For the sake of updates let me fill you in a bit. Here is brief list of some of the sights over the past few days:

• The Church of the Redeemer
• The Western Wall
• David's Tower
• Orson Hyde Park
• Gethsemane
• The Garden Tomb
• The Wall Ramparts
• and a bunch of other little sights

Now, I know that probably isn't the greatest of lists, but bare in mind that we really haven't had more than two afternoons of free time and they make us come in when it gets dark.

Let me try and give you an idea of what life here in the Center is like. People are getting more and more settled and we know most everyone's name now which makes life a whole lot easier. Meals are often and often not all that great. The only real problem is that we eat relatively early (six) and then have to wait until six the next day for breakfast. Snacks are becoming a hot commodity. Generally we have class in the morning. There are two main classes--one religion (Old Testament for now) and a Middle East history course. Both are very interesting and assign a lot of extra reading which is where the majority of our "homework" come from. The afternoons are free. We do pretty much whatever we want, which pretty much means that we go hang out in the city. There are some people who decide to stay in and do their "homework"--I will never understand how reading classifies as homework, but whatever.

The Jerusalem Center sits on a hill probably about three quarters of a mile from the Old City. The Old City is the portion of Jerusalem that is still surrounded by walls. I wish that I could accurately describe what the Old City is like. Around every corner is some ancient site. The streets are large slabs of limestone and have been worn be who knows how many years of feet, carts, cars, tractors, and who knows what else. The most dominating feature though are the hundreds of shops that line the walk way. Every shopkeeper recognizes us. They are all apparently BYU fans--what a coincidence.

Well after exploring, we try to get back before dark and eat dinner. The evening we play games, watch movies, or do the "homework" for the next day.

I hope this helps some of you who may not know what things are like here. So much happens everyday that I hardly know what to write up here, but I think this will give you a good frame of reference for any of my other posts.