so I really liked that. We even got to take a truck ride back to the Moshav in the back of a pick-up truck and that was really fun. For now, I’m pooped so time for bed. Tomorrow is my first free day and instead of resting here in my bed, I think I might just go into the New City. I’m crazy I know, but as they…Le Hayim! (To Life!)

From Around the Moshav

“We don’t bite! We are vegetarians…we only eat hummus!”

Today was another day in the old city and yet another day of experiences and most definitely stories. I had my first haggling experience and I have to say I’m rather proud of myself. I went into the Old City today with exactly what I wanted in mind to get and exactly what I wanted to get it for…and I did what I set out to do at the exact price I wanted to do it at. It was lots of fun being in control…well for the most part.

My mission: to buy a scarf and a pair of earrings. My price: 15 shekels. 10 for the scarf. 5 for the earrings. No more. No less. Okay…if they’d take less then that would be a total buy, but I didn’t want to push my luck on my first haggling experience. 

My friend, Jordan, and I originally set to just go to the Austrian Hostice, but we decided to go through the market with two of our other IBEX friends, Taylor and his girlfriend Ellie. After getting some Falafel (pita with salad and fried garbanzo beans), I set out for my mission. 

We started at some markets on Davidson’s street (which EVERYTHING is terribly overpriced there) and entering a large tent filled with scarves and such I soon found out that this would not be the place I would buy my scarf, as they seemed to be offering everything about 20-25 shekels over what I could get it at somewhere else, so I left that place empty handed. After just wandering through some places and having not much success, I finally found a little shop that would be the place of purchase for my scarf as I haggled down from 20 shekels down to 10, getting just the blue scarf that I wanted at the price I wanted

So, with half of my mission complete I set out for those earrings, which that was much easier said than done. We went through many, possibly just about every store in the Christian quarter and I could not find earrings for less than 10 shekels. 10 shekels isn’t a lot, but when I know I can get them for 5 shekels somewhere why settle for a higher price? (yes, I’m cheap I know…) But after trying to haggle some earrings from 35 shekels down to 10 and totally failing and being yelled at for offering such a low price, I had kinda given up on ever finding my earrings for 5 shekels. It wasn’t until we went through the Moslem quarter that the tables changed (is it bad that the Moslem quarter is much nicer and reasonable than the Christian Quarter?). We were rushing past markets, as I had given up looking, when a seller exclaims from his tent, “earrings 10 shekels…5 shekels!” 5-shekel earrings? Yes please! I immediately turned around and got my 5-shekel earrings in disbelief to the point that he said if I kept asking with uncertainty he might change his mind. I should always be confident with a price so good. So I picked out my earrings and completed my said mission, buying from a very cute seller mind you…I told him I would remember his store, and I wasn’t lying…heehee. 

My blue scarf and earrings I got today

The markets here are a bit crazy, as they’ll try just about any way to get you in their store to buy from them from saying “everything is on sale today” to saying “it is free to look today!” The one line that one of the sellers we talked to today loved to say, “Don’t worry we don’t bite! We are vegetarians…we only eat hummus!” which definitely made me laugh (hence the title of this post). One even tried to sway us by complimenting Taylor saying, “You are a very lucky man” speaking of the girl he was walking with. Mind you this was when he was walking behind me and not his girlfriend, which we found very amusing. So all in all it was a pretty hectic, fun day. There are many sellers throughout the market that will most likely remember my face since I probably walked past their store a handful of times and had some good conversations with some, while not having such good experiences with others. I think I have more of an idea of who to buy from and which areas are better than others, so I’ll know just where I need to go and avoid many places and people. I won’t be going through the markets in the Old City for a while, although my next mission is to find a hat. We’ll see how that goes. For now about to go get ready for dinner and the bond fire, and I'm very excited for that. Hot dogs, smores, fire, and hike is on the agenda tonight and although I'm tired I'm probably going to go. Oh the glorious tiredness of IBEX. :) 

Taylor smiling with some old medallions and coins

We ran into Marcy, Mitchell, and Larissa at Sheban's Shop in the Old City

Posing with my new scarf From Shabbat Shalom.

Deja Vu

Today we had another Field day

and where did we go?

Well, where else than Jerusalem! But actually we did not go to the Old City today and we barely had to take any notes which was GLORIOUS! We went into the New City today, just outside of the Old City on the Western side. It is very...how you say...Modern. Lots of stores and people and street performers and actually reminds me a lot of Dublin. Which fits because there's actually an Irish Pub in the New City of Jerusalem. Go figure. haha. But it was just a fun day to get to the city and explore and take pics, as we had a picture scavenger hunt. We even got to have lunch in the Jerusalem park and have Pizza hut. It was a very city day. :) Here's some fun pics from the day.


A Jewish man napping in the Jerusalem Park

Elyse on one of the workout play things at the Park

Our special delivery!

Lee enjoying his pizza

Carmen and Kim pose for a photo in the park

These guys were performing Worship songs in the square in the New City. I just wanted to join them; it was so wonderful

We stopped by the market in the New City for a bit and got sooo much food from our teacher!

This is one of the pictures we had to get for our scavenger hunt! They even have a McDonald's with a Ronald McDonald!

Took a while to get the shop keeper to let us take a pic with this knife but it was done!

We were given money to get coffee, so I definitely took advantage of that!

From West Jerusalem-The New City