Well, a new semester... a new toenail... a new Brooke?
It's quite true that I've had a quite event filled 7 weeks. I was listening to "Love in this Club" this morning. Love in this Club had been this summer's pseudo-anthem simply for no other reason than that it was playing constantly. I don't think I went out once this summer without hearing that cathchy little ditty. Nevertheless, listening to that song this morning I found that I was having a very challenging time relating to the "myself" of 7 weeks ago. I've spent a little time the past few days trying to analyze if and how I've changed. To be honest, though, any character changes are inapparent. Perhaps my inability to relate to "Love in this Club" is simply the result of 1,000's of miles and 1,0000's of new dramas in my new home. It's odd, but so much of my life at home is irrelevant, yet that's my real (bad articulation of what I mean) life. These days "Yam" by Hamoshava is for more likely to resonate most strongly with me. My weeks, days, minutes, and seconds here are so full that I've had a hard time thinking about anything but the present.
I do have to confess how nice it was to have my family here for the last 10 days. It was a Depenbusch-family excursion so there was no shortage of angst-filled moments but we also did a ton and mostly had a lot of fun. Moreover, I finally got to do some of the traveling through Israel that I've wanted to do ever since I got here. We were in Tel Aviv(beach [an entire day on Shabbat, I got incredibly sunburned], Carmel Market, various shopping districts), the Old City of Jerusalem (Muslim Quarter [we were staying in an Austrian Hospice/Convent in the Heart of the Muslim Quarter and also doing a lot of shopping in the bazaars], Jewish Quarter [Kotel, shwarma, burnt house, running into Joel and Aaron], Christian Quarter [Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Citadel, Peter in Gallicantu, Church of the Dormition]), the Mount of Olives (observation point, camels, Jewish Cemetary, Gethsemane), the New Jerusalem (Yad Vashem, Israel Museum, Jerusalem Forest, Dead Sea Scrolls, Ben Yehuda Street [I think I may have found the Israeli Anthropologie!!!]), the West Bank (Bethelem, Hevron, dad forgot his passport when we went through the checkpoint so they detained us, searched our luggage, had a dog sniff the car for bombs), the Kinerret (Tiberias, Capernaum, the actual sea of Galilee, about 5 churches), and Be'er Sheva to campus and my dorm. That sentence runs on horribly but I think it suffices to get the basic gist of our trip across. There are a million other anecdotes (relevant and humorous) from the trip of which I'll list just a few:
-Standing on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Dome of the Rock on a Friday in Ramadan and seeing thousands and thousands of worshippers lined up and singing
-Trying to walk in the direction opposite the Dome of the Rock on a Friday in Ramadan and nearly being swept away in a deluge of Muslim faithful.
-Dad having 500 dollars pickpocketed.
-Dad being really, really excited about every single Corinthian column he saw (probably around 75).
-Dad taking exactly 256 pictures (there is one perfect picture of him and I on Temple Mount).
-Various creepers (Mari and I walking by some guy on Ben Yehuda and hearing him say to us, "Very nice" in an Israeli accent that made him sound strikingly similar to Borat; creepy taxi driver who offered to come pick me up later, the 12 year-old Israeli who told me he had big nuts in Hebrew).
-Going over the Palestinian/Israeli conflict ad nauseam with my father (perhaps gaining a more holistic understanding of the conflict).
-Having my clothes smell like the Old City (a mixture of vegetables, sewage, bodies, saffron, and diesel) mixed with the Mediterranean. Yum!
After 7 weeks of being entirely independent it was quite nice for me to be completely dependent once again. During the week I wasn't even carrying my bag, meaning I had no phone, no credit card, no cash. I decided to let my dad take care of all of that. Basically, he and my sister completely took care of me for a week, which was good because I really did need to be taken care of. I also have to confess that though there were moments when my family grated on me, the 10 day break from boys, dancing, friends, alcohol, smoky environments, and not sleeping was incredibly needed. I now feel incredibly refreshed, physically and maybe even emotionally.
