Chrismukah Cookies 12/25/2008
My mom sent several gifts with me to be opened on Christmas. I was able to open them with them over Skype. I decided to go ahead and bake them tonight. I charred most of them, but it was fun anyway - and I ate too many - but that was fun too!
Because I was able to go to Bethlehem last night and didn't go to bed until 4am with class at 8:30, I was totally content after school to spend the afternoon recovering! I was awakened by a phone call around 6pm my time. It was my immediate family wanting to video chat me while they had breakfast, opened Christmas gifts and read the Nativity story. It was so nice. I really felt as if I was there with them. It was almost as good as being with them. Then we did it all over again. I was "with them" while they ate dinner at Uncle Tim and Aunt Michelle's and we played games (including RockBand) over Skype, and then Alexa entertained us with some of her impersonations. I finally got tired and turned it off at 6am my time. It was so much fun.
Joyce and I left from the Jaffa Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem and took a minibus to Rachel's Pass - the border crossing for Bethlehem. We befriended a really nice guy named Saed there who is a Palestinian Christian. We walked about 2 miles to the Manger Square - and all along the way, the town of Bethlehem had Christmas lights - EVERYWHERE. It was so festive. At the Manger Square, there were thousands of people (mostly Muslims and Christians) visiting for the holiday. There were musicians from all over the world performing on the stage, and food vendor outside of the gift shops selling hot Corn-on-the-Cob, Falafels and Shwarmas. Joyce and I walked around for a couple of hours, and then we thought we would try to get into the Church of the Nativity. It seemed impossible as tickets are rare and need to be arranged days in advance - and so I prayed. God answered with a yes. We met a man name Paul from Australia who was training to be a Roman Catholic priest. He asked a couple beside us if they could use two extra tickets to the church... they suprisingly said no, and so I piped up... "Joyce and I would love the tickets - How much?" "Nothing, I'm giving them away!" He said, and handed us the tickets. We were able to enter the church for the Midnight mass and we were there for a good portion of the festivities. We left at around 1:30 and went into the Orthodox section of the Church later - then caught a cab back to Tel Aviv. It was an unforgettable experience!
My friend Joyce and I went to a wonderful Christmas concert at the Jerusalem International YMCA. It was so well done. We were so thankful to hear about it. The man giving the message was the Executive Director of the YMCA and he shared the ties between the prophesies of Isaiah and Michah and the birth of Jesus. He also shared a verse I wasn't expecting... What does God expect of us, he asked? And he read one of my favorite passage
My friend Joyce (from the Netherlands) and I went to Jerusalem to meet up with some other friends in Bethlehem for Christmas Eve. Joyce and I wanted to go to the Christmas Caroling Concert at the International YMCA Jerusalem. Right across the street is the world-famous King David Hotel - the most luxurious hotel in Israel. We wanted to check it out. When we entered the lobby, we saw in the back there was a giant Chanukiyah (Chanukah Menorah) and below it was a table with dozens of small Chanukiyot, some lit and some waiting to be lit. Well... Joyce and I thought we should help light one, so I put on one of the Kippas (Yarmulkas) sang the blessing as quietly as I could (I am not that good and I didn't want anyone correcting me). It was really special. And four is one of my favorite numbers. I got to light the fourth night Chanukiyah in the KING DAVID HOTEL! So Cool!
Polish Christmas Event 12/25/2008
Some of the exchange students at Tel Aviv University are from Poland (a very Catholic country). They were excited to share their holiday of Christmas with the primarily Jewish student body at the University and threw a Caroling & Taste-testing Seminar for us. Many of their traditions are shared with Americans, but many are not. They talked about a special ceremony where they wake up at around 4:30 or 5:00 and bundle up then light Christmas lanterns and everyone carries their own Christmas lanterns as they walk to the church in the dark for a Christmas sunrise service, after which they feast for 2 days. It was alot of fun to learn about their Christmas traditions.
Chanukah Time with Nolas Family 12/25/2008
A good family friend, Nola Moss, who has served as the tour guide for many of our family's trips to Israel, invited me to spend the first night of Chanukah with her family. It was my first Chanukah experience in Israel. It was filled with Zeviv'nim (Dreidels), Candle-light, laughter, music - and of course - lots of fried food. Chanukah is the celebration of the victory of the Jews over the Greek invaders when they were trying to desecrate the Holy Temple. They only had enough oil for 1 night, but a miracle happened... the oil lasted 8 nights! Well - we celebrate by eating oily things. Yum! Latka's, Sufganiot, Fried Apples... You name it! It was there!
Semester at Sea Spring 2005. I'm so thankful for God's hand of protection on me! Israeli Praise Music 2008 Concert 12/19/2008
About 1300 Israelis gathered (half at 6:00pm and half at 8:45pm) for an all-Hebrew Praise experience on Thursday night at the Pavilion Jerusalem. 18 songs that were written in 2008 were introduced to Israel and were recorded live for the new CD coming out in the spring. It was so exciting to see everyone praising God with such enthusiasm - and all of it was in Hebrew. I haven't learned alot of the Biblical words necessary to understand all of the songs, but I had a great time! Afterward, I was invited to a birthday party and I didn't get back to Tel Aviv until 4am! Yikes. I'm paying the consequences for it now - I'm SICK!!! Yuck!     Egg Nog & Israel! 12/19/2008
I've come to the conclusion that you can make just about anything here... for a price! For instance - I wanted to make cookies - but the powdered sugar is really expensive and it comes in little tiny bags. But - Egg Nog isn't so bad. I couldn't remember how to make it, so I had to call my dad. He was kind enough to explain it to me (like he does every year). It really is easy enough: Eggs - Milk - Sugar - Ice Cream - and Nutmeg! And it was a big hit among the friends that tried it.
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