For those who didn’t already know, I am currently in Jerusalem. That’s right—the Holy Land itself. Since I’ve been miserable at posting on my blog anyway, this will double both as posts and journal entries for myself. I am on this study abroad at the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies (aka Jerusalem Center). Some statistics: 28 men, 56 women, of the 84 there are 8 of us that regularly attend BYU-Hawaii and 8 of us (including me!) at BYU-Idaho. Out of the 84 of us 68ish have served missions, and there are 18 languages spoken between us all (including Serbian, Spanish, Indonesian, and more). We are here for 3.5 months and will also be traveling to Greece and Jordan during this time. The classes are very humanities focused with everyone taking either Arabic or Hebrew, Old and New Testament, and three other classes encompassing the history and current events of the people in the Middle East.
That’s enough of a summary though. We all flew out from Salt Lake City on April 30th. That seems so long ago. Half of us flew one way (SLC->DTW->CDG->TLV) and the other half were sent another (SLC->JFK->TLV). I flew with the group that went through Detroit and Paris. With three separate layovers, our group was able to get pretty close and get confidently acquainted. By the time we landed in Tel Aviv though, we realized there were still just as many names and faces to learn. After we had all landed, we were loaded onto buses and drove the roughly 40-minute drive to Jerusalem. There was the moment when we all realized we were there and looked out the windows in awe. To our right, going up a hill, there it was, the both ancient and modern city, Jerusalem itself. The Dome of the Rock was instantly recognizable and yet we were each filled with more excitement when the gorgeous Jerusalem Center came into view.
Most of us came alone, maybe knowing one or two others who were coming ahead of time. We also have all had to work hard and push to make it, in addition to the random selection that made up the admissions process. Thus, the environment has been a joyous and inviting one. There was no reason to be worried or scared and yet each of us were. Making friends both casual and close has already become very easy. My roommates are phenomenal and so wonderful. Fun fact: the only other Sarah here is one of my roommates. The room might seem small but it is perfect and the view is stunning.
On our first full day we walked into the Old City. It was maybe 30 minutes, which included a round-about tour of East Jerusalem. Some of the merchants and shopkeepers we all heard about prior (Jimmy and Omar for one) were waiting with their business cards. Honestly, that was just as if not more welcoming than everything the Center faculty has done. We were led on such a maze of the Old City and there was a section with paintings and other artwork. I am such a sucker for those things and can’t wait to go back. We were bused back (thank goodness).
Jet lag has most definitely been rough but I think we’re all settled in for the most part at this point. We were kept up quite late the first night to help make the acclimation occur faster and to be honest, it worked. Kind of. We definitely did not retain anything we were told the first 24 hours or so, though.
The staff is awesome and the food is equally so. I could happily live off of pita bread with olive oil and zaatar (zaatar is a blend of local herbs and spices I would also happily die to have for forever). Water is heaven sent, especially with all of the walking we do. Since the Center has 8 stories and we’re not really supposed to use the very limited elevators, even day-to-day activities mean staying hydrated can be chore-like. The first full day, however, it was overcast and did rain just a tiny bit on our way into the city. It felt good. The second full day it was very windy but with sunshine. Today got warm, and tomorrow is supposed to be very warm.
We’ve only had really half of our classes and I’m in love with each one. Old Testament is my cup of tea when it comes to religion classes. It’s the perfect blend of history, ancient tradition and ritual, symbolism, with the odd story thrown in. Ancient Near Eastern studies is an eye-opening class taught by a Dr with a passion that is simply inspiring. And our class on Palestine is taught by a Palestinian named Bashir Bashir who, as he put it, is a trouble maker. He studies political theory and is traveling very frequently for a book recently published that has done some very taboo things. He is not afraid to teach us what is his truth, which may seem harsh to some but is so enlightening and shocking and, yet again, inspiring, for me.
Since we are in Jerusalem, the Sabbath day starts sundown on Friday and last all of Saturday. Church is on Saturday and wow. First of all, a gorgeous view. Second of all, amazing and wonderful people (Hank Smith and John Bytheway happened to be there today but I didn’t meet them because I’m that nerd who went straight to Sabbath school). Because the Sabbath began Friday night, we were taken on a field trip of sorts to the Western Wall. There we were able to join in with the worshipping Jews as they prayed, sang, and danced. It was such a whirlwind but we each walked away humbled by both their devotion and the joy with which they welcome the Sabbath into their lives every week. I wish I could be half as enthusiastic as they are, in such an unashamed manner.
After church a large group of us went to the Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens. We most definitely took the longest way, took a few wrong turns, but eventually made it. It was gorgeous and provided such an amazing atmosphere to continue to get to know each other. Some of us wanted to study the gospel together though and didn’t stay long. That is when we really got lost, but not for long (thank goodness for Google maps and data). It was such a beautiful and powerful discussion as we studied from John chapters 7-10 with some guided questions. We meant to continue after dinner but followed a few tangents into a few rabbit holes and next thing we were playing card games. Because our Sabbath dinners are earlier than normal dinners, we have what is called a Bread and Spread where we have pita bread and some spreads for it to snack on. I may have gotten peanut butter on my shirt and skirt and chocolate on my skirt (it was first on my arm, covering maybe a third of it, but that’s a very different story). Those of us who studied prior to dinner continued to play card cards until we dispersed to either go to bed or work on homework.
It has been wonderful, eye-opening, and humbling to be here in the Holy Land. A long and spectacular summer awaits us all and we all can’t wait.
Comments