I had intended to blog about my experiences during Ulpan also, but just this blog took me an hour and I have to run to class quite soon. And, to be honest, I haven't the slightest idea how to express anything about the first six weeks and what they meant to me (both positively and negatively).
Hmm... having reached the end of this post I feel that the title is pure hyperbole.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Least informative post ever
Hebrew is my Everest.
Hebrew proper is not really my Everest. Focusing on Hebrew is my Everest.
Lo tov!
Hebrew proper is not really my Everest. Focusing on Hebrew is my Everest.
Lo tov!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Yofi!
Ok, so I'll just continue where I left off and continue on to more recent events. Hopefully I can get caught up soon. So, after taking a five hour nap I got up and took a shower in preparation for orientation. Israeli showers are very different from American showers in that the actual shower is not separated from the rest of the bathroom. There are drains in the bathroom floor that one uses a squeegee to push the water into. So, I took my shower and went to orientation where we had Israeli pizza. I personally had a really good piece with Israeli goat cheese. Much to my chagrin we passed a McDonalds on the way to the classroom where we met, yuck. I got my phone, jet-laggedly stared into space, and got to know some of my fellow OSP-ers. Finally we got done and walked back to campus. I think our path was kind of circuitous but fortunately we found our way back to the "Gate of Peace" and eventually back to Meonot Gimel (our dorms). After that I walked around the dorm complex for awhile with a guy from our group. There is a computer lab,a laundromat, a grocery store, and about 4 pubs all in or next to the dorms. We saw Coca (a very overpriced bar) and a lot of cats on our walk. There are feral cats ALL over Be'er Sheva. The story is that during the British Empire's days in Israel they introduced a ton of cats to help control the rat problem. As per the law of unintended consequences, the cats have become a bigger problem than the rats. The cats are all relatively tame and don't bother anyone, they're just everywhere. Anyway, I went back to my room and fell asleep almost immediately. I did, however, wake up at 3:30 in the morning. I left my US cell phone on that night and funnily my phone started ringing at 4:00 AM. I tersely took the call and then proceeded to call and check in with home.
We had to be up by 7:00 (?) the next morning to go on our first Ulpan trip. We took probably a 30 minute drive into the Negev. All along the way the landscape was dotted by Bedouin settlements. The romantic days when Bedouins lived in cute little tents has passed and these days they live in dilapidated trailers. C'est la vie. We arrived at the nature reserve after stopping to buy food at a gas station in the middle of the desert that smelled like cookies. We hiked up and around a BEAUTIFUL limestone canyon. At first the hiking wasn't too rough but towards the end we actually had to scale the steep cliff and in the hot, hot Negev sun. When I got to the top I just kept thinking, "I'm hiking... in a desert... in the Israeli desert... in August." It was a bit surreal. We all ran for the highly airconditioned bus and took a short 5 minute drive to Ben Gurion's grave. He and his wife's graves are on an impressive vista overlooking the Negev. Ben Gurion's reverence for the Negev was highly impressed on us the entire trip. Ben Gurion believed that Israeli's future lay in the Negev, that the desert could be made green. The Negev is important because it seems to be the only uncontested portion of land that Israel has. However, I feel that the costs of making any desert green outweigh any benefits. I feel it's just an irresponsible use of a very precious commodity.
