thanksgiving

I wasn't expecting much for Thanksgiving this year. I mean come on, no one here celebrates it and how good of food can you really prepare for 60+ people anyway? Well, I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised! The food was amazing! Diane (the directors wife) made us 3 different kinds of homemade rolls and oversaw the entire preparation for the dinner (this dinner only confirmed what we already knew- she is Mrs. Proverbs 31 personified!)

My table- not only was the food great but I had great company too! Trey, Josh, Brandon, Megan, Tyson, John, and Kaytlin...

This is about half the dining room

JUC's favorite baby- Denyen! (and Liz having fun with him) He just turned one and is about to take his first real steps, any day now...

mmmm, there was more dessert then we knew what to do with.

Thanksgiving, I was (am) thankful for: Being in Jerusalem and learning so much, all my friends at JUC who have gone through this wonderful experience with me, my friends back home who I can not wait to see and live life with again, and my dear family (all you Elzingas and Penners- I couldn't ask for better people to share my genes with!), and, lastly, it's a given, but the most important: God sending Jesus as Messiah so we need not wait or search anymore.

The honeymoon and an engagement!

I think I'm on my honeymoon...according to the "culture shock scale" that is. The term “culture shock” is often defined by four stages, the first of which is the Honeymoon stage. It is characterized by a fascination with the new culture and an excitement and happiness in learning all there is to learn about the new environment. Being in this stage can last anywhere from a few days to several months depending on a persons circumstances. I think it has lasted so long for me because I am not fully integrated into the culture here (I still have a large group of Americans I come home to every night.) Even though I've gotten to know people in this country and worked alongside them and have gotten to see their lives, I still have my safety net. It's been really great being here, I have literally loved every minute of it. Sure, there have been some awkward, unusual moments- but those are just things we get to laugh about later. What a blessing it has been to have such a positive experience...but I can't help but wonder what stage I would be at if I were living here completely immersed. It's a pity knowing that I am still looking at this country through rose colored glasses when I so badly am trying to figure out what I need to be prepared for if I ever live in a place like this someday or work with these people. I guess that's when I'm reminded that I am relying on the Holy Spirit's direction, and not simply my own human knowledge or desires. These thoughts are not a complaint for not having difficult times, don't get me wrong, I love having good experiences. It is simply a cultural observation. (-:

Well, speaking of honeymoons (that was how this whole post started if you remember) let me share with you about the engagement party I went to today. It is just one more of the experiences in this country that I have absolutely loved.

Some of you may recall me mentioning that I help out at a Gypsy center in East Jerusalem once a week and help kids with English and whatever else they need (ok...we play a lot too!) Well, one of the girls who comes to work on English, she's 17, just got engaged! Actually, she wasn't officially engaged until this afternoon at the party when her fiancée paid the “bride price”. Marwa is marring a man who is 27 (10 years older-not at all uncommon for them) who is a doctor and a friend of her brother. Her brother arranged the marriage for Marwa (though she did get to offer her opinion) because her father passed away. She knows very little about him, yet they will be married in April.

When Kaytlin and I first arrived, we were hustled through the living room, where all the men were gathered, and back into Marwa's bedroom where she was waiting with some relatives and close friends. She was very “decked out” in a gold trimmed black dress, gold pointy shoes, tons of gold makeup, gold glitter in her curly hair, and even gold lipstick! (What we see as gaudy is seen as the beautiful ideal in many places here). We waited in the back room with the other women, our heads poked out the door, as the men read several Suras from the Qur'an (Muslim holy book). They then went outside the apartment, in the middle of the city, and shot off a ton of guns. After that, they left, and it was the women's time! All the women (probably around 25) stuffed themselves into another small room in the back where really great Arabic music was played and first Marwa, and then a few other women, began to dance in a tiny open place in the middle of the floor while the rest of us looked on clapping and smiling. They danced for around a half hour before her fiancée, Zakie, came in. He was the only man present for the engagement ceremony. This ceremony consisted of him giving her two necklaces, two bracelets, 3 bangles, 1 pair of earrings, and three rings- all big, heavy, and gold! They were now considered engaged and they then danced together with nothing but their hands ever touching. Zackie left after a while and the women, young and old, big and little, danced for at least another hour. The women would take turns, two or three at a time, dancing (and let me tell you, those women can shake their hips! Even grandma could bust some moves!) It was amazing. We had to get up and dance a few times, and, not surprisingly, we were their free entertainment for the night. (-: I have determined that ethnic dance classes might be in order as part of my Intercultural studies degree...

Here's a picture of us girls with Marwa after the party. Can you believe she's only 17!?!

