Bats, haircuts, me looking 19, no smoking Jesus, cowboys, and Mr. Rodgers with a hunch.

In preparation for The Dark Knight, I decided to enter into the bat cave... Ok, maybe it was just coincidence but here are a few random pictures that I found amusing. When we were in Jordan (more coming on that later), I went in some rooms underneath the ruins of a temple. As soon as I opened the weathered wooden door I could hear what sounded like a high pitched choir of rats. I soon realized that it was bats, a lot of bats. It was creepy. We explored all the rooms in the dark with our little flying rodent friends serenading us with a steady, shrieking symphony. I took a quick picture of the ceiling to see how many bats I could get in the picture and this is what I got.



I figure that there are a few things that one must do when in a foreign country to really get a feel for the culture. Getting a haircut is one of them. It reflects their culture and the attitudes of the people. For example, a haircut in Brazil is an hour long ordeal. There is no separate waiting room. People all sit together, share stories, some joyful and others sad, while waiting for their turn to climb into the old, well-worn chair. A barber won't get a new chair if the old one still works. The barber then takes his time cutting your hair, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is being meticulous and careful. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But nobody is stressed about it. The Middle East is a little different. I went in and the barber flipped on the light switch. There were two other men smoking in the corner. Everyone smokes in Jordan by the way!! We worked out a deal and I agreed to pay 10 Dinars for the cut. Then I explained what I wanted done and he went to work. No pleasantries were exchanged. In fact, we didn't talk the entire time he was cutting my hair. He worked fast and mechanically. About halfway through the cut, he said something in Arabic to his buddies in the corner. One responded and that led to a loud, angry sounding exchange. Luckily he calmed down enough to finish my haircut. After he trimmed my neck and sideburns, he pulled out an electric razer and stuck it up my nose to trim my nose hairs and then did the same with my ears. When he first stuck it up my nose my inner self doubt chimed in with a "Oh no, I have really long nose hairs and this man couldn't stand to look at them anymore and shaved them for me. Why have I never noticed this before?" Then I realized that he did it to everyone and then I was a little grossed when I thought about how many noses that had been in.

Here is a picture of me in a grotto where Jesus was born in Bethlehem. I think its funny because I look like I'm nineteen again with my mission haircut.



When we were in Ammam, Jordan we attended a district meeting at a church house. Like I said before, everyone smokes in Jordan. I don't know if the members have a particular problem or if it is the visitors. This is a picture I took right outside the chapel. I call it no smoking Jesus.



There are so many things to buy for dirt cheap. I found a straw cowboy hat in Jordan that I liked. It cost 3 bucks. Here I am showing it off on a hill outside of Bethlehem.



Now the crowning jewel. Here is a great picture of Mr. Rodgers with a hunch. Oh wait, nevermind, that's my religion teacher. He might not be much to look at, but he is an amazing teacher. He gave us a great lecture on the nativity story while we were overlooking Bethlehem. It all came to life when I could actually see where it happened.

Lots of pics!

Happy birthday! My friends threw me a party with pizza and a cake! It was awesome...



Really cool entrance from the inside of a church by the Garden of Gethsemane. The sculpture/window mimics the olive trees outside.





The door of the church.



In a church.



We went to the Jerusalem Film Festival. We saw the wierdest movie called "24 hour party people". It was a semi-documentary about the history of punk rock in Manchester. It sucked.





Western Wall



Dome of the Rock



We redeemed ourselves by going to an amazing film called "Captain Abu Raed". It was in Arabic with English subtitles. It was about a Jordanian janitor who helps out some neighborhood boys. I won't ruin it for anyone but I recommend it to everyone. It is the best independent film I've seen since Once.

Falukas, camels!

On a faluka on the Nile.



I am rowing the faluka!



I am obviously riding a camel.



Here is my adorable friend Tara on her camel.



Sunset while on a camel.

Here are some pictures. I'll write more about it when I get time.

Massive temples, dead pharaohs, live mice, brown water, and mysteries revealed.

After we saw the pyramids of Giza, we hopped on a short flight to Luxor in Southern Egypt. We left the hotel extremely early the next morning to get to the Valley of the Kings. Apparently the pharaohs caught on to the fact that the pyramids were a dead giveaway to where their treasures were buried so they went for more discreet locations. Unfortunately they forgot the fact that the thousands of workers they employed to dig their tombs were savvy to the location of the treasure, so they ended up getting looted anyway. The only reason that King Tut's tomb was the only to escape the same fate was that his tomb was buried thousands of years ago under a small hill of dirt excavated from the tomb next to him. We went down into King Tuts tomb and it was pretty much empty, except for King Tut himself who was lying in a climate controlled glass case. He was a midget. Apparently the largest pharaoh found was only 5'11"! I can only imagine the bitching that the men had to hear from their women wanting to wear high heels... We went into a few more tombs and they were all ornately decorated and the paint was fairly preserved. It was amazing to see all the brightly painted relief carvings on the walls of the tomb. The tombs were all so hot and smelt a little bit like rancid sour cream from the thousands of sweating bodies that had been in them over the years. It was gross.



