Sweet Home Arizona
I haven’t written in a while and I apologize to those who were anticipating more updates from my adventures abroad. I just concluded Pesach break, which, as you can probably tell, is quite a bit longer than the actual holiday. I traveled North (to Drew’s Kibbutz), South (to Eilat), and West (to Florence and Pisa, Italy) and had many adventures that would take much too long to write about. School is now back in session and I moved up a level so now things are a little more challenging. Yesterday was our first day of classes and it was very long (like all Sundays). It’s been months and I still have no adjusted to functioning like a normal human being on Sundays, especially when you function like a normal person and go out on Saturday nights. Somehow, this system still perplexes me. And somehow, Israelis function within it just fine.
As a result of my busy day yesterday, I woke up late, and took the bus to school at noon. ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ was playing on the bus radio and of course it made me miss Arizona. Every time I hear that song I think of ‘Sweet Home Arizona’ playing loudly at the Big Bang. I miss those nights. I miss singing at the top of my lungs and dancing around with my best friends. I know this is a normal feeling but sometimes, like this morning, it just catches up with me. If I had stayed in Arizona longer… Okay, can’t play the ‘If’ game. I know things will be a lot easier in the fall when more of the people I care so much about are in the same place as me. I want to fast forward through the summer and all my classes and get on with my life in Israel. I know that’s not the best attitude because it’s definitely not ‘living in the moment’ but I can’t help it. My feelings toward being with the people closest to me are too strong and I can’t resist missing them every day.
I could take this entry just about anywhere because there really has been so much going on. A few weeks ago, I went to Eilat with a few friends and we had a great, relaxing vacation. We layed out at the beach or the pool almost every day. I met the lifeguard at our hotel and we actually started speaking in Hebrew. This was a first for me because I never use the language. I’m some type of combination of embarrassed, shy, and nervous and never speak up even when I know how to say something. So, after him prying for a while, I opened up and we began speaking. It was nice and refreshing to know that I could do it and when I made a mistake it was okay. I got really tan that week and really became closer with my friends from school. It was nice to spend quality time with them so far from our academic environment.
After Eilat was Pesach. This is the only holiday I have ever cared about – quite common amongst secular Jews living in America. Because of this, I knew I had to spend the seder with someone special, so that someone ended up being Rabbi Manning and his family. I realized very quickly that I was in the right place. I had Nina by one side and Rabbi Manning’s son Asher on the other. I was comfortable, understood what was going on, and contributed. I felt as close to being with my own family as possible. The seder was quite long… much longer than I am used to. But, it was a lot of fun. During Chol hamoed (the middle days of the holiday) I went up North to my friend Drew’s kibbutz. It was an unforgettable experience. We had so much fun together. We cooked all day on Friday for Shabbat and made unbelievable meat, fish, and soup dishes. She brought me on a tour of the kibbutz (I had really never seen a place like this before) and fell in love with the North immediately. The trees and animals, the hiking, the people, the culture – it was beautiful. We drove through the Gilboa mountains, drove to Tiberias and had a fancy dinner on the water (where Netanyahu was also eating), and went to Haifa to see a movie. I was so relaxed being up there. I watched television (not too much, just the Red Sox on repeat), began reading a fabulous book (more about that later), and really felt comfortable with myself, a common theme that spreads across this entire Pesach break. I felt comfortable wearing normal clothes (and yes, sometimes that included larger than life pants) and felt comfortable exploring on my own. The last day of the holiday I spent at Moshav Modiin at a wonderful family who I met a few weeks back. I felt similarly there as I had felt at the Kibbutz. I was very comfortable, very happy, very positive. There was singing and dancing and delicious food and very dynamic personalities surrounding me the entire time.
About ten minutes after returning to Jerusalem that night, I realized I needed to leave. I know, this is terrible. And really, it’s not an insult to the city because of course Jerusalem is a fabulous place. It is probably the most important city to me in the world. But my specific environment in Jerusalem, which always begins while waiting for the buses to Har Nof, is not where I belong. It’s difficult but at the same time, I know it is all a part of this important experience I am having. It’s just a little culture shocking when I get back from trips from the North or the South… or even across town.
So the book Drew let me read is called ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and documents a woman’s travels across Italy, India, and Indonesia. She is searching for herself and somehow finds herself in each of these places, while picking up the language, meditation techniques, and new friends along the way. While reading the first section on Italy, I was immediately inspired to go there. So, I went online, booked a flight, and was now going to Rome three days later. I called up my roommate from freshmen year and I asked to stay with her and her sisters in Florence and then went into Shabbat knowing that I would be leaving first thing Sunday morning.
I flew to Florence feeling like I was a bird. I could do anything if I spread my wings and took off. I landed, navigated my way from Rome to Florence while making friends (Israelis!) along the way, and met Elyse at the train station in Florence. I couldn’t have been happier or freer. I spent the next few days sightseeing and spending quality time with her and her sisters. Florence is a truly remarkable city. I have a lot of close friends who have studied abroad there and they have never said a negative thing about it – and they were right. I toured around by myself a lot but also with the girls. I got to spend Elyse and Lindsey’s 21st birthday with them and we celebrated all night long. One of my favorite parts of Florence was seeing the synagogue. It was the nicest synagogue I had ever seen and is thought of as one of the most beautiful in all of Europe. I felt very small inside of it but as the same time, like I fit in perfectly. I was in a foreign city but I felt very at home. It’s a very unique feeling. I felt the same way when I went to shul in Paris, in Prague, and with Jews in many other places. The language, the culture, the overall feeling really make something very foreign seem perfectly comfortable.
So overall, the travels of Pesech break were incredible. I learned a lot about myself and about the world around me. I will try to write more often from now on because there are an infinite amount of topics to write about while in Israel – I just need to find the time to do it!
