Weekly Update :)

What a week it’s been!  Between studying and taking for 3 midterms plus staying on top of all the other assignments and pop quizzes let’s just say I’m happy it’s the Sabbath :)  Haha it’s been a good week though because there is always time for study break adventures to get out of the Center and into the city!

Sunday we went to Eilat for the day.  It was a long day starting at 5:00 am for breakfast and getting back to the center at 9:00 pm but it was so worth it.  I snorkeled in the Red Sea which was actually really fun!  My snorkeling experience the second time was much better than the first which was good.  Also the Red Sea is the most amazing blue color I have ever seen!!!  It was beautiful. 

Monday we had a field trip to the Shephelah which is where the David and Goliath story stakes place.  While we adventured around different sites in the Shephelah we made a stop at Maresha which is translated Marisa….just spelled wrong.  The ironic thing is that Maresha was a popular place to breed birds for sacrifices.  So we visited the “bird hotel” (really just a breeding cave underground) that they had for all these birds.  So glad that the one place that is named after me is represented by birds.  Haha!  

Tuesday=2 tests (not much to report on this day other than I survived)

Wednesday I went to Zedikiah’s Cave.  The cave goes under the old city which was cool and it is known as the place where they got the stone to build the temple.  Afterwards we walked through the Rockefeller Museum on our way back to the Center and while we were there saw a movie being filmed.  

Thursday was a long day of studying for another test but luckily we took a quick trip to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension.  They had beautiful gardens!  That afternoon there was also Sedar song practices in preparation for our upcoming Sedar meal this Wednesday which I am really excited for.

Friday was so great…after I finished my test!  We walked to Damascus gate and walked through the Old City down to Dung Gate and my goodness what an adventure that was.  Because of Ramadan there were so many people in the Old City coming from worship in the mosque and to buy food to eat after sunset.  It was literally body to body the whole time we were walking through the Muslim quarters plus we were definitely going against the sea of people which just added to the adventure.  It was so interesting though!  We made our way over to St. Peter’s Church were it is believed that Peter denied Christ and where Christ was whipped.  It was a nice church too.  While we were there there was a big group of Africans from Angola who were worshiping though song and dance.  It made me so happy watching and listening to them!  What a happy group of people.  We made our way back through the Old City again and made it back to the Center in record time even with the masses of people in the alley ways.  What an adventure!  That night we learned Israeli dances which was fun.  I have really enjoyed learning all the different cultures way of dancing.  It is quite the party!

While we were making our way through the Old City yesterday with SO many people all around us Hailey made this really cool connection to the scriptures that I want to share.  She was like back in Christ’s time the city was probably still like that with lot of people.  Isn’t it amazing to think of the significance now of how Christ felt someone touch Him?  She was talking about the story of the women with the issue of blood.  It is no wonder that His disciples questioned Him when He paused and asked who touched Him.  For me personally it is a witness to me of how aware Christ is of each of us!  Also yesterday there were a significant amount of people on the sides of the alleyways and out and about in the city that were disabled.  It was the most that I have seen since being here.  It made me stop and think again of how Christ’s individual one by one approach is so significant.  He took the time to seek and help out the one even with multitudes of chaos surrounding Him.  His love is infinite, individual, and intimate.