Halloween...a little late...and other updates

I know it's almost Thanksgiving, but my only exciting recent news is from Halloween, so I thought I'd share. Working at an elementary school I really got to celebrate Halloween much more than I have in past years (probably since I was in elementary school). I dressed up as a witch for three days in a row and decorated my room with bats and a ghost hanging from the ceiling, and had a witch made out of my easel and a cauldron made out of one of my drums. I sang Halloween songs with the students and played a few games with them. We finished by dancing to/acting out a classical piece of music called Danse Macabre, by Camille Saint-Saens. The music tells the story of death personified coming into a graveyard and calling the Halloween creatures to dance with him. The kids loved it. However, I didn't only dress up as a witch. On Halloween itself, I also was a composer, to tie in with the fact that I'm a music teacher, for the school costume parade. (Think Elizabeth Swan from Pirates of the Carribean, and that's about right--I actually was Mozart's sister Nannerl) The students had no idea who I was, but the loved the fact that I looked "beautiful".
I went to a party that night with some friends dressed up that way as well. I helped a friend put green food coloring and egg whites in a wig for his joker costume. Mom also made him a vest from a green shirt. I would have to say he looked pretty authentic. I don't always love Halloween, but this was a pretty good year. Besides the Halloween excitement, I really haven't done much but teach every day. I do love my job though, and it's never boring, but I still don't have much to share with everyone in terms of things happening in my life.

Merilee--as The Candy cane from CandyLand, Isaac--as the Joker, and me--as Nannerl Mozart (or some 1700's character)

On to Thanksgiving thoughts. I'm extremely grateful for the five day break this week. I have my choir concert (with my three choirs) coming up on December 10th and I don't feel anywhere ready. I'm grateful for my home in Heber. I'm still trying to figure out housing for next semester. I was planning on moving to Provo in January. Well...those plans have fallen through, so I am back to square one in looking for housing. I might end up staying at home or paying a lot more for housing than I would like to pay, but I know everything will work out eventually.

Changes

I know it's been a few months since I wrote anything, but I haven't felt like my life has been quite as exciting since the last time I wrote. Also, I don't have access to a fast internet connection, so posting pictures is going to be rather difficult, but I wanted to let people know what is happening in my life. Since I got home from the Holy Land I have been focusing on teaching. School started for me the middle of August, which has kept me more than busy. I am living in Heber and driving to Provo every day. The past few weeks the leaves have been absolutely beautiful. I'm sure the snow and ice will distract from the beauty of Provo Canyon here very soon, but for the time being, I love the drive.
I absolutely love teaching, but I come home exhausted every day. I am the music specialist, and have Kindergarten through 6th grade. My biggest challenges are Kindergarten (with 29 students in a class who have never gone to school before, don't know how to make a line, etc.) and 6th grade (who have forgotten how to be respectful, and require just as much attention as the kindergarten students). It really is a lot of fun for me though. That is what I do every day, but the great thing is that every day is different. I have a super hero theme for my room, and it has been so much fun to implement that theme into management and little things I do with the students.
I have started making dinner with some friends down in Provo three nights a week and I also attend institute in Provo a different night, so I am spending more time in Provo than in Heber recently. Mostly because there really isn't anyone our age who lives in Heber right now, so any socializing has to be done elsewhere. It makes for late nights driving the canyon. I'm still figuring out the best schedule for myself--but it will all work out eventually.
On a good note, I had my first good experience with 6th graders this week. It was so exciting. We are working on Winter songs for our concert in December, and the 6th graders were not exciting to sing this song, and everything has been chaotic. I was been super strict with them trying to get them to behave, but I had to do something to get them excited. I found a copy of the song we are singing on iTunes, but they only had it in spanish, and we are singing it in english. I got it anyway. It is a pretty fast song, and I gave them the music and told them to follow along as best as they could. It was going so fast, they didn't have time to think about misbehaving, and they fell in love with the song. I know every day I won't be able to do this, but it was a great start, and it made me really happy to have one good day with them.

