Passover break

A few updates. We just finished passover break yesterday. Shawn had over two weeks off! A lot happened   though: broken laptop, rented car, bought new laptop, traveled with car to Capernaum, Hazor, Megiddo, Akko, Mt. Gerizim for the Samaritan passover sacrifice, and Tel Arad to see another Israelite temple. Then after we took the car back, there was Easter, Si's birthday, and a trip to Bethlehem.

Shawn is gearing up for some presentations, papers and finals. I believe he has about 5 weeks left in this semester. Shawn will be taking the first summer session of Hebrew again this year so that has us leaving Jerusalem the last week of July. Coming soon! I'm starting to get rid of some things now because we will be housesitting our last few weeks here.

Please pray for us! Shawn has an extra long to do list (he has all year!) and we all have a lot of transition coming this summer. Also, we keep talking about where we are going to live this fall and we haven't made many plans. Applying for jobs, etc, but no good leads yet. For a while we were thinking seriously about moving to CA (and start to take classes and then apply at UCLA) but right now that doesn't look like the best option.

More photos to follow...at some point. :)

Weekend

Shawn did decently on the GRE. He is pleased with the scores he saw and may be satisfied enough to not schedule another try at it this fall. Yay! The weekend with the rental car was fun and stressful. I'll post pictures and tell you all about Israeli/Tel Aviv traffic...soon.

We love the GRE

We can't get enough of the Graduate Record Exam. That's why Shawn likes to take it so often. For around $100 you get four hours of heart pounding fun! See how many questions you can get right. Play with words, numbers, and then some writing! Then there's the anticipation of waiting to find out your score a few weeks later. Love it.

Yeah...no. But take it, he must, to get a better score. Some of the PhD programs Shawn is applying for (this fall) have a minimum score requirement. So the pressure is on if he doesn't want his application to be automatically thrown out.  So he's scheduled to take the test tomorrow morning at 8am in Tel Aviv. This afternoon we are renting a car and tonight we will drive the route he'll take in the morning. We think he'll have a better morning if he drives himself instead of taking a bus. Plus, we get a car for the weekend to celebrate! I am planning to meet Shawn after his test to go swimming. Si will be home with a couple of good friends so we get a Tel Aviv date.

Please pray for him!

Until next time - cheesy post, but heartfelt

Jerusalem is such a short term place for many groups of people. NGO workers, students, international employees. You meet someone for the first time and ask, "how long have you been here?...Two years? Wow!" Impressive. Because life is kind of just weird here. Lots of diverse groups. Three big religions.

Racism. Crazy bus drivers. Pricey meat. Dusty heat. Pushing and yelling just to get what you need (normal customer service). Its not an easy place to live.

Lots of folks don't live here long for one reason or another. We've been saying goodbye to many friends lately. Its that time of year, and its the nature of graduate school. Most of our departing friends are students and either done with the semester or have finished with the university. Our canned goods are overflowing, I have a lava lamp to give away, almost a whole new wardrobe, and I have enough ziplock bags to last me well into the next year. Thankful for the gifts! But I am sad to see them go. I am excited for them, of course. Grand plans await them on the other side of the world - Yet my world will be a little less bright for a time because they've left.

Summer 2010

(ignore the bedhead)

 We're missing a picture of Shawn and Si on his first Father's day! Bummer.


This week marks Si's eight week birthday and the one year (actually 51 weeks) anniversary of our move to Jerusalem. That means that the one month "Jerusalem" Ulpan starts at the university today. Shawn is taking both the Jerusalem ulpan and the regular summer ulpan (the one that starts in August).

  Obviously, Shawn has a busy summer ahead of him! The Jerusalem ulpan schedule is Sun-Thurs from 0830 to 1330 (except for Sun starts at 0930). There is a Biblical Hebrew exam on Thursday and he also has a few papers to write. Here in Israel, class papers are actually due after the semester ends. Strange, and some professors are more relaxed about the deadline than others. Is it any wonder that there are folks with their papers unwritten...years later? Degrees. Who needs them. Well, Shawn does. 

