My Life at BYU Jerusalem Thus Far...

For those who would like to know a little of what it's like living at BYU Jerusalem, here you go...

I wake up every morning at 4:55am to the Muslim "Call to Prayer." I LOVE IT. I already know I'm going to miss it when I leave here.

Muslim's pray at certain times 5x daily and they have speaker systems that sound throughout the valley.

After that I get ready for the day, read my Bible and Book of Mormon, do homework, then have breakfast. I definitely have not lived the gluten-free life here HAHAHA. Every morning I have some of their delicious nutty oatmeal, half a breakfast pita sandwich, and an orange. It's been my constant for 3 weeks so lets see if I'm tired of it by the end...Yummyyyyyy. 

Class starts at 8 and we have anywhere from 2-5 classes daily. They're usually 2 hours long each. We've had several 7 hour class days. It's a lot, but the information is INCREDIBLE! 

I'm taking 3 Near Eastern Studies classes. 1) From the perspective of a Palestinian man (learning Islamic culture and Muslim faith) 2) From the perspective of a Jewish man - learning about Judaism, and, 3) From an American man (teaching the history of the land, geography, archeology, etc.,).

I'm also taking intro to Arabic, Old Testament, and a Field Trip class.

The classes are front loaded, meaning right now it feels as if we are taking 18 credits worth of classes and they are going to end come end of February. Then we will go down to two classes, New Testament and Near Eastern Studies from the American professor. Right now I'm working really hard and know that in a few weeks I'll have a lighter load. 

Sabbath here is on Saturdays, Sunday's is our free day to explore the city, Monday's we do a field trip, and the other days we have class. 

 

A few highlight places we've been to thus far:

- Garden Tomb
- House of the Holy Seplechur (both places are believed to maybe be where Christ was buried)
- Augusta Victoria Church (Evangelican Lutheran church that commemorates the ascension of Christ into heaven. BEAUTIFUL building that overlooks all of Jerusalem
- Several Tel's (places where old cities, temples, and palaces have been)
- Jericho Jericho has been my favorite field trip day. Yesterday we went several places and...and read the
-Good Samaritan story
- Saw one of King Herod's palaces
- Saw the 'Mount of Temptation' where Christ fasted 40 days and then was tempted by Satan
- Went to the Jordan river where Christ was baptized
- Went to Elisha's spring where he purified water with salt

One lesson I learned from yesterday's visit to the Mount of Temptation was the importance for us taking time to be away from people to connect better with God. 

  

My Old Testament professor had us all unplug and take 5 minutes for meditation. He said, "Think of it, in order for Jesus to 'prepare' himself for his ministry, He needed divine strength. Sometimes we need strength in our own lives and it requires personal time (away from phones and friends) with God. This was not a one time thing for Jesus, He consistently went away from others!" 

Wildernesses are symbolic of trials and testing times, and also times of preparation. So, for us, we can each take time to have our own wildernesses so that we can be better prepared for whatever lies ahead.

Well Wishes,

Ashley Marie

Photos: 

- Tel Avdat
- My friend Kathryn and I 
- Overlooking the Mount of Temptation