The End

So this will most likely be my last post.  Well, I might post pictures from the last month if I ever get around to it.  :P  

We got back Thursday night, and I'm just chillin here in Provo/Sandy for the week.  The plane ride was killer.  Probably some of my worst jet lag ever.  But I think that's because we didn't go to sleep the night before we flew out since we had to leave at 3 am anyway.  A tip for all you future world-travelers:  staying up all night before you fly across the world does not help you sleep on the plane (sleeping pills are the way to go), and it way throws off your sleeping pattern even more than just plain jet lag.  I told my mom to just let me sleep til I woke up the next morning.  I didn't think I would sleep that late, since I've gotten used to getting up at the JC, but she came into my room and was like, "Hey, um, it's 2:30... and I'm going out, so..."  Ya.  And then I stayed up til 3:30 am coz I wasn't tired, and woke up at 7:30 am, and then the jet lag finally hit me like a rock at 9:00 that night.  Not fun.  Because I was with people, and I still had to drive back to Sandy (from Provo) at 1 in the morning.  Be grateful that I'm still in one piece, right.  

On Saturday night we had our very first JC reunion.  LOL!  My friend Daniel was like, "You're having a reunion? Already?"  Well, it was really just a graduation party for one of the guys that he invited us all to.  But it felt like a reunion, haha.  I walked in the door and everybody's all, "Lara!!!"  and hugging me like we haven't seen each other in weeks.  But you have to understand, we haven't been apart for more than the 8 hours (or less) we spent sleeping for the last four months.  2 days was pretty intense.  Lol.  It was fun to see everybody in their scandalous real-world clothing.  And ya, we totally missed each other, even in just those 2 days, so it was fun to hang out. 

It's been more of an adjustment to be back than I thought, lol.  My upper arms feel so exposed in my normal clothes, lol.  I finally was able to get to my real clothes this morning and I am so excited to not be wearing "muted colors"!!!  At the Chicago airport, one of the employees (a man) said hello to me and one of the other girls as we were walking past, and it was so funny, because both of our jerk reaction was *creepy merchant- don't make eye contact!*  and then we got about 10 feet past him and realized that we're not in the Middle East anymore...  Lol.  It was a little weird to be in a singles ward yesterday.  Well, let's be honest, it was weird to be in church on Sunday...  Actually, I think my internal clock still thinks today is Sunday, since yesterday was the Sabbath, right.  But neway, not like it should have been weird to be in a singles ward (the J-ru Branch is about 70% singles neway...).  I think what was weird was not knowing anybody.  Lol.  I'm so used to not seeing a single white face ever that I don't know intimately.  And I was a little scandalized by some of the knee length skirts hangin around... Lol.  Man, it's so crazy to be back in the real world.  Walking around campus today has been kind of a beast.  I will definitely miss that about the JC- classes, church, and apartment all in the same building.  It is SUCH a relief, tho, not to have to find 2 other people that want to go with me when I need to do something like run to the store.  I won't miss that.

Well.  Like I said, I'll try to get some last pix up.  But this really is the end of this blog.  I'm pretty sure.  I hope you've all enjoyed it!  (I would say, "as much as I have" but, well, let's be honest, I was there... lol.)  Thanks for reading!

"Please Don't Forget Me"

My last two days in the Holy Land have been everything I could have asked for and more.

Yesterday we finished up our Last Week of Jesus’ Life field trip.  We started first thing in the morning in Gethsemane.  We talked about “the olive press”—which is the literal meaning of Gethsemane.  Apparently, when you press olives, the oil only squeezes out under extreme pressure, and when it first comes out, it’s red.  If you can imagine, our Savior being squeezed of every last drop of blood that came through his pores.  The first time in Gethsemane, I was reading the accounts of the atonement, and I stopped to ponder the weight of what Jesus bore for us.  Think of the worst feeling you’ve ever felt.  Christ bore the brunt of every suicidal, depressed, hopeless despair that any human is capable of feeling—that every human has ever experienced.  And what is incredible, is that He did it.  He could have “given up the ghost” any time—He had that power over death, he didn’t have to wait for the cross.  Couple that with the worst physical pain you can imagine—you’d do anything to escape.  I know that in a torture situation I would certainly be pleading with the Lord to take my life as quickly as possible.  But Christ endured.  Every last brutal second.  We cannot really even begin to comprehend, because it was an infinite and eternal sacrifice, and our minds are still limited to the scope of mortality. 

