Late Post

Sorry, this was supposed to go up two weeks ago, but our internet was down and then we were gone for 11 days. So, these are the highlights from a fortnight thither.

1. I went to the Shuk for the first time. The Shuk is the open-air market where locals go to buy produce and other miscellanea. I loved it. I bought a warm pita for half a shekel and a scrunchie for a whole shekel. Both were worthwhile investments and both were utilized and retired the same day.
2. I took a New Testament midterm. It was hard, but great. Nothing’s better than studying some synoptic pericopes with a little bit o’ exposition. (Just for you, Lindsay).
3. Orientation for our Galilee trip. I’ll be sans internet for two weeks, so I won’t be updating for a while. But the orientation was excellent, like all of our meetings in the forum.

· Lisa: “Can you say with full confidence that there will be shampoo and conditioner provided?”
Dr. Jackson: “I’ll admit. I’m not a heavy user of those products. But I believe they do have some sort of concoction that acts for all purposes.”

Me: “Nothing beats a good 3 in 1.”

· Lizzy: “And how you have to have three people after dark? That’s just gonna turn into a third wheel situation.”

Hezekiah's Tunnel

This pic is a few weeks old. But I can't get over how bomb Melia's headlamp is. It was just an awesome experience...in an awesome tunnel....with awesome people...and awesome headlamps.

LITERALLY the best dinner of my life

I love that you can eat any meal with any person here and have a great time. Table talk from a particularly enjoyable meal:

Stephanie: "I've been debating on on who I would want as a person to keep in my pocket. Candidates are Adnan Musallam and Craig Roddin.”
Andrew: “Mmm, I can smell the musk.”

Jake: “My heart was literally torn from my chest.”

Stephanie: “Literally? Really? Where is it?"

Jake: “Nothing is worse than a rash.”
Stephanie: “And in the wrong place.”
Andrew: “I got rashes in all the right places.”

Ode to Charles

I know I have a theme going of giving a list of three things, but when it comes to making a list of great things about Charles Wilson, no one on earth could stop at just three.

1. His pondering pose from the synagogue (right)
2. How he brings sophistication to a kippa
3. How he recites the Islamic months (Muharram, Safar, Rabia il-Awal, Rabia il-Thanni)
4. His rapping skills (5 books of Torah)
5. His dancing skills (as a bacterium)
6. “Let’s get wild”. -Charles in Eilat
7. Whistling skills (especially with Sister Killian)
8. How he explains the Arab and Palestinian States of the 1937 partition plan. He knows how to handle a projector.
9. He always shares his peanut candy bar.
10. When he home teaches, he incorporates art and culture into the lesson.
11. "Scrumptulescent!"

Meet Jake

This is my friend who did three things that made him my friend:

1. Grew a mustache just for Egypt.

2. Makes jokes only at the expense of self-deprecation, but never at the expense of anyone else.

3. Posed for this picture.

Walked where Jesus walked (for sure)

Too many great things have happened this week. But here are three of my favorites:

1. We went on a field trip to Herodian Jerusalem which means we did the Burnt House (ruins from the second temple period), Davidson Archaeological Park, and the Wohl Museum. We walked where Jesus walked. Favorite quotes:

· RaeLynn: “I thought I walked where Jesus walked in the Kotel Tunnel. That’s why I stood there.”

· Andrew: “What is this, a Geico commercial?”

2. A small group went to Tel Aviv and played in the Mediterranean Sea. We got gelatos and then walked around the city. I precipitously wanted to become an indelible part of that city (look it up, Catie). Favorite quotes:

· Kylie: “I told my mom I was dating someone on April fool’s and she didn’t believe me.”

· Austin: “We tied at fun to fun.”

3. We went to the separation wall and while crossing the crazy streets of Jerusalem where you must always be on your guard, I didn’t pay attention for one second and almost got hit. Thank goodness my hero/friend, James, was there. I hope he considers this extremely public gratitude adequate recompense.

"I'm just sayin'"

This weeks has featured moments such as:

1. Donating blood. We had a blood drive at the center. I can’t say that I love donating blood, but I also can’t say I didn’t love being fed a chocolate cookie by Dr. Christine like a Roman goddess.

2. Gettin’ Beiber-ed. It started with Whitney and has since escalated. i.e. “There is this boy here that I really like, but he's totally playing hard to get. The other day, I went up to him, and I was like, "I know you love me, I know you care. Just shout whenever, and I'll be there. You are my love, you are heart, and we will never ever ever be apart. And I was like BABY BABY BABY OHHHHHH! LIKE BABY BABY BABY NOOOOOOOO!". Haven't heard back, we'll see.”

3. Girl talk in 311 (like the band). There was a bunch of girls talking about what they like in boys. Katie Backus pipes up and says, “Like, if I wanted to do an experiment with rats and music, he couldn’t be like, ‘No, that’s a waste of money’.” I think that’s fair.

Happy Halloween

We celebrated Halloween here at the Center. It was incredible how resourceful and creative everyone was and with only one hour of prep time. Three of my favorite costumes (although they were all pretty awesome):

1. Ancient kings, Sennacherib, Shushak, and Nebuchadnezzer.

2. Robert Buss (and everyone that dressed up as someone else at the center).

3. A banana (most resourceful and creative award goes to Jamie Price, hands down).

Jerusalem's awesome.....maybe we should call her.

Everything in Jerusalem is great...which sometimes amplifies the things that are not so bad to seem worse. So, here is a list of things that are the worst here in Jerusalem.

1. Waking up to an e-mail inbox full of e-mails….from Dr. Chadwick.

2. Filling a pita with peanut butter and finding that there is no more strawberry jam.

3. Waking up the day after Halloween and realizing that there is only one Robert Buss.

'Aliya my Besht jokes happen while I'm studying Judaism.

Here are three things I've learned about Judaism/Israel today:

1. In 1939, the White Papers, written by Great Britain, limited immigration to 15,000 people a year (down from 75,000 a year) to Palestine which is one reason the Holocaust was as terrible as it was.

2. The Jews were once almost temporarily moved to Uganda. It was proposed by Theodore Hertzl in 1903 whose grave we went to last week and whose legacy is immortalized by Brandt Peacock’s adaptation of “Hertzl Good”.

3. The Israeli government is a Parliamentary government. The executive branch is actually a sub-set of the legislature containing ministries (Stephanie: “That’s what we call them in Canada!!”).