Here you go Dad! ...sorta

So my father really wants me to blog about Poland. But there's just SO much to blog about, so I'm still working on it. But I wanted to update the world with my current activities.
I've settled in for my last three months in Jerusalem, no more traveling outside the country for me until June 3.
My family came and we had a great time and did lots of things and stuff. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be in my family dynamic, but do not fear, I've been reminded. It was really nice to see everyone though, I miss them a lot.
Since then classes have started, Spring Break has ended, and Game of Thrones has begun (Down with the False King). Here are the classes I'm taking (sorry if the information is minimal, I've only had each class once):
1. Ulpan aka Hebrew Class with Mirav.
----yeah I still suck at Hebrew, but hopefully I'll improve because I get an hour and a half of it every day (aside from Monday)
2. Comparative Monotheistic Religions of Jerusalem with Benji, which is the Siyur class.
----Mondays only. So yesterday we went to Mt. Scopus and the Mt. of Olives, I'll tell you about that momentarily.
3. Finding myself through the Tanakh or something, I'm not sure of the actual physical name of the class, but its with Rob
----Actually really interesting, I've never actually read the Torah and there's of discussion and such about what certain things mean. Mom you would LOVE it.
4. Power of Persuasion with Avi
----Actually I'm not 110% sure my teacher's name is Avi, but this is an Israel advocacy class.
5. Jewish Culture through Anthropology with Avi
----A different Avi. Its going to be like experiencing and learning about different Jewish cultures in history and around the world. I'm really excited because Avi is absolutely fantastic.
I also was going to take Critiquing Films about the Holocaust, but really just can't. Its all so sad and I just am not in the mood. Which, I know, isn't really ok to drop a class because I'm (as Ali G would say) NIM. But I do have the option to drop one elective, and its my choice. So back off, okay?
But those are my classes for the next eight weeks. I'll be sure to do plenty of interesting blogging, I promise Dad.
OK so as I said earlier, yesterday I went to Mt. Scopus and Mt. of Olives and some other cool places too. The class is called "The Comparative Monotheistic Religions of Jerusalem" so we got on a bus and headed over to Mt. Scopus. If you don't know what that is, let me explain.
הר הצופים aka Har HaTzofim aka the Mountain of the Watchers is a 286 meters above sea level mountain that has always been a bit of a war area for *like* ever. Not in the sense of rockets or bombings but kind of like an army base. The Romans camped out there in 66 AD, and then again in 70 AD and used the mountain as an advantage point against Jeru. Then the Crusaders used in in 1099 for bad things too. After that Mt. Scopus gets almost a 850 year break. During which (specifically in 1918) Hebrew University was founded and it was a fairly successful school by 1947, 1000 students and 200 faculty (which is still smaller than New Trier though--just saying). But then in May of 1948, the Arab-Israeli war broke out, and by the end of it in 1949, Mt. Scopus had gone from a mountain to an island. Until 1967, the mountain itself was under Israeli control, but all of the area surrounding it was considered Jordanian land. And for the millionth time in history, Mt. Scopus became an army base, but this time for Israel. It was returned to mountain-status in 1967 following the 6 Day War.
So yeah we visited. Mt. Scopus is famous for the view of Jerusalem but it was really disappointingly grey out, so my photos are sub-par. But we hit up the university (its so cute and pretty) and had lunch before heading to the Mt. of Olives.
The Mt. of Olives aka Har HaZeitim aka  הר הזיתים is basically like a giant graveyard for Christians and Jews. Menacham Begin is buried there, he was Prime Minister of Israel for a while.
Then we went to two churches, the Church of All Nations and Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary. The Church of All Nations is said to be a place where Jesus prayed before being arrested, and the Church of the thing of Saint Mary is believed by some to be the Virgin Mary's tomb. We also saw the Garden of Gethsemane, which also is said to be where Jesus prayed before being arrested. Turns out there are like four different places in the same general area where Jesus prayed before being arrested, so it must've been like a walking prayer, but I don't know.
That's the great part. I don't know much of anything at all about Islam or Christianity, which is why I'm excited to take this class and hopefully be more knowledgeable in my life.
Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'll blog again soon and post about Poland as soon as I can.
As always,
Julia Rose

Check out some sweet pics here!