THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ORGANIZING A STUDY GROUP LAST NIGHT! I would have failed that dang Old Testament Midterm without that.....and I would have gone insane without YOU!
Seriously, you guys are lifesavers.
-Chloé
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Dear Jerusalem Day 29,
Today, I took a nap "for the first time in a long time." And you know what? "I feel alive." (If you have no idea what I'm talking about right now, listen to "Barlights" by Fun. Normally, I'd post a link...but seeing how my internet compatibility is NOT high functioning...you'll have to go find it yourself. hehe And please do. The song is really a piece of art. It's been stuck in my head for the last, like, 3 weeks.)
I feel alive because I can think again. This morning was pretty lame. It was nice to wake up a second time and try to face this day with a new start. I don't mean to complain, but this morning was.....well....lame is still the best word I have to describe it. I have a poorly written, long, irritated rant that I typed this morning, but I will spare you.
Basically: I'm a bit overwhelmed with our school work here. Coming back from a blissful and perfect week in Turkey to more homework than I could possibly swallow made me a bit discouraged. So taking a nap made me wake up with the attitude that maybe I CAN'T do everything. Maybe I need to accept that fact. I've been thinking about taking Fall semester off, now, for about a month. Today rekindled that option a bit. Maybe I need a break? Maybe I need to take a semester to chill out? Maybe I could go part time and get a job? *sigh* I dunno. I'll figure it out eventually. Not today. Today I'm going to be happy that I'm living in Jerusalem.
As it so happens, my school curriculum was perfectly coordinated today. Across my three subjects of the day, I learned about the core laws of the children of Israel, the historical happenings of the Jews, and the foundations of the faith of Islam. (p.s. I think I just alliterated that sentence w/o even realizing. woa.) I may or may not deny this later: but I'm a totally nerd for history. I love this so much.
Other than that, today has consisted of fairly routine-like activities: food, class, announcements, linen exchange, food, class, attempt to study/blogging instead, food, homework, sleep. If you were hoping for something more exciting, I guess my advice to you (and to myself) is: get used to it. :) This is life in the Center. Sure it would be different if I were traveling, but the fact of the matter is: I'm not. I'm here to learn, not to mess around all the time. But don't worry, I'll get the hang of this eventually. I guess in the end it's not so mundane...but then again: after Turkey, EVERYTHING seems mundane. Oh well. I'm not too worried about it now (thanks to said nap-time). Welcome back to school!
And so, my dearest Jerusalem: here we are. Everyone tells me that you are heaven. You are happiness. You are home. . . . . . . It just doesn't quite seem real to me yet.
Hope all is well in the States. If you are in school right now as well: Kol Tuv. I ♥ you, Chloe' Michelle
I feel alive because I can think again. This morning was pretty lame. It was nice to wake up a second time and try to face this day with a new start. I don't mean to complain, but this morning was.....well....lame is still the best word I have to describe it. I have a poorly written, long, irritated rant that I typed this morning, but I will spare you.
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| this is my contemplative face. and my attempt to be as classy as maddie m, stephgraff, audge, emily, and cyth. i miss you, chicas. p.s. someone said the word "pinteresting" today and I about died. major catch-up party with the loft when i am home? i think so. |
* * *
Other than that, today has consisted of fairly routine-like activities: food, class, announcements, linen exchange, food, class, attempt to study/blogging instead, food, homework, sleep. If you were hoping for something more exciting, I guess my advice to you (and to myself) is: get used to it. :) This is life in the Center. Sure it would be different if I were traveling, but the fact of the matter is: I'm not. I'm here to learn, not to mess around all the time. But don't worry, I'll get the hang of this eventually. I guess in the end it's not so mundane...but then again: after Turkey, EVERYTHING seems mundane. Oh well. I'm not too worried about it now (thanks to said nap-time). Welcome back to school!
And so, my dearest Jerusalem: here we are. Everyone tells me that you are heaven. You are happiness. You are home. . . . . . . It just doesn't quite seem real to me yet.
Hope all is well in the States. If you are in school right now as well: Kol Tuv. I ♥ you, Chloe' Michelle
Monday, May 21, 2012
Dear Jerusalem Day 28,
My idea of a good day:
Drive to the middle of the Judean Wilderness. Hike in the Arab heat to the top of a mountain with absolutely NOTHING around you. Read the account of Jesus' fast in Mark chapter 2. Sing "More Holiness Give Me." Ponder on your OWN purpose as a child of God, just as Jesus did.