Ode to the Blue Fanny Pack

Since getting home I have had a few people comment about the blue fanny pack that I am wearing in a majority of my pictures. I thought I would give a little explanation. We had to wear headsets on all of our field trips, and the blue fanny pack is what the headset came it. However, it also came in handy when needing something to carry other things in as well, because it wasn't very safe to wear a backpack because pickpockets could easily slice the bottom with a razor. Keeping things in pockets/purses wasn't especially safe either. It was best to carry it in front of you. Here is a list of things that I frequently carried with me, and needed close at hand: Water bottle, hand sanitizer (Egypt and Jordan), toilet paper (again, Egypt and Jordan), sunglasses, my id card and key, hymn book, sunscreen, flashlight, pen, guide book, notebook, etc.
Even though the blue fanny pack wasn't the most attractive attition to my wardrobe, I definitely appreciated it. And, all the people in the Old City knew who we were when we wore it (they knew who we were when we didn't wear it.)
Wearing the blue fanny pack was an integral part of my Jerusalem Center experience.

Final Finals

I just had to write a happy note saying that I just finished with all of my undergraduate finals! I definitely had a different school experience here than I have ever had. It is all about balance, and I'm happy because I feel like I have done a pretty good job. We are going to Bethany in a few minutes, and then we have our "final week of the Savior's life" field trip tomorrow and one free day on Wednesday to spend time in the Old City. I fly home early, early Thursday morning. I feel like I just barely got to Jerusalem and in a couple of days I will be going home. It is an experience I will never forget.

Jordan

The Treasury...home of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

This is really just a face of a tomb

(Becky, Danny, Emily)

This donkey ride made me appreciate Mary traveling nine months pregnant. It was not a gentle ride. We all felt like we had to hang on for dear life.

Learning to barter starts young. This little girl untied the goat when we walked past and came out and posed with it. She was darling, but then she started asking everyone for "One Dollar" just for taking her picture. It was hilarious. One of the other girls did give her a dollar just for being so cute.

The Monastery

Petra is full of these facades. There are probably 30 of them carved into the cliffs.

Jordanian musicians

This is part of their military service.

These are retired military men who played for us at Jerash.

Similar musicians played for us as we arrived at our hotel in Petra.

One of the buildings in Jerash. This was probably my favorite city of ruins.

(Emily, Moriah)

(Becky, Moriah, Nikki, Emily)

My scarf wasn't long enough to go around my head at this mosque, so I just wore a hooded robe. In this mosque we got to aldo go to the women's mosque and meet with a lady there. We had to be covered from head to ankle, but it was okay to have bare feet. Interesting, huh?





The Jordan river--probably where Christ came to be baptized by John the Baptist. (Also the dividing line between Jordan and Israel)

I am coming home on Thursday. Everything is moving so quickly that I don't feel like I have enough time to do everything. We have our finals on Monday. Somehow or another I will find time to study for them.
This last week we went to Jordan for four days. We left early Sunday morning, but spent several hours at the border crossing. It really is a huge ordeal. They went through each of our passports two, and sometimes three times. It was worth it though. We went to Petra and saw one of the seven wonders of the world. I felt like I should have been hiking in the deserts in Utah, but as we came out of one of the canyons, it was the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but in real life. I don't know if my pictures will do it justice. We only stayed in Petra from one night, and then traveled to Amman, where we were welcomed to the hotel by a special performance of some of the military men in Jordan--playing the bagpipes and drums, singing, and doing a traditional dance. We all felt like they were very excited to have us there. Our hotel definitely did all they could to cater to having a group of Americans stay there, including making pizzas for everyone. In Egypt and Jordan we had to be so careful about what we ate, that this small gesture meant a lot. (Even though I could eat very much because of the tomatoes.)
We got back from Jordan on Wednesday, and we have been running ever since. We all feel like we still have so much to do, and the time crunch is pressing in on us. I did get to go to a presentation at teh Bible Lands Museum on Wednesday night about music in the Ancient Near East. We went to the museum, and were informed about it just a few minutes before the presentation was supposed to start. It seems to have been fate. I loved it. However, my favorite thing this week was walking around the ramparts of the Old City. It was a beautiful view, but mostly it gave me the opportunity to watch the people who actually live in the city. We have been going so quickly, and have been gone so much, that we haven't had a lot of opportunities to meet and talk with the people who live here. That is one thing that the students who are here for four months get to do a lot more of. We walked a group of children playing soccer. I love that children are children, no matter where they are in the world.
Last night we went to a synagogue to welcome in Shabbat. We took prayer books with us so that we would know what was happening. I was lucky enough to be able to sit by a woman who explained alot of the service as we went, and since we had transliteration of the Hebrew, I was able to sing along with several of the songs. I am amazed to see how much truth there is all around me, as long as I keep my eyes open for it. If there is anything that has happened this trip, it has been the opening of my eyes to see people in a different light and with more curiosity to really know who they are and what they stand for.
Well, I will be flying home on Thursday. I have so much to do before then!