To celebrate the *almost* end of semester for Shawn, we are going to shop at the Book Gallery for yet another Hebrew dictionary and eat Ethiopian tonight. Our friend Adam showed us this restaurant a couple of weeks ago. Its fairly cheap, tasty as all get out, and friendly!  The dishes come with a small bowl of whatever dish you ordered (a beef, chicken, or veggie choice) and served with a flat bread, that to me, looked gray. Adam explained that the bread "expands in your stomach" and he was right. You don't need that much to be full. This was my first experience with Ethiopian food. Is this pretty usual? Grace, what do you think? Gray sponge-y bread? 

We are also upon the dreaded Jerusalem summer. Today is a little unusual with the intensity of the heat, but we will be in the mid-90s and as high as 98. Its also really windy. I am not venturing out until at least 1700. By the way, did I ever tell you about how we talk about the time here? From what I understand, Europe and Israel write 0800, 1300, 1400, etc, but say eight in the morning, one in the afternoon, 2 in the afternoon. Correct me if I am wrong. 


Anyway! Time for another feeding!

eight weeks

Update: Way too windy for us girls to go out today. Shawn may enjoy his bookstore though!

Spring Semester

Shawn is already in the fourth week of his spring semester. While he is no longer taking Arabic due to a time conflict with a Hebrew class, his class load happens to be just as full (if not more) as last semester. Shawn's classes that continue from last semester:

Modern Hebrew
Second year Akkadian
Third year Biblical Hebrew
Jews and Late Babylonian Civilization

New this semester:

Cuneiform in Canaan
Humor in the Bible

Also, he's auditing an Iconography class as well as interning at the Bible Lands Museum library twice a week.  He's doing well so far! Though the university's library hours and holdings continue to disappoint, the professors and lectures do not.

In just two weeks we get a Passover (or Pesach as they say here) break - two weeks long! One of the nice things about this break is the timing. I reach the 37th week of pregnancy (considered full term at that point) just a few days before the break starts. But even if she doesn't come during the break, it will be a nice slow time for the both of us before she makes her appearance. Looking forward to it!

The Background to the Bible

I was a Teaching Assistant to Dr. John H. Walton at my time at Wheaton. He is a great professor and teacher as well as mentor. While I was at Wheaton, he made a big impression in the way I thought about scholarship and the church, and how to go about doing it. While I was working for him, he was making the finishing touches on a five volume commentary series published by Zondervan. The series is out now, and it looks beautiful! It has all kinds of wonderful pictures and is really good at dealing with the cultural context in which the Bible was written and what the people who originally heard the text would have thought about it.

We live in a very different world from the ancient Near East, and often we don't understand what the Old Testament is all about. This is exactly where this commentary will come into use. It helps to explain and show what the world of the Bible was really like. And with all the pictures in it, who could pass it up?

You should all buy a copy just for the beautiful pictures, but don't take my word for it, you can preview (for the next month) one of the books on Scribd. Here is the book of Daniel. Even if you don't really think you can slog through a commentary, if you have ever wondered what exactly I want to do, you should read the introductory essay by John Walton "Methodology: An Introductory Essay."

And if you need more of an incentive you should watch the following videos:



On a more serious note you should also watch this video:


So in summary, you need to watch the videos and then look through the commentary on Daniel in the series (once again found here) and then read the introductory essay on methodology.
(On page 539 there is a beautiful picture of the East India House inscription and I read portions of it this semester, and will read the rest of it next semester!)

Tidbits

We've had a busy August and September (at least Shawn has) with Hebrew class. He has had a lot of homework and new vocab to work on memorizing. A few things we've done besides Hebrew:

• Visited with new friends

From Sept

This our friend David from California. Chances are he'll be here as long as we are here. The past couple of weeks we've been going to the same church service on Friday nights.

• Went to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo (the Gan Chiot)

From Zoo

From Zoo

From Zoo

From Zoo

From Zoo

From Zoo

From Zoo

Shawn went with his class this last week, but I went these guys (plus their baby brother George and Mom Winona):

From Zoo

From Zoo

From Zoo

Samuel and Elly

From Zoo

Samuel learning to roll down hill.

