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.