Kaytlin, Erin, Marwa, Megan, me, and Christina

(Erin, Christina, and Megan came later and made it just in time for dancing!)

Temple Mount

Despite the exorbitant amount of papers I need to be writing, I am still making time to see those last places on my "can't miss" list. We went to the Temple Mount which is where the Dome of the Rock and the Al-aqsa Mosque are located. The Temple Mount is the sight where the second Jewish temple was built and was destroyed in 70 AD. The Dome of the Rock was erected between 685-691 AD. Because of its importance to both Jews and Muslims, the temple mount is one of the most contested religious sights in the world. The Jews believe that the "Divine Presence" dwells here and they are not allowed to go onto the Temple Mount by order of the Chief Rabi for fear of stepping into the "holy of holies". They believe that someday their third temple will be built here. The Muslims believe the Dome of the Rock houses the rock that Abraham sacrificed "Ishmael" on and also believe this rock was where Mohammad stood when he descended into heaven.
Waiting in line with the Al-asqa mosque and the Mt. of Olives in the background.

Kayt

There were a lot of Muslims coming and going on the Mt. Non-Muslims are not allowed in either mosque and only allowed entrance through one of the gates.

There were a whole bunch of little school children who were on a filed trip to the mosque.

Jordan Day 4- Sunday

A bit more of a personal view to finish off my field study blogging- a copy of my final reflection paper:

It was the very end of the last day of our last field study. I stood on the mountain, my mind going numb with the thoughts of Moses and what he must have been feeling when he stood here. He had been working his way through the desert and now stood on Mt Nebo with his first view of the promise land. This is what he had been waiting for, searching for, longing for for so long. Yet, there was still a part that was being held back; he couldn’t see it all- there was still a huge chunk missing. What could it be? Only Yahweh knew, but it was the promise land and so Moses knew it would be good.

I thought about my life and compared it to Moses’. The Lord had brought me through some desserts already, and, as I looked out into the promise land of my life, I saw so many possibilities: people, loving people, people loving Jesus, travel, adventure, a chance to make a difference in others lives, a family, living in the deserts of foreign countries, living in America, photography and art, making a dent in ending human trafficking and sexual slavery, children, more school…the possibilities in the promise land seem very bountiful, but I can’t see it all and don’t have a lot of direction.

It will be back to the desert for me when I get home. Back to school which is not an easy place for me. But the desert is a place where people’s life skills are honed and people gain wisdom and understanding. A desert is a place of lessons to learn and faith to hold onto. It is a place where we must strengthen our trust, it is a place where faithfulness of heart, spirit, and mind is demanded completely.

The Lord has shown me over and over again his faithfulness. I know I can trust him and that he always only has the best for me in mind, and he loves me more then anyone ever could. My job now is to be faithful in what he has given me to do (finish school) and be faithful in the relationships he has trusted me with in Portland.

As I turned back around to walk back to the bus, I knew, after my glance at the promise land of my life, just like Moses, I was going back to my wilderness. I asked for strength, because I knew I would need it. Ultimately, here is my decision, here is my desire, here is my decree: I will be faithful, for the Lord has been faithful to me.

Ash and me in front of our hazy futures...

Jordan Day 3-Saturday

The morning sun's bright light christened the massive rock faces in beautiful shades of red and gold. We all couldn't help but stare in wide eyed wonder at the majestic sculpted rock surrounding us. We had just begun our third day in Jordan, and, from what I had seen in my first few minutes in Petra, I knew it was going to be magical.
After walking through this very narrow ridge we had this first glimpse of something amazing...

Ta-da! The treasury! I('m standing in front of it) It is carved out of a single rock face. Incredible.

The ancient city of Petra was the capital city of the Nabataeans, a desert wondering people group whom Herod the Great's mother came from (see blog post Negev-Sunday to see another Nabataean structure). Petra was re-discovered in 1807 and has been estimated to have been built somewhere around 25 BC-50 AD (right around the time of Jesus!!!). This giant valley (Wadi Musa) claims around 750 different monuments, so, as you may guess, we had a lot to cover in the 5 short hours we were there.

We split up into groups quickly, and I found myself with 5 of my wonderful, but very athletic and energetic guy friends. We booked it for the first hour, running up hundreds of steps, jumping over big crevices in the rocks, and scaling steep hill sides.

Trey, me and John on the top of the high place.

