That’s right I am actually here! I had a bit of an issue on the train to New Jersey involving mechanical problems, my suitcase being thrown down 3 flights of stairs, and me almost getting into a fight with an amtrak employee but I made it to New Jersey in one piece! In the airport before my flight on Friday I met an amazing family from Israel that was teaching me/laughing at my hebrew and giving me lots of advice, they even came to say hi to me on the plane! If there were more people like that in the world it would be a better place. My flight was nice and peaceful and then I landed in Israel with a huge smile on my face! I wish I had been there with someone who would have appreciated the little dance that I did after passing through security.
I was a little nervous about hopping in a cab so I practiced what I was going to say in advance (yeah, I know, big nerd). I got in and said “Shalom. B’nei Dan Shloshim v’Sheish. Todah.” and sat back very proud that I uttered 6 words in Hebrew. Unfortunately, the conversation was not over. The driver said something in Hebrew and after I responded with “Mah?” I realized that saying “What?” in another language does not always help to indicate that you have no earthly idea what the other person is saying. After discovering that we had a nearly insurrmountable language barrier he just typed the amount of the cab into his cell phone, showed me the number and off we went! I arrived at my hostel where I immediately recognized a girl Hallie from my program (thank you facebook). She was immediately talkative and friendly so we got along immediately. She actually makes me seem quiet so I have learned ALOT about her in the past day. We went to dinner at the port by our hostel and after I was finished drooling over the amazing view we went to dinner where the drooling was reignited by the AMAZING food.
We came back to our hostel where we met several more of the girls from our program, Lisa, Allie and Adina. The girls are amazing, all incredibly smart and so much fun. We meet the rest of the people at our orientation tomorrow and if they have half the personalities of the girls I have met so far, someone will need to drag me away kicking and screaming in two years.
We had the day off today before orientation starts tomorrow so we went to the beach. There are no words to describe this beach (pictures to come). It was beautiful and the water was the perfect temperature. And it was also filled with adorable (and TOTALLY naked) babies. It was nice just relaxing and getting to know the girls better. On the way home there was much honking from men on the road, it’s good to know that men are still flabbergasted by the site of girls wearing little clothing no matter what continent I am on.
That’s about it for now, we are going out tonight which I am sure will bring about many stories, so hopefully my other entries will get more exciting as time goes on! I am just so happy and excited and still in shock that I am actually here! Shalom!