After visiting the tombs, we went to a decent sized temple. I'll spare you the details, because my next paragraph goes into greater detail. Let's rewind to the day I arrived in Cairo. After a really long bus ride, I just wanted to sit in the AC of our room and relax. I flipped on the TV to CNN and sat down on the ground in front of my TV. After watching TV for a few minutes, I saw something move past my foot out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to see what it was and saw a huge mouse trotting along the baseboard. My heart jumped up my chest into my throat and I bounced up off the ground fast as lightning. I trapped him behind the cupboard and then called the front office to get some help catching it. After a few minutes a man came in carrying a pipe wrench. I was thinking, this is going to be sweet!! He's going to smash the mouse with the wrench. Unfortunately, they didn't understand what I said and thought their was something wrong with the bathroom. After a few more phone calls they moved me to a different room.



When I got to Luxor, we pulled up to a "five" star hotel (which I think is a relative term). It looked pretty nice and I thought that my mice problems were past me. I went into the room and turned on the shower to wash the smell of a 8 hour bus ride off of me. After letting the water run for a few seconds I turned around, and to my great surprise, the water coming out of the spigot was literally brown. Not a slight tint of brown, but solid brown. Fortunately, only the hot water was brown. So I took a cold shower that night and then used the pool to cleanse myself from thereon out. I didn't take a picture but I will post one here when I get it from my friend.



The following morning we went to the temples at Karnak and Luxor. They were massive. The Ancient Egyptians were master engineers and architects and their buildings dwarf any others from the antiquities. Not only are all the buildings themselves amazing, every wall, column, obelisk (think Washington Monument), and ceiling is covered top to bottom with brightly painted relief sculptures. Not only is the building itself ornately decorated, but there are hundreds of sculptures and statues remain almost fully intact. Unlike the Romans and Greeks, the Egyptians thought about the eternal nature of their creations and carved their statues to last. The arms, beards and legs of the statues are all connected to the main part of the body so that they would be less susceptible to being damaged. So they remain largely intact compared to the headless and armless Roman statues. I can't even explain how impressive the temples were so I will just put up a couple pictures. The last picture shows how they would build the massive walls. They would build big sand hills to put the wall into place and then the artists would carve their reliefs as they took away the sand hills.



So the temple at Karnak dates back to the 16th century BC; however, their rituals date back to much earlier than that. Abraham was in Egypt around 2000 BC as a reference point. The temple at Karnak and Luxor both have the same basic design. They have an outer court, followed by several inner courts and rooms that finally end at the Holy of Holies in the center. Each room is higher than the last and the Holy of Holies is the highest spot in the temple. The Holy of Holies could only be visited by the Kings and Priests and had a large idol of their god sitting on an altar. Entering in the Holy of Holies meant that you entered in to the presence of god. The walls of the Holy of Holies explained the rituals of the Ancient Egyptians. First, the candidate must have a pure heart to participate in the rituals. After proving worthiness, he is washed and pronounced clean and then anointed to be a king or queen, priest or priestess. Then he receives a new garment. Then the person is given a second, kingly name. After that he receives instruction on the creation and is given signs and keywords that he will need to pass the sentinels that stand guard in the afterlife. After that, he is presented at a veil, where he is embraced by one through the veil and is tested on what he has learned. After completing the test, he is allowed to enter into the presence of the gods. The pharaohs were always buried with notes, called the book of the dead, that told them everything they needed to know to make it through the guards and gain eternal life. A large part of the decoration on the walls of the tombs were used for the same purpose. I took a bunch of pictures of the reliefs showing this process and will post a couple of them. I found the process to be very interesting and also found it interesting how obsessed with death the Ancient Egyptians were. The rich would spend their entire lives preparing their tombs for death.

Pyramids, sphinx, pushy Egyptians, and sweaty students.

This week I was in Egypt!!!! Cairo is much larger than I expected and was told that it has a population around 18 million people. Their homes are made of big bricks and are stacked one on top of another with tiny narrow roads that go between them. I guess Egypt is in Africa, but I didn't expect it to be so poverty stricken. Trash seems to have overtaken the city. Every street, canal, and nook and cranny looks like a dumpster. We arrived at our hotel in the evening, ate dinner, and then headed to a light show on the pyramids. It was amazing to see the sheer size and engineering prowess of the temples at Giza. They dwarf all the other buildings on the skyline. The light and sound show was kind of cheesy but it was awesome to see the pyramids at sunset and lit up in the desert night.



