The Long Journey Here

A year ago, I hadn't even heard of Rothberg International School. Sure, I knew about Hebrew U and even wanted to study there someday, but I figured it would be as part of my dissertation or probably even post-doctorate. But then, as some would say, fate intervened. My parents and brother went on family vacation during fall break and asked me to watch the dog. I was looking at PhD schools and came across RIS. In a rare moment of rebellion, I decided I was going to go. And I spent the next few months working out the details. I was initially so excited, but as time passed, I became almost numb about the whole thing. There were lots of hold-ups in the process, and I guess I never thought it would really happened, even after I had been accepted, even after I paid the bill, took a leave of absence from MTSO and bought the plane tickets.

But it really was happening. The months became weeks, and the weeks became days. Before I knew it, October 3 was here and it was time to board the plane. The flight from Columbus to NYC was relatively uneventful, although we were a little late taking off due to an electrical issue. Once we landed in JFK, it took me almost an hour to get to the correct terminal and gate. Suddenly, I found myself in the midst of Orthodox Jews and very little English. When I went to board the plane, I was taken to the side for questioning. Was I traveling by myself? Why was I going to Israel? Had I been there before? Did I check any luggage? What did I study here in the US? The list went on. Finally, they took me back to their check in, because I didn't check in, since I had printed my boarding passes in Columbus and had my luggage switched automatically. I was questioned again and they went through my carry on (and I presume someone else went through my checked luggage, since they asked for my baggage claim stickers). After they finished screening me and decided I wasn't a threat to their country, I had to go back through security (luckily, I was with a crew member, so we got to skip the line). I was finally able to board the plane, and I settled in for a very long plane ride, which seemed even longer because apparently everyone spoke Hebrew but me. I guess it was just a foretaste of what like is going to be like in Jerusalem.

We landed in Tel Aviv around 4am Monday Israeli time (10pm Sunday night in Ohio). I was able to claim my bags and all that with relatively little trouble and caught a shared cab to Hebrew U. The driver left me off at the main gate, where I discovered that I would have to drag my two suitcases, 50 lbs each, across the entire campus, which has stone sidewalks and not cement like we do. It was awful. I was already tired from sleeping very little on the plane and my body was all messed up from the time change, and now I had to drag a year's worth of stuff with me across a decently large campus. I finally made it there and got all the paperwork taken care of and picked up my Israeli cell phone and wi-fi card. They called a cab for me because the student village, where I am living, is a couple of miles from campus and there was no way I was going to be able to drag my luggage to the bus stop. Once I arrive at the student village, I had to drag my luggage to the housing office, which wasn't that far but by that point it felt like forever. I thought I would pick up my keys and be in my room in a matter of minutes. No, I had to wait close to 3 hours. I fell asleep several times while sitting on the steps.

I finally got to my apartment, only to discover it was being cleaned (which it needed very badly), which meant my nap was going to have to wait even longer. While I waited for my room to be cleaned (the apartment consists of a kitchen/common area, 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms & a shower), I tried to hook up to the internet so I could let my parents know I had made it here safely. Unfortunately, my internet would not connect. I called tech support, who in turn had to call someone else. I had made it that far without crying or otherwise falling apart, but I reached my limit. I was tired and all alone - everyone I had ran across on campus and in the student village was speaking Hebrew (or, as I found out later, Arabic) - and I just wanted to talk to my parents. I ended up calling mom on my cell phone (who knows how much that is going to cost me) just to let her know I was here and that I was having issues with my internet. After that, I quickly unpacked and took a 2 hour nap. When I woke up, I called tech support again, since they never called back like they said they would, and found out that I needed to download Window 7 drivers (which of course requires the internet). I took a shower and went searching for free wi-fi at the student village, which I found at the restaurant. I got everything up and running and while I was emailing mom to let her know, a group of girls walked by speaking English! I literally started crying.

After all that, I finally went to a market just a few minutes walk from the student village, more because I had no toilet paper than because I needed food. TP, 1/2 gallon of milk, corn flakes, humus and pitas cost me $25! I did buy a large thing of TP, but what was ridiculously expensive was the milk - $3 for a 1/2 gallon! When I got back to my apartment, I had a bowl of cereal - the first thing I had eaten in 17 hours. I also finally got to talk to my mom on skype (well, not really skype but the same idea). By then I was exhausted but wanted to try to meet people, so I wandered around the village for a bit and talked to a group of freshman Arabs from the Nazareth area. Apparently, "regular" university students also live in the student village, and many of them arrived yesterday - hence the overwhelming amount of non-English. But the other international students arrive today, so hopefully I will get my roommates and more English today.

I went to bed shortly after 8pm last night and didn't get up until after 10am today. My body really needed that!

Now it is time to go exploring again and see if I can't figure out how to get to campus from here.

Love you all and can't wait to here from you!