It was great fun, and we saw a lot of great sights in that first hour, but the adventure really began when Trey and I got separated from the group and were sort of lost (though he would never admit to that) amongst the cliffs for a good hour. Trey made me climb down some pretty intense “short-cuts” where I knew it would take just one faulty step and.......(-: But God gave this klutzy girl sure footing for the day, so I made it through those cliffs and canyons safe and sound with a giant smile and my face!

I'm not sure how, but we climbed down that crevice in the rocks...it was almost completely vertical!

Why do jumping shots look so cool? I love the sun in the background.

All along the way there were Jordanian people selling little trinkets to the tourists.

More cool rocks.

There was one point in the day when, after we had met up with some other friends, Trey got separated from the group. I didn't want to leave him behind (just in case he fell off a cliff or something, and he had been my spotter when I climbed down those rock faces) so I went on my own to look for him. Here is where the best part of the whole trip happened: I ran into a little Bedouin girl named Anwar who was selling jewelry to any tourists that happened to go by. After I spoke to her with the tiny Arabic I knew, she began to talk to me in English while I hiked around. She told me to come sit in her little cave and have tea with her, but I insisted that I had to find my friend before he got to far away. Her response: “It's OK, you come sit with me and I be your friend!” I couldn't help but grin as I thanked her for the offer but tried to explain that it was important for me to keep going. I held out my hand and asked if she, as my new friend, would like to join me as I searched the desert and rocks. She joined me for a bit and then went back to her little table of wares. I saw her a few more times as I passed near her and after I finally found Trey, 5 of us went back to her little nook in the desert so I could buy a necklace, take a picture with her, and say goodbye.

Anwar and me. I will never forget this precious little girl.

Incredible hu?

I could have spent at least three more days here, but we needed to continue on and so we headed to a fabulous lookout over the Rift Valley.

Can you figure out which one is me? Me, Ash, Kayt, and Liz

We had a few more stops, but at our last stop at the end of the day we stopped to talk to a few women.

This lovely woman let me take a picture of her beautiful son while her friend invited us to come have dinner at their little house. We regretted that we had to turn them down as we ran to meet the bus and the rest of our group. Maybe someday we will be back...

Jordan Day 2- Friday

Day two rose with blue skies gleaming and the sun shining; it looked like a promising day for the students of JUC. Off we headed to the Amman citadel and museum where we were greeted with the first of the many, many columns we would be seeing this day.

The packed and crowded capital city of Amman

Courtney and me posing with a sweet statue face in the museum. See the resemblance?

Fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls!

This is the remnants of the "Balaam text". It actually talks about Balaam (see Number 22) and how he was a seer of the gods. It's cool when secular findings match up with the Bible...just more evidence in the truth of God's word.

We continued on to Jerrash-the city of a thousand columns. It was spectacular. It was different then all the other sights we saw because every time you walked up a new hill there was another amazing mess of columns and ruins to see. It seemed as if the columns would never end. Just a tiny picture of maybe, maybe a tenth of all the ruins.

We were in this theater with AMAZING acoustics. The bagpiper and drummer played several songs for us. Marcus even got a little bit of drumming time in...

Here's a better view of the theater

Me, Ash, and Kaytlin being silly at the very top of the theater

And then to Ashleigh and Kaytlins dismay, I insisted on our typical weird pose with the columns! What would a beautiful mass of columns be without us showing them a little love???

The Jabbok river was our next stop, and though not an amazing sight to see, it was a great place to talk about some insights from the Bible. The Jabbok river was possibly where Jacob wrestled with the angel. Dr. Wright shared about Jacob and how he is a great representation of us. We strive so hard to separate ourselves from the sinful men and women of the Bible. We read about them and laugh at the fact that God still uses them through all their screw ups, while all the while being so proud that we are better then them. We are so blind to think that. The truth is, we are Jacob- a clever deceiver, doing all that we can to better ourselves while God, in his grace and majesty chooses us to be his despite our selfish actions. The story of the Bible is our story. The stories of the men and women actually paint a shockingly realistic picture of our lives. It is only in our pride and foolishness that we see ourselves as somehow above these people. We are them. We are the ones God send his son to redeem. This class time was a good reminder.

We finished off the day at a "mystery" sight. We weren't allowed to read the sign and we had to explore the ruins and try to piece together what we were looking at, who built it, what time period it was from, etc. It ended up being Tyre, a pleasure palace from early AD

Dan high atop Tyre as the sun sets.

