Two Roads...

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost 

 I've never felt this quote to be more applicable my life more than right now; yet at the same time I feel it is ironic because I've been traveling roads that are probably the most traveled on in all of history. Jerusalem- the Holy Land to 3 major religions today can hardly can be called a road less traveled..but for me its a new adventure.

 I arrived in Jerusalem what feels like years ago but has really only been a short 3 days. On Tuesday, January 5 I started my adventure by meeting a group of 19 fellow BYU students in the Salt Lake City airport. It only took us one 19 hour flight to get each others names down and attempt to remember where everyone is from. The flight in itself was a cultural experience. Our flight from JFK to Tel Aviv was full of people from all walks of life. We were lucky enough to see orthodox 

Jews wake up with the sunrise and perform some sort of prayer ritual that I am not familiar with...yet. Everything was announced in English and Arabic and all meals had a kosher option. Our flight was the lucky group, as our 70 other fellow students got delayed by their Vienna layover due to snow. Once landed the airport was a shock because there are soldiers everywhere with big guns. My heart stops every time I see it, but one of the fellow students reminded me they are there to protect us...so I'm trying to have a better attitude about it. Due to our lucky flight we were the first to arrive at the center.

The BYU Jerusalem Center is absolutely stunning. My roommates and I have started to call it our palace because we feel like we are literally living in a palace. We pulled up to the center and all the staff and some of their children and grandchildren were outside waiting to greet us. Everyone shook our hands and welcomed us 'home'. They immediately took us on a tour of the center. Our palace is built on the Mount of Olives overlooking the entire city. The floor you walk in on is Level 8. It consists of the visitor area. There is a big auditorium with one of the nicest organs in all Israel, this also serves as the chapel for our church meetings. Which is amazing because the seats all face a huge wall of windows overlooking the city. There is also a display area, a smaller auditorium, and some classrooms. Level 7 is a huge forum for some of our classes. Level 6 is where most of the student activity is. Our lunch area, classrooms, student lounge, computer lab, and gym are located. Level 5 is most of the staff housing. Level 4-1 is student housing. However, right now there are only enough students to fill Level 3 and 4. The entire building is full of huge windows overlooking the city. And at night is everything is lit up. Combined with the white stone the building is built out of our building seems to glow.

Our first day here was full of activities. We woke up early to get started on classes and then went for our tour of the city. The city is amazing!!! I don't even know how to describe all of the sights, sounds, and smells. I felt like I was on senses-overload trying to soak everything in. We first walked down our mountain, across Kidron Valley (look it up in the scriptures...its there!) and then up the other side of the mountain till we reached the wall of the Old City. We walked a bit into east Jerusalem first to see where we can exchange money, find some local shop keepers used to the 'mormons' and walk past the Garden Tomb. We didn't get to go inside...yet, but surprisingly its just in the middle of the city rather that out in the peaceful countryside like I imagined. We continued until we entered the Old City through Damascus Gate. The Old City is so amazing. You slightly feel like your walking through Diagon Alley in Harry Potter...merchants and little shops are on every side of the road calling out. There are people just sitting in the street with their fresh fruits and vegetables for sale. There are amazing smells of all sorts of foreign foods cooking. And their are all sorts of people from every religion everywhere. The Orthodox Jews are the ones that fascinate me the most. We walked through the Muslim Quarter first and then wandered up into the Christian Quarter. Here we briefly walked into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This place was very ornate and it was so interesting to see all the people worshiping. People were lined up to touch and worship the place where the cross was believed to have stood, and people crying at the rock apparently where Christ's body was prepared for burial. There were about 5 different cathedrals for 5 different religions to worship in- its complicated. We didn't get to stay long but we are going back soon. After that we went crossed over to Western Jerusalem. Here it felt like a whole new world compared to the Old City. There were modern buildings, cars, and people in modern clothing. Yet it was just across the street from some of the most orthodox places in the world. After wandering around for a bit we took busses back to the center. That evening we were allowed to relax a bit and catch up on sleep since we are all pretty jet lagged.

The next day started out with more classes. Which all seem like they are going to be very interesting...but very hard to balance with all the site seeing there is to do here. We had the afternoon to off to wander the city. However, we aren't allowed into the old city till after 3 because Friday is the Muslim day of worship and apparently the morning can be sort of dangerous. We also have to be out of the Old City by sundown so that only gave us a couple of hours to see the city. But that was enough time to go exploring on our own and feel sufficiently accomplished for being able to find our way back to the center.

Today is our Sabbath. The branch here has decided to meet on Saturday. Church is amazing. Like I said before we meet in possibly the most beautiful room in the world. Its wonderful to listen to the sacrament prayers and look out on the city and know that those were the very streets Christ walked. Needless to say its hard to pay attention to speakers with a view like that. The branch members are few, but they all have fascinating stories I can't wait to hear. After church we walked to the Garden of Gethsemane. I don't think I have words to describe the feeling of being able to sit in there on the Sabbath and ponder what the Sabbath is truly about. 

Jerusalem thus far never ceases to amaze me. Waking up to 70 degree weather and the call to prayer every morning has made me reconsider ever moving back to North America. I've been here for a total of 3 days and feel like I'm in love with this place already. I know the adventure has just begun but I would like to advise everyone to take the road less traveled on...or at least try taking a really ancient one.