Halfway to an MA

Thursday was the last day of class, and thus ended my first semester of graduate school! Now I'm completely bogged down with final papers.

Also I'm leaving for London tomorrow morning for the next month, and then I have friends coming to visit me.

So sorry this blog is so short, but I've been in the library since it opened this morning (even though I'm technically on holiday, but I guess that's grad school). I only plan on being in the library for another 40 minutes though, since I need internet access to check-in for my flight tomorrow! So excited! Pictures and exciting blog updates to happen from the UK next!!

Life

As I reflect upon my life the past few months, it's so hard to believe that I haven't stood on American soil in over three months now. This has been the longest I've ever been away from home, or even from America. So much has happened in the past three months, both big events and small. I began graduate school and confirmed the path that I want to follow the rest of my life; I've lived in a foreign non-English speaking country; I've traveled the Middle East, visiting sites that I've studied for the past several years; I've made some of the closet friends I've ever made and who are in my field of study; I've bonded with my professors, both past and present in ways that would intimidate me so much back at the beginning of undergrad; and really, I've gotten to see the world.

I think that my whole life, deep on a fundamental level, I knew (and I think my mom too knew) that I would leave my hometown for good. It all started with baby steps, leaving for Germany with school when I was 14, moving 150 miles away to Ann Arbor for college when I turned 18, spending two months digging in Israel when I was 20, and now moving to Israel for the next year or two. I know that home will always be in Grand Rapids for me, since that's where my whole family is, but it's strange to think that I probably will never live there permanently again. Little Grand Rapids could not contain my hopes and dreams, and although I do not regret growing up in a small town, it is saddening to know that so many never have the opportunity to leave, if only for a bit. 

A part of many people's identity is where they are from and where they've lived. It's one of the first questions you ask someone when you first meet them, "Where are you from?" Especially when abroad, I never know which answer to provide them. On the one hand, I could answer generically with "Artzot Habrit" (which would probably be obvious given my terrible American accent anyway). I could mention "Michigan" to be more specific. Whenever I say that I'm from Michigan, they usually follow up and ask if I live in Detroit. Again, I'm at a loss for an answer. Do I take the time and explain that I grew up in West Michigan but spent the last four years living near Detroit? It all seems overly complicated to explain to someone who's not familiar with American or Michigan geography. And now as much as Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor have become a part of my identity, so now is Tel Aviv. I'm fairly certain that I will not live in Israel forever (it's actually impossible for me to become a citizen here since I'm not Jewish), I do plan on staying here as long as my student visa will permit me. After that is over, I'll just move forward with the next chapter of my life, which will  be a chapter with a new setting.

I could wax eloquent about identity and seeing the world for ages, but I do have other things to update my blog readers on.

First, I (finally) got my visas all in order. The Ministry of the Interior opened promptly at 8am, so at 7:30am, I waited in line to go through security with a long line of other bleary-eyed people, alternating between darting apprehensive looks at the clock and the security guards and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. I stood there, with my backpack and school things and realized really how fortunate and well-off I am. I really had no worries at all. I was not an immigrant applying for citizenship to the country or asking for permission to work and earn money. I was only there for my student visa. I had no reason to be nervous. I had all my forms filled out (hopefully correctly, but I decided just to feign confidence and pretend as though I was completely confident that I had filled out my forms correctly to expedite the process when I met with the visa officials), my bank statement proving I had sufficient funds to stay in Israel, several papers in both English and Hebrew from school verifying my enrollment, and several passport photos of myself. At 8am, the line for security surged forward and the doors opened. The visa process was relatively painless, and my false confidence and resolute friendliness toward the visa official I think helped the whole process, and I'm sure my greetings in Hebrew were not missed either. I successfully got my visa, and then later when I was looking at it, stuck there in my passport, I realized that it expires like 6 months earlier than I expected. Guess you just can't win them all... (Also, readers, please do not fear, I'm in no danger of being deported from the country.)

