Tara-the-slacker

Hello again! Sorry I’ve been such a bum about updating lately, but for some reason it’s been difficult to find the time to do this. I’ve missed a lot of stuff on this blog, and it’d take me forever to completely update it, so I’m just going to hit the high points by listing 10 things I’ve done in the past few weeks. Mind you, I’ve traveled to Jordan and Bethlehem, and am currently in Galilee…so there’s a lot that I’ve seen and done. I’ll try not to leave anything out!

1 - First and foremost – I saw another “wonder of the world”…Petra. Rack your brains back to the last time you watched Indiana Jones and you just might recognize this place. It’s the fortress where he has to pick the right cup at the very end of the movie. Ha ha. I was amazed to see how big it is. You hike for about a mile down, not seeing anything but mountains, and then all the sudden it opens up and there it is. I loved it. There were a bunch of other ruins, but this temple was my favorite.

2 – I have now ridden a donkey! We got to take a little ride up this huge canyon in Petra, but it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. There were definitely times when I thought I was for sure going off a cliff (since my donkey would trot about 6 inches away from it) but I made it safe and sound. Mine must’ve been some sort of Olympian, however, because He literally ran up the entire thing, leaving me at the top by myself for a good 5 minutes before my friends showed up. And the best thing about it – it was $5! :)

(See these stairs? There was 900-somethin of them, and my donkey ran up the entire thing! You would've been scared too...)

3 – Funny story. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but I was told I looked like a sister missionary by a few people. I’m not sure if it was my mid-calf length skirt, my need for makeup, my carefree hair, my baggy shirt, my lack of romance, or my “constant smile” – but I’ll take it as a compliment. Ha ha. This picture was right after the first comment, so you can all be the judges. :) Do I look ready to serve a mission?

4 – I decided it was time to dye my hair, once again. Mom talked me into bringing some dye from the States, and it definitely came to good use. Paige dyed my hair, and then I decided to use my straight iron for the first time. Clearly I forgot what I was doing, because I plugged it right into the wall instead of using a converter. Minutes later my apartment was smoking, and I barley turned off the thing before it started on fire. FYI - American straight irons definitely don't work the same in Israel. Sorry Mom. ;)

5 – After Jordan we came back to Jerusalem to what’s known as “lock down”. I guess there were a few other “terrorist-related” attacks, and the city wasn’t the safest. Needless to say we came up with some crazy things to do in the JC for those 3 days we weren’t allowed to leave, but it was fun.

(One of the crazy things that went on while on lock down. Strange talents were discovered...)

6 – Bethlehem was an amazing place, and I really loved the feeling there. We went to a church built over what is believed to be the stable where Christ was born and sang a bunch of Christmas songs together. It was really powerful, and I realized how terrible the conditions were at the time of his birth. We went to a shepherd’s field after and had a big program about Christ, which was possibly my favorite thing here. Wow.

7 – I got attacked by a bug in my bed a few weeks back…bad experience. I woke up to bites all over my knees and ankles, and later that day I found the source of it all. This little critter pictured below fell on the floor when I shook out my sheets. I now look under my covers every night…I hate bugs. :(

8 – Galilee is amazing. We’re staying in a little kibbutz right on the shore of the Sea. We’ve taken a bunch of pictures playing in the water, and the sunsets are unreal. The pictures definitely don’t do it justice, but they still look pretty cool. I absolutely love it here, though. The spirit is so strong. With the humidity included, it's around 110 degrees everyday. Quite miserable, to say the least, but it's nice to cool off in the Sea of Galilee after that. :)

9 – Not so much a highlight, but I happened to break my camera (just like Ali) the day we went to the Dead Sea (once again like Ali). We went to see Batman, which I loved, that night and I turned it on to see florescent lines all over my screen. Now I’m camera-less, but I’m getting by. I have a few named-cameramen who take my pictures, so I’m dealing with it okay. Sad story, though. Ugh.

