"I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing!"

I forgot to announce... that without me... the entire city of Jerusalem would have been left thinking it was 11:00 AM instead of 12:00. Brother Ohman is one of the official carrolin bell players at the big YMCA bell tower in downtown Jerusalem. And on Sunday I took the elevator to the very top of the tower. We had to use a key to make the elevator take us to the top! It was really neat. Lots of people played hymns on the bells. And when it was exactly 12:00 I got to be one of the bell chimers. Hence... had I not been there everyone would have though it was only 11.

My roommate, Megan, reminded me of the the Coldplay; Viva La Vida song it brought the lyrics a whole new meaning! The chorus is:

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

Happy Hanukkah!

Today is the last night of Hanukkah! I have really enjoyed celebrating Hanukkah. I had no idea that eating doughnuts every evening was part of the holiday! It's a been a delicious last few days. Unfortunately I got a little carried away today and have heartburn... Tonight we went to the Western Wall where they have a huge Hanukkah menorah that they light with huge flames. And then they sing all sorts of fun Jewish songs! I had a great time.

On Monday I got to finally float in the Dead Sea! And even though I had seen pictures I didn't completely beleive that you floated in the Dead Sea. But it's true! YOU FLOAT! It's the strangest, most unnatural feeling. I've always wanted to swim in jello and I kind of think swimming in the Dead Sea is what it would feel like.The consistency is so strange... and you just sit on top! It's so salty. If you even tough your finger to your tongue, it burns. And I got a little up my nose and it burned for a good while afterward. I also covered my body with the dead sea mud that is supposed to be so exfoliating... it's what the masks and lotions are made of at the mall that the Indian people try to sell for way too much money. But since the dead sea is so low there isn't any good mud.. so the mud was made out of the shower run off and the dirt above the bank. And it kind of smelt like feces.

Also on Monday we visited Qumran. That's where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It was really interesting. Then we went to Masada. Which wouldn't have meant anything a couple of months ago but after all our studies it was incredible. Certainly one of my favorite places we've visited.  I also enjoyed the sky ride up to it! We took a big ski lift type ride. It's really high up and we opted to not hike the "serpent's trail" up the steep hill.

We also visited Ein Gedi which is just a beuatiful canyon of the Dead Sea. We hike up it and a pretty little stream runs along it with several waterfalls! The weather has barely cooled down and so there were lots of wildlife! I saw Ibex's for the first time! It's kind of like a deer. I though they were really cute! They jump really high. I saw so many of them.

Jordan

Our trip to Jordan has come and gone! It was such an enjoyable trip. But I definitely wish we could have had more time. Four days was not enough. We spent the first night in Wadi Musa which was a pretty sketchy town. But surprisingly that hotel was much nicer than our next hotel in the capital, Amman. I really enjoyed exploring the streets in Wadi Musa! Though I certainly wouldn't have wanted to do it alone! I had no idea of what to expect in Jordan! So after seeing Wadi Musa I figured that how all of Jordan was. But once we drove into Amman I quickly changed my mind. Amman is a gorgeous city. It's clean, fancy buildings, classy, colorful, everything people love about big cities! It was probably one of the most impressive cities I've visited.

Our first day we visited Mt. Nebo, where Moses was shown the promised land. Then we went to Madaba. Then Monday was our big day that we spent in Petra! Petra was incredible. Once again, I had no idea what to expect and was shocked at how big Petra is. It spans throughout an entire sandstone canyon (that actually reminded me a lot of the Grand Canyon). We hiked around all day and still didn't see everything. Incredible temples, buildings and statues are carved into statues all through the canyon. I bought some fun jewelry from Bedouins that live in caves throughout the area and had fun taking pictures of all the camels until one tried to attack me! He scared me to death... I guess I got a little to close to him and no exaggeration- he almost bit my head off! I felt his breath on my cheek! Yikes.

After Petra we visited our third crusader castles! I love crusader castles! There are so many rooms and vaults to explore and walls and staircases to climb! And the view is beautiful. That afternoon and evening we cruised around Amman. I really, really enjoyed Amman. I was so impressed with Jordanians. I haven't been to too many places around the world to know but they seem like some of the most hospitable people. They seemed like really great people. We visited 2 different shopping malls. One of them was the biggest most beautiful mall I've ever seen. We got fancy chocolate covered dates and gelato. It was a really classy place. I didn't quite fit in with my sweaty Petra hair and dusty pants. We spent the rest of the evening just walking down the streets and we also went to the famous Hussein Mosque which was beautiful.

Our last day in Jordan we visited the King Abdullah Mosque. I was pretty wiped out at this point but I've enjoyed all of our mosque visits here. The ones we  have visited have been incredible buildings. I love all the symbolism and artwork. They're very peaceful places. We made our last stop to a Roman citadel and from the top of the hill that it was on we had a gorgeous view of downtown Amman. And also a view of the biggest flag in Jordan! You cannot miss it. It's ginormous. I'm quite easily ammused so i was really fascinated by that. I'll go home and forget about ancient ruins but I won't ever forget that big flag.
Our last day in Jordan we visited a