Landed.

Well guys,

I'm here.

I'm in my home for the next 4 months. 

I'm in Jerusalem.

I found out that we're not allowed to upload pictures while here at the center

because it uses up too much of something having to do with internet storage

that I'm not even going to pretend I understand...

so sadly I can't post pictures unless I go to an internet cafe or something.

(Sad. But don't worry...I will. Because pictures are always necessary.)

BUT, even though I can't have pics, I have a few interesting things to share!

Quick Run down:

Made it to the Salt Lake airport with plenty of time to spare.

(after sleeping for a grand total of about an hour and 15 minutes.)

The flight from SLC to JFK was pretty uneventful.

(Well for me at least...one of the guys in the group didn't get a seat on the plane since it was overbooked!

 I'm not sure when/how he'll be arriving....)

I literally fell asleep as soon as I sat down in the chair

(and woke up when we were taking off from the runway).

I slept for about 3 hours of the flight.

Since I was on the latest flight going to JFK

there were only 12 people from my group on the flight

and the seats were assigned so I was next to strangers.

When I wasn't sleeping I briefly talked to the man next to me about the Jerusalem program and told him the little I know about what I will be experiencing the next 4 months of my life.

We arrived in New York and met up with the rest of the group

(the other 68 people in the same program)

who all had about a 5 hour layover--waiting for us to come so we could all fly together

on the same plane to Tel Aviv.

(...usually the group is split up between two planes, so it was cool we were all together--though the plane was a huge double-decker, so I hardly saw many people from my group!)

Goodbye New York!

....Hello Israel!

When boarding the plane,

I was in line behind a girl named Miriam.

(I don't know why I found that particularly exciting.)

The flight attendant said "Have a great flight Hannah"

(only he said "Hannah" the cool Hebrew way. I felt pretty legit.

Maybe I should start pronouncing my name that way. haha)

I thiiink the flight from JFK to Tel Aviv was 9 hours, but no one is actually sure. Haha.

With time changes and falling asleep it's really hard to figure these things out.

We were told it was going to be 12 hours, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't.

Though....however long it was I think I was only awake for maybe an hour!

(Again....eternally grateful for my 'super power'...so many people were unable to fall asleep at all!)

Then we arrived.

We were met at the airport by our religion professors and then rode on 2 buses

 (with those in our religion class)

 to the Jerusalem Center

(about a 40 minute bus ride).

I'm forgetting one of my favorite parts of the day though!!

When we were going through customs,

I had an interesting conversation with the girl that stamped my passport.

It went as follows:

Girl: "Are you with the same group?"

(referring to the 10 people that had been in line in front of me)

Me: Yes.

Girl: "I can only give you a visa for 3 months. After 3 months you will have to apply for an extension."

Me: "Okay." (We had been told this before..it was no surprise.)

Girl (looks down at my passport and then back up to me):"...you are a Christian?!"

Me: "Yes."

Her: "...It's just...your name is so Jewish!!"

I laughed.

"Ya...my mom actually studied here. ...My sister's name is Miriam!"

Girl: " AH!! REALLY?! I love it!"

I'm not sure why I found the conversation so exciting,
maybe because the girl got so excited about it!

. . .  but I definitely took it as a compliment.
(Whether she intended it to be one or not. haha)

Anyway, we got to the center and....it is beautiful.

Since I can't put up any pictures...

please right now:

google BYU Jerusalem Center...

find the prettiest picture you can..

and then picture it in your head like 10x prettier.

Seriously.

It's incredible.

And the view of the old city from my balcony?

Absolutely stunning.

I can't believe I'm actually here.

Well, I should probably go finish unpacking!

I'm sure I'll post again soon!

Shalom.

PS It's 9:30 P.M Wednesday right now...this time change thing is WEIRD!