Circo Renado!!

The circus came to town!  Several months ago, we saw signs for a circus, but since they were in German, we didn't know what the deal was.  Hyrum kept talking about how he wanted to go to the circus.  So when we saw a poster last week advertising another circus, we decided to go check it out.  

I don't think either of us have been to the circus in 15 or 20 years.  And we both have very different memories.  The circuses I remember from my childhood took place in a huge arena (the town's civic center, with thousands of people).  There were ladies spinning in rings hanging from the ceiling, clowns riding around in little clown cars, motorcycles doing upside-down circles in a metal cage, and lots of animals.  Never mind that we practically needed binoculars to see it all.  On the other hand, Hyrum last saw the circus in Turmeque--a tiny town in Colombia.  So he was more prepared when we pulled up and found a little tent set up outside.  

The lady who sold us tickets was the same lady who introduced the show, and ran the sound system.

 Even though the show was pretty small, it was entertaining.  One of my favorite acts was the goats that they led around over obstacles.  There were also horses and ponies.  Nothing more exotic than that.  There was a clown, that we didn't understand because he spoke German.  There were some acrobatic things, and lasso-ing, as well as a guy that swallowed fire and did other pyrotechnic tricks.

The entire show was all put on by the same family--a mom, dad, and a handful of kids.  They kept coming out in different outfits doing different tricks.  What an interesting life to live!

(A man threw knives at that wood board with people standing in the middle of it. )

I was impressed that the show lasted almost 2 hours.  It was no Barnum and Bailey circus, but we had a great time. Maybe that show will last us another 15 years.

3 years!

Hyrum and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary together!  Which was pretty exciting, because we've been married 3 years.  Our first two were spent many states apart.  In June of 2011 Hyrum was in Washington state at an ROTC training called LDAC; he was out in the field and couldn't even use a cell phone to call me.  So that was a non-event anniversary.  Last year he was in South Carolina at an Army career course, and *lucky us* we got to at least talk on the phone.  So this year we asked ourselves What do normal people do for anniversaries?

We enjoyed dinner at a Thai restaurant around here that I LOVE.  He got off work a little early that day, which gave us the chance to spend some time together before an 8:30 bedtime.  We had fun reminiscing the time that we were dating and engaged.  We have never made a big deal of 'significant dates' before, so we had to look back at calendars and emails to figure out what day we even got engaged!

So to save us some time in future anniversaries, here's a trip down memory lane:

We met October 23rd 2009 at a birthday party of a friend of a friend.  The next Friday (a day before Halloween) we ran into each other at DI while we were shopping for costumes.  (I bought that yellow sweatshirt above to wear during my half-marathon.)  That's when he got my phone number.  

We 'officially' started dating December 20th.  My family was coming into town, and I was debating whether or not to bring Hyrum to our family get-together.  (Cause lets face it, that many Hatches can be a bit crazy if the relationship wasn't really serious.)  He clearly wanted things to be more serious, so I finally let him call me his girlfriend, and he came to decorate cookies with the WHOLE family.  And survived.  Way to go Hyrum!

Hyrum was so sweet at remembering our anniversary every month.  Here's flowers and a balloon on February 20th.  (He gave me that plant on the right on our first anniversary in January.)  He usually dropped something off on my doorstep at some crazy hour of the night/morning.  (Like between 3 am and 5 am).  He had a crazy schedule, to say the least. 

Our first military function together!  I went with him to the end-of-year ROTC ball.  Didn't know at the time it would be the first of MANY.    

The night we got engaged! April 10th.  We didn't actually take pictures at the place he proposed.  Maybe because it was a dark creepy park.  But that's a story for another day.  And for the record, the date he tried to propose the first time was March 23rd.  Again, that's probably a story for another time.  But in short, good things come to those who wait!

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is within an hour of Jerusalem, and made for an easy morning trip.  I'm glad we went, because I would have regretted it otherwise [who goes to Israel without visiting Bethlehem??] but the city itself was not that noteworthy.  (as mentioned in my previous post).  The main attraction is Manger Square, which is an open plaza in front of the Church of the Nativity.

Manger Square

 People first identified this site as the place where Jesus was born within a few centuries of the event.  Churches were built (and rebuilt) by the fourth and sixth centuries.  It was then looted by Ottomans, but eventually restored.  Since the mid 19th century it's been shared by the Roman Catholic, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox churches.  Below are some exposed mosaic floors that date back to the 4th century.

 The interior is decorated with a lot of light fixtures--chandeliers, hanging lamps, strings of lights, etc.  The church was dark (I never said they used the light fixtures) and crowded.  We waited 15 minutes in a crowd of people just to pass by the silver star in the floor that [they say] marks "the spot".

This is called the Door of Humility, and is the actual entrance to the church.  The normal (larger) doorway was re-done during Ottoman rule so that carts couldn't be driven in to loot the church.  

