Between Me and the Breeze!

Here are some awesome pictures from a free day a few weeks ago. We went to West Jerusalem to go to the Israeli museum. This museum is way better then the dinky ones that I give tours for at BYU-Idaho. In fact I'd say it's comparable to the Smithsonian. For class we filled out a worksheet to go over the ancient history in the near east. It took me like 4 hours, and I didn't even get to see everything that was there in that one exhibit. I got to peek at the dead sea scrolls, as well as a giant 3-D map of Old Jerusalem. Daniel had already finished this assignment when he came with the original thirty while the rest of us were stuck in Phoenix, so spent time checking out the art exhibit. Before we left he took me around to show me his favorites! The museum has Monet, Van Gogh, and a few Warhol pieces!! It was super fun. Sorry, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum!

A Buster's hand, outside the Israel Museum. THE BEST MUSEUM EVER! I spent about 4 hours here, and want to go back for more!

      After the museum we went shopping with Suzy and Kara in the Old City to prepare for our Jordan trip. Suzy and Kara are my new favorite people to go adventuring with. Suzy flirts/haggles/harasses the shop keepers, while Kara just laughs at her antics. These two helped us to get a ton a free things. Baklava, water, juice, and a few gummies were freely given after a little bit of chatter. We had fun getting snacks for our trip. After trying on clothes, snacking and purchasing gummies, we hiked home.

Sadly, I couldn't justify spending 100 shekels on it!!

The next day, monday, we left for Jordan. It took us a few hours to cross the border but it wasn't that bad. We had to switch buses and go through customs, but it wasn't as bad as we expected. After a short drive we were at Mt. Nebo, where Moses overlooked Israel for the first time. This is also the supposed burial site, but the tomb has not been found. :)

From Mt. Nebo, where Moses overlooked the Israel for the first time.

That day we also went to another Herodian palace. This was the spot where John the Baptist was supposedly beheaded. Sorry I don't have pictures of it now! Check facebook in a few months, as my uploading capabilities are limited now.

That next morning we hiked into Petra! It was so FUN!!!!!!

Oh, just a Petra with the gang!

ME!

Israel Kat + Cat

Holy Grail anyone?

Camel face!

Visiting Petra was one of my favorite sites. We were harassed a great deal from the shop keepers, but we did make it out with most of our dinars. We hiked up to the monastery, and through the tombs of the kings. We were so sweat and gross by the end of it but it was so worth it.

So the next morning my roommate and I did not receive a wake-up call at 7:00 am as promised. Instead, we got a call at 8:06 from our teacher, asking us where we were!! So as fast as we could we threw on clothes, and ran out the door to get on the bus. OPPS! It was embarrassing, but I don't think Amy or I will ever solely rely on a hotel wake-up call again. That day we went to the Blue Mosque dedicated to King Hussein, the citadel, the Jabok river, and Gerash.

Tired boys at the mosque!

5 wives!

Jeff N, me and Caleb C.

Not touching!

At the Jordan Citadel

By the Jabok river!

Pillars at Gerash!

Group suicide at Gerash! JK Group jumping picture!

BEST SHWARMA IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! Even now my taste buds crave this delightful adventure!!

So after a long day of adventuring on our field trip, we decided that we absolutely had to go to this hole in the wall shwarma place. Every time that we walked by this places, there was a huge crowd of locals. We were able to get 4 delicious shwarmas for a little more then 4 dinars. So that's about a $1.50. TOTALLY WORTH IT. As we walked with the rest of our group, all four of us kept saying how good it was and that we wanted more. The others we were with wanted to go to a "cute" american diner with free wi-fi. So off we went. While we were there Daniel and I were enticed to buy a tortilla chips and spinach dip, because we were craving chips badly. We were so excited for yummy, perhaps even warm tortillas! Hour heightened excitement was not met, as our crunchy tortillas turned out to be old Cheese Doritos. :( And the dip? Onion and spinach soup, for a total 4 dinar!! So six bucks for the worst appetizer ever, and it gave us the runs. To get the nasty taste out of our mouths, we stopped by the Shwarma place again so we could get one to share!

UGH worst choice ever... Story to come!

On the Jordan side of the Jordan river with Dan the Man.