I told Abby she should start a blog, but until then, I'll post some of her emails here. We talked to her Saturday. She is loving it, though a little frustrated at the blatant disregard for the clearly stated dress code by many of the girls, which has led to some cliqueyness. It didn't help that she had a hair mishap right after arriving. She took a voltage converter with her so she could use her blow dryer and hair straightener and it worked, but you have to use your appliances on low. She remembered that with the dryer, but forgot with the straightener until she had fried her bangs and overheated/burned out the straightener. There is no hope for the straightener. Her bangs will have to be grown out and cut.
I wasn't going to write a longer email today, but I had a really good day and I've got time to email, so why not?
Sooooooo this morning I left the center at 8am with a group of six other people. We walked over to Gethsemane and spent some time in the Basilica next to the garden. I think most Christians believe that is really the site of gethsemane, but I thinks we believe it is near Gethsemane but not actually Gethsemane, so there you go. I learned today from a friend that most Christian denominations don't know anything about Jesus suffering in the garden itself. They believe the atonement for our sins occurred on while Christ was on the cross, but the only thing that occurred in the garden itself was that Christ was comforted by an angel. It was really interesting to think about the difference that makes in how we think about Christ.
After we were done there, we walked along Jericho Road and then all around the west side of the old city wall (I wish I could show all of this to you guys on a map, it makes a lot more sense)past Golden Gate, which leads into the temple compound but it's sealed), Dung Gate (I know it has a funny name), and Zion's gate, which is so named because it is across the street from Mt. Zion, where the last supper supposedly took place. We went through Zion's gate and eventually found the most dilapidated set of metal stairs we had ever seen. Naturally, we climbed up them. It led to the rooftops, which are all connected, so we just hiked around on the rooftops of the Armenian Quarter of the old city for a while. It was so cool--we saw a Jewish guy riding his bike up there, and kids walking home from school. I guess the rooftop is the express route!
We also went through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which most Christians believe houses the stone on which Jesus' body was laid to prepare him for burial and something else having to do with Christ's tomb. Also, it's said to be built over the site of Golgotha. We know that none of this is true, but to most Christians it is one of the holiest sites. People were burning candles, praying, and kissing the relics right and left. That place was full to the brim with religious fervor and it is a BEAUTIFUL church--the mosaics on the walls and ceilings are incredible.
We headed back, but on the way we stopped at Aladdin's (pronounced ALlah-DEENS), the money changer. It is the only shop in all of Jerusalem that the Jerusalem Center endorses, and I found out why today. Aladdin wasn't in, but his brother Dalal was, and he is a hoot and a half. While one of the girls was filling out her check, he said, "You can't date here, no?" we answered, "no, we can't." He said, "Ah, but you can date CHECK, yes?" hahahaha... we laughed very hard. Also, in the shop there's a wall where people who went to the Jerusalem Center in the past have left notes for the people here this semester, which was really cool to read. ohhhh what else. A guy outside the shop said to us, "You still mormons?" we said, "yes!" He said, "that's GOOOOOOOD!" Haha... people here definitely know who we are.
After that, we came back to the center, but later I went to Hebrew University with a different group of people because they needed notebooks. Their bookstore is kind of hard to find, but I am definitely going back and getting a T-shirt from there; they're only 30 shekels, which is about $7.89. The rest of their stuff is pretty expensive, though; college bookstores always are.
This place is running silly with feral cats... they were all over the rooftops, they hang out in the dumpsters, they run around the streets, and they were ALL OVER Hebrew University Campus. One cat made some of the strangest noises I've ever heard in my life, it was so funny. I can't even describe the noise that animal was making...
Anyway, tomorrow we have a field trip to a lot of different lookout points around the city so we can get better oriented as to where things are. I'm excited.
Mom, you'll appreciate this story: One of the guys here lost his passport a couple months ago and didn't bother looking for it until the day before we left. Well, he didn't find it, so he didn't show up to the center until TODAY! I bet the Jerusalem Center people were absolutely thrilled. But I thought you'd get a kick out of knowing that your fears weren't completely unwarranted; people do lose their passports. I didn't; it's in the JC safe with everybody else's. I think they want to make sure we don't lose them and they don't get stolen.
Anyway, that was today. I'm not sure what's going on tonight; I think everyone is catching up on homework that they didn't do this weekend, but it sounds like someone's watching a movie, too... I might check that out.
There's still cliquey people, but today it really didn't matter. I'm not cliquey.
Love you all veeerrrrrrry very much!
Abby
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