Wow. I’ve made it all the way to blog number 2. Hi all, news update: I made it to Israel. So much has happened in only the last 5 days. Since I’ve arrived I have met countless amazing people that I am so excited to get to know better, I have met all my amazing teachers, and the class even went to a concert performed by the Israeli band Hadag Nahash. More about my new home; campus: amazing. showers: niiice. food: exotic. (72)

Speaking of exotic foods (not really), I have come up with quite a few goals for myself and expectations for the program. First off, my main goal is to make at least a few close friendships but more importantly to get to know everyone in my class. I’m especially excited for this goal because so far everyone I’ve met are all incredibly cool people. My second goal I have for the remainder of this session is to learn about myself, Israel, and the origins/concepts of Judaism. For the first tiyul (trip) we took a bus to Tel Gezer which is the ruins of a powerful civilization and was unable to be conquered for many many years. Ancient pottery shards could be found on the ground pretty much anywhere you looked as well as the ruins of entrance gates and water holes and such. I am so excited to travel around Israel and see more places just like this one or places that are even more mind blowing. One final goal for me is to learn at least some basic Hebrew. A large majority of my classmates know a lot of Hebrew and grammar and it really motivates me to want to learn some. Plus it would make it a lot easier to communicate with locals in town at stores or restaurants for example.

Looks like I made it through week one all right. But overall my semester has gotten off to a great start and I am very excited to see what’s in store for the rest of my time in Israel. Thanks very one for reading and I’ll be back next week.