Good Morning from Jerusaelm!

After a good-night's sleep I feel more prepared to coherently recount my traveling adventures while I breakfast on cereal and tea.

I left town at about 6am... Note to self: I know it is recommended that for international flights you get to the airport at least 2 hours in advance. However, if you get to my airport two hours in advance of a 6am flight, you will be the only one there.

Anyway, I did eventually get checked in and then through security and finally on to the plane. The sun rose on the way to Denver.
Once there I found my next gate without any difficulty. Apparently some birds found it too. :) That next flight (to Chicago) was quite crowded and I wasn't sure I'd find room for my carry-on luggage, but by the grace of God I did. I ended up sitting by a nice lady, and that was good too.

Once in Chicago I was a little confused. On my e-ticket, Chicago had only been listed as a "stop" between Denver and Frankfurt. I was thinking that we'd probably let some people off, let others on, and get on our way. Apparently not. I got off and checked the information screens in the airport. Yeah, same flight number, but different gate and different plane. You know, they did give me a boarding pass for the Chicago flight when I checked it, but it might have been more useful if they'd have put a gate number and/or boarding time on it. Oh well. What they called a "stop" was actually just another layover, but hey. We did eventually get underway to Frankfurt. This flight was very uncrowded, so I had a couple seats to myself, which was lovely.

I have to say that I rather agree with the fellow at Denver who told me he didn't like the Frankfurt airport much. Of course, we did arrive at about 5am when there was no one there and nothing was open. Still, it was rather large and confusing. The information screens would tell you which concourse your flight was from (A, B, C, etc.) but not which gate, so you had to hope that the number on your ticket was correct. Oh well, it did work out, and I did get on the right flight and I even had a window seat. I never saw much of Frankfurt - it was dark for so long, and then when we took off there wasn't very good visibility. But I did get a picture of cool ice crystals on my window. :)

On the way to Israel I ended up sitting next to and Israeli man from Tel Aviv, a musician who, I believe, plays the oboe. It was fun talking to him (when I wasn't sleeping) about Israel and various other things. He said his symphony is playing a couple times in Jerusalem in the next couple weeks, so I'll have to see if I can get to one.

I made it through passport control and customs without any incident and made my way to the sheruts. Got loaded into one and ended up sitting next to a very friendly young man who apparently is a magician and hypnotist. It was interesting talking to him. Also on the sherut was a man who I'm pretty sure had been on every plane with me since Denver. Turns out he's a grad student at Hebrew U. I thougt it was kind of funny that we traveled so far "together."

It was fun driving to Jerusalem. I wouldn't say that I know my way around very well, but I am starting to recognize more and more places, which is quite a contrast to how I felt arriving here last fall. The sherut driver didn't want to drive all the way up my road, not sure why, so he dropped me off at the bottom of the hill. I only had two bags and they both had rollers, so it wasn't too bad. My friend let me into the school and told me that I get my old room back! I was even able to move in, so that was nice. There aren't too many people around the school yet, but there are a few, and it's good to see them again.

I spent some time moving in and then went out to get groceries with a friend. (Food service doesn't start on campus until Friday, and I don't really want to starve to death before then.) When we got back to school Abbey gave us some of their extra stir-fry. She's my hero. :) Then we watched Kung fu Panda. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn't slept more than about 6 hours of the last 48, but I found it quite amusing.

To finish off the day I filled my rice bags with rice I bought at the grocery store, showered, and went to bed. :) Now, today, all that remains is to finish unpacking and settling in, and decide what museum to visit first. :)

Oh, I also finally got my grades. And yes, I passed everything. Yay!

Some things that you don't realize you "miss" about Jerusalem until you return:
1. Hearing random bells at any time of the day or night.
2. The noise of traffic and horns at all times.
3. All the "interesting" smells in the air. Maybe not good smells, but smells that remind you that you are in Jerusalem.
4. Limestone.
5. Green things! (Especially compared to home where everything is brown and white.)
6. Trying to read signs, food labels, and pamplets handed to you in the street and then remembering that you can't read Hebrew (at least not well, and if you can read it, then you still don't know what it says).
7. Trying to understand the sherut driver or store clerk and then remembering that you don't speak Hebrew.

Well, this is quite long enough. I miss you all back home, but I am glad to be here!