10 – We’ve officially discovered a way to make music videos in the bus. We bought a splitter, and we put headphones over the speakers on the camera, while the person in the video has another set in their ears. The time goes by so much quicker, and we’ve had a lot of good laughs since the discovery. I wish I could post videos, but you’ll all just have to see them when I get back…they’re incredible. Youtube, here I come!

Overall, time is flying by quicker than expected. We're all savoring every minute we have here in the Holy Land, hoping we won't forget too much about this experience. I'm sure I'll be ready to go home when it's all said and done, but this is definitely the coolest thing I've done. As for now, we'll just keep going on hot field trips, learning lots and lots while getting ice cream anywhere we can. ;) Bad habit, I know, but it keeps us going here.

Finals, Shminals...

I've been post-poning another blog entry long enough, so I figure it's time to sit down and bust out this baby. I don't have much to update, but I guess there's always a lot going on here in the Holy Land.


Starting off, this was our first "finals week" here in the JC, meaning stress levels were sky-rocketing. We had our finals for Judaism, Islam, and Old Testament in a 30-hour period, so we were cramming to get prepare. I survived them, but let's just say my grades here aren't going to "boost my GPA" like I'd planned. I may be spending a little too much time in the city instead of studying, but I don't think that's something I'll regret down the road.

My highlight of this week was probably going to the Garden of Gethsemane. I went with about 7 people this past Sunday afternoon, and it was the most amazingly peaceful place. We all brought our journals and scriptures and divided up separately for about an hour in the Garden. We got the guard to let us in the gate, so we were sitting among the olive trees that were believed to be there during Christ's time. Wow. I couldn't get enough of that place, and I took a million pictures. It was a beautiful day, and I brought my ipod and listening to piano music the entire time. I'm planning to go back there at least a few more times, and that visit alone made this trip entirely worth it. :)

I went and saw the Dome of the Rock for the first time this past Tuesday and I was amazed at how big it was. Absoultely gorgeous, too. They don't allow us to go inside, but being right up next to it was good enough for me. After that we got a delicious Jewish bagel and then did a bit of shopping. We got dropped off at the Center by one of the well-known olive wood shop owners, which set the stage for my first somewhat-awkard moment here. :) Nothing compared to Ali's stories, but it's a start. As I was stepping out of the car, I somehow managed to get the bottom of my skirt stuck on my sandal, pulling my my skirt down to my thighs. Whoops! I pulled it up as quickly as I could, and managed to get by with my friend Lisa being the only one who witnessed it. We were laughing uncontrollably, only to turn around and see two security guards standing about 20 feet away. They looked somewhat uncomfortable and it was obvious that they saw my "graceful moment". Wow...I felt a bit dumb. I try to avoid them now, along with another one of the security guys here who somehow knows my name and calls me "sweetheart". Kinda weird.

I also had my first encounter with bug bites when I woke up to about 40 red bumps on my foot and knee. I didn't know exactly what they were until I went back to my room, shook out my sheet, and found a nasty bug. It was dead, luckily, but the thoughts of that thing sleeping with me freaks me out. Ugh.

Another fun thing I've done lately is eat dinner at a restaurant in the middle of the Old City. A bunch of us got some taxis and made our way to some random place we found online. It turned out to be a gem, and I think we'll be going back there again. I ate my first shwarma, which was delicious. It's always nice to get away from the center "food" they feed us, so we've decided to eat out a lot more.


Not a whole lot more is going one here. Last night I gave my first official haircut, and it turned out pretty nice. I've received a few more requests since then, and the word is spreading that I'm "a haircutter" or something - ha ha. I've fooled them. :) It was quite the experience, though, so I wouldn't mind doing it a few more times. Let's just hope I don't chop off any sideburns... :) We also have a pedicure party last night with the girls, so that was a great way to unwind after finals. We leave for Jordan early tomorrow morning, and I can't wait. We'll be in Petra tomorrow, which...if any of you were wondering, is the place in the closing scenes of Indiana Jones. We'll also get to stop at the River Jordan and a few other historical sites. Time here is flying, and I can't believe I only have four weeks left here. :( We're just starting up the New Testament tomorrow, so I can't wait for that either. That's about it...not a whole lot. I'm super excited about my new neice, Grace Anderson. From the pictures I've seen she's absolutely adorable, and I can't wait to see her in September! Congratulations Dust and Linds!




