Time Machine

1700 BC

1550 BC

1468 BC

1270 BC

1269 BC

1230 BC

1224 BC

1000  BC

961 BC

950 BC

922 BC

918 BC

853  BC

732  BC

722 BC

701 BC

640  BC

609  BC

586 BC

537 BC

520 BC

444  BC

430  BC

332 BC

270  BC

198 BC

167  BC

164  BC

63 BC

38 BC

31 BC

 20 BC

 4 BC

 6 AD

10  AD

26  AD

66  AD

70  AD

73  AD
135 AD

180 AD

324 AD
500  AD
638 AD

1099  AD
1187 AD

I can tell you something significant that happened in the Holy Land in each & every single one of these years.  

(to be sung to the rhythm of "Saudis in Audis") 
In the 12 &69, Rameses treats with the Hittites, 1270 was the Ex-O-dus, Israel led out by Mah-O-ses.
 

180 AD - The Jews changed their stance on writing the Oral Toral 180 degrees & wrote it down. This was called the Mishnah. 

1230 BC- Joshua crossed into Canaan--just in time for lunch.

586 BC- Nebudchadnezzar went after Jerusalem with sticks (big ones) & destroyed the First Temple, which, incidentally, was built by Solomon in...

950 BC.  BAM.

I'm like a timeline ninja! (taken at Galilee)

Go ahead. 

QUIZ ME.

...Except It's Actually *Really* Blue

I speak, of course, of the alluring Red Sea.

Whoever called it red was obviously colorblind. Love that tropical azure.

On Sunday--which is our day off here at the JC, as we celebrate Sabbath on Saturday (like the Jews)--we traveled to Eilat, a beach resort town along the shore of the Red Sea. We've hit the Red & the Med in the last 10 days, now we're heading for the Dead next week. No complaints from this water baby.

My lovely Hawaiian friend Mallory said it was *almost* as good as the Islands.

It was glorious to plunge into that bright blue water and come face to face with fish like I usually only see in my dentist's aquarium. We even saw a jellyfish! With the sea, the salt, and the sun, I was a happy girl.

On our drive down to Eilat, Bro. Chadwick (aka Chadwickipedia) told us all about Lehi's journey from Jerusalem and along the very trail we were driving. It's incredible to see how all of the stories I've read so often weave in and out of each other here. 

And to make the day even bettah, I was blessed with the honor of wearing The JC Girls' Shirt. It is the height of Middle Eastern haute couture.

voila!

Did I mention that I love my life?

you might want to re-live summers gone by & listen to "Never Let You Go" by Third Eye Blind.

Running on Faith

In a moment of pure insanity and overestimation of my physical abilities, I signed up for Jerusalem's First 10k. But guess what?

I DID IT!

awkward self portrait on a street that was part of the course

And it only took me about an hour and 15 minutes, despite Jerusalem being the Hilliest City in the Holy/Hilly Land. Since I've gone running...um... once since I've been here, I was rather pleased with this time.

It was a beautiful run on a sunny morning, taking us all over West Jerusalem and even through a bit of the Old City. Jewish families, Muslim men on their way to morning prayers, and tourists from around the world lined the streets to cheer the runners on as we passed by. Along the way, huge speaker towers blared Hebrew hip-hop; the excitement was infectious.

Unfortunately, walking the 3 miles to the starting line (all the roads were closed down, so we couldn't take a cab), running the race, and walking the three miles back, all on Jerusalem's lovely but slightly uneven limestone pavement, did some slight damage to some of the muscles in my left foot. Glory wound!

I may become a professional sport injury wrapper yet. Stylish, no?

But life is GOOD.

Because I got this super cool neon green/yellow adidas jersey shirt thing for my participation in the marathon. You'll never have to worry about losing me in a crowd again.

modeling my Jerusathon Jersey (tm) by the Herodian ashlars that would have formed the gateway to the Temple Mount at the time of Christ. typical.

