Day 1

The view from my bedroom makes it all worth it. This was my first international travel experience and it wasn't what I expected it to be. All of our layovers were timed perfectly so we never had to run but had just enough time to relax a bit between flights, but it was still a lot of travelling. We left SLC airport at 10:45 am on Wed. morning and arrived in Phoenix at 11:30 am. After that we left for Philadelphia at noon and arrived at 4 and a half hours later (I slept like almost the entire flight!) and an hour later we started boarding the flight from Philly to Tel Aviv. This was the longest flight I've ever been on! We flew for almost 11 hours through the night, I slept for maybe 4 or 5 of those and watched 2 movies, Adam and Unstoppable. But….it felt a little more real when we got into the terminal in Israel and all of the signs are in Hebrew, Arabic and then English. My bags took forever to come out and I was scared that they were lost but they showed up after all. After clearing customs and security, we gathered on the buses, only to be informed that 16 fellow students were still stranded in the JFK airport and had slept there overnight. I'm so glad we made it safe!

The bus ride from coastal Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was scenic and enjoyable. In 45 minutes we climbed almost 3000 ft up into the high hills where Jerusalem is located. Once in the city we had to climb once again up the road to Mt. Scopus where the Center is. From across the city, our first glances of The Dome of the Rock, The Jerusalem Center and the Old City were inspiring. I felt like such a nerdy tourist snapping pictures left and right but I am just so happy to be here.

The Center itself is a sprawling 8 stories sloping down the side of Mt. Scopus, overlooking the Old City and Jerusalem. I don't know what I expected but never did I expect this. As I lay in my freshly made bed, I can see the lights of the city and the Dome of the Rock…from my bed! The patio doors in our room open up to a large patio where I'm sure we will spend lots of time, the weather here is so awesome!!

We have already heard the Muslim Call to Prayer twice, toured the Center, meet our teachers, eaten the delicious food from the Oasis and unpacked. As we all try to recover from jetlag, we will sleep tonight and take a 7 mile walking tour around the city tomorrow. It almost still doesn't feel real but I'm sure as we become familiar with the city tomorrow the reality will set in. Till then,

Lauren