i heart istanbul

i seriously heart istanbul! it's so great here, today was especially fun. maybe because i hung out with two uber funny boys. so in the morning, the entire group went to hagia sophia together, sooo pretty and so much history to it. then a few of us went to the archaeological museum...there was supposed to be a children's museum where there was a life size trojan horse that's...CLIMABLE! BUT...the children's museum's been closed for a year for renovation...BLAH. i was so disappointed. afterwards, enoch, tyler, and i wandered around the area...so much fun with the boys, bahahaha.

yesterday, we went to the topkapi palace...that was a lot of fun too, it's where the sultan used to live. it was HUGE. wah wah wah. then we went to a cafe overlooking the bosphorous. amazing.

the day before, we had a boat ride on the bosphorous. my goodness, so beautiful, so many houses by the water, i picked out so many as "my house" hahaha.

this has been an amazing few days, i absolutely love it. thank you Jesus for this opportunity. i can't wait for the upcoming adventures in the following days! :D

WHEE

I'M IN TURKEY!!!

more to come later...but for now...

I LIKE TURKEY!!! WHEE!!! SO FUN! :D

Two Months

wow wow wow! I've been here TWO months now! and there's exactly a month before i leave! i cannot believe it, thinking about it is so bittersweet...i'm really excited for the new and last semester, but i also really don't wanna leave these people. these people are so great and freaking hilarious. i haven't updated in so long and there's been so many exciting events! two weekends ago, a bunch of us went to a Palestinian wedding, haha it was a lot of fun. the guys and girls were separated...but both were just partying it up! bahahaha, it was just crazy loud music while everyone's dancing. the girls were crammed in a small room and the guys were outdoors...but it was still fun~ the next day, we went to Galilee/Golan Heights/Capernaum/Nazareth! doesn't that just sound exciting? all these bibilical places! we were on a boat on the sea of Galilee (i tried walking, but apparently not enough faith...), visited Peter's house, ate at an amazing shawerma shop in Nazareth...that was a great day. God is so good!

this past week/weekend has been fun too, but i really can't remember what we did, we've been doing so much stuff...man, i really can't remember...hahaha, oh well. yesterday, we had a halloween party, i dressed up as Tyler, bahahahaha, so fun! i don't have pictures, but i'm sure people will be posting it on facebook soon...

anyways, we're going to turkey this friday!!! we'll be there for two weeks, and then back to Israel, and two weeks...then we leave.....i'm pretty darn excited for turkey! yay!

Mafia

on thursday morning, after arabic, we got on the bus to go to Petra, we got there around evening...we checked into our hostel and hung out on the roof. i went with a few people to explore the city at night, not very exciting...hahaha, but when we got back, we played mafia on the roof, and that was fun. the next morning, all of us left for "THE PETRA" at 8am! we spent the entire day there, hiking, exploring, admiring God's creation, and bonding with people. i got to ride a camel and a donkey! that was definitely my highlight! it was super fun. afterwards, 8 of us went to dinner, i had this local dish, it was so much like nasi lamak...hahaha. then the next morning at 6:45am, all of us left to come back to Tantur...we all crashed on the bus, it was so quiet...anyways, t'was a good weekend, i had a lot of fun and i'm thankful for God's provisions and blessings. now onto the week of quizzes and paper...

CAMEL! FUN!

another week

on sunday, we went to Al-Quds University in east Jerusalem, there was a girl who was obsessed with Korean stuff, came up to me and asked me if i was korean, and kept talking to me, her english was limited, so our conversation couldn't go very far...hahaha but then she had to go to class, so she asked for my number, haha, I MADE A FRIEND! :P other than that, this past week has not been super exciting...in two days, we're going to petra! where indiana jones and transformers 2 was filmed! wahahaha, BUT there's more hiking...i do not like. i'm gonna die there...hahaha apparently to get to the top it takes 8hrs. there is no way i'm going to do that. i'm just gonna stay at the bottom and admire it's beauty. hahaha. anyways, got arabic midterm and islam quiz coming up...gotta study! gotta write papers! gotta work hard!

oh, i almost forgot, it's confirmed that we're not going to egypt...but they haven't said what we'll be doing for those 2 weeks yet...hm, pray for us! pray for the safety! pray for the world!

One Month Anniversary

please forgive my lack of updates, i have been busy writing papers...hahaha, turned 'em in yesterday, so finally have a breather. but as i wrote last post, we've just had writing days, so nothing exciting happened...on sunday, we started arabic again, we're doing arabic and islam now, which i like moreee! arabic is getting harder because she's going through a lot of stuff, but i really like the writing, it looks so nice...anyways, i've officially been here a month and i have exactly one month left before turkey and egypt...and then the trip is over...it's really sad thinking about it! i mean i miss home, but i can't imagine not being with these people all the time! anyways, today was service projects, i feel like it was the best one yet...haha praise Jesus! anyways, time to study for arabic!

