MY ROOM:




I’ve been in Israel now for about 6 hours and, predictably, I’ve experienced a month’s worth of excitement. Most of the things I expected to be difficult logistically were, but I’ve been able to bear the lines and red tape by smiling at just how typical Israeli it all is.

More remarkable than the expected yelling and curt responses that Israelis are infamous for, however, has been the serendipitous sequence of events that have unfurled one after the other in the past 24 hours. Jerusalem is magical - and after only a few hours I remember why its so hard not to believe in a higher power at work here. Despite the honking cars, the barbed wire, the constant signs of stress and tension, people here seem t possess a certain amount of spiritual awareness. Perhaps it comes from an acceptance, even among the most secular people, that life is not all in our control – so people freak out about small things where they feel they can exercise their control, and when wild coincidences occur, no one is surprised. Admittedly I am still in the naïve stage. So be it. I’ll enjoy this while it’s here!



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Finally … at 2:30, I arrived at the brand new graduate dorms ready to move in… I wrote my name on a list and settled in to wait for the 10 or so people in front of me to get their room assignments. Three hours later, I actually saw my room. In the meantime, I enjoyed chatting with some other students. I met people from Argentina, Mexico, and of course Israelis and Americans. It’s so nice to be in the brand new dorms and to know that everyone around is a graduate student. The graduate students here are a bit more serious about their studies, although going to class here is apparently not quite as required as in the states.

My apartment is beautiful! I walked in to a sparkling white room, with billowing peacock feathers on our coffee table to greet me. My roommate, Elad, has incredible taste in décor and wines from what I can tell so far. He is very keen on cleanliness and he set the some house rules straight away. I appreciate his directness and he and I had an awesome evening together.
He is studying law and accounting and comes across as extremely intelligent. He speaks German and English fluently but soon I will have to crack down and make him speak to me only in Hebrew. He grew up on a moshav in central Israel that is known for its honey. He is the eldest of 5 kids. When we talked about his time in the army, he said he couldn’t really discuss it. I guess he did some intelligence work, but whatever it was, it was specialized enough that he is forbidden from visiting several countries (Jordan, Egypt, Russia) for quite a few years.
He gave me a great tour of the student village and the nearby shops. We enjoyed a dinner of hummous, pita and cucumbers with some Israeli jelly donuts and rugelach for dessert. (and of course some good wine!) I’ve mostly unpacked and plan to spend today taking care of logistics at school and with the bank, cell phone etc… Then I need to study Hebrew for several hours. Tonight, I am meeting a friend in the city. I am ridiculously happy!