Speechless

This is incredible. I can feel my life changing every second I'm here. Holy cow. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
3:15 am drive to airport went fine. My suitcase weighed 71.5 lbs, but the incredibly nice and muscular Polynesian man wrote down 70 and only charged me $25. Tender mercy. Flight #1 (SLC to Houston) went fine. However, I didn't find that everything in Texas was bigger, except for the airport. It was huge! My shoulders practically dislocated carrying two 30 lb carry-ons across a bigger-than-Disneyland airport. Flight #2 (Houston to New Jersey) was great. I got a nickname for myself on that one by two very, well, happy-to-vex-me young men. It's Grizzy, short for Griselda. They haven't given it up yet. They're funny. The last flight (New Jersey to Tel Aviv) was great...they never stopped wining and dining us and I got to sleep. Yay! But oh man, it was like being in a different world. The plane was full of orthodox Jews with the long, black overcoats, earlocks, yamicas, and top hats...the whole deal. It was actually very touching to me, the more I observed them. They live lives of such complete dedication to what they believe in. I was just thinking what our world would be like if everyone was as dedicated as these Jews are. I think it'd be a very different place...in a good way.
Oh man guys, Israel is incredible. I'm absolutely speechless when I try to find words to describe it. I started feeling spiritual radiation pulsing through the sky and up into the plane when we just started circling to land. Incredible.
We landed, went through customs, got our bags, and then we were picked up by a Brother Richard Draper, who is my new hero. By the time we were on our way to the Jerusalem, it was dark. We passed plains, which turned into hills, until we looked out our windshield and saw this city on the crest of a hill emerge. We drove through the gateway (I forget the name???) and then we arrived at this place. Or rather THE place. You guys would not believe the BYU Jerusalem Center.
Where do I even start? I think I'll just have to take a ba-jillion pictures and then come home and tell you guys about it. There are no words. But let me tell you, God is here. You can feel that He not only had a hand in building it, but His presence, His Spirit, is here. This is neutral ground in a place of turmoil. It's a sanctuary of peace. The staff is perfectly divided between Israelis and Palestinians. The executivce director over here isn't even Mormon, he's Muslim. So cool! Anyway, you can just feel the peace and neutrality here and it feels so safe.
They started off serving us dinner of roasted chicken, rice, sauteed vegetables, a delicious fennel salad, and pita and hummus. I think I'm going to like it here. :) At least I know I'll get along just fine with the kitchen. We then had a welcome/orientation meeting and got to meet all the staff. Everyone here is so nice. I just feel like someone is going to explode from smiling and niceness any minute. They are so dedicated to this program and helping us. I just want to cry when I think about, well, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!
After orientation we met with our religion teachers for half an hour. I had secretly wanted Brother Draper, and sure enough, he's my teacher. I know it's not an accident...I can just feel that he is going to help me to open my eyes in so many ways...he had me crying just during our introductory meeting. I'm such a pathetic baby. Anyway, you'll be hearing more about him in the future, I'm sure.
After that we met with our Near Eastern Studies teacher...we all have him at the same time in a big forum. He was AWESOME. I won't be surprised if I end up declaring my major as History with an emphasis in Middle Eastern Studies after this semester. He got me so pumped.
And then came the tour of this magnificent building. I just can't even start, so you'll all have to come out and see it someday. I'm on the committee in charge of giving tours to visitors, so I'll learn a lot about it. Just quickly, the auditorium where we have church and other meetings overlooks the entire city of Jerusalem. You can't even imagine. You're sitting there, looking at the Dome of the Rock, the Mount of Olives, the wailing wall, etc. All I have to say is the speakers in church are going to have to do a pretty dang good job to keep anyone's attention during Sacrament Meeting. Ha!
Well, I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. Sorry this is so long, I didn't even scrape the surface of the myriad of feelings and experiences I've already felt and had in this unique and special place.
Conclusion: I love it here. It's where I'm supposed to be right now. Period.