The Holy City

---

Si I've been here in Jerusalem over a week now... It's so wonderful here! I actually just got home from The Wall to participate in the welcoming of the Shabbat and it was so beautiful! Last week wasn't very eventful because the weather was bad but this week was absolutely PACKED! I added my little folded up prayer to the hundreds stuffed in every tiny crack and prayed and pondered and it was wonderful. I even got to do a little singing and dancing with the young girls there! So fun. I've done so much sight-seeing in this week and I haven't even scratched the surface of this city! The merchants all love me for my blonde hair and it's really fun cuz I get free stuff all over the place because they love my hair and my bright blue/green eyes so now all the girls want to dye their hair blonde so they can get special treatment too hahaha. Palestine/Isreal is wonderful though! I love the food, I love the people, I love the Old City and the geography and history of the land and the devotion of the many faiths who dwell here. It has been such an amazing experience for me and I honestly cannot believe that I get to leave here for three more months! I actually leave from the USA exactly three months from today and I'm already sad that I don't have more time than that! I know I'm going to cry when I leave, I can already predict it. My classes here are AMAZING. I am learning soo much and LOVING the curriculum so much that I honestly can't keep my nose out of my books! That sounds way nerdy but I seriously just love what I'm learning here. And I think that I have learned more in this one week than in the whole semester of my religion classes at home. And the all the kids I'm living with are RAD! We are already a family and so close and happy. Happy. That's what I am. I don't think I've ever been more happy in my whole life. I'm here in the Holy Land learning from an Israeli Jewish professor, a Palestinian Islamic professor, Mormon professors, Palestinian Christians... it's such a unique and amazing cultural experience! I just hope I can make the most of it all, ya know? Things with my boys at home have been insane but I made a decision yesterday to leave those crazy boys at home and not worry about it at all while I'm here and since I decided that everything has been PERFECT! So no more worries about boys because I'm studying abroad and having the time of my life and no one is going to ruin it for me! I miss Madison and Angelina so much though! I miss Tyler, too... tons! And my mom, too. She has been writing me the sweetest emails and they make me cry! She's so cute. K, well I'm going to head out, but I'm going to post some pics for everyone to look at 😊
Love,
Krystyna

---

Photos

Arches
God smiles on His Holy City