Then we walked up to St. Peter’s Gallicantu, where Jesus was tried before Caiaphas.  Elder Talmage, in Jesus the Christ goes through 2 pages of ways that this “trial” was entirely illegitimate.  These men had no power over Christ on earth, let alone as their Creator.  And think, too, that Christ knew each one of them as intimately as He knows you and me.  He knew them before the world was, knew their divine potential, and patiently bore their scorn and hatred as He atoned for their sins, pains, and sorrows.  At the church was a courtyard that was used to tether livestock—and prisoners.  Beneath were holding cells where Jesus would have awaited “trial.”

After St. Peter’s we went to St. Anne’s, where the pools of Bethesda are, for lunch.  We sang in the church there, it has the best acoustics of pretty much anywhere.  Then we went to the Church of the Flagellation and Church of the Condemnation, where Christ appeared before Pilate and was sentenced to be crucified.  It makes me sick every time I see the movie, when they drive the nails into His hands.  After all He had already suffered, He spent an additional 6 hours on the cross.  When we took the tour at the Garden Tomb, they told us that Golgothat would have been on a main road in and out of Jerusalem—this was a public execution.  It reminds of a medieval hanging, where everyone turns out to spectate the fate of the condemned.  And Christ didn’t have to wait to die a natural death.  Death by crucifixion usually happens over several days, and He gave His life willingly (gratefully by then, I’m sure) after only 6 hours.  But after everything He had endured, and experiencing the complete withdrawal of the Spirit, as Elder Holland just talked about, it must have felt like 6 lifetimes. 

Last we came to the Garden Tomb.  Of everything that Jerusalem is and has meant to me, this is what I am most loath to leave.  It is here that I have felt my Savior, as if He stood beside me.  Today I spent about half an hour inside the tomb, and I kept thinking, “He’s not here, for He is risen.”  But He is with me wherever I am, and in such a sacred space, He is closest to me in the place where He reclaimed His broken body and became a perfect, resurrected being, so that all mankind may do the same.  I almost couldn’t tear myself away.  It felt symbolic of the journey I’m about to take.  Leaving the security of the Jerusalem Center bubble to go forth and do the will of the Father.  One thing I know for certain is that, because I have been given this great gift, I now have a responsibility greater than before, greater than many others who will never have this opportunity.  I know my Savior lives.  I testify to that with all my being.  And because I know, my life can never be the same. 

And this afternoon, I learned more about love, acceptance, and Christ than at any other time in my life.  I went with some of the girls to visit the Palestinian families in our neighborhoods that they’ve grown close to.  The last family we visited had about 6 little girls—tho not all from the same family, I think it was an extended family—and as soon as we were within sight of our house they came running into our arms.  Even me, who had never met them before, they were hugging and kissing, and saying, over and over, “I love you! I love you!”  Every house we went to, you could just feel the genuine love that these people had for us students, most of whom they hardly know.  And they somehow have so much love to give.  Pure love, the love of Christ.  Even in the humblest of circumstances, surrounded by conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, their hearts are pure and so full of love.  At the last house, they gave each of us a piece of jewelry as a parting gift.  I felt kind of bad, because one of the girls had got hold of me and kept putting things on me, and when I tried to return them, her mother told me they were gifts.  So I ended up with a pair of earrings, a necklace, a bracelet, about 6 seashells, a flower, a hair clip, and the girl tried to give me this nice wooden box that they were all in, but the mother accepted that one back.  But I will treasure these gifts.  Because they were offered out of love, and to me they symbolize everything that is good in the world.  As we were leaving—tearing ourselves away, we could barely stand to go—the oldest girl (she’s 12) wrapped me in a hug and whispered, “Please don’t forget me.”  And I just had to cry.  Her statement was filled with such longing, and sorrow for parting, this girl who didn’t know me at all.  I said, “Of course not, how could I?”  All I want is to remember.  Remember everything.  Everything that I have seen, and felt, and become here.  My greatest fear is that I’ll forget, even in the smallest measure.

I wish I had better words to express this.  I hope you all aren’t too disappointed when I come back and I’m not the same person you knew before.  

"Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out!"

