Safety Measures...

I went to a four-and-a-half hour long orientation at BYU today in preparation for leaving for Jerusalem on study abroad tomorrow morning. Some of my favorite lines of the orientation:

1. "Don't wear American insignia. The last thing we want to see is a 'three cheers for Obama' t-shirt in Jerusalem. If you're going to wear anything, wear the Swiss flag."

2. "Don't eat the Egyptian food. You eat a salad, you get sick. That's the bottom line. I live off coke and snickers when I'm there. It's fine."

3. "Girls, look around you. Now find your guy with a high tolerance for shopping. Never leave his side."

4. "Be on time. The first time you walk on that bus twenty minutes late with an ice cream cone in your hand, the others will laugh. The second time it happens, they will want to kill you."

  

He also mentioned that he fears the student bus will flip over one day, and that we aren't allowed to take the Jewish buses because in the past those buses have been the suicide bomber targets. He also mentioned that students are hospitalized from illness every semester, etc. All very good safety tips...Regardless, I'm still really excited. 

I may or may not have looked up some yoga poses online that we can do as the sun rises every morning on our balcony. Just saying.