A Tale of Two Cities

First of all, thanks to those of you who post comments. I like hearing your "voices." Let me know if you ever have any specific questions and I'd be happy to answer them.
Okay, so I just got back from our official tour of Jerusalem. Two words: Holy Cow. (Well, Holy for sure...I'm not too sure about the cow part.) Anyway, the BYU center is in the northeastern section of Jerusalem. The city is divided and the eastern sector is Palestinian. It's very dirty and there is garbage everywhere. But you feel like you're in a city from another century despite the Coca-Cola bottles and empty milk cartons strewn everywhere. Along the way our head of security at the center kind of just popped up out of nowhere and gave us this bread to eat. It's in the shape of a foot-long rubberband and covered in sesame seeds. We dipped it in this green, salty powder called Zartar. It was delicious.
After walking through east Jerusalem we went through the wall into the old city through the Damascus Gate. The old city is RAD. It's this network of winding cobblestone roads packed to the breaking point with merchants of all sorts. It is the funniest thing--all the merchants know us and boy do they like us. We pass by and they hold up their wares and say questioningly, "Mormon? Mormon?" There's this one guy with a store called Ali Baba (yeah, like in Aladdin). He LOVES us Mormon folk. When we passed his store he came out and gave us all free drinks. In the window at the front of his store it says the name of his store and then underneath it says BYU, accompanied by a Cougars pennant on the side. Haha! I was dying! They must take us for real suckers, but they don't know me. I'll give them bartering like they ain't never seen before! :) Just kidding. But seriously.
So after going through Old Jerusalem we went through the Jaffa Gate to West Jerusalem. The Western side is the Jewish sector and it was like walking through a gate into a completely different country. It was spacious and clean with tall buildings and public trash cans. Everything was well-kept and it didn't smell bad. The streets were wide and the drivers civilized. It was cool, but definitely not as funky as the east side, although I did feel safer on the west side. We got to see King David's hotel, which is where President Bush is staying right now. They said he rented out the entire hotel PLUS two other hotels for the 1600 people he brought with him. Why the heck does he need that many people? They're probably all security guards...he must know how much people hate him over here.
Anyway, after that we met up with the vans that brought us back to the center. I just filled my belly once again with delicious vitals. Oh man, I almost forgot...for breakfast this morning I had this tomato and mozarella salad with this olive oil w/spices on it and then fresh cut cucumbers and tomatoes with this hummus-type mixture on top. This is the life. I dig their appreciation for vegetables here. I think for the rest of my life I will have veggies at every meal, including breakfast. I only wish we could come even remotely close to replicating their hummus...it's a whole experience in itself. (Don't you like how I describe so much of the food? It's basically the center of my life and my happiness revolves around what I've eaten recently. :) Just kidding.)
Anyway, we have our third orientation meeting soon and I still haven't finished unpacking. Tonight Brother Draper invited a few of us over to his apartment for his wife's homemade cookies. Supposedly they're divine. I guess I'll just have to see for myself. I'm looking forward to that. I'm sure you guys will be hearing about those, knowing me!
Conclusion: Jerusalem has so much to offer. There's so much to learn and experience. The people are great, the food is great, the view is great, what else would one ask for? (Except for a really good massage...I'm definitlely feeling the plane ride and luggage right about now.) Anyway, love to all!