Today we had the first half of our Last Week of Jesus' Life field trip.  (Don't worry, I'll talk about the Cougars at the end.)

We started in Bethany, where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived.  There we visited the tomb of Lazarus.  It had some serious stairs to climb up out of.  I was definitely thinking, Dang, it would be kinda hard climbing all the way up out of here after having been dead four days, and in the whole burial wrappings deal.  But apparently the steps were added later, so I guess he wouldn't have climbed all the way up.  But there were still definitely stairs involved.  We also went into the church commemorating  Christ's visit to Mary and Martha, where Martha was serving and wanted Mary to help her.  There was a service going on, but they still let us come in and take pictures...  And we also went into the home of this Palestinian family, who raised nine children in a house that is smaller than my bedroom.  They sell mustard seeds that grow on their tree, and their house is bigger now, but it was still pretty humbling.

After that we went over to Bethphage to the Church of the Triumphal Entry, and then over to Pater Noster, which commemorates the Lord's Prayer.  They had it in over 100 languages all around the courtyard.  And beneath it was the cave where Jesus taught His disciples during the last week of His life.  Then we went over to Dominus Flevit, which in Latin is literally, "the Lord wept"- so where he said, "O Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chickens" and all that.  We sang some hymns and then took pictures out overlooking Jerusalem.  And then we went over to Orson Hyde Park to eat lunch and talk a little about Orson Hyde and the dedication of Jerusalem for the gathering of Israel.  Wow, I'm sorry I don't have anything to say today...  I need to get some serious sleep tonight, coz I think I was just way exhausted all day.

Our last stop for the day was the Upper Room, where most people believe the Last Supper took place.  It wouldn't be like, the actual room- it wasn't underground like the other one from our Christian Jerusalem field trip, it's just over the site- but the Upper Room is supposed to be like, a nice place, and this fit the bill pretty nicely.  It had all vaulted ceilings- admittedly Crusader style, but still gave it a nice opulent atmosphere.  We sang a few hymns here, as well, and we even had a request after we finished for "How Great Thou Art" from another tour group.  Coz we are just that cool.

Then, after we finished with the field trip, I went out with a group who is putting together a Cougar fight song video.  We went out and videoed all of our merchant friends in the Old City singing parts of the fight song with us, and they actually just finished putting it together as I'm writing this.  It is so awesome.  It was so fun to go around and film it.  Joseph Smith protested for like, 5 minutes.  He was all, "You need me to do you a favor?  I'll take out whoever you need- I'll punch 'em in the face!" (and he *demonstrated* on Josh...)  And after we finally got him to do it, he said, "Promise me you won't show this to any of my friends!"  And Imad got all excited and was singing and dancing even after we left.  It was awesome.  And the video is so funny.  Our Memories committee is putting together a wicked-crazy DVD for us.  That's going to be on there, plus a whole bunch of other slideshows that people have done- like, a video tour of the Center, and a chronicle of the Arab-Israeli conflict- and we have got some talented people here.  These slideshows are like, professional.  And then the massive slideshow of the whole semester as well.  I can't wait to show anybody who will watch back home!!!  (That's means you guys... :D)

"You Have No Money"

That was my roommate Stephanie's job today. Every time I would be looking at something that I kinda wanted but didn't really need, I would say, "Tell me." And she would dutifully respond, "You have no money." Lol. I'm just getting a little shop-happy now that it's the end. But I was good, and with the help of my trusty roommate I kept from spending extra. Actually, tho, it was really nice, I was looking at a magnet (I collect magnets from places I've been, but I already have 2 from Israel...) in a shop that a lot of students go to, and I kept saying, "Stephanie, tell me I don't have any money. Tell me again." And I thought that if I really wanted it I could go back on Wednesday. But the shopkeeper asked, "Which one you like?" And I told him, and he said, "Take it." And he just gave it to me. It was really great. They're pretty good to us BYU students. It says "Peace" on it in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, which I think is quite appropriate. So now I have 2 magnets each from Jordan and Egypt, and 3 from Israel. ... :)

