Snorkeling in the Red Sea

Justin: "It's like the Passover all over again".

I'll explain the mu-mu later.

3 Highlights of the Week

1. 10/10/10 party at 10:10 with 10 people in the bomb shelter. The bomb shelter was built for dance parties. There’s neon tape lining the walls, black lights, and it’s always cold. At 10:09, we started a countdown to the fateful moment, and then for one full minute, we danced. It was a pretty great minute and now I’m just trying to remind myself to live every moment as if it’s 10/10/10 10:10.

2. Trying to read the Old Testament. This is my first struggle with the ancient text, but fortunately, I’m surrounded by 80 other people going through the same struggle.

Me: “I took an accidental two hour nap today. I was reading in 2 Kings…”

James: “Yep, that’s like Tylenol PM.”

3. Hezekiah’s tunnel and the pool of Siloam. We walked through Hezekiah’s tunnel this week which not only made me feel like Indiana Jones, but also became an epically immortalized experience as we did the Waka Waka in linear formation. Something I learned from the experience was about the man who was born blind who Christ healed. He used dirt and spittle to cover his face and then told him to wash his face at the pool of Siloam. If he had uses fine ointments and herbs, people would have said that he regained sight because of the pure elements on his face. Also, Siloam means “follow” or “disciple”, so he uses this radical illustration to give light and knowledge to the man who was blind so that he could become a disciple for Christ. I love it here!!!!!

Just a quick pic

Me, Melia, Matt, Jocelyn, and Mickell. This is a church in the Christian quarter called the Church of Flagellation. The church was amazing, but the company was even better. Seriously, I love all these people. "Digestive?...anyone? Just me. Cool."

Heard in the Halls

These are three of my favorite not-so-quotable quotes from the JC:

Jake: "Can we watch Lord of the Rings instead of having a midterm?"

Everyone: "Yeah, yeah, let's take a vote. Let's do this democratically."

Jake: "We want a king! We want a king! We want a king!"

James: "Waka Waka healed the world. Can we just let it heal us?"

Jake: "You know who Jason Bourne's dad is?"

Me: "No."

Jake: "Chuck Norris. You know who Chuck Norris's dad is?"

Me: "No."

Jake: "Indiana Jones. You know who Indiana Jones's dad is?"

Me: "Chuck Norris?"

Jake: "That's amazing and it works."

Sometimes, Judaism class is rough, until your teacher says this...

Q: How many ultra orthodox Jews does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Change?!!!

Ah salaam!

My friend Muhammad used to say, "Ah salaam!" in moments of deep distress. I've been saying it all week. My Hebrew teacher was walking around the classroom as we were doing drills with our partner and she stopped at my desk right as I got stuck on a word. I looked up and I could tell she was waiting for me to answer and I just said, "I'm really stressed right now!". She felt bad, but I felt worse. Midterms are hard everywhere. So, to ease the pain, I'm blogging.

1. Shephela! Turns out, they’re not as cool as their name (But still very cool). We spent an entire day wandering through four of the five cities of the Philistines. We went to Gath to see where Dr. Chadwick excavates and then returned and learned the “Shephela Song” sung to the tune of “My Boyfriends Back”. That song is the most memorable part of the Shephela experience.

Quote of the day: “You sound like you’re singing a hymn, SPICE IT UP!!” –James

2. Lesson 1: “Digestives” (the cookies) are amazing. Lesson 2: Don’t eat 8 in one day.

3. The Jews have more history than I thought. Like WAY more. Like, over 200 pages more than I ever could have even made up about a religion is all factual Jewish history. I love what we’ve been learning, though. Yesterday, we talked about how if you are not Jewish and you observe the Sabbath following all the same laws the Rabbis do, it’s as if you are stealing. If the laws don’t apply to you, you shouldn’t practice them. It’s all pretty fascinating. I love it here.

Sukkot!

1. A couple nights ago, Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli-Arab journalist, speak at one of our forums. I learned more about the Middle East in 60 minutes than I have in all my years of Wikipedia research. But, I think what I really learned from the whole lecture was that media can hardly ever be trusted. The real conflict starts with a hidden agenda, when one man says, “I want this story, not that one”. That’s when activists raise their heads and decide to do something. Be careful about what you say and even more careful about what you read.

2. In Old Testament, we’ve been talking about the story of Saul. Saul did a good thing with good intentions, but not according to the Lord’s timing. Then we talked about how Uzzah was killed for steadying the ark. I know the Bible sometimes illustrates using extremes, but I think I’m going to work on staying out of those tricky gray areas…just in case.

3. The last day of Sukkot, Hoshanna Rabba, was a couple days ago. It’s been so fun going out to the Jewish quarter of the Old City for the past week. I went out Monday morning and saw two bar mitzvahs at the western wall. I love how 13-year-old boys are the same everywhere you go. Part of the tradition of a bar mitzvah is to throw candy at the boy being celebrated, but it was great to watch some of the priests to try and get them to stop once they started the Torah reading portion. The whole Sukkot festival is fascinating. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Native American traditions. They have a harvest, a feast, and then a dance in celebration for God. I love that gratitude is the core of all the Jewish Festivals. Anyway, sorry these posts are sporadic at best, but I’m telling you, with three different religions fighting for the spotlight, the fun doesn't stop.

P.S. Ryan Hill, for our Jerusalem Center Branch Choir Christmas Concert, I’ve requested the song, “Gesu Bambino”, only because I have such incredible memories of that performance. Although it will be tough to outdo the Edgemont 14^th ward rendition, it’s worth the risk.