New Sounds

On the plane ride over I sat between an embedded Israeli security agent and a woman holding her 13th child on her pregnant belly. The security agent did not say a word the entire flight and disappeared for hours at a time. The woman, a born and bred child of Yeshiva Lane Baltimore, chatted with me and kept talking about her excitement to get back to 'Eres YisROel'. When we arrived at Ben Gurion we were the only flight in the terminal and if you closed your eyes for a moment to exclude the pushing it was actually quite serene. Within my first hour on the ground I must have had 2-3 conversations about Pardes, including the Sherut ride to Jerusalem where I sat down next to a Woman who studied there in 1978! Jerusalem greeted me with screaming taxi drivers new construction and finally my new home. Just across the street from the Dan Panorama Hotel, my apartment-a 4 floor walk up-is actually quite spacious, although could use a major cleaning/renovation. The roommates area great, both named Sarah and both first year rabbinical students at the Hebrew Union College. Like all new places it takes a bit for all your senses to become familiar to your new surroundings. New traffic noises, slamming doors, breezes, etc...

I have spent the last few days getting settled, conquering jet-lag, and starting to take care of life's details. I ordered and received a cellphone yesterday only to have it stolen along with my keys last night. I went through the process of waiting in the bank only to be told that I am unable to open a bank account as a foreigner unless I have $25,000. $25,000 I don't have, bank account I need. I bought new linens after addressing a bed bug problem only to find that apparently I don't know the difference between a sheet set and a duvet cover in Hebrew (but I will give myself a point for at least getting the right size for my mattress). So yeah...off to a good start. BUT sometimes the best adventures in life start out with rocky beginnings. 4 rocky days down, 10.5 months of exciting times to come.