on top of the world

how do you define a summer?

YDAS (or...you define a summer)

by ian baenziger, class president of BYUJC summer 2012

you define a summer by all the hilarious things rachel miner and becca j would do at 11:30 at night to avoid starting their papers.

YDAS by rachel mackay falling in love in a hopeless place to the man john shackelford, willing to do push-ups in any place.

YDAS by stehly being cooler than the other side of the pillow and megan thomas being sweeter than baklava.

YDAS by the fact that jerica is everybody's favorite person. 

YDAS by blake being the most entertaining person to sit next to on a bus, and by the fact that ryan could probably balance that bus on his chin. 

YDAS when you recognize you will never be as smart as hannah r, as funny as david c, or as good looking as david burbidge. 

YDAS by the life-changing decisions you make, like cutting the steady paycheck in hopes of winning the jackpot, playing it cool when a boy decides to move to your town just to be close to you, and by deciding to dramatically rearrange your life to answer the call of a mission. and to those whom i hope they know i refer, i hope they feel that they are at this moment "doing the things that god requires of their hands and precisely where their father in heaven wants them to be."

YDAS by every girl wanting amy brown's curls, priscilla hobb's smile, and lane thomas' fiancee.

YDAS by the things you never would have expected, from jamie eternally balancing on the kibbutz raft in galilee to brianne throwing grown men around in the self-defense class, 

from chantel's dress at arab culture night to geoff's bow tie and vest at the informal talent show, 

from rachael ely's effort to stay up past midnight every night in the galilee

to mckenzie's amazing job on the t-shirts, which has lead you to hope that she'd give you a discount on your wedding announcement (and if any girls are interested in trying to get a double discount, come see me afterwards).

YDAS by the time that sweet old nate jellen popped out at you from shadows as the most terrifying zombie you've ever seen. 

YDAS by alvin's hot yellow pants! because no ordinary leggings are adequate to robe this gentle greek god.

YDAS with rachel edwards being a one woman dance party and our friend l'angel being a one woman barber shop. 

YDAS by andy knowing everything about ANE, susan knowing everything about israel and palestine, and luke knowing everything about anything obscure found on the internet. 

YDAS a summer by looking at maddy and realizing you have never ben so sincerely happy for a girl to have met the boy of her dreams. 

YDAS by aj leading a dance party on a turkish beach, robert whipping out "call me maybe" during the formal talent show, and having your jaw hit the floor as becca haws goes crazy on the dance floor on the 4th of july. 

YDAS by how deveree and analise always make you feel happier, how paige and anna marie always make you feel better about yourself, and how tacy and melissa always make you feel important.

YDAS by the times you appreciated the deep inner strength of both the natalies, strength that is a lot more apparent to us than they might realize. 

YDAS by the first time you checked out catsofjeru.blogspot.com and thought, "stephanie and ann marie, thank you for giving voice to the oppressed and marginalized."

YDAS by the goofy look dwight gets he's happy, by the insatiable hunger ashley gets when she's curious, and the bigger than the moon grin sarah barlow gets when she's glad. 

YDAS by being inspired over and over watching pam overcome her fear of small spaces. it's really a juan-derful thing. 

YDAS by heather's quite selflessness, karen's undeniable kindness, and shelly's queen-like grace.

YDAS by acknowledging that if sass were oil, then avery and camila would be the two richest countries in the world. 

YDAS by how good inside you feel when you make sarah pittenger burst out laughing.

YDAS by the fact that if you can't get along with stephanie cabamongan or sarah mader, you probably can't get along with anyone. 

YDAS by the fact that sean really does kind of grow on you after a while...rumor has it he's grown on camila quite a bit.

YDAS by sitting outside beneath a beautiful jerusalem sunset, but not noticing it because you're still trying to figure out how nate mcmaster invented tobit's perpetual prison curse off the top of his head. 

YDAS by the hundreds of songs jay and whitney dedicate to each other. 

YDAS by being blown away by john leehmius singing "o come o come emmanuel" at the formal talent show, alicia's "his hands" in galilee, and emily chamber's "savior redeemer of my soul" in sacrament meeting. 

YDAS by meeting an enigma like michael peterson. enigmatic in the sense that a man so charming and good looking is rarely so charitable, selfless, and down to earth. 

YDAS by the faces that rachelle makes. 

YDAS by watching and incredibly nervous and careful laura walton give her first full haircut and having it turn out as good as any president could hope for. 

YDAS by meeting the adventurous soul alyssa bybee, who loves ethiopian food and leaves for china in a few weeks. 

YDAS by the 22 line love poem that sarah jane wrote you, or those two times in galilee where you almost accidentally kissed dana...or maybe that's how i'll define my summer...

YDAS by the fact that you'll probably be tagged in at least one of chloe's 11,000 pictures. 