Another thing that I've noticed about my life currently is that the novelty of Israel, of living in a foreign country, of being in graduate school, has worn off. My life no longer seems like a vacation. I'm sick of eating hummus and have recently taken to jam, which is a food I wasn't even that attached to when I lived in America. I've also been on a huge sushi kick lately, and my roommate Denize and I found a great place near our apartment that has all our favorites! Shopping in the shuk no longer seems new and exciting, rather it's just the way we buy our groceries. Even going to school has lost some of its novelty. I am still really enjoying my classes of course, but the work is piling up, and the amount of readings and papers we have assigned now is slightly overwhelming and reminds me of my stressful years of undergrad, where it was not uncommon to be working in the library until the early hours of the morning. Israel no longer seems like a vacation; it's just my life now. My life, where I have real responsibilities and obligations from finishing school work to paying bills.

Lately I've taken to walking along the promenade at the beach, since I live so close now. One thing that I miss a lot about America is spending summers at Lake Michigan. I truly live in a gorgeous part of Tel Aviv, and I love where I live so much! To walk along the beach and look out at the Mediterranean Sea is simply amazing. I remember when I first came to Israel in 2010, the Sea amazed and fascinated me so much. I could not wrap my mind around the fact that I was staring at the vast watery expanse that was so central to the Ancient Near East:  the Mesopotamian, Persian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Iberian, Greek and Byzantine, Roman and Italian, Illyrian, Thracian, Levantine, Gallic,Armenian, Arabic, Berber, Jewish, Aragonese, Slavic and Turkish cultures. It was that moment of realization that I really wished that the sea could tell stories. How much the sea has seen! From great battles to ancient maritime trade to fisherman attempting to make a living. And tonight, as I looked from the sea back towards the blinking lights of central Tel Aviv, towards modernity,  I was struck again with the paradox of such a vibrant modern community in front of me and to my back the ancient sea. I stared back out towards the sea. There were no boats out tonight. I tried to imagine what it was like 3000 years ago and, even with my advanced degrees in the subject, I really could not fathom. But I had my modern responsibilities that I was obliged to, so I once again, turned my back on the sea and trekked back to my little apartment by the beach.

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this blog update, but I haven't been anywhere really new or exciting in the past 10 days since my last blog post. Also, as I reread this blog post, it came out far more philosophical and poetic than was my original intent, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!!

A Trip into the West Bank

So for the next two weeks, my cousin Anna is in Jerusalem with some of her classmates from Calvin College to learn about the geography and history of Israel. Including in their course, they get to take tours of pretty much all of Israel to get a well-rounded education of it all. On Friday, a few friends and I took the sherut into Jerusalem to hang out and grab dinner with her, and over dinner we casually asked what other places she was due to visit, and she said Samaria. Needless to say, you can't just mention Samaria to a group of archaeologists over dinner. We freaked out and ate our the rest of our dinner in complete and utter envy. We weren't able to go there with our program, you see, since our professors are all Israeli and probably wouldn't want to risk taking us (their first class in the program) into occupied territories. On Saturday night, I was checking my facebook, and I had a message from Anna, saying that she remembered that I said we didn't have class on Monday, and that's the date of their tour of Samaria. She said she was going to ask if I, as a graduate student in archaeology, wanted to come. Cue freak out. Her professor said yes and said I could bring a friend, so that's how I got to go to Samaria and a few other places!

So on Sunday night after class, back to Jerusalem I went, this time by bus. The bus station is huge and kind of difficult to navigate, but we made it to Jerusalem all in one piece. We checked into our hotel and then went to grab a bite to eat before settling in for the night to prepare for our early morning. Usually I sleep terribly the night before tours, and this night was no different. After what seemed like no time at all, my alarm was beeping, and we went to go meet Anna at the Jaffa Gate to board our bus. Anna's professor was very happy to have us and was also very happy that we were so excited to be tagging along with them.

First we stopped at the site of Shechem, which used to be one of the capitals of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was really exciting, because we had learned all about Shechem in one of our classes and found ourselves muttering the answers to the professor's questions under our breath (or telling them to Anna to answer).

Shechem

After Shechem, we continued north to Samaria, the destination that I had been waiting for. It definitely did not disappoint!!! It was sooo cool to see the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was mostly Herodian architecture left there. 

Samaria

When we were driving down from the tel, we saw some flags of the Hamas. Rachel and I found it mildly terrifying, but none of the younger students really knew what was going on (or even who the Hamas were). We were completely safe the whole time though!

