I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

...Don't know when I'll be back again. Except that I already did leave on a jet plane, and I do have a pretty good idea of when I'll be back again, but let's not bother ourselves with trivialities, hmmm?

On the bus ride that took us from the Tel Aviv airport to the Jerusalem Center, one of our teachers mentioned that it took Orson Hyde 18 months to finally reach the Holy Land in order to dedicate the temple site. Now, as thankful as I am that I didn't have to go on that trip, I'm not going to lie--this trip was long. I also discovered that, contrary to what many people believe, I cannot fall asleep just anywhere. More specifically, I cannot fall asleep in an airplane. Having spent roughly 16 hours in an airplane recently, I am definitely a little sleep deprived. This is actually probably a good thing, though--at least I should be able to overcome jet lag tonight.

There's not really much to say about the plane ride, though I did discover that there was not a single sunny place in the world today. I mean, this might be a slight exaggeration, as it's based off a not-so-random sample of only five cities, but still. It's kind of sad to know you're going over England or Germany at the moment, and you can't see a thing. The only time the clouds cleared up was when we were flying at night over the ocean, which was pretty pointless, and when we were flying over Dublin, which was actually pretty cool. I mean, it was still dark outside, but the city was all lit up, and it looked beautiful. I commemorated the event by listening to "Ireland" from Legally Blonde the Musical on my iPod, and decided that I'm definitely visiting that city someday :)

Aside from reading the last Artemis Fowl book and listening to hours of music, the rest of the plane time was pretty monotonous, so I'll cut to the good stuff--I'm in Jerusalem right now :) It is so beautiful! We have a great view of the Old City from the balconies connected to our rooms, and we spent a bit of time out there before dinner started and it began to get chilly. The Dome of the Rock is definitely the most striking part of the view, but I also like turning to the side and realizing that the Mount of Olives is right next door. A Muslim call to prayer was going on as our bus pulled up to the center and later when we were standing outside, and it sounds so cool! Actually, it kind of reminded me of one of the songs from my dad's Tetris game, which plays songs from all around the world :P I'll have to see if I can record it and post it when I get back, because it's really clear from where we are. Of course, I've been told that students don't enjoy the call to prayer nearly as much when they do it at 4:15 am, so we'll have to see if it holds its charm :)

There's not much else to say. The lady at passport control in Tel Aviv scared me to death. Apparently I came off as "cocky," which I don't understand at all, since mainly I was halfway to hyperventilating. I got into the country okay, though (obviously), so no worries there. The people I've met so far at dinner and on our various plane connections have been really nice, and I'm starting to pick up a couple names. The food is really good, too. As in, really good. I'll definitely have to control portions here, or I'll probably start gaining weight. I kept reminding myself during dinner that I'll get to eat here again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, continuing for several months, and the food will be just as good those days so I don't have to stuff it all in my face immediately :P Seriously, though, it's that good.

Well, that's it for the night. Long post, huh? :) Tomorrow we're going on a walking field trip around the Old City, so I'll tell you all about it. See you later! I love you all <3