This was me right before I entered Hezekiah's tunnel. It's under the Jerusalem City walls and was built as a water source. It was amazing to walk through knowing they dug it all by hand. And just so you know, this is more leg than I've showed the entire trip...the first and the last time those knees will be exposed.

The Garden of Gethsemane...is it beautiful or what?


Pretty flowers....

More of the Garden...

You can't see the detail very well in this picture, but it was amazing. Definitely a "must-see".


Self explanatory...the guards were trying to kick us out while taking this picture, though, so I was a bit scared. They come at you with their guns in hand, yelling at you in Hebrew. We got out of there quick. :)

Typical street in the Old City. Tourists everywhere along with scarves and clothes hanging from every direction. I love it.

The wonderful cafe on the roof-top. It was a high-class place, apparently, but it didn't feel like it. $4 for a can of soda is not my style...

Shwarma. It may look nasty, but it was absolutely delicious. Mmmm...I love the native food here.

Here's the bug that was found in my sheet. Can you believe that? Thankfully the bites are gone now, but this critter freaked me out.

This was today at the Dormition Abbey, where the Catholics believe to be the burial place of Mary. It was full of mosaic art, not to mention the air conditioning. Gotta love it.

Same place...awesome photo. Lisa, Paige and I. We're together all the time these days. Close enought that we're borrowing clothes. As you can tell, I'm wearing a new shirt, thanks to Paige. I'm getting really sick of the 5 t-shirts I brought. :(

Maybe beauty school is my next stop, eh? NOT. It was fun while it lasted, though. I know Tanner looks nervous, but he completely trusted me. I'm not sure why, but it looked ok.

Did I mention we came home from the Abbey today to find the hillside right next to the center on fire? We still don't know how this happened or how long it burned, but we only saw ONE firefighter there. It was hilarious.

The sign outside of the Center. Everyone calls it the Mormon University. I love it.

I survived the Sahara Desert...