Needless to say, it was cool.
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| wilderness. really. (p.s. this is my first view of the Dead Sea) |
However, it quite a wake up call back to my life in Jerusalem. :( Goodbye forever, green fields of Turkey. . . . . actually. . . . . probably not. I'll probably move there some day. Alvin and I already planned this out. :)
Looking forward to 7 hours of catch-up homework before class tomorrow. Sometimes, I love having nothing else to do in the world than read, talk, think, and live in the Holy Land.
Love, Chloe'
Click to Enlarge and ENJOY:
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| That's right: donkey. Chillin' in my life in the Middle East. |
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| Ok this one is for my family: You know how we always quote Cuzco from Emperor's New Groove when he's planning to build himself another palace? "It's my birthday gift to ME! I'm so happy." Yeah, well this is legitimately Herod's Winter Palace. NBD. |
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| Zacchaeus' tree (Luke 19) |
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| This one is for Austen: Here's my first shot at advertising :) haha and yes, this shot was taken IN JERICHO!!!! It helps that Rachel is gorgeous. |
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| Behind Rach and I pretending to be models in the direction the Israelites came from to conquer Jericho. Family: remember that dumb song we always sing? The one that starts and ends with "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho" because we don't know the rest of the words? Yeah that one. Well, we sang that IN Jericho today. :) Funny huh? |
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| Elias' spring near Jericho (unknown scripture reference) |
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| Ok this one goes out to Austen, Erika and Chris Walker: POMELOS! Hahaha they are all over Jerusalem. :) good times. |
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| Crossing the border from Israeli land to Palestinian controlled land. The tension you feel here is UNREAL. |
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Dear Jerusalem Day 27,
Today was marvelous. I should have taken pictures of us getting in from Turkey at 4:30 AM. We were SO out of it. We all slept in until like 11:00 at rolled into brunch in a daze.
The table I sat at was stoked off pitas. I enjoyed trying new Turkish food and consuming a total of, like, 5 loaves of bread in one week.....but I must say I missed our toasted-chocolate-and-peanut-butter-pitas. People here eat them daily.....so should I say mealy.
Although, I already miss the Turkish Delight, baklava, way-better-than-normal fruit, and other interesting foods of Turkey. Ah well. At least I still have you, Jerusalem. I still love you.....but Turkey may or may not have just replaced you. :)
The rest of the day I blogged and went to church and went to this AMAZING concert. It was a simple trio, which if you know me, you know how stoked I was to go. I LOVE TRIOS! Especially classical violin...and especially classical violin in Israel. So worth ditching my homework.
(video to come)
I promise I'll catch up on my blogging soon! You need to meet Turkey. He's my favorite country ever!!!!! (Sorry, Jeru.)
Sincerely, Chloé
The table I sat at was stoked off pitas. I enjoyed trying new Turkish food and consuming a total of, like, 5 loaves of bread in one week.....but I must say I missed our toasted-chocolate-and-peanut-butter-pitas. People here eat them daily.....so should I say mealy.
Although, I already miss the Turkish Delight, baklava, way-better-than-normal fruit, and other interesting foods of Turkey. Ah well. At least I still have you, Jerusalem. I still love you.....but Turkey may or may not have just replaced you. :)
The rest of the day I blogged and went to church and went to this AMAZING concert. It was a simple trio, which if you know me, you know how stoked I was to go. I LOVE TRIOS! Especially classical violin...and especially classical violin in Israel. So worth ditching my homework.
(video to come)
I promise I'll catch up on my blogging soon! You need to meet Turkey. He's my favorite country ever!!!!! (Sorry, Jeru.)
Sincerely, Chloé
Dear Connections,
Today, I need your advice.
Recently, I've been thinking about tolerance and integrity. About instances where you should allow people to do what they want, as well as moments where you should stand for something.
So tonight I had a seemly bland, but surprising meaningful conversation to add to my thoughts. It went a little something like this:
Me: "Hello [Friendly Jewish Man Who Will Be Attending The Concert I Am Ushering For]. Welcome to the Center."
Him: "Shalom. Were you just reading the Guest Registry comments? You're not supposed to do that."
Me: "Oh...um... *nervous giggle* Yes I was. The couple in charge told me to."
The conversation then turned nice and he asked me how long I had been here and where he lived and so forth.
After our conversation finished, I was a bit concerned. I was surprised at how blunt he was to tell me off so authoritatively. I felt so intimidated by him. I wasn't reading them because i had to, I was reading them because i wanted to. Because i was interested in what people had to say.
