First Night

So, I am sitting outside, in a little corner, on a ledge. There are 4 of us here, huddled together, trying to get internet. I have spent an entire day in Israel. What I have learned today begins with a conversation: "So, the shower, yeah, the water goes EVERYWHERE," one of my 4 roommates informed me. I had experienced this in Israel before - the floor does not dip so that the water goes down the drain. Instead, it spreads all the way across the entire bathroom floor. If you, like me, have incredibly sneaky hair, you will then find and feel guilty that there are black curls all over the bathroom floor. This, however was not what I learned. What I learned was that she was not joking. Standing under the shower head is basically useless, as the water sprays out in about 25 directions. I learned that it was smarter to simply pick one or two sprays of water and to stay under those. So much for a nice comforting shower. 

However, the day has been good! I am unpacked in my single, bought about 230 shekels of food (about $80 or less), and have been thoroughly briefed on what the next 4.5 months will contain for my life. The dance program is AMAZING. We are studying with really famous choreographers starting on Sunday -yikes! I am super nervous but also super excited. I met someone who has been dancing as long as I have. He is enthusiastic about everything and I hope we'll be buds! I have actually met quite a few awesome people, but am a bit too overwhelmed to remember names quite yet. I also have yet to activate my phone...sorry, family. 

My apartment has the most amazing view. You can see the entire old city of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock is easiest to pick out, but it is simply amazing to stare at the dusty hills covered in white stone buildings and trees normally found in a variety of climates. I bought my first ever batch of groceries meant to support myself. I live with 4 other dancers (there are 14 total) and we realized that, sadly, we will spend little time in our room, as we must rush from one campus to the next in order to fulfill our academic and dance requirements. I begin the Ulpan (Hebrew intensive) and dance classes on Sunday (weird that things happen on Sundays, here!!). Should be good to remedy the way that my brain handles this foreign language - by substituting with Spanish (and sometimes a bit of Hindi or Chinese). I actually asked someone a question in Spanish today, so desperate was I to communicate with them. The muddle of those languages and the smattering of Hebrew that I know, plus the prayers that I know, are all jumbled in my head. The cool Jerusalem air (it gets chilly here at night!) is soothing though. I guess I'll head to bed soon. 

Missing you all! 

Shalom from Israel

First, let me say that it is very confusing typing on this website as the words are entered from right to left. So, I have arrived. It is 7 in the morning, just a bit too early for me to go outside and attempt to find and board a sherut (group taxi). I figured I'd while away my time by writing a quick update before life gets busy and my computer runs out of battery. The flights were uneventful. I had a decent amount of Elisa faux pas which I think I should share. The first flight was easy. I composed this ode, dedicated to the man sitting in front of me:
Dear Man Sitting In Front Of Me,

I hate you and your

Balding

Colorless head.

With the short, wavy hair of your

Abnormally sized cranium

You take up more room

Than should be allowed

Anyone.

I have been staring at

Your annoyingly large skull

For 6 hours,

Now,

And have come to resent it

As the TV screen is 3 inches from my face

And my food is

Closer to my stomach

Than when I actually eat it.

The poor person behind me

Must suffer this same lack of space

Because, in order to avoid suffocation,

I must copy your painfully selfish move.

Therefore,

Dear Man Sitting In Front Of Me,

You take up too much breathing room

And have caused a

Lack of space chain reaction.

If only your head was smaller.

(I apologize for the strange grammar placement, I should probably figure out howto change the language setting to English...Thank goodness I can usually recognize the word for Hebrew)

Then comes the second flight, after a 10 hour interlude in Heathrow. If you remember, I have once before spent 2 nights airlining, although I was much less prepared. But I feel equally disgusting and disoriented. Good to know.

The only people left in the airport at 10:30 were people going to Hong Kong and people going to Israel. It made me chuckle how visibly and audibly different these groups were. I boarded the plane and walked right past my seat, thinking it looked too nice not to be first class. I had to then fight the flow of people back to my seat, which was the first on the plane and stuff my luggage above despite the little amount of space. In the process, I kicked my neighbor and spilled dripped water on him from my bag as I tried to make it fit. He was obviously unhappy and had probably been hoping that there would be nobody sitting next to him. Oops.

So, now I wait. I am pretty addled, the few words and random phrases of Hebrew that I know are floating around in my head. I am simultaneously so excited to be here and just really don't believe that I am.
Miss and love you allllllllllll.
E

Getting ready...

So, dear friends and family, I know that I promised you I would not start a blog, due to the rather unfortunate horrible dullness of the last one I attempted to write, but I am already having adventures and couldn't imagine not sharing them with you. As I am horrible with phones and only slightly better with e-mail, and won't be able to obsessively text as I will, indeed, be in another country, this seemed like the best choice. Better than a massive e-mail thread and repeating stories 33 times, anywho.

So, I'm off to Israel tomorrow evening! This evening was filled with goodbye/talk to you soon conversations with good friends. Then, of course, came the requisite Elisa-packing-crisis. It started benignly with "M., what shoes do I bring?" and escalated into a full on debate with my family about the books I was bringing. My sister and I scoured the house looking for choices, then I covered a table, loudly interrupting my mother's quiet dessert time, and began moving the books around frantically, trying to decide between what would fit, what I would want to read in the next 4 1/2 months and what I want to read now/am reading.

An hour and a half later, I am sitting back at home. With a Nook on my lap. Indeed. I just bought a Nook. WHAT?

Haha, so there begins my adventures, with a rather expensive purchase, the decision made 15 minutes before Barnes and Noble closed, with my sister and I attempting not to freak out. She chose the case for me (forced) and we walked out with big grins. I shook her hand, "Sorry, my hands are kind of sweaty," she said. "Adrenaline rush!" I clicked my heels in the parking lot and then shouted "What the fuck did I just do?" Luckily, I will no longer be lugging 8 books with me around the world.

So tomorrow at 4 PM I leave for the airport with full family in tow. I get on the plane around 8, get into London the next morning. Spend 10 hours there doing goodness knows what, get back on a plane and will find myself, exhausted, frazzled and probably kind of gross, in Israel at 5:30 in the morning. Quick time change explanation: I am 9 hours ahead of anybody in CO, 7 hours ahead of all you East Coasters. Then I'll have to figure out how to board and explain (without really knowing myself) how to get to Hebrew University's campus. I will register, get my room assignment, settle down and...What the future brings, nobody knows!

My program works like this: I take 2 religion-focused classes at Rothberg International School, which is part of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I will also take Hebrew. Everyday, I will board a bus for half an hour to head across town to the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where I will be taking 2 dance classes of my choice. I speak basically no Hebrew (although I can ask for a beer, no, beer, not wine, please. Thank you very much), have very little idea what I'm getting myself into and have never been away from home this long. I am simultaneously ecstatic and vaguely  nauseous. Adventure, hi-ho!