The Baja!

January 7, 2013 Weather Forecast

BOISE: snow. cold. awful. maaaaaaaaaaaybe 4 degrees F

CABO SAN LUCAS: sunshine. warm. a lofty 72 degrees F

snow starts to fall as our plane lifts off....bu-bye Idaho, 

HELLOOOOO Mexico!!!!!

on a week-long trip with my roomies. could you ask for a better trip??

weather = tropical. perfection.

car = 2013 jeep wrangler. epic.

lodgings = el zalate. luxurious.

company = fun, flirty, and fabulous!

everyone needs a shot of Cabo Karma now and then. 

so take a look, enjoy, and book your flight to this wondrous land!

kathy taught us quite a bit while we were there.... 

first stop: CABO WABO CANTINA

home of sammy hagar. the red rocker. vocalist in van halen. now....he owns cabo wabo cantina!!

Cabo Wabo Cantina:
where the world comes to party!

kathy introduced us to worthwhile seafood in the baja...

we are so silly.

she introduced us to fresh baked bread at MEGA.
DELISH

she bought us margaritas! sin alcohol of course :)

she introduced us to real spanish culture.

she even convinced us to go jet skiing. not that it took much convincing ;)

she took us to the 

One and Only Palmilla

hotel to celebrities and richies

and bought us drinks...

only $12 a glass.

but hey, we rode in on a golf cart after the valets parked our jeep...

and best of all....

 

 she showed us the power of the eagles. 

and hotel california!!

and you can't go to cabo without spending a little time on the beach!

i'd only wish for one thing

my harm :)

 but seriously, best. trip. ever. i love these women! they are absolutely the greatest roomies i could ever ask for! i love you both so much, and hope that we have many more adventures together!!!

my advice? 

STOP.

"Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight." 

Elder Gordon B. Hinckley

Türkiye

i'm home from turkey! no, i did not eat any turkey while i was there, but i had my share of eggplant goulash, meatballs of all sorts, desserts saturated in syrup, lentil soup, and bread to last a lifetime! some more delicious investments on my part where the baklava and goat milk ice cream....here's my pistachio baklava. delishhhhhhh!

but aside from the food...turkey is AWESOME! i mean REALLY AWESOME! i couldn't have asked to go anywhere better! we visited sites from the pauline epistles as well as several of the cities that john writes to in the book of revelation. 

we began in istanbul...

with a boat ride up the bosphorus straight :)

 topkapi palace!

 a beautiful istanbul sunset :)

and on to troy.... 

 where hector was supposedly killed....we can't always keep it g rated here...

THE trojan horse! ok maybe it's not completely authentic...

 and assos. favorite. 

during paul's missions he would have travelled through troy as well as assos, miletus, and ephesus...sites that we were able to stop at on our trip!

but on to pergamon! 

john the revelator wrote to the people of pergamon in rev. 2:12-16 

and ephesus. oh ephesus.

 another site of paul's ministry! 

 the library at ephesus...don't we look studious???

"We are the muses.

Goddesses of the arts

and proclaimers of heroes. 

Heroes like Hercules.

Honey, you mean HUNKules!"

john wrote to the people of ephesus as well in rev. 2:1-6 

paul spent three years ministering to the people here in ephesus, and he would have been in that very theater.  we even re-enacted acts 19....quite entertaining. what with evil spirits, exorcists, and an angry mob you can imagine the raucous we caused! 

church of st. john the beloved...and his grave................... :P

now for priene! so beautiful!

sardis.

 also one of the cities john mentions in revelation.

 the gymnasium at sardis... i work out! 

so does camila!

and our tour guide fatih!

karen and i were about to jump ship while on our way back to istanbul...but brother jackson caught us. lame!

istanbul one final time!!!!

in front of the hagia sophia with blake!

i swirled my finger all the way around...14 years of good luck! 

 and the blue mosque!

many pictures...i know...and i could have posted so many more you know... but turkey is just plain amazing! the history here is incredibly. not only is it rich in WORLD history, but also the history of the gospel of Jesus Christ. and i am so grateful to be able to increase my testimony as i travel throughout this land. He is teaching me....so much. 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him...

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God...

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

1 Corinthians 2:9-13

one week already??

so. so. much. i don't know how jess ever did it! or anyone for that matter.... i feel like there is simply TOO MUCH that happens, i can never possibly write it all down! i will do my best to give you the best snapshot that i can! here it goes!

i cannot describe the culture here. it is so incredibly diverse. one moment i am trekking through damascus gate and into the muslim quarter, where i buy a delicious falafel at eddy's. i pass by shaban and grab some juice, and nacer takes me upstairs to show me his "secret stash" for us mormons. the shop owners LOVE the mormon students! ...there's trash littered everywhere... each store owner tries convincing me to buy his sandles, or his spices, or his scarves, or his carvings, or his...whatever! 

if i enter west jerusalem the scence completely changes! it's clean, and i can see jews in their complete clothing ensemble walking up and down streets all over! from arabic to hebrew, from one culture to another, it's a complete change! it's amazing to me that such a place exists, and that i get to experience it firsthand for the next 3 and a half months! 

i'm taking my time...trying to get a feel for the city. i'm beginning to get a hang of the streets and such, and i have even tried to get to know the locals! ahhh i have a feeling it will all pass too quickly... 

but to keep you entertained, i thought i'd add some pictures, as usual :)

the ramparts...climbing up and down the old city walls. this gave us a chance to see the old city from a different view...each quarter is SO different. it really is amazing. i loved passing the citrus trees in the christian quarter...smelled so good! i felt i had traveled back to medieval times, like maybe i could be a guard at the gate! four o'clock and aaaaall's weeeeell! 

 view from up on the ramparts! see all the wall in the background?

 the western wall! the most accessible point of the remaining temple of solomon...the most sacred place for the jews. i definitely want to write a prayer to shove into one of the cracks!

 still on the ramparts, but an amazing view of the dome of the rock! beautiful!

oh little town of bethlehem! 

an old army bunker! this is right before a nice gust of wind decided to have a sense of humor and blow my skirt up in the air!!!

this ridge was could have very easily been where abraham came to mt. moriah to sacrifice isaac, as he was coming from the south. (genesis 22:4) "on the third day, abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off." 

a monastery built where samuel the prophet was supposedly born and buried.... nabi samwil

jerusalem. the center of the universe!

may possibly have been the most delicious thing of my life. besides the frasier in france hayley :)

banana boom pancake...HOLY YUM.

joseph of arimathea's grave at the church of the holy seplechre.... in a dark little cave, dwight and i were a wee bit frightened!

pretty sure they are my favorite :)

in zedekiah's cave...you can see the pillars from the second temple of solomon

we have a "make funny faces in every picture" club....for the cool kids. 

apparently we are supposed to be owls??

my two new best friends...nabeel who wrapped my head in a scarf--jeru style! 

and joe. you're the best, end of story :)

now if i can only stay afloat in my classes.....it's so hard with a city SO AMAZING right at my doorstep! 
and to say no to volleyball every night....
with that, i say good night!