Well it has been a while since I have made a post, but that is because I am getting settled in. Life is starting to feel like home, but I just happen to be in Jerusalem. Sitting down and budgeting for the next 5 months threw my plans into perspective. Although it would be nice to travel to different places in Israel, and Petra in Jordan, it would be better to have that money for groceries, and food. The blog posts may become mundane, but I think it is a matter of perspective. The Old City is no longer some awesome sight, it is part of my life. I have been there 3 times, and we don't need a special occasion to go. I will bring my camera every now and then to snap a few pictures.
I also have gone to the Shuk, which is a giant market area. If you are only in Jerusalem for a day, then yes, this is something that you should see. The reality for people who live here, it's where we shop for groceries and can haggle prices. We have finally started learning numbers so we can actually haggle more effectively.
We essentially walk almost everywhere, and when we don't walk we usually take the light-rail. The light-rail is 6.60 NIS every trip (not even 2 dollars). We don't have a pass yet, since they don't issue 5-month student passes until the beginning of the new semester. We are in a sort of J-term scenario right now, so we would have had to just get a one month pass and then buy the 5-month student pass.
As for right now, I am doing what I came here to do. I am learning. My Hebrew class is good and I am studying in Beit Midrash groups and Talmud groups to learn more about Judaism. Once semester begins my schedule will be much different, but I will be able to figure out destination plans. We are looking at going to Tel Aviv for one weekend for sure, and also to Eilat over another weekend. There are many places that I can go to all over the place, but I probably won't be spending money on a plethora of museums and whatnot.
Something we were told by an American who moved to Israel 5 years ago, that we met while waiting for the light-rail, he said that is Israel is a wonderful place to spend a short vacation in. It can be an expensive place to live though. When you are only here for a finite time it is easy to spend money one museum, because you will be gone in about 2 days. It is hard for me to cough up the shekel every time I see a museum here because there are so many, and I would be broke extremely fast. The cities here themselves are museums, so that is how I have convinced myself and rationalized not spending the shekel on going to a bunch of museums (not to say that I will never go to any).
There is a strong difference of eating in Israel too. Back home I would spend money and eat at school, but I can't do that here. I can't work while I am here and make a living, so (right now) it is a lot of Tupperwares of Cheerios (since I have found no plastic bags Ziploc bags here). I can't justify spending money on food at a fast food stop type in the Forum, when I know that I don't have any form of income that support this. This will change once school really starts, because then I will tons of time between classes and I will be able to come back to the village (which is about a 15 minute walk to the school - hence why I can't come back during my Ulpan classes). We shall see where the semester takes me for packing lunches and museum tours.
Peace and a Settled Life
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