Travel and the First Week

This post was written over the course of several days. I was all ready to post on the first night I arrived, and then my computer died and it took me awhile to find a way to charge it again. Enjoy!

Greetings from Israel! Remember how I said it hadn't quite hit me yet while I was still in the states? Well, it hit me pretty hard as we rounded a corner on the highway and saw the Dome of the Rock back lit by a gorgeous sunset.

I have been traveling for...24 hours, accounting for time change and including a substantial layover in JFK. I am not quite sure how to best explain the trip and the juicy little tidbits I have learned so far, so I think I will just begin a list, and see where it goes. My jet lag may make this a little interesting.

I had to be at the airport at 6:15 am, so one of my new roommates picked me up at 5:15 am. I got bits of sleep on both flights, but not more than about 45 minutes or an hour at a time. When we got to JFK, I followed the group. Mistake. Nine of us ended up wandering out of the secured zone and had to go through security again. At least it killed an hour of our 5 hour layover. Another half an hour went by just walking around trying to decide where we wanted to eat. The second flight was 12 hours, enough time for a little of everything you can think to do sitting in the same position. Every time I started listened to Genesis 1-20 for class, I fell asleep. The good news is that I got a little further each time, so I almost made it to the end by about the 4^th try.

Airplane food is still pretty bad. The breakfast snack- supposedly a hot pocket type food with eggs in the middle- was completely inedible and left me queasy for the rest the afternoon.

I made it through immigration and customs without any trouble, and once I made it to the public area, two of our teachers and some support staff were there to shepherd us along.

The rest of evening was a haze of orientation, tours, and some stunning views of the city. This is a beautiful place. During our opening orientation, the regular organist was gone, so the “second string organist” filled in- Richard Elliott, the organist for the Mormon Tabernacle choir. He is here preparing for a concert celebrating the organ's 25 anniversary.

Jet lag. Oy. At the end of the first night I thought I was doing pretty well- I even stayed up until about 11:30. I got up with no more trouble than usual the next morning- which for anyone who knows me realizes that is not saying much. I did really well until we got back from our four hour walking tour of the city. It was about 2:00 and I simply could not keep my eyes open. The rest of the day was rough just because I wanted to crawl in bed and sleep, but had two significant reading assignments to do for classes. And of course every time I started to read, I fell asleep. But I got the reading done and I today I am doing better.

Interesting things I have learned so far:

It is easy to tell what kind of neighborhood you are looking at by sight- Israeli houses have red tile roofs much like California beach homes, whereas Arab houses have flat roofs with black water tanks on top.

The land is much hillier than I imagined- there are large areas of terraced gardens growing olive trees.

Many of the buildings, especially in Tel Aviv, are made of white stone- I don't know if it is marble or limestone. It makes for an impressive sight.

The dorm rooms in the Jerusalem Center open onto an outdoor patio at both the front door and back door. I suspect it will be wonderfully warm in a few weeks, but right now the last few feet to the door are pretty chilly.

Jerusalem gets as much rain as London, but it all comes November-January.

There is only one room that we will use regularly that does not have a panoramic view of the city- the Forum. It is the regular lecture hall for classes like Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Probably a good thing, or we would not pay much attention to the teacher. At least my Old Testament teacher makes good use of his view by pointing things out as they pertain to the scripture we are discussing.

The JC is very much open to the students. Only the faculty dorms and the security booth are really off limits, and most everything is open all the time.

The Old City is dirtier than I imagined. People throw wrappers all over the place.

I still have not woken up to the morning call to prayer.

Feel free to send me questions or suggestions of places to visit. I just got back from my first trip into the city with a small group, and I am excited to spend Sunday there- I think I may go to the Israeli museum.

Packing

Here's the deal. One suitcase. One carry-on. One personal item. Four months. I have repacked this same suitcase four times now, mostly because I lived out of it for the two weeks of Christmas break. And wouldn't you know it, when you move things around and take out another outfit each day, things don't go back in the same. huh.

So I had this all planned out - a backpack for a carry-on and my laptop bag as a personal item. Then, when my sister-in-law arrived for Christmas, she returned my carry-on luggage she had borrowed a few months ago to avoid paying for one too large. So I have a suitcase, which means my beloved backpack that has been at my side through the drama of high school and the rigors of college (that same backpack I once wrote an essay about for my AP English class) was put in cold storage. Literally. it is currently living in my parents unheated garage, the poor thing. Then, at Orientation today, the instructor said the personal item must be small. "Well, mine is pretty small...ish" I thought. And then it happened. The guy in front of me asked "What about a laptop bag?" The answer, of course, was "Nope. Too big." Gahhhhhhhh. And the Jerusalem Center bag is too big to be a personal item, so it has to be packed inside another suitcase! I look at it this way- more room for souvenirs on the way home, right?

I am now 6 hours from beginning my travels. I wish I had some way to take a snapshot of myself right now and compare it to the person who will step off the plane in four months. I think there would be a lot to talk about.

From Y-mount to Mount of Olives

"Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured." That is the motto I want to adhere to as I embark on this adventure. By all accounts, the next four months will be some of the most memorable of my life. So as I head out, I want to invite you along. BYU has become a comfortable bubble the past year and a half, and I am about to head half a world away. Talk about stepping out of my comfort zone.

People ask if I am so excited to be headed to Jerusalem. Here is the truth. I was so excited when I first got the acceptance, and when I talk to my uncle and Grandma who have been there. At the moment, I am still trying to survive finals. I get more excited after I arrive where I am going. So just hold on folks. It will come. You will know it arrives when I write more than two sentences in a row with exclamation points as a punctuation.

Here are my goals for this blog in regards to my time in Jerusalem. 1) To track my experiences in the Holy Land for future reference. 2) To document experiences that build my faith in and testimony of Jesus Christ, his life and his ministry. 3) To maintain a positive tone and attitude. 4) To outsmart the technology I will constantly be battling. 5) To keep you entertained. Let me know how I am doing.

I love knowing my words are not being sucked into the great cyber void- so feel free to ask questions or make comments if I forget to mention something, if you want to know about anything in more detail, or if you just want to say hello.