Bodies of Water

Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Banias River, Dan River, Jordan River (In other words, lots of water)

A view from Ceasarea Maritima
This is where Paul met with Agrippa, and almost persuaded him to be a Christian.

Banias River--one of the tributaries to the Jordan river. (This area is also called Caesarea Philipi, where Peter responded to the Savior's query "Whom do ye say that I am?" Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

Nimrod's Castle in the Golan Heights

Sunset over the Sea of Galilee on the beach at Ein Gev, where we stayed for 10 days.

The Church of St. Peter's Primacy
This church was built where they thought the Savior ate with the apostles after he had been resurrected. It was near here that the Savior asked Peter "Lovest thou me?

Capernum--This modern church is built over Peter's house in Capernum (Actually built over it with glass, so you can still see underneath it) Peter's house functioned as a house church and as the church's first headquarters. Behind me is the Capernum synagogue, where Christ taught.

Bet Shean--a very Hellenized city. It looked like I was in Greece, but very fascinating.

The Chapel in Tiberias
This is the only dedicated chapel in all of the Holy Land (Besides the Jerusalem Center)
Notice how it doesn't look at all like a chapel? That's because the church is not meant to look like a chapel--it is meant to blend in. Visitors are not welcome because the First Presidency signed an agreement that the church would not proseletyze in the Holy Land. This church has a magnificent view over the Sea of Galilee. If the Savior were alive today, this is the branch that he would atend.

The Jordan River
While we were there, we saw four different baptisms. It was fascinating to watch how each of them were different. I am so thankful for truth.

Caravansari
The upper rooms were where the merchants/travelers stayed. The bottom was for all of the animals.

Lindsey, Kevin, and I became close friends in Galilee
(From having similar problems!)

Sheep among the olive trees outside of the Jerusalem Center.

On top of Masada lookin out toward the Dead Sea

Casemate walls of Masada looking toward the opposite cliff

Bobbing the the Dead Sea (You don't swim, just float there)

Me and one of my roommates, Kelly at the Ein Gedi Nature perserve. David hid in this area with his 400 soldiers while Saul was trying to kill him. This spring was an absolutely beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert.

Qumran--The caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.
(something weird happened with the camera)

The Garden Tomb

The private Garden of Gethsemane
The public garden has a fence all around it, but there is a Palestinian man who lets the "Mormon Students" come into his garden across the street so we can sit quietly and study there. I am continually amazed at the kindness of the people here. I know that a lot of students have paved the way for those of us who are here now to have experiences like this.

It's been two weeks since I last wrote because we were in Galilee for ten days, and didn't have access to a computer. I have definitely had some unforgettable experiences. I don't know if I can share the extent of it all because so much has happened, and because I don't have a lot of time. We are leaving for Jordan tomorrow and I still need to put some things together. I'll do my best to try to share some of the feelings that I have had, and I might have to wait to share the stories for when I get home.

We left Jerusalem on May 25th. We never just drive somewhere, but always stop and see things along the way. We saw Megiddo, Caesarea Maritima, Nazareth, and Sepphoris before arriving at Ein Gev, the Kibbutz we stayed at on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. While in Nazareth I really felt a connection with Mary. Nazareth is not a small town anymore, but as I sat in St. Joseph's church (there are five church built within a few blocks of each other that all claim some part of the story of Christ's birth) I started to realize how much the Lord must have trusted and loved Mary. It got me thinking about who she was and how she must have felt, and then I realized that Heavenly Father loves all of his daughters just as much as he loved Mary, and he has specific task for each of us to do, just as he had a special task for Mary to do.
We spent time in Galilee actually in a boat crossing the sea and we talked about the miracles that happened on the water--the calming of the storm and Peter walking on the water. The Savior allows our faith to be tried, and even though he is right there in the boat with us, or coming toward us, we have to have the necessary faith.
After getting back from Galilee we went to the Dead Sea and surrounding areas. The beauty of the desert was incomparable. I think for seeing the landscape, this has to be one of my favorite days so far. I wish I could share more, but I am running out of time. I will probably have one more post next Shabbat before I come home. This experience has helped change the scriptures from black and white to colored stories in real places. But even as amazing as it has all been, I am constantly reminded that it is not the places that create the testimony. It is the spirit that can be felt anywhere. In fact, some of my best moments have been sitting at the desk in my room here in the Jerusalem Center.

