Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Never in all of my semesters at BYU have I had a more insane finals schedule than the one we had this last week. Three semesters aren't that much to compare to, but keep in mind I was applying for the nursing program for two of those semesters. We stayed inside the building all week studying for six tests and writing two essays. The good news is, I have finished all my classes except for Near Eastern studies and New Testament, and we're going to Turkey tomorrow. Leavin' on a jet plane!  

The best part of my week happened on Monday when I received a package from my MOM!! She sent a lot of Easter candy and some clothing because originally I was convinced I could pack five different shirts for all four months. It turned out no one but me took the packing list quite so literal, so this package was almost something to cry over. 

My Arabic professor, Ayman, and me on the last day of class.

Lizzy, Ophir (my Israel/Judaism professor) and me on the last day of class.

So we actually did venture out into the city once on Wednesday because we were on overload and ready to crash. A group of us also needed to go to Aladdin's in order to exchange money for our week long trip to Turkey. The unit of money in Turkey is called a lira and is worth about 58 cents. This trip was one of the shortest we've taken and also one of the most interesting.

Money from four different countries: dinars from Jordan, liras from Turkey, dollars from America, and shekels from Israel. A shekel is worth about twenty-five cents. 

 On our way home things quickly escalated into quite the interesting situation. Keep in mind that this is the twentieth time or so that I've recounted this story, so it's borderline Hollywood. But I think it was Hollywood status before I even told it. We were walking home up the hill to the Jerusalem Center, and I noticed there was some tall, hefty college age guy closely following us; he probably had five inches on me and seventy-five pounds. He followed us for a long time. Sara was with me and Jenessa and Hannah were a bit ahead. We were ignoring him because he was acting really shifty about things. He told me I was very beautiful, I ignored him, and Sara and I picked up the pace. He starts to get closer to us and Sara starts walking faster. I was a little behind her. Then suddenly he flops his arm around my shoulder, and I shoved his hand off and told him no. He was like yes, yes and put his arm around me again and aggressively pulled me towards him and started kissing the side of my face. HE KISSED ME!!!! I remember hearing loud, gross, smacking kissing noises and he was nuzzled all over the side of my face and in my hair. I pulled on all the worthless self defense classes I've ever attended and just shoved him away before I took of running. When we finally made it safe to the Center I laughed myself silly, and we reported it to security.  Quite the story, right?

We literally studied all week and slowly went a little crazy.
 

J's face is brilliant.

Studying in the bomb shelter gets collllllldd and freezes your brain...

Frozen brain...

Like I said, it was cold.

By Friday night I had lost it.

Mom? Friends? Anyone?

 In the middle of the week the chefs decided to whip out a sushi night complete with severed fish heads. Delicious. Actually it really was, but it also was a beautiful opportunity to pull one on Tye. I snuck a fish head to my room, put it in a box, and left it on our balcony to rot for a few days before I had time to do something with it. It actually was only there for twenty-four hours, but it still was one potent smelling fish head by Friday. After finals, we struck.

Kiss for the fish. 

Swim fishy, swim.

Oh wait, the fish isn't going anywhere without its tail. Good thing we left the tail in the other sink. 

We all wish for a fish

On a different note entirely, I had the chance to visit the Garden Tomb again today with a couple of people. I haven't been in two months, so it was almost like I was visiting the area for the first time. We all split up and took a moment to review our past week and think about the resurrection.  

As I do not have a lot of exciting things to report what with finals and two papers, I kind of wanted to share two things I really have to come to believe in. Often I become so focused on what event is happening next in my life that I don’t have time to recognize what the things are that direct my life.

I wholeheartedly believe there is a God, an omnipotent being who is aware of me, one of his daughters. I see God’s presence in my life through the unknowing service of people around me, the love of my family, and the intricate way the world works. When I took anatomy my freshman year, the concept that we were created by God in his image really knocked me off my feet. He knows and He cares.

I believe there is a Christ, and I’m certain He lived, was crucified, and was resurrected somewhere near where I am today. I feel this is a concept that I have known for a really long time, but living in Jerusalem I have started to grasp why this is a significant, personal event to me. It is not enough to simply view Christ as a great philosopher or prophet. I have felt the power of the atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the Garden Tomb, and every day-if I seek it out. I’ve learned from the past two months that the atonement truly is something that can work in my life every day. While the atonement was a special event, it is not just for use in special occasions.   

As we were leaving, the picture taking fiasco ensued. In the quad there is a picture of Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, and various other sites, so we pulled out our scriptures and took the classic picture within a picture.

If you see Sara poke her in the side or pinch her toosh. 

Love, Lindee