Finals Frenzy

Ok this came from Lisa, but this is a great description of the chaos that we call finals week!

This post is pictureless, because these words will paint the picture at the Center that a camera could never capture. Imagine this: (but don't close your eyes, because you need to keep reading...)79 highly intelligent people (or at least 60) all in the same building, all competing for grades in the same classes, all taking 5 finals in one week- finals which are not like normal hard tests where success is possible if you study long and hard, but the kind where you have no idea what is going to be on the test and it will be impossible no matter how long you study, but you study anyway, for hours, because you have to keep your grades up for Med school or Law school or because your parents still care or because you need to get into the nursing program or because you're a perfectionist or whatever.In this situation there are several ways to react, and we've seen everything.
There are people bartering study guides based on how long it took them to make it, with vows to not share it with anyone.
There are people singing hymns at the top of their lungs in the study rooms, and people outside of the study rooms getting angry.
There are people crying like I've never seen before.
There has been a lot of hypervenilating.
Everyone is gaining weight because the intake of pita and peanut butter has at least doubled.
Some girls made a music video in the midst of all the studiers.
A list of countries bordering the Red Sea, Dead Sea, and Persain Gulf was erased from the board when we walked in with the explanation "I'm not allowed to share that with anyone; I got it from someone else and she'll kill me if I share it."
At the Old Testament review the tear filled question was asked "IS IT ACTUALLY POSSIBLE TO SUCCEED?"
Russell turned 25 today and is begging everyone to go get gelato with him, but no one will.
Ilike2learn.com is the most visited website of the week as everyone tries to learn the countries and capitals of the Middle East by playing matching games.
The dinner conversation is: "Tell me the 2 mountain ranges in Iran." "No. I'm not talking about that right now." "Okay, then let me tell you a joke... What's the capital of Lebanon?" "That's not a joke Brent!"
The tension in the building is escalating by the minute. Anyone who is not stressed out is shunned and yelled at for being happy. Jokes have to be used very sparingly and only with other non-stressed individuals when not in the presence of the temporary psycho-paths.

Jordan

Finally my post for Jordan is ready! The past few days have been crazy because we have all been studying for finals, but I finally got it done.

Jordan was great! We visited Petra, Jarash, the Jordan River, a crusader castle, Amman and saw some amazing things! The people were great and I loved the cities that we stayed in. I didn't quite know what to expect on this trip because I didn't know very much about Jordan previous to going there, but now I am a huge fan and would love to go back.

Me and Rachel at Mt. Nebo. This is where Moses saw a view of the Holy Land although he would never make it there. This is also where many people believe Moses was buried. Of course we know that's not true...
Greek Orthodox Church of Madaba with a mosaic floor map
Shobak Crusader Castle


Treasury at Petra! So Amazing!

Petra Monastery
The View of the End of the world!
This is the Ancient Roman city of Jarash. This street is called the cardot.




It was pretty hot at Jarash so we took turns soaking each other.
WE LOVE JORDAN!
Royal Automobile Museum

Waiting outside the museum. Whenever we have free time and a camera, there are inevitably a lot of random pictures.

Cool mosque we found while wandering around Amman

We visited the King Hussein mosque in Amman and all the girls had to put these robes on to cover our heads and arms.



Jordan River
Kristi and Me in the Jordan

Dormition Abbey, Mt. Zion and the Old City

This past Sunday, Emily, Amy and I walked all over the city, but our main destinations included Dormition Abbey and Mt. Zion. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the Old City. I know that I post a lot of pictures of the old city, but we spend so much time there and I love it so much!

Shaban's shop! Shaban treats us Mormons very well. We stopped by his store to get directions for the rest of the day.
Shaban, Me, and Emily
Just outside the Old City walls
Inside Dormition Abbey
Dormition Abbey was built just outside the Old City walls near Mt. Zion on a site that tradition claims as the place where Mary fell into an eternal sleep.


Dormition Abbey
This is my attempt to be artistic... The reflection is Dormition Abbey.
King David's Statue

While we were on Mt. Zion, we visited a small Holocaust memorial museum. The picture above shows bloodstained Torah scrolls that were recovered from the Holocaust.
"The Tomb of Our Brothers"
Jewish Quarter of the Old City


Jerusalem Center

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

We made this music video on our field trip this past week. Ever since we released this video, music videos have been on the rise in the JC so there will probably be more in the future :)

"I Hear Jerusalem Bells A Ringin'..."

Our free day this week consisted of many different activities, but the highlight of the day was definitely playing the bells at the YMCA. Brother Whipple has the responsibility of going to the YMCA every Sunday and playing the bells from 11:30-12:00 and he usually takes several students with him to help play. It was amazing to play a song and realize that it was echoing over the whole city for thousands of people to hear!! What made it even better was that I played one of my favorite hymns, "Nearer My God to Thee." What a cool experience! It made me think of the song "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay when it says "I hear Jerusalem bells a ringin'..." I got to play those bells!

Before and after playing the bells, we spent a lot of time wandering around the city so I put up a few pics I took along the way as well...

Spices Store

Little kids swimming in a fountain

This is the tower that I played the bells from!!

These are the bells I played! So cool!

This is the hill we have to hike up every time we go to the city. It's not very fun when it is burning hot and you are exhausted, but we still love it.