Pictures

Right now is the only time I can even try to upload pictures without bringing down the internet. so I'll upload a few....go to bed...and then write what they are...hope that is okay with everyone.

This is Damascus Gate. The upper gate is the modern gate...you can see how high the level of the city has risen over the ages. The lower gate is the old roman gate.

This is hezekiah's Tunnel. This is my teacher.He is about 6ft. The water was really deep in one portion of the tunnel. At times the tunnel ceiling was low...but as you drew closer to the city, the ceiling rose (the men tunneling there started at a higher level than the other group so they had to dig down).

This, of course, is the sphinx and the pyramid of Khafre. It is the only one of the Giza pyramids that still has the limestone facing on the top.

This is the temple of Ramses III.

This is Herod's Family tomb. It is a great example of a stone rolled in front of the door of the tomb. No bodies were found in the tomb. It might have been looted. They have found the sarcophagus' of Herod's wife and daughter at the Herodian. Herod had many people killed, especially family members, if there was even a hint of a rumor that they were going to take over his throne.

This is a ______. It is where the Israeli police blow up bags that are left behind. Instead of inspecting them to see if they are bombs...they just blow them up. Someone in one of the earlier programs had left his scriptures behind somewhere...the police didn't even bother to blow it up. They evacutated the area and put a sniper on a roof who then had at it.

This is the infamous ladder at the Church of the Holy Sepulcre. This church is controlled by many different churches who all have their own areas within the church. Fights break out if one priest sweeps the wrong step. (Taking care of something shows ownership of it here) So when the church was built, this ladder was left behind. No one will remove it because they then claim ownership of the ladder and the space that it occupies. Its been left there for 150+ years. Don't believe me? Look at news reports of fighting priests.

This is the tree of Zacchaeus. The tree that the tax man climbed so that Jesus would notice him as he passed by. Luke 19:2-8

This is a picture of the sunset over the Nile. We were just sitting on the banks of the Nile one night talking and watched the Sunset in Luxor.

A Month's worth of updates from a poor blogger.

