The Better Parts About Being Here

Once I get to Ulpan Etzion in Jerusalem in about a week, my days will be filled with learning Hebrew in the classroom. The evenings will be spent doing homework and practicing flashcards of new vocabulary words. I am pretty excited for this and grateful the state provides five months of intensive language training. I won't come out fluent, but I should be decently conversational by time I am done.

Until I get to Etzion, I don't have a lot going on at all. I spend my days reading, on the internet, and I take a long walk every couple of hours. The neighborhood is beautiful with lots of foliage. One of the center's security guards grew up in Kfar Saba and says that there is a disagreement in the town between the real estate developers that want to build, and the residents that want to keep it a "green city." It seems suburban sprawl is an issue in the Middle East as well.

There are not really any any big supermarkets here like Roundys or Cub. Instead there are a ton of corner grocery stores and produce stores no bigger than a small gas station. The packaged food is pretty expensive, but the produce is amazing! Yesterday I bought 3 small cucumbers, a tomato, and a red bell pepper for 5 sheckels, which is about $1.30. I was feeling pretty great about Israel after that exchange!

I like being surrounded by people from all over the world (but I could use some Americans to talk to). I have befriended a couple of Turks, one of whom is an actor and spent some time in L.A. He loves Marlon Brando and A Street Car Named Desire. One Turk said to me when we met "you will never be alone here. The Turks and Georgians are always on your side!" There seems to be a universal appeal for American music. Everything from Prince to Hinder can be heard blaring from many apartments as I walk up my stairwell. But they don't seem to know Free Bird.

My sleeping schedule is still a bit off, so I have been going to bed very early these past few days and then waking up early as well. In a sense, it is quite nice and have spent both the sunrise and sunset walking in the neighborhood.