new bathrooms

FINALLY!!! This is the downstairs bathroom.

This is from Nancy: Wow!! Whose house is this really? I can't believe how good it looks!!!! Thank you, Tiek construction and the Robins family for taking care of it and putting up with it after we left!
The drawers are nice and big.
I had them put the towel rack right in front of the shower so when someone gets out, they can just grab it instead of walking to it! That way the floor won't get wet also because they put up a small towel rack at the sink.

This is upstairs.

Jaffa

A few weeks ago, Kent and I had the chance to go to Jaffa and visit. One of our faculty members is friends with the 2 archeologists that work there. We all received an invitation to come and visit. Jaffa is an archeological site, inside a modern-day city. Not the usual setting for a tel! We took of the Center's vans and drove to Jaffa -- maybe 30-40 minutes away.

Here we are, in Jaffa. This is a lovely overlook area just for people like us. This, of course, is our fearless leader.

This is the harbor across the way from us. I could see people playing on the beach just off the picture to the right.

This is the Jaffa Museum We are standing at the top of the tel. What a view.

this is also on top of the tel.

This is one area where excavations continue. Behind me is a snack bar with tables and some SHADE!!! Ignore the white thing hanging in the front. Look up and behind -- those are bats. They've made a home inside the framework of the building. There were HUNDREDS of them in there. (Did I mention that they are bigger than any bat I've seen in orem?!

More bats. They used to store things in this space but obviously bat doo-doo isn't good for storing.

The only thing I didn't like about the roof-top work shop was the smell from the bats. I guess you'd get used to it. But, this is where they bring their finds from the dig and examine, label etc. them. They have really cool machines that take lazer pictures of the piece and turn it into a 3-dimentional picture that they can flip around and see all the sides on the computer screen. They have a microscope that can help them read tiny markings or see faded colors etc. Pretty amazing. Kent, of course, brought home more pot shards!

These are our 2 faculty members and the archeologists.

This is their view from their work shop! Pretty awesome, huh?! This is the site where they found a gate built for Rameses. Remember that this site is surrounded by a city.

This is the actual gate, preserved in the museum. The museum is very small and you can tell not abundantly blessed with the money to really present things as they would like to.

I took a picture of what I like -- pottery. Kent took a million of everything else! :) These were found here in Jaffa.

This is an ancient fountain that sits beside a busy street in Jaffa. The ancient and the modern live all mixed together.


Sorry -- somehow I deleted this picture and I can't put it back in this very spot.

Look at this beautiful flowering bush, growing up the building! Minaret and the dome of a mosque in Jaffa. The red signs with the white line -- "Do not enter"

Shops along the street

A walkway among the streets

Following the folks to lunch.

We were on our way to lunch here. Clock tower in the center of Jaffa.

Looking at the street from the restaurant where we ate lunch.

I finally got to have my falafel!!! From left around the table: The little hat is Jacob Muhlestein (he's 3), Julianne Muhlestein, Kerry Muhlestein (one of the faculty), the archeologists who showed us the sights, whose names I can't remember any more! Frank Judd (faculty) and a little bit of Kent!

AND HERE IS MY FIRST FALAFEL OF 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

More of the building

This is where I do laundry -- it is right down the hall from our apartment. Very convenient! It will be tricky now, though, because we have 4 couples and 2 families with a total of 11 kids that will all be using it. We may have to set up a schedule!! This is my office -- my home away from home [away from home]. We have a field trip tomorrow, so this morning I printed out faculty names to put in the buses, sent an email to faculty/staff who will be going, to remind them of time and what they need to bring, and made reminder posters to hang at each level for the students. I also had one of the faculty come in this morning who would like to take part of his family on the Egypt trip that begins in a couple of weeks. I need to check with those who schedule rooms/make passport lists etc. and the money guy to see if I can change the numbers at this point.
That is what I do. Plus Primary -- I'm trying to get it staffed! I'm busy.

This is a lovely fountain that is on the 6th level. This picture is taken from level 7, as you can probably tell. There used to be quite an ugly fountain here -- this is nice change! Plus, I love the sound of a fountain.

This is one of many mosaics, that have been discovered here in Jerusalem and lent to us to display in the Center. They hang over most entrances and across large areas.

This is the same mosaic in it's grouping. It runs along the wall over the staircase going up to the 7th level.

This is the administrative offices, also on the 7th level. We have 3 assistants who sit in the front here. A Palestinian Muslim, Malak Sharaf, an Israeli Jew, Yasmin Confino, and another Palestinian who just began working here, Mona Hamuri.

Surrounding this area are offices for the faculty, our finance guy, Ghalib, our Director, Eran Hayet (Jew), our associate director over security and travel, Tawfic Alawi (Palestinian Christian), and :


the Associate Director over academics, Kent. This is his office.

This is what he DOES in his office! :)

Going up to the 8th level -- This is the Upper Auditorium where concerts are held and where we have Sacrament meeting. Yesterday was our Sabbath and Kent was made the Elders' Quorum President and we also got a new Branch Presidency.

This is the view we get to look at as we have Sacrament meeting.