Emily's Birthday and Passover

This past week, my wonderful roommate Emily turned 22! We bought stuff to decorate our room and went to West Jerusalem for Pizza and Gelatto! We love you Emily!

We made Emily wear this hat to all of her morning classes.
This lovely Hebrew birthday note was written by Andy.
Birthday girl!

Mmmmmm! Gelatto is so good!


Russell gave us lessons on how to do a good hard core/sexy face. This was one of his examples.

This past Thursday, we had a Passover Seder dinner at the Jerusalem Center led by our Judaism teacher Ophir Yarden. We had a great time retelling the story of the Exodus through words and songs!

The narrators' table. Our Judaism teacher sat in the middle to lead us through the Seder.
Me, Calli, Dan and Kim
We couldn't stop laughing at Calli's sexy faces
The guys!
Jonah, Me, Steven and Brent
Roomies! Emily, Jenna, Me and Calli

Yad Vashem

"When the whole world abandons you, face the storm quietly. Turn your brow toward fate. Suffer silently without complaint." - Anon. Holocaust Victim

I have learned and read about the Holocaust many times throughout my life, but despite the continual reminders and experiences I have had in regard to the Holocaust I am never quite prepared to be exposed once again to the atrocities that occurred during that time.

A few days ago we took a field trip to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum here in Jerusalem and I again found myself in awe at the things I saw and heard despite my previous awareness of these events.

The museum is laid out so that you follow the chronological order of events leading up to and comprising the Holocaust and as you walk through the main hallway of the museum, the walls gradually close in on you as the material you are witnessing becomes more uncomfortable.

As we moved through the museum, I had a constant stream of emotions running through me. The pictures and words of the victims hit me with great force as I tried to comprehend the terrible sorrow and dread that must have consumed them. I realized that I would never understand. How could I? I have never been torn from my house, shipped in a train to a place of unimaginable suffering, been treated like an animal with housing unfit for such, pushed to the brink of starvation, watched my family and friends waste away in front of my eyes, or paid the ultimate price of my life due to my beliefs and heritage. How can I even understand a fraction of their suffering?

"Thus in an instant, our women, our parents, our children disappeared. We saw them for a short while as an obscure mass at the other end of the platform; then we saw nothing more."

- on arriving at the concentration camp

Along with photos and words of those who suffered, I saw the pictures and read the words of many who contributed to the terror and grief. As I looked upon their faces, a realization hit me that our tour guide reiterated. The faces before me did not betray the disturbed person within. There was no external evidence that these people sanctioned the extermination of millions of innocent people. There were no fangs or horns. Nothing to give their darkness away. I wasn't looking on the faces of monsters. I was looking on the faces of humans.

As hard as it is for me to imagine what the victims must have felt, it is harder to imagine what the people responsible for the Holocaust were thinking and I suppose that this is partially because I have no desire to even attempt to understand their minds. We as humans may struggle with comprehending extreme suffering, but I believe that the thing we struggle with the most when it comes to the Holocaust is knowing that people within our own race, the human race, were the source of these heinous acts.

Despite the bleakness of this time, there were those who gave all that they might help preserve the lives of the Jews. Thousands were saved due to the selflessness and charity of these individuals. At Yad Vashem, these people were referred to as "The Righteous Among the Nations." These righteous people gave everything to provide a beacon of hope during this time and I have great respect for their efforts and sacrifices.

"I don't know what a Jew is, I only know what a human being is."

- Andre Tokme

As I have thought about my inability to fully comprehend any of the feelings or thoughts possessed by those involved in the Holocaust, I have realized that I am not meant to. I am not meant to feel extreme suffering. I am not meant to understand the motives or thoughts behind cruelty. I am meant to have joy in this life.

"Men are that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25)

The sorrow, grief, and confusion of those involved in the Holocaust was never meant to be felt. These individuals came to earth for the purpose of experiencing joy, but unfortunately the weaknesses and frailties of humans chase away the joy God wants to bless us with. I pity those who carried out the Holocaust. I mourn and respect those who had to endure it. I admire those who fought against it. But my responsibility is not to feel what they felt. I am meant to have joy.