K4 and K5

Writing Days

our schedule for today was titled "writing day" and it is so for the next two days because we have two papers due sunday. wo de ma ya! so i'm here writing...on my blog. hahaha. i can't remember what happened these past few days though except that yesterday we went to the dome of the rock! inside it! we're gonna start Islam class soon, i'm excited! finally in my hood! bahahaha, no more political stuff! well i'm sure still A LOT of political stuff, but at least if from a religious view, i'll be more familiar with it! oh! how could i forget about this! on Monday we went to visit Elias Chacour, if you don't know who he is, you should, because he is pretty darn cool! he's the author of Blood Brothers which was a good book! he's such a wise old man, i liked hearing him talk. he's one of those people where i'd just sit there and listen and write down all these wise quotes from. i'm really glad we got this opportunity. God is good. all right, ending with a picture of my amazing photography skills.

Dome of the Rock

Class Class Class

i've been failing on the updates because i've just had classes the past few days, and though they're interesting, i don't have anything to write about. i'm really out of it in classes though, because i'm not interested in political stuff...but it's still interesting to listen to, i just don't process it, which isn't good...hahaha. anyways, today was a lock-in cause of this so we weren't allowed to leave the school at all...and tomorrow too, which is kinda good cause we have our first paper due Sunday morning, so all of us are being very studious and doing our work...

I HAVE A PRAISE! I CAN GRADUATE IN TIME FOR SURE FOR SURE!!! oh man, i was missing the prerequisite to the class that's my major's graduating requirement, and i kept trying to get in touch with the professor, but he hasn't replied a single email since may, so i was getting nervous, because then it means i won't be able to graduate just cause of ONE class...then today, karen helped me to go find him at his office, and he replied my email!!! AHHH! PTL!!! but now, i've gotta write two 6-8pg papers and one 12-15pg paper by oct 15...on top of all the papers i have to write for classes here...oh this'll be an exciting month...@.@

picture time!

tyler - me - enoch - paul
the 3 boys that graciously cooks and eats with me :D

Masada/Dead Sea/Ein Gedi

this past weekend was some serious adventures. i've never hiked as much as i did this weekend, but i saw some amazing things! we went to Masada, hiked 5miles up it, and walked all around Herod's winter palace, which is just ruins now, but still cool! the hike up was not my thing...hahaha, but Tida was SO nice, so we passed this cyclist, he biked from UK to Israel!!! but he was dying from the hike, obviously, if i was gonna jump off and end my misery, he had it so much worse cause he had to carry his bike...but Tida was SO nice to help him carry his bike, even though she was also having a really difficult time hiking too...and then when we got pretty close, a guy ran down, picked up the bike with one hand and ran up, it was cool. Tida was such a good samartian. then we went to the dead sea, i did not float in it...the salt from the mediterranean sea was already salty enough for me last time, i didn't want the dead sea saltiness...then we went to a pretty nice hostel and stayed there for the night.

the next day we went to Ein Gedi, which is a national park and supposedly where King Saul took a dump. HAHA. but i didn't go to the cave, i chilled at the "freshwater" pools and waterfall. but on the way down, i slipped and hit my tailbone, hahaha, it's all right though, i managed to make it down with the help of enoch and tyler, my two entertaining helpers. so praise Jesus, it's actually a lot better now, so yay! then we came back to Tantur.

today, we had class of course, but that's not important. what's important is, me and 4 other students were just at Dr. Holt and Suzanne's (our director and wife) apartment for Indian dinner. oh praise Jesus for eating some curry! hahaha, and we chatted with them for quite a while, it was fun, I like getting to know the adults, and hearing what they have to say. but something intriguing happened. when i said i wanted to become a pastor, they both had a OMG. PTL! look, hahaha, and they asked me when i had that calling and their eyes became like O_O. but PTL indeed, not because of who i am, but because of what You've done; not because of what i've done, but because of who You are!

Tida - Me - Lynn - Cyclist - Guy who helped - Emily

روسيا

I ACTUALLY TYPED THE TITLE. hahaha, it took me a while though, but it says russia! it has nothing to do with anything, but just that i can type it...whee~ so wednesday we had another 3 hours of arabic, the teacher is too anal. hahaha, i try so hard to make my letters perfect, because i don't like it when she writes in my notebook...it messes up my structure! or she should use pencil...but it was fun, i freak out when she asks me though, but i understand her when she's speaking to others...hahaha, then we skyped with Jim Wright, he's pretty cool, he gave us 9 ways to live abroad, but i think it should just be 9 ways of living. i'm not gonna elaborate, but here's the list: 1. live with conviction 2. live with complexity 3. live contextually 4. live contemplatively 5. live coherently 6. live with courage 7. live with compassion 8. live appropriately critically 9. live with Christ today, we went to another museum of a Zionist leader...i sat on HIS couches. hahaha, it was cool, but my headphone translator broke half way through, so i missed a lot...sad...but it was still cool, they made him really cool, and the museum was ally nice. then i had lunch with paul and enoch at king schnitzel, which was yummy~ tomorrow we're going to masada! whee! hiking...boo...oh well, should be really fun! i'm excited!

