My Maiden Voyage/Poop for Brains

Demascus Gate

Today was the first day of Modern Near Eastern Studies-Judaism, Modern Near Eastern Studies-Islam, and Hebrew. I have felt pretty stupid before, but man was I lost! Here is how much I know about the tribes of Israel... 10 are lost. The end. And Islam? I've got nothing. All those hours watching the news have done me no good. The classes are interesting and it is fun having an Israeli and a Palistinian as teachers, but I guess they figure we all know a little bit about each of their histories. Once again, I don't plan on being the star student, I just plan on surviving. Hebrew class was a lot of fun and my teacher is great. She taught us a song and we are starting to learn the alpha bet. Guess what the first to letteres are. Alph, and bet. No joke!

After classes were over, I got together with a couple other girls and we went into the old city to do some shopping. Everywhere we went, everyone was saying "Hey Mormons!" Don't worry, they love us... as long as we don't get in their way while they are trying to drive. There are several shop owners who LOVE the BYU kids, and give us killer deals. There is one shop where everyone goes to get their monet exchanged, and he only charges a 1% fee. It was my first time being able to wander a round the old city and it was a blast! I bought snacks and some other things I needed and then just checked out all of the other stuff to scope out what I want to buy when I leave. Any of the shops that do a lot of business with the Mormons always give us a cheaper price. I was looking at some leather sandals and asked the guy how much they were. He said 50 sheckles (about 16 dollars). He then asked if I was Mormon and then said "For Mormons, 45 sheckles." Another shop owner searches for us in the market and walks us all around to the different shops, as well as his. It was so much fun. I stopped in one shop, and I don't know where this kid came from, but he talked like a Palistinian surf bum! He had a perfect American accent, and he kept telling us about his "rad purses" and the "radical prices" he was going to give us. I was trying hard not to laugh, but I couldn't help it. Then his dad came over and they started with the Mormon talk. They said they could tell I was Mormon because of my smile...Oh Please!

After a couple of hours of looking around, we went back to the center so we could make it in time for dinner and before sundown. We aren't allowed in the Eastern side of the city past dark.

After dinner, I was able to go to an amazing concert here in the Jerusalem Center, They put on a free concert every Sunday. Today was a quartet with a flute, chello, viola, and violin. The musicians were unbelievably good! I asked the senior couples who run this place if there is some way I could just move in here permanently.

Other than feeling completely lost in classes today, it was another wonderful day in the Holy Land.