Last Week Field Trip (part 1)

Hello Again!

So I already wrote this post. and then it deleted itself. so I don't really feel like re-writing it, but I'm going to anyway... :-) On our last week in Jerusalem, we went on two field trips to commemorate the last week of Jesus' life. It was a really neat experience, and a great way to end our four months in the Holy Land!

Our first stop was Lazarus' tomb in Bethany. (the biblical account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead can be found in John 11)

This is the church in Bethany--we were lucky enough to get there during a church service :-)

The outside of the church in Bethany

sitting outside the church in Bethany...

Next, we went to the church of Bethphage. This is the traditional place where Jesus mounted the donkey for his triumphal entry (Matthew 21)

this painting in the church represents Jesus' triumphal entry starting at Bethphage

This rock is the traditional spot where Jesus mounted the donkey

Bethphage is right next to Bethany, but they are divided by the separation wall because Bethany is in the West Bank.

Then I gave Paige my camera, and this is what I found...

and this...

and of course, this.

aaaaand this too.

and finally, this. 

Here is proof of me getting around as a cripple in the Holy Land...

charge!!! (one time I yelled that and Sarah who was pushing my wheelchair fell flat on her face as she went to "charge")

Next, we went to Pater Noster church

Kari, Spencer, Hunter, Kara, Lindsay, and Jacob outside of Pater Noster church

Jenessa playing around with my crutches

this sign tells me "do not smoke the flowers in this spot."

So Pater Noster church commemorates a few things, one of which is the Lord's prayer, which is represented all over the church in different languages :-)

Kara hugging The Lord's Prayer in Fijian (she is going on her mission to Figi)

Hebrew and English Brail versions of the Lord's Prayer

Emily stopping to smell the roses :-)

and then there was a steep hill, so this is what we did :-)

isn't Nikki a stylish babe?!

The church of Dominus Flevitt, which commemorates the Lord weeping over the city of Jerusalem

Katie with the city of Jerusalem in front of her

cousins :-)

taking these pictures never gets old...

and then there was another hill...

then we had lunch at the Orson Hyde Garden

Next, we went to the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

these steps may or may not have been around since Jesus' day...

this statue (and church) commemorates Peter's denial of Christ (see the end of Luke 22) 

This is the Cenacle/Upper Room which is the traditional spot of the Last Supper

Our final stop of the day was Dormition Abbey--which I have posted about before--and it commemorates the "falling asleep" of Mary the mother of Jesus.

So there's the end of part 1! :-)

-E

Happy Birthday Professor Stratford!

Happy Birthday Stratford!!!

So on one of our last Friday nights (maybe our last one...I don't remember...) we threw a birthday party for Professor Stratford. Stratford decided to assign a costume to each of the guys in our group (girls could choose what they wanted to dress up as, because in Stratford's words "we only objectify men here.") and we created costumes out of our collective wardrobes :-)

The group dressed up: (top row) Nacho Libre, Draco Malfoy, Happy clown, Smokey the Bear, dairy cow, Sawyer Barrett as Himself, Emperor Kuzko, Kronk, Elder Pearson (Matt's dad), Toucan Sam, Dwight and Angela from The Office, (middle) Professor Stratford and Professor Stratford, (bottom) Justin Bieber, Cowboy, David Cassidy, trained monkey, Justin Timberlake, Lebron James, Wolverine, Romeo, (front) Sad clown.

We set up a little catwalk and had a great runway show :-) It was pretty much the best and most EPIC night ever.

Toucan Sam (Tye), Kronk (Mikkel), and Wolverine (Preston)

Justin Bieber and groupies

Stratford assigned Ben to dress up as one of the trained monkeys, but instead, Ben borrowed some of Stratford's things from Sister Stratford, and came dressed as Ed. :-)

Stratford and his clowns--look how happy our wonderful professor is! 

The Sad and happy clowns--my favorite!

So this is possibly one of my favorite memories of Jerusalem. Hunter was running late for the party-- he was booking it up the stairs (in his full clown attire as pictured) As he reached the top of the stairs, he literally bumped into President Uchtdorf (who was staying at the JC over the weekend). This was the  exchange:

President Uchtdorf: You're a clown.

Hunter: Yes sir, I am.

President Uchtdorf: this is for a party tonight?

Hunter: yes, we are throwing a birthday party for our professor

President Uchtdorf: and how old is he?

Hunter: umm 45?

President Uchtdorf: I see...

and then Hunter quickly left and arrived at the party :-)

Ann dressed up as an old lady ;-)

Me and Romeo :-)

Nachooooooo (and Rachel, who is either homeless or someone from The Ring or something... haha)

Nikki didn't really dress up much...you think I'm kidding, but I'm not...

Professor and Sister Stratford shared a dance in front of everyone--it was pretty cute :-)

with two of my favorite people--I seriously love the Stratford family so much!

It was so much fun and I think Stratford had a great birthday!

-E

Last Free Day!

Shalom!

So on our last free day in Jerusalem, I went with a few friends to the Knesset (government building), the Supreme Court, and the Israel Museum. It was a wonderful day--even if a few things went a bit wrong... 

Our first stop was the Knesset--the Israeli government building. We planned to get there for an 8:30am English speaking tour. However, when we arrived, we were told that the building was unexpectedly closed due to demonstrations down the street...

So...It was pouring rain...the Knesset was closed...we had at least 2 hours until anything close to us was open...and as you can see, Taylor was not thrilled... haha ;-)

The Knesset (that we were unable to take a tour of)

Also, as we were walking (we were trying to figure out where to go and we decided to try and go to the Israel museum early--it opened at 10am) Katie's water bottle broke...Needless to say it was a rough morning all around...

We ended up going to the Bible Lands Museum which is next to the Israel Museum...Some nice man let us in, even though the museum was not open yet, so we were able to hang out in the dry and warm and not-rainy building for an hour or so :-)

Then we headed next door to the Israel Museum to check out the art exhibits. It was great! My favorite was the Jackson Pollock, but there were pieces from all the "major" artists--it was great!

Then we were able to go to a 12:30 English speaking tour at the Supreme Court building--I was really glad we did this, it was so neat!

 

The tour discussed the architecture of the building and the judicial system of the state of Israel. (this was our guide)

This is the entry way of the building. It has elements of the "old" and the "new" (the Jerusalem limestone on the right and the modern style on the left)

Katie, Taylor, Me, and Jen in one of the court rooms

Myself and Katie in the courtyard area outside the supreme court

Sarah, Katie, Me, and Jen

Then we waited in the freezing cold for an hour or so for a van to pick us up...Lexie enjoyed her very messy peanut butter pitas while we waited...

Overall, I had a great time! 

-E

Jerusalem Sunset Club

Greetings!

One of the great things about the Jerusalem Center is the view. Towards the end of the trip, a group of us got together to watch the sunset after dinner. It was really great :-)

The Jerusalem Sunset Club

I love Jerusalem!!!

I know this is a short post. Oh well... Memory recorded. ;-)

-E