Jordan Day 1- Thurday

Jordan! I was so excited to go to Jordan! The thrill of going was not simply in getting to see another country , it was about seeing how an over 90% Muslim nation lived. I was excited for another perspective on the Muslim way of life. Oh, and seeing some historical sights sounded cool too...(-:
The border crossing was not bad at all and as we entered the new land we began to see a difference in the country. Throughout the whole day we bussed through small rural cities and watched the Jordanian people live their lives. It seemed poorer then Bethlehem and Beit Jala (in the west bank), and much much poorer then Jerusalem. Apparently, though we thought many of the cities were poor and dumpy, this is where people from Egypt come to get good jobs and have a good life (I sure can't wait to see Egypt now!).
It was fascinating to watch the little children playing in the roads, the women-all completely covered, and the men sitting about, talking and laughing in front of their shops and houses. I wanted to jump down from the bus and join them and hear their stories and see how they live their lives, but that will have to wait for another time.

A very blurry picture from the bus window, but I figured it was still worth posting. See the herd of camels?

At our stop at Gadara there was this darling little boy who wanted to shake each of our hands. He made us happy.

We stayed in the capital city of Amman our first night and went to...Starbucks! (-: There are no Starbucks in Israel and this is the only one (I think) in Jordan. In our taxi on the way there our taxi driver informed us that the three big black suburbans in front of us with lights on them held King Abdullah, king of Jordan! We were in the car directly behind his...so cool!

Kaytlin, Ash, and in front of the slightly different sign

Bet you never thought you would ever see this menu in Arabic, eh?

Splashes of life around Jeru

"Jer-uuuu" (make the "ou" sound go for as long as you like) is what we have all somehow begun to call our beloved town. Our time here is quickly coming to an end which has thrown everyone into a weird warp speed. There are so many papers to write, places still to see, friends to get together with, souvenirs to buy, pictures to take, and food to try.
Here are a few pictures from around town last week. I'm trying hard to see this country, not through the eyes of one who has gotten used to all the amazing cultural differences, but through the eyes I had when I first got here.

Darling little Jewish boy, no more then 3 or 4, all ready to go in his little Kippa (Jewish male head covering) and tzitzit (tassels of his prayer shawl that are hanging out of the back of his shirt).

A soldier just chilling in the Jewish square with piles and piles of guns out in the open...

Ash, Kaytlin, and me in front of the "Wall of Remembrance" at the Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial and museum). We spent only four hours at this place but I could have easily spent another four! The museum was very well done and broke your hear while fascinating you at the same time. As we were leaving, I stopped to contemplate for a second and pray that there would never be another holocaust and mass genocide for anyone, when I was struck with the fact that the evils that I had just been educated about were happening right now in Africa and other places in the world. Made me wonder if one day my children would be going through a massive museum to the African genocides or if mankind will fight back before more blood is shed...

On the way home from a trip to the market, I stopped to get some night shots right outside the old city walls. The traffic was busy, the moon shone brightly, and I felt so blessed to be here.
The Palestinian Heritage center is actually in Bethlehem. Kaytlin and I stopped here on our way home from Arabic. This is a model of the way the Palestinian Bedouin used to live.Also in Bethlehem...can you read the street name? Yasser Arafat!!! (-:

Well, that's all for now. I just got back from the country of Jordan at the beginning of this week and will post the pictures from that trip very soon.

Stretchy Ice Cream

Remember a looong time ago, when I mentioned getting stretchy ice cream? Several of you wanted a few more details...and, finally, they are here! These pictures are from a day in early October, but they got lost in all my "ruins" pictures and I finally remembered them.

Israel can be so funny. (Kaytlin and I say "T double I" meaning "this is israel" whenever there is no explanation for the culturally funny and/or just plain weird thing we experience here.) This whole post is very "T double I"

Kaytlin, Ashleigh, and I went to Ramallah, the capital of Palestine, for the afternoon to seek out two "must sees" and to meet up with some friends. Our first stop: Rukab's Stretchy Ice Cream.

The ice cream actually stretches! It's so weird. We asked how they made it and they said it had to do with the way they mixed the ice cream...I think there is a bit more to it then that though. We've heard rumors of a secret family recipe...

The Ice cream tasted pretty good but would be pretty average without the stretch

We then went on to the funniest cafe ever, hold your breath in utter excitement and then see below...

Yes, you are seeing this correctly...
They were so sad because it was closed )-: There are no actual Starbucks in Israel...only this one little "Stars and Bucks cafe." Apparently they even sell mock mugs and tee shirts. We are hoping to got back and actually get to try their coffee...

Random mural that I liked in Ramallah that we saw on our way home.

We ended the evening with Shabatt dinner. Me, Ash, and Josh laughing cuz we're being tickled

The boys did this whole "creepy suave" night for Shabatt where they all had mustaches and acted super strangely...Trey, Brandon, Jon , and Dan