Happy Happy Joy Joy (Repeat)

(Written on Tuesday the 6th of November, 2007)
I woke up today and it was windy. I could hear the leaves rustling outside my window. Oh MAN have I missed noise from outside. It's so noisy outside in the Middle East, but the plant life doesn't feel the same. In Jerusalem especially it feels kinda still--which is probably just because there is so much rock. No, I'm sure that's why. The rest of Israel is very much alive--it's just Jerusalem that feels like it's made of stone. AHA! No, I've got it. It isn't still... it's just like a deep lake when all the water flow is churning deep under, but the surface is still. That's what its like. Nevermind. I'm babbling.

I woke up knowing that I had a final in Old Testament. YIKES. But oddly, I woke up with the most inspiring feeling--that it didn't matter. Isn't that great? I love my nonchalance with these things. I was so chipper. I said good morning to everyone, I ate breakfast with relish, I enjoyed life. (I especially enjoyed the breeze when I stepped outside my apartment, because feeling the air stirring about me was ever so delicious.) I was having a great time. I reviewed my notes, went over some last-minute-things.

I did okay on the test. Multiple-choice/matching/essay. On the mutliples & matchings I bet I did fine, and I think I scraped by on the essay. So I'm good--I hope. If I could go back in time, would I study more? Would I have taken more notes? No. I'd be about the same. (Though I wish I had paid more attention when I was doing my homework...I'd have learned more on the whole, but it still wouldn't have affected my test score.) No, if I could go back in time, I would have scrunched in a way to pass my cleaning check. I'd have had to do it all by myself again, but what's so terrible about that?

I am embarrassed that I've miffed my cleaning check. The floor wasn't vacuumed, the sinks weren't washed, the toilet hadn't been scrubbed, and things. I did wash the tooth-paste spots off the mirror, and all the beds were made and the clutter was gone. The Lee's were lenient; they only docked us 1/2 of gig... which is ridiculous, we should have lost 4 or 5. (Maybe being her favorite student counts for something after all. Just kidding.) I talked to Sis. Lee about it at lunch, and she said, "No, no, you didn't fail, you passed. You just didn't pass with flying colors, so you didn't get candy."

So somehow I squeaked past. But I'm rather ashamed that I couldn't just scrub a sink, toilet, and vacuum a floor. I really could have done that the night before, you know? But therein lies the problem. Nobody believed our final would actually last the full two hours. It was matching and multiple choice--that lasted half an hour. However, I should not have underestimated the power of Ludlow's ability to assign thought-requiring essay questions.
One essay for one page, and a second for at least two pages. Whew. The first one I chose (from one of two options) was more of a chart than an essay; name the ten commandments and each of the following under each: an eternal principle of that commandment, a modern application, and how the commandment helped the ancient Israelites become a more zion-like people. That was pretty self-explanatory and I knew more about it. The second was longer, and required more planning. I scribbled a quick outline and started scribbling. (You know how when you're writing an essay and you start to run out of room, so your usual penmanship starts shrinking and the last sentence is microscopic and possibly running up the side of the page for space? This one ended up being like that.) #2: How do the books of the Old Testament, the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets, provide a spiritual "temple for the soul," and how will your understanding of them influence your future study and teaching of the scriptures, both Old and New Testament? (what a long sentence!) I went through each section--law, writings, and prophets, and said stuff about them all. I checked my score over Bro. Ludlow's shoulder, and like I said I got a 95%, so at least on the essay section I've done pretty well.

It looked like rain, and with my hacking cough I didn't want to get stuck outside, so I stayed in all afternoon watching movies and working on finishing my blog for Egypt. And of course, trying desperately to stop coughing. I've gotten whiplash in my neck from coughing all the time and it's really starting to annoy.

Later that night I was going to bed. now this is going to be hard to explain, but try TRY to imagine it. The Jerusalem Center is terraced, right? Built on the side of Mt. Scopus. There are eight different floors, (eight is at the top, one is at the bottom, but you ENTER at the top...cause it's the top of the hill...yeah.) The fifth--second floors are residential, the 6-7th are the classrooms and cafeteria, and the eighth floor is really just a hallway attaching the library, auditorium, public restrooms, and reception hall. The hallway to the apartments is open air, with occasional roof cover. This means that when you are in the body of the center, you open the hallway to go to your room and a gust of fresh air hits you... and rain, if it's raining (which hasn't happened yet,) and there are leaves on the ground, and trees in front of your porch, etc. If it doesn't make sense, I can't clarify--I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say, and I'm tired of typing...if you want me to finish this post, don't ask any more questions. MY POINT, ladies and gentlemen, is that I walked outside and it was COLD!

Yes! YEHSSSSSS! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. FINALLY, it was cold outside. Ahhhhh. And there were clouds. And the stars were out. Hee hee hee hee. Those of you who know me know that with these conditions I did NOT end up going to bed straight away. I went to my room, dropped off my stuff, grabbed a water bottle and climbed back to the observatory deck on level 7 (my room is on level 4, ) and I was outside for over an hour. Hooray! Hooray for secutiry controlled conditions that let Rachel be outside after dark on a beautiful grassy platform with 20ft limestone arches, and the lay of lit-up Jerusalem within view. Oh, it is ever so nice. Especially when it was like last night.

Billowing clouds were moving fast, lit an oddly rosy-orange by the city lights below. A brisky breeze ruffled my skirt and blew wisps of hair in my eyes. I loved it. I cheered, I ran a weave through the pillars of the center, I raised my arms above my head and spun whirls across the grass, I gulped in great gasps of chilly air, and I stared in amazement at the lovely sights. The city looked so warm under the pink clouds and the glowing lights. I watched Orion (to whom I've developed an attachment... I like to say he's my boyfriend, but it's a long distance relationship and I only see him half of the year...and yes, I know they have psychiatrists for this kind of complex.) I watched all the stars drift, and I remembered the words of Tennyson: "my purpose holds; to sail beyond the sunset and the baths of all the western stars until I die." And I laughed at myself--at how corny I am--very much like Anne of Green Gables reciting the Lady of Shallot when she wanders through the forest, and I looked up at the stars and thought again of how fabulous it is.

I have often found solace in nature. Nothing cheers my heart faster than a cool breeze on my cheek, or sunlight on autumn leaves. Daffodils, rain, thick green grass, blooms on a hawthorn tree, and the chanting of pines in the wind--all these things bring me the same joy as "raindrops on roses," and "brown paper packages tied up with string." Because for me it is "simply remember[ing] my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad--" the nature is refreshing, and joyous.

And so it doesn't feel corny for me to cheer "yahoo!" and run around laughing in the wind under the stars. (I do it all the time.)

And I did make it into bed...and only one hour after I had set out to before. : D

Shalom! --R

P.S. I found out yesterday (the ninth) that I got a 90% on my Old Testament final. Better than I thought I'd do. I was most proud because (not because that morning I had tied my shoes all by myself [hoping that Alicia at least gets the Sesame reference]) but I was proud because I got a PERFECT score on my long essay. Hahahaha. ahahaha. HAhahahhaaha. Tee hee. Hmm.