The western wall (Kotel), with the Dome of the Rock in the background
So the past few weeks haven’t exactly been empty – I’ve been to Jerusalem (twice), Zippori and Bait She’arim (capital and mausoleum for c. 200 AD Jewry), a Circassian village, a Sufi mosque in Sakhnin, as well as the regular Arabic and Hebrew classes. Excuses aside, I think it would be fair to say that I’m settling into my life here for the next few months pretty much as well as I’d hoped – even if the blog is a little behind.
The Arab Israeli town of Umm Al-Fahm - I live just out of view in the valley below
Jerusalem is somewhat of a trek from the kibbutz – a 15 minute taxi/friendly kibbutznik ride to the train station, a 25-45 minute train journey to Tel Aviv, 10 minute exchange for a bus, and an hour on the bus, even before leaving Tel Aviv central bus station… I visited a friend from UNC at Hebrew University (who unlike me had managed to wake up and watch the whole Duke-Carolina game and saw me as somewhat of a feeble fan). It’s tough going so long away from people who ’speak Carolina’. Hebrew University is the program that Carolina tried to encourage me to do, so I guess it’s bittersweet to see their amazing campus and location. Still I think we have the better deal up in Wadi Ara, even if the group of Orthodox yeshiva boys and seminary girls I experienced Shabbat dinner with were positively repulsed by my mention of the region…
View from the Mount of Olives
Filed under: General