Today we basically just wandered around the Old City. Like, we all did a little shopping (I did have some things I needed to get that were already in the budget- it was the superfluous things that I employed Stephanie for, lol), but mostly we just wandered. We hit up all the places we usually go- Old City: Shaban's, Jewish Quarter, Joseph Smith's, Imad's; West Jerusalem: Ben Yehuda, the Sukh. It was a good day. Pretty low-key, like we weren't trying to do or see anything, we were just being here, you know. And we did it for like, 7 hours. Our legs hurt now, as I'm sure you can imagine. Ooh, and I went street surfing. In the Old City they have wheel ramps on all the steps so that carts and tractors and stuff can get around, and they're pretty slick, and so are the bottoms of my sandals, so I was sliding down every single one that we passed on this one road- and they were about every 5 feet. It was really fun. Most of them are only about a foot of ramp, but some of them are like, two or three steps in a row. :D I had Stephanie take a video of it. And then we all took videos just walking through the Old City, waving to all the merchants and just kind of preserving the experience. It was neat, I'm glad Stephanie had the idea.

Last night we had a fireside about the Last Supper. They call it the "Triclinium Experience" because they set up a table like they would have used at the Last Supper- called a Triclinium, because it has three sides. It's set up on the floor, and all the people eating recline on one elbow around this table. They had all the guys sit around it to demonstrate and I took a picture- I'll post the remainder of my pix when I get home. But like, so much more of that whole scene suddenly makes sense. It was amazing how much it cleared it up. For instance, where it says that John was "leaning on Jesus' breast"- well, the way they're sitting, the person to your right can literally lean back onto you- so it's really not as weird as it sounds, it's like totally normal. Just different things like that. It was really neat. I went to the Garden of Gethsemane for the last time yesterday. Well, the last time on a Shabbat, neway. I'm pretty sure we'll be there tomorrow on our Last Week of Jesus' Life field trip. Things are winding up fast!

"What's the problem, Sparkle?"

That phrase is how I became aware of my secret nickname today. Apparently some girls have been calling me Sparkle for like, a while, because of my email address (sparklelikeyoumeanit). And they didn't know what I would think, so they never called me that to my face. But today one of the guys saw me inspecting the bottom of my skirt (I was determining how easy it would be to shorten it when I get home) and he was like, "What's the problem, Sparkle?" and then he called me that again, and I said, "Shelby, I don't know where this is coming from, but can I just tell you how much I LOVE that you are calling me that!!" And one of the girls was like, "Oh, that's us, ya, we've been calling you that behind your back." And I was like, "Best nickname EVER!" And she was all, "Well dang, why haven't we been calling you that all semester?" And I'm like, "Seriously!" So now they're calling me Sparkle and I kind of want everyone I know to call me that. I haven't had a real nickname since like, 7th grade, and that was back when me and my friends were constantly making up nicknames for ourselves. And I've always wanted one, so I am SO excited!!! Plus it really is the best nickname. Ever. And it so fits me too. YES!!!

K, so we've been having Finals Week Round 2 around here, but we only had like, 2 and a half finals, so it's been pretty low stress, not like last time. But not much has been happening, either. Last night just about everyone went over to the Western Wall like we did at the very beginning of the semester for the beginning of Shabbat. Ken and I were the only people left in the dining hall at 6:30, which is when everyone going to the Wall left. And our Branch President and his wife (self-proclaimed resident matchmakers) saw us sitting together, so they came over and were like, "Hey, what are you guys up to tonight?" And we had talked about watching a movie, since everyone was gone, and they were like, "You can come and bake cookies at our apartment." And like, apparently they've arranged several of these kinds of dates- I'd been hearing about them, and honestly kind of wondering why I hadn't been on one- so we totally knew what they were about, but we decided it could be fun, so we were like, "Ok..." And I told Ken, "Now they think we're going to get married." And he was like, "We have to leave tonight with them absolutely convinced we're engaged."

So like, we both went into this thinking that it would be hilarious, and it was. Seriously the best awkward date EVER. We went and baked some cookies- they keep a bowl of cookie dough ready in the apartment- and they were like, "So, where you from?" that kind of thing. And we'd been talking for a while when- I'm not kidding- she winks at me, and says, "So, Ken, do you have a girlfriend?" And I was kind of like, Is this seriously happening? And he said, "No. But I'm working on it, right Lara?" And I was like, "Ya..." And the Branch President said, "Well, you guys look good together." And Ken's all, "Ya, we'd have beautiful children." And he was like, "Ya, that's what I'm saying, you took the words right out of my mouth." And she's all, "Stand up, so we can see you together." So we did, and Ken put his arm around me, and they were like, "You look good." And we sat down kind of awkwardly. And the Branch President said to Ken, "Did that feel good, having your arm around her?" And then we definitely changed the subject. Awkward! It was actually totally cool, tho, coz we're just friends and so we both just thought it was so funny. And then we went upstairs and watched Aladdin, and I put on my Jasmine pants (as in, the actual kind of pants she wears in the movie... yep) and my Jasmine shirt (don't worry, this one just has a monogram of her on the front). :D

But ya, so now I can say that I have had the full JC dating experience. It would not have been complete without that. Lol.