Finding joy in trials

This week was incredibly busy. Not only were we all completely exhausted from traveling in Egypt, it was also our finals week. However, this week has been one of my favorite weeks in the trips, even with all of the test preparation and stress. One Tuesday we took a close field trip to the Old City of David, where David lived in Jerusalem (which is not even in the city walls now.) This first picture shows how easy it must have been for David to look down and see Bathsheba. We learn many lessons from David's fall--mainly that it was not a mistake that happened all of the sudden, but poor choices on David's part led to the sin.



This isn't the best picture, but this is the exit where we came out of Hezekiah's tunnel. I loved this experience. We got wet up above our knees (some of the shorter girls it came up almost to the seat of their pants). I was impressed with what they could do with the little technology they had.





Dome of the Rock--It's amazing how crowded the how Old City is, but you get up on the Temple Mount, and there is space everywhere. It's absolutely beautiful.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem is actually in the West Bank, and we had to get special permission to go. Israel has built a barrier around a lot of the West Bank, and it felt like what I would imagine going into East Berlin would have felt like when the Berlin wall was up. There is one Palestinian member of the church in Bethlehem, and she only gets to come to church on Christian holidays (Easter and Christmas) when she can get a special permit. I became so thankful for the freedoms that I enjoy.

The barrier wall dividing Israel and the West Bank

Inside the Church of the Nativity. As with almost all of the Christian Churches, this church is run and shared by several Christian denominations. The day we were there the Greek Orthodox church was allowed to have their services there that day.

A Greek Orthodox Priest

The woodcarver that made the nativity I bought. He is making ornaments right here.

Looking at Bethlehem from Shepherd's field

Shepherd's Field outside Bethlehem


Our class sitting eating dinner at Shepherd's field. As it got dark we talked about the birth of our Savior. I don't think I've ever celebrated Christmas in such a spirit-filled way, and it's May!

Lauren, Becky, and me sitting at Shepherd's Field as it is getting dark.

With three finals this week we didn't have a lot of free time to see things in the Old City, so I am especially thankful that we had a field trip there this week. Yesterday, when we got to go to Bethlehem I spent a lot of time talking with Sahar, the only member in Bethlehem about what it was like growing up in Bethlehem. She got baptized when she was getting her Master's at BYU. (She got a scholarship through the BYU Jerusalem Center) She said that until she had the perspective of the church, even though she was Greek Orthodox, she hated living in Bethlehem because she was living under occupation. She told me that perspective changes everything because she now sees so much good because her own ideas about things changed. It is definiately hard for her, but she was exceptionally positive. I learned so much from her. We went from the Church of the Nativity to Shepherd's field. It was so different going from a church full of shrines to an empty, rocky field and being able to talk about our Savior, and the miraculous events that led up to his birth. As I sat there I realized once again that I need the Savior. I recognized that because he was born and atoned for our sins, even the hard things that Sahar has to go through by only being able to go to church once every six months will be made up for by the atonement. I sat and looked at the stars last night and was so thankful for it all. I know a baby was born for us in a small little grotto (cave), but his birth was one of the most important things that has ever happened on this earth.

Egypt Pictures

Suleiman the Great Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque:

Pictures: Inside the Mosque courtyard, the inside dome of the mosque, the mosque

Views of Luxor

Pictures: A market place (actually this picture was taken on our carriage ride), my ten-year-old Egyptian camel guide (I cannot remember his name even though I tried really hard), riding through an Egyptian village

A faluka ride on the Nile

One of the shrines in the Funerary Temple of Ramses III (Emily, Lauren, Jenny, Alyssa, Lis, Moriah, Kristin)

Ramses II at Karnak Temple

View of the Nile








Step Pyramid at Saqqara (Lauren C., Lauren T., me, Kristin I.)

A musician outside one of the restaurants we ate at

The Pyramids of Giza

The Wilderness of Zin (Me with Lis --my next-bed-over roommate)

Part of the Ruins at Avdat

Beersheva

(Where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived)