Yellow Paint

Well I am back in Jerusalem and life here is AWESOME!!!  But what makes it even better is the fact that I have had so many awesome opportunities to serve others!!  This week I had the opportunity to go paint the walls of a homeless shelter for teens!!  It was a lot of work but we definitely had a lot of fun!

Ellen and I all clean before we started!

Aliesha and I... we got kinda dirty, but we had A LOT OF FUN!

Will and Holly

The finished product

Holly and Skylar looking at the view while taking a break

Jordan- Day 3 and 4

So on the third day we went to the citadel in Amman, the Jabbok River (where Jacob wrestled with the angel), and Jerash, and a car museum, and a mosque... by this point I was EXHAUSTED Petra had totally worn me out but I really enjoyed the River... I have a weird affinity to water and I have really missed it since I am in the middle of a desert so seeing some rushing water was really nice!

So first we saw the Archeology Museum at the citadel in Amman... I will apologize now I only think the skeletons are cool...

So it was customary to bury infants that had died early in jars under the house so that they would always be with the family.  This also meant that the skeletons were perfectly preserved!

This modern cast of a skull that shows signs of ancient surgery practices and that the patient had survived the first surgery and the last three operations were less successful and the patient died shortly after.

The first sarcophagus was too BIG, second sarcophagus was too small, but this one was JUST RIGHT!

I just had to take a picture of this... a little piece of Pennsylvania... yes I know the citadel was also called Philadelphia

Everyone at the Jabbok River

Andrew and Kayla... love them!

Jabbok River

Me in my natural habitat

Lunch... one of the best I had in Jordan

Sweet art

Theater at Jerash

Hippodrome at Jerash

Kate and I were matching today!

So we went to the car museum... seriously a huge waste of time I think we only go because Professor Jackson loves cars and he didn't even come to Jordan with us..

Anyways I decided to make the trip worthwhile and find my favorite car or bike... turns out I'm an old school motorcycle chick!  

I only post this picture for David Farr... I thought he would enjoy this!!

So we were told we weren't allowed in the mosque but Cal somehow got us in!

The mosque also had a museum and this was part of the tree that Muhammad apparently sat under and had a vision... you can tell I was super tired by this point and I don't remember a lot

This was a grandpa and his grandson that went through the museum with us... so adorable

So later that night a group of us went to find wifi in Amman to find out how our families were doing in Super Storm Sandy... we found wifi in a cute little tea shop

The tea shop was decorated with chalkboards so I decided we needed to leave our mark

The artist with her work :p

DAY 4

So on my last day in Jordan we went to the theater in Amman and the Jordan River and had a sweet lunch!

This cross marked the center of the stage where the acoustics were the best... it has a 2-inch diameter... I can't believe my guide found it

We made it to the top!

Left to Right: Annie, McKenzie, Me, Liesel

They were taking a picture from the front but the backside was just as picture perfect... no pun intended

I HAD KFC FOR LUNCH!!!  Complete with spicy chicken tenders, fries, and pepsi with ice!

I was surprised how stagnant the water in the Jordan River was... it also had a TON OF FLIES

This was one of like ten pictures I took where there weren't any flies on my face or I wasn't waving a fly away...

Jordan- Day 2- aka PETRA

So Day 2 was THE BEST DAY!!  We spent the day wandering around Petra... I spent most of the day rock climbing around Petra.  And... drumroll please... I RODE A CAMEL!!! Who gets to ride a camel?!  So freaking awesome!!
So I guess I should give a little history lesson before you see Petra...  Petra was built by the Naboteans by carving out buildings from the sides of the mountains.  Pretty ingenious I think!  Anyways that's about all you need to know so here it is!

This is at about 6am before we left the hotel I went up on the roof and took a sweet picture of the Petra Moon Hotel and the moon!

The Naboteans were really good at channeling water... this was a waterway carved out of the side of the cliff face!

This is the sikh or the narrow passageway leading into Petra... it reminded me a lot of the Narrows in Zion National Park.

 These are the camels I rode, their names are Lulu and Zuzu

I RODE LULU... I'm a natural camel rider!

Andrew and I in Petra

Sun coming through the mountains in Petra

So this is the Loo with a View... the bathrooms are literally inside a cave made of SUPER red stone... yes I did go to the bathroom in there and it was pretty sweet!

I decided to hike up to the Monastery with a bunch of people... 837 steps... it was quite the hike!

Monastery at the top... totally worth it!

Everyone that climbed up to the top!

So Will was taking a picture where he would do a handstand and clipped his eye on a rock... I FINALLY got to use my lifeguarding skills and I patched him up alright!  Dad you would have been so proud of me!  I promise a gorier picture later :p

This is the Tomb of the Kings... I spent a lot of time rock climbing here...  Cal, Jackson, and I climbed all the way to the top of the mountain above the tombs and saw some pretty awesome views!

I'm a climber I can't help it!

This was a SUPER rickety wood bridge we found and of course I had to go out and take a picture on it!

I'm most proud of this picture it pretty much describes what I did in Petra

View from the tippy top of the Tomb of the Kings... and my keens... thanks for sending them Mom I would have died without them... literally

The Treasury from the top of the Tomb of the Kings

The theater from the top of the Tomb of the Kings