However, we payed our respects at the grave and went up the the kibbutz around Ben Gurion's grave. I got my first taste of kibbutz food, which was actually quite good. It's slightly heavy, but good. After that we went to see the Ben Gurion's home in the kibbutz Sde Boker. We toured around his house and saw and exhibit. He was quite a reader which a appreciated and enjoyed looking at what books were on his bookshelf. Finally, we proceeded to the kibbutz Mashabim (sp?) where we spent the rest of the weekend. The accomodations were quite nice and there was air-conditioning and a pool!!! We went to the pool, napped, welcomed the start of Shabbos, and had another kibbutz meal (more schnitzel!). At one point we went out to the desert on the edges of the kibbutz and stared at the stars sans light pollution. I think it may have been the most stars I've seen since my Up North days. This kibbutz was equipped with a pub and so the group headed over and bonded. I drank Goldstar (Israeli beer for only 9 shekel on tap). I had some really amazing conversations covering religion, philosophy, identity, politics, relationships, etc. I also got to talk to some Israeli kibbutznik. Finally, after a really enjoyable night, we attempted to head back to rooms. The kibbutz was a pretty large one though and it took us about 45 minutes to find our way back. I talked for about another 30 minutes before actually going to bed. Once in bed I completely konked out.
I didn't have to wake up until 10:00 the next morning (thank God!). We then had more orientation, more schnitzel, and more pool time. I was pretty grateful for the pool time, it was the most relaxed I'd been in a while. We said goodbye to Shabbos and drove back to BGU. Once there we embarked on a fruitless mission to find falafel. We ran into a really funny (slightly sketchy) Yemenite who offered to make us all pancakes on another occasion. After a lot of wandering we ended up at Munchilla, a restaurant/hookah bar right next to the dorms. I had an Israeli style hamburger and then hung out and finally went to bed.
I'd really like to finish relating the past few days but I really should go study Hebrew before bed. I'll have to finish the saga tomorrow.
We had to be up by 7:00 (?) the next morning to go on our first Ulpan trip. We took probably a 30 minute drive into the Negev. All along the way the landscape was dotted by Bedouin settlements. The romantic days when Bedouins lived in cute little tents has passed and these days they live in dilapidated trailers. C'est la vie. We arrived at the nature reserve after stopping to buy food at a gas station in the middle of the desert that smelled like cookies. We hiked up and around a BEAUTIFUL limestone canyon. At first the hiking wasn't too rough but towards the end we actually had to scale the steep cliff and in the hot, hot Negev sun. When I got to the top I just kept thinking, "I'm hiking... in a desert... in the Israeli desert... in August." It was a bit surreal. We all ran for the highly airconditioned bus and took a short 5 minute drive to Ben Gurion's grave. He and his wife's graves are on an impressive vista overlooking the Negev. Ben Gurion's reverence for the Negev was highly impressed on us the entire trip. Ben Gurion believed that Israeli's future lay in the Negev, that the desert could be made green. The Negev is important because it seems to be the only uncontested portion of land that Israel has. However, I feel that the costs of making any desert green outweigh any benefits. I feel it's just an irresponsible use of a very precious commodity.
However, we payed our respects at the grave and went up the the kibbutz around Ben Gurion's grave. I got my first taste of kibbutz food, which was actually quite good. It's slightly heavy, but good. After that we went to see the Ben Gurion's home in the kibbutz Sde Boker. We toured around his house and saw and exhibit. He was quite a reader which a appreciated and enjoyed looking at what books were on his bookshelf. Finally, we proceeded to the kibbutz Mashabim (sp?) where we spent the rest of the weekend. The accomodations were quite nice and there was air-conditioning and a pool!!! We went to the pool, napped, welcomed the start of Shabbos, and had another kibbutz meal (more schnitzel!). At one point we went out to the desert on the edges of the kibbutz and stared at the stars sans light pollution. I think it may have been the most stars I've seen since my Up North days. This kibbutz was equipped with a pub and so the group headed over and bonded. I drank Goldstar (Israeli beer for only 9 shekel on tap). I had some really amazing conversations covering religion, philosophy, identity, politics, relationships, etc. I also got to talk to some Israeli kibbutznik. Finally, after a really enjoyable night, we attempted to head back to rooms. The kibbutz was a pretty large one though and it took us about 45 minutes to find our way back. I talked for about another 30 minutes before actually going to bed. Once in bed I completely konked out.
