April Palmer
Orientation, Orientation, Orientation!
I didn’t really believe the professors when they said that we would all be awake at 3:30am, but sure enough at 3:45 Thursday morning I was staring wide-eyed at the city from the balcony. Wanting to get over jet lag quickly, I went back to bed only to be awakened again an hour later by the Muslim prayer calls. Not quite a song, not quite a moan, and not quite a chant, but very beautiful the call is indescribable. Watching from my balcony, I could see that I was not the only one awake—I don’t know of one student that was able to sleep through the call that first morning.
After a quick breakfast of eggs, cereal, yogurt, French toast, fruit, and pita bread we met in the Forum at 7:15 for our third full-blown orientation meeting. We were given instruction about housing regulations, health and safety, etc. Half asleep and anxious to embark on our first walk in the city, I am not sure how well we were listening. Something must have sunk in though, because every time we wash our hands now someone is bound to smilingly quote Dr. Hayes: “Why are these students so happy? Because they washed their hands!”
Two hours later we split up into groups of ten and began our 5.2-mile orientation walk around Jerusalem. Exclamations of “I can’t believe we are actually here,” echoed through the streets as we passed the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb. Jaws dropped as we traipsed through the crowded markets of the old city. And there were giggles and smiles when we were accosted by merchants saying, “We make good price for Mormon students; 50% off everything!” Amid the very foreign sights, sounds, and smells there was a special feeling about the city. This feeling just attested to the fact that we were in a very significant place at a special time.
Returning to the Jerusalem Center hot, sweaty, and tired we ate lunch and returned to the Forum for yet another orientation meeting, this one focusing mainly on security. Boundaries, curfews, cell phones, and ID tags were among the hot topics of the day. These instructions were soon needed when 30 of us decided to venture out after dinner. In groups of three or more we prowled around West Jerusalem; the highlight for me being when I introduced some of the other students to “pop rocks chocolate.” After a worrisome ride home (the taxi driver went the wrong way on three one-way streets) we made it safely back home.
All in all it was a great day, and we went to bed very oriented, or disoriented…I am not sure which!
