I'm Here! I'm Here!...Almost

I haven't been in the same place for more than a week this break.  In order, I've been in Boston, Athens, Jamaica, Athens, Atlanta, Athens. Tomorrow, I leave for Newark, where I will stay with a family friend overnight.  On Tuesday, I get on a ten-hour flight for Israeli that arrives on Wednesday morning (Israel time).  Especially after reading my peers' blog entries and e-mails, I can't wait to finally go to Jerusalem and settle in, not only because I'm incredibly excited to be going to Jerusalem for the first time in nearly eleven years, but also I'm starting to feel a little bit like a nomad (though I'm happy to be in all the places I've been).

It's starting to sink in just how far away I'll be from everyone I know and love.  I took my sister to the World of Coca Cola, and I couldn't help thinking that so many of my friends would start talking about commercialism and corporate America, and I miss that.  At the same time, I'm getting  more excited every minute as my trip gets closer and closer.  After months of various crises (which is to be expected with Israeli bureaucracy), I now know that I will have a dorm room with an Israeli roommate.  These last few days, I've just been trying to practice my Hebrew as much as possible by listening to Israeli music and talking to my father in Hebrew.  And tonight, I'll watch an Israeli film...while I pack.  Oh yeah, I still haven't packed.  Haha!  Woops.

To those of you who are concerned about my safety:  Don't worry.  There hasn't been a suicide bomb in Jerusalem since 2004.  And I have been assured that the areas that are threatened right now are those within 40 km (about 25 miles) of the Gaza Strip.  Jerusalem is functioning the same as ever.  As a precaution, I have been told not to go to Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem or the Old City, but this is nothing new.  There are all kinds of security measures taken on campus, and there is a system with which the university can notify me of anything new.

And on that happy note, I will end this very long post.  As they say, next year...um, few days...in Jerusalem!