I didn't have to wake up until 10:00 the next morning (thank God!). We then had more orientation, more schnitzel, and more pool time. I was pretty grateful for the pool time, it was the most relaxed I'd been in a while. We said goodbye to Shabbos and drove back to BGU. Once there we embarked on a fruitless mission to find falafel. We ran into a really funny (slightly sketchy) Yemenite who offered to make us all pancakes on another occasion. After a lot of wandering we ended up at Munchilla, a restaurant/hookah bar right next to the dorms. I had an Israeli style hamburger and then hung out and finally went to bed.
I'd really like to finish relating the past few days but I really should go study Hebrew before bed. I'll have to finish the saga tomorrow.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Whirlwind
I'm not even sure where to begin this blog. These past few days have been so incredible and so crazy. I'm afraid this post is going to be rather long. Please bear with me.
I suppose I should start with the rest of my trip. My instincts were correct and the El Al check-in was not actually on the second floor of terminal B. Indeed it was on the fourth floor. C'est la vie. I eventually found my fellow OSP-ers. We met and checked in. People have told me that Israeli security can be scary and they weren't lying. I was very brusquely interrogated by an El Al security guard for about 10 minutes. This was all coming after I had gotten almost no sleep the night before. I was feeling fairly low and not so certain about my decision to travel to Israel. The rest of my layover passed in a jet-lagged daze. Right before the plane took off a minyan of Hasids Jews gathered to say their midday prayers. It was quite a sight to see such a large group chanting and praying in front of a 777 in Newark Airport. Perhaps seeing such devotion to HaShem made me feel more secure about the safety of the trip. Nevertheless, it was interesting. I would say about 70 percent of the people on the plane were Hasidic.
The flight itself was fairly uneventful. I sat next to a girl from the OSP who was born in Israel so she and I talked a lot about Israel and she was able to answer a lot of my questions. When I wasn't talking to her I was journaling or re-reading Crime and Punishment. Finally at about 8:00 Israeli time we landed in Tel Aviv at Ben Gurion Airport. The airport was beautiful. It had grandiose limestone foyers everywhere. Being my father's daughter I was able to appreciate the use of limestone. We battled a HUGE line at immigration and finally boarded the bus for Be'er Sheva. Having not slept more than 2 hours on the plane I tried to sleep on the 90 minute bus ride but was too interested by the landscape to sleep I suppose. What surprised me most about Israel was the multitude of flowering bushes and trees that dot the landscape. They're seriously everywhere and I have no idea what type of plants they are. Finally we arrived in Be'er Sheva and got our first taste of the Negev's heat. I'm fairly certain everyone was sweating within minutes of stepping off the boss. We met outside the Meonent Gimmel dorms to get our room assignments. I was assigned to suite 4 of room 387 of dorm 87. The dorm complex is rather large. I then proceeded to lug my 120 pounds of luggage up 3 flights of stairs in 100 degree heat. It was not as exciting as you would think.
My roommates were not in the room but came to the room eventually. I talked to them briefly but I was mostly interested in sleeping and unpacking. Nevertheless, they seemed like nice girls. I threw all of my possessions into the drawer and proceeded to fall into bed and sleep for 5 hours. I was a little shocked when I first saw my room. Israeli dorms are just SO simple. There's a tiny twin-sized bed, a closet, and a desk. I had pre-ordered a set of sheets to be delivered to me in Israel. I opened the set and found a pillow, a fitted sheet, a down comforter, and a duvet cover. There was no flat sheet, however. Because I definitely don't need a down comforter I've been using the duvet cover as a flat sheet. My alarm clock has a thermometer and I've seen that my room is pretty consistenly between 84 and 86 degrees.
I have to run but I'll be sure to relate more later.
