Shemesh in the Sun

Dear Someone, 

Here is an update on the Monday field trip day! We went out to the Shephelah. There are all sorts of valleys and mountains in the land of Jerusalem. Something historical happened in each one. There are such wonders to behold everywhere we go. My favorite place that we went was the valley where David slew Goliath. 

We were in such historical places all day. We went to Bet Shemesh. This is where the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Israel. It was a hot hot hot day. 

I am Goliath and Annie is David. I think I made a great Goliath. In the background is the valley where the epic battle took place! 

We went down into the valley and found five round stones to throw in our sling shots! These are my stones. They only flew about 5 feet. I would have been eaten by Goliath. 

This is the sling that we used that would have been similar to what David had. It had the little pouch for the rock and then two strings. One of the strings had a loop on the end for a finger and then you let go of the strings and let the rock fly. For me it was more like letting the rock fall. 

We are in preparation to sling those rocks! Did I mention it was really really hot. Camila's thermometer read 120 degrees. I don't think that was quite accurate but it felt pretty darn close! 

"Its so hot here!" -- as Katy would say. 

There was some wheat next to our shooting range. Perfect for a ladies picture! 

The fields were literally white and ready to harvest! 

Our last stop of the day was at the Bell caves. It was nice to go inside a cave and out of the sun. It had built in air conditioning. They mine for chalk in these caves! 

This field trip also made me nervous for the long hot summer ahead of me! I might melt or move into the chalky caves. It is so amazing how each field trip here can strengthen my faith of my Heavenly Father! He will always win the fights against the giants.

Love, 

Mary Jane 

Culture and Cuisine

Dear Someone, 

You know how I love art. It is one of my favorite things! I was so excited to go to the Israel museum. With the promise of lots of history and possibly some impressionism we planned it in our schedule for our free Sunday. For some reason we decided to wake up that morning at 4:00 am to see the Jewish holiday called Shavuot. We woke up and all of us trekked over to the Western Wall. The Jews stay at the wall all night reading from the Torah to show their devotion to God. It was interesting to see so many people there. Young and old they had stayed up all night praying and reading. I don't know if I would wake up that early again to see people read and pray but it seemed to be all part of the experience! It did throw off my sleeping patterns though. We were so tired that we came back to the center at 6 and I slept again until breakfast at 8. Then our day began all over again! We started with the Israel Museum: 

They had a replica of what Jerusalem would have looked like during the time of Herod's temple before it was destroyed in 70CE. My sleepy, huge head is blocking the temple but those are the walls around it.

This is the LOVE statue in Hebrew! 

I sure do love these people! 

Juan, Stephanie, Pam and Camila. 

I didn't take many pictures of the ancient stuff. I had to do a school assignment with all of that but I was really excited to find someone I knew! Me and a Jackson Pollock. There were a couple Monet's, Van Gogh's and Renoirs too! 

Some art is harder to understand than others. This women I understood perfectly. 

Apple core? Baltimore 

Whose your friend? 

YOU! 

After a long day at the museum we were in desperate need of a hamburger! We went to a restaurant called Zuni's in West Jerusalem that our teacher recommended to us. I have never been happier to scarf down a burger. It had bacon and gorgonzola cheese on it. Yum. It is sad how food can make me so happy. 

Pam and Juan with their delicious burgers. 

Just another day in paradise I guess. I am shocked everyday of the amazing things I get to see here. There is history and culture around every corner. Our free days are precious and I think we packed in amazing things this day. I hope I get to go back to all of those things again before I leave. I am lucky that I still get to live here for 2 months. It is already flying by. Please let time slow down so that I can have many meals in West Jerusalem and have plenty of time to people watch. 

Love, 

Mary Jane 

Deserted in the Desert with a little Dessert

Dear Someone, 

I feel the need to show you all one of the driest places of this world. You may think you live in a desert if you are from Utah, I did too at one point but comparing my backyard to the deserts I have seen here has been quite the eye opener. Welcome to the Negav desert my friends.... 

Exciting right? For my brother's peace of mind I can assure him that both the Israelites and I "stayed thirsty" as we wandered in this wilderness. I am really glad I didn't have to wander here for 40 years. Be good or you might have to too. 