So it’s been over a month since I have last blogged or sent an update about what I’ve been doing. Lets try and catch up…
January 17th was Shabbat once again. We had our church meetings. After church we have time to ourselves until dinner. Brother Wilson tries to invite students to have a snack with his family so they aren’t “starving” until dinner. That day I was one of the students that were invited over to his family’s apartment. They gave us pitas with cheese melted on top and tomatoes to top it, if we wished. As we ate we discussed our majors and the scriptures. It was really nice to have our religion teacher right there to give us insight on certain passages. After our snack, I went up to the library and checked out a copy of ‘Jesus the Christ’ by James E. Talmage and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen.
On Shabbat evenings we have branch prayer with all of the students and the ward members that are there (AKA our faculty). We sing hymns until everyone arrives and then we have the occupants of an apartment or two introduce themselves in any way they please. Some have stated what brought them here to the Center. Others have told a story about themselves and had their buddies act it out behind a blanket (as if you had taken a snapshot of the scene). It can be very hilarious. Afterwards we have announcements and a spiritual thought and then someone says the prayer. It is nice to do this together because we all kneel and it brings us closer together.
It has become a tradition after branch prayer to play SIGNS. It is a great game in which everyone picks a sign for themselves. One person is in the middle and is trying to find the person who is it. Someone in the circle starts it off by doing their own sign and then passing it to someone else by doing their sign. To accept the sign, the person must then do their own sign and then pass it again. The object of the game (as far as the people in the circle are concerned) is to keep the person in the center in the dark as to who has the sign. If the person in the center finds out where the sign is then they have to tag the person that has it. This can be hard if it is being passed to someone across the room. I never really liked to play this game, but playing it with this group has made me come to see the joys it can hold. It is much easier to play when everyone keeps the same signs. The more outrageous the signs are…the more exciting the game is. My sign, for example, is the kick. So to receive the sign I have to kick my leg up in the air and then pass it on to someone else (who might have the sign of a monkey, a wink, a slam dunk, or a shimmy).
Jan 18th: Today I went out into the city with the Wilson’s. Kim Wilson invited me to accompany her family to a couple of sites that they were visiting that day. Our first stop was the Great Synagogue. They have one of the largest Mezuzot collections in the world. They have amazing stained glass windows crafted by Regina Heim of Switzerland. We were given a tour by a rabbi from the Bronx of New York. He gave us a tour of the lower levels and explained the parts of a synagogue and the services that were given there. I’ll write more in detail about what he said soon. The website for the synagogue is http://jerusalemgreatsynagogue.com/. We then walked to King David’s Hotel. This Hotel was bombed by the Hebrew Resistance Movement, Irgun, on july 22, 1946. The British army was being housed in the hotel at the time because they were running the country. Warning calls were made to the hotel for them to leave but they were dismissed. After 25 minutes, the bombs exploded. The entire west wing was destroyed and 92 people were killed. Only a few days later, all British military servicemen were pulled from Israel. Today, this hotel is still one of the most luxurious hotels in Jerusalem. It is rented out by the President of the United States when he comes to stay in Israel.
After we walked through the hotel, we walked to the botanical gardens behind the hotel and found Herod’s Family tomb. This is where some of his family members that he killed were possibly buried. The tomb was found empty though. I think that some archaeologists don’t believe that it is Herod’s family tomb. Even if it isn’t…it is a great example of a tomb with a round stone that can be rolled in front of the door.
We then walked back to the car and drove to West Jerusalem to get Falafels. Falafels are fried balls or patties that are made of mashed chickpeas. Those aren’t so bad. To make the complete “Falafel” though…there are a few other things added to it. First you take a pita or a tortilla. You place 3 falafel balls in the pita and stuff the pita with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, humus, and French fries or any combination of such. It definitely has a unique taste and it will take a while for me to acquire it.
After this ‘fast food’ trip we went to visit the Knesset. The Knesset is basically Israel’s governing body. We tried to take a tour of the building. The staff had such a hard time trying to find the English tour group. I don’t know why…but they did. They tried to put us with the Hebrew group. That wasn’t very fun. After about ½ the tour was over…they finally found the English group and put us with them. We were just in time to see the room where the Knesset met and worked. We were then “herded” into a grand hallway that contained tapestries made by Marc Chagall. Many of my fellow students think that they are ugly, but they are very symbolic and beautiful to the mind. There is also floor mosaics crafted by him. The room houses the “Independence Scroll”. It is akin to the Declaration of Independence in its purpose. David Ben Gurion wanted Israel to declare independence before the sun set on Friday, which commenced the beginning of Shabbat. He didn’t want to wait another weekend, but they didn’t have the document written. So he settled for the next best thing. He had the 12 members of the Administration that were with him sign a long, blank piece of parchment. What he read in the ceremony was a typed version of their declaration of independence. The document needed to be signed before the deadline that the British had set for them to create a state and once Shabbat started, no one would sign it because it would be breaking the Sabbath. So when Israel declared independence they didn’t even have the document. Interesting huh? Here is the website for the artwork in the Knesset: http://www.knesset.gov.il/birthday/eng/KnessetBuilding2_eng.htm.
I came back to find that my roommate, Lindsey, had finally received her luggage. Nothing was missing or damaged!!! We were all so happy.
January 19th: Today we had a double portion of Hebrew. I walked in with my quad (my scriptures) and my teacher became interested. She asked to look at them. She said that she had never seen a set of scriptures that were that large. We then had a discussion on the scriptures and books that had the name of God in them. She explained to me that Jews hold books that contain God’s name in high regard. They never set it on the ground (even in a bag) or throw it away. They are even kept in a special case. If it come into disrepair then they take them to a synagogue and then they are buried. Krister Stendahl coined the phrase “Holy Envy”. By this Stendahl meant that you should be willing to recognize elements in the other religious tradition or faith that you admire and wish could, in some way, be reflected in your own religious tradition or faith. This is definitely a religious tradition that I will try to emulate. Treating your holy books with more respect is something that we all need to brush up on from time to time.