I suppose I should start with the rest of my trip. My instincts were correct and the El Al check-in was not actually on the second floor of terminal B. Indeed it was on the fourth floor. C'est la vie. I eventually found my fellow OSP-ers. We met and checked in. People have told me that Israeli security can be scary and they weren't lying. I was very brusquely interrogated by an El Al security guard for about 10 minutes. This was all coming after I had gotten almost no sleep the night before. I was feeling fairly low and not so certain about my decision to travel to Israel. The rest of my layover passed in a jet-lagged daze. Right before the plane took off a minyan of Hasids Jews gathered to say their midday prayers. It was quite a sight to see such a large group chanting and praying in front of a 777 in Newark Airport. Perhaps seeing such devotion to HaShem made me feel more secure about the safety of the trip. Nevertheless, it was interesting. I would say about 70 percent of the people on the plane were Hasidic.
The flight itself was fairly uneventful. I sat next to a girl from the OSP who was born in Israel so she and I talked a lot about Israel and she was able to answer a lot of my questions. When I wasn't talking to her I was journaling or re-reading Crime and Punishment. Finally at about 8:00 Israeli time we landed in Tel Aviv at Ben Gurion Airport. The airport was beautiful. It had grandiose limestone foyers everywhere. Being my father's daughter I was able to appreciate the use of limestone. We battled a HUGE line at immigration and finally boarded the bus for Be'er Sheva. Having not slept more than 2 hours on the plane I tried to sleep on the 90 minute bus ride but was too interested by the landscape to sleep I suppose. What surprised me most about Israel was the multitude of flowering bushes and trees that dot the landscape. They're seriously everywhere and I have no idea what type of plants they are. Finally we arrived in Be'er Sheva and got our first taste of the Negev's heat. I'm fairly certain everyone was sweating within minutes of stepping off the boss. We met outside the Meonent Gimmel dorms to get our room assignments. I was assigned to suite 4 of room 387 of dorm 87. The dorm complex is rather large. I then proceeded to lug my 120 pounds of luggage up 3 flights of stairs in 100 degree heat. It was not as exciting as you would think.
My roommates were not in the room but came to the room eventually. I talked to them briefly but I was mostly interested in sleeping and unpacking. Nevertheless, they seemed like nice girls. I threw all of my possessions into the drawer and proceeded to fall into bed and sleep for 5 hours. I was a little shocked when I first saw my room. Israeli dorms are just SO simple. There's a tiny twin-sized bed, a closet, and a desk. I had pre-ordered a set of sheets to be delivered to me in Israel. I opened the set and found a pillow, a fitted sheet, a down comforter, and a duvet cover. There was no flat sheet, however. Because I definitely don't need a down comforter I've been using the duvet cover as a flat sheet. My alarm clock has a thermometer and I've seen that my room is pretty consistenly between 84 and 86 degrees.
I have to run but I'll be sure to relate more later.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
2nd Floor, Terminal B, Liberty International Airport, Newark, NJ, USA: My Home For the Next 5(ish) Hours
Whew, that was a long heading.
Well, leg number one of my journey has been completed. Moreover, it was completed uneventfully. I arrived at DIA around 10:45 PM, my parents cajoled the Continental people into letting them come see me off at the gate, cleaned up a saline solution spill (alors), and boarded the plane.
The plane ride itself was uneventful. Fool's Gold was playing on the monitor, but because I did not want to have to gouge my eyes out before having seen Jerusalem, I journaled instead. Given my propensity for sinus infections, you would think that I would have traveled with one before but this was actually a first for me. Let me just say that the landing was INCREDIBLY painful. My head was throbbing from my temple to my throat. Not a pleasant experience. I'm better now though my ears are still quite stuffed. Time to hit the Nasonex it would seem.
So, anyway, got off the plane and picked up my two 49 pound suitcases. I then wandered around Newark for awhile (clumsily, I might add[suitcases]). I think I'm in the right spot. Maybe? I'm supposed to be in terminal B, but there are 4 levels in terminal. There is an El Al sign, but it doesn't exactly look like the generic check in counter.
This floor of the terminal is empty. Super empty. The only other person in the terminal is a man waxing the floors. I think my 12o puonds of luggage might be in his way.
