Jerusalem At Last

Shalom! I have now officially begun my first semester studying here in Jerusalem. After a 5 hour walking tour through the Old City, I couldn't be more excited! There has already been so much activity just in the few days I have been here.

Here's a summary of my time here so far: I flew to Tel Aviv on Thursday night through Friday afternoon, then caught a sherut (10 passenger van) for an hour trip to Jerusalem. The sites were amazing even from the window of the van! It caught me by surprise to see so many mountains and green trees, with cities built on the slopes and tops of the mountains. Saturday was full of orientation on campus, a scavenger hunt in the Old City, then a walking tour through the new city area around the school. An extremely full, but awesome day.

This morning I woke up to an excellent breakfast of eggs, fruit, yogurt, and instant coffee (not too bad, by the way), then caught a ride to a church in town. It was a cute little church and I enjoyed their warm welcome! After lunch the whole group of students were led in a walking tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. I didn't know much about the city before we began, but I sure feel like an expert now! Everything is so important to history and religion, almost like a living, thriving museum. But unlike a museum, things are constantly changing and modernizing, yet still centering around the past. Strange concept, kind of unexplainable. Anyhow, wandering through the Old City was great and I saw all the "touristy" things, such as the Upper Room, Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock), Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mount of Olives, tons of tiny shops and trinkets, and a whole lot of mosques and churches. I know I'm forgetting an important landmark, but you get the picture. My teacher (who gave the tour) also did a great job explaining the history and importance of each location.

Already, I have such a better understanding of the background and culture of modern-day Israel. It's quite complex and I have a TON to learn, but I sure am looking forward to it!!

Catch-up

Oh my. Sorry blogger world, I have not done a very good job at keeping updated. To overview, since my last post I have travelled to WV, partied in NYC, done some camping in Michigan, and just returned from Romania. That about covers everything! I'll try to give more details later (hopefully that's not just wishful thinking).

I'll begin with Romania where I helped at a Christian youth camp in the town of Sighetu. I was there for 2 weeks with a team of 12 others. We taught Bible stories, songs, and games, cleaned cabins, washed dishes, and did anything they asked us to do. I saw God work in such an amazing way each week as many campers accepted Christ as their Savior! I made some great friends and God taught me many things about serving Him and others.

The land itself is beautiful! It's mountainous with many farms, haystacks, and horses. The camp where I stayed was on the side of a mountain overlooking the town; I could see mountains all around and the sunsets were amazing!

To end, here's a few pictures from the journey.

Online Adventuring

Trees, dirt, rivers, spiders, snakes...nature at its finest. Backpacking is my newest hobby and I'm really excited about it. I took the biggest step when I ordered hiking boots online. I've never been much of an online shopper except for books and movies, but it was really the only option for finding the "perfect" boot. I surfed the web for about 2 weeks, made numerous calls to my brother (who is well-versed in hiking boots), and thought about it a lot before actually making a move. But, finally, I took the plunge, clicked "Buy", and waited, and waited. It seems like when you're expecting a package that time moves at an extremely slow pace. Every day I would eagerly run out to the mailbox in high hopes, only to come back with dissappointment on my face. After what felt like forever, I got a knock on my door...my boots!! Oh, thank you wonderful UPS man, deliverer of smiles to millions! I ripped open the packaging like it were Christmas morning and there they were, just as beautiful as I imagined - Keen Genoa Peak Mid Boots in Shitake/Orange Ochre!!Aren't they beautiful?? Don't be jealous.

"My Skillet Runneth Over"

No, don't be confused, I don't mean this in a spiritual sense, but in the sense that cooking HATES ME! I don't know what it is, but over the past week or so I just cannot do anything right. Even the fallback Hamburger Helper has turned its back on me :( Let's not even get into asparagus...but through this time of testing I have learned several lessons. Let me enlighten you:

Cooking Tip #1: Never oversteam asparagus or let all the water evaporate from the pan. The garlic and onion flakes leftover WILL burn and the asparagus WILL shrivel.

Cooking Tip #2: When pouring barbeque sauce, don't neglect to let the chicken have a little breathing room. Straight-up barbeque flavor is a little overwhelming.

Cooking Tip #3: If all else fails, douse your sweet potatoes in brown sugar. You can always lick any extra from the plate.

Cooking Tip #4: Brownies do mold.

Cooking Tip #5: When simmering Hamburger Helper, be sure to keep the temperature low. It loves to overflow and make a lovely mess on the burner.

Cooking Tip #6: Soggy asparagus does NOT crisp when pan fried. (sorry mom)

Cooking Tip #7: Frozen Dinners ROCK!!

Hope this sheds some light on the whole "cooking" matter which I am attempting to master...or just survive!

Visitors!

The past two weeks have been full of fun and vacation! First, my friend came to visit from KY; we did all kinds of interesting things from "mudding" ourselves on the beach (like a mudmask for your whole body) to getting pedicures (my toes are a beautiful hot pink now). She was here for a week, then about 4 days later I had more visitors!

This is one of the visitors that came on Thurday, April 15th...AKA MY BIRTHDAY!! My parents came for a few days and brought this lovely friend along. It may look like a hamburger, but it tastes like heaven. Cake, brownie, cookie, and icing all in one - this should be illegal. Good thing it's not!

Anyway, I had a wonderful time with my family and friends! Wish they could be here everyday :)

The Horror of Springtime

What? Horrors in the Spring? Yes, I know we usually think of flowers, rolling green meadows, bunny rabbits, and singing birdies...but lurking just around the corner is the "C" word. CLEANING. Whoever thought of making it an annual event to RUIN the springtime needs serious counselling! This cursed event finally knocked on my door and shoved its way in. It forced me to scrub the shower, wipe down the mirrors, vacuum, and wash the sheets and pillows; but these are nothing compared to the grandaddy of them all - filtering through the closet. I always thought I was a pretty neat person...until I opened my closet door. Why I hang on to shirts that "hover" at my waist and skirts that don't stay up, I'll never know, but it's time for them to go! Goodbye old, hello not-so-old (I haven't done much shopping lately).
Well, I guess this unwelcomed visitor did leave me with a small sense of accomplishment, but not enough accomplishment to make me do it more than once a year!

Here I am

After years of reading and admiring my sister's blog and seeing everyone else create their own, I have finally taken that giant leap. It may be pretty boring and uneventful, but hey! Why not give it a shot? I do some fun things, travel to some interesting places, and have some random thoughts to share, so... here I go!