Hi there friends.

I made it to Israel, finally, as you must have heard or assumed by now. Though week one was quite stressful--I would even go as far as saying painful--I am beginning to get settled in my new home. I was so sad at first, and seriously doubted my reasons for coming here. Part of the reason was that my university, where I am living, was empty, and feels like an American university. Also, Beer Sheva didn't feel like Israel. I wont exactly be taking any pictures of the city to share with you; it's public works administrators have been calling in sick for what looks to me like 30 years or so. It wasn't until I went to Jerusalem last weekend, walked the old city alleyways, was within earshot of the call to prayer, seeing that beautiful golden dome with my own eyes, shoved aside by an orthodox Jew balancing a giant furry kippah on his head (see example), stood among devotees as they rubbed their belongings and faces against the stone where Jesus' body was washed after his death--it wasn't until I had my first falafel from a falafel stand, drank in the street with Israelis while we waited for the first three stars to appear, one by one over our heads, and for the shops to reopen, one by one, the ghostly city center flooded once again with winding currents of people starting their week off right.




Jerusalem is amazing. Its well known that I am not of any religious persuasion, but when I saw the dome of the rock which houses the stone that is the center and origin and symbol above symbols of so much love, strife, creativity, hope, sense of self and home and belonging--its gravitational pull overwhelmed me... it made me cry. Its interesting that Delphi had no similar effect on me. I suppose it was just that throughout the years of my academic growth, my broadening sense of the world and my future role within it, I have perhaps made Jerusalem my axis mundi, my navel, my center of gravity. eh, who knows? Like I always say, its my biggest fear that what I care about is not actually something I really care about, because I can get excited about just about anything--maybe next year it will be Greek Gods and Delphi, or saving the world one polar bear at a time. My new friend Miriam says that everything happens for a reason, and that I am so drawn to the Middle East might be an indication that I was a native to the region in a past life. What do you think? All I can say at this point is I'm keeping my eyes, heart and mind open as best I can while I'm here.

I am very excited about my courses this semester, though the work load is going to be intense, well over kzoo. 20-30 page papers in each class, weeks and weeks of exams, 5 classes instead of 3, eight hours straight seminar time, Arabic(!). still, I am soo excited. By the end of this semester I will be an expert on the Islamic Republic of Iran, all the documents of the pre-1949 Zionist-Arab conflict, Islam and the Jewish/Christian early responses to its formation, conflict resolution theory, and--brace yourself-- all the letters of the Arabic alphabet. My fellow students all seem like great people as well; there are about 25 of us of all ages, mostly American, but everyone has a very interesting academic and personal history. A few of the ladies I have buddied up with are interested in similar peace/dialogue activist groups, and we are going to be sharing our resources, attending workshops together, etc.

My university's campus is actually very nice. Pictures to come.










(call to prayer in an old city cafe, Miriam and Abby in video)


















(Muslim Quarter Shuk (market)) (One head, to head, three head, hijab!)








(in the church of the Holy Sepulchre)




















(Sickly Sweet) (Flavor explosion--also sickly)