TO BE CONTINUED...

the most current update yet...sorry for the delay

Hi Everyone!!! I finally found time tonight to send a message out to all of you about how things are over here. I'll try to give an extensive description. If you have any questions let me know.

Ok so...I hope all of you know that I hate traveling...well not traveling but I hate airplanes, cars, etc because I get motion sickness something awful. I traveled to Utah on Jan. 3 to stay with my aunt and uncle for a few days. I had to attend a meeting on Monday about the program, so it worked perfectly. I was able to see all of my cousins (that I haven't seen in forever)! They have gotten so big...they didn't grow up in my mind.

On Tuesday, we were supposed to leave the SLC airport at 8am Mountain time but we didn't leave until 9:23am...we were just driving around the tarmac for an 1 1/2 hours because of weather. We had to be sprayed off twice to melt the ice that had formed. When we did take off the flight wasn't too bad. We touched down in Chicago about 5 minutes before our next flight was supposed to take off (and that was with a two hour cushion!!!!)! So we had to run over to our next connection and luckily it was held for us. The other passengers on the flight weren't happy though. But they couldn't really leave 70 students behind. That is just way too many passengers to leave behind. (the flight was absolutely horrendous by the way) We made our connection with about an hour till take off...but they started boarding really really early. So we just had time to get dinner and then make a few calls to family before they had us board. It is hard to call your mom when you won't be able to for four months. That flight was ok. We totally forgot that they were going to be serving dinner and breakfast...but I'm glad I ate because the salmon they served was raw...kinda gross!!!! We arrived at the Austrian Airport on time and had to go threw security once again...and the Austrians aren't nice about it. Then the flight to Tel Aviv was just a bundle of nerves, wanting to get there as soon as possible. But they put in the Movie Ghost Town for us to watch. It was a great movie.

When we landed we almost ran to Immigration to get our passports stamped and to get our luggage...except my luggage never came. We waited there for a long time but it never came. I was one of 5 students who had their luggage lost by the airlines. So I filed a report and then trudged to the buses with a heavy heart. I was very grumpy and trying to keep it all together...at least I made it there right!!! Who cares about luggage that has all of your clothes and toiletries for 4 months...right??? Well anyways...dinner wasn't ready yet when we got there so we went and put our stuff away (what little stuff we had) and had dinner. (I will have a list of the meals near the end of the email so you can see what kind of stuff the cook...its amazing!!!!) The staff's main job that night was to keep us awake through the rest of our meetings before bed time. They did an ok job.

The next day (1/8/09) we had a tour of jerusalem. It was amazing!!! Its kind of like stepping into the past. There are Markets all along the streets and everything looks so much older than in the US...because it is. Believe it or not they have McDonalds here too.

Friday we started classes. Lots of reading and preparation required for each class (though we are all putting trips out int othe city before classes...even though it goes against the grain. Everyone who has come here has said that they wish they had gone out more instead of doing all of the homework...and this even comes from students who are 4.0 students).

It was kinda weird to go from Friday to the Sabbath. Here they have "sunday" on Saturday. So we had Church services and met all of the permanent branch members. There are a few here. We can't proselyte here so there isn't a whole bunch. Our church made an agreement that no member of the Church would proselyte to the people while they were here. So all we can say when we are asked about the church is, "I'm sorry but I can't talk about that." And this is being closely watched. Some members of a Hebrew group called "A Hand to the Brotheren" have been following students for the past 15 years that we've been here in Israel and have sought them out and asked about the Church. Not once has there been a student who has broken the terms of the lease. I guess there was an incident a few months ago where a member from up near Galilee told a citizen of the country about the church (it wasn't a student from the Center). The group had a fit. Our Church called in their lawyer and everything. The Lawyer told them that the Church had not broken their lease and that the students haven't either. The group said, "We know..." and then they explained to us about the 15 years of watching us. They respect us and it is hard to gain that kind of respect and trust here, which is why we have so many rules and strict punishments for those who have broken the rules. It is nice to know that we stand out and that people know who we are. This comes in handy when there have been outbursts of violence and students have been caught in between. Some people will pull students into their houses to keep them safe from the fighting. I love the people. I really do. It isn't hard for me to be around people of Arab descent. Granted, I keep a tighter hold on my belongings...and I dont know the language so I can't talk to the people...but I love them. I hope to be able to learn the language and come back and study here again in later years.

