Turkish Delight

This is at the Hippodrome Square which is the first place we went in Turkey! TURKEY IS AMAZING! I don't think anyone really gets this picture.. but it's like the Sleeping Beauty thing! I pricked my finger and the next one is me in pain... I'm sick of just smiling in pictures, it gets old after a while.

This is the courtyard of a Sultan's palace. I've thought about this a lot and have come to a decision- I want one. The tile work in the palace was incredible and it had one of the best views in all of Turkey right on the sea.

Here is an example of some of the tile work and the gold all over the windows... This is my roommate Diedra! I call her D. I have no idea what we are doing here. 

How cool is this?! This is the Blue Mosque and was actually used in a Star Wars movie! I've never seen Star Wars but it was really neat inside as well. 

We got to go on a cruise down the Bosphorus. It was BEAUTIFUL. I loved it and we got to goof around on the boat. We had the whole boat to ourselves and really had a great time in the amazing weather. 

This is my great friend Camille! I just love her. We tried to get the Turkish flag in the background but you can see the great view. 

My favorite picture of the entire semester. We were telling everyone about our "Sure Love Ya" tradition and we all decided to give it a try. Now everyone is doing it and we even did it after our FHE prayer on Monday. Precious. 

Turkey had all these amazing castles right on the shore and this is just one that we were able to see from the boat. 

We got to make a stop at this look-out point between Instanbul (not Constantinople) and Troy. 

I really wanted a picture with sheep and the shepherd and this one was perfect! He brought the sheep over to us and let us pet it.

TROY! Scott and I are sticking out of the first two windows. 

This was a theater at Troy that was there at the time of Paul. Gladiators used to fight in there so naturally we had a match of our own... 

Behind Camille and Scott is the Trojan horse used in the movie Troy. Yes... the same horse that Brad Pitt may have touched. 

Right next to this horse is an outdoor basketball court that all these kids were playing at. We decided to join them and it was a blast. I would display pictures but I am not as coordinated as I once was. 

Dean, BJ and Tyson were attempting to look tough as the sunset went down on the harbor... and succeeded. 

This sunset was so pretty and you can see the place where Paul had a vision of a man beckoning him to where we were standing! Pretty neat. 

Class picture at Assos.

Aslan is his name... Scott named him after our tour guide (who had to be the funniest man I have ever met). Scott got him in Assos and he has been a hit. 

Assos had an amazing view and Scott caught me taking a glimpse. 

Pergamum is the Seat of Satan! We were able to visit all the 7 churches that we talked about. It was very pretty for being the Seat of Satan. We rode a tram up to the top and were able to explore around. 

I never quite knew how silk was made and this was so cool to watch! We were also able to see the Turkish women tying all the rugs and one of the ladies let me give it a shot. I can now make a Turkish rug! It only takes 4-6 months. 

This is the ancient library at Ephesus! With Scott's library card...

Goddess of NIKE!!!

Ephesus was probably one of my favorite places we went to on the whole trip. 

Ancient toilets... classic. Our tour guide Bulent Aslan joined Scott in this lovely picture. 

The guide called on Scott to give a performance in the Ephesus theater, which is huge... so here he is warming up. 

A beautiful rendition of "Come Fly With Me" and "Hey Jude" was given to all of Ephesus. 

I wish I could describe how funny our guide was. Our professor's name is Judd but he could only pronounce it as "Jude". So naturally the song "Hey Jude" was stuck in our heads the entire trip. The guide even sang it for us over the microphone and it was the worst sounding noise I've ever heard. We have a list of all the funny things he said and it makes me laugh every time. I will have to post it soon. 

A little show was put on for all the people coming off the cruise ships and we got to see a Gladiator fight at Ephesus.

3 Kings... or 3 Stooges.

Here was the mosque we went to where all the women had to cover their heads. I don't know how those women get the scarfs to stay on... 

These flowers were ALL OVER Turkey. I fell in love with them and miss them all ready. It was so pretty and I couldn't leave without getting a picture of them. Turkey was beautiful and so interesting and I am so lucky to have been able to go!

LOCK-DOWN

So we are currently on lock-down. We were for Friday and Saturday but luckily we are leaving for Turkey today!! The Independence Day celebration caused some uprising since that is not a pleasant day for Palestinians. During the demonstrations on Friday some riots took place and the city was not safe for us to be in. We have been able to hear shots from the center but the security is very careful not to let us outside. I guess if we saw someone throwing a stone and took a picture, they could think we would send it in to Israeli soldiers. They are just trying to avoid us becoming a target in any way. Lucky for me the ping-pong table is in the bomb-shelter so my chances of being safe are pretty good... We are leaving for Turkey in about an hour and will be there for a week! I am so excited I can't stand it. Shalom!

