October 2, 2007

October 2, 2007
Ashley Marie Eskelsen
The morning seemed like the normal routine day that most of us have become acquainted with so easily at the center. For me, a class of Arabic, followed by Old Testament with Brother Ludlow, and Ancient Near Eastern Studies with Brother Huntington. However, most of us wouldn't be very happy because each of us subconsciously dreaded this day. There would be no exploring today. Nor would there most likely be any leisure. Today would be a very long day. Not only did we have four classes spread throughout the day, we also had A LOT of homework to catch up on from getting home from
Egypt. To make it even more interesting, many committees were scheduled to have meetings. Additionally, choir practice was scheduled later that night. When it rains, it definitely pours. Though this wasn't an extremely packed day, most of us felt a bit overwhelmed at the thought of having such a long day because most of us were finally facing some of the effects of Egypt. Not only did we feel sleep deprived and unhealthy from the lack of vegetables and fruits in Egypt, most of us were also physically exhausted from the hike up Mount Sinai. "Today is definitely going to be a LONG day," was echoed and voiced amongst my roommates as I got ready for the day.
As I slowly trudged up the stairs to the Oasis, I was greeted by the warm, loving smile of Sister Lee. After smiling back, I walked into the serving area and took a deep breath knowing full-well how tired and exhausted I felt. "Just one day, that's all it's going to be," I thought as I picked up my tray to get my food. As I walked though the line, my heart skipped an excited beat. There were muffins today, and not only were there muffins, there was vanilla and chocolate sauce to go on top of them. Additionally, my favorite yogurt hadn't run out yet. Maybe today was going to be a good day after all. It may be long, but it was going to be good.
The morning went as expected. Though I felt very tired, and had to put an extra effort forth to staying awake, I had finally made it throughout all my classes. Now the trick would be to get all my homework done for Dr. Musallam's class. Then the announcements came. Brother Huntington announced that Dr. Musallam would NOT be able to teach our lecture later that night. He explained that since he lives in the West Bank, he needs a monthly pass each time to get through all the check-points to come and teach us. Since we were in
Egypt, his monthly pass had become expired.
Though most of us were saddened to hear such awful news, a surge and wave of relief flooded the entire classroom as each person realized that he/she no longer had to get all the homework done for his class. I will admit that I was quite relieved, but was also awakened to how real the conflict between Israel and Palestine really is. It is very depressing to think that he can't just drive from Bethlehem to our center without any hassles or worries. Bethlehem isn't even that far away and yet he has to go through all that difficulty to be able to teach us. This made me realize how lucky it is to be living in America. Though we face problems of our own, I know that I can travel anywhere in the state of Idaho and I won't have to worry about such hindrances.
After announcements were made, most everyone went into the city to look and shop around. Additionally, it seems that more people participated in playing sports than usual. There seemed to be a happier feel to the atmosphere. Perhaps the cancellation of class really brightened our spirits. Perhaps we were just happy to be back in our "home" of Jerusalem. At any rate, although I woke up thinking that today was just a normal Tuesday; I found it to be a very satisfying and pleasurable day. Indeed I would take living a day like October 2 any day!