I'm taking Hebrew right now. It is very hard for me to learn languages. I don't know why. I need to get past this road block though and learn it. It is going to become a big part of my future career studies, etc. So I need to work extra hard. We only know a few letters right now. But its totally different from English. YIKES!!!!

On Jan 14, we went on a Geography field trip. We traveled to Nebi Samwil (a mosque/synagouge to the Prophet Samuel), Augusta Victoria Tower (A church that was built by the Lutherans in the style of the Crusaders; it houses the oldest working organ in the Middle East), Seven Arches Overlook (An overlook area that is above the Jewish cemetary on the Mount of Olives), Haas Promenade (another overlook to the south of Jerusalem; on the ridge that the Prophet Abraham would have crossed to reach Mt. Moriah where he would almost sacrifice his son Isaac (which, believe it or not, is a similitude of Christ's Cruxifiction)), and Deir Elyas (a hill that overlooks the city of Bethlehem and the burial place of Rachel (the wife of Jacob)). All of this was really amazing. I feel really ignorant about the scriptures, but I am striving to learn more.

On Jan 15, we had a lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls. One of our professors actually helped to translate them. They should be available online as soon as 2015. The community that produced these scrolls is absolutely amazing. They believed that they lived in an open air temple, dressed in white, etc. The scrolls that they produced (and that we have found) contain so many important truths that were lost from the original Bible manuscripts through careless translators and people who wished to destroy the truth. Luckily Christ taught in parables that hid the truth from the wicked. It also allows people seeking for truth to learn many truths from the parables, no matter how learned you are.

Yesterday we went to the Western Wall. Contrary to what many people believe, the Western wall is not the western wall of the temple of Solomon or the temple of Herod. It is the Western Retaining wall that Herod built when he expanded the area of the temple mount. Before ____ (such and such year) it was only an alleyway that was 10 ft across, but the Ottomans bulldozed the Muslim housing district that was next to it and created a plaza. They also excavated the wall so that you could see 7 'courses' of stone (Stone from the crusader's time all the way to Herod's time). Most of the wall is still underground. Whenever something was destroyed, the people built over it. So the actual wall that Christ walked along is under ground. You can see it if you take the Kotel Tunnel tour. It is a tunnel that runs the length of the wall.

I was very surprised at the worshipping that was going on at the wall. The men were as rowdy as you can imagine (watch "the Fiddler on the Roof"...but only to see what the men were like). The women were very much more subdued. I only noticed them praying really. If a gorup started to sing and was 'too loud', a police officer would come by and ask them to be quiet because they were disturbing the men. Weird huh? But it was still a sight to see. Our professors recommended that us girls wear scarves so that we would fit in more. We arrived there and no one was wearing scarves. A Jewish woman told us that only married women or Muslim women wear scarves. So they were astonished that a bunch of young 'married muslim women' would walk into the plaza of the western wall. (/Smacks forehead)

Its all been pretty amazing.

If you have any questions or comments...you can email me at chelseabbigney@yahoo.com. I can't send home pictures, but I will try to load pictures onto my blog so you can see what I'm seeing. (we weren't allowed to take pictures at the western wall because it was the Sabbath so I will have to go by there later and take pictures).

Tomorrow we have a free day. Hopefully we will be able to go into the city.

Love you all!!!!
Chelsea Bigney

I'M IN THE HOLY LAND!!!!