This is Beersheba... I think. They all start to mix together! Well lets assume that it is and this is where Abraham and Isaac lived here. Isaac saw God here! 

This is the Wilderness of Zin. Once we got there our teachers looked at us and said okay now we are going to hike up it! It was not a joke. This picture is what I took after climbing up the whole left side of the picture. It was literally a path cut out of the mountain including ladders and stairs. I did it but I complained about it. It was worth it once I got to the top. It was an amazing view.

Me and Pam on the trek up the mountain taking a breather in as cave. It was hot. My face is as red as a Hot Tamale. 

We felt really cool when we were done. Lucky for us the buses were waiting for us at the top or I don't think I would have been smiling. 

This is where the dessert in the desert part comes in! I have never ever ever been more excited to see those beautiful golden arches before. Why they decided to build one in the Negav, I don't know. I got a milkshake and I was much happier. 

This was a completely different field trip. Can you see how I get them all mixed up. It is a lot of brown. Can you see the monastery carved into the mountain? We were wondering how they get food and water in there. 

This is me and Heather at Herod's winter palace. This was cool although there isn't much that remains Herod lived here and probably killed his wife here. It would have been quite the sight in his day! 

JERICO! This was cool. We read Joshua 6 and marched around like we were going to make the walls fall down. The rest of Jerico doesn't have this much shade. 

This is the oldest tower in the world! okay, okay, that is what it claims but I bet you can't really rebuttal that! Next time I play a getting to know you game the fact I will use about my life is going to be that I have seen the oldest tower in the world. 

The faithful Boston Red Sox fans, even in Jerico. This is Robin. She is actually from Massachusetts so she is slightly more legitimate than me but I proved that I was a true fan. 

Our last stop of this day was at a tiny little oasis. This is mentioned in the scriptures because it literally just comes up from the ground in the middle of the desert! It was amazing. It is called Elijah's Spring. 

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the deserts in Israel. The wilderness of Zin and the Negav are wonderful places. I'm really glad I don't have to live there. Such cool things happened there. I am so lucky to have been able to visit. 

Love, 

Mary Jane 

Arabian days

Dear Someone, 

This week has been great. It has been filled with homework and studying for tests. It is so sad when I have to stay in the center for a whole day just to study. I do love my classes though but when I know this is outside it is hard to be disciplined: 

I finally made it to the Dome of Rock. Wow it was amazing! I decided to match the Dome that day. They have extremely weird hours because they always closed for the call to prayer and such. You have to be completely modest to go inside the courtyard and they won't let you inside the Dome anymore. They even made me throw away my sandwich before going in but using the explanation of it not being kosher doesn't seem to fit.... 

Me and Pamella at the Dome. Such a good day! 

Me and Juan Pinto 

"Oh I come from a land, from a far away place

Where the caravan camels roam

Where it's flat and immense

And the heat is intense

It's barbaric, but hey, it's home" 

My friends in our Arab garb: Brooke, Angela, Me, Heather and Pam. 

"When the wind's from the east 

And the sun's from the wast 

And the sand in the glass is right

Come on down

Stop on by

Hop a carpet and fly

To another Arabian night"

Our delicious authentic dinner! Lots of rice and hummus. 

"Arabian nights

Like Arabian days

More often than not

Are hotter than hot

In a lot of good ways"

Such happiness in the Holy Land.

"Arabian nights

'Neath Arabian moons

A fool off his guard

Could fall and fall hard 

Out there on the dunes" 

Love you all! 

Love, 

Mary 

Gobble Gobble

My dearest Someone,

I would love to tell you about my trip to Turkey. Rewind with me for a minute back about a week. We flew right into Istanbul and hit the ground running. We traveled all around the country of Turkey and who knew all the diamonds in the rough that it would hold? Our main stops were Istanbul, Assos, Pergamum, Prienne, Ephesus, Troy, Sardis, Nicea and Bursa. 

