Thanksgiving Break… kind of
This week has been an awesome week. It was almost like thanksgiving break, but not quite. We had finals Sunday and Monday and then we had 3 days of field trips. FTs are really just mobile classes, but they feel less like school.
On Monday after our Jewish final, Bekah, Kerri, Spencer, James, and I went to the Tower of David Museum. It is a museum built into an ancient guard tower of the city. It was a really fun museum. At the beginning of the museum, you climb up the tower and look over the city.
It was a beautiful view of both into the old city and East Jerusalem (the picture) and out towards West Jerusalem. It’s fun to be able to pick out the JC from most view points in the city.  The Museum then led you through a number of rooms retelling the history of Jerusalem.
This picture is the Jews in Jerusalem looking warily at the Assyrians who were threatening to attack. However, the Assyrians were struck with a plague and left without attacking the city.
This beautiful model of the Dome of the Rock was part of the museum. It made us really excited for the field trip we are hoping we have on December 11. If all goes well, we’ll be one of the very few groups who gets a tour of the Dome and Al-Aqsa mosque. Our teachers went a few weeks ago and said it was a wonderful tour. We’re excited!
After wandering through the museum, we went wandering through the Old City on our way home. We were all impulse buying and bought a lot. I got most of my Christmas shopping done. It was so much fun!
On Tuesday, we went to the Dead Sea. It was a fun field trip. We went first to Masada, the mountain/fortress where a group of Zealots hid from the Romans during the first revolt (AD 66). There were tons of ruins on the top. The top also had really great view of the Jordan River Valley and the Dea Sea.
We rode this tram up to the top of Masada. There is a hike, but we saved the time by riding the tram.
These are some of the ruins at the top of Masada. In the background you can see the canals that connect two parts of the Dead Sea (before a lot of the water was diverted before it reached the Dead Sea, the two parts were connected on their own).
The view from Masada.
After Masada we went to the Dead Sea. We .. floated .. in the water. It was a really weird feeling. I didn’t take pictures on my camera at the Sea, so I’ll have to find some and post them later. After swimming, I mean floating, we went to the Ein Gedi Wildlife Reserve. We saw lots of Ibex and some weird tail-less animal. We called them ROUSes. The reserve was an Oasis in the middle of desert. It was crazy! There were lots of beautiful waterfalls. It was beautiful. 
Oasis in the Desert
Waterfall
Kerri and I in the water
An ROUS!
After Ein Gedi, we went to Qumran. For some reason I hadn’t realized that there would be ruins at Qumran. I had just pictured lots of caves. The ruins were actually pretty cool. We were not able to go to the caves because they were very difficult to reach. It was cool to learn a little more about the Dead Sea Scrolls. I didn’t know very much about them.
An ancient aqueduct in Qumran
Bekah and I in front of the caves. The cave to my right is the cave where 400 different items were found. The cave above my head is the one where the first jars were found. After Qumran we came home and chilled all evening.
On Wednesday, we went on a field trip to all the Herodian sites in Jerusalem. We first went to Kotel Tunnel. For the field trip we split into three groups. Usually we stay in two groups, our two religion classes. I was the in the third group, it was a third of Draper’s class and a third of Ludlow’s class. It was way fun because I was able to be on a field trip with some of my friends from Ludlow’s class. And the teacher who was our guide, Brother Huntington, is an awesome teacher. Anyways.. So Kotel Tunnel is a tunnel that runs along the Western Wall. Only a small section of the wall is still uncovered. Most of the wall has been covered with housing. The tunnel goes below the housing along the wall.
Kotel Tunnel
After the tunnel we went to the Davidson Archaeological Park. It contained a lot of ruins from 1st Century AD. We saw the ancient steps to the Temple Mount. We saw a pile of rocks that were at least part of the temple complex, if the not the temple itself. Brother Huntington told us that he knew for certain that Jesus had stood where we were standing. It was really cool. The only downside was that it was drizzling all day, so we were all freezing.
Bekah, Jocelyn, and I standing in the ancient doorway to temple mount.
Sitting on the steps to the Temple
After the archaeological park, we went to the Wohl Museum. It is in what is now the Jewish Quarter. It is a complex of ruins of homes of the high priestly class in Jerusalem. These priests were very wealthy and their homes were very large for the time. After the museum, we were left free to wander through the city. 5 other students and I decided to try to find Mahane Yehuda, the open air market in West Jerusalem. It is a long walk from the Old City, but we found it. When then split into two groups and went wandering through the market. It was a lot of fun. The market has really good prices. It was fun. We then wandered back to the city. We stopped at a coffee shop and bought hot chocolate. It was delicious. We then went through the Old City and then home to the JC in East Jerusalem. It was great day. We were exhausted when we got home from walking so much!
On Thursday we went to Yad Vashem in the morning. Yad Vashem is the Israeli national Holocaust Museum.  It is a very well done museum. It is very depressing, but it ends on a hopeful note. One of the last exhibits in the museum focuses on the “righteous gentiles” who tried to save Jews. It was beautiful. The museum made me reflect a lot. After the museum we came back to the Center and I relaxed and did some homework. That evening, we had a thanksgiving dinner. The kitchen staff did a great job trying to recreate what we would eat at home on thanksgiving. We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The chefs were awesome. After the meal we had a few games. It was a lot of fun. It did make me miss home though. We head home in less than four weeks now. It’s so soon. We’re all going to miss this city so much. We all love it here. We just want to bring our families here with us!
On Friday, we had class in the morning. Right after class, Kerri, Bekah, and I headed out to West Jerusalem. We are not allowed to be in East Jerusalem (outside the Center) or in the Old City on Fridays until after 3. East Jerusalem is the Arab part of the city and the noon prayer on Friday’s is the most important every week. To be sure we avoid any conflict, we can only be in Jewish West Jerusalem during this time. Anways, we went out to Mahane Yehuda and bought bread and fruit leather for lunch. We then went wandering around the market shopping for anything. The market was really crowded. We compared it to Macey’s on Saturday nights. Usually the market is full of a lot of secular Jews, but it was full of mainly religious Jews getting ready for Shabbat. It was crazy, but lots of fun.
Mahane Yehuda (one of the wider streets)
We headed out of the market and timed our arrival into East Jerusalem for perfectly 3. It was great. We bought a drink called Sahalib at Damascus gate. It was delicious. It was warm milk with cinnamon, nuts, and coconut in it. We love it!
Me, Kerri, and Bekah drinking Sahalib.
We then wandered through East Jerusalem home. It was a wonderful day. We had a blast. I have to go. I’ll have to tell about the talent show after I get back from Galilee. It was a blast. I hope the next week and half goes well for everyone. I’ll get back on December 3rd. Good Luck to y’all!