A "typical" day in Jerusalem

Here’s the thing. There really isn’t any typical day in Jerusalem. Back in Provo it was like “Monday’s I have this and this class, Wednesday I always have that class, etc”. But in Jerusalem every single day differs. At first it drove me bonkers, I’m used to scheduling everything out, but I’ve grown to love it. Every day here is new and exciting.

So here you go, a “typical day” in the BYU Jerusalem Center.

I started the day at 8am in Old Testament with Brother Harper. This is basically our last week we’ll have him as a teacher—It makes me sad and I’d rather not talk about it….so new subject. After OT we went to the forum and had our Israel class for two hours. We were taught about the current issues going on between Palestinians and the Israelis. 

Usually after class is over I have this internal debate….should I study or go into the city? I don’t know why I even go through this debate every day ‘cause I always pick city. So my buds and I walked up the hill to the Old City and I got my first out-of-the-center falafel at Damascus gate. SO good.  I also got some Pomegranate juice. It tasted gross. But I got to see them juice it so it’s fine. Worth it.

  Remember how I always complain about picking between homework and the old city? Yeah…I found a perfect solution...combine the two! We brought our homework with us, walked up to the roof of the Austrian Hospice and studied for our field trip test as we were plopped so finely on the roof in the middle of the Old City. Two birds with one stone? Smart.

 On the way back from the Old city/ studying--I’ve got to through that one in there cause I’m so proud of it--I ran into some friends who were on their way to play soccer with the locals. Obviously I joined them. Some of my happiest moments involve soccer. It reminded me a lot of the trip I took to Uganda with my soccer team when I was in high school. Playing on a dirt soccer field.

After soccer I went to Arabic where I laughed my head off for an hour as I listened
 to our Arabic teacher, Ayman, teach us how to say the days of the week in Arabic.
Then I went out on the balcony and read 10 chapters of Old Testament as I watched the
sun set over Jerusalem.

Now I’m off to dinner, and after that I’ll enjoy a talent show in the auditorium
of the center whilst having a great view of the city at night.

Typical.