A few days In

Well, I finally was able to get myself to Jerusalem! It took a night in Vienna (and a tour of the city) but I arrived with my baggage intact. Walking around the Old City and newer portions of Jerusalem has been quite the experience. I never thought that it would be so packed with residences and buildings. Everything is built straight up rather than out and the stones are all made out of the stone that is found in Israel. It is also strange to walk through the Old City and look at walls and streets that have been there for thousands of years. There is so much history here and I am not sure how to really describe the experience. The place where I am staying is in the Arab sector and when I walk to the old city I find that the neighbor boys often come chase us with water balloons and squirt guns. They know a few phrases in English and always have a smile. Every day is a new experience and the more that I study the region, the more I am curious. Its great!

The Airport

Here I sit at the airport with 52 of my best friends. We have been trying to get out of Chicago for 24 hours now but have hit one road block after another. Everybody that we talk to tells us it will just be a few more hours but they have just decided to divulge the truth and tell us that there are no seats to anywhere in Europe, much less Tel Aviv. As we settle in to our new home we set our sights on the basics...you know clothes, toothpaste, deodorant and something to keep us entertained. Sleep really wouldn't hurt either but in the back of our minds we keep thinking that we will just sleep on the plane. Unfortunately, the only thing we have to blame is the huge thunderstorm that hit O'Hare airport a few minutes before we arrived. This same fiend forced us to land at a nearby airport and miss our connecting flight by a mere 45 min. As much as we would like to think that our superior technology can outsmart anything that nature has to throw at it, a simple thunderstorm has really done a number to our trip.

Welcome

I am headed out to Jerusalem on a study abroad in June and will be posting information about my adventures here. If you have any information to share please feel free to make comments. Thanks.