I started feeling guilty. Maybe reading those registry books are NOT ok. Maybe i was the one here breaking social norms. Maybe I should listen to this man with his authoritative attitude.
But maybe not. Maybe he just gave his opinion and i wasn't confident enough to stick up for myself.
What do you think? Was I right to be intimidated by him? Or should I have been more confident in my response and said what I ACTUALLY felt? I'd love to hear!
Sincerely, Chloe' Michelle
Recently, I've been thinking about tolerance and integrity. About instances where you should allow people to do what they want, as well as moments where you should stand for something.
So tonight I had a seemly bland, but surprising meaningful conversation to add to my thoughts. It went a little something like this:
Me: "Hello [Friendly Jewish Man Who Will Be Attending The Concert I Am Ushering For]. Welcome to the Center."
Him: "Shalom. Were you just reading the Guest Registry comments? You're not supposed to do that."
Me: "Oh...um... *nervous giggle* Yes I was. The couple in charge told me to."
The conversation then turned nice and he asked me how long I had been here and where he lived and so forth.
After our conversation finished, I was a bit concerned. I was surprised at how blunt he was to tell me off so authoritatively. I felt so intimidated by him. I wasn't reading them because i had to, I was reading them because i wanted to. Because i was interested in what people had to say.
I started feeling guilty. Maybe reading those registry books are NOT ok. Maybe i was the one here breaking social norms. Maybe I should listen to this man with his authoritative attitude.
But maybe not. Maybe he just gave his opinion and i wasn't confident enough to stick up for myself.
What do you think? Was I right to be intimidated by him? Or should I have been more confident in my response and said what I ACTUALLY felt? I'd love to hear!
Sincerely, Chloe' Michelle
Dear John Alvin Green the Third,
you inspired me with our talk yesterday. Because it remind me of things I had forgotten:
#1-- I love blogging. I'm going to do it more. If people want to listen, they can...but if not, that's ok. Because I want to do it anyway. Simply because I enjoy it.
#2-- I love friendships. They bring me joy.
#3-- I want to be a better person. Partly because you are so awesome. Partly because you reminded me that I can work harder than I have been.
So here is to not being lazy. Here is to love and affection. Here is to a LOT more blogging. Here is to Jerusalem Summer 2012! Thanks for a good day, Alvin. I enjoyed our long bus ride through the backroads of Turkey.
-Chloe' Michelle
#1-- I love blogging. I'm going to do it more. If people want to listen, they can...but if not, that's ok. Because I want to do it anyway. Simply because I enjoy it.
#2-- I love friendships. They bring me joy.
#3-- I want to be a better person. Partly because you are so awesome. Partly because you reminded me that I can work harder than I have been.
So here is to not being lazy. Here is to love and affection. Here is to a LOT more blogging. Here is to Jerusalem Summer 2012! Thanks for a good day, Alvin. I enjoyed our long bus ride through the backroads of Turkey.
-Chloe' Michelle
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Dear Connections,
Meet my mother. She's freaking amazing.
So you know when you have those Sunday church meetings when you just get overwhelmed with one specific emotion? Yeah well today was gratitude for my mother.
My mother puts up with way too much from me. I would know. I'm so very much like her.
Like when she takes me shopping for two days straight before heading off to Jerusalem. So I didn't have to stress about cloying until after finals week.
It was a long weekend. But I hope it was worth it. Because my mother has also taught me to be obedient. And now I wake up every morning feeling confident about my conservative strict Jerusalem center rules. I love her for sacrificing when I have emergencies and so that I can feel comfortable.
My mom is my hero. I love her more than the sky and the earth.
GNLYS. Happy Mother's Day!!!!!
-Chloe' Michelle
So you know when you have those Sunday church meetings when you just get overwhelmed with one specific emotion? Yeah well today was gratitude for my mother.
My mother puts up with way too much from me. I would know. I'm so very much like her.
Like when she takes me shopping for two days straight before heading off to Jerusalem. So I didn't have to stress about cloying until after finals week.
It was a long weekend. But I hope it was worth it. Because my mother has also taught me to be obedient. And now I wake up every morning feeling confident about my conservative strict Jerusalem center rules. I love her for sacrificing when I have emergencies and so that I can feel comfortable.
My mom is my hero. I love her more than the sky and the earth.
GNLYS. Happy Mother's Day!!!!!
-Chloe' Michelle
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