YDAS by being moved by lauren barden's deep passion for life and everything good about it. 

YDAS by he fact that you can hear robin's laugh across the oasis, tour bus, and probably the old city. 

YDAS by the night where melinda, hailey, and megan watts became the most profitable jc students in history, fiddling their way to enough money in an hour to buy a nativity set. 

YDAS by watching rachel messick in lipstick and a black dress gracefully glide away from the podium, the very podium where she declared that "blood alone will turn the wheels of history!" 

you will define this summer largely by it's loud laughs, spiritual experiences, and fond memories. but each laugh made louder, each experience felt deeper, and each memory made unforgettable was made that way by 78 others. and this one person is you. to the 78 "yous" who made these three months perhaps the best of my life, i say thank you. 

last week in pictures

well, i'm home. i feel weird. when i am dancing around my kitchen eating whatever i want whenever i want or driving my ancient car again, i feel happy. when i remember that three days ago, i was walking through the garden of gethsemane with good friends, i feel really sad. i already feel like the summer was a dream. i've been home two days. soon it will be a week and then a month and then a year. i am praying and hoping that i always feel as close to the experience as i do now. i feel like i need a few more posts to conclude the jerusalem summer, so look out for them this week, but for now, here are some pics from my last week in jeru. it was everything i could have asked for in a last week. it included many sunsets, city outings, pictures, a game or two of quidditch for harry potter's birthday, and reflecting on the summer. on our last day, we had a field trip where we walked to all of christ's last stops of his life and instead of listening to brother harper the whole time (which is usually how field trips go), he had us share the things we have learned and how we are going to carry them over into "regular life." it was a good way to end the semester. right before we left for the airport, we watched the sunset for the last time and recited the living christ and sang together and said our goodbyes. i feel great about how things ended. i went to jerusalem, learned more than i hoped i could, had the experience i wanted, and because of that, i am content coming home. so mostly there are just happy feelings and a very tender place in my heart for jerusalem.

galilee

i can't really think of words that would describe how great galilee was. i feel like it was every reason i wanted to do this study abroad. we studied christ's ministry where his ministry took place. i love galilee so much! 

this is an overlook of the sea of galilee (which is actually a lake) and we stayed in a kibbutz right on the shore. it was so beautiful. it kind of reminded me of bear lake. we took field trips to sites, had classes in a conference room, and had some free time to swim. some of the sites we went to were the mount of beatitudes, nazareth, capernum, the mount of transfiguration, and a lot of other places where christ taught. you cannot beat hanging out with friends, reading scriptures, in nazareth. 

taking a boat ride on the sea of galilee. professor harper on the right...he may be the best university teacher i've ever had. 

professor ludlow and family. i am going to miss them SO much. 

this is a 1st century boat that was found buried on the shore a few years ago!

desperate times, desperate measures. did you know you can sweat from your knees? there and a lot of other places i didn't know about till this summer. 

going to church at the branch in tiberias. the view is breathtaking! 

nightly hammock hang outs occurred. as well as, ahem...middle of the night swims. don't tell kent jackson or he'll have me on the next flight home. oh wait, i'm already scheduled on the next flight home! 4 days left. there are many mixed emotions here in jerusalem. 

the dark knight RISES!

so many galilee pictures to post. i'm not even going to try tonight. but believe me, i have a lot to say about it. 

so the night we got back from galilee, we watched batman begins and the dark knight, and the next day, we went to see the dark knight rises. you guys. i love the batman movies. and christopher nolan. seriously. i was jaw dropped the entire movie. 

aaaanyway....i have less than two weeks left in jerusalem! i've been thinking a lot about what i've learned this summer, so you're not done hearing from me yet. 

out at sea

in galilee

picture dump

here are some random pictures of stuff we've been up to!

these first ones actually aren't too recent, but i just found them. they are from when we went to jericho a while ago!

this is shaban. i probably go to his shop 9 out of 10 times i go into the city, just to say hi. he always feeds us juice and  invited us over for hummus a couple weeks ago. my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. 

another shop owner here invited us over for falafels. his name is jimmy and he sells the most beautiful hand-carved olive wood nativity sets. you would not believe where he is right now. in rexburg. speaking at a fireside about islam and mormonism. are you kidding? he has probably spent more time in rexburg than i have! he goes every year to teach seminars. he was telling me all about how him and president clark are buddies and i couldn't believe i was having this conversation with an olive wood carver from jerusalem. this world is so strange and small. 

walking on the herodian high street in the old city where christ would have walked. there are not many preserved spots here that we are positive he would have been, but this is one of them. 

taking a field trip underneath the western wall in the kotel tunnels. so fun! 

