Geography Field Trip

Today we went on our first of many field trips! It was a geography field trip so we basically drove around the city and looked at the geography from different points. I can only upload a few pictures because the Jerusalem Center has limited bandwith but here they are!

This picture was taken from a ridge on the south side of Jerusalem. These are the shepherds' fields, where shepherds roamed during Jesus' times. Beyond that far on the horizon you can see the town of Bethlehem.

I am sitting right in front of the city of Jerusalem. It is actually right above my head. To the right of me is the West Bank, a Palestinian area, and to the right are Israeli areas. The Israelis have built a wall around the city to prevent the Palestinians from entering Jerusalem. At first I opposed this idea, but our professor pointed out that the wall could be part of the reason the Jerusalem Center was able to reopen. After the wall was built, terrorist activities in the city decreased significantly.

While we stopped at this lookout spot, I turned to walk across the way and almost ran into this camel! It was just sitting right behind our class hanging out. I took advantage of the photo op. Supposedly, we can ride a camel in Egypt! I'm wondering how that'll go as I'm still haunted by the horses I rode at our dude ranch family reunion a few years ago...

This is a great shot (if I do say so myself) of the Dome of the Rock. It was built by the Muslims in 638 AD. You can also see the city wall and a Muslim cemetary right below.

This is a shot of our view from the Jerusalem Center. You can see the Palestinian neighborhoods around us and the Dome of the Rock in the distance.

I better go study, but there's my little update! I had a wonderful experience today in a German chapel, Augusta Victoria. It had awesome acoustics so we all got up there and sang hymns (I mostly lip synced so I wouldn't ruin the sound!). We were singing "There Is a Green Hill Far Away" and I just realized I'm there! It is so awesome to learn the scriptures and the history and then go see the exact spot where those things occured. I feel so close to my Savior as I learn of Him and His life here.

Thanks for reading! I love you guys! I'll try to keep it up, although we're pretty busy here. Oh one weird thing. We celebrate the Sabbath on Saturdays here! So tomorrow is the Sabbath for me. This is probably the only time that I will take the sacrament twice in six days! It'll feel weird to have class and activities on Sunday, but that's what they have to do here!

Goodnight everyone!

Welcome to the blog...

Hey guys!

I thought some of you might be bored enough to read about my experiences in Jerusalem so I started this blog. I just arrived in Jerusalem yesterday. The flights actually went by quickly and I got to meet a bunch of my classmates on the way. I got up at 2:45 on Tueday morning and arrived in Tel Aviv Wednesday afternoon at 3:00.
I sat by one lovely woman from Bosnia. At first I was a little annoyed because for some reason I think she thought she had purchased two seats on the flight. Her feet seemed to follow mine, like a creep playing footsie. One time she actually pushed them diagonally across the two seats in front of us. Then she kept finding a way to elbow me every five minutes. The funniest thing was she didn't seem to even notice! I pulled out my journal and she stared over at my pictures. We shared memories with each other, although she only spoke a few words of English. As I leaned forward to fall asleep, this woman started rubbing my back. It was so tender! She ended up making that flight quite enjoyable.
We got into Tel Aviv and then drove up to the Jerusalem Center. We had some meetings and moved into our rooms. Today we had our first few classes and went on a walking tour of Jerusalem. This city is so different from anywhere I've ever been. It has so much culture, conflict, and history. We walked along the city wall, into the Palestinian side, past the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and down into the Israeli area. I have so much to learn about the different sides of the conflict and the history.
The Jerusalem Center is so beautiful and huge! Our rooms are connected by a little terrace and then we each have a big patio through the back door. From there we can see all of the Old City- the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock, the city gates, etc. I'll take a picture from there soon to show you. I'm so excited to learn about the history or my Savior and then actually see the places where the events occured. This is such an amazing opportunity. I'll try to get some more pictures up here soon.
Here's a picture of where I'm living for the next two months! Thanks for reading. Sorry it was kinda random and boring. I'm sure I'll have some crazy stories soon! I love you guys!

Allie

Pictures....

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading all about my adventures in the Dominican Republic! I'm home now just relaxing with the family and friends. Here's a slideshow of my favorite pictures. I hope you enjoy it! Love, Allie

Pictures....

Hey everyone! Thanks for reading all about my adventures in the Dominican Republic! I'm home now just relaxing with the family and friends. Here's a slideshow of my favorite pictures. I hope you enjoy it! Love, Allie

Mommy don't be mad.....

My experience in the Dominican Republic is now complete. Today I rode a motoconcho (motorcycle)! It was AMAZING. My mom is probably either yelling at the computer right now or searching for her cell phone so that she can leave me a nasty voicemail. I'm not going to lie half of the excitement of riding that motorcycle came from feeling so rebellious and picturing her reaction. I wasn't planning on riding one; the opportunity just arose and I took advantage! I needed to get money out of our hotel safe and we're always at camp when the office is open. So I talked to the director and he was like just go with our employee, Fermin, during a period. I went down to the camp office and the director handed me a helmet. I was like wait a second... motoconcho? I hesitated for a second, especially when I looked down and realized I was wearing a skirt, but then I was like hey when in Rome... I jumped on the back with Fermin and we were off! At first I was scared out of my mind. My sweaty hands were wrapped like claws on Fermin's shoulders as we bumped around on the dirt road. I felt so utterly Dominican. My braids were blowing in the wind, my heart was racing, and I had a fatty smile on my face. On the way over, one of his other little motoconcho buddies even pulled along side us and they had a cute little conversation as they drove! I got to the hotel and the office wasn't even open but I didn't care. When we were driving back he yelled over his shoulder and asked if I wanted to go faster. I decided I might as well enjoy this motorcycle ride because it would probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. I felt so brave as we picked up speed on the main road. Sorry Mom you may be livid but it was totally worth it!

Mommy don't be mad.....

My experience in the Dominican Republic is now complete. Today I rode a motoconcho (motorcycle)! It was AMAZING. My mom is probably either yelling at the computer right now or searching for her cell phone so that she can leave me a nasty voicemail. I'm not going to lie half of the excitement of riding that motorcycle came from feeling so rebellious and picturing her reaction. I wasn't planning on riding one; the opportunity just arose and I took advantage! I needed to get money out of our hotel safe and we're always at camp when the office is open. So I talked to the director and he was like just go with our employee, Fermin, during a period. I went down to the camp office and the director handed me a helmet. I was like wait a second... motoconcho? I hesitated for a second, especially when I looked down and realized I was wearing a skirt, but then I was like hey when in Rome... I jumped on the back with Fermin and we were off! At first I was scared out of my mind. My sweaty hands were wrapped like claws on Fermin's shoulders as we bumped around on the dirt road. I felt so utterly Dominican. My braids were blowing in the wind, my heart was racing, and I had a fatty smile on my face. On the way over, one of his other little motoconcho buddies even pulled along side us and they had a cute little conversation as they drove! I got to the hotel and the office wasn't even open but I didn't care. When we were driving back he yelled over his shoulder and asked if I wanted to go faster. I decided I might as well enjoy this motorcycle ride because it would probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. I felt so brave as we picked up speed on the main road. Sorry Mom you may be livid but it was totally worth it!