"Come on and stay at the YMCA"

Ya that is right. We hit up the YMCA in west Jerusalem on Sunday and what are we expected to do except do the dance and sing the song in front. It was necessary.

The reason we went there was to play carillon bells with President Ohman. It was a very strange instrument...piano like but you had to use your fists. Natalie and I decided to whip out some Heart and Soul to play across the entire city. He told us that around 1 million people can hear what is being played. Kinda a big deal if you ask me.

Then yesterday on the field trip to the Shephelah, we got to witness a few scriptural reenactments. This first one featured Tucker Davis as Sampson and Megan Taylor as Delila. Despite Sampson's determination, he finally gave into the seduction of Delila, his love, and told her that he would lose all his strength by cutting his hair (videos are found on huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com and I highly recommend them)

Next was David vs. Goliath. The acting on this one was great as well. Abe was David and Boone was Goliath. Sadly, due to the battle being rained out, we did not get the opportunity to see them fight it out, but I think we all know how the story ends. We were promised a battle with sling shots on a clear day in the future and are all looking forward to it.

Indiana Jones ain't got nothing on us

So yep we are back in the center from our short little jaunt to Jordan this week. Such fun times.

DAY 1:

Roadtrip day wasn't exactly what we bargained for aka we stopped a lot more than I thought we would oh well it was good times. We started at Mt. Nebo with the great views.

Then we went to the site where John the Baptist was held captive and then beheaded. This was the beautiful view from the top with obviously one of the bffs Mark aka Marcus.

Then we got to the hotel and had a dance party on accident with the waiters...ya it happens when there are 83 kids in a super fancy hotel i guess.

DAY 2: PETRA

 This was the day we were all soooo anxious for. After this sign the true journey began.

Walking down the beautiful canyon of the crescent moon (aka the siq) we kept having to jump out of the way from the carriage rides. Always on our toes.

^^ our first glimpse of the treasury

The treasury blew my mind. It is amazing that they could make a city like this out of the rock and it could be this well preserved. We were all in awe.

Also greeting us when we came out of the siq were these cute guys!

Don't worry. I did not pass up the opportunity to take a ride. It was hard to just not laugh the entire time especially when the camel was sitting back down.

Then, we took the long hike full of many stairs to the monestary. It was all worth it when we got to the top though. This thing was huge! The best part was that we could go inside. Then let the photo taking party begin...but really. Oh so many jumping pictures and group pictures and more importantly roommate pictures like below :) Love them!

On the way out, we got to ride horses. Talk about Indiana Jones style. It was a good time.

That night we got into our hotel in Ammon and got to go out on the town for a little bit. We discovered these legit rollerblader kids who were jumping over each other and doing flips. It was crazy times. We also discovered a Burger King. You should have seen my face when I saw this cheese burger...pathetic right? Sorry. I've missed those.

DAY 3: AMMON/ JERASH

We started the day by hitting up our first mosque called the King Adullah Mosque. The girls had to wear not only head scarves but these weird dementor-like robes. I learned a whole lot about Islam while there.

Then we went to the citadel. I don't know what it is, but we all love taking pictures around ancient ruins. Take a look at these bad boys:

Of course Tucker and Megan pretending to be super buff. This was them: (said in and Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) "This is my friend Helga and Olga" Love them.

Also sometimes pictures turn out to look accidentally like engagement photos. Perfect example:

After it Megan was like "Tucker, why can't we be in love?" haha

No ruin site is complete without a music video so complete with choreography, we made one to I Won't Say I'm In Love from Hercules with Abe of course posing as Hercules himself. 

(Video of music videos avaliable shortly on Huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com )

Then to Jerash. This is me standing in the middle of the hippodrome just outside the city. This place used to be hopping back in the day with chariot races.

The rest of the city was beautiful and so well preserved. It was huge just look at the gate below. Crazy! All these places still blow my mind how big and amazing they are. I don't think I will ever get over that.

Family photo!

Pretending to perform on stage is always a good time

Then to the Jabbok river

Yes there was a herd of goats on the hill above us during the devotional. This is where Jacob saw God. I loved getting time to just sit and meditate for a little.

On the way home we stopped at the royal automobile museum...don't ask me why. Either way Cameron and I took advantage of the situation and continued the tradition of the sorority picture at every site. Here is just a glimpse.

