J-Ru Adventures: Lost Journal + Annoying Repetition in E-mails = New Blog!!

So we just got back from Egypt a couple of days ago, and unfortunately I did lose my journal on the trip. I'm actually super bummed about it because I have written in it every day since we got here, and I lost all of the accounts of what we did along with my first impressions and feelings about it all. Also, with recounting what I've done to friends and family, it just got a little repetitious and whatnot, so here is my new solution to that! Anyway, I will recount a little bit about what I've been doing since I got to Jerusalem. Mainly just the highlights. When we first got here we did a tour of the city. Since being here I've been to the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where some churches believe Christ was buried and prepared, etc), the Garden Tomb (where we believe Christ was buried), the believed site of Golgotha (where Christ was crucified, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Via Dolorosa.

All of the experiences have been really great. It was neat to go to the Western Wall and see the devotion that the Jewish people have for their faith and their excitement to pray and worship. I got to dance with the people as they brought in the Sabbath (which is on Saturday here). The Garden Tomb was also amazing. We went as a big tour group, so it wasn't the most personal experience at first, but then we starting seeing hymns as a group, and later got some personal quiet time there. When we started to sing, it definitely brought the Spirit though. Every time we start to sing as a group in different places (such as Mt. Sinai, etc), a ton of people just stopped to listen, take pictures or video, or even sing with us. Going to the Garden of Gethsemane was a great experience too. It is nice that it is so close to the Jerusalem Center and they have a private section blocked off that they let us students go into, so it is a lot more peaceful because there are no tour groups. I was able to just walk around, read my scriptures, etc and I love the spirit that is felt in these places!!

Another neat thing is that our Sacrament Meeting auditorium overlooks the city, and it is so gorgeous. The view from my room is sooooo beautiful. The center is on the Mount of Olives, and you can see the entire city with the Dome of the Rock and everything, it is great. Oh, and every day (5 times a day) they have a call to prayer that plays over the speakers. It is neat to hear. It is also fun shopping and bartering with the people. They all love us, and when we walk down the street they all say "Mormons we love you!" and sing a song about it and stuff too. They are funny.

This past week we were in Egypt. We got to go to the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, the Valley of the Kings (where all of the tombs of ancient Pharaohs are, like King Tut and stuff), and to the Egyptian museum and other cool places. I got to see a bunch of different mummies in the Egyptian museum, like King Tut, Ramses II, Queen Hapshetsut, the Thutmoses's, and others. It was really neat. Oh, and we got to go to the Luxor Temple, Karnak Temple, and a bunch of other temples/tombs. It was neat to see all of the hieroglyphics and what they believed and did in their temples. I really want to go back there again sometime later in my life after I go through the temple. Oh, and I got to ride on a camel, haha. People in Egypt always try to get you to let them do little things for you so you have to pay them, like hand you flowers when you're on the camels, or try to give you tours of places as you're walking through them. It is kinda funny. Our hotel in Luxor was right on the Nile River, so that was really neat. I could literally just walk outside and stick my feet in, but you really don't wanna do that cuz the Nile water is suuuupernasty. We had to drink out of our water bottles the whole time, and wash our face/brush our teeth with our water bottle water. It was kind of annoying, but I didn't get sick like people often do!! I just stuck with the hot cooked foods or baked goods and I was fine. We got to go on boat rides on the Nile river though.

One of the coolest things we did though was climbed Mt. Sinai (where the Lord spoke to Moses and he received the 10 commandments, etc). We woke up at 2 AM and started hiking at about 3:00 AM. It took about an hour and a half to two hours to hike. So we hiked in the dark, which was actually probably good because then we didn't think about how much further we had to go because we couldn't see the top. Then we got to the top, sang some hymns, and watched the sun rise. It was so beautiful and so neat to see. Again people videoed us singing and sang with us. After we walked down for a bit, we had a short testimony meeting. I love testimony meetings here, especially my first one here in the Jerusalem Center. It was just neat being able to hear people testify of Jesus Christ while looking out over the Holy City. Anyway, it has just been an amazing experience all together.

Egypt was great though. It was neat being able to drive on the same path that the children of Israel took when they left Egypt. Oh, and when we went under the Suez Canal we all tried to hold our breath the whole way through. I got pretty close the second time, but didn't hold my breath very long at all the second time. I think if I was driving (so I wasn't in a slow bus), I would be able to do it. Only one person in our group was able to do it. The people in the shops were a lot more forward. I mean, over here you always get comments about how beautiful you are, and your pretty eyes, etc, but in Egypt it was a lot more extreme and they were a lot more persistent. The guys we walk with get a lot of trade offers. I think the best I've heard was an uncountable amount of camels, and the worst I've heard was two one-legged chickens. Haha, it is funny. They all have the same jokes/sayings too. They all yell out Obama as we walk by, and all say "Welcome to Alaska", and weird things like that. It is funny. The people are nice though. It feels good to be back in Jerusalem though and not have to deal with watching what I eat so I don't get sick, and I don't have to constantly be re-packing and everything to switch hotels.

Anyway, I'm probably forgetting a lot of things, so I'll probably write more about the first few weeks later, but this is good for now. I'll post some pictures from the highlights of my adventures up to this point. Enjoy!!

View from my porch