I decided, because I am so close, to celebrate my Golden Birthday (turning 25 on the 25th) by visiting the city of gold: Jerusalem.  I had a wonderful time visiting the old city, followed by a time of prayer at the Kotel - the Western Wall.  Then I took a bus with the Ultra-Orthodox and rode to King David Street.  I photographed everything with my name on it.  Then I had dinner at the King David Hotel - Israel's finest and most famous hotel.  Afterward, I returned to Tel Aviv and met up with some friends to go Salsa dancing for my birthday.  It was lots of fun!

 
 

A family-friend from Sacramento, Yvonne Turner, is teaching english in Bet Jala (near Bethlehem) in the West Bank.  She arrived on Tuesday, and we planned to get together in Jerusalem after she arrived.  Well, today was the day, and we had a fabulous time.  We met at the Damascus gate, and we walked all over the Old City.  We even passed by the entrance to the Temple Mount and asked the guards if we could take a picture of the Dome of the Rock.  They said it was fine... SO... we did!  Afterward, we walked to the Western Wall, and I was able to pray briefly at the wall... Then we enjoyed a mediocre shwarma at a restaurant in the Jewish Quarter.  It was a great day, and it was so nice to have an friend from Sacramento in Israel with me.  

 
 

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
from Micah Chapter 6:8 -
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 הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם, מַה-טּוֹב; וּמָה-יְהוָה דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ, כִּי אִם-עֲשׂוֹת
מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד, וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת, עִם-אֱלֹהֶיךָ

 It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what the LORD doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
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It was such a wonderful event - but wait, there's more... Then we walked to the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem to catch the minibus to BETHLEHEM for Christmas Eve.

 
 

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!

 
 

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!

 
 

We had a fieldtrip planned to the Temple Mount in our History of Islam class, and when we got to Jerusalem, IT WAS CLOSED FOR A MUSLIM HOLIDAY - the temple mount.  So, Dr. Luz decided to take us on a tour of Jerusalem that we had never experienced before.  The Arab-Muslim tour.  We visited places that we were familiar with, but were able to see the old city through a different lense.  Did you know that there are ruins of an Umayyad Palace right below the al-Aqsa Mosque?  I've been there, and never knew about it!  It was a great day.

 
 

As most of my Californian friends know, I have a "thing" for Jerusalem.  It is pretty much one of my favorite places on earth.  Nothing can make me feel the way I do when I am there, but I don't like to get stuck there.  Thursday night, that is exactly what happened.  After the production of "The Covenant," I went out with some friends and missed the last bus.  I tried to take a taxi-bus (called a Sherut), but for some reason my ATM wasn't working, and I couldn't make it back to Tel Aviv.  SO... I resorted to finding a hostel... I walked all over the center of the city and was unsuccessful in finding a hostel... I finally gave up and went to a hotel and asked them... "Yesh Lecha Meyonot (Do you have dormitories)?"  The man said yes, and I was able to negotiate a private room for half price... 100 shekels (about $26)... The only stipulation is that I had to leave by 8 in the morning... It wasn't a very nice hotel.  Infact, I didn't want to trust the sheets, so I covered the pillow with my towel and I slept in my clothes.  
The morning came quickly, and I decided to walk to the Old City.  I went into the Arab quarter for the whole morning.  The Arab quarter is more like the Arab half.  It takes up the largest section of the old city.  It wasn't frightening.  The residents were speaking in Arabic, and for a moment in time, I felt as if I had slipped into Saudi Arabia or Iraq and left Israel.  The truth is, however, that there are many cities in Israel where Arabic is the primary language.  
I stopped for breakfast at a place called Abu Shukri... I order Shakshuka (a delicious spicy tomato stew with a fried egg in it - usually served with pitas),  and I was served something that resembled Humus, except it tasted like mushed-up egg yolk with Tahini... What I couldn't understand is that dozens of Israeli Arabs lined up with their own dishes at the Abu Shukri counter to bring some of the mystery egg Humus home for lunch.  I SIMPLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY LIKE ABOUT IT!
Afterward, I befriended a couple of the local children.  There was a girl begging at one of the city gates (pictured below), and I showed her that I was learning to write Arabic.  She then showed me that she could write the letter 'S'.  I then taught her how to write most of the other letters in English.  She was very happy, but what she really wanted was some food, so I arranged that too.
After my time in the Old City, I went to ben Yehuda Street (one of the main Jewish shopping streets in Israel).  The contrast between the Jewish shopping area and the Muslim shopping area was vast!  When I entered the Shuk (the vegetable market), I saw a crowd following a man.  I decided to go and meet him and ask questions later, so I did.  The man ended up being Eli Yishai, the head of the Shas political/religious party in Israel.  
Afterward, I met up with my friend Kathryn and we got Afuk (Cappucino) and Shoko (Hot Chocolate) and had a nice talk.  Then, I went home... 
Overall, apart from the food I ate in Jerusalem, I had an amazing time!

