I Will Survive! [onefiveoneeighteight]

Wednesday March 14: Three Days Before

I woke up

and knew it was going to be a good day.

 

At lunch we had strawberries! 

(obviously we had other things too...but the strawberries were most exciting.)

I found a really funny strawberry that looked like a finger.

 

After lunch, a group of us went to a community center-type building

where there was a "runner's expo."  

 

There we were given numbers...

While we were waiting for the taxi-vans to take us back to the center,

 it was really windy and cold so we huddled together as a group to keep warm. 

 Friday March 16: The Day Of

I've never really been much of a runner, 

but somehow I was talked into signing up for

 The Jerusalem 10k.

We were out the door by 7:30 a.m.

(On the way to the race.)

 

 

(Walking the rest of the way to the start since the roads were closed.)

Of course there were plenty of men going to the race in their Kippot!

("kippot"= plural form of kippa)

There were even soldiers prepping for the race!

 I probably saw at least 30 men with their baby shorts and huge guns strapped around their necks.

I'm pretty sure they didn't actually run with the guns...

but I never saw them take them off so I guess I can't be sure. haha.
 

BEFORE THE RACE:

 

AFTER THE RACE:

Well..I DID IT! 

My goal was to not stop the whole time and I actually made my goal! 

Granted, there were times that my jogging was slower than Remi the snail's crawling, 

but I didn't stop! 

(Even on the craaazy hills that I thought were going to be the death of me.) 

One of the more exciting parts of the race was when it started hailing! 

It was slightly painful to be hit with little ice balls coming out of the sky

but mostly it was hilarious.

(During the race the weather went from rainy to windy to sunny to hailing, 

and then a mix of all of those.)

Once back home, I looked and felt quite frazzled, 

but I was pretty dang proud of that cheapy medal around my neck.

OH, and ...did I actually did listen to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor whilst running...?
Why yes, yes I did! 

 Oh what a life I live.

:)

Christmas! . . . well, sorta.

Because Bethlehem is in the West Bank, we are not able to go there on our own,

but today we all went as an organized fieldtrip to see it all!

  

 On the way there we sang "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" as part of our morning devotional.

I sat next to Abbie (the daughter of Bro. Harper) who joined us for the adventure.

 Our first stop was King Herod's Palace about 12 km south of Jerusalem

(see pictures above).

One of the most interesting things about this stop?

CATERPILLARS! 

They were seriously everywhere.

Jason calculated that as a group we probably killed AT LEAST 102 caterpillars

(some people by accident, others on purpose).

(it says: > 102 *dead caterpillars*)

 hahaha. 

Personally, I thought Jason's "dead caterpillar" face was spot on,

 but other people apparently don't see things as clearly as I do.

 This is what happens when Tucker (aka Paige) 

and I discover that both of our mom's names are "Jennifer Lynn Ca-"

He exclaimed "SISTER!" and then tried to give me a hug. 

 

 

(Bon was in love with that sand/chalk stuff.)

Candid laughter always makes for great photos.

 Especially when you have "coookies." 

;)

 

 Lunch at the "Tent Restaurant" was fantastic!

Erin asked for more hummus so when the guy came back he brought a plate of hummus for the table 

and then another plate exclusively for her.

She was in heaven.

 

After lunch we went to a Shepard's field

 where we talked about the birth of Christ 

and sang Christmas carols.

 

As you can see, Huntsman gets pretty animated when he lectures.

It's great.

 Bwahahaha.

Yes.

Yes I purposely wore red to Bethlehem 

with the hopes that a guy in the group would wear green

 so that I could take a Christmas card photo 

like the one you see above :) 

(the fact that David was even wearing green stripes today was just superb.) 

I guess I really am my parents' daughter
when it comes to planning Christmas Cards wayyy in advance ;)

 (hahahahaha.)

 Oh what a life I live

 :)

Turkey Trot.

 I LOVE

sunsets.

beaches.

ferry rides.

mosques.

scripture reenactments.
(especially in the place they happened--Acts 19:21)

sunshine.

bazaars.

bonnie's bus.

ipod idol.

sleep teeters.

bonfire dance parties.

mosaics.

clear blue skies.

germans.

beautiful landscapes.

photos.

good friends. 

TURKEY.

Oh what a life I live.

:)
 

(PS I can't take credit for all of these great pictures, some are from Alyssa and her amazing brand new camera, and others are from Vladi. THANKS FOR THE PICTURES GUYS :))