NYC for the weekend!

Mamma Mia!

Upon returning to Boston a few days ago a greeting a friend that I met in Jerusalem, Adria, along with my friend Anna who also studied with us in Jerusalem (Anna and I go to school together at Gordon-Conwell). Anyhow, the three of us boarded into my little Honda Civic on Friday morning and drove down to Stamford, Ct where my aunt and uncle live. We then got on a train and went into NYC for the day. We took Adria to all the tourist sites and decided to get to the city early the next day to get tickets to a broadway show. We got lucky!! On Saturday morning we got in line at the discount ticket booth and struck gold in finding three remaining tickets to Mamma Mia! It was awesome. I'm not sure if you're a fan of broadway type shows but this was fantastic, fun, and very well done theater! If you're in NYC and need to go to a show (and can't get Wicked tickets) go for Mamma Mia! After seeing it, I'm pretty sure I'm destined to one day play on broadway.....probably not but one never knows!

Egpyt Pics.....Finally!

Well, I have finally posted pictures from my trip to Egypt. I apologize for the length of the post with all the pictures, but wanted to give you an idea of all the things we got to see while there. This is just a small sampling of pictures from the trip but it highlights some great parts of the trip. It was a wonderful trip and we experienced so many new things. In one day we traveled from sleeper train to bus to boat to camel. It was such a worth while endeavor! Hope you enjoy!


The Step Pyramid near Cairo

Friends in front of one of the pyramids in Giza
(from left: Adria, Me, Natalie, Ashley, and Jenna)

The Famous Giza Pyramids - and Natalie, Jenna, and Me

The Sphinx from a little distance with one of the pyramids in the background

Sleeper Train!!

Train Station in Giza

The Temple of Philea

We took a boat ride down the Nile to a little Nubian village

Israel city names carved in a Ancient Egyptian temple - communicated Egypt's connection to Israel in ancient times

Camel ride up to St. Simon Monastery - they are smelly animals!

Luxor Temple at Night

Luxor Temple at Night

We took jeeps off-roading in the Sinai....it was great fun!

The Sinai Desert

Sunrise on Mt. Sinai - worth the hike at 3am!

Out of Egypt and on the way home!

It's about two-thirty in the morning Israel time and I have now been up for 24 hours and have a full day of travel before me. We woke up last night in the wee hours of the morning to hike up Mt. Sinai to catch the sunrise. It was an incredible way to finish up such a rich semester. I am so thankful for the things I've been able to learn and experience while in Jerusalem these past few months. Being that I have 20 hours of flight ahead of me and do not anticipate much internet access.....here is a picture of the sunrise on Sinai and I'll blog about Egypt once I get home! Also in the mean time, here are some reflections on my semester in Jerusalem that I jotted down a week or so ago.

I will not forget waking up to the bells

The abbey billows from behind
Waking up to the sun over the Mt. of Olives
In triumphal procession over the valleys below.

Dwarfed by the walls that seemingly protect
The record of what has been and what is to come.
I will not read your words the same
They speak so differently now
Rich like the moon over the citadel of David
Deep like the tightly knit valleys and streaming rivers.

I will not forget how your voice sounded against St Anne’s walls
Grand waves of sound sensation, melodically moving
Speaking bravery into insecurity
Painting my soul with dreams and trust, wiping away any trace of trembling.

I will not forget that you have been my portion
I will not forget but rejoice that the boundary lines of my life have fallen in pleasant places
I will not forget that you are the God who dwells in the very crevices of my soul
Yet commands a place of honor in the promise land.
Oh, I will not forget
I will only remember the every shape of this Holy land
How You’ve fought for Your children
And still you captured me, enraptured me,
You tell me the epic story of who You have been, who You are, and all that You will ever be

On the Road Again

Hey Friends and family,
we have been finishing up our classes and beginning to pack our bags! I can't believe our time here is coming to an end but have cherished each moment of the journey thus far. We are headed to Egypt tomorrow for an eight day trip and covet your prayers for health and safety. It is not unlikely that many of us will return with a stomach bug of some kind so your prayers that we make it through the trip without too much stomach hassle would be great! I am sure we are in for a great trip and the oppurtunity to see the country of Egypt is exciting! I'll have many pictures to share when I return. Hope you all are well and I am looking forward to returning to the states on the 9th! I'm almost home!!!!
blessings and off to Egypt we go!

Holiday Highlights

Thanksgiving wasn't quite the same away from home, but we sure did have a wonderful night full of gratitude and celebration. The feast was delicious and we appreciated the gift of this great meal in new ways being so far away. We delighted in the pumpkin pie and variety of dessert. We all had our fill and, for us, we were with the family we have developed over the past few months. It was a occasion to celebrate and we did with great joy!

Table Centerpiece

Jenna, Adria, me, and Natalie!

Natalie, Micah, Jenna

Cindy and Me

Thanksgiving in Israel

Today, I am thankful for

The rainbow I saw from our roof after a big rain yesterday
it was complete from one end to the next hanging over Jerusalem

An extremely hot shower this morning...it's been awhile (since it was hot, that is)

Great friends to celebrate Thanksgiving with in Israel

Music

Reading great books

Fireplaces (while reading all those great books)

Amazing family
Redemption

so many reasons to be thankful and a day to remember them!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

The Joys of the Traveling - We're all Sick

Upon arriving home from Jordan, we all felt a little tuckered out but ready to gear up for the last few weeks of school. However, come Tuesday we had all (or most of us) come down with what we have called the "Jordanian Epidemic". In other words, we have all been taking frequents visits to the restrooms where we let stomach relieve themselves. It is not a lovely thing having a parasidic stomach. Particularly when we cannot flush any toliet paper.....that's right....it's bad. I happen to live way up in the highest tower of the building and come morning time it is usually quite a fast run I must make down the stairs to allow the Jordanian disease to take it's course. We all seem to be doing better these days, but the disease continues to linger. We're all hoping it will be gone in time for the big Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, but we're not crossing our fingers. I must say I didn't get a terrible case of the disease, some got it much worse....they spent most of Tuesday in the bathroom.

At any rate, I hate to gross you out, but thought you would not feel as jealous of my travels here by hearing about the repercussions. Let's hope we all get better in time to go to Egypt and get sick again!!! I think we all need some of my mom's homemade chicken noodle soup!