The morning I left Columbus I discovered that my flight times had changed. To a midnight arrival. So what did I do? I called my good buddy Cameron. He was so sweet to pick me up so late on a school night, and he even parked and came in the airport to greet me! Wow. Now that is going above and beyond. Not even my own blood relatives go that far!
Marcie was a saint to have me sleepover that night, and oatmeal with KatieJo in the morning is a highlight. Allison helped me so SO much with my bags and even dropped me off at my meeting since Golda is sitting in SLC. The Jerusalem orientation meeting was very, very long. And very intense. If you know President/Dr. Kearl from BYU, I'm sure you can imagine how a 5 hour safety precaution and modesty talk went... The best part of the meeting was when he explained that the "no dating" policy has been reneged and a "please don't date a lot" policy become a "guideline." So funny :)
My flights were good for the following reasons:
SLC-Denver: I sat by a fellow student (Chris) and chatted for literally 3 hours while the plane had dysfunctions...
Denver-DC: I sat by a man with Gore-tex boots and a moleskin notebook. We had lots to discuss :)
DC-Vienna: JJ (whose dad is a doctor) gave me Ambien. I woke up 7 hours later just in time for breakfast!
Vienna-Tel Aviv: I had thumb wars with 6 people around me followed by lunges and yoga mid-flight.
In just the 2 days I've been here I have made such great friends. Some of my favorites so far are:
Elyse- (yes we became fast friends because of the spelling!) Her luggage got lost...forever...
Anne- She brought a game called Wacky 6 that is Nertz minus the face cards. YES!
Alexis- We have a mutual friend and love talking math together. This girl is a crack up :)
Whitney- Sweet girl with such a positive attitude. She's engaged and says it is hard to be away...
Jayne- We are friends from fall semester. Very artsy!
Miriam- We just sat by each other one day and it turns out we have just about everything in common.
Shelby- He loves to hike in Canada. I love to hike in Canada. It's a done deal :)
Stephen #1- Provo born and raised. He is funny in his own quiet way that many people miss out on.
Matt Morgan- um, he's just Matt Morgan.
The cafeteria (Oasis) has great food. Granola and yoplait for breakfast, hummus and pita bread for lunch and amazing Middle Eastern delights for dinner :) And Dad, the ensalada caprese is well prepared!
We went into the Old CIty today and it was just as chaotic and fabulous as I anticipated. We were not allowed to bring cameras on this orientation tour, but I will soon get back out there with my new lens... don't you worry :) I can't wait to buy scarves and table runners. And olive wood carvings. And... lots and lots of other treasures.
School starts tomorrow so I better get reading. I have 39 pages of Ancient Near Eastern text to read. 32 pages of Old Testament. And, who knows how many pages of a field trip manual to familiarize myself with. I think I'll start learning Hebrew early next week.
Situational Irony
10 years ago
11 comments:
How awesome! I can't tell you how jealous I am. You LIKED talking math? Who are you? I would have liked to see the yoga mid flight. :) What I would give for some hummus and pita bread right now. :)
If you have any tidbits for our Seminary class let me know! If you think you could buy us a creche and have it mailed to us also let me know--it would be a great surprise for Lee! I'm so happy for you, your new friends, and that you are in lovely Jerusalem!
Hey Stef! I am glad you are safe in Israel and that your bag was 49 pounds! yay! I can't wait to hear more about your adventures!
So glad you got your transportation all worked out. Big kudos to everyone who helped.
Glad it wasn't you who lost your lugguage. Two people on our program lost it all.
Watch out, Near Eastern history has kicked many a person's trash.
Miss the Oasis. Did you hear the call to prayer even through your time adjustment/jet lag. Yeah, I know, you don't GET jet lag...
Stef, (note, this time I spelled your name right...I struggle with that, sorry) That is awesome! I really can't wait to see your pics and maybe get a few from you when you get home cause I just had a crappy point and shoot. After playing around with Justin's SLR I can't believe the places I traveled last year with such a poor excuse for a camera. The reading will eat you alive!!! Good luck!
You mean you actually have to do work? What kind of study abroad is that? :)
I'm so glad that you have all of these amazing people around you to have fun and learn some stuff with! I love you and I miss you!! I regret not seeing you before you left, but I tried. (I was at Marcie's for a while but I was so tired and sickish so I had to leave before you got there.) Have fun without me!
P.S. Ask Matt Morgan if he has ever campaigned in Missouri before. If he has...I've heard some hilarious stories about this kid.
Love your vivid details! Couldn't open the blog for two days but I'm back now! :) And watching G-chat!
I can't wait for photos of the architecture and characters hobbling down the paved streets or hunched on the hillsides!
I forgot to tell you that Ken fixed
my blog favorites, so now I can get them again. He also took out
my disfunctional cookies. Your Mom
just told me how to put you on the front of my computer in an Icon.
So we are in business baby.
Stef - thanks for the bait re ensalada caprese. I am glad you are getting to enjoy it. How is the new lens. I read all the posts and am thrilled for your first sunsets, first old city walks, getting to know the locals and loving life. Thanks for sharing and keep it up.
Wow. When I first started posting today, I was like the 2nd or 3rd person on the list; now I'm the 10th or 12th! It seems that readers' comments trickle in over a period of two weeks. Or maybe it's just because you switched blogs and there is a little lag.
That's what happened to me. I linked to this blog from your old blog way back when but I forgot to save it. It took me until today to track it down again.
I'll try to keep current from now on.
(Take "Word Verification" off, please.)
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