The Best

I thought I would share some fun statistics of my life since I have been here...

• Number of camels offered for me - 50
• Estimated weight gain by August - 70
• Stairs walked daily - approximately a billion
• Pictures taken - 2 billion
• Miles walked daily - around 700 (give or take 2)
• Sweat excreted - 20-30 Liters
• Percentage of time exhausted - 97%
• Days I have attempted to do my hair - .5
• Times Scott has yelled "Ali, get back here!" - 5 per hour

So much to say!!! So Friday night we were able to go into the Old City and visit the Western Wall. It was the night before the Sabbath so cameras were not allowed but I wish I could explain the experience. We split into the men's and women's side and were able to go touch the wall. Then the girls began to sing and dance and the place turned into a huge celebration! We were in a series of circles and holding hands with all the Jewish women singing (mumbling) songs that we did not know. Then we left the female section and continued the dancing in the common area. There were tons and tons of Israeli soldiers around and they were asking for us to teach them how to dance. We didn't know what we were doing so they asked us to come dance in a big circle... they were holding very large guns so we had to say yes. We sang and danced and then they started RIDE THAT PONY!!! It was obviously not the same lyrics and was in Hebrew but was all the same dance moves that we do at girls camp. We were laughing and having so much fun. The boys in our group saw there was a party going on and were trying to get in, then they realized it was us! Don't worry mom.. our professors were all there and approved of the celebrating.

Scott and I have made a goal to go to the Garden Tomb every Shabbat. It's been a really neat experience and we are so blessed to be able to do that. I have learned that while the Spirit is strong in these holy places, I feel His love the most when I am sitting in sacrament meeting. Our ward here is great and it is fun to see how many local members there are. I was called as the visiting teaching supervisor and am excited to get going!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!! And all other mothers, especially the ones who helped raise me. Mom, I was so happy to talk to you and I hope our other siblings slaved and waited on you hand and foot like I would have done. Sunday was a free day and we got to do whatever we wanted! We got a group together and went to a museum here of Jerusalem history that we needed for a class, we then went to West Jerusalem and did some exploring. We also spent time in the Jewish quarter of the city which is really nice and we found this amazing bakery which will easily double my weight.

Monday was a really cool field trip to Jericho! We got to see the spring and Herod's castle and learned a lot about the geography! Go ahead and ask me what the elevation of Jericho is... well I will tell you, it is 850 feet below sea level. We also stopped in the Judean Wilderness where Christ was tempted and the story of the good Samaritan takes place. While it was incredibly spiritual and a wonderful experience, it was hot. Rumor is that it will only get hotter, except while in Turkey.. that is supposed to be chilly.

Monday night was AMAZING! Israel's Independence Day!!! We got permission to stay out late and party with the rest of the city. Everyone met in West Jerusalem where there were concerts and dancing and silly string all over the place! People buy silly string and just spray it everywhere. I also got my favorite souvenir here. Yes, you all guessed it, a blow up sword. It - was - AWESOME! People get these huge blow up things and just start swinging them, it was hilarious to get in these battles with all the kids. Later that night there were fireworks and being the obnoxious group that we are, we danced and sang super loud and clapped for anything under the sky.

Headlamps = Awesome.

Today (Tuesday) we had class and then went through Zedekiah's Cave. It was fun to explore and run around and I got the chance to put my head-lamp to good use. I took it off in the city to avoid jealousy and everyone trying to rob me. We went back to the Bakery of Death (I am going to call it that from now on because of what it is doing to my cholesterol). Then we went to a overlook of the Western Wall. Here is something exciting!!! Paul Piper was here and we got to have dinner with him and visit with him! It was a really neat experience. Rumor was he was here to discuss allowing missionaries into Israel and we were able to ask him a lot of questions about that. He had lots of words of advice and he said that we need to work on our patience. He reminded us how blessed we are to be here and that we need to pray for this land. Elder Piper also said that he is convinced we will see more miracles in our lives than he has, and that is including the Berlin Wall which was a huge miracle. It got me really excited and gave us hope of one day being able to share the Gospel here.

My Birthday Week!

Here is the view from the Jerusalem Center! Amazing, right? I don't think I will ever be pleased with the view from an apartment in Provo ever again. We are learning so much that I am beginning to be able to point things out and know what a lot of the buildings are.

