.unknown certainty.: .adventure chapter one.

wow.

that pretty much sums up the past few days.

i wish i could’ve captured the moment of

coming around the corner on the bus

and seeing the dome of the rock for the first time.

or coming into the jerusalem center

(aka the palace on the hill)

and my jaw dropping for how nice everything is -

the floors, the pianos, the food, the staff…

THIS VIEW.

wowowowow.

going into the old city for the first time was somethin else too.

you kind of learn to love the smell of DI mixed with spices.

i love hearing hebrew and arabic everywhere.

i love the palestinian/israeli accents speaking english.

everywhere you look there’s something of historical or religious significance,

so it’s hard to be bored here.

and it’s a comforting thought that i don’t need to see/do everything all at once,

because i get to be here for three and half blissful months.

i’ll try to keep bragging to a minimum.

i love that i get to be on this adventure with my carl.

i love my flying buddies jessica and jake.

my humble abode, the palace.

it's real easy to study with a view like this... kind of.

i love my roommate grace. the first night we were here, the muslim call to prayer was blasting through the city at 4 am (like it does every morning), and grace starts talking in her sleep saying, "wow, i'm learning so much!" :) i knew our friendship was fate the minute she started singing one of my favorite songs that probably only 13 people on the planet know. and talk about one of the coolest cats i've ever met, seriously - she has lived all around the world, speaks spanish and german, sings and plays the guitar like nobody's business, is a car mechanic, professional photographer, avid star wars fan, not to mention has best taste in music... i'm sure there'll be more to add to the list everyday.

i love that gabby and jenni are my other roommates and that we like to wear sun hats. and that we can laugh at night and appreciate things like boy band look-a-likes from the 90s.