July 1, 2001

It was a long, long day (or a short two days, depending upon your calculations). From Chicago, we took the flight to Amman (changing, once again, in Milan). Given the extra amount of stuff we brought back, we decided to rent a car from Avis (yes, Avis) from Amman to the Hussein Bridge. Getting across was no problem on either side, and we ran into a friend from our December visit to Hebron, an American (and a Presbyterian) working in Ramallah. It turns out that he'll be in our language class this summer!

The view of Jerusalem from Dominus Flevit (the Lord wept) Church.

It was good that we arrived when we did, because the bridge closed half an hour after we arrived - since the Intifada started, the bridge's hours have been unpredictable from one day to the next. We made it to Jerusalem and found a hostel near the Damascus Gate. We called Birzeit, the village where we'll be spending the summer close to our classes at nearby Birzeit University. Our housing, it turns out, won't be ready for us for a week (or at least with furniture). Since registration is tomorrow, that means we'll be doing some creative arranging - at least of ourselves when we sleep!