The next morning we got up early to try and beat the heat (if that is even possible) and see the pyramids. They were amazing and we got to walk to the tomb in the center of the middle pyramid, called the Khafre Pyramid. I had to walk hunched over the entire way to the center of the pyramid and on my way out I totally bruised the middle of my spine on a piece of angle iron that was encasing the entrance. It hurt so bad!



Let me just interject right now the fact that Egyptian vendors are the most annoying people on the planet, and apparently they have been that way for millennia. I was reading a 6th century BC account written by Herodotus and he reported that aside from the pesky souvenir vendors, the pyramids were fantastic. They are the pushiest bunch of thieves I have ever encountered in my life! They come up and shove things into your hands and tell you that they are giving it to you for free. Then they follow you around asking you for money for what they put in your hand. I fortunately was warned of their assertiveness and never took anything they offered. If you engage with them at all, even to just say no, they will not leave you alone. I think they believe if they mercilessly bug the hell out of you, you will eventually buy whatever piece of crap thing they are selling. I learned the best way to deal with them is to look at them straight in the eyes with a look like "If you even think of even saying one word to me, I will straight beat your ass", accompanied by a forceful wave of the hand with your palm facing the ground, they will leave you alone. I did talk to one guy who offered me 2000 camels for the girl standing next to me. I would have taken the offer but he didn't pony up the camels so the deal fell through. There were a few vendors hanging around with camels and I paid one of them a couple of bucks to sit on his camel and take a picture with the pyramid in the background.



After we checked out the pyramids we made our way to the Sphinx. It was cool because it was sculpted from a single stone, but it was a little unimpressive compared to the pyramids towering behind it. The body of the lion symbolizes power and prowess, and the human head symbolizes intelligence and reason. A funny side note: The sphinx is missing its nose and beard, both of which were vandalized by Muslims. Rather than fessing up to their misdeeds, they blame the French... The claim that Napoleon ransacked the statue when he came through. Classic. We should do the same. Anything stupid our country has ever done should be blamed on the French.

Friday night Shabbat!!!!

Jews really know how to bring in the sabbath. Our class took a field trip to the wailing wall on the western side of the temple mount. The bottom part of the wall is still standing from the time of Herod's temple, built around 517 BC. According to Jewish tradition, when original temple was dedicated, the shekinah (god's presence) graced the western wall as well as the temple. After the temple was destroyed by Rome and later replaced by the dome of the rock mosque, Jews began worshiping at the western wall. They regard the wall as one of the holiest places on earth. We had to go through metal detectors to get to the courtyard by the wall. There were tons of ultra-orthodox Jews, in their traditional garb and ringlets bouncing with every step, rushing past us to get to the wall to pray before the sun went down. Upon arriving in the courtyard, all us men had to don yamakas and the women and men were separated to different portions of the wall. I slinked my way down to the wall and placed my little rolled up prayer in a small crevice. Standing next to two orthodox Jews, I said a little prayer while swaying back and forth with both palms flat against the wall. There were no cameras allowed at the wall because the Jewish laws state that no flame should be lit near the wall and the small electrical impulse generated by your camera would be considered a flame. So unfortunately I have no personal pics.


After praying at the wall, the party began. The courtyard was jammed full of Jews. It was like the floor of a rock concert. Amongst the crowd of Jews there were a few tables set up with thick, ornate table clothes covering them. Groups of people would surround the table and sing, chant, and occasionally run around them in big circles. It was like a mosh pit only nobody was trying to hurt you. I walked over to see what was going on and before I knew it a Jew pulled me into the circle and I was running and chanting and singing and dancing. We ran and ran around the table chanting for a few minutes and then sang a slower song. The Jews just pulled us all in and let us join in on their worship. We chanted a few more songs, banging our hands on the table, clapping, jumping up and down, and running in more circles. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time because it was such a unique and fun experience.

Danen and Goliath

Move over David, Goliath has a new arch nemesis… Me. After 24 years of living a talentless life, I’ve discovered a hidden talent that was buried deep within my being… slinging stones. We went to the Elah valley to recreate the battle of champions between David the Israelite and Goliath the Philistine. After the reenactment was completed, our teacher demonstrated the proper slinging technique. To get the full picture of what went down I need to tell you a little more about my religion professor. Dr. Draper stands at a good 6’2” tall and probably weighs a lurpy 170 lbs. He is 65 years old and has shiny white hair, yellow-tinted veneers, and thick-lensed glasses that distort the shape of his eyes. He has a slightly curved back and stands with his neck slopped forward. I doubt that he was ever much of an athlete. The old man grabs a sling, cradles a rock inside it, and his flabby arm sets the sling in motion. After whipping the sling around the top of his head, he winds up to send the stone flying. The whole group anxiously looks on, expecting the stone to fly long and straight. Dr. Drapers arm slings forward and he releases the rock. Whiz, thump, uuuugh. The stone whizzes sideways out of the sling, bounces off the ground, and nails Whitney right in the thigh. I was fully expecting her to drop straight to the ground but she took it like a champ, didn’t even cry. Everyone was laughing under their breath.



