Waking Up in the Holy Land

I don't really know the dates or the times of when things happened--my body is set on a completely different clock from reality. All I know is that we arrived in Tel Aviv late at night, drove to the BYU Jerusalem Center (1 hour), had a meeting and dinner and a tour, then unpacked, showered, and got in bed really late. I woke up really early hearing the 4am CALL TO PRAYER...for an hour. It was beautiful in a way, but I was so so tired. Anyways, this is what it looked like out my window in those early hours of jet lag. You can see the (golden) Dome of the Rock there on the left. The other land marks will become familiar soon enough! Such different scenery than anything I'm used to.

This second photo is of our back deck. Every apartment has 4 people, 1 bathroom, and a back deck with that view.  To be honest the BYU Center isn't quite what I expected. That late night tired Claire thought this was the most depressing building I had ever seen. It is made almost entirely out of limestone, inside and out. The rooms are getting old and the style is very 80's. But once the sun came out, I saw how amazing these huge glass windows are that we have facing the west. When I came up for breakfast the first morning I just started laughing at how that spectacular view is outside every single window...including our classrooms.

Today we officially started our classes. We have had TONS of training meetings, lots of rules and what not to do. I can't wait till we are set free out in the world!!!

Some Do's and Don't's:

DO always have your keys, cell phone, water, and map
DO be extremely on time to everything
DO wear shoes everywhere inside the building
DO only travel in groups of 3 or more (and after dark with 1 male)
DO follow the detailed dress code
DO wear your name tag for the first week (just inside the center)
DO learn all 62 names
DON'T goof off in public
DON'T go into the Old City or Eastern Jerusalem after dark
DON'T wear clothing with American symbols or political symbols
DON'T pray or sing or read scriptures at the Muslim sites (or most sites)
DON'T proselite
DON'T talk to Jerusalem Center staff about the current political problem
DON'T feed the cats
DON'T take food out of the Oasis cafeteria