Breaking In a New City

There is something to be said for breaking in new shoes, kind of like there is for breaking in a new city. Wandering around the city, getting lost with friends, and exploring are the best ways to discover the wonders of a new city, especially Jerusalem. In similar fashion to breaking in shoes, the last two days have contained some serious adventures and blisters. By Wednesday, my blisters had blisters, and I somehow managed to get a blister on the bottom of my foot. How does that even happen? I guess I can blame my lack of Chaco wearing for six months, but whatever. That's what Bandaids and Neosporin are for, right?

 My most recent adventures were the catalysts for said blisters. My adventures primarily included extensive walking in the Old City. I wandered into a park near my apartment, and then saw a sign to the old city. I walked through a beautiful park and then into the Jaffa Gate (the main gate into the old city). It was really amazing. After my long walk there, I grabbed a lime popsicle and a rugelach (sooo good, but not from Marzipan). I wandered for a bit in the Armenian quarter and in the Christian quarter, and in the end decided to walk back. On my walk back through the park, I passed by Sir Moses Montefiore's Windmill. The park itself was gorgeous, but the windmill is striking against the rest of the city with its "Jerusalem Gold," the stones that make up almost every building in Jerusalem. 

  When I got home to my apartment I met Ira, a new classmate and subletter for one of our rooms for the month of June. He's super cool. Later in the evening we went to a gathering of HUC Year in Israel students at our HUC intern's apartment. It was really wonderful getting acquainted with people and hearing bits and pieces of everyone's stories and recent adventures. Because it was Erev Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks after we finish counting the Omer when we celebrate the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai), we ate cheese dishes and cheesecake. Of course it was all very tasty.

   A common thing to do on Shavuot is to stay up all night studying the Torah. Although I read some and studied a little, my jetlag held me back from pulling a "Torah All Nighter." A neat thing I really wanted to do, but again--sleep--was to go to the sunrise service at the Kotel (Wailing Wall) for Shavuot. I would have needed to get up at 5am...that didn't happen. Instead I slept until 11am, and then went with Ira to the Old City. We wandered all over the Christian, Armenian and Arab quarters. Because we had no real plans, just the goal of exploring, it took us a bit longer than usual to get to the Kotel. But lucky me, prior to arrival at the Kotel, I ran my face into someone's shoulder. I think this might be another small disadvantage for short people tall people take for granted. My nose was sore, but no serious injuries were had, but a couple of loud guffaws went up during the incident. I mean, I'd probably laugh too. When we finally arrived, the Kotel was the quietest I've seen it. There was room in the women's section for anyone to pray, and it was relatively quiet and peaceful.

   Following an interesting interaction with a falafel guy (we got falafel for under $2 each. It was like the best taco bell of falafel in the Old City), we decided to walk home. When we got home, my blisters had blisters, and with it being at least 90 degrees, we were disgusting. Showers were required. Around 4 I went to the HUC Archaeology Trip apartment, a block from my place. We were all exhausted. Much banter was had, but little walking or standing was done.

   For dinner Ira and I went to City Center with another rab student, Jenn. It took us a while to find a place to eat, even at 8:30pm, because businesses open up even later here than on shabbat. We lucked out and found a nice bar/restaurant, and had a lovely meal.

After three days of living in Jerusalem, I still can't believe it's real. Today I had orientation at HUC Jerusalem. The campus is gorgeous and far larger than I ever imagined. Either on Friday before Shabbat or Sunday after ulpan, I'll post some pictures. This orientation was unlike any other I've experienced before. It took a total of 2.5 hours, and just included the basics and need to knows. It was lovely! I also got my guitar, which I'm super excited about re-learning how to play. After a nice meal of Falalfel on Ben Yehuda at Moshiko, we went school supply shopping. HUC students get a discount! Woot!

   Since returning home, I've been dealing with this crazy internet situation. If you've ever been to Israel, you've probably heard the phrases "Only in Israel" or "Oh, Israel!" These phrases are used in situations where things should be infinitely easier to accomplish, but are not. So for instance, in the case of WiFi, you have two companies to deal with, one for your ISP, and another for cable infrastructure. The ISP seems like it should be relatively simple to set up, but it isn't because I'm not sure exactly what information they need. I called and was being helped by a nice man who had no idea how to tell me what information I needed from which company...Now,  in terms of the cable company...they want you to FAX let me repeat that FAX them files that we've signed and filled out that are entirely in Hebrew. So...tomorrow I will be learning a lot of words that deal with cable, internet, and telephones and searching for a fax machine.

  Additionally, tomorrow I will also be in search of an Ace Hardware (which is apparently at the mall..."Let's go to the mall today!"). Two days after I arrived, the only light bulb in my room went out. Stores weren't open on Shavuot, so I couldn't get one then. When I finally got to a grocery store, because that's usually where I buy light bulbs, they had two kinds of wattage, both of which would not have done well in my light.

   Now, I know a number of these things sound negative, but my experiences, in my opinion, have been very interesting and entertaining. For instance, in the last few days, the HUC archaeological group has found me via my laugh at least four times. I think I might have sonar or something. I'm also beginning to make great friends and to meet really interesting people, not to mention have the opportunity to walk around Jerusalem exploring, which has been a blast. I am so lucky to have been blessed with this time to explore Jerusalem and Israel and to learn about Hebrew, Israel, and about myself. As I near my first Shabbat in Jerusalem, I reflect on all of the experiences I have had in the last week. It has been an amazing journey thus far and I can't wait to see where it takes me.