Well today was an eventful day... and I have the sore shoulders to prove it. : ) I received the following vaccinations: Polio, Tetanus, Typhoid, and combination shot for Hepatitis A and B. It was mildly painful, however, I decided that the alternative to getting my vaccinations would be much less desirable than being stuck with a needle 4 times... (5 if you count the follow-up Hepatitis shot I have to get in June). Normally I am terrified of needles, but today I was really proud of myself for handling it as well as I did. The lady at the Health Center, Carol, was very nice. She gave me a juice box and told me I was very brave. :D hehe. Go Me! I suppose little Chelsey is growing up. (Despite the juicebox)... ; ).
On another note... I also now have a strange sensation that I have been imbued with a superpower that lets me be mildly invincible to diseases... or something. I kind of like it. : )
Friday, May 23, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Some Quick Updates
Well, this week has been an eventful one. So far I have moved back to Bountiful from living with Kristen. We had a huge blast together, it was great. So now I am living with Mom and Roger again and it feels like I'm on the home stretch to waiting for Jerusalem to come. Not to mention I turned in my final packet on Friday to the Office... so I should be all set and rearin' to go. :D It felt so good to hand in that packet. The other event that made me feel like it is finally coming closer is that I bought my camera today! It was a wonderful feeling, and I'm so happy to have it. It's beautiful and pretty and shiny and new and I love it! It has all kinds of sweet gizmos and gadgets and settings and ... basically I love it. You get the idea. I plan on taking SO many pictures while I'm there. So those are the most recent updates. Thanks so so so much to everyone who is making it possible for me to go to Jerusalem. I appreciate all of you so much and love you with all my heart. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for the amazing opportunity that I have been given. So Thank You. From the bottom of my heart.
On a completely unrelated to Jerusalem note--It is 2:09 a.m. and now officially Mother's day. So Happy Mother's Day all you Mom's out there!!! Also... if I could only express my excitement at getting to talk to Elder Killen in just a few short hours, I would... but alas, it is beyond words and the only way I can describe it is as an effervescent flow of bubbly electricity surging through my body making me want to bounce up and down, do a cartwheel, bite my nails in anticipation and giggle hysterically all at once. (in all probability it is the very reason I am up at this late hour... similar to waiting for Santa Claus at the age of 6). Anyways, I love you all! :D
On a completely unrelated to Jerusalem note--It is 2:09 a.m. and now officially Mother's day. So Happy Mother's Day all you Mom's out there!!! Also... if I could only express my excitement at getting to talk to Elder Killen in just a few short hours, I would... but alas, it is beyond words and the only way I can describe it is as an effervescent flow of bubbly electricity surging through my body making me want to bounce up and down, do a cartwheel, bite my nails in anticipation and giggle hysterically all at once. (in all probability it is the very reason I am up at this late hour... similar to waiting for Santa Claus at the age of 6). Anyways, I love you all! :D
Monday, April 21, 2008
Music
By the way you guys, on the music thing I added, after the first like... 5 songs... (which are intended to be Jerusalem Themed) I tried to add songs that remind me of people in my family--so a fun game would be to try to guess which song belongs to who. ; ) Hehe. I love you all!!!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Dr. Galbraith Fireside
Tonight was spectacular! I went with Kristen to a fireside held by her ward to see Dr. Galbrath-- a truly incredible man who was one of the main guys in charge of getting the Jerusalem center built. He spoke for about an hour and 45 minutes, and I was completely riveted the entire time. It was truly an enthralling experience. He had all kinds of pictures and incredible stories about how they were able to acquire land, and the opposition they faced in trying to overcome all kinds of political and religious hurdles. He also talked about how on April 3rd 1836, Moses appeared to Joseph Smith in the temple and restored the keys of the gathering of Israel, and how interesting it is that that is so uniquely connected to the Zionist movement that developed. He discussed the 2nd Coming and of the temple that will one day stand in Jerusalem. It increased greatly my appreciation for the wonderful opportunity I have to go to the Jerusalem Center. He showed amazing pictures, I can't wait to see the organ and the beautiful design of the building. Don't worry, I plan on taking hundreds of pictures while I am there. Basically, I'm just ridiculously exhilarated to be able to go. I'm so glad I was able to go up afterwards and shake Dr. Galbraith's hand, and express my gratitude for all that he did to make the Center a reality--even though I thoroughly embarrassed myself by nearly starting to cry. What can I say? I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude. I know that the center is not just a place of learning, but it can foster positive relationships with everyone who can shares in some kind of experience there--forging a connection--whether it is a study abroad, or attending a concert on a Sunday night. 65 Days, friends... 65 days. :D
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hotels
I decided to include some pictures of the Hotels we will be staying at:
Kibbutz Eilot (Israel):
http://www.eilot-tourism.co.il/en/vr.html
Oasis Pyramids Hotel (Cairo, Egypt):
http://www.oasis.com.eg/index.asp
Mercure/Etap Hotel (Luxor, Egypt):
http://www.africansafariclub.com/egypt/mercureluxor.php
Petra Palace Hotel (Wadi Musa, Jordan):
(No official web site)
Ambassador Hotel (Amman, Jordan):
Could Not Find Pictures
Ein Gev (Galilee, Israel):
http://www.kibbutz.co.il/kibbutzhotels/eingev.htm
....that was way harder to post than it should have been, haha.
