And So It Goes...

Just three days - and two finals - stand between me and eighteen days of exploring Israel with my parents! I can't believe I have already been here an entire semester - almost three and a half months! (Or to really put it into perspective - almost half of Gabby's life!)

This past week was long and not really all that great. Last night was my first good night of sleep in a week, and I'm sure that was only because I took Tylenol PM. My back hasn't really been bothering me more than normal (if it is normal for someone my age to have a certain level of constant back pain!); I just haven't been able to sleep. At least my Hebrew oral exam and final are over! I am also all studied out for my Aramaic and Archaeology finals, but unfortunately, there is still more studying to be done.

I don't really have anything new and exciting to report. Life in Jerusalem is surprisingly similar to life in Ohio. At least my life here is much like my life back home. Just with lots more guns and security. My campus is on the eastern fringes of Jerusalem. There are a lot of maps of Jerusalem that don't even include Mt Scopus, and if they do, it is just barely. In other words, we are far away from everything. The buses are not convenient, and taxis are expensive. And, of course, there is always studying to be done. So sadly I am not living a very exciting life here in Jerusalem.

Ayana (the Israeli who is helping me with my Hebrew through the Language Buddies program) took me to Ben Yehuda and City Center yesterday. There is surprisingly little open on Shabbat, and even that was more than I expected. Just a few restaurants, and most of them were full. I think we went to four different places before we found one that could take us. Ayana has been a wonderful help, and I am sure I have amused her plenty, not only with my horrendous pronunciations but also because everything I say is in the present tense! We just started learning the past tense at the end of the semester, and the verbs we learned are not verbs I commonly use. I also found out something interesting about Israeli universities: not only do they get a half hour break during their 3 1/2 hour classes, they also get two chances to pass their finals AND if they have exams on two consecutive days, they can reschedule one of them! While I benefit from the half hour break, the other two do not appear to apply to RIS. Or if they do, no one told me and so I am taking my exams on back-to-back days. Ayana thought it was horrid that someone would have to do that. In undergrad, I would have more than one final on the same day!

Almost Home!

Okay, not really, since I will be living here in Jerusalem another 6 months. But I am almost home in that I am in my last week of classes and then it's finals. And then it's 18 days exploring Israel with my parents! So I guess "home" is coming to me. :)

Today was my last Jeremiah class, which just felt weird. Of course, Jeremiah and I still have a lot of bonding to do, since I still have 25 pages to write about him. But that's not due until March 22. I can't get over how much time we have after the semester ends to write our papers. My other paper (which is actually a take-home final) is due February 20, a week after the spring semester starts.

It's been weird being in class through the holidays. Thanksgiving was celebrated with a Modern Hebrew midterm (and the first real food I had eaten in nearly 3 weeks, thanks to food poisoning!). Most of my teachers didn't even acknowledge Christmas or New Year's. I guess in a sense it has been nice being in a country that doesn't celebrate American holidays, because I am not constantly reminded of what I am missing out on back home, but there is also just something wrong about being in class the week between Christmas and New Year's. Of course it is also strange to be in the fall semester in January. I know the semester started late - not until October 10th - but still. And recently I realized that this is the first time in my life that I have went an entire semester without a break. Growing up, we had fair time and Thanksgiving break in the fall and spring break in the spring. At Witt we had five days off each semester, and at MTSO we get a whole two glorious weeks off each semester. But since the fall semester starts so late over here, we get to go for 15 weeks straight. I never knew 15 weeks could feel so long - or so short! At least in the spring I will have two weeks off for Passover. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do during that time. Everything in Israel will be shut down for Passover, so I'm thinking road trip. Only with a plane.

2011 is here!

It's 2011!

New Year's has never been a big holiday for me - most years I am lucky if I make it till midnight, and this year was no exception. I was in a Tylenol PM-induced coma by 10pm on New Year's Eve. [In my defense, New Year's, like Christmas, is not big in Israel. Their new year begins in October.] But even though I do not partake in the festivities of the New Year, that does not mean I do not get excited about the start of a new year. I do not make resolutions, but I can't help but wonder what this new year will bring. This could be the year that I graduate with two masters degrees. This could be the year that Israel and Palestine finally decide to play nice (if only we could be so lucky!). This will be the year that I apply for PhD programs(!). This will be the year that I return from Israel, hopefully still in one piece(!), but a different person from when I arrived. I think I am especially pondering the possibilities because I am here in Israel, in a land where (as an NCIS episode said), tomorrow is never a guarantee. I do not fear for my safety or anything like that, but life seems much more dynamic over here (though, at the same time, it feels as if things today are like they have been for millennia).

At synagogue this past week, there were two American Jews who had been participating in workshops in Israel over the past couple of weeks. The organization (whose name I did not get) brings together 20 people in their early 20s - 5 American Jews, 5 American Muslims, 5 Israeli Jews and 5 Palestinian Muslims. The point of the workshops are to understand one another's faith and perspectives. It sounded interesting, but I couldn't help but wonder - where are the Christians? As I was telling Annie about this, I admitted that there aren't too many Christians living here and that the Christians aren't necessarily the ones who are fighting over the land (I think they are fighting more for the recognition that they do exist!). The battle between Israel and Palestine is almost always thought of and talked about in terms of Jew and Muslim, but there are Palestinian and Israeli Christians, even if they do compose less that 1% of the population. I went on to tease Annie and say that the Christians weren't fighting for the land because we were just waiting for the Jews and Muslims to kill each other so we would be the only ones left standing! Of course, that's not the solution I am hoping for, but I am constantly surprised by how little Christians seem to matter or count over here. There is a disproportionate number of Christians studying at Rothberg, but I am always amused how, in general, people assume that I am Jewish until I tell them my name (although the name "Christina" doesn't always tip them off that I am not in fact "one of them"). Sometimes I joke and say that I am going to start introducing myself as "Miriam" (the Hebrew form of my middle name, Marie). It is just strange to me that people make assumptions about the religious beliefs of others without even talking to them. In the US, I don't assume that everyone I meet is Christian or even religious. I guess it just demonstrates how entirely differently our countries were founded and structured.

Sorry if this post isn't entirely coherent. I woke up this morning not feeling very well, and I currently feel like I am in some sort of fog. Apparently it is my turn to get the bug that has been going around.