Field trips galore!

It's been another eventful couple of days. For the most part, it's been pretty hot and horribly humid. We sweat all the time. And I mean it, too. Some people just say that, but when it comes to us . . . Well, we all carry around a liter and a half of water every day that we're going to out in the city. And I usually drink all of mine in about six hours. Not that big of a deal--but then I don't have to go to the bathroom. For, like, all day. I just sweat all the water out. It is disgusting. I no longer like my clothes.

On the upside, I'm staying hydrated.

Today we went on a field trip, though, and it was actually some really nice weather. Probably eighties with clouds and a pretty strong wind. We all enjoyed ourselves a lot and showed off the horrible tan lines we're getting because we have to wear missionary-standard clothes (although jeans are allowed).

Field trip today was fun. We didn't go to as many biblical sites, but we went to a bunch of different vantage points where we could see everything. We got to look down on Bethlehem, which is in a restricted area, since it's inside the West Bank. And when I say restricted, I mean it. There's this huge wall that surrounds the west bank to deter suicide bombers. Our class gets to go to Bethlehem, but that's about it--we can't go any further in.

We went to the burial place of Soloman, as well as to this absolutely amazing Protestant church that was built in the 1500s for this German Emperor. It had gold and marble and huge ceilings with mosaics and paintings of Christ. It was one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. We also climbed to the top of the bell tower in that church, and because the elevator was broken, I had to haul myself up 10 flights of stairs. I wanted to die, you guys.

But I lived to see another day--and to see another amazing view of the Holy City from the top of the belltower.

We also visited the Mount of Olives, where Christ ascended to heaven. It was absolutely incredible. Many of these bibical sites have been paved over or people live there now. But this had been kept pretty sacred, although there was a large cemetery along the hillside.

I really liked today's field trip, since it was more what I was expecting when I came to Jerusalem. When we have historical sites in the U.S., we usually protect them and don't let people live there. The same goes for Europe, for the most part. But the people of Jerusalem had just grown and taken over some of the most sacred parts of the city, living there and building new monuments and structures until a lot of the history was lost. I had imagined coming to a somewhat more modern version of the quiet city we read about in the Bible.

Today, though, on all of the sites we visited, there were a lot less people. I didn't even fear for my life once. There was some vegetation, and nothing was paved. The air even smelled clean for the first time since I left Utah. It was really nice, and the field trip was a lot less stressful for me than many others have been.

One thing that really surprised me was how small this place is. I mean, now it's this huge urban center, but the Old City, where Jerusalem was located is only a few square miles. It was bigger during the time of Christ, but not by much. I remember reading things talking about how they had to cross the Kidron Valley or how they traveled all the way to Bethlehem. Well, guess what? I crossed the Kidron Valley today on foot and it took, like, twenty minutes. And that was just because the hill was pretty steep on one side. It's so not impressive. And Bethlehem? Yeah, it's just five miles away from Jerusalem. And yeah, I know that they only had donkeys and they had to walk everywhere, but seriously. The Bible makes it seem like it's this big trek when really it's more like a day trip.

Anyways, I'm having lots of fun and I miss you all! My classes are really starting to pick up, so now I actually have to study and not have as much fun. Bleh.... Still no pics because Jerusalem Center gives me no bandwidth. Oh well, back to work!