We FINALLY Got Here

Hi Mom,

Just writing to tell you that we got to Tel Aviv safely, and we are now at the center!!!! It's absolutely beautiful, if a bit cold. It has been snowing here for the past couple of hours (well, kindof snowing. It's weird snow, kinda like frozen mini hailstones half melted.) I guess all of the locals are freaking out because it hasn't snowed here since the early 2000's. The snow makes the center really cold, everything is white limestone and once it cools off, it stays cold. I'm really glad that I wore the extra sweater.

The flights here were good. The 10 hour one wasn't as horrible as it could have been because each seat had a touch screen in front of it, and you could pick a movie from a wide variety. They had alot of new ones, which was really cool. We also got fed, twice. I'm living the high life.

We had a mini orientation today, just a tour of the center and an introductory lesson in Old Testament and the Ancient Near Eastern Studies class. We finished just in time for dinner, and it was really good. One of the service couples told me that the person who cooks our food is also the cook for the King of Jordan, so I'm looking forwards to a lot of VERY delicious meals in my future. Good thing there are so many stairs, otherwise I would be packing in the pounds!

The room setup is weird. It's this corridor with open air courtyards every couple of yards with two bedrooms leading off the courtyard. I think there are 4 courtyards down my corridor. Just my luck, my room is the furthest one down the corridor. With the snow and rain, it's VERY cold in that part of the building, and there is some snow accumulation in them. I think that once it warms up it will be more fun to have outside courtyards and balconies, but for now it's just very cold.

Well, I'm going to sign off. I have been awake for close to 30 hours and I REALLY need to go to sleep.

Love you,
Skyhawk