After he gave us the demonstration, he let us loose with a bunch of slings. This is when I discovered my talent for slinging rocks. I didn’t find it to be difficult but apparently it is because we had several people hit themselves in the head with rocks. My technique was immaculate and nobody that challenged me could sling the stone farther or more accurately. I am going to bring home some slings so my nephews, half brothers, and I can play with them. I’m sure my sister is going love that.



My friends and I got a little bored and found other uses for the slings. Either way, they’re deadly.



This is Whitney and I heading down into a cistern. (a big man made cave that holds water)

Falafals!!!

Classes are great and I love them, but I'm sure that no one wants to hear about that. I think my favorite class is the Palestinian and Jewish Modern History that discusses the current conflict over the Holy Land. The teachers are local and I've gained a greater appreciation for the convoluted nature of the conflict. By the end of my experience I will try and blog on my opinion of the situation.

We have church on the traditional Jewish Shabbat on Saturday rather than Sunday. The chapel definitely has the best view of any in the world. Behind the podium there are huge arch windows that stretch from the floor to the ceiling. Through those windows you get the same vantage as the picture I posted on my last entry. I didn't pay attention to a thing anybody said in church. After our meetings, a group of us went and saw the Garden Tomb and The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was interesting to hear the reasons they felt that that specific tomb was the one that Christ was buried in. Here is a picture of me and Lisa in front of the hill they claim is Golgotha (the place of the skull) that looks like a skull if you squint and look at it out of the corner of your eye. They also argued that Christ was crucified on a tree rather than a cross and described the method the romans used to maximize the pain associated with crucifixion. It sounded awful and extremely painful.



The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the traditional site where the catholics and orthodox churches believe Christ was crucified and buried. It was hard to picture what the site looked like because there have been several churches built on top of it. It was interesting because several different religions lay claim to different parts of the church and they are very territorial. I almost died laughing because we saw two clergymen literally having a sword fight with brooms because one of them swept the other's territory. I wish I had gotten a picture cuz it was priceless.

I went to the Israeli Museum and saw an exhibit of the dead sea scrolls. It was fascinating to see the original parchment paper with the book of Isaiah the prophet on them. It was even more interesting to hear that the translation almost perfectly matched the current form of the book of Isaiah today. Jesus wasn't joking when he told us to read Isaiah. After the museum we hit up downtown West Jerusalem and ate some falafals. Falafals are pitas stuffed with humus, meat, and veggies topped with french fries. It was amazing. I was surprised at how European West Jerusalem looks and feels. Ben Yahoda street is lined with designer labels, little bakeries, falafal shops, novelty stores, money changers, ice cream parlors, and pubs. It has such an eclectic vibe and atmosphere.

Shalom from Jerusalem!!!

I made it! I am in Jerusalem and it is awesome!!!!! I arrived here one week ago today and it already seems like I've been here forever. I don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll just go chronologically.

The first day we showed up after 24 straight hours on planes and layovers and I was trashed. The BYU Jerusalem Center is amazing. I never dreamed it would be so nice. Apparently it was the most expensive church owned building ever built before they built the conference center. The view of the city from the center is nothing short of breathtaking. The Jerusalem Center, positioned on top of the Mt. of Olives, overlooks the Old City in the foreground with West Jerusalem in the background across the valley. Here's a night shot of the city from my room at the Jerusalem Center.

The next day they showed us around the city and all of the places we could go to change our money and buy different things. I loved walking through the old city. The streets are all made out of limestone that has been smoothed out from countless footsteps. It is a truly unique experience to walk down the narrow streets of the old city with one vendor after another displaying their shiny trinkets, jewelry, leather sandals and bags, olive wood carvings, rich smelling mounds of spices, candy, hanging meat (pigs and lamb), buckets full of putrid smelling entrails, t-shirts, designer clothing, shoes, menorahs, bongs, all sorts of local clothing, and other junk. I filmed myself walking through the city and will try and upload the video later when I have a better internet connection.

The following day we went on a field trip to try and orient us with where we were in relation to significant events in the Bible. It was interesting to me how much of the old testament happened so close to Jerusalem. Like how Abraham brought Isaac to be sacrificed at the same location where the temple was later built. Here's a picture of me looking over Bethlehem and another with a camel and the dome of the rock in the background.

These were just my first couple days in Jerusalem!!! I've gotta run because I am dead tired but I'll post again tomorrow and finish up the rest of my adventures for the week.