Hezikiah's Tunnel and Passover Seder Dinner!

J.J and I after the Passover, cleaning up...and making use of the decorations! hehe.

We got to drink really tasty Grape Juice during the Seder...and our table won for drinking the most GRAPE JUICE.

My Place Setting

One of the Floral Arrangements I did!

I thought that this fit me pretty well-- ISRAEL and TEXAS in one! =)

Us in our WET PANTS!




Stephanie, Shelby, Me, and Matt

Playing in the "pools" after we went through the tunnels! everyone splashed each other and got soaked! I loved every bit of it!

Matt and I At the end of the Tunnel....yes we are standing in water! It was LEGIT!

The start of the journey!

Hezikiah's Tunnel!! Time to get wet and LOVE IT!

Before we went through the Tunnel, we watched a 3D Video to learn about the history. so we got to wear the sweet glasses! thats hot! haha.

So on Wed, we went on a field trip to Hezikiah's Tunnel and the onyl way to sum it up was..it was LEGIT! I loved it so much! you hike through this tunnel that is pitch back dark unless you have flashlights. and the whole time you hike through water!! at some points the water came up the top of my thighs! I loved every minute in it! and then tonight we had our own Passover Seder Dinner. Our Jewish teacher, Ophir Yarden directed it. It was so fun! And it reminded me of when my mother had a Passover Seder Dinner for my whole family in March. Wow, my Mom is right on target and is so amazing. She knows so much and and i am amazed everday when we are learning something new, but its not new to me because I have the best mom ever and she has taught me ever since I was little. She truly is an Angel. So i am thankful for all she has taught me because it has magnified my time here by 1000! Tonight was awesome and so good! We had a 5 course meal! I was in charge of the Floral arrangments and put them together, which of course I loved! Anyways it was a blast! Love and Miss yall back home....

xoxoxox

Hayley

Bare Foot Through the OLD CITY!

We did it! My friends Jen, Ali and Kelsey!

Our feet at the start of the journey..

Our nasty, dirty feet by the end of our dare!

So theres this shop keep named Joseph Smith who sells Widows Mites. ( about $15 ) Or you can get it for free by doing 70 push ups for girls or 100 for guys. Well 10 years ago my siter was dared by him for a free widow mite, to walk through the old city barefoot...now if you never have been to Jerusalem then you don't understand that the streets of the Old city are NASTY, just dirty. well my siter got her free Widow's mite by doing that, and I thought I would keep the traditon. So Jospeh Smith dared me to, and so some fo my friends and I did it. It was nasty-but so fun! and such a memory. People would look at us as if we were crazy! and say, " Where are your shoes? Where are your sandals? You are CRAZY!" it was priceless!

PS: Eva, I know you hate feet more than anything and I know that this post did not help your phobia! =)Love you girl!

An awesome week!

Sunset-the Tower is where Jappa is!

Surfer

Andrea, Me, Steven, Shelby

These bracelets were given to us in West Jeru, they mean good luck and God bless.

One of the kids I met and became frends with in Westr Jeru

This is one of my Sunbeams for church that I teach-She had the coolest/cutest hair for Valentines day! So of course I had to take a picture!-Adorable!








My Sunday School class

Joseph Smith-a shop keeper! 10 years ago, Elyse my sister took a picture just like this with Joseph Smith and the glass was shattered, and cut his muscle-he has scars from it! So of course I had to take a picture for Elyse! This is the exact case that she broke, but he said he replaced it with stronger glass! hah.He was so shocked and excited when I walked into his shop and told him who I was!

This is the book that you sign at Alladin's shop-he is the money changer that EVERYONE from BYU loves and knows. Here is my sisters name that she signed 10 years ago!! Of course I would never expect anything less then her taking up 5 lines more then eveeryone else so that she stood out! haha...gotta love it!

At a Bakery in West Jeru after going to the movies!

We went to the movies one night!

This past week has been so great! On Sunday ( because we worship for church on Sat-Shabbot ) we had a free day. So a group of us went to the Keneset which is where Parliament meets. It was really interesting, and I acutally got to sit in the chairs/room that parliament meets in. Then 2 of my friends and I branched off and went to the Jewish Market and to West Jerusalem. It was so much fun! We did some shopping and just went exploring. Then Monday was another great day! After classes some of us went out exploring. We went to some churches and met lots of people. We went to the jewish quarter where lots of kids were out for school and so we got to hang out with them, and they wanted to takes lots of pictures with us. I love interacting with the people. It was such a fun day of just exploring and meeting people and making memories. I also tried crepes for the first time-they were ok but id take gelato anyday here. So Tuesday was

AMAZING! it was what i would call a PERFECT DAY! A group of 10 ( 5 boys, 5 girls )of us took a taxi after class to TEL-AVIV! ( about an hour away )WOW SO FUN! Tel-Aviv is where they say you go to "PLAY" ( Haifa is where you go to work, Jerusalem is where you go to pray, and Tel-Aviv is where you go to play! ) And man were they right! Tel-Aviv is kind of like Cali or Miami with the beautiful clear blue beaches and boardwalks. We started the day out with going to the flee market, which is always an adventure. Then after that we went to the BEACH! It was pretty cold at some points in the day, and rained for a little bit which just made the day all the more fun. So we rolled up our jeans and put our feet in the water and just played and had fun! We were at the beach for about 2-3 hours. It was so peaceful. It made me so excited to go to CALI this summer to visit my roommates! It was actually my first real time seeing real surfers. it was sweet! Then we watched the sunset on the beach as we walked the boardwalk-BEAUTIFUL! then we went over to Jappa which is a little town. Everything was closing and

