Ecstasy.

Close your eyes and picture this: you are on your stomach, lying on a patch of grass in a semicircle of warm Middle Eastern sunshine that gleams through a massive, white limestone arch. Behind you is a glass-walled auditorium that attracts the attention of international musicians just for the experience of playing before one of the most breathtaking views in the world. In front of you, the Dome of the Rock glints at the center of your field of vision. The time-worn wall of Jerusalem’s Old City surrounds it, cascading over rocky terrain until it breaks suddenly at ancient gates you can recognize and name. There are flowers lining the nearest walkway, and roses and tulips and carnations and everything beautiful blooms just inside your periphery. The set of steps to your far right are rough, white limestone bricks that ascend into a paradise of dark, cross-hatched olive wood canopies covered in things that grow. The sun warms your skin as you look over Jerusalem, smiling without even realizing it takes effort. There’s no way you can concentrate on your book. The aesthetics that surround you consume all possible interest. You breathe, and the dry air of the Middle East dusts your lungs in limestone atoms, in religious fervor, in conflict and cooperation and just trying to live a decent life. It’s four o’ clock. The call to prayer is sung from every minaret within hearing distance, and you close your eyes and listen to the discordant, resonant cries. Trust me: There is nothing--NOTHING--better than this.

For those not familiar with the BYU Jerusalem Center, here's a pretty picture of it at night. Here's a close-up in the day. The experience I just described took place under one of those big arches you see. Here it is again in black and white, and here is what it looks like inside. I'll post my own pictures when I can get a bandwidth large enough to do so (my links come courtesy of Google image search).