Finals are OVER!

Well it has been two months that I have been living in Israel and I have recently experienced some actual major conflict. This picture is a barricade in the middle of the road, on the street outside the center. These are Palestinian men protesting because the Israeli police would not let them pray in the Dome of the Rock. There was two on this road that were blocking traffic. There were men in the street throwing trash and rocks all over the street. For the past couple days we have been on lock down in the center, we are only allowed in West Jerusalem. Both sides are tense and very aggressive. Its really crazy. But I feel completely safe in the Center. Finals just finished and so we went to the park and played the HA HA game. It was so fun and it was a gorgeous day. It was so relaxing.

Just relaxing in the park. Its winter so everything is green and beautiful. West Jerusalem is the Jewish side of Jerusalem and it is kept much nicer and litter free.

In West Jerusalem there is an open air market called Souk. It was friday afternoon and so its closing for the weekend. Because jewish sabbath starts friday at sundown. All the pastries and fruit are sold for super cheap because they cant save it. Its really neat to see the prices drop like crazy because they get really desperate. There are Shabbot police they blow a huge horn to make sure everyone knows its sabbath.

Kimber and I celebrating with refreshing mint gelato! So yummy! We were walking down Ben Yuhuda like we owned the place because we finished finals.

These are the Chagall Windows. They represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Every part of the windows is symbolic of the tribe. The windows are found in a hospital, what a randow place for a tourist spot.

It was pouring outside but who cares?! Jumpin' pictures are the best.

Getting ready to go dance the night away in the West Bank. Purim is a Jewish Holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from Haman and the story of Esther. They basically just partt, get drunk and dress up like halloween. We recently learned Israeli folk dance and the instructer invited us to his dance studio to party. We got security clearance to go to the West Bank and dance. So we all dressed up and went. It was really fun for a little while after a hour we got bored. But HEY when am I ever going to celebrate purim again.

As a part of Purim, the next day they dress up and party in the streets. There were magic tricks, juggling, dancing, festivals and crazy costumes. This lady was dressed up like an air vent. She had confetti in her hand an would make the air sound and sprinkle it on your head. It was so funny. She was on stilts so she was like 8 ft. tall.

This is a fish guy. He was also celebrating on the street. The holiday is so fun. We also were able to go to a Italian Synagogue celebrating Esther. It was so cool.

Finals are over and now we only have 2 classes. We are starting the New Testament, I love studying about Christ. Its going to be great. We are going to Gailee next week for 2 weeks. Im so excited. Life is good, I love being here.