"I have been changed for good..."

Wow, what a day.  I guess I should start at the beginning, even though I'm still reeling from the end!

Today we had our Dead Sea field trip.  We started down south at Masada.  Masada is another fortress like the Herodion, except bigger and awesome-er.  This thing is out in the middle of the desert- Bro. Wilson said the summer temperature is upwards of 110 degrees, and in December it was cold, so we were there at basically the perfect time of year, because it was a nice maybe 85, maybe 90 in the sun.  We didn't hike to the top, even though that's apparently kind of the thing to do there.  But our day was so packed we just really didn't have time.  So we rode up in the gondolas, and it reminded me of Jericho because when we hiked up to the monastery there I was way jealous of the people in the gondolas.  So it was basically this sprawl of palaces on the top of a mountain in the middle of the desert.  Well, it used to be.  Now it's just ruins.  It was also the last stand of the Zealots in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed.  Apparently there's a movie about it, but I couldn't tell you what it is.

Then we went to the Dead Sea.  Hehe.  K, it is seriously the trippiest thing like, ever.  You get out there and you just sit down in the water and you're floating, but you have to get used to it, because it feels like you should have to all lay out in order to stay floating.  But we all stood like, straight up and down, and you totally still float!  It was awesome.  Basically we got in and all just bobbed around in the water, let the tide carry us down to the mudpits, you know.  I actually really felt like a buoy, when all the waves would come and I would just kinda float over the top of them.  It was the coolest thing, lol.  So fun.  And the salt made you all slimy in the water, it was kinda gross, lol.  So then we got to the mudpits and slathered ourselves all up.  Honestly, I'm not really sure why, but it's supposed to exfoliate your skin and stuff.  The guys all literally went black from head to toe, got it in their hair, on their suits, it was pretty disgusting, actually.  Bryan looked like a Golem/mud creature.  And I was able to do all of this without even getting my hair wet.  :D  I actually thought I got mud in it at one point, but it was dry when I finished.  It was kinda nasty, tho.  I mean, it still looked all right, but I could taste the salt even without getting water anywhere near my mouth (they are pretty adamant about not getting it in your mouth, eyes, anything like, this is seriously baaaaaad stuff) and it was definitely all up in my hair.  But it still looked ok so that was the important thing.  :)

And it was so worth it, because the next thing we did was hike up to a waterfall at Ein Gedi and I was able to take some glam shots (since I missed that opportunity by not looking cute the last time we were at a waterfall- and this was a better one for glam shots, too).  So we definitely got our fair share of hiking in, even tho we didn't hike Masada.  And it was hot.  I was so glad to be in a skirt, coz I was still definitely sweating it up.  It was basically just this random waterfall in like, the middle of the desert.  I mean, the Dead Sea basin is basically like an oven, you know, it's all so low elevation and so it's crazy hot and dry like, all the time.   But there was this random waterfall with a little bit of green immediately around it.  And it like, trickled down the face of the rock in like, a series of waterfalls, so they kept getting bigger and better as we went up.  It was cool.

Last we went to Qumran, which is where they discovered the Dead Sea scrolls.  We watched a video about it, and it was really funny, coz as soon as they lifted the screen (it became a walkway into another room) these two random little kids came out of no where and... well, there was no point to that.  It doesn't sound quite like it was when I tell it...  Sorry.  But ya, then we went out and saw the caves (from a distance) and the ruins (up close) and that was about it.  Also out in the middle of the desert.

