First Days in Jerusalem...

Shalom, Chaverim.

To say the past several days have been intense would be a tremendous understatement. It's been so intense, so hectic, so overwhelming, and so hot here, I still cannot process it all.

Altogether, the past few days I've felt like a fish out of water. Having been to Israel twice before, it doesn't feel as foreign as it once did. But the major transition, from Berkeley to LA to Israel, from twentysomething young professional to graduate student, has just taken a lot out of me emotionally. I feel like I'm trying to find my footing, and I know that I will.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon after the longest flight in the history of the universe. It just wouldn't end! We spent fifteen hours on El AL flight 6, crammed into the tiniest seat, surrounded by Israelis who thought it was perfectly normal to kibbitz and shmooze in the aisles and by the emergency exits throughout the entire flight. It just went on forever.

When we finally arrived in Tel Aviv, it felt great. Great to get off the plane, great to be in Israel, great to get all our luggage, great to meet up with Adam's cousin Oshrat who was kind enough to pick us up... it just felt great.

And then Oshrat informed us that we had to stick around the airport for a little while, as there had been an "incident," or "pigua," in Jerusalem. A man drove a tractor into a crowd, killing and injuring many people. The roads were most likely still closed.

So there we were, our "Bruchim Haba'im l'Yisrael" welcome mat practically pulled out from under us, wondering if it was even safe to be here, and if this was a precursor for the rest of my year here. Surrounded by Israelis, engulfed in the intense heat, it was a strangely odd feeling to have fresh off the flight.

We eventually made it to Jerusalem, to our new home on Ramban street. The apartment itself is an interesting mix of fantastic and frustrating. The landlords are wonderful, sweet, attentive, and their English is perfect. The apartment is very modern by Israeli standards, and relatively clean. But the apartment has not ONE closet, it's not finished yet, there were problems that didn't get taken care of before we arrived, there's a seemingly inexplicable abundance of furniture; more than the apartment itself can handle.

So, it's just kind of a bizarre situation. If the landlords were awful this would all make sense, but the fact that they're so accomodating at least gives us hope that this stuff will get fixed and worked out in the near future. I'm sure it will. But, it just sucks after all the work Lauren (my rooommate) and I put into the search, the lease re-write, the money wiring, and everything. Just something we have to move past, I guess.

So now onto school... so far, I've spent several hours socializing and meeting my fellow classmates, getting acquainted with the school and surrounding neighborhood, and ever-so-slightly grasping what my future has in store.

As far as my classmates go, it's a surpising mix of very similar people. It feels like the majority of new students are straight out of college; friendly, affable, personable, good-looking young Jews. There are a handful of others like me, people who took a year or two to work after college, and a small peppering of older, second-career students. Apparently we're one of the smallest classes in the past decade, and the higher-ups at HUC are concerned at that. Only time will tell how we manage to bond and work together as a class; I'll be sure to update on that.

Finally, I want to say a few works about my Adam. I cannot begin to express how incredible, supportive, and amazing he has been since the very moment we started this journey. He has simply blown me away the past several days. From the moment we landed in Israel, he's had a smile on his face. His calmness has soothed my anxiety, his incredible personality has won over the hearts of every single one of my classmates, and he's just been absolutely amazing. I cannot say enough about how wonderful he is.

By the time he leaves in September, I think I'll feel much more comfortable, less anxious and overwhelmed, and all-around more settled in my life here. But for now, I feel incredibly fortunate to have him by my side, taking care of me and keeping me going. He is an amazing partner, and I want everyone in the blogosphere to know that!

Anyone who reads this, know that I miss you tremendously. I miss California, my friends and family, and everyone back home.

Keep in touch!!

-Jaclyn