Here commences the second half of my studies, Israel! Let us begin with my trip to Israel and take it from there.
Flight
On the plane to Israel, I met a very interesting neighbor, someone actually involved in Middle East politics! She was very interesting to talk to: her work and studies were obviously fascinating, and she was also interested in my studies and summer program. We had a fun chat and I am grateful for another sweet airplane meeting. It made the long flight from Cologne to Tel Aviv seem like a much shorter flight than it was.
Arrival
And with that, I arrived in Israel, the most important country in the world. Finally in Israel. I was almost too tired to notice, with my short sleep, early non-mineral-bath morning, and 12 hours of travel. I arrived after midnight and it took me a while to get out of the airport (thankfully the legendary immigration interrogation went very smoothly and they could apparently tell that I was one of the good guys, even though they tried to catch me in a lie that I didn’t make). I was extremely grateful that Josh, my friend and classmate from home who was on the program and decided to share an apartment with me in Israel, actually made the trek out to the airport to greet me. I followed him out and around and caught the last train with only about 3 minutes to spare. I would have been in big trouble otherwise, as I am completely illiterate in Hebrew and the late hour meant there was little help available and no herd of people to follow.
Class
Some hours later, in the morning, we met all of our classmates and most of our professors for the coming weeks, and began classes. We are a small group, fewer than twenty students. It’s interesting that Chapman University was the school with the greatest representation, with a total of five students contributing to the program. Go Chapman! I like this group considerably more than the students in my previous program, for various reasons that mostly center around their being more gracious and congenial (okay, enough lawyer speak: the truth is, the last group had a number of unsavory – still lawyer speak in case any of them find this blog – students in it, and I was often happier being off by myself than with them).
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| The Law School building at Bar Ilan University. So much fun architecture at this school! |
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| The observation tower at Bar Ilan. Um . . . why is that there? It looks peculiarly military, but I'm not 100% sure what it's used for. |
Amazing Small World / Providential Moment
The most amazing run-in happened my first evening in Tel Aviv. Josh and I had only recently gotten back from school and were making a trip to the corner store for some groceries, when a figure on the sidewalk in my peripheral vision seemed to be motioning to us, saying, “Hey!” Having just come from some sketchy places in Budapest and elsewhere, I was eager to ignore the street peddler. Moments later, in the store, there he was again, coming straight for me. Surprise!!! What??!! It was Andreas! Andreas, the Colombian guy I told you about, the one I met and chatted with back on the train from Stockholm to Amsterdam! I knew from talking to him then that he was going to be in Tel Aviv, but we hadn’t planned to meet here and had not gotten in touch. What are the odds???? I took our meeting as a gift from above, and not to be wasted, and spent the next six hours going for a walk and having a talk with Andreas at a beachside restaurant/lounge. We had a wonderful time and talked about some of the deepest stuff including God and love. There I learned that Andreas is even cooler than I realized from before; he could be my Colombian twin brother. I met with him a few days later, the night before he left Israel, and met several of his Colombian friends who had moved to Israel. All in all, a most wonderful and rewarding experience, and the beginning of what I hope will be a long friendship.
Digs
My apartment in Tel Aviv is totally sweet, and completely unlike my Norwegian accommodations. Josh and I share a small place that is centrally located and actually on the beach – with a view! It is little more than a hotel room, but it has a fairly giant patio with table and chairs, plus a kitchenette. After a month in a half of underwhelming dorm rooms and frustrating hostel bunks, it is pure sweetness. Many thanks to Josh for doing all of the legwork in finding the place for us. I am so blessed to have such a great friend and roommate. We are getting along great, too, which is always a certain concern when you have to live with someone. Consider me happily situated in Israel.
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| The view from our patio |
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| What sunset pic would be complete without a middle-aged man in shorts? |
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| The finest possible sand. It's like talc powder, really. It's even scrunchy to walk on |
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| Some of the local beach populace |
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| A greater expanse of beach |
