I wish I was lying when I said it took me 10 minutes to log in to my blog

But, well, it's the truth. Turns out the default internet language in the Holy Land is Hebrew. Unfortunately, I know zero Hebrew and so I spent a good amount of time pushing buttons until one brought me to the log in page.

I'll upload a picture to prove my point at a later time, as the internet here at the center apparently cannot handle that kind of usage.

Ok, lemme tell you, there is nothing quite like flying 83 college students to a foreign country and sticking them all in a building with limited access to the outside world to make them bond. Seriously, I've been here just over 24 hours and I can tell you majority of these people's names, home towns, high schools, graduation year, and every single mutual friend we have. I can also tell you which men are willing to put up with consecutive hours of shopping, as we have been advised to grab one to tag along for safety purposes.

And, just a question for the general public, what is it with Mormons and clapping? Do we have a particular obsession or is this a common thing throughout the world? Someone finishes talking about sexual harassment avoidance, we clap. The dinner menu is announced, we clap. The man we have been waiting for to take our ID pictures comes, we clap. They announce the ending of one game and the start of another at a get-to-know-you night, we clap. I feel like my hands are getting tired, not unlike the losing your voice phenomenon.

In other news, we toured the Old City today. Turns out basically all of the roofs here are dome shaped in an effort to keep rain or any other water that finds its way to the roof from forming a puddle and seeping through... why hasn't the rest of the world implemented this?

The cats are not cute, just sayin. Not to mention we've been warned about the diseases they carry. I mean, I've never been a cat person, but never before have I found myself consciously making an effort to get as far away from them as possible. I feel like I could not possibly be more obvious about the gesture, like I might as well wear a sign around warning that, in the presence of a cat, I am known to make over-exaggerated and completely unnecessary sharp movements in random directions.

On second thought, we might want to shorten that to something like: "Warning: Cat hater. Stay clear." You know, whatever gets the people's attention.

I blame the number of times I have had to use my spell-checker during this post on my jet-lag.

You know, actually, let's talk about this jet-lag. I would like to think that those of you who know me personally would not label me as any of the following: overly ornery,  short tempered, outspoken, uncommonly social, or excessively giggly.

I realize that these are all open to debate. Especially the last one. But I mean really, I'm like a completely different person with a whole new bag of quirks and everything. Everything, and I mean everything, is hilariously funny yet also freakishly irksome. All I want is some sleep, man! My watch is still set to Provo time  (useful, no?) and there are few things as depressing as going to bed at 2:30 pm and rising again mere hours later at 8:30 pm. Or walking around the city wondering why on earth you cannot keep your eyes open, let alone your feet moving under your body, only to look at your watch to realize that according to your body it is about two in the morning.

Just a few more days, just a few more days.

And this is now turning into more of a novel than anything else, and I'm pretty sure the category of people still reading can be summed up by one word: Parents.

Thanks mom, I always knew you believed in me.

Ok yeah I need sleep. I'll upload some pictures, accompanied by stories, at a later date.

Christina: Operation Omar and Jimmy was a success. Operation Plastic Cow Gelato to come.

I just have to share this with you