Students arrived . . . well, most of them

Students coming through customs at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv

Meeting the students in the airport

Students are the lifeblood of the BYU Jerusalem Center.  While it is a beautiful facility and a wonderful place to be, the other families and we have remarked the past few days that it has been like living in a museum the past week.  So we were excited when it came time to drive to Tel Aviv to pick up two groups of students.

Well, we ended up picking up one group of students, only 30 our of 82.  That is because the second group suffered a cancelled flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia that kept them from making their flight to Israel.  Getting 52 people (the 82nd student is the son of faculty member Jared Ludlow and was already here with is family) on another flight just does not happen, so they are going to be coming in small groups on different flights over the course of the next few days.

This is wrecking havoc with our schedule, but an emergency faculty meeting adjusted the schedule with its associated classes and field trips.  Now we just need to go in shifts to the airport to pick up the new students and fit in their various orientations, including the famed orientation walk.

Still, having just a part of our student cohort here has made the center come alive.  We ate dinner with them this evening and each met with our classes for just a half an hour.  Tomorrow we will take those who are here on their walk through and around the Old City.  They seem like great young people and all seem exited to be here.