Episode 02: "The Ground Rules"

Shalom from Israel!

I gotta say, it’s been a wonderful first week, and I can’t wait for what’s around the corner. This is probably going to be a lengthy entry, since I haven’t written in such a long time, but feel free to just skim the pictures for Cliff Notes. Again, to whoever’s reading this, thank you so much for your support regarding my year abroad. I appreciate the love, and this blog is about me sending some back at you. Before I get started on the “diary” stuff, here are some of the expectations you can have about this site:

1) I’ll be updating at least once a week. I know a year away is a long time, and I’m going to try to make it feel like you’re here with me by regular posts. Someone send me an angry e-mail if I don’t stick to that promise.

2) I know a lot of you have been worried about how dangerous the area is here. So just to make things worry-friendly, I’ve decided to make a key to signify my state of personal safety at the top of every entry:

(+) “Still alive”
( - ) “Not so much”

I’ll try to keep it up to date.

2.5) (If expectation #2 made you bristle a little bit, that’s just me trying to keep things lighthearted. Please don’t lose any sleep over me being here. I promise, I will be smart about my surroundings, and I will come home safe to see you again.)

3) Look out for pictures. I’ll try to get in the habit of taking snapshots of my activities, friends and environment and posting some on the blog every once in a while. Here's one of a view from main campus:

4) Any comments you make will be read, although to comment you might have to have a g-mail account. Not sure. Anyway, I’m trying to do better at keeping in touch with people, so if you leave a comment with a direct question, be patient with me and sooner or later I WILL get back to you.

5) There may be times when I end up sharing personal thoughts instead of “experiences”, but I expect both will be the meat of these entries. But if there are subject matters you’re curious about that are lacking in these particular blogs, write to me and I can reply about other aspects of my time here.

My expectations of you:

1) Enjoy.

So, first thing’s first: Thought I’d explain the title of this blog. I guess it came to me some time after realizing that being here means no wreaths, no lights, no day off from school come Christmas Day. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and the fact that’s it’s not a holiday at all in Jerusalem is a huge testament to exactly how far out of my element I’ve stepped. But in the spirit of broadening my horizons, I want to fully immerse myself in the culture and flavor of the country, especially if that means recognizing the differences between here and home. Exhibit A: Santa got “served” when it came to recognizing Christmastime in Israel. Exhibits B-Z coming soon. For now I'm just getting situated with how Jewish history and pride have completely inundated the place.

Tour guide and menorah. I'll explain later.

All right—I guess I still haven’t really gotten started, so here goes. Just before the flight I met up with other Hebrew University kids, and all of us talked while we waited for the plane. Two of them were Aisling (pronounced “Ashlene”) and Brian (pronounced “Brian”). I didn’t sleep at all on the plane. Instead I watched 2.75 movies out of the 5 they played on repeat, including Premonition, which was awful. Don’t see it. But before we even took off I was asked to change seats twice for families who wanted to sit together, and the flight attendants were so thankful about me doing it that they were SUPER nice to me on the plane—checking in with me periodically, giving me extra snacks, and ultimately giving me a bottle of wine and some chocolate as a gift for being gracious about the seat changes. Great way to start off the trip.

The bottle of wine the crew gave me. Skippy not included.

At the airport near Tel Aviv, Brian and I met up after the flight and tried to figure out what was going on. We eventually got to a parking lot where everyone loaded their bags. I saw one girl named Roni around then, although I didn’t know her name at the time. She seemed cool enough, though. On the bus traveling to Jerusalem, I sat next to Corina, who actually happened to know about an NYC church I’d visited during freshman year.

Anyway—moral of the story, I ended up being roommates with all the people I’ve mentioned. Randomly, the madrichim (the helper out guys) asked us to round up roommate groups in sets of five. So Aisling, Brian, Roni, Corina and I found each other and registered for a place to stay. Now we have a headquarters, and I consider myself fortunate to have such an awesome flat with cool people.

A typical high rise of the "Student Village".

The room.

The roomies (from left to right), Brian, Aisling and Corina...

..and Roni.

All this and not a lick of “Jerusalem life” yet, I know. I will update you on that in more detail down the line, but this entry’s beefy as it is, and the lengthy text and heaps of pictures take a long time to post. More to come on all the good stuff, you have my word.

And to everyone who's already commented or sent messages/e-mails/Facebook posts, thank you so much. All the love in the world right back.

Shalom,
Eric