Greetings from Jerusalem.

First of all, we arrived safe. Our flights were pretty uneventful. Luckily, we got Economy Plus for the longest leg, so it was a bit more comfortable.

Now for what you really want to hear about. Israel. It’s been ten years since I (Chad) was here last, and five years for Jessica. We got our bags and made through customs hassle free. Our land lady sent us instructions on the best way to get from the airport to our apartment. She was spot on, and we met her in front of our new home.

Our landlady brought her husband and they helped us lug our 7+ pieces of luggage (picture to be uploaded soon) up the five flights of stairs. Definitely above and beyond what was required of them. I can try to describe our apartment, but instead next week I’m going to post a short video walkthrough of our apartment. Isn’t technology great? It’s very comfortable and we have plenty of storage space. We haven’t seen any other apartments yet, so we have no base for comparison, but we like it.

After resting for a few minutes, we headed out for our first adventure down the street to the German Colony. As we were walking, a asked Jess who was going to run into someone they knew first. Well, less than 5 minutes later, Jess won as she ran into an old friend that she hadn’t seen in a few years. Gotta love Jewish Geography. After that, we enjoyed a Shawarma dinner, and then headed back to our apartment. At 9:30, we both crashed and enjoyed a blissful night of rest.

Well, blissful for Jess as I woke up at 3am wide awake. Oye. So I got up, and played the computer and listend to the sounds of the city waking up around our place. At a more reasonable hour, Jess woke up and we went about unpacking our bags. We then started out to find HUC (Hebrew Union College) to get all of our information and take a campus tour that they offered. When we got there, we met about 10+ of her follow students plus some of their SO’s (signifant others). So far, I’ve only met one other SO that is staying for the full year. The campus is much bigger then you’d expect, but it is very nice. One of the rooms upstairs has this gorgeous view of the Old City. In years past, they did High Holy Day services in this room.

After we got our cell phones, health insurance, etc. we grabbed some lunch, set-up our internet service (it will be installed on Tuesday), and then took a much needed nap. For dinner, we headed out to find a restuarant that I read about. Of course, we walked by it without even seeing it and ended up at a sushi restaurant. We’re still looking for a good sushi restaurant, if anyone knows of one.

HUC has interns to help with orientation and have different events planned for the next couple of weeks. Last night, we headed to a bar that is off the beaten path. It was very nice, and the owner loves meeting up with the different students every year. He even bought a bottle of whisky to welcome us.

This morning, the interns took us to Mechaneh Yehuda…aka the Shuk…aka the open air market. I love going there. Beyond the fact that there is the greatest Rugalech stand in the world here, it is just fun seeing everyone out shopping and getting ready for Shabbat. The booths were full of fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, dried fruit, etc. We stocked up on fruit and veggies and headed home.

Now, we’re at a shawarma stand taking advantage of free internet. It’s pretty warm out and we’re definitely drinking a ton of water.

I’m trying to process my initial feelings, but so far am having a hard time putting them into words. I’m ready to go out and be a tourist, yet also enjoying being able to go home at the end of the day.

We’ll update soon.

L’hitraot,

Chad and Jess