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