Traversing Turkey

I wish pictures could really do justice to these beautiful places! From the night we drove into Istanbul, with these lit up, fantastic mosques scattering the hills, and ancient walls and old buildings mixed right in with the towering hotels and modern structures, I was in love with the city.

Two buildings especially in Istanbul vie for attention. To the left you see me standing with Rebecca, my roomate, in the Blue Mosque, built purposely to rival the famous Aya Sophia (which was originally a church). It's massive and the blue tile work inside is incredibly intricate. It was awe-inspiring for sure!






Here, in the backround (below) you can see the Aya Sophia (as well as my friends Thomas and Scott). The architechture here is crazy amazing!

The view from the Palace. (Lovely!)

Inside the circumcision room.... Interestingly, it's an incredibly beautiful room.

I feel like Mary, and other pictures from the first weeks here

A group of us at the magnificent Dome of the Rock.
Notice the long sleeves or scarfs! :-)
The calligraphy and tile work is just phenomenal and so beautiful! It's a must-see!
(Except inside, which is a "cannot-see"...)

Look! I'm on a donkey! So this Bedoin man just tosses me up onto
the poor animal's back... but it was nice for me! Saved me a lot of walking!
This is in the Jericho area, (after seeing Tel Jericho) which by the way is
in the Western Bank. In the background you can see a monastery built into
the cliffs that memorializes the temptations of Jesus.

This is us about to go on the "Under the Center" tour. 

The Jerusalem Center was built on pylons, which was 

a pretty big idea for the time it was built. This architecture has averted many problems, especially with renovation issues. But, the real point is, now we can walk under it, so they take us on a tour down there, and then there's a room where students for years have signed their names on the walls and pipes. (See my addition below!)

Catching up!

The next few posts will be a blog through pictures mostly. I figure those are more fun than words anyway! Quick shout-out to Grandad, who had a birthday yesterday! Love you a lot!

Life as Royalty!

I know I haven't updated since I've been here in Jerusalem! Such a sin! And now we're leaving for Turkey in about forty minutes, (Loading up in ten) so this will have to be short.

But, most importantly, I love it here! I feel like this is as close to living in a palace that I will ever come. There are 8 levels in the center, terracing down Mt. Scopus, which is a hill next to the Mount of Olives. Our back doors open onto patios/balconies that overlook the whole city. Such a view. And our front doors open into small courtyards and hallways open to the sky. It's so lovely!

And Jerusalem! I won't go into much detail now, but it is an amazing city. There is so much history here, and so many people have their center of faith in this place. It is both powerful and humbling to be living here among such people, around so much history.

Shout out to Todd, who's birthday I missed! Happy late birthday! Love you!

Ok, time to go. Sending my love to everyone back home, and everyone at BYU! (Ha, or the five people maybe who read this! But I'll be prideful and pretend it's more!)

Onward and Upward,
Cali

Almost There....

Ok, so I don't want to jinx myself. I'm not actually in Tel Aviv yet. But, I am checked in and at the Amsterdam airport! Reservations made! Boarding pass in hand! (figuratively.) Both bags checked... for free! (Each of those things was at least one wait in some line at some airport.... in other words, a lot of progress has been made just to get me to this point.) Phoenix was great and all, and I did get to do some cool stuff, and am really grateful to many people who made that stay actually enjoyable, but it feels really good to be this close. Steps left: Security (at gate), flight (which is delayed right now, but only by a few minutes), customs, bus ride, taking bags to room, and maybe a bit of sleep. Classes start tomorrow!

Today I arrived in Amsterdam at about 9 a.m., and I was determined to switch my body clock as quickly as possible. I'm going to sound like Ryan after this trip, "Ya, I haven't slept in like three days..." Ha, just kidding. Ok, enough boring. So, to keep myself awake, I adventured. (The proper verb right there would probably be "ventured", but I like being inventive.) Crazy fun! I traversed across all Amsterdam to get to the local ward. The thing was, the ward started at 10 am, and because of really confusing and convoluted directions, I didn't get there until 12 pm. I kept praying on the way over that it would be one of the wards that had Sacrament last, and that I would get to partake. I truly know that God is looking out for me. I know that all of this confusion with travel has all happened for a reason, or really, for many reasons. I know, because when I really need something to work out, it always does. Example: We got to go to the Mesa temple while in Phoenix. At first it was going to cost about $15 a person for transportation, but then the hotel shuttle driver offered to take us, despite the fact that it was far outside his obligatory 5 mile radius range. When we got to the temple, I had to wait, because not only was my recommend literally on the last day of being valid (This was August 31) but I also didn't have it. After a worker called around for about an hour, he finally got through, and I got ushered right through the baptisms. I've never been that much on my own before. It was so beautiful. And after all that waiting, and thinking I wouldnt be able to go (my group had already finished) it was miraculous to me to be able to perform those ordinances.

Anyway, my point is that I was able to attend Sacrament in Amsterdam. I've known few wards that meet with Sacrament last, but I am so grateful Amsterdam is one of them. Going to church turned out to fruit many more blessings. First, I encountered people all along the way who were necessary to get me to my destination, including a super awesome English-speaking teenage girl going to the same area who was able to guide me through an unlisted tram switch, and a Italian woman on the way who was going to a different church on the same street, and we were able to walk together, and help each other. Also, one of the members was on the same train back as I was, so he ended up giving me a tour of the central city. This was so generous, because it meant I had a translator as well as a guide. I saw so many amazing things! I spent over an hour in the Anne Frank museum, getting to see the actual house she hid in, and to learn about her and her family. Her sister Margo (?) seems amazing.

I also saw canals, and monuments, and incredibly beautiful old architecture - the old palace, old churches, places where Rembrandt supposedly did "_" in. (Lived, drank tea, paid debts, drank things other than tea...) Ahh! It was so beautiful! I never knew Amsterdam to be such a fascinating city! I wish I could write more, but I am hungry, and then need to get to my gate. Love you all! Bless the rest of my travel that it will be less hassle-y (see, inventiveness) and I pray you are all well also!

Much love,
Cali

PS I should edit this post, but for now, any rambling or misgrammars I'm going to blame on sleep deprivation, and obviously not an inborn tendency to write a novel in place of a paragraph.

PPS I didn't have my camera, but hopefully pictures will be en route.