K, tonight was our TALENT SHOW!!!!  It was amazing.  Honestly the best talent show I think I've ever seen.  Everyone was just so creative and all the skits were so good and so funny!  Some people did the "Luxor-motion" (Locomotion...) and like, made up this whole song about being in Egypt, it was awesome.  And there was a synchronized swimming act- I kid you not.  They set up like a couple of tables with blue curtains and then did this whole synchronized swimming routine to "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban.  Hilarious.  But my favorite favorite FAVORITE was "I Won't Say I'm In Love."  Six of the girls dressed up like Megara and the Muses from Hercules and did a lip synch.  You don't even understand, it was like watching a Disney move live.  They looked exactly like the movie!!  I was so jealous I could hardly stand it.  I wanted to be them so bad.  And the choreography was amazing.  Yep.  So because I'm on the talent show committee, I was volunteered to help with MC-ing.  We started the show with a little skit.  Josh and I were on a *safari* and the real MCs did our voices and that was pretty fun.  And then in the middle we had a mini fashion show, where Josh and I each wore one item of someone else's clothing and everyone had to guess whose they were.  And then Richelle and I were last and we sang "For Good" from Wicked and made everybody cry, lol.  I've never been so involved in a talent show before...  It almost kinda felt like the Lara Show a little bit.  But hey, I didn't ask for it, so it's all good, right?  And it really was a lot of fun.  I almost cried as I was singing at the end, lol...  But ya, best talent show EVER.  :D

Pictures! (Last time)

K, there are a LOT of them, so I hope that makes up, at least a little, for the imminent demise of my blog.  

This is the Separation wall.  Not a nice sight.

The Palestinian side of the wall.

All of us watching the BYU game (that we lost...).  You can tell how into it I am.  I was, however, NOT allowed to be on the internet, as we were streaming it from ESPN.com.  Lol.

The Church of the Nativity.

The actual spot where Christ was born, supposedly.

The really pretty Catholic church next door (also commemorates the Nativity).

The Mosque of the Nativity across the street.  Hey, Muslims believe in Jesus having a miraculous birth, too.  Just different than our version.
My little mother of pearl nativity that I got in Bethlehem.  :)  I couldn't afford anything bigger, but I love it.

Ammunition Hill- it's like one of the main battle sites of the 6 Day War in 1967.  

Trenches at Ammunition Hill.

Sheep herding at Neot Kedumim!  I'm in kind of the middle, near the flag.

An authentic Torah scroll.  I think that guy you can't see behind it made it there at Neot Kedumim.

A watchtower on a hill, like in the parables.  Cool.

Sweet waterwheel thing.

Caesarea Maritima.  You can see the ruins of where King Agrippa was *almost* persuaded to be a Christian.

The more natural side of Maritima.

This whole beach was just millions of tiny seashells.  Not even sand, really.

I wish I could say I found this.  But I didn't.  But it was found, on the beach, by Kim Wilson.  Jealous.

K, so this is the valley where all the nations of the world will gather against Israel at the 2nd Coming.  Pretty sweet.  It's the Jezreel Valley, as seen from the top of Megiddo (aka Armageddon).

The sweet Israelite altar at Megiddo. 

The Church of the Annunciation (where Gabriel came and told Mary she was pregnant) in Nazareth.

The view out my window in Galilee.  No big deal, just INCREDIBLE.

The front of the boat that we sailed across the Sea of Galilee.

The whole of that boat... Lol, no.  This is a boat that dates back pretty much to the time of Christ. 

The Church of the Beatitudes.  So this is supposed to be the site of the Sermon on the Mount.

They had all the Beatitudes in stained glass like this around the church.  It was way fun figuring them out, I'm still kinda sad that almost no one took my little challenge...
K, this is at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (a mouthful, yes).  And as we were outside talking about it, this random dog jumped in the fountain...  We're not really even sure where it came from.

This is the fish pond they had at said church (loaves and fishes, get it?).  It was pretty sweet.

The famous mosaic.  I got a magnet with this on it.  It says "Sea of Galilee."  It's rockin.  You know.

St. Peter's Primacy, where Christ came to the apostles and told Peter to "Feed my sheep."

I could totally just imagine Christ standing on this beach, calling to the Apostles.  Awesome? Yes.

The 4th century Christian synagogue (yep) at Capernaum.

It's built on the remains of a 1st century one made of black basalt, which you can kind of see here.

