Mount of Olives

Salutations from the Mount of Olives!

So the JC (the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies) is located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The other day, we had an afternoon without classes, so a group of us went to visit several of the churches that are near us on the Mount of Olives, as many of them are not open on Sundays (which is our free day).

Our first stop was the Russian Orthodox church of the Ascension, commemorating the ascension of Jesus Christ after he was resurrected. 

The sign entering the church area...

beautiful olive trees all over this country--and especially on the Mount of Olives ;-)

the tower in the background can be seen from all over

lovely.

outside the actual church...

KC and myself in front of the church :-)

Me and Jen inside the church

beautiful artwork :-)

We couldn't climb the tower, but it was fun to get up close... you can see this tower from anywhere in the city (and beyond).

the view from the church :-)

We then headed down the hill to some lower churches...

This was over a fence that was laced with barbed wire as we were walking down the hill... I thought the barbed wire made a cool picture...

sometimes I try to be artsy...

and again...

Our next stop was the church of Dominus Flevit, which I believe represents the tears of Jesus Christ when he was in the garden of Gethsemane (the church is shaped like a tear drop)...

the entrance sign...

Romeo and Me outside of the tear-shaped church of Dominus Flevit

The church...

Me and Jeff overlooking the city from Dominus Flevit

Sarah and Me--the church of Mary Magdalene (our next stop) is behind us

We then headed to the Church of Mary Magdalene, which is also Russian Orthodox...

Romeo and myself on the path leading up to the church

The church :-)

Spencer (left) and Mikkel, aka "Shoulders"(right) in front of the church

Me and Romeo 

Eden and Myself with the Dome of the Rock behind us

I just love this building...

Our group hanging out beneath the church...

:-)

A few of us then went into the city to exchange some money in preparation for our upcoming trip to Turkey, and we also stopped for lunch :-)

So Nikki is hilarious. She ate this really spicy hot pepper and in order to calm her mouth, she just held a piece of pita bread to her tongue to "soak up" the spice...

poor Nikki...

Spencer and I ate half a chicken... random?

Anne, Mitchell, and Nikki with their "burgers" (hamburger = meat of questionable origin inside a pita with some Arabic salad and a side of french fries)...

It was a great afternoon!

-E