Next to the main church is another one called St Catherine's Church.  These are the cloisters of that church.  

Entrance to St Catherine's Church.  On the right you can see a statue of St Jerome, who traveled to Bethlehem in 386 and completed a new version of the Bible, known today as the Vulgate.  Traditionally, St Jerome did his studying and translating next to the Grotto of the Nativity.  

And of course Manger Square is surrounded by little shops selling nativities and Christmas ornaments.  It was fun to look around at everything made out of olive wood.  

We did a lot of walking through the streets of Bethlehem.  

Bethlehem is in the West Bank, under the control of the Palestinian National Authority.  It was an interesting town; I would hate to drive a car on those roads.  There are people everywhere--walking, selling stuff, pushing carts, shopping, etc.  It was entertaining to see everything going on around us. 

Around Jerusalem [Part 3]

I've already covered most of the sites we visited in Jerusalem, in parts 1 and 2.  Here are just a few more random pictures and thoughts from Jerusalem.

This is from the Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, which is actually in the middle of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The customs process didn't take too long on arrival.  We didn't need a Visa ahead of time; we got a 90-day one at the airport for free.  (Later in our trip, when we were trying to pass through a checkpoint between West Bank and Israel, we were asked for those papers...glad I held on to them!)  The process for flying out of Tel Aviv was a bit more complicated.  I read online that we needed to arrive 3 hours early.  Then our hotel confirmed that we needed 3 hours.  So 3 hours it was.  Nice and early.  As you wait in the first line to scan your checked luggage, airport security people question passengers one-by-one.  After the basics like "Where are you going" and "How long have you been here" it would appear that all their questions are random, but there's likely some method to the madness.  We saw them questioning a guy behind us and they ended up taking him somewhere else for further questioning.  ("Do you have relatives in this country?"  "How old are their children?"  "What's the origin of that name?" etc...)  After they scan your checked luggage, they do individual bag inspections on about 75% of the luggage.  Then you finally go check in at your airline.  From there, the security process is fairly standard--you have to go through the metal detectors and scan carry-on items.  We didn't quite need 3 hours, but I understand why they suggest so much time.

One area in Jerusalem that we walked through, but didn't explore much, was Mamilla.  It's the more modern area west of walled Jerusalem.  There are new hotels, shopping malls, "hip" restaurants and art exhibits.  Here are some globes we found; they're part of a traveling exhibit that promotes recycling.

We saw so many great sunsets over Jerusalem because our hotel was high up on a hill.  It didn't get old.

It is very common to see soldiers around Jerusalem.  (We saw them all over Israel, but definitely more in Jerusalem then anywhere else.)  Military service is required for all Israelis over 18 (excluding Arabs) so most people you see in uniform are very young. Men serve for a min. of 3 years, and women for 2.  Surprisingly, we were told they earn very little money during their service:  less than $150 USD / month.  A lady told us that she's still financially supporting her children during their required military service.  One thing we noticed is that the uniform code does not seem to be as strict as the US Army.  For example, when Hyrum wears his uniform, there are very specific items that he can and cannot use.  He can't carry random bags or backpacks, only solid black or army bags; he has to wear a specific hat if he's not inside a building;  the uniform has to be complete.  The IDF uniforms seemed more relaxed--soldiers wore sunglasses, some wore hats while some didn't, footwear was varied between soldiers (many women even wore sandals.)  While we were at the beach, we even saw one girl sun bathing in a swimming top, and her army pants.  It was interesting to observe the differences.  And even though there were people carrying guns everywhere, it didn't make us feel less safe.  In fact, it kind of creates more of a sense of security.  People everywhere are watching whats going on.  Less for me to worry about.  (I didn't feel unsafe at all while we were in Israel.)

Soldiers at the Western Wall, and south of walled Jerusalem. 

   We saw a variety of animals around the city.  Even though this camel looks kind of random, it was actually part of a big tourist scheme.  A guy  brought his camel everyday to the area in front of our hotel, overlooking Jerusalem,  to take pictures with tourists.  There was also an old guy dressed in Biblical clothing that showed up with a donkey every day.  (Hyrum really wanted to take a picture of me--pregnant--riding the donkey.  But when we got back to the hotel on our last night, our donkey friend was already gone.)

Here are two random pictures I like: one of us overlooking southern Jerusalem and another of Hyrum taken from the Mount of Olives.  (You can kind of see the cemetery behind him.)

All street signs in Israel are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.  As you can see in this picture, that made for some very long signs!  I enjoyed knowing where I was going, though!  In general, it's very easy to get around Israel if you speak English, because it seems like everyone at least understood the basics.  We've found that in Germany (and Europe in general), it's common to find the younger generations speaking English fluently.  But you still encounter people who either speak no English, or get upset if you try to speak to them in English.  Israel was completely different.  People are willing and able to speak English, regardless of their generation.  I didn't feel uncomfortable going into a store and speaking English from the start. (In Germany, I always ask first if they speak English, instead of assuming.  People respond better.)