 
 

So, my friend Kathryn Miller is a supporting lead actor in 'The Covenant' in Jerusalem: a musical production that covers the History of the Hebrew people from Abraham until the Modern State of Israel.  I told Kathryn I would go this Thurday night.  PROBLEM... I was out late the night before and had about 5 hours of sleep, so when I got home from school, I decided to take a nap and accidently set my alarm clock for the wrong time.  I woke up naturally at 6:43pm... The Covenant started at 8pm... and the theatre in Jerusalem is about 1 1/2 hours away (door-to-door).  I almost canceled, but I don't like going back on my word, so... I bit the bullet and hired a cab to take me to the bus station, got on the first bus, then hired another cab to take me to the theatre.  IT WAS SOOO WORTH IT!!! I showed only about 20 minutes late, and had to sneak into the theatre (don't worry, I paid afterwards).  I was so impressed with the production.  Kathryn and the rest of the cast were incredible!  The music, story-line, script, costumes... everything was spectacular.  Afterward, Kathryn invited me to hang out with her and some of the crew at the Blue Hole, the oldest Pub in Jerusalem.  I ordered a pizza because I hadn't eaten since lunch... BAD IDEA!  The Blue Hole, but the pizza tasted like it was just as old as the building.  I will never eat there again!  YUCK!!!  Oh well, I had an amazing time, and I am so glad everything worked out.

(For more information about The Covenant, visit: http://www.thecovenant.com)

 
 

So this weekend was very interesting, to say the least.  On Shabbat, I went, with my roommates, to a messianic congregation in Tel Aviv for a very nice and VERY HEBREW service.  Infact, I could only understand about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the what the speaker was saying, but I got the point: he was speaking about the power of the name of Yeshua.  On Sunday (though it was still my weekend, this is the first day of the workweek in Israel), I slept in and decided to take the bus to Jerusalem.  I seem to have made a habit of this, and I absolutely love Jerusalem.  There is no place like it on earth.  I was able to visit the Shuk in the center-city and get a nice taste of the mundane and yet colorful life of everyday Jerusalem.  After that, I went to King of Kings - Jerusalem for yet another service, but this one was 80% English... I say 75% because, though the speaking is done in English, about half of the music is sung in Hebrew with the translations available on powerpoint.  I absolutely love this!  There is just something about praising God in His language of revelation that I love.  A world-renown Messianic Praise and Worship leader was there: Paul Wilbur.  I have included a little video so you can see what the service looked like.  It was powerful.  Everyone was really into praising God, and Paul was very enthusiastic about praying for Jerusalem.  He was unapologetic about speaking out against Obama.  He didn't use his name but he claimed that one of the candidates was a long-time supporter of Israel, and the other was caught on video as saying "the Israel experiment was a mistake!"  (I have included a news brief highlighting Obama's connection with Rashid Kalidi - a former PLO spokesperson to show that Paul Wilbur wasn't off in saying such things).  Paul asked us to petition for Israel in this hard time, and to pray for American leaders who stand with Israel.
Afterward, a lady-friend invited me to dinner with her family at a fantastic (and posh) italian place called "Spagettim." The 'im' is the masculine-plural suffix ending in Hebrew.  Overall, it was a brilliant weekend.