Old City and Our First Meeting

FB post:
My day started at 3:30 AM with a key being repeatedly inserted into my door. I jolted out of bed, assuming it was my roommate but not certain since I had no idea when she would arrive. After some heart-pounding moments, I realized it was her and, after introductions, we both slept till 10 AM. I guess I was more tired than I realized.
We spent the day strolling around the Old City through Jaffa Gate, visiting The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, a beautiful scenic point above the wall, and the archeological excavation. It was really cool because I was able to share some of the things our tour guide in October had told us.
After a forever long and hot walk back (that included stopping at the market for a six pack of nearly 2 liters of coke), we rested for about an hour before our first meeting.
The meeting was really ... surprising, intimidating, and thrilling. :) There are around 40 of us, not the 8 I initially thought. There are only about 13 Americans. The majority are French-Canadians! There are probably half K-12 teachers (or less) and the rest are either college professors, academics, or historians. There are three USHMM employees here, a German girl who is living in Mexico and teaching, a girl from Romania who talks and acts just like Gabi Tallant 😉, a lawyer/judge turned high school history teacher, and a civil rights journalist. Most interesting of all, a man who was a student in The Wave class and who created the documentary on it!!! I'm so pumped to learn so much with such a stellar group. I'm definitely jv compared to these guys, but I don't mind. :)

Additional commentary:
I cannot WAIT to get started and get to know this group. As a white, middle-class Christian living in the Bible Belt (even as a COG'er living in CLEVELAND), I'm not often around people who are much different than I am. (Shoot, going to UTC instead of Lee was considered shocking when I graduated high school!) This group of people is INCREDIBLY eclectic and UTTERLY fascinating. They gave us a break last night in our meeting just after introductions and I was battling my insecurities so hard. I desperately wanted to just sit in my chair but I forced myself to talk to people around. After the session, I chatted with a few more and I've decided I'm going to get as much out of this in regard to my colleagues as I am everything else! I'm ready! Bring it!