Then back to the hotel for dinner and free time. We took advantage of free time and took a taxi to go get ice cream downtown. It was sooooooo good. Also really fun to experience their culture up close and personal.

DAY 4: LAST DAY

Then we hit up the roman theatre in Ammon. It was huge. That is the top all the way up there.

We sang a lot of hymns some even beat boxed and don't worry another music video went down. This one was to What Dreams are Made of from the Lizzie McQuire movie. Sooo good. 

 After KFC for lunch we went back on the road towards the Jordan river. I love it. It was so spiritual and I loved singing the primary songs. It was a great way to end the trip.

"Let the rain fall down and wake my dreams"

So sorry I haven't been keeping this up like I should. Life here gets going and just doesn't stop so here I go trying to catch up on life....

So Thursday we had a day long field trip to the Negev which started watching bedouin women weaving stuff and showing us how...ya know keeping the tradition alive a little bit.

Davis loves to crash roomie pics especially beside spun wool

After that, we headed to Arad and Avdat...I forget right now which pictures were at which ruin site and am kinda too tired to figure it out but for the most part Avdat was more preserved but both were great. The weather however was not. It was sooooooooo cold and windy and rainy and sadly we all rejoiced when we got to get back on the bus. The last site was actually worth it though. It was really neat. Who knew rocks could be so great?

^^ Family photo (minus Grandfather Alec)

Brennan and Megan= mom and dad

Tucker= the annoying teenage son

Me = their favorite daughter

Ashley and Mark = the cool uncle and aunt

Lots of love

...sometimes Megan and I don't exactly get along. jk but naturally we had to take advantage of the setting and pretend to sacrifice each other on the altar. Her face was priceless when I first picked up the rock.

Me in the main part of the church thingy.

The great end of a great day = a rainbow :)

Friday was great. We had our long awaited field trip to the western wall (sorry no pictures allowed). It was such a neat experience. To see how devoted all of the Jewish people were. It was inspiring to say the least. Such an indescribable experience. No worries we were invited to a dancing chanting circle. It was a party.

Then came Friday which ended the right way. Service project turned into dance party.

Talk about LOVE!

Then the sabbath...primary is always a great time. Favorite part was singing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam" and jumping up and down. Brought me back to childhood times for sure.

Then off to the garden tomb as pictured below. It was an awesome place and I loved how the tour guide stressed the importance of it not mattering about if the site was actual or not it is more about the person who we remember by the site. I can't wait to go back and have more time there.

Then up to date with today. We walked the Rampart's wall. Which is just the wall around the city. Luckily the rain held out till we finished. I am pretty sure these days we just travel to sites as an excuse to take pictures with eachother....but really so ya it was a good time. Then it started to downpour which is always a fun time so we walked back to the center for a much needed wrapping in blankets and movie watching time. It was great. 

Goodbye for now I am off to Jordan for 4 days :) Petra here I come!!!

"One more mile to Jericho"

We started off the adventure fieldtrip yesterday by hitting up Harod's summer palace...or what is left of it. Megan and I helped the archway complete itself a little and what archway is complete without Mark creepin in the back right?

^^ Then we hit up Jericho where the walls came tumbling down. Basically a big old pile of dirt (sorry) but no worries we made it fun with the jumpin pictures

Then Elija's spring across the street where of course Ash and I had to take a cute pic on the bridge before dipping our feet in and taking a sip.

However, despite all the fun times above, my favorite place was this...the Judaean Wilderness. Strange I know but I am really not into all the shrines and people and crowds always. It was nice to just walk around out in the middle of no where with a small glimpse of Jerusalem in the distance and be where Jesus walked when he fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan. We all sat and read the bible and sang a few hymns and just felt of the spirit. I realized the importance of his journey there. Out there it is literally just you and God. A great way to refocus your life and for me a time to reflect on my priorities a little bit. Over all it was easily the highlight of my day. Who would have thought being surrounded by nothing could be that great?

Fun fact: Our women's basketball league starts tonight. Lets hope my team (JC Jammers) will conquer the Damascus Dunkers! Wish us luck!

(Post title credit goes out to the great Hillary Duff song Jericho that we rocked out to on the bus ride there. great times)