This is at Nabi Semwil where some people believe that the Prophet Samuel was buried. Behind us in the background you can see the city of Gibeon! Pretty cool. A lot happened here so I won't talk about all of it but this whole field trip was awesome. 

 

My birthday gift! Scott gave me a dome. My birthday was so fun. Everyone here made me feel really special. We had class in the morning and then a group of us went to the Dome of the Rock (Scott and I have been calling it D.O.T.R. and it is catching on). They won't allow us inside but we caught a glimpse of the door open. We really didn't see anything special inside. It is so crazy to think that Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac here and that an angel appeared on this very mount. There were people praying and worshiping all over the place. We were able to get some great pictures.

For my birthday we went to a little cafe in the city and got the most delicious mint-lemonade I have ever tasted. They actually ground up mint leaves and put them in a lemonade slush. It was amazing. We then came back and had to be at a forum... not the most exciting 21st birthday night but it was very interesting! He was an Israeli diplomat and I think Scott really enjoyed it. Being the amazing brother he is, he got me some beautiful earrings from the city which matched my outfit perfectly today. A bunch of the students wrote notes and taped them on my door and one of my roommates even decorated my room with hearts all over. It was adorable. 

Yes... the story is true. We found Aladdin's magic carpet. We had to get the watch in the picture because one of our friends bought a Rolex here... When I say Rolex I mean a plastic wristband.. the background was actually painted on, it was hilarious. 

         So this place is incredible! I don’t know how else to put it. We have done so much that I feel like I have been here for weeks. Sunday was our first day of classes, they were all really interesting and I love my Old Testament class. Our teachers name is brother Judd and he is so knowledgeable and entertaining. It is fun to be able to learn about a story in the Bible, and then just look to my left to see where that story happened! How cool!

          After class we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We went with 4 others and just wanted to explore the old city. Just in wandering we found what some religions believe to be the birthplace of Mary and then somehow ran into the Pools at Bethesda! We paid a few shekels to get in and it was really neat. I love the story of Christ telling the crippled man to take up his bed and walk. We may have walked on a few of the stones that Christ did!

          Next we traveled through some of the more residential parts of the Old City where kids were running wild! They are cute and love to try and play games with you. They love to play soccer and one kept trying to pass it to me. There were these two young boys, one pushing the other in a shopping cart. We laughed at what they were doing and they were so pleased with entertaining us that they attempted to follow us the whole way home. One had an old remote and kept pointing it at me and pressing buttons, Scott says he was trying to find the mute button. There accents are so precious. They all take English classes in school and know how to say “hello” in the funniest way… never gets old.

          We traveled to go see Jimmy, one of the Mormon lovers who does the olive wood carvings. We have made a good friend here, Jason, I call him Dean. But his parents knew Jimmy and must have bought an entire museum from him considering the way he treated us! He took us to a really nice restaurant down the street where he got us all the most delicious food in this world. He sat with us and talked for probably an hour or so and we had so much fun.

          Let me just say that blondes are unusual in this country. Not the kind of unusual where they don’t like them though… The men here are not shy about their complements. A man even yelled, “I love you” from the other side of the street the other day. It is so precious how protective my brother and other boys are when they speak up. It might be a smart idea to cover my hair in a couple areas of town. There is really no danger at all… but just to avoid the attention and worry from the boys with me.

          Today we went on a wonderful field trip traveling to some of the best views in Jerusalem. First we went to Auguste Victoria which is a Church of the Ascension. We then traveled to an abandoned building where underneath King Saul had begun to build his kingdom. Next was the town of Gibeon which they talk about in Joshua 10 and 1 Kings 3. Here was a Mosque and a Synagogue all in one building. Some believe that the Prophet Samuel was buried here and there were lots of people praying inside. The fourth place we visited was Haas Promenade, a ridge with a beautiful view of the city of Jerusalem and we were able to understand more of the geography. We know that Abraham had to travel over this ridge to get to the spot where he would sacrifice Isaac. He talks about it in Genesis 22:3-4. Lastly we got to climb up to a spot overlooking Bethlehem. It was an amazing view and we got to sing a few Christmas songs while we were up there.  

          My mom tells me that people are wondering what it is like here since the news of Bin Laden. Today is also the Holocaust memorial day. I really haven't noticed anything different but I know our security has been doing a lot to check up on things and make sure we are safe. The security here is fantastic. We took a tour through the city on a Friday, which is the day the Muslims worship and we aren't allowed to go into the city. We had security all over the place and they were legit. They kept popping up around corners and I felt like the President's daughter. The government should hire them. Anyways, we plan on going into the city tonight and we will have to see if anything is different.