One last thing to document in photos: all the walking!  Below is a typical road in Jerusalem.  If you look closely, you can see all the steps going up.  (There are also little ramps so they can push carts around.)  The incline is slight, so it's a bit deceiving for the body.  It took its toll, though.  Where possible, we tried to walk in the shade, but that came and went as well.  

After our tour to the Dead Sea, our tour bus dropped us off about 30 minutes from our hotel, and we decided to walk home.  Up hill.  Can you see my red face??  Hyrum loved it, though, and kept doing sprints up the hill before walking back to join me.  After that, I did not feel guilty making him carry both backpacks.

Around Jerusalem [part 2]

Simply walking around the streets of Jerusalem provides decent entertainment.  There are store-fronts everywhere--from hole-in-the-wall restaurants, to electronics stores, to olive wood shops.  Additionally, several streets are specifically designed as markets.  There is no shortage of souvenir shopping.  We made a few purchases, including a table runner (see Hyrum bargaining for it below), an olive wood nativity, and a sheep for baby Suarez.  (Hyrum has a soft heart, and just couldn't resist.)  Everything requires bargaining, and some shop owners are not fun to deal with.  I'm sure its all part of their act, but when they ask me what I'm willing to pay for something, and I give them a number, I hate getting harassed.  "Lady, you're crazy. Do you know how much this is worth?  I lose money.  You don't find it anywhere for that price.  What are you really willing to pay??"  For me, an offer is just that: an offer.  They can take it or leave it.  The sad story for them is that at the end of the day, their products aren't worth that much to me.  I don't need much more souvenir memorabilia in my house.  So if the price is right, I buy.  If its not, I keep walking.  [Maybe its surprising we got the amount of souvenirs that we did!]

After an afternoon of shopping, I was ready to get away from the huge crowds of people.  We headed south towards Mount Zion, south of walled-Jerusalem.  We could see on our map where the Tomb of David and the Upper Room were supposed to be, but actually finding the buildings was a bit tricky.  Streets are not labeled well.  Or they're labeled in a language different than the map.  And many of the streets looked like the one below-- no identifying buildings or landmarks.  Just tall walls.  

Eventually we did find a doorway, and saw tourist-looking-people inside, so we went in.  We saw some signs that said "King David's Tomb."  We wandered around the building until we found this, which is apparently the tomb.  (Not too exciting, if you ask me.)  

While we explored the building to see if we mis-identified the tomb location, we saw signs pointing to the upper room. So up a little staircase we went, and found this old, empty room.  Pretty architecture, but nothing too historically impressive.  And apparently this is where "The Last Supper" was held.  Except this building didn't exist.  So maybe in another building on the same location...

In general, I didn't find the Mount Zion area to be very pretty.  It seems like a lot of houses, just plain and square.  Everything is the same color gray/white/tan, so it blends together with the desert landscape to look pretty blah. 

 I'll contrast that with the bright colors we found at the temple mount.  Historically, it's the site of Solomon's temple, as well as the temple that stood during Christ's time.  After that was destroyed, not much was done with the area until the building of the Dome of the Rock in 691 AD as an Islamic shrine.  Basically, the temple mount is a big open concrete area with a few buildings (and fewer trees) interspersed.  The Dome of the Rock is right in the middle.  On one end is a mosque--the main place for Muslims to worship in Jerusalem.  Groups of 5-10 gather all around the plaza in what looks like small Sunday School classes--they sit in plastic chairs in the shade with their scriptures open.

This gives you an idea for how open the Temple Mount is. 

    The Dome of the Rock and a few other buildings have beautiful tile work on all outer surfaces.  It was beautiful!  It's a welcome source of color in a predominantly gray/brown city.  

 

One place we hadn't planned to visit, but stumbled across accidentally, was the Pool of Bethesda.  I assumed it would just be another church that marked the spot where Jesus healed the invalid. The first time we walked by, it was closed, so we just saw a sign on the wall. Fortunately, we passed it again a few days later and decided to go in. In addition to a church (St Anne's) there is a large network of pools and ruins that you can explore.  I'll be honest, I sat in the shade most of the time while Hyrum explored.  He was happy. I was happy.  Win-win.

We also encountered ancient ruins at the City of David, over by Mount Zion (south of the Jerusalem wall.)  Historically, it is where King David established the capital in Jerusalem, and was the main area inside the wall.  Similar to the Pool of Bethesda, I mostly sat and waited while Hyrum explored.  Again... win-win.  The main attraction is the walk through Hezekiah's tunnel (an aqueduct from the time of Hezekiah).  Below you can see people getting out of the tunnel at the very end---they're all wet!  And possibly those are ruins from King David's palace... who knows.

Me with David's harp.  (The ORIGINAL! kidding...)  And Hyrum in a narrow passageway.