...and after, we got to spend a few minutes at the western wall. which never happens since we are usually not allowed to go there at night. this is melissa, and i love her! she is so cute and i'm so happy she's at byu-i too!

just dancing at the talent show. we're missing josh, natalie, and brooke in this picture.

so i'm leaving for galilee tomorrow for two weeks and i am so excited! or at least i think i would be if i wasn't pulling an all-nighter right now. it's going to be a blast. i probably won't have internet, so don't look for blog posts, mom! i just finished two big papers that are due tomorrow before we leave and now I have to write another small paper. it's 1 AM and i'm just waiting for that second burst of energy to kick in...any minute now...

on another note, guess who stayed in the jerusalem center this week? elder holland. yeah, i was dying when they told us he was coming. it was the first time in 40 years that he came as a tourist instead of on business. he came with his wife and kids and it was so exciting. i had never met an apostle before! notice that i said had. meaning that i now have. the encounter went like this: 

i was walking down the hall when him and his wife happened to be coming home from the old city. so i went up to say hi and shake his hand. after that, he grabbed my hair and said (and i quote), "where did this hair come from? i love it!" and then i died. because if an apostle compliments your hair, that means it's concrete doctrine. 

he left after church on saturday, but he definitely spoke and it was an amazing sacrament meeting. he was supposed to give some closing remarks at the end of the meeting, and he got up at five minutes till the end, but he spoke all the way though sunday school....and i was so happy he did! i looked at my watch when he finished and thought it had been maybe 15 minutes, but it had been 45. he spoke mainly to the students and the things he said were so cool. it gave me a better appreciation of him, this incredible place, and this experience that very few people get to have. hie is so powerful when he speaks. there is no way to not believe what he says. i love everything about him. it wasn't great just because an apostle was speaking; it was really cool because he loves israel so much and i loved hearing his testimony of it. 

tel aviv, round two

a few weeks ago, most of us took another trip to tel aviv! i really like tel aviv. there's a good energy there. i was going to hang out at the beach all day, but a few of us rented bikes last time and had so much fun that i decided to do it again. 

this time we biked more in the city and found a fun park that had a little zoo in it. we biked along a river until we got lost and barely made it back to the rental shop in time....

we spent the rest of the day at the beach! karen, amy, geoff, nathan, alvin and i swam out to some rocks in the ocean and talked for a while. it was so great. i've made some awesome friends here. then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing beach volleyball and getting burnt baaad (except me...my mom would be proud of how much sunscreen i wear here!)

the day ended with falafels and gelato. that's a good meal right there. i'm going to soak up my last month here because when i get home, i have to start thinking about serious life stuff!

the hashemite kingdom of jordan

we spent last week in jordan and it was a blast! to be honest, the only expectation i had about jordan is that it would be a lot like israel. it's definitely not! my expectations were exceeded, a lot. here are a few pictures from our week. 

we spent one day in the ancient city of petra! yes, the one of indiana jones fame. it was great, i kind of felt back at home. it's like southern utah, but with massive ancient buildings carved in the rock. in the middle of the desert. how cool is that? it was so beautiful.

this was so funny. one day, we went to an ancient roman city called jerash, and we were standing in this roman theater when all of a sudden, this arab man came out of nowhere with a bagpipe and started playing scottish folk songs. we were filming him and two other bagpipe players and a drummer came out and we all started dancing around the theater together. if you know me, you know i love the bagpipes so much, so i was laughing so hard the entire time, i was so happy! and then they just left, it was so random. 

we went to the royal automobile museum in amman, it was super cool, but one of the administrators admitted we were going just because he likes cars and it has no historical value haha. i'm not a car person, but even i can appreciate a room full of beautiful, expensive cars. 

that night, a few of us wandered around amman, trying to find a bar to watch the eurocup semifinals. blake served his mission in portugal, so for the past few weeks, whenever they played, blake would run around the center with his portugal jersey and flag and try to get people to watch with him. so we got permission to stay out past curfew to watch the game and the only place we could find that had room to watch was a hookah cafe haha. it was definitely the best night of the trip. we don't spend very many nights out in israel because the places we can go are very limited, so it was fun to go out. we sat next to a bunch of americans while watching the game and found out they are all byu students! after the game, we all smelled so badly of hookah.

geoff and i took pictures of blake during the shootout. he was so nervous. 

on our last day, we went to the jordan river, near a site where christ might have been baptized. a group of spaniards came to get baptized, that was cool to watch. we sat under the shade as a class and read about john the baptist. it was a highlight of the trip. 

after that, we went back to home sweet home! going to jordan was so good. i have a new teacher now that we are studying the new testament for the last block of the summer, and the more i learn, the more i realize i don't know, secularly and spiritually. it has been a huge humbling experience. i don't know anything. beginning to comprehend the scope of the scriptures and things like politics in the middle east can be overwhelming. i've never realized so much how little my knowledge is.