Israel, Surreal

 I realized this week that I have a few pictures from our trip to Orson Hyde Gardens and the Garden of Gethsemane that I could share. I think my text description of the Garden wasn't super helpful. Come to think of it these pictures aren't incredibly helpful either, but here we go.

This was taken at the entry to the Orson Hyde Gardens. The entire garden is a collection of switchbacks down the Mount of Olives

Here is Lizzy in the Orson Hyde Garden's with the Orson Hyde Garden picture that is printed in the quad. 

This one is my favorite picture for sure. The church you're seeing is the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane is the small grove of trees to the left in front of the other building you can see. Not what you were expecting huh? The golden church to the right and up is the Russian Orthodox Mary Magdalene Church. I think this picture was taken across the road outside of the Golden Gate. The Old City has seven different gates each with interesting tidbits of information about them. The Golden Gate is the place where the Messiah is supposed to enter Jerusalem through, according to Ezekiel 44:1-3. It actually was sealed off in 1541 AD and still isn't used because Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent wanted to prevent the Messiah's entrance. Good luck, right?

Sunday was another day of exploration. We didn't visit any churches/sites/historical locations, but we're turning over a new leaf and I think our plan for tomorrow is strictly theologically related: there's a church on every corner of everything and we're going to try to attend a Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall. I hope it works in our favor. Anyway, here are a few bits of information about our completely religious-less exploration day. Starting with Abercrombie and Fitch. 

Ok, did this make anyone laugh? Yes, Israel has Hollister and Abercrombie, and yes I could smell it before I could see it.

We visited a strip mall in West Jerusalem because everyone has realized they can't run the half marathon in cargo pants or button up cotton shirts. I think the Mac makeup store is behind me and Gap is just down the road. And it looks like I'm standing right in front of American Eagle. American Eagle in Israel, ironic.

We eventually ended up in the Old City and now I'm engaged. The shop keeper seemed to enjoy how ridiculous we were over the sparkly rings he had because he found another band of diamonds to add to the three I was already wearing after this picture was taken. The good news is that on Valentines Day when we were in the city someone asked me how many camels I would cost. I decided to be reasonable and told him three hundred, but he offered a million instead. That's probably the equivalent to the ring, right? Unfortunately, I think he uses that pick-up line sixty times a day. He's good.

Me, Lizzy, and Preston. For weeks we've been too scared to try the different baked goods they have sitting alongside the road, but we caved and tried these pizza things. They're definitely not pizza, but that's probably the closest description.

Herb cheese thing?

On Monday we went on our field trip to the City of David. King David took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and renamed it Jerusalem, so I guess the City of David is really just Jerusalem a thousand years before Christ. One of the most interesting things about the field trip had to do with the current affairs of the nation; the Palestinian/Israeli conflict was visibly present as you overlooked the city from different viewpoints. The area is considered a Palestinian village and some wealthy Israelis have purchased houses in the village and then proceeded to raise large Israeli flags over the home. It really makes the people mad. I won't pretend to understand all of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, so that's a small synopsis of some of the conflict.

Wet hair don't care.
You may be able to find an Israeli flag on one of the houses. I should have taken a direct picture. Everyone loves a good game of where's Waldo, right?

We also were able to walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel! The tunnel is actually still in use today, probably just for irrigation because I would imagine people wouldn't want to drink the water a couple hundred people have walked through. The tunnel was built around 701 BC during King Hezekiah's reign in order to channel water from the Gihon spring to the pool of Siloam within the city walls of Jerusalem. Two groups of people dug in the limestone towards each other until they met somewhere in the middle. The tunnel is about 1770 feet long and took us a half an hour to walk through. This paragraph is all over the place, but the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9 occurs in the pool of Siloam. I could summarize the story, but it would be a pathetic representation for what the chapter actually says. You read the Bible, I'll add some pictures.

Part of the tunnel required us to walk bent over, so it's not your ideal location for claustrophobes. The Gihon Spring means "gushing" which adequately describes the tunnel. If it were wider you could have a blast floating the spring. Parts of the tunnel had a strong resemblance to Space Mountain at Disneyland when everyone turned off their flashlights. Actually I don't feel like any of those descriptions really describe the experience.

Chaille, Jenessa, Hannah, Sara, me.

I promise it's a seasoning that they handed me with my bagel, not weed. 

On Wednesday evenings we have important people from the community come in and speak to us on important political or historical events. This last week we were able to have a Holocaust survivor come in and present a lecture. His name is Elias and he is ninety-five years old. He speaks Spanish, but we have a couple of students in the center who served LDS missions in various Spanish speaking areas that were able to translate for us. He began his remarks by stating that speaking about his experiences gives him strength. He lectured for about an hour and then allowed us to ask questions, but I'll just dictate a few points that really stuck out to me.

Elias survived nine concentration camps, including Auswitch, the largest concentration/death camp. He told a story about the Nazis sorting people into two different groups: one to be murdered and the other to be sent to work. He remembers pinching his cheeks and slapping his face in order to give himself a healthy look. Listening to him recount his experiences was something I'll never forget and one that is difficult to relay in words. It was an inspiring and sobering night.

His grand daughter, Elias, Mitchell, and Taylor (Mitchell and Taylor were our translators)

Elias' tattooed number from Auswitch.

Lizzy and I are the best nook buddies in the world. One night this week we all pulled our mattresses to the floor and watched High School Musical. In our defense, it was the only movie Sara has on her laptop. 

I waited to post this blog entry because this Sunday we went to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum. Our Judaism professor, Ophir, acted as our tour guide and gave us interesting insights into the events. I went to the Holocaust museum in Washington DC with my family a few years back, and I'm pleased to say that Yad Vashem was drastically less graphic. The one in DC didn't allow children under the age of twelve in for a long time until they built walls that children couldn't see over. I remember walking away from the one in DC feeling terrible and nauseated by what I had just experienced. Yad Vashem teaches and relays the events adequately, but it also is a really beautiful memorial to the people. Again, as with the lecture by Elias, the experience is something that really was just a compilation of emotions that can't be conveyed through writing. I read a novel in high school that I appreciated (I don't know if you can really say you liked a novel about the Holocaust) called Night by Elie Wiesel. I would recommend reading it. 

Me and India on Mount Herzl outside Yad Vashem. We'd been outside of the building for thirty minutes when this picture was taken. As you can imagine, no one left the building smiling.

A memorial outside of the children's section of Yad Vashem. 

I think I'll end here because there isn't much to say after bringing up the Holocaust. This week was a lot of fun, but I've also had the chance to be reminded of the important things in my life. Henry B. Eyring reminds us that "the Lord regularly sends wake-up calls to all of us." This was certainly one of those weeks!

(The half marathon is two weeks from last Friday. I'm trying not to think about it because I might throw up if I do. Peer pressure is a terrible thing.)

Lindee