not much was going on so we didn't get to see a whole lot, but it was still so fun to walk through it. We then ate dinner at this hole in the wall burger place which was awesome. The burgers were MASSIVE and very good because they were the closests I'v had to American-but still not American. But it was still so fun! We didn't get home till about 11:30 at night, and we were all so dead from playing so hard. But it was worth every single second. Then today was another LONG Good day. Today we went on a field trip to Yad VaShem- Which is the Holocaust Museum-The most well known.The museum was actually rebuilt in 2005. It is very modern and the building is full of symbolism. It was incredible, emotional, heart breaking, educating, and something I will never forget. I learned so much, and saw so much. I have mixed emotions about today. I am so glad I went, but it was heart breaking. The things the Jews went through is just incredible-words don't do justice. I surprised myself and actually didn't cry. But then after the tour we went to the childrens memorial and I couldnt hold back- that was hard. It was the most amazing memorial I have ever been too. You go into the memorial and it is dark with glass mirrors everywhere surronding you, and then inside is candles lit just enough so you can see, but still dark. As you go through it they have a speaker saying names of children that died, their age, and where they are from. It is so emotional. I cried as i thought of my nieces and nephews and how these children that died are the samke age as them. How did the jews do it? It just broke my heart. Then after that we went to mt. Herzel-which is another huge memorial. We were there for a long time and everyone was so beat afterwards. So tonight we have homwork, and a volleyball tournament! My team has a really good chance of winning..I'm so excited to play! The last couple of days have been so much fun and great! I love being here and learning all that I am. There are moments still when I'm walking down the street or meet someone where I just sit back and think really, could life get better than this? Really am I here in Israel...it just hits me sometimes. I love it here- and am loving my time doing this. I am so blessed to be here! I hope all is well back in the states! I miss ya'll tons, but will be home before I know it!

XoXoXoX

Hayley

A Day of FIELD TRIPS!!

In a cave/tomb that was awesome! With my friends Ryan and Shelby ( their brothers ) we got SOOOO dirty with this chalky stuff all over us,( look at our pants ) and i LOVED it! It was so much fun!

At the Elah Valley which is the valley same field of David and Goliath! So we played "David and Goliath" and used real sling shots like back in Davids time, and would aim at "Goliath" which my teacher made. ( out of boxes )You can see him in the distance and we're all trying to aim at him. I got really good by the end. Not good with aim, but good at distance and height. it was a highlight of the day and such a blast!

Kara, Me, and Stephanie in a cave/tomb! Inside was so sweet!

In Jericho,the VERY BEST fruit I have ever tasted in my life!

A Peacock that was right next to me

in Jericho!

Well,

we have been on several field trips! One to Jericho which was cool. And a bunch of others. One was my favorite to these caves/tombs of like Herrod the great. It was such a fun day! We got so dirty in it, and it was great! I felt like such a little kid again just getting dirty and not caring. We are always going and I am loving it. But school work is piling up! I can never get ahead with school work. This week we have mid terms and a 6 page paper due for a class. class is hard here, but the field trips make up for it. I am having a blast and loving it. Bishop Burton is here staying here with some other couples and he has a special fireside for us, which was great. This expierience only makes me want to travel more. I love it! I love seeing everything! For FHE on Monday we split up and went to branch families house. It was so much fun! And I got to go to one of my favorite families home-the Myers. They are wonderful people and have 3 adorable kids. It was so nice to be back in an actual home, and have normal USA treats. I am loving it here, but miss yall back home! Hope eveything is going great!
Love ya,
Hayley

THE ZOO AND EGYPTIAN NIGHT!

Pharoh!!

My friend Ryan and I!

Moon, Alli, Me, and Rachelle

EWWW..why would anyone ever like frogs..SICK!

EGYPTIAN NIGHT! My roomate Chelsea and I....

At the ZOO!!

At the Botanical Gardens!

Today was a great day! Today was a free day and I went to the Biblical ZOO! I loved it!! it was amazing and such a fun day! I love going to the zoo, probably because I was deprived as a child and never went so now I love going. ( and IM HOW OLD? ) anyways this was the best zoo I ever have been too! it was such a great day. then after the zoo, the group went to west jerusalem for some Gelato Ice cream- amazing! Then tonight at the center, we had an EGYPTIAN NIGHT! and everyone had to strut their new items that they bought in Egypt. it was a blast! And everyone go into it! Yesterday was great too, some of us went to the Botanical Gardens and the Biblical Land museum. Here are some pictures from the past few days! I am loving everything! Tomorrow I go to Jericho!! And then on Friday I have 2 mid-terms! Blah!! but it's all great! Hope yall are doing great!

xoxo,

Hayley

Pictures from EGYPT!

Jeff, Me, Ali, and Josh overlooking Egypt!

My girls that I love at the Mosque! Ali and Jenn.

I loved these people! thes women were soo fascinated with my friend Kelsey and I. They were so sweet!

Out on the Town-at the Market!

at Mohammad's Mosque. Loved this place-it is Beautiful!

At the Sound and Light Show...its way blurry, but you get the idea.

Camel ride!! My friends Kara and Chelsea!

in the village that we went through on our camel ride!...MJy most favorite part of the trip!

At a Temple with some of my friends!

A papyrus that I loved!

hey yall! well im back from Egypt and LOVED IT! it was the busiest week of my life! But I dont have time to write...but will later. Heres just a few ( out of the 650) pictures I took! enjoy!

I'll write more later! xoxo

Hayley