  
AND...my hair is getting sun bleached and my face is getting tan. 

one of those rare occasions when my hair is behaving itself & I get to look like a girl

bliss.

LISTEN UP: highlights from my 10k playlist: "Uncharted" by Sara Bareilles, "Parachute" by Train, "I Believe in You" by Vertical Horizon, "Time & Confusion" by Anberlin, & "You're All I Have" by Snow Patrol.

Proof of Insanity

We're leaving tomorrow morning to spend ten days along the shore of the beautiful Sea of Galilee. We'll be going on 7 field trips during that time, 4 straight day-long adventures for the last 4 days.

& what do I decide to do the morning after we get back?

Okay, so I'm just running the 10k.

Yeah, this college business has definitely improved my thinking abilities. 

But I think that Jaynee, my most dedicated commenter (except perhaps my mother), will be proud of me. I'll take that first dose of Ibuprofen in your honor, dearest amazing runner woman.

Soundtrack of my life today: 
"Pretty Things" by Tony Lucca
"She's Got You High" by Mumm-ra
"Open Your Eyes" by Snow Patrol
"Many the Miles" by Sara Bareilles

To Be an Eight-Cow Woman

We do a lot of rather creative things at the BYU Jerusalem Center. We take a lot of jumping pictures. We wander through the Old City. We learn to dance like Arabs and we learn to dance like Israelis. But tonight, we're taking world culture to a new level with...

A JOHNNY LINGO MARATHON!

Aloha!

My Hawaiian friend Jeanelle & me. We aspire to be eight-cow wives someday.

This Isn't About Basketball (Not Totally, Anyway)

The title of this blog post may not make sense. Let me explain.

We have finals this week.

In my past experience, the only collegiate finals that happen in March typically involve a large wooden floor, two hoops, men in shorts, cheerleaders with short skirts and pompoms, popular rock songs, comparing brackets, an orange ball, and a lot of screaming college kids.

Here, we have limestone floors, just one Hoopes (who typically goes by Neal), men aren't allowed to wear shorts, girls with long skirts and Hanes vnecks, songs about rocks, comparing Hebrew notes, eating oranges, and a lot of screaming college kids. And the only dribbling we do involves toasted pitas filled with melty sesame butter/nutella that runs down our chins. *slurp*

Nevertheless, finals are upon us. Therefore, check out my cool friends with awesome blogs upon which they post pictures in which my face is sometimes featured.

Take a look at a week in the life of Spence
or
Check out my roommate Lindsay's latest blackmail.

But speaking of basketball...

how 'bout them third-in-the-nation COUGARS?

studiousness

I am most definitely going to be up all night finishing a written midterm on Palestinian History. I'm trying to convince my body that I'm back in Provo and it's actually only 1 in the afternoon. hmm. working? no.

current page count: 16

pages to go: at least 5. ish.

my general thoughts on this situation: 

boooooooooooooooo. 

below is an actual photograph of me, just to illustrate my distress & stuff:

(plea for assistance is in Hebrew)

 

 please note the JC uniform: hanes vneck, baggy jeans, chucks.

rant over. 

But Hezekiah's tunnel was, like, seriously SO cool. & I was allowed to wear SHORTS. & a headlamp.

photos coming forthwith.  


(stealing Lani's idea. she's smart. people always steal ideas from smart people. sometimes it's called "reinterpretation.")  soundtrack highlights: "Downtown Song" by Anberlin, "Mushaboom" by Feist, "Long Division" by Death Cab, &, perhaps the most fitting, "Fear" by OneRepublic. ( the line "can't rest even when the sun's down" seems rather apropo...)

so now, my friends both near & far, I must turn off my internet & bid you adieu. 
SHALOM OUT! 

UPDATE:

total pages: 18, 3.6 of which are single spaced

total word count: 6850

pages to go: 2, single spaced

mental capacity: depleted to a point of utter loopiness