Monday, January 9, 2012

I am Learning SO Much!

I am beginning to learn about driving in this country. It is a new experience, and I am OK that I am not resonsible to drive while I am here. First of all I have to address my parents- don't worry, I am being careful. I write this for your entertainment and engihtenment on another culture, not to scare you. :)
All the roads, except the two highways that leave the city, are two lanes with no curb. And sometimes no sidewalk, it really depends. Think NYC neighborhood type roads. Second- there aren't any actual delegated places to park, so people park of the side of the road. Remember, no sidewalks, no curb. Then, if the side is full, they just park next to the already parked car. This leaves the streets very narrow. Today, our bus driver menuvered passed a bus parked double deep around a truck headed the other direction. It was impressive to say the least. When it comes to driving, there is a lot of honking. I still don't know if it is simply a way of informing people of your location, or they are just horn happy. As for pedestrians- they cross the street at any convenient point, and cars continue on "at that same speed to fly" and assume the person will be out of the way be the time they get there. So walkers learn to look carefully and move fast.
I went to the Israel Museum on Sunday to start my first paper and assignment. It was amazing. I can't wait to go back. They have a 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period. Right next door is the permenant exhibit for the Dead Sea Scrolls. I could spend an afternoon in that room alone. They had early human art and tools, some really cool Hebrew writings, and a section devoted to artifacts from the time of Christ. That included a wine jug with Herod's seal, a stone with Pilot's name carved into it, and the heelbone of a man who was crucified. That was a chilling and enlightning moment. I have had one image of a crucifiction all my life based on videos portaying Christ's life. His hands nailed to the cross and his feet nailed to a platform. Maybe there was more than one way the Romans did it, but this man's feet were on either side of the cross and then nailed in. Sorry it that is gruesome, but I thought it was facinating, and horrifying at the same time, and just such a new thought. This whole trip is forcing me to reexamine everything I had settled so nicely in my mind as "the way it was."
One of my favorite pieces in the museum was a mosaic that portrayed David as an Orpheus. For those of you who don't know, I have taken several classes that cover Greek and Roman mythology, and I find it facinating. I thought it was great to see things like that crop up in real life instead of on a powerpoint in a classroom.
There were several things that my teacher pointed out on the worksheet as items from the time period Lehi and Sariah would ahve been living in Jerusalem. One of the plaques next to women's combs, perfume bottles and makeup said that women then had beauty rituals much like women now. Right below that were several hordes of silver, containers full of wealth. I understand better now what Lehi's family gave up to travel to the promised land. I had never given a moments thought to what Sariah must have had to sacrifice coming from a position of wealth and status. The wealth Laman and Lemuel left behind has come up before, but when I saw that pile of silver in broken jug, I could understand from a temporal perspective why they complained. It was history coming to life in front of me. I have never enjoyed a museum trip so much. Well, except the science museums that let you touch stuff and do cool experiments...
Today was our first field trip. We will be going out nearly every Monday to see nearby sights as a class and have instruction time with our professors. We traveled all around the outskirts of Jerusalem and saw it from the north, east, and south. I am really glad we did, because I now have a mental image of how things fit and the lay of the land. Brother Huntsman, our Old Testament teacher, is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and LOVES to sing. So we got to sing hymns at several of the sight- a Lutheran church, the hills outside Bethlehem, and the site where the prophet Samuel is celebrated. At the first site, he wanted us to sing, but missed the starting intervals, so I sang the first line and the group got started. On the bus he found me and asked if I would be willing to help with starting the a capella music when we sing on field trips. Then he asked if I would choose hymns to sing at the start of Old Testament. So I got myself a job. I am glad. I think it will be fun to come up with hymns that roughly match the scriptures we are reading.
Wow, so I just looked back and saw how long this is! I really wish I could upload pictures, becuase I am starting to have quite a nice collection. Maybe I can get over Hebrew University across the street sometime soon where I have access to better internet.

1 comment:

  1. We are enjoying your updates. Thanks so much for including so many details. We will continue to pray for you and I hope you keep having fun! Much love.

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