We spent probably an average of 3-6 hours a day on the bus traveling to the different ancient cities. We definitely got to know each other much better after traveling together for a week. Thats another way of me saying that I made friends! We had a lot of fun. The following pictures are a short recap of what we were doing: 

Me and my Turkey Roommate! We had quite the experience in the Turkish hotels. One hotel was called Aqua Fantasy. Imagine the wonders that that held for us! There was another one hotel right on the beach with a spectacular view. Everyone else had great hotel rooms with their own balcony and extra beds and space to do jumping jacks. Me and Priscilla had a cupboard for a hotel room. I'm pretty sure our twin beds where touching the walls and each other. I chose not to take a photo of it to let the bitterness ebb away. Room to do jumping jacks or not we had fun together. 

(P.S. please notice Pam in the background, over my left shoulder... classic) 

We went to some of the coolest Mosques in the world! The scarf is quite the fashion statement. This was at the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul. 

The carpet points to Meccas so they know which way to pray. It had floating lights that reminded me of the Great Hall in Harry Potter. 

Me and Camila on the outside! We also went to the Basilica cisterns and the Hippodrome near by that day.

We all know a Lund girl loves to shop but I think this was the first time one of them has been introduced to the Turkish Bazaar! It was a historical moment. For Turkey and for the Lunds. It has so many cool things to explore. I made exciting purchases and wish I could have spent hours there.  

These are for you Abs. I saw this and instantly thought of you. They didn't have any straight red ones I looked but if we ever make it to Turkey together we are going big on the boots and the genie shoes. 

On the boat ride to explore and see the the Asian side of Turkey and the European side of Turkey! It was exciting. I love a good boat ride and they are few and far between in the Lund family thanks to the soft stomach of my father. It was chilly though. Can you tell? 

This is the Sultan's Palace in Istanbul. I posted this picture because this is the one building the Sultan had specifically for all of his Turbans. How cool is that? I found that to be the coolest place in all of the palace. I would love a building for all my different articles of clothing. I think my shoe building would be really big --especially if I make it back to the Grand Bazaar with Abby for boots. 

The best Baklava in country. Such a tasty treat. This is my Baklava date with David and Camila. 

Me and some pillars in Assos. Assos was one of the coolest places that we went! Paul walked here from really far away. It was so pretty and had amazing ancient ruins. 

Look the Romans are still in Ephesus!

 They were filming a gladiator movie while we sang hymns in the grand amphitheater at Ephesus. This is one of the places that we know for sure that Paul went.

Posing on the antiquities at Ephesus. I had Hercules stuck in my head all day long. 

"They slapped his face on every vase..." 

Troy! It is sad that the coolest thing to the 79 BYU students at Troy was the replica of the wooden horse. Forget the ancient ruins and historical stuff, all we wanted to do was climb in the closest thing we had to a treehouse. Easy to please I guess. I am in the top right corner! 

Dance party with a bon fire on the beach in Turkey. One thing we don't have to be taught is how to dance! It was so much fun! It was one of the highlights of the trip. 

Hagia Sophia! I was so excited to go here and it by far exceded my expectations. No picture can explain how beautiful and ornate this building is. Ah I loved it. I really displayed my nerdiness when I kept saying over and over again "This is so cool" I think the girl next to me was ready to slap me. But let me tell ya.. It is really cool.  

The Blue Mosque-- just as cool as Hagia Sophia. 

Our last sight in Turkey.

Turkey, I will miss you. Thank you for sharing all of your ancient ruins, cisterns, and churches. I never knew all the amazing things that you had to offer. I loved it here! I feel like I understand Paul and all the things he went through much better. It is amazing to literally walk in the footsteps of the apostles, and when you get to add in some culture with the mosques and baklava it is truly a trifecta! Glad to make it home safe and sound. 

Love, 

MJ

A Little Piece of my World

Dear Someone, 

So I have to admit that I totally caved and started to blog. I don't know how it will go but it is worth a try. Here are some pictures of what I have been doing for the last month!

Me at the Pools of Bethesda

We got to take a tour underneath the Jerusalem Center! 

It is a floating building! How exciting! 

Me and Pam hanging out in an ancient basilica. 

Me and My roommates! Brooke and Angela. 

Just to show that I have friends. 

Me and Pergamum. Cool pillars. 

Hagia Sophia

I love this picture! Posing on the antiquities with Pam and Camila 

Arab dinner night with the beautiful city in the background. 

I love these people. 

I will be sure to add more as the exciting events come. 

Love, 

Mary Jane