Hello again. I guess it’s time for another post, so I’ll do what I can to remember this past week. Egypt was absolutely amazing…but don’t be deceived. It was SUPER HOT!!! Ha ha. The bus ride there was pretty long, and getting across the border was quite the experience. Let’s just say we have a South African girl with us on the trip, and she held us up quite a bit. She got taken into a back room and questioned, but then they finally let her through. :) Driving through the Sahara Desert was long, and I found it weird that there were random camels walking around. There were even street signs that said “Beware of camles on the road”. My friend Greg and I decided to try and play the ABC game on the way – bad idea. He got to G and I got to K, and then all the sudden the English signs were replaced with Arabic ones…end of story.
We stayed in a little community called a kibutz that first night, and enjoyed a delicious dinner and dance party. Some “kibutz dwellers” (as we called them) provided music for us and we all went crazy. We all went swimming that night and then got up early the next morning to make the rest of the trip to Egypt. That night we went to a Sound and Light Show put on in front of the pyramids. It was incredibly cheesy, and I’m afraid our laughter may have carried a little too far, but we enjoyed ourselves.
The next day we got up early and headed straight to the pyramids. All I have to say is those babies look a LOT bigger in real life! We got to go inside one of ‘em, and I think I was sweating more in there than outside! It was literally a furnace, and the entire tunnel was about 4 feet tall. It was still great, though, and I took more pictures than I’ll ever use. I have to admit I pulled “an Ali” though…meaning I may have dropped my camera off one of the huge limestone blocks I was standing on. Whoops! Not to worry, though, after a few procedures it was good as new. :) Sorry for giving you all that crap, Al. Let’s just hope I don’t ruin another 2 cameras by the end of my trip. After the pyramids we got lunch at a questionable place (I had a roll) and naturally I was somehow the last one in the bathroom…meaning the bus almost left me. Good thing I have good friends who realized I was MIA. That night we took a Faluka (sailboat) across the Nile to the West Bank. The view was gorgeous, and I could hardly wait for the evening’s festivities. We got to go on an hour camel ride, and I had the time of my life. My guide was about 16, named Ima, and was adorable. He asked if I had a husband, told me I had the number one smile in Egypt, and then kept telling me we had to be friends forever. I even hoaxed him into leaving the path to get me a banana from the big fields there…I love this place. :) Oh, I almost forgot…earlier on that day I purchased my first ever vacation hat. It was only $5 and is dynamite when I wear it, so I think I got a good deal. Ha ha. I love it.
Anyway, I won’t go into too much detail for the rest of the trip. We took a plane to Luxor a few days after the camel safari and I was so happy to shower once we got there. Bad idea. I turned on the shower and hopped in without scoping it out. It was only after I finished my shower that I looked down and realized the water was brown. I about died. Let’s just say the next two days went by with me “showering off” in the pool instead of that nasty tub. Luxor was beautiful, and we hit up a few ancient temples and museums in the two days we were there. Everywhere we went we got whistles and men commenting on our “beautiful American eyes”. So funny. We got some good bargains, though, and I was proud at how little I spent.
We took a midnight train back to Cairo, and I guess expecting the Hogwart’s Express was the wrong idea. I guess it wasn’t too bad, but I felt like I was sleeping in a dirt and bug-infested bed. Ugh. My roommate was awesome, though, so we avoided the “food” they gave us and just talked in our little cubby. Once we got back to Cairo, we saw a few more museums, and the actual mummies of some of the big-shot Pharaohs – Rameses II, Tutmosis, etc. I was loving it after just having taken Anatomy! We headed back yesterday morning at 5:00 AM, and had the longest bus-riding day ever. We got to stop and snorkel at the Red Sea, though, which was gorgeous. Besides getting loads of salt water in my snorkel and goggles, the day was great. After two hours of that, we all showered and got changed. It was only then that I realized I didn’t have my sports bra I needed to put on…whoops! I’d lost it somewhere between the beach and the bathroom, so I sent my girls to look for it, who ended up telling all the guys to look for it. No shame here, right? Ha ha. Meanwhile I’m in the bathroom trying to figure out some way to get around the dilemma, praying it would turn up. Thankfully someone found it half-way buried in the sand, so that was a blessing. :) Everyone knew the story by the time I got on the bus, so that wasn’t embarrassing at all. Ha ha.
All in all, Egypt was unreal. It was rough not really being able to eat most of the food, but I guess it paid off. I didn’t really get sick at all, minus one night when I had a really bad back/stomach ache. It went away in a few hours, though, so thank heavens I didn’t need an IV. :) I also failed to mention my amazing chicken-fighting skills in the pool. My friend Elizabeth and I took everyone on (yes…guys included) and took them all down. Everyone started calling me “the rock” after that, and we had quite the reputation. The next day, however, we had a re-match against the two biggest guys in the group. After about 7 minutes of lack of air, we went down…so we have to go at it one more time to see who the real champion is. :)
Well that’s about it. Sorry it’s so long, but it’s hard to tell everything about a packed-full week in Egypt. It was so fun, but it’s good to be back in Jerusalem. We have 3 exams this week, and a huge paper and map project due tomorrow…so busy week of school. We got to go see the Garden of Gethsemane today, though, and it made this whole trip worth it. There were about 7 of us who went, and we got the guard to let us in the fenced area. We each picked our own corner and wrote in our journals and read our scriptures for about an hour. I loved it, and am planning to go back as many times as I can. As for now, though, I’m going to finish up some homework and then hopefully relax and watch a movie. Our program is done a month from tomorrow, and all the sudden it’s going super fast! I can’t wait to come home, but I love this place. :)


This is the Wilderness of Zin, which is where the Israelites were lost for 40 years...doesn't look all that inviting, does it? This place was huge!

