first week

I'm here! I'm finally in Jerusalem! It has been a crazy week. I am barely getting over jet lag and every day has been go go go! We have had non stop orientation meetings and other random stuff. This is a pretty crazy adjustment....I still feel a little overwhelmed to be honest! Anyway, we had a long day of flying on Tuesday and got into the BYU Jerusalem center on Wednesday afternoon. The Center is GORGEOUS. I can't even explain to you. It's on the Mount of Olives overlooking the whole city and there are so many huge glass windows...everywhere you go in the Center, you can see the most stunning view of Jerusalem. I haven't been here long, but my favorite thing about Jerusalem so far is the call to prayer at sunset. It comes on 4 or 5 times a day, but my favorite is at night, when I can see the whole city from my balcony, the call to prayer echoing everywhere, and sun setting. It is so surreal. I love it! We've been doing a little bit of exploring so far, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

With the BYU Center in the back and to the right of us. 

Chacos, fanny pack, and backpack while exploring the city today. I don't want to talk about it.  

Two of my roommates, Rachel and Susan. (There are like, 7 Rachels here. Go figure with a group of Mormons in the Holy Land...)

Conquerors on top of the Old City wall. 

The Western Wall. It's a sign of respect to walk backward when leaving so you're always facing the wall. That's what everyone in this picture is doing. 

We were asked to wear shawls at the Wall because our sleeves were too short. 

Pictures do NOT do it justice...the sunsets here are stunning!

I really swear I'll write more later, but I have to run! We are at the Hebrew University right next door, which is the closest place we can upload pictures. We're not allowed to walk back to the Center at night, so the security guards called a van to pick us up. P.S. the security guards are SO great. One who I ran into earlier today just walked up to me and said "You again! What's your name?" I said "Rachael, what's yours?"

"....James Bond."