So, what am I feeling right now? Anxiety? Fear? Hope? Homesickness? Honestly, I'm not really feeling any of that right now. Right now I'm it's like I'm concentrating on the minute things: confirming with 100 percent certainty that I'm in the right spot, guarding my luggage, writing a thoughtful blog post, finding my last American Starbucks (SAD!), etc...
(Note, I see a Starbucks employee and I'm thinking of trailing her.)
This year is going to be crazy, this year is going to shock me culturally, this year will probably be extremely difficult at times. I'm ready though. In the words of Andrew Bird: "I love the unknown." Perhaps no one really loves the unknown initially. It's crazy, it's shocking, and it can be difficult. If we never forced ourselves to try something new, how pathetic would our world be? It's a capitalist's love of progress that has imbued me with this conviction and I've got to stick by it. The writers of the Constitution wrote that they were forming "a more perfect Union." We know that forming this "more perfect Union" was extremely traumatic. The Federalist Papers attest to how contentious the decision was. Yet something new and traumatic was tried and a more perfect Union was the result. It wasn't the perfect union (the Civil War would attest to this) but it was a little better. My point is, I hope to come back in 5 months as "a more perfect Brooke." I won't be "perfect Brooke" and change isn't going to come eaasily, but that's my goal.
This is not my best writing, but I'm tired. I've only had 90 minutes of sleep in the last 24 hours.
I had meant to write about my family a little more, but right now I'm really quite tired. Suffice it to say that as my father was loading my luggage into the car he found a roll of duct tape and managed to smuggle it into my insanely full luggage. I can't name an instance in the last 9 years when I have used duct tape. Oh well, it was given with love.
(I have found that I cannot remember the command key for spellcheck in Word. I also can't find the button is Word for Mac, so please pardon any spelling errors.)
Well, leg number one of my journey has been completed. Moreover, it was completed uneventfully. I arrived at DIA around 10:45 PM, my parents cajoled the Continental people into letting them come see me off at the gate, cleaned up a saline solution spill (alors), and boarded the plane.
The plane ride itself was uneventful. Fool's Gold was playing on the monitor, but because I did not want to have to gouge my eyes out before having seen Jerusalem, I journaled instead. Given my propensity for sinus infections, you would think that I would have traveled with one before but this was actually a first for me. Let me just say that the landing was INCREDIBLY painful. My head was throbbing from my temple to my throat. Not a pleasant experience. I'm better now though my ears are still quite stuffed. Time to hit the Nasonex it would seem.
So, anyway, got off the plane and picked up my two 49 pound suitcases. I then wandered around Newark for awhile (clumsily, I might add[suitcases]). I think I'm in the right spot. Maybe? I'm supposed to be in terminal B, but there are 4 levels in terminal. There is an El Al sign, but it doesn't exactly look like the generic check in counter.
This floor of the terminal is empty. Super empty. The only other person in the terminal is a man waxing the floors. I think my 12o puonds of luggage might be in his way.
So, what am I feeling right now? Anxiety? Fear? Hope? Homesickness? Honestly, I'm not really feeling any of that right now. Right now I'm it's like I'm concentrating on the minute things: confirming with 100 percent certainty that I'm in the right spot, guarding my luggage, writing a thoughtful blog post, finding my last American Starbucks (SAD!), etc...
(Note, I see a Starbucks employee and I'm thinking of trailing her.)
This year is going to be crazy, this year is going to shock me culturally, this year will probably be extremely difficult at times. I'm ready though. In the words of Andrew Bird: "I love the unknown." Perhaps no one really loves the unknown initially. It's crazy, it's shocking, and it can be difficult. If we never forced ourselves to try something new, how pathetic would our world be? It's a capitalist's love of progress that has imbued me with this conviction and I've got to stick by it. The writers of the Constitution wrote that they were forming "a more perfect Union." We know that forming this "more perfect Union" was extremely traumatic. The Federalist Papers attest to how contentious the decision was. Yet something new and traumatic was tried and a more perfect Union was the result. It wasn't the perfect union (the Civil War would attest to this) but it was a little better. My point is, I hope to come back in 5 months as "a more perfect Brooke." I won't be "perfect Brooke" and change isn't going to come eaasily, but that's my goal.
