In the beginning...

Thursday, February 14, 2013 (5773)

Hello,

Since arriving in Israel I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog, but resigned to posting pictures on Facebook. However, I've realized Facebook can be pretty cluttered, and besides I really want to share more than just pictures. I've never blogged before, so it may take me some time to not only get used to this but to also figure out how to maneuver through this thing and make it look nice. So please keep in mind that like myself, this blog is a work in progress. :)

A little bit about myself: I am majoring in Judaic Studies and minoring in Hebrew at the University of Oklahoma, and am currently studying at Rothberg International School, which is part of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, located on Mount Scopus in East Jerusalem.  I received a scholarship from OU to study here in Israel, and I immediately chose Jerusalem.  I arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, January 23. It was my first transatlantic flight, and needless to say I'm not thrilled about having to do it again to get home, but I guess my options are pretty limited so I'll get over it. Thankfully I did not suffer any jetlag whatsoever; this was a concern of mine since we were scheduled to start ulpan the very next day (ulpan is just a Hebrew word for a school to learn Hebrew).  How did I get so lucky?  Well I just didn't sleep.  I left at 4:30 in the morning to go to the OKC airport, and when I arrived in Newark I wandered around and got some lunch. I wanted to sleep on the flight to Israel, but I was blessed with a toddler in the seat next to me who was obsessed with unplugging the earphones I was using to hear the movies I watched on the snazzy little screen in front of me. When she finally passed out, I tried to do the same but I couldn't get my seat to lay back. So after several  5 minute catnaps and some funky airline food, I arrived in Tel Aviv 10 hours later at 0900 Israeli time (they don't use AM or PM here, it's all military).  I took a group bus with other students from the airport to the Kfar HaStudentim (Student Village) in East Jerusalem, and from there we had about an hour to get our luggage up the many steps (everything is uphill in Jerusalem) and to our apartments. Mine is on the 7th floor (8th in America-here they start with floor 0). I unpacked, tried not to let reality set in, and headed back downstairs for a group shopping trip to the mall for food, etc. By the time I sat down and finally had a bite to eat (first meal since breakfast on the plane 15 hours before that), it was almost 2300 (11 PM...you'll get the hang of it). Thanks to being up for 36 straight hours, I slept alllll night and woke up at a decent time in the morning, putting me right on schedule with the time difference of jumping 8 hours into the future.

My apartment has the best view possible: the living room overlooks the city, so I can see the Mt. of Olives, the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock, the Golden Gate (Eastern Gate), city walls, etc. From my bedroom I can see the Judean hills and on a clear day, I can see part of the Dead Sea. I have four roommates; one is from the Boston area, one from a small village in the UK, and two from France. They're all really sweet.

At 6 in the morning, I am going to Masada and possibly the Dead Sea. I've not yet been out of Jerusalem since I arrived, and am anxious to see more of Israel. For those of you who are not familiar with where Masada is and why it is significant, here is a link to wiki if you would like to read up on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada  I'll be sure to post pictures and hopefully videos after I return.

The picture above was taken from my living room.

Well, that is all I have for now, just wanted to get this ball rolling and I'll see where it goes.  I'll post more soon.

Stacey

Psalm 122