First Impressions

I arrived in Israel Wednesday afternoon and it's been a whirlwind three days thus far. I took a rush hour commuter train from the airport in Lod to Haifa, then a cab from the train station to my cousin's house in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood. Menachem is a professor at the University of Haifa and Devorah is a teacher in Haifa. Here is a photo of Devorah and I at their home in Haifa. I spent my first night in Israel at their house, before moving into my dorm on campus yesterday.


The dorm is nothing to write home about. First of all, none of my roommates have arrived yet. One of them is in the international school like me, so I assume I will meet him very soon. At the latest we have to be here by Sunday for orientation. The other three are Israeli and I don't know when they will arrive. School for the regular students doesn't begin until October 21st.
I haven't yet figured out how to use my hot water. I have a feeling I am doing something wrong, or at least I hope I am. There is a switch on the wall next to the bathroom that I think is supposed to heat the water, but I turned it on 45 minutes before showering and the water could charitably be called cool. At least this will make it easy for me to conserve! I even boiled water in the coffee pot so I could shave comfortably.

The area the dorms are in is beautiful. I have a garden right outside my bedroom window. There are trees everywhere, its warm and sunny, and the whole campus smells like flowers. I know winter and the rains will arrive eventually, but I don't mind that this weather will linger for a while.

I haven't had much of an opportunity to speak Hebrew yet. Most Israelis are not here yet, and everyone in the international school is speaking English. There are fewer Americans here than I expected. Many people are Canadian or from Europe. I did meet a girl from Lakeview and a guy from Wilmette, and also another guy who goes to school at DePaul. It's like I never left home at all!

There is a Shabbat dinner tonight for all the international students, and then a trip tomorrow morning outside of campus. I haven't figured out where things are here yet, but hopefully soon I will be able to start exploring the city on my own.