1 יומ (Day 1)

Shalom everybody!

I guess this is actually day 2 since we arrived yesterday, but there was no way I could manage to do this. I really can't believe that I just arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday, or even that I'm here at all. Everything is so exciting, like the first week I was in New York. It's actually not that different here from home. Most people speak English and are very friendly. It's very modern, although I might liken this more to Europe or even the nicer parts of Colombia. It's pretty hot today. It's apparently going to be hot everyday at least for a month. The weather forecast says it's going to be about 95 degrees everyday with no chance of rain for the next 10 days. Apparently we'll be lucky to see rain at all by the time we leave. Actually, I think I'm good with that.

The one thing that is clearly different is that I feel like I'm 4 years old again with the language. Even a toddler. My only saving grace is that everyone here is forced to study English so we can communicate with pretty much everybody. at some level. I'm getting pretty good at the Hebrew alefbet (alphabet), but of course, I have no idea what I'm saying unless it's a cognate (aka I can pretty much read and understand falafel, shwarma, and hummus. Don't get me wrong though. Those are very important things to understand).

So we got to Ben Gurion Airport on time after a long flight (10 hrs) and went through the easiest customs ever. Basically they looked at my visa, stamped my passport, they gave me a ticket, and I walked through the gate that said "Customs" and handed a soldier the ticket. Not quite what I expected (an interrogation involving intrusive questions and at least one scanning of my bags).

We met our site coordinator, Debra London, who put us (and by us I mean me and the 5 girls who happened to be on my flight also going to NYU in Tel Aviv) into a cab and sent us to our new home, B'nei Dan Student Hostel. B'nei Dan is a nice hostel in North Tel Aviv on the south side of HaYarkon Park, which is like Tel Aviv's Central Park. Yes, I basically live on the Upper East Side part of 5th Ave but in Tel Aviv--for better or worse. By that I mean it's very quiet, a wealthy neighborhood, and right across from a huge park. I definitely have mixed feelings about that as this is not the most exciting part of the city. However, we are on the park which is beautiful and will be great for running, and we're a 15 minute walk from the Tel Aviv Port, which has tons of bars and restaurants and of course is right on the water.

Walking into the hostel is not much different from walking into a decent hotel in the US. Except that there is a security guard in front of it at all times. We live on the second floor. The entire floor is NYU. We all live here and our classrooms and the staff are all on this floor. Again, for better or worse. I just wanna make sure we get out of our bubble here. But I don't think that'll be a problem as the kids here seem into that, or at least enough of them.

Turns out I'm living with our RA for at least a week. His name is Guy. He's Israeli and a student at Tel Aviv University. He's really cool and I actually like him a lot and don't mind living with him. Actually, I kind of like it. He's really chill and definitely a great resource. I'm enjoying getting to know him. The other kids too. There are 26 of us. Three of us are boys. Typical NYU. I'm still getting to know everyone of course, but I really like them so far.

The group I arrived with went straight to the Beach after grabbing a quick snack here.We only had a little time before having to return for dinner. What we did see is beautiful. Tomorrow is our beach day and I can't wait to lounge on the gorgeous Mediterranean. Dinner was ok. We all have to have a meal plan and it's served by the hostel staff. I don't know how Israeli it was. We had stir-fried chicken, potatoes, and pasta. But there was also a salad and hummus.

After dinner, we signed up for phone service here and then went out with Guy. He took us to a bar called Barrio 66, since Thursday night is like there Friday on account of Shabbat being on Saturday (again, oddly familiar). It's not too far from B'Nei Dan and was very chill. We looked ridiculous as a group of 26 English speakers walked along the streets of Tel Aviv and all enter a definitely not that huge bar. We had a great time, though, getting to know each other while listening to all American music and the staff didn't seem too annoyed at the business (btw, their form of carding: "Is everyone 18?", "Yes", "Ok then"). We left around 11:30 and a small group of us decided to go to the port. This is clearly one place we will be hanging out more. As we got close, I just decided we should just follow a group of well dressed Israeli girls and see what's cool (I know, I'm a creeper). We ended up at this outdoor restaurant bar that happens to be owned by Speedo (or at least, I think that's why they had live size cut outs of Speedo models and had a small shop in the back. It was great!!! After a very long, sleepless journey, we really just enjoyed talking, listening to the waves, and trying to process the fact that WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!! I really can't believe it still.

Today, we got up, had breakfast, did some ice breakers and then went out on a walking tour of the city. It was very great to wander closer to the city center, grab a falafel (for 14 Shekel/$3.50, and mind you they're huge, even more than Mamoun's), and continue getting to know people. We ended up in Rabin Square, which is in memoriam of President Yitzak Rabin, who was assassinated in that spot by a right wing, orthodox Jew who opposed the Oslo Accords, which created a Palestinian National Authority and withdrew Israeli Defense Forces from parts of Palestine.

Now I'm here. Just took a nap to recoop. We have tons of orientation activities until classes start on Wednesday. Tomorrow's our one day off since it's shabbat. Tonight, we're having a shabbat dinner and then plan on having a great night out, now that we've gotten to rest a bit.

So my blog is called Shalom Israel (in case you can't read Hebrew) and is signed Yeshua, which is my name in Hebrew. I'll be keeping you updated this way, but I'd love to here from you by email or Facebook, especially all my other friends doing study abroad.

I love you all and look forward to telling you more about my adventures here as and hearing from you soon!!!