So I finally have a moment to sit down and catch my breath. Everything has been so hectic the past few days that I have hardly had a moment to think- let alone realize where I am and comprehend that enough to write coherently about it. I got here on the 14th (a day ahead of the US). The plane ride was ok. Only ten hours. I was sitting in a middle seat with the very talkative "super jew" (as he called himself) next to me. At one point I dozed off and woke up to see him very near my face, trying to bite my pillow? Needless to say, I didn't sleep too much. When we got here, there where a bunch of people waiting to meet us and we got through security easily (much more quickly than leaving the US where all the non-jewish kids had to get extra questioned and their bags searched in an weird little back room) and onto the huge charter buses that were waiting for us. We drove from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and straight to the campus (on top of a huge hill in the center of the city). The drive was pretty amazing. There were tons of olive groves and old old houses and armed guards everywhere. It is just so different that what I am used to. Everything here is so geared towards survival and so much more aggressive. Even the landscape seems confrontational. I suppose that doesn't make a huge amount of sense, but that's just how it struck me. Once we got to campus we got settled in and got our roommates. Everyone seems very nice, but there are a lot of people who came on the trip together. I was thinking how cool it would have been, but at the same time it is great to be forced to meet all new people and just totally go it on your own. So after this we went to registration and on a shopping trip to get things that we needed for our rooms, and then everyone pretty much passed out. Yesterday, we did orientation and found out about the Ulpan. I'm in level aleph (the first level), but there are a lot of other people in aleph too, so I don't feel so out of place. I do feel a little out of place because there are only like five other not jewish kids in the program and certainly no other non-religious kids. It's awkward when everyone is always assuming you are something you aren't, but I don't want to just walk around all the time saying- hi my name is Rachel. I'm not jewish. Tonight is the first shabat dinner, so that will be interesting.
Yesterday we went and figured out how to take a bus downtown and found the market- a little hard not knowing Hebrew, but most people speak English even if they aren't too stoked about having to do it to American teenagers here on "holiday". But the market was amazing. It was just like all the pictures you have ever seen with tons of fresh food everywhere. There were so many colors and smells and tastes... it is impossible to write about. It was in this little ally that we stumbled upon, so at first we were out on a very quite street, then we turned the corner and it was this mad-house. No lines, no please or thankyou or excuse me. Just go for it and try and get something relatively close to what you wanted. We bought a bunch of dried fruit and hallah and pita and a scarf and vegetables and hummus. And it was all so cheap (and we were probably getting ripped off). Then we went and got falafel, which is delicious. After that part of our group decided to go back to campus and three of us decided to walk around a little. The first thing we did was go to the Wall, which was amazing. It was sorta the same thing as the market where we were walking through really quiet streets and then all of a sudden we found the wall and there were a TON of people there. It turns out, they were having a confirmation for the paratroopers so it was like an army assembled by the wall. I have never seen so many guns in one place before (more than one). Anyway, it was amazing. And during all this there were still people praying at the wall. you could also see the dome right there. It is amazing to see this place that so many people care so much about. After that we went out a little. I guess pretty much every night this one street turns into a giant block party, so we walked around there a little and made some friends.
Finally we got home in a taxi- 40 shekels for 5 of us... a pretty good deal. So now I am sitting in my room, trying to figure out what to wear for shabat dinner and how to act and feeling a little overwhelmed but still pretty excited. I'm finding the key to not being homesick is just staying busy, which doesn't take much effort here, except on shabat when everything shuts down. Hebrew starts on Sunday and I'm so excited to learn. I can't wait to be able to talk to people here. It feels like I have already been here for months and months, so hopefully the months and months I have left don't feel like years and years. I miss you all so much and look forward to emails and letters and anything else.
Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment