Saturday, October 19, 2013
Istanbul to Troy-Battle Day
10/9/13
Today was going to be a long day since we only had 2 sites to visit and a fair amount of time on the bus. We woke up and packed our bags to move to our next hotel in Troy (I could get use to this traveling to new places every few day, I think!) Our first trek was to the Gallipoli Penninsula to visit the Battlefield Memorial. THis place was part of the French and Brittish attack of the Dardanelles trying to capture Istanbul during World War I. There was a cemetery for those in the military who lost their lives here, an ANZAC sign to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and also a memorial to the families of the lost soldiers. It was humbling to see headstones for young soldiers my age, young, or even older with families left behind. The youngest stones I saw was of a 17 year old man, which baffled me. The song that came to mind was "Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?" Just thinking that these men fought for others at the sake of their own lives is inspiring no matter the country, side, or reason--their bravery and selflessness is commendable. I also loved walking around reading the quotes on the stones. It made me think of what I would want on mine. How would I want to be remembered? Many of them showed faith in God, love for their families, and/or loyalty for thier country. Off to the side of the cemmetery there was a memorial plaque for the families of the soldier who had passed away. The message talked about the life of a sole and how this memorial didn't favor a certain peope, country, or army but instead focused on honoring the individuals. It also addressed the mother's sadness and stated it would care for the sons they no longer could. I just felt so humbled and grateful for the brave men who serve for my freedom and all I take for granted. Its sad that we don't realize the worth of ALL souls but instead fight until its too late.
We then took a ferry ride across the Dardanelles to the Asian side of Turkey. I have never been on a bus as it loads on the ferry. Let me repeat our bus rode on a boat across the Strait, and not only just our boat but tons of cars and buses. (okay I might be from a small town and this might be common, but still so fascinating!0 This ride wasn't as great or as long as the Bosphorus ride but it was still fun!
Guess what was on the Asian side?!? I'll give you a clue, it has a huge wooden horse and ends with roy :) Yup Troy!!! I was so excited for Troy! Don't worry I did see the wooden horse and yes I documented this experience with pictures (that will hopefully be posted soon!) As we walked around Troy it was crazy to see and be able to differentiate some of the 9 different settlement levels they have discovered. Also it was cool knowing that this was the place in which Homer's legendary story the Iliad and the Odyssey take place, although I need to read it again! The Trojan War dates back to about the 13th to 12th century B.C. which was archeological levels 6 & 7 of Troy. (which seems crazy that there were 2 more levels that dated to previous times!) This stuff is old and the walls and auditorium were surprisingly in good shape! Just to explain the wooden horse on a very basic level as it relates to the Trojan War. After the 10 year war, the united Greek army withdrew and left a massive wooden horse at the gate of Troy. Naturally the people of Troy brought it into the city to celebrate victory, which led to Greek soldiers emerging from inside the horse to defeat the people of Troy and take Helen back to Sparta. It's crazy to think how many soldiers could fit and keep quiet in a wooden horse.
Tonight we stayed at a fancy hotel called Hotel Ida Kale in Canakkale. I have never stayed in a hotel on the beach, and I loved it! As if the beach wasn't enough the hotel also had an outside pool, which was freezing! I loved walking out on the dock and in the sand along the water under the moon and stars. Just icing on the cake to an exceptional day!
The Istanbul Dream!
October 7th, 2013: Day 2 of Turkey!
An early morning lead to a jam packed day! I am so excited and grateful I get to wake up in Turkey this morning! Our first stop this morning was the famous Topkapi Palace. This place was huge with many different buildings and areas for the gardens, relics, and treasures. Unfortunately photography wasn't always allowed so I'm sorry for the lack of pictures (even though it is nearly impossible to post them here at the Center anyways). Some of the relics we saw included the "Possible real" staff of Moses, the hand of John the Baptist (don't worry it was all wrapped up, couldn't really see anything), keys from the Kaaba in Mecca and hair from the beard of Muhammad. It was neat to have the musical sounding recitation of the Koran filling the building as we walked through. Once we could see the exit we noticed an old Muslim sitting in the corner with a microphone and the Koran, it was a live reading! In the room with all the jewelry and treasures we saw the biggest diamond--80 something odd carats! Can you imagine that on a wedding ring, it'd weigh down your whole hand! Crazy!!!
Close by we went to the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the "horse track." This was a large open-air venue for public events like chariot races, horse races, and civic celebrations located right in front of the Blue Mosque (which will be discussed later!) Some estimate that at one time the Hippodrome could hold up to 100,000 spectators cheering on the events. There wasn't a lot to see here unfortunately but I can only imagine the grand events and fun entertainment that took place here!
Finally we arrived at the Sultanahmet Mosque (referred to by tourists as the Blue Mosque because of its beautiful Iznik tile used in the inside) which was one of my favorites thus far. I honestly felt like I was walking into a castle, even more so than the Disneyland representation ;) Since it is still an active mosque we women had the privilege of wearing a headscarf, which only some can pull off fashionably, and everyone had to take off their shoes. Built in the early 17th century , the mosque complex includes a large courtyard, Ahmet's tomb, and originally contained a madrasa (school) and a hospice. This building is huge! Although the normal minaret number for this king of mosque is four (like the Hagia Sophia), the Blue Mosque contains six. This caused a great controversy since the Grand Mosque in Mecca also had six minarets, which meant they had to add another one to the Grand Mosque. The lower level is decorated with over 20,000 beautifully decorated blue ceramic tiles. The large tablets on the walls are inscribed with the names of the caliphs and verses form the Koran. There was a reverent spirit here that added to the beautiful interior. I also enjoyed being passed by the Muslims going to the closed off section to prepare for noon prayer. Which just for your information, visitors aren't allowed inside during prayer times. Although it isn't a sacred place necessarily for the LDS religion, it is a portal to God for others and we need to respect that. There is more in common with Muslims than one would first notice.
After a super fancy, 5 plate lunch (salad, soup & bread, appetizer, main dish, and dessert) we headed to the Basilica Cistern. Can I just tell you I love cisterns and the Spirit it brings when we sing hymns which ring off the walls and bear witness of their truth! Plus seeing the pictures online of this Cistern I was super excited (just google search, my pictures once uploaded won't do it justice!). This was like no other cistern I have ever been too, it literally looked like an underground palace. This Cistern was build by Justinian in the 6th Century A.D. and have 336 thick columns made of marble and granite for support. Some of the column bases are stones reused form earlier structures, two of which have huge Medusa heads on the bottom since they were originally too short. According to Greek mythology, anyone who looked Medusa in the eyes would turn into stone! They were often used in Roman structures as a sign of protection. Don't worry I didn't make eye contact, that's why I'm still here! I loved the lighting of the cistern. They had built a wooden path to walk on so water could still be there and added little lights at the bottom of the columns giving the place some "mood" lighting. I wished so bad that we could have sung but unfortunately this was a very busy tourist attraction so instead we just enjoyed the view!
Next stop was shopping at the Grand Bazaar!!! This Bazaar had over 4,000 shops, a girls biggest dream (besides a trip to Jerusalem and Turkey of course!) By the way 2 Turkish Lyra was equivalent to 1 U.S dollar. I really wish we would have had more time to explore and shop, we only had 45 minutes with our busy schedule which meant only a few shops. I did however find a charm for my journey necklace. It is in the shape of an eye and has a verse from the Koran concerning Allah written in Arabic.
Our last activity of the night, yes the day just kept going and going with excitement, was a private boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait. I hope this doesn't sound stupid but this was one of my favorite parts of the day! It felt so nice to sit back and relax as Turkey unfolded in front of you! It was a cool fall night with a slight breeze, I felt like I was free, no worries in the world just tossing back and forth with the waves. It was also really neat to see the differences in the Asia and Europe sides of Turkey. I loved seeing all the mosques, resorts, schools, palaces, and other buildings that lined the shore. It was so beautiful I just sat in awe, pinching myself to wake up from the dream! Next thing I know we have 4 dolphins swimming alongside the boat, just like you see in the movies! It was the perfect night for a boat ride under the moonlight sky! There was a crescent moon and one star out, just like the Turkey flag! The Bosphorus bridge was also lit with lights that changed colors and was so perfect!
I had such a blast enjoying the scenes and hanging out with the friends that I've made. There are two girls that I've become almost inseparable with, Lauren Law (soon to be Korth) and Kinsey Ferrell. We finished off the night making funny face photos while we waited for the boat to be secured to unload. I can definitely see best friends for life out of them we laughed so hard! Perfect way to end the night in Turkey if you ask me!
An early morning lead to a jam packed day! I am so excited and grateful I get to wake up in Turkey this morning! Our first stop this morning was the famous Topkapi Palace. This place was huge with many different buildings and areas for the gardens, relics, and treasures. Unfortunately photography wasn't always allowed so I'm sorry for the lack of pictures (even though it is nearly impossible to post them here at the Center anyways). Some of the relics we saw included the "Possible real" staff of Moses, the hand of John the Baptist (don't worry it was all wrapped up, couldn't really see anything), keys from the Kaaba in Mecca and hair from the beard of Muhammad. It was neat to have the musical sounding recitation of the Koran filling the building as we walked through. Once we could see the exit we noticed an old Muslim sitting in the corner with a microphone and the Koran, it was a live reading! In the room with all the jewelry and treasures we saw the biggest diamond--80 something odd carats! Can you imagine that on a wedding ring, it'd weigh down your whole hand! Crazy!!!
Close by we went to the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the "horse track." This was a large open-air venue for public events like chariot races, horse races, and civic celebrations located right in front of the Blue Mosque (which will be discussed later!) Some estimate that at one time the Hippodrome could hold up to 100,000 spectators cheering on the events. There wasn't a lot to see here unfortunately but I can only imagine the grand events and fun entertainment that took place here!
Finally we arrived at the Sultanahmet Mosque (referred to by tourists as the Blue Mosque because of its beautiful Iznik tile used in the inside) which was one of my favorites thus far. I honestly felt like I was walking into a castle, even more so than the Disneyland representation ;) Since it is still an active mosque we women had the privilege of wearing a headscarf, which only some can pull off fashionably, and everyone had to take off their shoes. Built in the early 17th century , the mosque complex includes a large courtyard, Ahmet's tomb, and originally contained a madrasa (school) and a hospice. This building is huge! Although the normal minaret number for this king of mosque is four (like the Hagia Sophia), the Blue Mosque contains six. This caused a great controversy since the Grand Mosque in Mecca also had six minarets, which meant they had to add another one to the Grand Mosque. The lower level is decorated with over 20,000 beautifully decorated blue ceramic tiles. The large tablets on the walls are inscribed with the names of the caliphs and verses form the Koran. There was a reverent spirit here that added to the beautiful interior. I also enjoyed being passed by the Muslims going to the closed off section to prepare for noon prayer. Which just for your information, visitors aren't allowed inside during prayer times. Although it isn't a sacred place necessarily for the LDS religion, it is a portal to God for others and we need to respect that. There is more in common with Muslims than one would first notice.
After a super fancy, 5 plate lunch (salad, soup & bread, appetizer, main dish, and dessert) we headed to the Basilica Cistern. Can I just tell you I love cisterns and the Spirit it brings when we sing hymns which ring off the walls and bear witness of their truth! Plus seeing the pictures online of this Cistern I was super excited (just google search, my pictures once uploaded won't do it justice!). This was like no other cistern I have ever been too, it literally looked like an underground palace. This Cistern was build by Justinian in the 6th Century A.D. and have 336 thick columns made of marble and granite for support. Some of the column bases are stones reused form earlier structures, two of which have huge Medusa heads on the bottom since they were originally too short. According to Greek mythology, anyone who looked Medusa in the eyes would turn into stone! They were often used in Roman structures as a sign of protection. Don't worry I didn't make eye contact, that's why I'm still here! I loved the lighting of the cistern. They had built a wooden path to walk on so water could still be there and added little lights at the bottom of the columns giving the place some "mood" lighting. I wished so bad that we could have sung but unfortunately this was a very busy tourist attraction so instead we just enjoyed the view!
Next stop was shopping at the Grand Bazaar!!! This Bazaar had over 4,000 shops, a girls biggest dream (besides a trip to Jerusalem and Turkey of course!) By the way 2 Turkish Lyra was equivalent to 1 U.S dollar. I really wish we would have had more time to explore and shop, we only had 45 minutes with our busy schedule which meant only a few shops. I did however find a charm for my journey necklace. It is in the shape of an eye and has a verse from the Koran concerning Allah written in Arabic.
Our last activity of the night, yes the day just kept going and going with excitement, was a private boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait. I hope this doesn't sound stupid but this was one of my favorite parts of the day! It felt so nice to sit back and relax as Turkey unfolded in front of you! It was a cool fall night with a slight breeze, I felt like I was free, no worries in the world just tossing back and forth with the waves. It was also really neat to see the differences in the Asia and Europe sides of Turkey. I loved seeing all the mosques, resorts, schools, palaces, and other buildings that lined the shore. It was so beautiful I just sat in awe, pinching myself to wake up from the dream! Next thing I know we have 4 dolphins swimming alongside the boat, just like you see in the movies! It was the perfect night for a boat ride under the moonlight sky! There was a crescent moon and one star out, just like the Turkey flag! The Bosphorus bridge was also lit with lights that changed colors and was so perfect!
I had such a blast enjoying the scenes and hanging out with the friends that I've made. There are two girls that I've become almost inseparable with, Lauren Law (soon to be Korth) and Kinsey Ferrell. We finished off the night making funny face photos while we waited for the boat to be secured to unload. I can definitely see best friends for life out of them we laughed so hard! Perfect way to end the night in Turkey if you ask me!
It's all about Turkey, and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet!
October 6th, 2013
Finally we are off for an amazing, once in a lifetime vacation in Turkey, a whole week I can't imagine! I thought this day would never come, but breakfast at 3:30 a.m. has a way of shocking me into reality! I have to admit needing at least 3 hours to make it through security at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv made me nervous. Not that I have anything to hide but I'm sure if they ask me too many questions they will just want to keep me all to themselves ;) Don't worry it wasn't too extensive. I didn't get padded down, no one-on-one interviews where I needed to sing "God Bless America" to prove I'm a young stupid American who just loves chick flicks (for all you who haven't seen The Proposal, look it up!) and no one stealing my bag because they could still reach it underneath the bathroom stall door. Let me tell you though, the airport is one busy place even early in the morning, granted adding 80 students to the mix doesn't help at all. Anyways, guess how I flew to Turkey?!? PEGASUS!!! Can you believe it? Okay not a great play on words but it was fun to fly with Pegasus airlines. Even though it was a 2 hour flight they still managed to squeeze in a barely edible breakfast of egg surprise and a 5 year old biscuit, not my favorite but it will do.
After arriving at Istanbul we met our tour guide named Nicep (sounded like Egypt with an N, Negypt) who was hilarious! I knew right off the bat I would love our guide! He kinda reminded me of a friend from high school, Francisco (for those of you who might know). He was somewhat shorter, with a birthmark on his neck that would go super red when he was embarrassed or nervous. He had a thick accent which really added to his message and jokes. For example he was telling us that many elderly couples after retirement buy homes in this certain area, instead of saying retirement he said something like "retardment age" which made everyone laugh!
Our first stop was at the Hagia Sophia Mosque! This mosque was absolutely stunning, seriously felt like I was in a land of Castles with all the huge mosques littering the land. It was a huge open Mosque and since it isn't an active mosque anymore it was a very busy tourist attraction. Notice the Calligraphy on the walls of the building in Arabic, they really added to the building. In most Muslim mosques today calligraphy is used as decoration instead of pictures or mosaics. After its construction in the mid 6th century A.D. the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world for nearly a thousand years. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 they converted the Hagia Sophia church into a mosque, adding four minarets to the exterior. At this conversion time they covered the Christian art with plaster which ironically preserved the mosaics rather than destroying it, trying not to expose human images (common in Muslim religious buildings). They also told a story of one of the mosaics and how the visitors of the mosque were taking bits and pieces of the mosaic as keepsakes. This was super sad to see the effects of such selfish acts, even though we all wanted to take pottery shards and had to have a huge lecture-Now I understand why.
(insert Hagia Sophia Mosque here) I don't have the internet capacity to do so now, but I will update as soon as I can!
We also went to the Archeological Museum. I have to be honest and say that Museums aren't my favorite because many times I can't touch or even take pictures, but it still was really neat. This museum had the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great among many others, even from Egypt! There was also the oldest peace treaty found from Mesopotamia. As you can imagine there were mounds of pottery, jewelry, and other random findings from Troy and the Harbor.
Can I just say I love the atmosphere of Turkey! Just driving to and from the hotel caught my eye, which is saying something since I'd been up since the weeee hours of the morning! I love the feeling of adventure you have traveling to countries all across the world. I'm still in awe that I made it away for this long and so far away! I absolutely love all the beautiful mosques that litter the land. It really made me think of what will last from our age. What buildings will the future use to learn and honor the 21st century? Then the thought came to me....TEMPLES!!!! Mosques are holy places of worship and prayer for the Muslims but temples and church houses are our holy places where we connect and talk with our Father in Heaven. I love seeing the dome tops of the mosques everywhere I look! Oh how I wish the temples will become as populated as mosques, and not just in Utah!
Finally we are off for an amazing, once in a lifetime vacation in Turkey, a whole week I can't imagine! I thought this day would never come, but breakfast at 3:30 a.m. has a way of shocking me into reality! I have to admit needing at least 3 hours to make it through security at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv made me nervous. Not that I have anything to hide but I'm sure if they ask me too many questions they will just want to keep me all to themselves ;) Don't worry it wasn't too extensive. I didn't get padded down, no one-on-one interviews where I needed to sing "God Bless America" to prove I'm a young stupid American who just loves chick flicks (for all you who haven't seen The Proposal, look it up!) and no one stealing my bag because they could still reach it underneath the bathroom stall door. Let me tell you though, the airport is one busy place even early in the morning, granted adding 80 students to the mix doesn't help at all. Anyways, guess how I flew to Turkey?!? PEGASUS!!! Can you believe it? Okay not a great play on words but it was fun to fly with Pegasus airlines. Even though it was a 2 hour flight they still managed to squeeze in a barely edible breakfast of egg surprise and a 5 year old biscuit, not my favorite but it will do.
After arriving at Istanbul we met our tour guide named Nicep (sounded like Egypt with an N, Negypt) who was hilarious! I knew right off the bat I would love our guide! He kinda reminded me of a friend from high school, Francisco (for those of you who might know). He was somewhat shorter, with a birthmark on his neck that would go super red when he was embarrassed or nervous. He had a thick accent which really added to his message and jokes. For example he was telling us that many elderly couples after retirement buy homes in this certain area, instead of saying retirement he said something like "retardment age" which made everyone laugh!
Our first stop was at the Hagia Sophia Mosque! This mosque was absolutely stunning, seriously felt like I was in a land of Castles with all the huge mosques littering the land. It was a huge open Mosque and since it isn't an active mosque anymore it was a very busy tourist attraction. Notice the Calligraphy on the walls of the building in Arabic, they really added to the building. In most Muslim mosques today calligraphy is used as decoration instead of pictures or mosaics. After its construction in the mid 6th century A.D. the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world for nearly a thousand years. When the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 they converted the Hagia Sophia church into a mosque, adding four minarets to the exterior. At this conversion time they covered the Christian art with plaster which ironically preserved the mosaics rather than destroying it, trying not to expose human images (common in Muslim religious buildings). They also told a story of one of the mosaics and how the visitors of the mosque were taking bits and pieces of the mosaic as keepsakes. This was super sad to see the effects of such selfish acts, even though we all wanted to take pottery shards and had to have a huge lecture-Now I understand why.
(insert Hagia Sophia Mosque here) I don't have the internet capacity to do so now, but I will update as soon as I can!
We also went to the Archeological Museum. I have to be honest and say that Museums aren't my favorite because many times I can't touch or even take pictures, but it still was really neat. This museum had the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great among many others, even from Egypt! There was also the oldest peace treaty found from Mesopotamia. As you can imagine there were mounds of pottery, jewelry, and other random findings from Troy and the Harbor.
Can I just say I love the atmosphere of Turkey! Just driving to and from the hotel caught my eye, which is saying something since I'd been up since the weeee hours of the morning! I love the feeling of adventure you have traveling to countries all across the world. I'm still in awe that I made it away for this long and so far away! I absolutely love all the beautiful mosques that litter the land. It really made me think of what will last from our age. What buildings will the future use to learn and honor the 21st century? Then the thought came to me....TEMPLES!!!! Mosques are holy places of worship and prayer for the Muslims but temples and church houses are our holy places where we connect and talk with our Father in Heaven. I love seeing the dome tops of the mosques everywhere I look! Oh how I wish the temples will become as populated as mosques, and not just in Utah!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Who's on the Lord's side who?
Shephelah Field Trip (9/30/13)
On
September 30th we had a full day field trip with a ton of different
sites in the scriptures! We started at Lachish, which was the Shephelah's
largest city in the Old Testament times. The scriptures that outline some
events here are Joshua 10:3-11, 31-32, 2 Kinds 18:13-16, 2 Chronochles 32:9,
Isaiah 9, Jeremiah 34:7, and Nehemiah 11:30. It was cool to see the siege ramp
built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib! The main theme we discussed this field
trip was the power of divinely-led warfare. If God is on your side, you will
not fail!
Next we went to Mareshah and Beth Guvrin. My
favorite parts of these sites were the huge olive press, dovecotes, and Bell's
Caves. It was neat to see the equipment and process of pressing olives. I also
never realized this processed happens underground in order to obtain "pure
virgin" olive oil. It made me even more excited for when we get to make
our own olive oil when the olives are ripe.
Above is part of the olive press
Don't Megan Bassett and I look great workin this olive press?!
The
Bell's Cave was also amazing! It is nothing like what we call caves back in
Idaho! The one cave had 4 different "rooms" and was as big as my
house I bet! The sound was also incredible. We were able to sing a few songs
but my absolute favorite was when we sang The Spirit of God (one of my all-time
favorites to begin with!). The Spirit was so unbelievably strong, it was
honestly my favorite part of the trip! (pictured below) I did capture a recording of the hymn but our bandwidth won't allow me to upload so it will come available at the end of the trip!
We
also went to ELah Valley/Azekah where the story of David and Goliath took
place, a classic childhood favorite! (1 Samuel 17) Just for fun we even went
over by the riverbend on the edge of a mountain side and practiced with our
aim. We had rope slings and flung rocks against the mountain. Believe it or not
but it was hard and definitely pointed out that David had to have the Lord's
help, there was no way I was even close to being able to kill someone with a
single stone!
Here is a picture of Amanda and our with our David and Goliath slings!
Lastly
we finished at Beth Shemesh overlooking the Sorek Valley. There really wasn't
much to see there but it is mentioned in 1 Samuel 6. When the Philistines
suffered for possessing the Ark of the Covenant, they put it on a cart and
directed the animals toward the Israelite city of Beth Shemesh.
Miracles do Exist!
We arrived home at 6:15 exhausted and ready for
dinner then bed. Although I could have fallen asleep right after Family Home Evening,
the night wasn't over for the 3 associate nursing students. We had a test to
take from 9-10:30 pm, in which we barely had time to study. I witnessed a
miracle that night! We received a 92% even after reading questions wrong,
fighting the urge to go to sleep, and not having any time to concentrate and
study like usual. I realized no matter how insignificant the desires of our
heart are, if they are righteous desires then God will be on our side and even perform
miracles!
The Angels of Labor and Delivery
On
Tuesday I was on the labor and delivery unit at Makassed with Lindsay Hawkins.
There was only 1 gal that was going to be coming in for a C-section later that
day, so mostly we visited with the people working. At first the nurses and
nursing students took us around to the different rooms of the Post-Partum unit
and told of each delivery. There was one woman that my heart just went out to.
She was admitted because of an ectopic pregnancy. They had given her medication
to abort the baby but it hadn't worked for some reason. This lady was in immense
pain! Can you imagine being 11 weeks along and having the baby in a place where
babies really shouldn't be, not fun! It
was really hard to see her crying and in pain knowing they really couldn't do
anything for her emotionally. I have
grown to love the people here so much! The one set of nursing students we met
and talked with were from Gaza and had traveled at least 4 hours to get through
customs each shift at the hospital. Their school was currently under strike for
the tuition being raised, so they were worried they would have to quit nursing
school and start over with clinical hours the following semester.
Interesting enough they were both born in
the U.S. and spoke very good English, but had returned to Gaza around age 10.
They talked to us about nurses training and answered our questions about their
culture. It was fun because the one girl was engaged and had been for 6 months
and still wasn't getting married until August. Can you imagine that long of an
engagement! Definitely not your typical Mormon speed track! Anyways this may
sound funny but the one (Esthma) proceeded to tell us she was engaged to her
first cousin. She quickly followed this by saying "I know you don't do
this in America, but it is our culture." I loved that she was willing to
share and help us learn even if she knew we wouldn't agree. Another nurse we
talked to was named Olah (like hi in Spanish!). She was the sweetest lady ever!
She kept following us into rooms saying ask me any questions you would like. So
on our down time we went to visit. As we talked about the unit and her career,
she said Labor and Delivery was the happiest nursing place. She had worked
there 17 years and didn't want to change anything! She loved seeing the new
babies born and the pregnant mothers.
It was also cool to see how open about God
Olah was. We didn't talk about religion
or certain beliefs but she just kept talking about God and how he doesn't
punish people with sickness. Something that she said that I think we all need
to remember is "Illness/death doesn't know male from female, rice from
poor, or child from adult" She talked about how we need to give thanks to
God for everything, especially our health and our families health. She was so
thankful for life and to still be living and 8 months pregnant herself! I
learned a lot about how to appreciate life and love what you've been blessed
with. I also realized we don't need to preach, teach, and proselyte everywhere
we go. We can show we are converted to God by inviting Him into our conversations
and by openly being thankful to God for our blessings. I hope I can someday
make this big of an impact on the lives of others!
FuN iN tHe SuN!!!
Tel Aviv!!!
After
getting back to the Jerusalem Center by 1, the Nursing students arranged to go
to Tel Aviv (closest big city, where we flew into) for the afternoon since
everyone else goes when we are in clinicals. It is about an hour away and costs
80 shekels (3.6 sheks=$1) but the beach alone was worth it! We got dropped off
on the Mediterranean Sea's Beach. Although there were a bunch of people, it was
beautiful with the white sand and overly blue water! Plus the City was right
off the beach which was such a great view. We decided to tour the City first
then watch the sunset on the beach before catching the bus home. One of the main
things we wanted to see was the older city of Jaffa. I loved the huge clock
tower the City was built around. WE also walked along the boardwalk seeing all
the boats go out and the men fish off the walkways. I have never seen such huge
fishing poles in my life! I even got to try my first gelato J Mango
and cheese cake, it was delicious!
We met up with the other half of our group who
spent all day at the beach, right before sunset. The water was unbelievably
warm and clean! (unlike the reservoir back home!) The waves were huge and we
had a blast body surfing, although we would be fine with a little less salt. We
built sand castles and found sea shells by the sea shore. We wrote our name and
Jerusalem in the sand. I honestly had such a carefree and fun time at the
beach! It was the absolute perfect place to watch the sunset; the reflection
off the water was breath taking. The rays shining through the clouds were my
favorite because it seemed like the Lord was reaching down to brighten His
people's lives.
Jericho Field Trip (9/23/13)
Jericho Field Trip
This
is a picture of the Quruntul Monastery (above and below) in the Judean
Wilderness. The Monessary was huge, even 15 feet wide! This site was on the
Mount of Temptation, where the devil tempted Jesus after his 40 day fast. Found
in Matthew 4:1-22 and Luke 4:1-13. This is a place of transformation in many
ways. First of all for about 2-3 weeks each year this wilderness receives rain
and displays green hillsides and beautiful flowers. We were shown some pictures
off the internet (feel free to explore) to show the vast difference, and it
seriously is so beautiful and so different than what we saw. Second coming here
strips us of our worldly representations we have made and lets us see who we
have really come and in some cases to meet and connect with God on all
different levels. We looked at Isaiah 40: 6-8 then Matthew 3:1-12. If you look
closely there are also little caves all along the hillside which were caves
where individuals go to live by themselves to individually take on God. Also
there are 2 Greek monks who still live here in this monastery.
Herod's Winter Palace
Next
we went to Herod's Winter Palace (above) in Jericho. This was a huge site but
it really didn't have much that we hadn't seen before. There was however a big
round circle called a Mikvac (not sure of the spelling) which was a hot pool
bath (pictured below). We like to refer to it as a Mormon Baptismal Font in the
making ;)
TEl ES-SULTAN
Tel
Es-Sultan in Jericho is the oldest man-made structure in the world. The
Neolithic (New Stone Age) ancient tower
dates back to around 8000 B.C. The tel also yields evidence of Canaanite people
in Bronze Age (3000-1200 B.C). Although this tower doesn't seem very tall it is
amazing the condition it was in!
( look closely by the stairs, the top of the tower isn't remaining)
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