Wow...it'a crazy to think that just a couple months ago this trip was still in the works, and now here I sit on campus at JUC. As I left for the airport this morning I was taken back and humbled knowing that in just a few (around 20) hours I'd be sitting in Israel. As I approached the front desk for Air Canada in Edmonton I was incredibly pumped, but as the attendant asked for a Student Visa my heart nearly stopped (since I was told I didn't need one). It turns out my trip will be lasting about a week longer than 3 months, which is the longest time I'd be able to stay in Israel without a Visa; however, since I will be crossing the border at least once this trip I was allowed to pass through. As the day went on I landed in Toronto which was really cool and I thoroughly enjoyed a 2 hour layover, then I landed in Tel Aviv.
Now, my trip had gone incredibly smooth til this point, but....big 'But', I didn't know that I would be getting myself into a greater adventure trying to get to JUC. The Airport taxi, or Sherut, left the airport on time and arrived in Jerusalem swiftly; however, since the Sherut was packed full I ended up getting a nearly 3 hour city tour of Jerusalem dropping everybody off. As we dropped off the last rider I noticed 2 others in the Sherut with me, and they were also going to JUC, which worked out well. Later that night we finally got dropped off at Mt. Zion only to find ourselves lost! As we made our way around Mt. Zion trying to find the college we asked numerous taxi drivers for directions only to be dissapointed. So after about another hour and a half we bumped into the manager of JUC who then lead us to the college, thankfully. We then brought all of our luggage onto this beautiful campus overlooking the city and began getting settled in while some of the staff brought us the meal they had saved for us....needless to say it all worked out in the end.