This is already my third Shabbat!

Time is accelerating by! The first few days were slow because everything was new. Now there's a rythmn to things. Bro Huntington said after Egypt it flies by. My goal is to write on my blog at least once a week. Problem is once I get going I get into more and more detail and it turns our really long then it takes me a while to write again.
Tomorrow morning at 6:30 am we leave for EGYPT! I'm so excited, I'll get to go see a lot of the things I've heard about all growing up. The Nile river, Pyramids, all the famous art from Egypt I studied in art history. Brother Seeley has been getting us ready to go. We've been going over the kingdoms of Egypt's history. In addition he suggested some movies for us to watch before we go that they have in the library here. That journey of Faith movie we watched before I left was one of them, along with a Hugh Nibley movie and “Death on the Nile”. A group of us watched “Death on the Nile” (part of it I went to bed partway) last night. Its an old murder mystery movie that reminds of The Great Gatsby movie. You should watch it and you'll have a good idea of what I'm going to be seeing next week.
Yesterday we couldn't go in the old city at all so we took a cab to the west side. We went to the Jewish open air market. It was really crowded and busy (probably cause it was right before shabbat). Really exciting atmosphere. We went down one of the streets and it was maybe the most crowded place I've ever been. Venders yelling every way and the little old ladies won't budge at all to let you around and will just run into you if you get in their way. They just slowly trudge along. We shopped around Ben Yahuda street a bit but everything was closing early for Shabbat (Ben Yahuda is kind of an outdoor mall, its way different than the old city it's just like a European city- British influence). Before we left the west side we went through an orthodox Jewish village. Before you go in that had big signs posted that said “Loud tourist groups severely irritate us” and “Immodestly dressed women may not pass through”. The people walking around reminded me a lot of the American Amish. It seemed like they were all hurrying to get ready for Shabbat, maybe some were going to the Western wall. It's strange how different parts of town can be so dramatically different here.
After we got home I took a nap then went to practice with Brother and Sister Galbraith. I'm playing a violin duet with SG and BG is accompanying on piano (for B G's organ recital in a few weeks). They are awesome musicians and I'm so happy I get to play with them. (They are good friends with Jack Ashton, both played with him in the Utah Symphony, SG even dated him! until she and BG met while playing in the symphony).
Also yesterday Bro Huntington gave a forum about the Arab/Israeli conflict. He explained the history behind the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Brother Huntington served his mission in England during the Six Days War (which is really cool because the middle east today is pretty much a product of the Brits). The countries of Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait are all a British empire creation from not that long ago. Since his mission Brother Huntington has been studying Arab/ Israeli conflict. He went to Gaza a lot between 1994 and 2000 doing research. He said he used to think he understood everything but 'it's a complex issue'. He says the more he studies it the more he realizes he doesn't understand. It was a really great lecture and helped me understand a lot. I'll tell you about it some other time.
Other highlights of the week were going to the Rockefeller Museum and the temple institute on Sunday. The temple institute is a museum sponsered by a group of jews. They have things in there that they will put in the third temple if and when it is built. Monday the lower gate was closed becuase of strikes that were going on in the city becuase of what has been going on in Gaza lately. Most stayed in to study. A lot of people stayed in because they were sick. It seems like there is some kind of cold and fever going around. Many are trying to get better before we go to Egypt. I really don't want to get sick, especially in Egypt. I scared myself a little on Wednesday becuase we played soccer in the afternoon and I got really into it. I lunged a little too far and hurt my ankle a little bit (the one I broke, it isn't as strong as my left one). I didn't really realize it until the next morning when I got out of bed. Luckily if felt better as the day went on and I think it will be okay. I'm going to be more careful when I play soccer. It would really stink to not be able to climb mount Sinai. Another girl hurt her feet really badly from walking around the city all day in her Sunday shoes. She had to wear tennis shoes with her skirt today to church, trying to get them to heal before we walk a lot in Egypt.
Other than that I did alot of reading this week for our Modern Near East Studies class, Jewish perspective (we started this class on Tuesday). The teacher for this class is VERY organized and we have a lot to read. Much different teaching style than our Palestinian class. I'm going to learn a lot while I'm here. I think I've found a pretty good balance between staying in the center to study and going out to see stuff.
I've been to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the old city three times now but there isn't a guide there so I don't really know what everything is yet. It's a really beautiful building and it's a nice place to just wander through.
I'm going to go now because we're watching the ten commandments tonight. Hope all is well at home and I'll write again when I get back from Egypt!