The Begining of Discovering Jerusalem...

The beginning of discovering Jerusalem...
I still feel pretty jet lagged but hopefully itll get better soon. i can't believe its 9:00 here and only noon at home. so weird especially since I feel like its midnight and I should be cozy in bed. Anyways today we had a tour of Jerusalem. It is so different here than it is in Denver. I have been looking at pictures for the past 8 months but nothing can really prepare you for the real thing. The traffic is pretty crazy here and there is a lot of honking and crazy drivers you have to watch out for. We started in East Jerusalem which is the Muslim quarter of the city. It is pretty cool to walk around and see the different signs all over the city that have the Arabic symbols, then Hebrew, then English. As we walked up the hill we could see the wall that separated the old city from the rest of Jerusalem.The wall has been rebuilt over and over again but there are still remnants of the wall during Christs time that you can pick out if you look closely. We entered the Old city through Damascus gate (which reminded me of the talk by Pres. Uchtdorf called "waiting on the road to Damascus" its a gooden). It was interesting because there is a railing that you can look off of before you enter the gate and you can see how far down the wall actually goes and see how much the wall has been rebuilt. A person can even see the gate that was in place during the time of Herod (which is significantly deeper than the gate that stands now). This part of the city was pretty much how I imagined all of Jerusalem. The streets are pretty narrow and there are vendors all over the place selling anything you could imagine. It is interesting to see how many different religions and people have tried to lay clam on even just a small piece of the historical city. There is the Dome of the Rock, the church of the holy Sepulchre, and an Austrian christian church also. I finally found out what the church of the Holy Sepulchre is. It is were many Christians believe that Christ was buried and resurrected. it is also believed to be the middle of the earth. There are many different factions that claim different parts of the church. Each faction lives in that part of the church because the law is if they leave they forfeit their right to be there. When we went into the church it was interesting to see the devotees singing and worshiping in their own manner. even though it is different from my beliefs I thought it was pretty cool to see them worshiping the Savior and their devotion to him.

As we exited the Old City we entered the West Quarter which is the Jewish section of the city. It was kinda crazy how different it is from the East Side. Everything is a lot newer. So weird that you can walk a couple steps and be in a different time...

One of my favorite parts was walking by the entrance to the road leading to the Garden Tomb. I confess I haven't been able to go inside yet but it was cool even just to stand there and feel the difference between it and the rest of the bustling city. So cool I can't wait to go there!

So that's pretty much the highlight of my day! Oh, and I got to sit outside and look out over the city as I read my homework... not to rub it in or anything...

Lifes good!

I'm in Jerusalem

I am in Jerusalem! I seriously cannot describe how it feels. Its pretty surreal right now... We got into the airport when I went through customs the guy checking my passport looked at me and then at the picture and shook his head indicating it didn't look like me and made me take my glasses off. Then nodded that it was me. It was pretty funny. The coolest thing was finally getting to the center. My room has a porch that has a gorgeous view of the city. We all watched the sunset over the city. I wish I could post pictures. Also we heard the Muslim prayers in the courtyard as we went to class. I was going crazy with anthro-nerd excitement (pretty great description huh?). Plus the internet was in Hebrew when I first opened it so that was kinda weird but exciting. Anyways I'm way Jet lagged so that's the synopsis of the day. essentially I gazed with a dropped jaw at one of the oldest, most desired cities in the world!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

So tomorrow I will be leaving to study for three and a half months in Jerusalem. I have been counting down the days for this moment for months and I have worked hard for this moment. Its been a long journey to get here, but it has been worth it. So this blog is to let everyone know who is interested, what going on, what adventures I have been having, and what I have been learning. I am not allowed to use most social networking sites. Though I want to talk to everyone I will not be able to and hope that this will suffice. I will miss you all but I will be submerged in a different culture, learning more about me, and most importantly I will be walking where the Savior walked. So, I'll see you all in a couple months!

Love,
Maddie