It's evening here...but Its only morning there in CA. I finally made it. It was pretty much an uneventful trip. I was sick on some flights...and the airlines lost my luggage but I'm excited that I made it here through all the opposition that tried to stop me. It is absolutely amazing here. To wake up with the Call to Prayer around the city. It see the Dome of the Rock and the many churches that are here and all of the sites. I can't even describe the joy I feel. I'm definately supposed to be here right now. Yesterday we had a tour of the Old City (right now it is offlimits because tensions are high with Gaza and Lebanon). Today we had a demonstration after prayer at midday. We've been couped up inside the center...but we've had classes to keep us occupied. And there really isn't that much to do on Fridays because the muslims have prayer in the mosque and then in the afternoon/evening everyone prepares to be home by sunset when the sabbath starts. Everything is basically closed. I know this really isn't a very informative blog. I just wanted to let you all know what is going on. Tomorrow I'll have more free time and I'll be able to compose a long email of all that has gone on the few days that I have been here trying to recover from jetlag and learn everyone's names at the same time. YIKES!!!!! One thing I can say for certain right now though is that I will miss Middle Eastern food. It is so much better than American food. No wonder they hate us ;) our food is all fatty and gross compared to their flavorful masterpieces. Yesterday we tried this wonderful spice and bread that the security guards bought us while we were in the city. It is called za'atar!!!! It is amazing!!!! you can dip bread in it and it makes your mouth go wild with flavor!!! you can also add it to some olive oil and dip bread in that or sprinkle some over a cream cheese bagel. Its awesome.

Here is a link to the recipe. Or one of the many recipes for it out there.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Zaatar-16621
I'm sorry that I am unable to post any pictures or go onto facebook so send any pictures home. I will have to send pictures or do something to tell you all of my experience while I was here.

Gotta get working on the homework now!!!
TTY tomorrow!!!!

SICK SICK SICK!!!!

So I've been sick alot lately. At first my boyfriend gave me a really bad cold...and then my roommates gave me the flu. (though one of my roomies tried to avoid it by going over to her friends place...but they have it too...its going around :D) But yeah....so back to the story.
Anyway, my boyfriend was amazingly sweet and romantic today. He told me to go out to the lounge at 4pm and he'd have some powerade waiting for me. I forgot and then at 4:09pm my neighbor came over and asked me to clean it up lol. I guess he had made a trail of kisses and hugs from my door to the lounge. And inside the lounge was a trail of kisses and hugs to the desk and they were taped up the wall of the desk to where he had the powerade and a note waiting. The note was a romantic invitation asking me to the Fall Formal on Friday.

I never thought that i would meet someone this amazing, sweet, and romantic. I thought that this was just for the movies. I never thought that I would, let alone, date someone like this. I'm so lucky. He never lets me forget that I am a Princess.

New Address

My address is 185 Ricks Hall Rexburg, ID 83460

Update

Sorry people. I've been horrible with keeping this blog up. I almost forgo what email I used to create the account. How lame am I?



Well for all you screaming fans here is the scoop.



My new address (for the next 6 weeks) is: 317 Lamprecht Hall Rexburg, ID 83460.



SO I've totally kept everyone in the dark for forever. I have a boyfriend!!! Yeah. We've been dating since May 17. His name is Tyler Castaldo. He is an RM.He served in the Phillipines and regularly speaks in the language he learned which is Tagalog. Its so confusing. I have no idea what he is saying half the time. He is a big Avalanche fan (HOCKEY TEAM OF COLORADO). He hates the Red Wings. To him they are the evil empire. I hope that that isn't a problem (bro. mott lol). His favorite band is Lifehouse. He is the youngest of three....way different position then the oldest of six lol. It was interesting watching him trying to talk to his cousin's little boy at his family reunion. His Bro is awesome and hilarious. It's great fun to play games with him...Big fat cheater ;). He flys planes on missions by remote control...so far as I know. His older sister is named Jami. She is pretty cool. I shared a room with her while we were up there. I was banished to the top two floors until the boys woke up each day. Good but irritating if I left things down in the basement.