Kibbutz Eilot (Israel):
http://www.eilot-tourism.co.il/en/vr.html
Oasis Pyramids Hotel (Cairo, Egypt):
http://www.oasis.com.eg/index.asp
Mercure/Etap Hotel (Luxor, Egypt):
http://www.africansafariclub.com/egypt/mercureluxor.php
Petra Palace Hotel (Wadi Musa, Jordan):
(No official web site)
Ambassador Hotel (Amman, Jordan):
Could Not Find Pictures
Ein Gev (Galilee, Israel):
http://www.kibbutz.co.il/kibbutzhotels/eingev.htm
....that was way harder to post than it should have been, haha.
Important Pre-departure Info and... ITINERARY!!!!
Ahhhh!!!! So today, I received another wonderful little packet in the mail, bearing the beautiful Jerusalem Center Logo. Excitedly, I opened it to reveal "Important Pre-Departure Information" and ... an Itinerary! Hooray!!!!!! I was so excited. So I started going through the itinerary to see where I would be on important days this summer.
On Monday, June 23rd, I have an orientation in Provo and we get our classroom assignments, and we shall each receive our long-coveted Jerusalem Center Backpacks (at least, I know I coveted it... is that bad?). I'm pretty sure I'll be in Brother Draper's classroom, because I looked at my summer schedule for BYU and I have him as my teacher for a few classes. Then, on the 24th, (I'll either be on a 7:50 a.m. or 10:55 a.m. flight) we head off to Chicago. We all meet up in Chicago and fly overnight to Vienna, arriving there at approximately 9:10 a.m. on June 25th. From there we fly to Tel Aviv, arriving at approximately 3:05. How exciting!!! We have an orientation that night and then tour the Jerusalem Center. The next day (June 26th) we will go on a Jerusalem Orientation Field Trip. Friday, the 27th, we are going to go on a Geography Field Trip and walk to the Western Wall. Sunday services are held there on Saturday, most likely because of the Jewish Shabbat which starts Friday at sundown. How Awesome.
The classes we will be taking while I'm over there are:
101 Old Testament
111 New Testament
136 Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Modern Near East 1: Judaism (taught by a Jewish man, Ophir Yarden, who resides in Israel)
Modern Near East 2: Islam (taught by an Islamic man, Dr. Adnan Musallam, who resides in Israel)
Oh man. I'm excited. :D
On July 6th (Not too long after we get to the Center) we leave to go to EGYPT for 6 days! We will be driving from Jerusalem to Cairo, and then a few days later flying from Cairo to Luxor (yes, like the hotel in Las Vegas, except for the REAL THING!) Dad--I thought you'd be interested to know that we will be eating at the Hard Rock Cafe on July 11th when we're back in Cairo, haha. So Egypt from July 6th-12th.
Then we get to spend a good 8 days (taking classes and having tests) in Jerusalem before leaving (on my birthday!!!) to go to JORDAN! We will spend July 20th-23rd in Jordan before spending 5 more days in Jerusalem and then departing to GALILEE!! Galilee is by far the longest field trip... spanning from July 29th-August 7th. It will be amazing.
I think it's fascinating that out of the 50 days I will be gone on this trip I will only be spending a grand total of 28 full days in Jerusalem, and the rest will be spent traveling or in Egypt, Jordan or Galilee. *squeal* I'm so excited!!! I'm not even going to have time to think while I'm there!
And many of those days are packed with half-day field trips to see parts of Jerusalem itself.
It seems that Brother Draper, whose group I will be in, is an early bird. It looks like our group will be leaving earlier than Brother Ostler's group on several occasions. I'm cool with that. : )
This is going to be a fantastic trip. I cannot wait!
