Hurrah From Israel

Oh my goodness I am in the Holy Land. Where do I even begin? I LOVE IT HERE. Flights all went well! The flight that left JFK was enormous. It was like the plane that I went to Frankfurt, Germany on. I think it was a double decker and it had four seats in the middle row and three seats on either side. It was huge. I forced myself to stay awake on the flight to New York and it made it much easier to sleep on the way to Tel Aviv. I had a very pleasant trip! We were told to not indicate that we are here studying because that gives us issues with getting student visas, etc. Because we are enrolled in an American University apparently it's fine that we don't have student visas but it makes things a little sticky at customs. We were warned that it won't be an issue, just tell them you belong to BYU in America and we're here on a program with that University. Don't say you're studying because apparently the people working there don't have all of the information on the agreement that BYU has with the Israeli Government. So, needless to say, I was nervous out of my mind as I approached the stern-looking man behind the glass. I was repeating in my head over and over the things they told us to say. And, of course, I happened to pick the line with the man who asked the MOST questions about what I'm doing here. Oh I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my chest! I was so nervous and he just kept asking WHY I'm here and WHY I need to be here touring for 4 months and what EXACTLY am I doing? Gah! He slammed his stamps on my passport and tossed it at me. Sheesh. I made it in! I just kept thinking, "please let me into your country!!!" Apparently nobody else had the same experience. I think I loosened him up for the people in line after me. We then got our luggage and got on a shuttle to Jerusalem. The terrain is very hill-y. It almost reminds me of the hills in California but perhaps taller and certainly more dry. There are trees everywhere though (at least on the drive to Jerusalem). We came around one final turn and there to our right was the Dome of the Rock. There it was! So beautiful! I will send a picture as soon as I can. The Jerusalem Center itself is probably the most beautiful thing ever. The Church does such a fabulous job with everything it does. Oh I have decided that I'm going to build a house someday out of limestone with open hallways and lots of roses. I am stunned by the beauty of this building. As we were un-packing we heard the call to prayer! We all paused and stood on our balcony's and just looked out at the city. It is so beautiful. I joined my Muslim brothers and sisters right there and offered a prayer of gratitude. We can see the Dome from our room and the wall of the city (the ground around which, by the way, is covered in densely packed graves because they are first in line for the Resurrection). We had a very wonderful dinner here and ate outside. We met our teachers and their cute families. We got our syllabi for our classes and oh my goodness I am so worried about these classes. They are going to be so intense. I'm up for it though! It seems like I have a million more things to tell you but the fireworks for Independence Day are about to start and we're all standing out on the back patio. I will write again soon! I love you and I'm so happy and feel very safe. All my love Emily