His mother and father are really nice. They both have awesome spirits about them. (Not liquor...you know the kind I'm talking about). His dad is an awesome cook. His birthday was on the 23rd. And his mom is so sweet. She made a blanket for me for my birthday. Jami made me this cool funky scarf. Tyler gave me a CTR ring (dark purple sparkly background)...but he forgot that we wear almost the same ringsize so he made a mistake and ordered a size 6 lol so he just sent it back today to get it resized. So I will have to post pictures later.



I'm staying up here for the seven week break in between the semesters. So that means I work at the bakery 8 hours a day from 4 am to 10:30 am (including breakfast break). I so need to go work out....yuck,...the galley food is just so good lol. But it is fun working in the mornings. I get to work with Sean Kelly and Curtis. They are the full time bakers in the morning. And they are so funny. We have water and dough fights all the time. I win of course. It is alot of fun. Other than water and dough fights I do actually work. I fry donuts. That is my main job. But after I'm done with that I bak breads and make desserts and package orders.



Tyler works in the galley at 3:30 to 10. So it is pretty hard for us to see each other. But we try to make the time we do have with each other worth something. Its fun because he sometimes cleans the fryers in the galley. So know he knows somewhat of how I feel after work since I clean the fryer I use every day. So it really sucks...I go home smelling of sweat and grease. I swear that I'm beginning to smell like grease all the time.



Other than work I'm trying to use my time wisely. So far its not working. I need to go to the gym and fill out my application for Jerusalem. OH YEAH!!! For all of you who didn't know I'm trying to get into the BYU Jerusalem Center for the winter semester. It seems like it is my one and only chance since I can't go if I'm married. And who knows what the future holds. I also wanted to get ahead in my classes for next semester (aka read the textbooks before I start the classes). YUCK!!! But it will be worth it when the semester starts if I can get it done.

My roomies are freshies so they like to break the rules and stay up all the night long. So it is hard to get a good night sleep. I have to get up at 3:20am everyday except Sunday. But they are awesome. There is Cerilyn from El Paso, TX and Megan from Arizona and Cecilia from Ohio but she is in Utah with her sister from possibly the remainder of the summer (if so then she kinda wasted about $300 for rent during the summer break since she won't be here).

Oh yeah....my birthday was pretty awesome. It felt like I was celebrating it for like a week since I was at the family reunion and it was Tyler's dad's birthday and then his uncle has the same birthday as me so it was birthday all week long. And then we got back on Saturday and then that night the school had a firework display for Pioneer day. Though I like to think it was all for me. lol. They had some new fireworks. Once they exploded the sparks stayed up in the sky and slowly drifted across the sky. It took them a few minutes to finally make it to the ground and burn out. it was awesome. Then on Sunday I went to church and made dinner and then Tyler made my cake and he also had bought me Ice cream the day before. I opened my cards (which were my favorite present). my sister had written a note inside saying that she knew that we used to hate each other but that now she couldn't imagine living without me. It was the best gift I could ever have received. Mom sent me some jeans and she had had Clayton and Jalen go in with her to victoria secret and pick out some fragrances. They picked Appletini and Mango Madness...lol nice huh. But it was cute finding out that the missed me alot and couldn't wait to see me again. They are hoping that I go up to my grandparent's 50th anniversary with Tyler so that they can see me and meet him. I'm going to try but right now it is tough.

It was nice to get calls from alot of friends on my birthday (some didn't even know why they were calling me but they felt like they needed to lol). I even got a call from my boss, Curtis. That was awesome. He is like a father figure away from home. Its nice to talk to him at work and listen to his stories.

Oh ...by the way...what is it with all of my friends getting married...? goodness.

Update to come later!!!

Love,
Chelsea

P.S. I miss you all and I cant wait to see you!!!!