Sweet Pic

I just have to share this super cool pic that Nat dawg took of me at a mosque.  I almost look legit right?

TURKEY!!!

Our experience in Turkey was sooo great :).  I can't believe that I was able to go to one of the most beautiful countries in the world and see such amazing things there!!  Here are some pics from the trip:

Here is when we first arrived.  There was a party on the street! 

Me and Melissa in the Suleymaniye mosque. 

 Here we are shopping at the Grand Bazzar!  It was ginormous!!

This is the Asain side of Turkey.  

We sailed on a boat and were able to see such beautiful places! 

Here we are at the Hagia Sophia.  It is sssssoooooo amazing inside!  It's beautiful! 

Here we are :) The four best friends sailing on a boat! 

This is in Troy.  We are al trying to look like warriors... Can you tell? :) 

Here's me and Mel in Assos :).  This was really scary.  

I felt like we were going to fall off. 

This is the theater in Assos.  I'm there with Tacey, Alvin, and Nat. 

Fake singing in the theater dudeskeeeee. 

This is Pergamum.  It was so beautiful. 

Here I am reading in front of the library at Ephesus!!! Soooo cool :)

And while we were in Ephasis we found some legit Romans! 

hahaha it was awesome!

I had such a good time in Turkey!  It was amazing :).  Such a fun and beautiful country.  

I definitely want to go back and visit again if I can!

This Past Week

Hello world,

I know it has been a while since I have posted.  No worries I got some great pics on this one!  Everything here in Jerusalem is great :).  Just going to new sites every day and enjoying the rich history behind everything.  Here are some pics from this past week...

Here we are at the place where the pool of Bethesda is.  We are standing a little bit away from the actual pool where Christ healed the lame man who could not walk to the pool before the others people.

Here is one of the pools.

Here is a random wishing well that we found.

Me and Garry at our finest!

Here is the actual pool of Bethesda!!!  The water is really old, so it 

looks like the water could be from Christs time, but could very well not be.

This is my roomie Ashley and Garry at Golgotha right by the Garden Tomb... 

You can see the hill on the right.

Here I am with the city behind me.

We went to Tel Aviv on Sunday and partied on the beach!  

It was so nice to have a fun break :)

This is us eating delicious gelato's in Tel Aviv.

Here is the field trip that we went to on Monday.  

That's me and David standing in front of a true desert.

This is the Valley of Zin.  This is where Moses and his people wandered for forty years before they went to the promised land.  And yes, they made us hike this bad boy.  It was sweaty and awesome!!!

Here's me and Alvin in front of the remains of the first temple that the Jews built to God.  This was also known as the "Temple of Solomon" in the Old Testament.  It dates back to 1000 BC!!! Crazy right??

Last but not least, I had to post this pic because you can only find this shirt in Jerusalem.  

When I saw it I could not stop laughing! haha isn't it so great??

I am having such a fun time here!  We are headed to Turkey on Sunday and will be there for a week!  I am sooooo excited :).  We are going to go to so many cool places.  It's going to be a blast!  I am sure that I will have more pics after that trip :).  Peace from the Middle East dudes!

Field Trip Time :)

Hello everybody!  I'm just having a grand time here in Jerusalem :).  Except school is kind of a lot..... and stuff.  But it's cool it's cool.  Me and Garry and Nat are still having a grand old time here trying to fit in all the laughter that we can...

Here's Garry and Nat on our way to Hebrew University so that we can get on good old FB!!

Here I am standing in front of the sign for the Jerusalem Center, Tel Aviv, and the Mount of Olives.

Here's me and Garry just as excited as can be!

This is me and Nat standing in front of the beautiful view of the city.

 Yesterday we went on our first field trip!!... This is the Taya let.  (I probably spelled that wrong).  This building has a lot of significance with Samuel the boy prophet in the old testament. It is currently a Jewish synagogue today.

Here is the Augusta Victoria chapel.  Sweet tennis right???? haha awesome!

Here is a cool pic that I found there depicting Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

Here's Alvin, me, and Garry with the Dome of the Rock in the back ground.

There's the Dome of the Rock.  Isn't she beautiful??

Here is Bethlehem.

We found a real shepherd!!! He was carrying a little sheep up the mountain.  So precious :)

Here we are overlooking Bethlehem :).  We got to sing Christmas songs at the end of April and it was awesome because this is where Christ is born!!!

 

 I'm just here eating all I can haha... Trying not to indulge in their way more delicious chocolate than we have in the U.S.!  It's way too good to pass up!  I need to work on my resistance... Anyway, just here enjoying the amazing historical sites and the fun friends that I am making!

Love you all!

Guys I finally figured out how to do it in English!!! Well...Alvin figured it out haha... Anyway, everything here is just as great as ever!  I think I am having a little too much fun here.  I am continuously laughing all the time, but I am trying to not be too annoying.  So fun!  I also think that I can finally post some pics!... Here they are...

 Here is a pic of me and two of my roomies Ashley and Megan.

Here is Nat and Garry.  My two besties at Jerusalem :) 

 This is one of my favorites hahaha

 Here is the sign going into the Garden Tomb!

This is the Garden Tomb with Nat, Garry, Rachel, and me. 

Just me :) 

I am at the center of the universe!!!!  Cool right? 

Here we are in front of the Jerusalem Center... You can see it on the left in the back.  It's really small. 

Here is the Jerusalem Center where I am staying! :)

More pics to come!  I love this place with all my heart!!  SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi guys! Today we had class and I think all of us died because we all stayed up way late studying.  There were a lot of readings!  But it was super interesting so I am excited to learn about everything here.  Then after school they let us go into the city.  It was so much fun!  We actually went inside the Garden Tomb today. It was amazing!  I just tried to post some pictures, but it didn't really work... Maybe I just need to keep learning haha.. No worries, I will get the hang of it soon!  But I am having a great time with my two instant besties here... Natalie (Nat for short) and Melissa (Garry for short).  I think everyone else in the center hates us because we are kind of crazy together!  Like my crazy usual self times five!!  It's kind of awesome because we like thrive off of each other :)  One funny story... Yesterday when we were all about to go on a tour I went into their room to get them because they are roomies and we were really excited about visiting the city, so I started to sing "let's go fly a kite".... Then Garry joined in and she is probably three times as loud as me.  After we finished skipping down the hall to open the door we continued singing for about two seconds and immediately went silent because first of all we were late for the group departure, and second of all the whole group was silent as we were yelling/singing one of the most annoying songs ever.  hahahahaha we sort of died of embarrassment for a little while.  It's cool though.  We are trying to control ourselves one day at a time while having the time of our lives!!  Anyway, once I learn how to post those pics, I am sure that this blog will be more interesting :)  I love you all

Rachelle

Hello friends

We safely arrived in Jerusalem yesterday after sort of a long flight, but right after we got off the plane we drove to the BYU Jerusalem center and it was totally worth it!! There is no other place like Jerusalem!... Well at least that I have seen. Anyway, yesterday we were all pretty tired when we got here, but we just went along with the activities of the day and when we went to bed we were all snoring hard core. haha... Today was awesome because we went and took a tour of Jerusalem. We got to see the old city, the garden of gethsemane, and a lot of other important things that were quite amazing! I cannot wait for that to be a part of my life for the next there and a half months! I am having so much fun here with the new friends that I am making. Everyone is so nice and friendly here. I think I am going to love it. Anyway, more later. We are here safely and now I can start my experience here in Jerusalem :)T