We couldn't resist taking this picture, but somehow I got picked to be the "ape"-looking creature we evolved from...go figure. We thought we were clever, though.

This was at the kibutz where we stayed. They had hundreds and hundreds of date trees...so beautiful. Everything is shared in these little communitites, so it's straight-up socialism. Kinda crazy, but I loved it there. Great food (edible at least). :)

My first reaction when I got out of the bus!!! I couldn't believe I was actually there...so amazing. All I have to say is those Egyptians were incredible architects. DANG.

Love it. I couldn't stop posing.

A bunch of us decided to get together for a group shot, but we had to take quite a few shots to make sure the girls in the front were fully covered with their skirts. Ha ha. Boy am I glad I wore pants that day... :)

The Sphinx makes for the greatest pictures...I'm afraid I took quite a few kissing pictures this day. Most of them were just statues ;)

The view I had from my camel. The sunset was unreal, and I felt like I was dreaming. I'd recommend an african safari to everyone.

Me, Ima, and my camel - 50 Cent. Ha ha. This was right after the ride, and as you can tell, I'm standing kinda funny. Not the most comfortable thing I've done.


Ugh. I still can't believe I showered in this filth. Probably straight out of the Nile.

A few of us girlies at the Karnak temple - the oldest temple ruin in the world. There were amazing hieroglyphics here, and was a great place for a photo shoot.




Oh yeah...ha ha. Although it may look like my skirt's see-through, it just has a million ruffles on it, and the light is shining on it, making me look immodest. Whoops.



Do I look African to you? This was during free time when about 20 of us rented a faluka for $2 an hour. The best deal of my life, and the Nile was unbelievable. We may or may not have had a "dance-party walk-off" on the roof of the boat, but no worries, we got it on film.

Of all places to get Pizza Hut...Cairo. :) It had a strange sauce on it and looked a little sketchy, but it was served with ketchup so naturally I loved it. Thank heavens we ordered this business because later that night we got on the train, where the food was basically plastic. Ugh.

The average market in Egypt. I loved shopping there...but what's new.

Just another day...

Hello again. I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post, but I don't really have much free time here to update. I've now been in Jerusalem for about 10 days, but it feels like much longer. Things have been going great here lately, and I'm learning more and more everyday. We went on a field trip a few days ago and visited the Elah Valley, which was where David and Goliath had their sling battle :) It was pretty neat, and we got to pick up a few rocks and try some slings. We also visited a few ancient cities, and learned a lot about Joshua and his people. It really is incredible to be at a particular site, open your scriptures, and then read about what happened at that exact place. I feel to blessed to be here, and I'm definitely taking advantage of every opportunity I can get. On that same field trip we visited some old caves that are centuries old, and had to crawl through tiny tunnels to get there. I'll admit it was a bit freaky, but thanks to Mom I had a headlamp to lead my way. :) Genius idea, Mom. Thanks.

Yesterday was a pretty neat day. Minus the fact that we had our first midterm here, I loved everything else. My Old Testament class is pretty rough, and everyone was quite surprised with the test, but I survived and hopefully I'll be able to pull out decent grades. After my test we all walked together to the Western (or Wailing) Wall. We got there right when the sun was going down, so the Jews were just beginning to welcome in Shabbat. We got to walk up and touch the wall, and a few of us even wrote down a prayer and stuck it in one of the cracks. It was just really neat to see all the people worshipping and praising their God. Wow. The wall separates the guys and girls, so it was kinda nice to celebrate with all the girls there. We ended up staying on our little side of the wall for almost an hour, joined in hand with the other Jewish girls and women...just dancing around in circles and singing at the top of our lungs. I'm sure it was quite a site to see, because we obviously didn't know what we were saying, let alone how to say it, but we did the best we could. It was really cool how quickly we all bonded together there, and I loved seeing the cultural differences. Definitely a must-see.

