Yes, that is in fact the official policy at the Center, straight from the mouth of Dr. Kearl (the Provo Director). :) So you can all quit speculating.
The plane ride was a little excruciating. I've been adjusting better than most to the time change, as I planned my use of sleeping pills on the flight to minimize jet lag. I still wasn't completely immune, unfortunately, but I'm doing about fine now.
On Tuesday, my group of 30 flew from Salt Lake through Chicago, Washington D.C. (where we met up with the 40 that had gone through Denver), and Vienna, finally arriving in Tel Aviv 22 hours (and almost 2 days, with the time change) later. I've never been to Austria, so Vienna was kind of fun, even if we were there for a grand total of 2 hours, and I really never left the seat I collapsed in.
The weather in Tel Aviv was beautiful (take that, all you people who absolutely insisted it would be snowing...). The weather in general has been about like Southern California. Told you so. Also, I am so excited to finally have roommates who love the heat as much as I do!! We keep our apartment around 80 degrees and it just makes my life. :D
When we arrived on Wednesday, they greeted us at the door and forbade us to lie down. Smart, really, as I know what it's like to try and wake up once you crash after a trans-Atlantic flight and we had a full schedule of orientations for that night. I was sad to realize that I was actually too exhausted to fully appreciate the beauty of everything around me.
The Center is a gorgeous building, and the view is incredible. I first really appreciated the view the next morning- I think part of the reason I didn't the night before is that it's not quite as awe-inspiring when all you can see is city lights. There is nothing like looking out over a city that is so distinct. There is no way you could ever mistake Jerusalem for a Western city because everything about is so different. Honestly, I felt like I was living a Bourne movie or something like it- the part where they're showing the panorama and city scenes right before Jason Bourne enters.
On Thursday we went on a tour of the city. We stopped to listen to our tour guide (one of the sisters (as in, half of a service couple) from the Center), and a merchant nearby said, "Hey! Mormons!" And we answered with, "Hey!" and smiles. And he was like, "I'm standing by Mormons! ... Nice people!" Jerusalem is the only place in the world where the church allows the word "Mormon" to be officially used to refer to members of the church. There's even a road sign leading to the "Mormon University".
Also on Thursday, after our orientation meeting in the morning (we had a lot of those...) the Center Director made an announcement about security. He began with "We have had some developments within about the last half hour..." and continued to tell us about the rockets that had just been launched into Israel from Lebanon. It's pretty exciting to hear things like that, I'm not gonna lie, although being restricted, essentially, to the Center is not so fun. Really, we just can't go into East Jerusalem, which is the Muslim side and includes the Old City, because of the potential unrest with relation to the events in Gaza. We did go through East Jerusalem and the Old City on our tour, but are not allowed to go there on our own. And since today the Jewish Shabbat (Sabbath) began at sundown, they told us there would be nothing to do anyway, so we couldn't even leave the Center.
It's been fun getting to know people. I have to say I really like how condensed the Center is. I feel like I can get to know people easier- when you spend almost every minute of the day with some combination of the same 80 people it's not hard- and I love, love, LOVE having school, church, and my room all in the same building. We may have 8 stories with no elevator, but I no longer walk 10 minutes (in the freezing cold, suckas!) to get to school.
The food is... well, pretty good, but very predictable. We had some excellent banana ice cream tonight, though. And anything they make with beef in it is usually quite good. And, of course, pita bread. The Center favorite is pita bread with honey and peanut butter. I can't say that's really my thing, but I am a big fan of pita and hummus.
So, that's all for now, I suppose. Feel free to post any questions. It would help me know what to write about. :)
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