In Israel

Well, I’m in Israel. For better or worse, I’m here. Arriving in Newark was easy enough. Being selected for special security was also so much fun. I got the full body pat down, but the woman was very nice and apologetic about the whole matter.  Apparently I wasn’t the first person EL Al had been searched. Not to sound accusative, but it is true that everyone who I know was searched were not Jewish. My carry on was also selected for a special search, and I had to hand it over to security two hours before our flight so that they could hand search it.  Later I was called back and told that my duffle bag was not allowed to fly. Not my stuff, which they boxed up and put on the plane and safely arrived in Tel Aviv, just the bag itself. For some unknown reason the bag was not allowed to fly and is being/was shipped home. The flight itself was fine, except that I couldn’t sleep and I’m definitely bringing some kind of sleep aid for my trip home. I did a couple easy Sudoku, read a little of by book and watched a few movies. Nothing really exciting. However, the stars over the Atlantic were amazing. There is something truly fascinating about these tiny pinpoints of light in the dark sky when the rest of the world is completely pitch black.   Also, the lights of the cities in Europe were fantastic as we flew over. I’m so glad I had a window seat even though the guy next to me fell asleep and didn’t wake up for eight hours. Even arriving in Tel Aviv was really simple, except for the momentary panic when my cell wouldn’t work and I had to remember that I was half a world away and not in upstate New York anymore.  My suitcase was one of the first to come on the baggage carousel, but I watched my box go around three times before I realized that it was mine. When we got on the bus to get here, I got my first wave of homesickness as the exhaustion finally began to take its toll. Luckily when I got to campus and signed in, I found out that I actually have 3 American roommates and one Israeli. At first I thought it would be interesting to live with all Israeli roommates, but I probably would have gone completely nuts. We each have our own rooms in our apartment, which I hate. I can’t wait to have a roommate again no matter who it is. It just seems to distant, especially now that it’s the weekend and there isn’t much to do. I’d usually be talking and hanging out with people and we’re each in our own separate rooms on our computers. It’s still morning at home, so there’s no one online to talk to and talking to too many people just makes my homesickness worse. In the grand scheme of things, my roommates have been amazing and I guess I’m going to have to learn to exist in a less social environment. I will need to find an English bookstore, since I will run out of books soon and believe it or not there is a limit to how many times I can read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.