On Monday, June 23rd, I have an orientation in Provo and we get our classroom assignments, and we shall each receive our long-coveted Jerusalem Center Backpacks (at least, I know I coveted it... is that bad?). I'm pretty sure I'll be in Brother Draper's classroom, because I looked at my summer schedule for BYU and I have him as my teacher for a few classes. Then, on the 24th, (I'll either be on a 7:50 a.m. or 10:55 a.m. flight) we head off to Chicago. We all meet up in Chicago and fly overnight to Vienna, arriving there at approximately 9:10 a.m. on June 25th. From there we fly to Tel Aviv, arriving at approximately 3:05. How exciting!!! We have an orientation that night and then tour the Jerusalem Center. The next day (June 26th) we will go on a Jerusalem Orientation Field Trip. Friday, the 27th, we are going to go on a Geography Field Trip and walk to the Western Wall. Sunday services are held there on Saturday, most likely because of the Jewish Shabbat which starts Friday at sundown. How Awesome.
The classes we will be taking while I'm over there are:
101 Old Testament
111 New Testament
136 Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Modern Near East 1: Judaism (taught by a Jewish man, Ophir Yarden, who resides in Israel)
Modern Near East 2: Islam (taught by an Islamic man, Dr. Adnan Musallam, who resides in Israel)
Oh man. I'm excited. :D
On July 6th (Not too long after we get to the Center) we leave to go to EGYPT for 6 days! We will be driving from Jerusalem to Cairo, and then a few days later flying from Cairo to Luxor (yes, like the hotel in Las Vegas, except for the REAL THING!) Dad--I thought you'd be interested to know that we will be eating at the Hard Rock Cafe on July 11th when we're back in Cairo, haha. So Egypt from July 6th-12th.
Then we get to spend a good 8 days (taking classes and having tests) in Jerusalem before leaving (on my birthday!!!) to go to JORDAN! We will spend July 20th-23rd in Jordan before spending 5 more days in Jerusalem and then departing to GALILEE!! Galilee is by far the longest field trip... spanning from July 29th-August 7th. It will be amazing.
I think it's fascinating that out of the 50 days I will be gone on this trip I will only be spending a grand total of 28 full days in Jerusalem, and the rest will be spent traveling or in Egypt, Jordan or Galilee. *squeal* I'm so excited!!! I'm not even going to have time to think while I'm there!
And many of those days are packed with half-day field trips to see parts of Jerusalem itself.
It seems that Brother Draper, whose group I will be in, is an early bird. It looks like our group will be leaving earlier than Brother Ostler's group on several occasions. I'm cool with that. : )
This is going to be a fantastic trip. I cannot wait!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Interview Day!
Well, I had my interview today for Jerusalem. I must say, even though I was pretty sure it was going to be mostly a formality, I did get somewhat nervous. It was pretty exciting though. I walked through the halls of the Harmon Building (where my interview took place) and looked at all the beautiful pictures of the Jerusalem Center. I cannot wait to go there! It is going to be amazing. I was asked a few questions about the packet I filled out--about some things in my medical history and she tried to figure out what kind of calling I should have while I'm at the center. I got to ask her some questions, including how long we would be in Egypt (A week or 6 days!!!) and how long we'd be in Jordan (about 5 days!!) And some other things. I was a little surprised she didn't quiz me on what kinds of things were in the packet... I was all prepared to give her the two reasons for the dress code change: 1) that it is culturally unacceptable to dress there the way we do here, and we don't want to be offending anyone and 2) that we don't want to draw attention to ourselves or make ourselves a target for any terrorist activities or anything.
(See? I would have been amazing ; ) ) haha.
Well, the point is... my interview went well. I feel much more comfortable about going now. I think before my interview I kind of had this mentality like they were looking very hard to sift out anyone who was not righteous enough, or who didn't understand all the new rules well enough, but now I feel like they are just trying to make it the best experience they can for everybody : ).
On another exciting note, my assignment for my Judaism and the Gospel class this week was to read articles from the Jewish newspaper about Israel and whatnot. I thought this was so exciting, and figuring that many of you will be at least mildy interested in what is going on in Jerusalem while I am there would like access to this link as well, so I will provide it on here for you. : ). Again, thanks for reading! I'll write again as the time to go to Jerusalem gets closer. (Hooray!!!) :D
Link to the Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com
(See? I would have been amazing ; ) ) haha.
Well, the point is... my interview went well. I feel much more comfortable about going now. I think before my interview I kind of had this mentality like they were looking very hard to sift out anyone who was not righteous enough, or who didn't understand all the new rules well enough, but now I feel like they are just trying to make it the best experience they can for everybody : ).
On another exciting note, my assignment for my Judaism and the Gospel class this week was to read articles from the Jewish newspaper about Israel and whatnot. I thought this was so exciting, and figuring that many of you will be at least mildy interested in what is going on in Jerusalem while I am there would like access to this link as well, so I will provide it on here for you. : ). Again, thanks for reading! I'll write again as the time to go to Jerusalem gets closer. (Hooray!!!) :D
Link to the Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com
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