Looking back at Week 2 - students arrive

This has been a busy week for me. On Monday I went into the old city for the first time since I have been here. We wandered around and I bought myself an over the shoulder purse to carry all of my stuff in. I needed something smaller than a backpack. I found something I like made by the Druze, which is a sect of Islam that are based in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. On Tuesday we went back to the Old City as part of our preparation for the walking tour that we would take the students on Thursday. We walked from the center, down the Kidron Valley, up through Saladin street and Nablus road (both Palestinian streets outside of the old city, then in through Damascus gate to the Austrian hospice where we could get on the roof to have a birds eye view of the city. Then we followed the Via Dolorosa for a short way to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. We went in briefly, but we'll bring the students back for a longer stop later in the semester. Then we went the Roman cardo which dates from the time of Hadrian (1st third of the second century). This is in the Jewish quarter and so we saw the Hurva synagogue and then went out through Zion's gate. We walked for a while outside the walls to Jaffa gate. Along the way we looked out past the Hinnom valley to west Jerusalem. I'm getting so that I can recognize landmarks in the Jerusalem skyline: the Aijalon tower, King David's hotel, with the YMCA tower behind it (where I played the carillon bells last week), the church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Luther church of the Redeemer, and the Dormition Abbey. Once we made it to Jaffa Gate we saw the David's Citadel museum and then we caught shuttles back to the center. I was pretty exhausted. It took us about 5 hours.

On Wednesday we went out on another pre-field trip. Again it is to give students a sense of bearings. We made two stops on the Mount of Olives: the Augusta Victoria shortchange with its amazing church and tower. It was a LONG way to climb all of the stairs but it was a breathtaking 360 degree view once I made it to the top. Then we went to the 7 arches hotel lookout to get a wonderful view of the Kidron valley and the Temple Mount. Next we went north west to Nabi Samwell (a crusader fortress , which was as close as Richard the Lionhart got in his attempt to recapture Jerusalem during the third crusade) where we could see King Saul's ancient capital of Gibeah with its unfinished palace of Jordan's King Hussein, and Gibeon where Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still while he defeated the alliance of Canaanite kings. Then we went south east to Mar Elias from which we were able to see Bethlehem and the Herodium. Lastly we went to the Haas promenade which was a beautiful spot where we could view Jerusalem from the south. In many ways jerusalem is a very different city than it was in Jesus' day, but in other ways it's still exactly the same: the hills and valleys are still the same; Bethany, Bethphage, Bethlehem and the Herodium are still there!

On Wednesday afternoon the students arrived and brought with them an energy to the center. On Thursday morning I lead a group of ten on the walking tour of the old city. I was pretty afraid that I would get us lost and that I would remember all that I needed to say, but we got through ok and had a great time. But boy was I exhausted at the end of it and my feet were telling me that they had done way too much walking and climbing this week. I've had them up every spare minute since trying to get the swelling down!

On Friday I was finally in my comfort zone—in the class room. I love teaching and I love my subject. We talked about Abraham and Isaac!

Today it was great to have the students at church. They were already leading the music, translating and teaching Sabbath School, Primary, Young Men's and Young Women and Priesthood lessons. Then tonight we had a music fireside where they played the piano, flute and sang. They were all very gifted and I was once again reminded of how The Lord has blessed us with such diverse talents, all of which are so important to help build the Kingdom.