• Read signs in two languages, but here are some English ones
  

From Sept

From Sept

These people have recently been made cheerful.

What's next? Shawn starts his fall classes on Oct. 18th and he'll have a good sized load including Akkadian, Literary Arabic, Biblical Hebrew, and continuing Modern Hebrew among others I can't remember at the moment. I'll start my intensive Modern Hebrew class on Oct. 19th and continue babysitting a few times a month.

Distracted by Food and Markets

So I said that the Mount of Olives would be next, but I lied. I've decided to talk about food a little bit and share a couple of pictures from the market.

Zatar pyramid.


Nice toys. This shop was in the old city. Shawn learned a Hebrew saying the other day that was something like "eat more", "eat all that's on your plate...so you'll grow big for the Army."

And eat we have. We bought overripe figs this week. I didn't know what they were but the salesman opened one and gave it to us. It was amazingly wonderful. I was really surprised.

You eat the whole thing!

I have done a little cooking. Last night I made no bake cookies. This is the recipe that I have memorized because it has been such a regular treat in the last ten to fifteen years. I have to say though, I had never before tasted no bake cookies like the ones I made last night.

Dark and gooey!

The items that may have made the difference were the butter, cocoa, and vanilla. The package on the butter said it was dutch. The cocoa package I haven't read with a dictionary yet, but it smelled delicious.
Good vanilla. The vanilla was actually given to us by a very nice student was leaving after completing the same degree Shawn is going to be in. This gentleman and his roommate left us several dishes and pots and pans. We are very grateful and wish them the best as they BOTH start PhDs at Harvard this fall.

Shawn has a level test this Sunday. It will be a really tough one but its important that he pass because if he doesn't, he'll start from the beginning of the first level in the next Ulpan class that starts in August. Please keep him in your prayers!


Shawn, diligently memorizing vocab on the iPod Touch.

June 24

Yesterday we arrived in Tel Aviv at about 5:20am and it was such a weird day. Mostly because we hadn’t gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep on the two flights. We took a shuttle to the university and we are so incredibly thankful Shawn worked out the payment for the summer classes and housing! When we left Denver, we weren’t sure Shawn was even on the list for the first month class or that they were expecting me in the housing. I spent most of the morning being reminded of my desperate need to learn Hebrew and wondering what in the world were we doing on a different planet.

Our dorm apartment is nice. They took a two bedroom apartment and switched the twin bed and desk of one room into the other. So now we have a king sized bed (I think its hilarious that I didn’t think to bring our king sized sheets). The kitchen has two appliances: a good sized fridge and gas stove top. The apartment was just a bit dusty and only a few bugs running around or laying dead.

Today we will be shown where to do some shopping and I am really looking forward to it! We’ve met some nice students that speak English and hope to meet some more today.

The move is coming

We are officially making the move over to the other side of the world. We are busy now trying to "gift" many of our possessions that are easy to replace and that people could use. They might as well be used rather than put in storage. An international move. Two years. Its all very overwhelming most of the time and we have been talking about places and people we will miss in this home that we had finally cultivated and the community built.

We visit family in the west in less two weeks but before we go we had the opportunity to see our local Chinatown.

What to do

Right now we are deciding whether or not to take the plunge and borrow money for Shawn and I to go overseas for his next MA. He's been accepted. We'd leave in June. Pray for us.

2008

Since January we have moved to a different apartment in the same complex, turned on the air conditioning, had family visit, Shawn has graduated with his first MA, I have applied and been accepted to a Library and Information Science Program, and I have been in a wedding as a Matron of honor! We now live on the second floor instead of the first floor and we really like it. We have hard wood floors and lots more sunshine. In May, we had my sister here and then my parents for the weekend that Shawn graduated. It was so great to finally show them where we live. Shawn's graduation was surprisingly significant. We were not looking forward to it and mainly thought that it was hohum, just another graduation and only a small stepping stone on our way to the ever hoped for PhD. However, after we went to the ceremony, we realized that yes, this was quite an achievement in itself. I think it helped that he received one of three awards for Biblical Exegesis.

