Orange you lovely!

I think I've fallen in love, and I don't care who knows!  Meet....

MY ORANGE!!!

Isn't he beautiful.  Ahkmed in the kitchen knows how i love my oranges, so today when I entered the Oaysis cafeteria I was surprised with this beautiful baby sized orange.  Gotta love Ahkmed.  And yes, me and Emily are swooning at this child-sized orange because of just how dang beautiful he is! I'm not quite sure if anyone truly feels the same way I do about this orange, but his juicy goodness just made my day after a long 4 hour block of classes.

So I wouldn't be doing this program justice if I didn't mention some of the amazing field trips our faculty takes us on every week.  Here's a little snap shot!

This is Tel Beersheva

We got to walk around all of the excavations done here and at a few other sites, but I just thought this was an amazing overlook shot of all it.

Now I know I mentioned that we just got back from Egypt this past sunday, and I showed you a few pictures, but after learning about all of these things last semester in humanities201, it was truly amazing being there in real life! We got to see, touch, and even go inside them!!!

Me and Megan inside the tomb of the Menkaura pyramid!

Yes, it wasn't especially glamorous inside, especially since it was about 200 degrees and stuffier than you can imagine, but we got to see the inside of these magnificent creations to house the kings of Egypt after their deaths! And it was a site...and smell I'll never forget!

 Aren't these the cutest boys you've ever seen!?!..plus our tour guide Islam :)  These are some of the men I am lucky enough to travel with for the remainder of my trip.  And they are pretty much the best group of guys ever and awesome in all aspects, if you couldn't already tell from their beautiful faces.

And here's one of my favorite boys!!!

Joshua and I at Chefren's pyramid

Me and Joshua met for the first time at the airport, and ever since then we've been inseparable! hahahaha no I'm totally kidding about the inseparable part, but he has been such an awesome friend to me, and I'm so happy to have him here with me to share this incredible experience.

 yup, love at first sight! haha, but who couldn't love his adorable face...he truly is incapable of smiling.  Don't worry, me and many of us girls here have tried to teach him...but we always end up failing.  One day, it'll happen.  Every day we get closer, I can feel it!

And when you think of Egypt, of course you think of...the Great Sphinx at Giza! (yes, another question on our humanities tests..but I got this one right this time!)

Nathaniel and I at the Great Sphinx

Romance in Egypt

yes that's me kissing the Sphinx.  Sorry guys, but I guess I'm taken for a bit ;)

After we left Cairo/Giza, we flew off to Luxor for a couple days where we got to do so much! We took Felucca sailboat rides down the Nile, road camels through the streets, took carriage rides old-school style, and we visited many sites like the Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple.  When you think of temples, well at least when I do, I normally picture a magnificent building that is pure and white.  These temples were no less magnificent, but just in different ways.  The creativity and the skill that went behind just designing these masterpieces is seriously unfathomable.  And the crazy part about these buildings too was that the bright colors survived all this time! We could still clearly see the remnants of the bright colors that once fully adorned these columns and walls.  Though, these temples date back thousands of years, their beauty is undeniable. 

At the Karnak Temple in Luxor

And just so you all get an idea of how nice BYU is to us students...here is where our hotel was in Luxor...

sunset on the Nile

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful hotel (the Sheraton) right on the Nile River.  Probably one of the most beautiful sites I've seen.  Yes, I am one spoiled girl, and I am loving every moment of it!!!

Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year to you all!!!!!!!!!!!