Sabbath

So this is going to cover yesterday (Friday) and today (Sunday).

Friday:
We had the first day of real school. I went to Old Testament and Ancient Near East Studies. Lots of reading to do so it looks like I'm going to be very busy. After those classes, we had lunch and met with our committees. I am on the "in-Jerusalem activities committee" which basically covers little field trips for us to do on free days while we are in Jerusalem. After this, a bunch of us decided to head into the city and do some exploring/get out money converted to shekels. I changed some of my cash for a trip a few of us have planned for the beach in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Probably 75% of the people at the center went with us to the money changers and we were going to go to the "Via Delarosa" and the Western "Wailing" Wall. Because it was taking so long for us to all get done, people left in small groups. I decided to go with these three girls that were going to go alone because they didn't have a guy with them (I was under the impression that girls had to have a guy with them at all times but in actuality it is only during the night but it was good that I went with them). We didn't know how busy it would be but I guess Friday during Ramadan is like the busiest time to be in the city. We left for the Damascus gate, not knowing that it was going to be packed. There were so many people trying to get in and out it was like a rock concert or something. The girls wanted to try and get through and that's why it was good I was with them. A lot of the guys were like "hey baby" and stuff but luckily none of them got groped or anything (which I heard happened to some of the girls trying to get through the gate). We started trying to get through and it was so packed we had to turn around mid way, take a rest in a shop, and push back out. It took like a half hour. We then called the center to ask for an alternate route. We walked around the perimeter of the city and ended up at the wailing wall. It was very interesting seeing the mix of ultra-orthodox Jews and just normal ones there. I didn't go up to the wall because we will be going there another day but I got some good pictures. We met other people there, many who didn't even try going through the gate. On the way back there was me, two other guys, and nine girls (three of which were from my original group). We headed through back through the city. The streets were pretty crowded and I decided to kind of be the sweeper and stay at the rear. Pretty much by the time we arrived at the other side of the same Damascus gate (the crowds being only a little bit smaller) it was just me and seven girls that I was getting all paranoid about. We all pushed through the gate and made it luckily. We walked back to the center and were back about a half hour before dinner ended. That night we had some get to know you activities and brownies.

Saturday:
It was kind of nice that today was fast Sabbath because there was no breakfast and therefore no reason to wake up. I slept a good 10.5 hours. We had church in the big auditorium that has huge windows overlooking the city. I was one of the few who wasn't in ward choir (they sing the prelude) so I passed the Sacrament. After sacrament we had Gospel doctrine and Priesthood just like any normal branch. The branch isn't a student ward (there are people that work at the embassy and stuff) so we probably won't be getting a bunch of callings. The main callings are already filled. After that I hung out at my apartment and now I'm doing this. Dinner is starting soon so I'm going to wrap it up. I am looking forward to going to the beach tomorrow a bunch of us are going I think and it should be a blast.