This is not my best writing, but I'm tired. I've only had 90 minutes of sleep in the last 24 hours.
I had meant to write about my family a little more, but right now I'm really quite tired. Suffice it to say that as my father was loading my luggage into the car he found a roll of duct tape and managed to smuggle it into my insanely full luggage. I can't name an instance in the last 9 years when I have used duct tape. Oh well, it was given with love.
(I have found that I cannot remember the command key for spellcheck in Word. I also can't find the button is Word for Mac, so please pardon any spelling errors.)
Monday, June 23, 2008
Travel Manifesto
I feel like this study abroad experience is arriving at an uber-appropriate time. At about this time last year I felt like I had my life relatively figured out. My Seniors Honors Diploma served as a sort of manifesto on who I am. I thought I knew exactly who I was, what I believed in, and what I wanted. Over the past few weeks I haven't been so sure about what I want, what I believe, or even who I am. I think, perhaps, at the time I did know who I was; it may be that with a year of college under my belt I've changed.
The realization that I'm confused about my life was initially somewhat discouraging. I was reminded by both my sister and Herman Hesse's Siddhartha that the human life is by no means static. Siddhartha has at least 5 enlightenments throughout the course of his life. Not to sound wishy-washy, but it seems that maybe there is no definitive/objective enlightenment/epiphany/life course that can be discerned. Maybe one must perpetually roll with the punches.
Nevertheless, I think getting thousands of miles away from my friends, my family, and my past might allow me to view my life slightly more objectively. Hopefully it'll give me a chance to grow and learn as if in a vacuum, isolated from all the variables of my normal life.
My own caveat to myself: I particularly enjoyed Siddhartha's notion that people are so preoccupied with searching for Om that they don't recognize it in life. So, even though I'll be searching for clarity on my life I have to live my life in order to have a life to understand. I think I explained that very poorly. Mainly, it's not as though I will spend every moment in Beer Sheva philosophically analyzing my life. I'm actually anticipating having a lot of fun in Israel.
I love dry heat, so I'm ready for that aspect. Though, it still doesn't seem entirely real that I'll be leaving.
Well, those are the only reflections I have at the moment.
(I didn't even like Siddhartha that much, so it's interesting that I referenced it so extensively.)
(It's also interesting that Blogger doesn't have an underline function, lame.)
The realization that I'm confused about my life was initially somewhat discouraging. I was reminded by both my sister and Herman Hesse's Siddhartha that the human life is by no means static. Siddhartha has at least 5 enlightenments throughout the course of his life. Not to sound wishy-washy, but it seems that maybe there is no definitive/objective enlightenment/epiphany/life course that can be discerned. Maybe one must perpetually roll with the punches.
Nevertheless, I think getting thousands of miles away from my friends, my family, and my past might allow me to view my life slightly more objectively. Hopefully it'll give me a chance to grow and learn as if in a vacuum, isolated from all the variables of my normal life.
My own caveat to myself: I particularly enjoyed Siddhartha's notion that people are so preoccupied with searching for Om that they don't recognize it in life. So, even though I'll be searching for clarity on my life I have to live my life in order to have a life to understand. I think I explained that very poorly. Mainly, it's not as though I will spend every moment in Beer Sheva philosophically analyzing my life. I'm actually anticipating having a lot of fun in Israel.
I love dry heat, so I'm ready for that aspect. Though, it still doesn't seem entirely real that I'll be leaving.
Well, those are the only reflections I have at the moment.
(I didn't even like Siddhartha that much, so it's interesting that I referenced it so extensively.)
(It's also interesting that Blogger doesn't have an underline function, lame.)
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