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Today we went on a half day field trip to the ancient City of David which is just South of present day Old Jerusalem. The main purpose of the field trip was to walk through Hezekiah's tunnel which begins at the Gihon spring and ends at the Pool of Siloam. The purpose of this tunnel was to provide the city with water during an impending siege by the Assyrians because the Gihon spring was susceptible to enemy sabotage outside the city wall. We also got to visit what some scholars believe to be the tombs of David and Solomon.

Before we went down into the tunnel, we got to watch a 3-D movie about the ancient City of David and the history behind Hezekiah's tunnel. It was sweet!

In the tunnel
This is about how deep the water was most of the way. It was a little deeper at the beginning and the end, but not too bad.

Me and Rachel at the end of the tunnel!
These are the tombs that some scholars believe belong to David and Solomon. David's on the left, Solomon's on the right.
David's tomb

A Day at the Zoo

Today for our free day, Stephanie, Rachel, Emily and I went to the Biblical Zoo. I really don't know why it has to be called a "Biblical Zoo" because it had basically every animal that a normal zoo has and no special biblical explanations of importance, but I guess it helps us justify our visit a little more. We got in a taxi with the expectation of driving about 5 minutes to get there. 20 minutes, and 4 dollars (a piece) later we arrived at the zoo. We had not planned to spend an entire day there, but in the end it was so far away and so large that it took us about 6 hours to make our way around the whole thing and we had a great time!

If you can't tell we are in front of the penguins...


I love elephants! They looked like they were having so much fun.


Noah's Ark. The other group we passed in the zoo totally hyped this up for some reason, but basically you just walk through it. Oh well, still cool...

Kangaroo pose.
This next set of pictures is simply called "waiting for our taxi to arrive."

You Know You Have Been to BYU Jerusalem When...

I stole this list from Trisha.

You know you have been to the BYU-Jerusalem Center when...

You think it is normal to wear geenie pants to class.
You have to read the bible dictionary to understand peoples jokes.
You think of the Hard Rock cafe, and the song YMCA comes to mind.
It is second nature to walk into a building and automatically hand your bag to the man standing next to the door.
You walk into a shop and expect to hear, "We love you Mormons!"
You think of marriage proposals in terms of how many camels they are willing to pay.
You think of Egypt and run to the bathroom.
It is second nature to bring a roll of toilet paper with you everywhere you go.
You think going on Facebook is a big deal!
You get excited when there is no dill in your dinner.
At dinner time all you can talk about is other food.
The names Rita and Shabban mean something to you.
You feel naked without your water bottle... and fanny pack!
Giving a hug seems to be breaking the law of chastity.
You can openly talk about bowel movements with the people around you.
It is a sin to wear flip flops.
One set of stairs seems like no big deal.
You can say you have fallen asleep on a structure more than 3000 years old.
You sing a song in Hebrew and everyone joins in.
Waking up at 7:00 is sleeping in.
Talking about scabies is normal in dinner conversation.
You have to be protected from the pope.
It seems natural to have armed men accompany you on a field trip.
Wearing capris is immodest.
You avoid the Allen's when you sneak food out of the Oasis.
The word Oasis makes you hungry.

Shephelah and Egyptian Party

This past week we went on a "Shephelah" field trip and to be honest I really don't remember what Shephelah means, but we had a great time visiting Lachish, Beth Shemesh, the valley of Elah, Azekah, and Marashah. We threw rocks with slings, did a little spelunking, and got dirty!

Slinging a stone in the valley of Elah. I can't see how anyone could even throw a stone reasonably hard with a sling, let alone throw it hard enough and accurate enough to knock out a giant!
In the Bell caves

This is a view from Tel-Lachish.

Before we went to Egypt, we were told that we would be having an Egyptian costume contest/dance party when we got back so while we were in Egypt everyone found sweet costumes and we had a great party!!

Jessica, Jonah and me taking a break from dancing.
Dancing in the Oasis!
Jenna, Me and Rachel at the dance!

Me, Calli and Jenna. I wish I had bought a cool outfit in Egypt, but sadly I didn't so I improvised with the genie pants and the scarf.
Me and Calli