In January, I finally started applying to Library schools again and by April I was accepted to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They have a good online program and I can finish it entirely online. I am trying to be excited about this. I am trying to tell myself that I don't have to get A's. But I do have to have a B average to obtain the degree! I think its hard for me because I am usually either overachieving or giving up completely, so I need quit that and just aim for GOOD enough.

In the middle of May we went to Colorado for the wedding I was in and to see family and some friends. We absolutely fell in love with Golden, CO. It took great restraint to stop ourselves from applying to Starbucks and staying. But we were able to run up and down some sand dunes, visit a waterfall, see Bishop's Castle (all made by one man), and get bloody noses from the dry air. It was beautiful.

Christmas Letter 2007

Dear Friends and Family Far and Wide:

Greetings from Shawn and Beth in Chicagoland! We hope you are all keeping warm and flossing regularly. At this time, neither of us are succeeding in either. Shawn is busy writing a final paper for his Romans class, studying for a German take-home final, and finishing up three applications for further graduate work. Way to go, Shawn, keep at it! Meanwhile, Beth just finished three days worth of dishes in less than an hour! Excellent! (check out our tiny stove; there is an equally tiny oven).

We have had some great times since we moved to Wheaton a year and a half ago. For instance, we have had many a shared dinner and lively discussion with our neighbors in the apartment complex. For a while we were able to meet weekly and we hope we can start that again. We have also been able to make a few trips into the city to visit the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum, an Imax movie, an architecture walking tour (highly recommend), and one fun night at Pizzeria Uno where we waited two hours with my long time friend Lacey and her sister April. And we can't say we haven't gotten lost in the city or stuck on the wrong freeway in rush hour traffic. Ha! But those crazy times are really the best. Like when we went to an REI grand opening...for three days in a row, waiting in line to be in the first 200 (we were wearing multiple layers). Or, when we walked on the flat prairie path for eight miles - just because we wanted to get out. Or, when we watched a Wheaton soccer game in the bitter Chicago wind, "Go Thunder!... burrr." Perhaps another crazy thing we've done is make bread in the humid summer. How silly could we be. Speaking of food, Beth has learned so much about meal planning, grocery shopping, and weekday cooking in the last year! So far still to go, though, and for the times when we don't have time to cook or just want to celebrate, our most frequented restaurant is Chipotle! A long time favorite of Shawn's. But why limit ourselves to one place when we live in a city with such incredible variety? So forget the deep dish pizza or the toppings-galore hot dog, when you could have Argentine, Brazilian, British, Cajun, Cantonese, Caribbean, Cuban, Danish, French, German, Greek, Hunan, Indian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, Polish, or Vietnamese, and that is just the western suburbs. Its marvelous.
Then, with good food comes a need for a good gym. Fortunately, the college has a sports and rec center with a Pilate's class, a stretching class, an indoor track, and plenty of machines to keep one moving! Too bad we don't go there often enough.

It finally comes down to priorities. Have you been keeping warm and flossing regularly? Maybe not, and maybe like us (and our friend, Steve, here helping Shawn in the kitchen) you have gotten caught up with other pressing matters, like "what you eat and what you will wear". This Christmas and New Year we find we are reminded of what really matters: the gospel. We often forget that what we are actually celebrating this time of year is not just special birthday were everyone gets presents, but the incarnation of the Holy God.The penalty for our sin, and the condemnation of the entire world was placed upon him so that we could be reconciled to God. The reconciliation of the whole world begain at the ressurection of Christ, and will be fully consimated at his return. But this doctrine is not some abstract truth, as Christians it is our hope and reality. If we are in Christ we are a part of this New Creation. During this season, let's not forget our role as ambasodors of reconciliation in this New Creation by sharing the love that Christ showed us by taking on our sin and giving us his righteousness (see passage below!).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You!

Shawn and Beth


2 Corinthians 5:14-21

14 For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.