The Day O Arrival:

Yes that is the dome of the rock underneath the left side of my hand. This is right after arriving to the center... View from my window. I'll take a better panoramic and put it on.
Here is an excerpt from the first day's writings:
After getting everything and having people pick us up and taking a large bus back to the center, I started to realize that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Or Utah to put it into my terms. This place is amazing. The buildings are all made out of limestone to keep the celestial white look and to all conform and be like God. So there are white square buildings everywhere. I’m beginning to become good friends with these people. And I haven’t met a single one yet that wasn’t fun. It’s fun to be with 80 people too because you meet someone awesome, and then are bummed because you get moved, or get a new seat, or end up with someone new; but it’s so cool because then you meet a whole new group of people that you laugh with and have fun with. We are all just mixed up together and I know that they are going to feel like family and that a lot of them I’ll be friends with forever. I can’t wait for what lies ahead. When we arrived at the building it looked like paradise. I’ve never stayed in a nicer place in my life. It’s 8 stories of windows everywhere you look. Huge limestone arches and pillars and windows looking out to the whole city. From the Palestinian side, to the Israeli side, to Bethlehem behind, to the old city wall right in front. And yes; you get to go to church with three large windows in front of you and sing hymns while looking at the dome of the rock and the whole city. My room has a balcony where you can walk out onto the patio and see everything. Pictures don’t do justice. It’s ridiculous how beautiful it is. It takes my breath away. We met in the chapel and one of the senior couples’ husbands played a hymn on this massively large organ that filled up the whole room including the three story ceiling above while we looked out onto the city while the sky turned pink. I feel so overwhelmed to be blessed with this awesome experience. I can’t believe I got so lucky, and I really can’t put it into words how I feel. Because no words could really describe. There are so many adventures ahead. So many things to learn, and so many feelings to feel. I can’t wait for the adventures ahead. I can’t wait for the people I’m still going to meet. And I just love life. I love cultures. I love how Arabic is all over my email and google, and I can’t really read what it’s saying anymore…So I hope I push the right buttons. I have to go read the first 20 chapters of Genesis now for homework in the morning. This world is an amazing place. Good thing it’s only day 1. Heck yeah!