I LOVE sleep!

I think I told everyone that my luggage arrived yesterday, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have new clothes! I put on jeans and a t-shirt, and fresh everything else. It was awesome! I must have been tired/stressed or something, because after I put on my fresh PJs, I slept for 14 hours. I fell asleep at 4 pm and didn't wake up until 6 am (well, I woke up occasionally, but you know what I mean). I feel terrific today, and after I take a shower, I get to wear new clothes! Yay!

However, my 14 hours of sleep also mean that I have nothing new to report. So, instead, I will just share some general thoughts on random things.

First, taxi drivers here are insane! I've literally been carsick on almost every ride (I've now figured out that I MUST sit in the front seat, and that seems to help a lot). They drive super fast, and rush hour doesn't seem to intimidate them one bit. They just force their way into traffic, etc. We come so close to other cars that I could literally give the other drivers a high five or a handshake. Craziness! However, they almost always get us to where we want to go, and the price is decently reasonable too. On NYE however, they dropped me, Ben, and Amber off somewhere VERY far from campus (I don't think the driver knew we meant Hebrew University on Mount Scopus and not just Mount Scopus - or he was being a jerk, who knows). Anyway, we had no idea where we were, it was late (dark), so we had to get another cab! That one at least took us to campus, and then we were able to get in. Anyway, the point is that taxi drivers are slightly insane here. :)

Second, the security is odd. There are people everywhere with machine guns, and army units (I think that's what they are) march through the Old City in formation, etc. (for those of you that don't know, military service is compulsory for all Israelis, men and women, after they finish high school. This results in a VERY young looking military force, at least from what I can tell so far). Also, our school is basically a compound - you have to present your ID or passport to get back in at certain hours, and you have to go through security too. However, during the day, security seems quite lax, which I find odd. I'm not really scared or anything, but since they are so worried about violence (completely legitimate worries), it seems they would be hard core all the time. A note to my mom - please don't worry too much. I'm being very safe and smart. We don't go to the areas where violence is likely, etc.

Third, campus in general is beautiful. I should really take some pictures and post them, because I've never seen a campus like it before. Great old buildings, the sidewalks are made out of what seems like metallic rock (I have no idea if it's really stone or metal), and it's just all around beautiful. At the same time, it's completely modern. Wifi in some places, inet in all the rooms, all that stuff. Yesterday, Michael showed me a falafel shop and the grocery store, so I had a fabulous lunch and a nice visit with him (a 2L at HUSL). Oh, a random note about campus - there are cats everywhere! They are quite cute, and they sometimes roam into the buildings. Normally, seeing them would make me sad, but they seem to be in fabulous shape (not skinny, good fur, etc). That's definitely not something that I saw on American university campuses!

Fourth, at designated Muslim prayer times (five times a day), announcements or perhaps the prayers themselves are blasted over what seems like loud speakers from the various mosques. I think it might be called the call to prayer, but I'm really not sure what it is. It can be quite disconcerting at 5 am, when the first announcement goes off, but it's also pretty cool. Quite surreal actually. I will be learning more about Islam in today's class, so perhaps I can actually explain what I'm hearing after that, who knows.

Fifth, the food. I could eat this food everyday for every meal for the rest of my life and be happy. It's delicious. Pitas, hummus, kababs, fresh vegetables, unique spices, awesome sauces. I bought some fantastic looking oranges at the store yesterday, and I can't wait to eat those. I also bought some chocolate chips (it says chips) cookies, and they are excellent too. It would be easy to gain weight here, but I think the amount of walking could help curb that as well.

Today, we have class later in the day, so I am going with Kara and Amber to walk on the ramparts in the Old City. I'm not really sure what this means, but it sounded interesting. Our weekend plans for the Dead Sea and Mosada are shaping up, so that should be quite fun as well. The sun is up, and it makes the view from my room amazing. I will post pictures of the view soon - I forgot my camera cord so I have to borrow from others.

I have to go now - breakfast in a half hour! Yum, I'm starving. I get to enjoy some of the delicious food!

Pictures: First one on the left is a view from Maiersdorf Faculty Club, where I'm staying. The view isn't the one from my room, but it's also beautiful. The first one on the right and the third picture down are from Old City (I thought the palm tree was neat - I wanted to show that they have lots of different kinds of vegetation here), and the fourth picture is another picture of Warsaw, one of the Christmas trees in Old Town to be more precise. :)