Hi all,
I'm basically going through culture shock at the moment. Ever since I got here, I don't think I've ever seen a place so beautiful. It's SO green here, and there are so many beautiful buildings everywhere. I just couldn't stop saying how amazing it was on the bus ride up to the JC at the top of Mount of Olives.

This is my first sight of Israel and its green-ness. Love it.

This is a shot I took from the bus on our way from the Tel Aviv airport to the center.

Freeway signs in both Hebrew and Arabic. It was interesting.

View from my apartment balcony.

Right when we got to the center, the first group of us (10 out of 70 students) were greeted by the JC staff. They are all so friendly, and I really feel like I'm going to love it here. I immediately felt the Spirit as I walked in this beautiful building. It feels and looks like a temple, and I felt like I was walking into a safe haven. All the locals call it Mormon University and as we walked through the streets today through the old city, people would yell "Hi mormons!" and we also got a lot of blank stares. I really feel like an alien here just because of my skin color, but the people are all so friendly, especially with the Mormons. They love us. It's great.

My apartment that I shared with three other girls. (Stacey Hymas, Marie Cope, and Kimberlee Ray)

Marie and I are roomming together with two other girls who seem to be normal which is good. One of them is 24 and a returned missionary and the other is my age and goes to BYU-Provo, as do most of the people on this trip. There are only about 15 out of 80 that go to BYU-Idaho, but when I find out someone is from BYU-Idaho I can't tell you how excited I get. It's great to know I'm not alone in that.

The Kidron Valley. This is what we would see every single day on our walk from the center to the old city or West Jerusalem.

Anyway, as I said, today we took a walking tour of the old city. As we walked through, we basically had body guards who were Israeli and they definitely know what they're doing. The only time I didn't feel safe was when we walked straight out of the airport and right at the exit were Israeli army men holding guns. I was scared for my life and tried to look down the whole time, until I found out today that they're there to protect us which is good. Ha.

Israeli soldier on the Temple Mount. Like I said, high security.

Our first trip to the Temple Mount.

I think I'm almost done with jet lag though. I don't feel as dead as I did yesterday. The JC staff are always telling us that we can't lay down or try and sleep because we need to get on the schedule here. Sounds kind of mean, but it's good I guess. Ha.

I've met a lot of people so far but it's definitely going to take awhile for me to remember everyone's names. Everyone seems to be very outgoing and friendly though. I'm pretty sure I will have 79 best friends by the end of the trip like they tell us we will.

So... I can't WAIT to go explore more of the city and barter with the merchants. It will be interesting since I'm not very good at that I don't think. We'll see. Maybe I will get better. I met a Jewish merchant today in the newer part of the city that was really funny. We asked him what the rings said that he was trying to sell us, and he said "Buy me" and laughed. We made friends with him fast and said that we would come back on one of our free days.

We also visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was absolutely AMAZING. All of the mosaics everywhere literally took my breath away. They filled entire walls and were so amazing. They depicted the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. We also saw the sepulchre which had a line with about 150 or so people waiting to light candles.

I will try and write again soon. They've given us a LOT of homework, but I think it will be good. I can't wait to learn more about the culture here. It's almost overwhelming, but hopefully I will be able to get used to it. After all, this will be my home for the next four months!!!!!!!!!!

Love you all, and hope everyone's doing well
Jill

The Western Wall ("The Wailing Wall"). This is the closest that Jews can get to the Holy of Holies of the Temple. They usually go up to the wall and read from their prayer books and rock back and forth to show their devotion to God.