Bridge International School

today was service projects! kari, colin, mollie, and i went to bridge international today, we didn't really do anything because it's the first day and they wanted us to be familiarized with different things first...but it was still fun, the kids are sooo cute! but i could never teach kindergarten, hahaha, i'm still better with older kids...the teacher was actually very fierce, i think i would be like her when i teach...except i think she's a little too cruel with the throwing away of snacks, i would just take away their snacks but give it back to them after class...ANYWAYS. that was it, i actually did reading today, hip hip hooray! but now i needa shower and crash...tomorrow's another three hours of arabic! yoush!

here's a picture of one of my bites, like how big it is? it's like a dinosaur bit me...

انا من أمريكا

[title says: i'm from america. ana min amryka]

we had THREE hours of arabic today! it didn't seem that long though, and it's actually pretty fun, i just like learning languages. but i'm really slow, like what the teacher says has to go through my ears, through a translator, turns into english, think of how to respond in english, translate it to arabic, form it correctly, then come out of my mouth...hahaha. i don't really like the teacher though...she's one of those teachers that i'm like =________= 不要理你好了...i mean, she obviously knows her stuff, and she's really trying to nail stuff in our heads in this short amount of time, but i just don't like her...hahaha. anyways, that was pretty much it today cause it was our only class today...SO much reading to do still! oh em gee. kill me now. on another note, please pray for our safety, as the news have been saying, there are some chaotic stuff going on between egypt and israel, so please pray for us. well, that's it for now! tomorrow is service project at bridge international school! yippe! i'm excited!

p.s. i've got 11 mosquito bites from one day...AND i didn't even leave tantur today! what the poop! there was a mosquito in my room last night...sucked so much blood from me!!!

First Week

been slacking on the updates...but i'm sure my MANY readers are disappointed. hahaha.

tuesday: service projects...walked FOREVER to the soup kitchen...man, soup kitchen was tiring! i'm glad i didn't get that one...hahaha, i'll be sitting in a classroom next week instead! but mine takes outside planning...rawr.

wednesday/thursday classes, holy crap so much readings...

friday: went to Tel Aviv early in the morning. Enoch, Tyler, Paul, and I sat on the train together...Tyler was ADD for the first half of the trip, but it was really funny...and then Paul was stuck with this Hebrew man that kept wanting to ask about America...then the 4 of us and Audrey went to the beach, which was fun, but it was SOOO salty, my eyes were burning. so i didn't stay in long, we then ate at an overpriced restaurant, chilled for a bit...tyler, paul, and audrey went back to the beach while enoch and i tried to find bikes to ride around the beach, we found it, but we couldn't work the hebrew machine...hahaha...so we walked back to the beach, and the boys buried me sand and made me into a shark, which then caused sand to be in unwanted places, so i had to jump back into the water, getting my eyes burned again...BUT it was really fun. i'm a lot darker now, and i have weird tan lines, but that's okay! cause the boys were fun to hang out with! my fav boys on the trip! tyler is freaking hilarious, paul is SO random, and enoch is just enoch. hahaha. so it was a pretty fun day, i enjoy hanging out, so it's all good.

saturday: study day! everyone was studious, i finally finished my essay/almost done with application for fulbright...read a little bit, but not enough, so will keep reading after shower!

picture! at train station going to tel aviv!

Last Day of Orientation

today was really fun!!! we went on a Jewish tour, so we went to the temple Herod built, where David's palace would've overlooked, and then we went into Hezekiah tunnel! it was super fun!!! the water was super cold, the walls were super close, the ceiling was super low, BUT it was super fun!!! we sang songs throughout so it'd echo through the tunnel, wahahaha, we're so cool. i don't have any pictures though because i didn't bring my camera into the tunnel. but i really enjoyed that, then afterwards, lunch at damascus gate, and then back to tantur. we got our service project assignments and i got the international school ESL/teacher's aid/music one! i'm excited! we're supposed to start tomorrow, but school's not open for them yet, so we'll be helping out at the soup kitchen, which will be fun too i'm sure. then just now we had a mini-service and bon-fire. bon-fire hang out was loads of fun. people were funny and chill. AND they made me speak singlish. wah lao. hahaha. anyways, i just finished skyping with mommy so it is time to crash.

O Little Town Of...