HAHA!  You got to admit, this was clever.  This is where we stopped to talk about the swines that ran off a cliff after the devils went into them.  Ryan, on the left, came up with this idea.
My new boyfriend... :P  But seriously, I totally ate that!  After I kissed it...  And it was pretty good fish, too.

This is Gamla.

And the waterfall we hiked to at Gamla.

Qazrin.  The Talmudic village.

This is the view from the Galilee Branch house.  It was a little bit AMAZING.

The other baptismal site.  It's prettier than the one in Jordan, but less likely.  This is where people come to get baptized in the Jordan River, tho.  They gave us a handout that looked like that scene in "O Brother Where Art Thou."  But like, one of Bro. Huff's kids got baptized here.

Hehe.

Mt. Tabor.  Aka the Mount of Transfiguration.

The view from Mt. Tabor.

The Church at Nain, where the Savior raised a widow's son from the dead.

K, so apparently there would have been hot tubs sitting on top of these things.  This is at Beth Shean, btw.  Pretty trippy.

Beth Shean.  Pretty cool place.  Lot like Jerash, but not as big.

K, so Time Magazine dubbed this the most beautiful place in Israel.  It's called Gan Hashelosha.

That was totally a cave that you could swim into.  It wasn't very deep, but it was cool.

Above the waterfall (below).

We totally stood under this and it felt really good.  You kinda had to hold onto your swimsuit tho...  Oh, and the water was warm.

Check out how clear this water is!  You can totally see all the fish and this was from like 10 feet away!

Sunset over Galilee.  No big deal.  :)

This is Caesarea Phillippi.  (Not to be confused with Maritima...)  This is where Christ said, "Upon this rock will I build my church."

The Banias waterfall.  It's one of the main sources of the Jordan River.

The border with Lebanon!  We didn't get to go, but we did see it!  Lol.

This is a Canaanite era gate that dates back to about Abraham or so.

Nimrod's castle.  It's like an old crusader fortress.

From the inside (there was actually a lot more of it, but this was the coolest pic I have).

The freaking VIEW!!

Syria.  :)

Another crusader castle.  In Akko, this time.

The only mosque you will ever see that is this decorative on the inside.

The harbor at Akko.  I mean, not the whole harbor, obviously.  The coolest looking part...

Freaking awesome mosaic at Sepphoris (aka Zipporah, I don't remember what I called it).

The tomb of one of the missionaries at Haifa.

The grave marker from farther away.

Some embassy in Haifa.  We only just drove by it.  But the bus driver did go around the roundabout twice so that we could get pictures, lol.
Statue of Elijah at the top of Mt. Carmel.  I dunno if I told about how we got stuck up there... Well, we did, coz a whole bunch of other buses were blocking the road by the time we wanted to leave.  We were stuck for like an hour.

Me and JJ *asleep* in the back of the bus on the way to Eilat.  Best. Bus ride. Ever.  LOL.

Eilat.  This is where we went snorkeling.  Check out the mountains right on the other side of the gulf!

Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday (where I almost fainted).

Our group getting ready to join the procession on Palm Sunday.  :D

It was a long procession.  Lotsa people.  It was awesome.

Dude.  I totally took this picture.  And honestly, I can't believe it turned out so freaking AWESOME because I totally had to hold the camera up over my head to get it.  Ya, I rock.  :D
So about 2/3 of the way through the procession (our group had been systematically splintering up to this point) I realized that I would need to make sure I had at least 2 other people to get back to the Center with...  So I grabbed these three (the girl poking her head through wasn't part of our group) and said, "Hey let's stick together."  And then we actually met up with everybody at St. Anne's at the end but we still wanted a picture.
This is that absolutely gorgeous church at the Franciscan monastery.  The picture does it completely no justice whatsoever.

The door where Orson Hyde scratched his name. :D

K, so this is the Herodion.  The top, anyway.  From the bottom it kinda looks like a volcano... The bus never stops in a good place to get pictures of these places from the bottom.
These are the pretty cool stairs leading to the cistern on the inside.  Like, these are kind of impressive, for how old they are.  Herod may have been a bad dude, but he knew how to build things.

The procession of the cross that we just barely missed (most of it) on Good Friday.

The Garden Tomb.  At sunrise.  On Easter.  Seriously.

And me.  Coz I was there.  :)

K, so this is me and Steph playing the bells later that day.  This wasn't while we were actually playing, but it's a pretty accurate reenactment of the consternation I personally was feeling...  It was scary.  I kinda sucked.

