Testing, testing... is this thing live? A recap of my first 6 weeks in Israel

Well, I decided I would start a blog so I could keep everyone in the loop with what I'm up to here in ארץ הקודש, The Holy Land.  Not only have I never done a blog before, I've never been that good at keeping a journal but hopefully I'll be able to keep this updated throughout my trip.

At this point, I've now been in Israel for 6 weeks.  The program started with a 4-day orientation in Jerusalem and then we were off to Tel-Aviv to start our lives as temporary residents of Israel.  During those first 4 days we saw and did a lot, and to be honest it was a bit of a blur.  Our first day, we did a tour of the 3 religions in the Old City (4 including Judaism).  The coolest part about the tour was being able to visit the Temple Mount and see the Dome of the Rock in person.  For my whole life, I had seen pictures of both sites and had heard stories from people who had visited but with the political situation I never thought I'd get the chance to visit the Mount.  The tile work around the dome was spectacular.  Even during my trip to Turkey in January 2008, I remember being in awe of the tile work on the mosques.

After the Temple Mount we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, which is the site at which Jesus was crucified and buried.  The inside of the church was beautiful.  The 2 "main attractions" at the church are the stone on which Jesus was laid on while he was wrapped in white cloth after he was crucified and his tomb.  The line to see Jesus' tomb was roughly 1.5-2 hours.

After the Church we went to the Kotel, the Western Wall.  I've been to the Kotel before, but after everything I went through this summer, this particular visit was a powerful and moving one.  With my forehead pressed against the biblical stones, I couldn't help but cry and think about how different things might have turned out this summer if it weren't for the love and support of my family.

On our last day in Jerusalem, we went on a seam line tour.  This tour took us, on bus and foot, to the security "fence" between Israel proper and the West Bank.  I used quotation marks around the word fence, because it is more of a wall with chain link and barbed wire on the top.  Just like the Temple Mount, I've heard about the fence and seen pictures of it, but never thought I'd get to see it that close.

Once in Tel-Aviv we had 4 weeks of Ulpan, Hebrew class.  I was really looking forward to refreshing and improving my Hebrew but unfortunately, I really didn't get anything out of my Ulpan.  But I used that time to learn the 300some medical words and phrased Magen David Adom wants its volunteers to learn and know.

The coolest part of being in Israel this time of year is being able to celebrate Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur in Israel.  Every year growing up we have always sung "השנה הבאה בירושלים" "Next year in Jerusalem" at the end of Yom Kippur and it was always something I wanted come true.  This year it did. Sort of.  The holidays were something I'll never forget.  Erev Rosh HaShannah I had dinner at the Tel-Aviv Gay Center with 3 friends from my program.  It was quite the experience.  For services the next day I went to the Masorti synagogue up the street because I knew it would be very similar to what I'm used to at home.  I also went with the intentions of getting myself invited to someone's house for lunch and/or dinner.  I was successful.  A very nice, young, couple invited me to their house for lunch.  I had a very nice time and am glad it worked out.

Yom Kippur.  Yom Kippur was nothing like I've ever seen in my entire life.  First off, before the fast a few friends made dinner and so we had a nice pre-fast meal.  We tried going to the Masorti synagogue for Kol Nidre but because the synagogue is rather small, people were standing outside the doors with machzorim davening.  So since there was no room there we went to an orthodox synagogue that was just across the street.  It was nothing special but we went.  After services a few friends and I took a really nice walk to the beach and along the promenade almost all the way to Jaffa.

OK, so you might be asking what made it so special and different from anything I've ever seen.  Well, on shabbos or other holidays with the same restrictions, most stuff in Tel-Aviv shuts down, public transportation stops, but there are a few 24-hour stores that stay open.  On Yom Kippur, Tel-Aviv, a bustling city like New York, completely shuts down.  With the exception of a few ambulances there was not a single car on the road.  With no cars people were walking in the street, kids were riding their bikes.  At one intersection, there was a large group of people city on blanket singing shabbos songs, because Yom Kippur fell on shabbos

The day after Yom Kippur, we loaded the busses at 7:30am and we were on our way to the north for 4 days.  We stayed a hostel on the banks of the Kinneret, but we hardly saw it during the day because we were hiking and when we got back most people took naps.

And yesterday, the big move arrived.  It was finally time to move to Jerusalem.  Aside from the living arrangements, I was most looking forward to completely unpacking.  For the last 6 weeks 3/4 of my clothes were still in suitcases because there was no need to unpack 5-months worth of clothing for only 6 weeks.  It is so nice to be completely unpacked and finally feel settled. And what makes it even better is that the apartment is WAY nicer, and I really like my roommates.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I think that about sums up my first 6 weeks in Israel.  On Monday, October 24th, I start my 10-day EMT training course and after that, the "good stuff" starts!

And because I mentioned the tile work, here's a picture of the Dome of the Rock