It starts...

So we are now officially in Jerusalem! We arrived last night at about 5pm and had our official tour of the Jerusalem Center. It was too dark to really see the city, but we could see the Dome on the Rock from every balcony. Our rooms all have a balcony that faces the old city. This morning I was awakened by the prayer call at about 4:52am. I was planning on getting up early anyway so it was the perfect wake-up call. It was our great privillege to have a walking tour around the city. We began at the center, which is on the east and walked around the town a bit then we entered the Old city through Damascus gate and we got to walk through the winding paths of the city. I really liked the inside of the Old City. It seemed alot less hectic then the outside, and the paths looked so much like what I imagined with the limestone steps and buildings. You could really smell Jerusalem inside the Old city. There was a mixture of spices and breads and fried foods. It was wonderful! We left the old City through Joffa gate, and it looked a lot more European on the west side of the city. There were a lot of tourist shops and a great variety of people. The weather was fantastic, probably in the 60s. What a lovely first day.

-Jecia-
At the Salt Lake Airport right before takeoff!