And that's the YMCA tower where the bells are.

The view from Masada.  The haze in the background is the Dead Sea.

Part of Herod's palace- well, one of them, I think there were about 3 on top of Masada.

The Dead Sea!  Dude, this place is so trippy!  I wrote a paper on Jerusalem at the Second Coming a few days after this, and one of the signs is that the waters of the Dead Sea will be healed and I was like, "What a shame!" coz it is a way fun place.  Lol.

And this is the salt deposits on the floor of the sea.

Dead Sea mud!  The point of this pic is that I'm darker than Kara for once in my life, because I used the black mud and she used the gray mud (she's Hawaiian...).  You can't see the difference as much in the photo, sorry...
Ein Gedi.  It's just this random waterfall in the middle of the desert.  And that's not it, really, you have to hike up further.

This is the waterfall at the top.  You will notice I am also sporting my lovely Jerusalem sandals there.

This is Cave #4 at Qumran, where they found the Dead Sea scrolls.

And one of the scrolls.  It might be a replica...

Talent Show!!!  K, so this was our opening MC skit.  Josh and I did the actions (we were on a *safari*) and the real MCs did our voices.  It was pretty fun.

The Luxor-motion.

I Won't Say I'm In Love!!!  Best skit ever!!!!

Hehe, this is me in everyone's clothes.  I didn't end up with any good pix from the actual skit, so we took some after.  That's Chelsea's hat, Kara's jacket, Eliza's skirt, and Heidi's shoes.  Holy crap, it felt SO GOOD to be in real heels again!!!  That was the best part.  :D

Ken and me on our date!!!!  Hahahaha!  Best awkward date ever.

K, so this was our Triclinium fireside.  They had all the guys come up and demonstrate the seating arrangement.  You can kinda see how "leaning on Jesus' breast" would be totally not even weird.  Like, just imagine JJ, in the middle there, leaning back.  Totally normal.

Twilight and Harry Potter in Hebrew!!!  Hahaha.

Me emerging from Lazarus' tomb.  Except that's like the very most underground part.  There's still a whole other stairway to climb up.  This guy was pretty seriously interred.

The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic and Hebrew at Pater Noster.

Steph and I looking out over Jerusalem at Dominus Flevit.

Dormition Abbey.  Which I never got to go inside, dang it!  I was misled, because I thought that's what we were going to do on our last week field trip, but apparently not...
The Upper Room, where the Last Supper would have been.  At least, about 6 meters above where it would have been...

Quiet reflection time at Gethsemane.

St. Peter's Gallicantu.  Where he denied Christ

The steps they would have brought Jesus up from Gethsemane to Caiaphas' house.

K, so this is when I met these incredibly sweet little girls for the first time, after being out in the city after that field trip (well, the day before the last couple pix, actually).  And it made me want to go and meet their families and the other families that these girls had all gotten to know.

So I did.  I don't remember this woman's name, because I couldn't pronounce it...  But I loved her dress!

This is Rachael and I with Susan and her children.  Rachael gave the older girl some clothes that she didn't need anymore, and I thought that was really sweet.

LOL.  Too cute.

This is "Mom."  She made us popcorn, and she was so sad to see us leave for the last time.  It touched me how much love these people have.  It's amazing.  We sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" for her.
This is Sahad- she's the one who dressed me up.  You can see that I was just a little nervous to have a six year old poking around in my ear... She actually put the earrings in backwards, but she didn't stab me.

This is Breanne.  She was one of the more shy, but so sweet, and just as loving as all the rest of them.

Words can't describe a scene like this.  Being with these people, just for that one afternoon, really changed my life.

This is me being sad because I had to leave behind my palm frond that's been sitting in my room since Palm Sunday.  It was the last night- you can see the suitcase and various disarray behind me.
Have you ever noticed that they apparently don't have a 13th row on airplanes?  At least, on this one they didn't.  So I took a picture.  Because I've been a tourist for the last 4 months, and that's what tourists do.  Lol, I keep having the impulse to take pictures of random things in Utah, just because it's been the norm for so long...

JJ said I can't pull off the aviators, but I disagree.

And this is the Nativity that I bought, after I got it all home safely and unwrapped it.  :)  Pretty!