After we got back, we all did a bit of homework and then watched good old Aladdin. Movie nights here are unreal, and we discovered a load of movies and dvd's here in the library - even Saturday's Warrior!!! Can you believe it? :) I'll definitely be watching that, along with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Ha ha. Last night we also hosted our first "J-C Dance party" in the student lounge, and had quite the turnout. It was hilarious, and we all exhausted ourselves with our crazy moves. I'm sure it was the first of many more to come... :)

Other than that, not a whole lot has gone on. Today was Shabbat, so our sunday, and we fasted from 6:00 last night til 4:00 this afternoon. It literally killed me not being able to drink water here. I was so hungry and thirsty in relief society this afternoon that I started craving ketchup! Can you believe that? I know I like it on most foods, but never have I wanted it plain. Then again, any food that isn't three days old sounds really good to me. We had another mysterious meal tonight that was "steak" but ended up being some rubbery nasty stuff. Once again, thank heavens for pitas, lemonade, and occasionally rice. I've moved from the cereal to these foods, because the cereal they have here tastes exactly like pieces of cardboard. Talk about a let-down.

Well...we're officially taking off for Egypt in about 7 and 1/2 hours. I'm incredibly excited, but I know it's going to be super hot there. We've been learning a lot about the pyramids and egyptian art, so I can't wait to actually be there to see it in person. We all watched Prince of Egypt tonight to get in the mood, so I think I'm as best prepared as I can be. :) I promise to take lots of pictures, and hopefully I won't thirst to death or come home with any version of diarrhea (which apparently is hard to do). Just think though...next time I post I will have seen a beautiful light and laser show in front of the pyramids, floated down the Nile, and traveled on a camel. This next week will be great. :) Just pray that I don't get sick or attacked while I'm there!!!

Overlooking the Elah Valley. Can you believe I hang out with these people wearing their Indiana Jones hats? Kinda embarassing. Thank heavens none of us obviously care what we look like.

Me and Kate, gearing up to attempt to "play David" with our rocks and slings.

I'm pretty sure this was an actual legit throw, but my first couple times I practically hit myself with my own rock. :) It's a lot more challenging than you'd think, and I'm surprised we left that place without an accident. And I know you're all thinking how sexy I look with my chaco's, drawstring pants rolled up, t-shirt, hat, and fanny...don't get too jealous. ;) It's the norm here.

I couldn't resist when I saw this platform thing. This was in an ancient city right by an old temple. The view was beautiful...as was my toe-touch.

Call me Ariel...except for the fact that I'm fully-clothed. :)

Don't ask...I just couldn't resist getting this picture when I saw it, and naturally my friend Chris wanted to be the Mona Lisa.

Me and my good friend Greg. (We all call him "dotty" because his middle name's Doty, and when I read it I said it wrong, so the name's kinda stuck). We both showed up at the cave with headlamps though, and wanted to act somewhat cool with them on.

See what I mean by small tunnels??? Kinda creepy...not to mention dirty.

And we found this while in there!!! We think it was dead by the time we found it, but who knows. I hate spiders. Ants, however, don't phase me anymore. We have them all over our room, in the bathroom, and anywhere you sit outside. I also forgot to mention that a prank was played on me and my roommates by someone (the source is still unknown) letting a lizard loose in our room! Naturally my roommates saw it run right into my shirt, so they tried to trap it but never found it. Needless to say I've washed that shirt a few times, and am always a bit frightened to put my feet in my sheets. Hopefully it'll turn up one of these days...

A bunch of us once we made it out of the cave. It was a really fun field trip, but tiring. I'm sure Egypt will be ten times crazier, but I'm stoked. :)