Sunday, April 27, 2008

Off to Israel in 2 Days!!

As you probably know if you're reading this, I'm going with BYU to the BYU Jerusalem Center this spring. I'll be gone from April 29 to June 20th, and we're going to do all sorts of exciting things, included but not limited to: visit Egypt (see the pyramids, sphinx, and ride camels), visit Jordan, see Bethlehem, visit the Sea of Galilee. We will be swimming in both the Dead and the Red Seas, as well as the Mediterranean and perhaps the Sea of Galilee. We will spend the bulk of our time in Jerusalem, however, in the BYU center.

Some interesting pre-departure notes:

-Instead of having our Sabbath on Sundays, we will be having them on Saturdays because that's when the Jewish Shabbat is. I am not sure why but we will also never have lunch on the Sabbath. Probably some custom I am unaware of.
-On the packing list I was told to bring a large scarf because "some sites we will visit will require women to cover their heads/hair."
-We fly from Salt Lake to Chicago to Vienna to Tel Aviv. As far as I understand the itinerary, we have an eleven hour layover in Vienna. Presumably to see the city, I suppose.
-We have several classes at the center. We take Old Testament for the first half of our trip and then the New Testament for the second half, making frequent field trips to learn "on location." Sort of like art classes at the Louvre - "This IS Mona Lisa," only "This IS the Hill of Calvary." We also have 2 professors who live in Israel who will be teaching us about Judaism and Islam. They are Jewish and Muslim, respectively, and so these classes are both about religion and also culture.

I think it will be great fun!