Back "Home"

Dear Friends, I have returned home. Not home to the America, but home to the Holy Land--the part on the other side of the river. After gazing across to Israel for the past two months, I have finally returned to the land of my forefathers. :) (Ok, sorry, I will stop the Zionist talk now. But I really do feel like I have come home.)

One year and two months later, not much has changed in the thousands year old city of Jerusalem. Except now I can understand the Arabic. It is really exciting to walk around the streets and know what people are saying. Plus, my ability to read Hebrew totaly gives me an advantage. :)

We are going to all of the same places to which I have already been, and it is fun to know everything (yes, clearly as an ANES major who lived here last year I know everything about every site :) and to experience it all again. And in two more months, my parents come over, and I will give them a tour of my places of residence in the last year and a half. (If anyone ever wants a tour of Provo, just let me know.)

Special experiences so far? Many people remembered me. I walked into my hotel and saw Omar, the olive wood carver. I got to know him pretty well last year, so I walked up to him and asked "do you remember me?" Except this time, it was in Arabic. And you know what? He did! And at the Jerusalem Center, the guards at the front recognized me when I walked in, and the Huntingtons (who were over with my group as a professor/wife) were there, as well as my friend Besan from Ramallah (who was at BYU this past year) and a few other people I recognized. And about 10 girls from Women's Chorus who are students at the Jerusalem Center this term, all of whom recognized me. I guess I forget what a small world BYU is.

Finally, (and here I may be bordering on Zionist talk, but it doesn't count because I study Arabic, right?) I really do feel like this land flows in my blood. As much as I was loving Jordan, this land feels like home. And it did from the first day I arrived. And I am pretty sure that every time I come to Jerusalem, I will be coming home.