Holy Land!

                                                               First Day of School!

                                                            View from my balcony.

                                                                   Western Wall.

I've arrived in the Holy Land! It is absolutely perfect.

I had a four hour meeting in Provo the day before I left to go over EVERYTHING. It was a bit ridiculous, but I was able to meet the people who I would be living with and it helped me get so excited to go on this adventure. Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:00 am to head over to the airport. It's roughly a 4 hour flight from SLC to JFK, and after flying back and forth from Hawaii to NYC and Orlando, flying doesn't phase me so much anymore. I had a long layover in JFK where I called home and my best friends (although, I do have an international phone plan right now, so I can still text and call.) We then got on the the plane for my red eye to Tel Aviv, which was a 9 1/2 hour flight. We were on a double decker plane, which I have only previously once been on in the past, and it was nice to be able to walk upstairs during the long flight, rather than up and down the aisle. There were TVs that had a ton of movies, shows, and music to choose from. I was only able to sleep about 2 hours of the flight, so it was nice to have something to entertain me by.

We arrived in Israel around 2:00 in the afternoon. We had people at the airport to pick us up and we were on our way to the center. Jerusalem is about half an hour away from the airport, and we were driving through a lot of hills. I was told before I came out here that I live on top of a huge hill that overlooks the old city. It is such an incredible sight to see! My room has a balcony and I never get tired of looking out into the city.

Staying in the Jerusalem center feels a lot like Hogwarts. I have classes on the top level of the building, have planned meals like the Great Hall, and the Girl and Boy dormitories are on the bottom level. Everything is done inside the building, except when we go out into the city, which would be related to Hogsmeade. Yes, I love Harry Potter.

We have gone out into the city twice, and just walking around is one of my favorite things to do. We have gone out to the Western Wall, toured around synagogues and have walked a lot. Since we live on top of a hill, we walk all the way down, just to walk all the way back up on the other side to the city. So, it is possible to walk uphill both ways home (I never believed my grandparents when they told me they would walk uphill both ways in the snow from school. I told them to stop exaggerating.) One thing is for sure, I am going to be so fit by the end of this. My calves will be made of steel. We are going on a field trip on Monday to see a lot of sights and I am stoked to go and take lots of pictures! It is hot here, but it is starting to cool down since it's fall and I'll leave right before it's really cold. Fall is the best time to come to Jerusalem!

Friday was my first day of class. It's going to be a rough semester. But I'm excited for all the field trips that we are going to be going on and the sights that we are going to see. I'll post where I'm going when the time comes.

Jet lag has been okay, but it also has been kicking me lately. A local told me it will take around 3 weeks to get adjusted. I wake up every morning at 1:00 wide awake. I've always been able to fall back asleep, so it hasn't been too bad. Last night I was able to go to bed early. I slept more hours last night, than I have total this entire week. Hopefully I'll be able to adjust quickly.

So, I've made it. I'm happy and can't wait to explore more of the city.