Alrighty. We have a severe lack of updates on here. It's all with good reason though! Our little group has a goal to get out of the center every single day. We've been pretty fabulous at that so far, but it means we don't have quite as much time to sit and blog...sorry! That also means none of these updates will be chronologically correct, but we do have a few things worth telling you about! 

Last week we went on an adventure to find the Room of the Last Supper. On our way through the city we came across a guy sitting on a bench, playing a hand pan (also called the hang). It was similar in a lot of ways to steel drums, but super different too. After stopping to watch for a few minutes, the musician stopped to explain his instrument to us. We talked for quite a while and learned all about his background and more details about how to play. It was great! He performed some more songs for us before we finally had to leave. We finally found the room of the Last Supper which was cool. It was very simple and not really decorated like most of the sites are, but it was interesting to see and to think about the history there. The roof  provided a gorgeous view of the city as well. We then continued our exploring and went to Dormition Abbey which is the traditional home and site of the death of Mary.

 Since it was Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles--a Jewish holiday), there was a huge gathering of people from all over the world. There were a couple times that we were able to go out and witness some of their forms of celebration.  It was quite spectacular to see a large parade of Jews from far reaching places, from China to Russia and Brazil to various countries of Europe.  It was really neat to see such a so many people who shared a common belief and culture, and how they were united under a banner of religion and a way of life.  It made me think of the unity that we have as members of the church, and how it really is a world wide organization, for the ties that bind us are just as powerful. 

After the parade, we went to  Jewish Bakery and got Hallah bread.  We had high hopes of saving it for Sabbath, but it was so good, we ended up demolishing two loaves before we got back to the center. Their breads are absolutely amazing!