Bethlehem! that's where we were today, we did a photo scavenger hunt, and it was pretty fun. my teammates got into a little 不爽 moment though, but they were just hungry and tired, cause after lunch, everything was okay again. that was pretty much the day. just now, we split into groups and ate with the staff, i was with lynn, she's a past mesper and is this year's intern. she's pretty awesome. she took us to a "waffle bar" and so we literally ate dessert stuff for dinner, oh man, so sweet. i died. and then we walked around a little bit. i liked the part of town we were in, it's a lot nicer than the old city...the old city is WAY too crowded for my liking. anyways, it was fun! the group for dinner was good. then when we got back, i went to play piano for a little bit. this morning, at breakfast, 嚇我一跳 when Dr. Holt, our director, came up to me and was like "i heard you playing piano last night, it was very beautiful" i was thinking "wah lao. you heard too..." but i said "oh thank you~" then he said, "are you gonna do that for us?" "if you would like me to" "yeah, if the staff wants someone to play so we can sing a song, we'll ask you to play" "haha, k" man, i was like O_O 不會吧...hahaha i mean, i'm more than willing to play, but i ain't got no skillz! it's rather embarrassing to play when there's pros in the group, but hey, if God wants to use me, i wanna be used by Him. but honestly, that was a confidence booster (not that i need it right? hahaha), so PTL! because without Him, i wouldn't be where i am today. i end with this:

Day Four

我的腿阿!!! We toured Jerusalem again today, but with a tour guide, a funny tour guide too! It was really cool though! We went to David's tomb, Upper Room, supposedly where Jesus was whipped and condemned, and supposedly where Jesus' tomb was. But seriously, my legs are sore and my feet is in pain, but totally worth it. I just foot pains though, but there's nothing to "cure" that so whatevers. So that was pretty much it today, haha, nothing much going on except touring. Tomorrow we're touring Bethlehem! I'm really liking the people on this thing, it's weird thinking I won't see them after this semester. There are some really cool people. I'm also really excited to start service projects. We get to go out into the community and volunteer! I signed up for teaching at an International School, ahhh! i hope i get that one, i think that one will be super fun! actually, i don't care which one i get, i liked all the ones i signed up for. so after signing up for service projects today, i decided to go play piano, just to clear my head...and i love just playing whatever i feel like! it's so so so relaxing!!! and when i ended, i had an audience, i didn't even realize, cause my back was towards the door, hahaha. but ptL! i wasn't doing it to show off, i was really just trying to relax and clear my head, but apparently others enjoyed my messing around. but i'll definitely be back to mess around, i looove playing! anyways, i'll end with a picture of the group.

day 3

oh deary, my legs are so sore!!! we've walked all over Jerusalem these two days and so my legs are absolutely dead. if i wear jeans, they get too hot, if i wear a skirt, i have to wear sandals which will hurt my feet after a whole day of walking, what do i do!!! hahaha... anyways, it's been really good. i like seeing all these places, it's really cool! but honestly (which is the weirdest thing coming from me) i'm pretty ready to start classes, hahaha, i feel like i've been on break too long and i just wanna do class work now. oh oh, we went to a Jewish Sabbath service today, such a cool experience!!! i'm emailing the WAs about it cause it's such a different worship experience. i love God, He is so good. 3 days and really enjoying it. we'll see what God wants to show me this semester. but for now, all i want to do is sleep! haha, i realize my post don't really tell what i'm doing, but that's really cause, it's hard to write about what i'm doing, and i'm always so tired by the time i get home...oh random note, got our israeli cell phones today, so that's pretty cool. i called t-mobile to unlock my phone so that i can use my phone rather than this phone they gave us...hahaha

Arrival

we have all arrived at tantor ecumenical institute! haha, we didn't do anything yet, this whole week is orientation, so a lotta touring around places, knowing rules, etc...i unpakced everything already, and i have my own room! i'm the last room in the hall, so it's only got one bed, and it's mine! hahaha, i like, cause there's more space :P the flightS over here were all right...thank God, my flights were early and my luggage followed me! actually, thank God everyone's luggage followed them!!! i slept through every flight, i hate airplane food, so i'd wake up and eat two bites then fall asleep immediately. hahaha, although the flight from frankfurt to tel aviv was nice, the food was lamb curry! so far, everything reminds me of malaysia...the air seems cleaner than malaysia though, other than that, i feel like i'm just in unfamiliar malaysia...hahaha. okay, i've gotta bed, cause tomorrow's breakfast is at 7:30am. wah lao.

The Adventure Begins!

the adventure beings in phoenix, arizona! hahaha, this is my first stop for this semester. chilling at 二姨媽's house now, got a haircut this afternoon and leaving early tomorrow morning!!! omgoodness! okay, well this is my start to this blog for MESP Fall '11. pray for me! :D