We headed to Mount Gerizim later, which was the location of the temple of Israel. On Mount Gerizim is a small Samaritan community (I had no idea they still existed!). The Samaritans believe that their holy place is Mount Gerizim, rather than the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the Jewish faith believes. The Samaritans also believe only in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). While we were there, we had the opportunity to go in the synagogue there and listen to the High Priest, in his limited English, tell us about the Samaritan faith. Because it was a Christian tour, it was most people's first time in a synagogue. Before we entered, we removed our shoes as a sign of respect for the sanctity of the place. We asked how the High Priesthood was obtained, and he told us that it was passed down father-to-son, and they were descendants from the tribe of Levi. This was one of the most powerful moments in probably my entire time in Israel thus far. To imagine that the little old man in front of me, talking to us in his broken English, was a descendant of Levi was simply astounding! It's an opportunity that I imagine I will never have again.

Samaritan High Priest and the Torah

View of Palestine from the top of Mount Gerizim

As we drove to Shiloh, I quite enjoyed looking out the bus window and observing the differences between Israel and Palestine. Although I do not claim to have seen all of Israel, I have been many places in the country. One of the things about Palestine was how these really extravagant houses would be in the midst of a completely desolate location and also near other houses that were really run-down. 

I was also looking forward to going to Shiloh. I actually could not remember why I thought Shiloh was important; the name really rung a bell, but I couldn't remember its significance. Turns out it's where Samuel spent his childhood. In fact, they've narrowed it down to three possible areas where the Holy of Holies was. SO incredibly amazing to consider that I might have been standing where the Holy of Holies was situated, and also neat to think about that biblical figure of Hannah being there, simply because we have the same name. :)

Shiloh

Terraces for farming

Location of the Holy of Holies?

After we returned to Jerusalem, we were all exhausted. Anna, Rachel, and I decided to do a bit of shopping in the Shuk at Jerusalem for a bit. I forgot how much I love/hate the Shuk. Love cuz they have absolutely everything. Hate because the shopkeepers generally hassle you and assume you're a tourist and thus try and give you a bad deal. I hate to have them hear me speak English. When they ask why I'm in Israel and if it's my first time here, I like to be a bit snarky and respond in Hebrew, "No, I live in Tel Aviv..." I took Anna and Rachel to my favorite scarf man in the Shuk though, who I discovered last summer. He actually has a degree from Northwestern and gives great prices on his scarves! He saw that I still had his card all the way from last summer and gave us a great price and treated me like an old friend. :) It was great. 

After shopping, Rachel and I decided to take Anna out to eat at the Armenian Tavern, as a thank-you for allowing us to tag along. I had the lamb shishlik, and it was delicious. Then we stopped by a bakery in the Jewish quarter to buy some baklava for dessert, and Rachel and I then had to catch the bus back to Tel Aviv. 

And that was the close of one of the best days ever. :)

It's the Holiday Season...in Israel

Shalom and boker tov, dear readers. So sorry I made an empty promise to blog more regularly and then haven't updated since Christmas Eve. Now I have "high-speed" internet in my apartment, so no excuses really.

On Christmas Eve, a few of us when to this really nice restaurant near by apartment called Little Prague, which is well-known for having several types of beer, which I actually did not sample any of. That's one good thing about living a few blocks away from such a touristy area is the abundance of great restaurants in such close proximity! The food was wonderful and non-kosher, and I had the most delicious artery-clogging chicken steak covered in melted cheese and mashed potatoes and coleslaw. For desert there was nutella-filled crepes with peaches. All SO incredibly delicious. But I couldn't help but think how very different it was from all my previous 21 Christmas Eves. It did not seem like Christmas was approaching at all. Normally on Christmas Eve, I would be gathered with my entire family. But really my Christmas Eve wasn't bad, just different.

Christmas Day was extraordinarily uneventful. Christmas Day was the day that we were going to get our internet in our apartment! Excitement was high in the air that morning, as my roommates and I woke up and eagerly anticipated the phone call from the internet technician telling us he was on his way. They had given us a timeframe between 10am and 1pm. At 10am, we all gathered eagerly in the living room and awaited his arrival. Two and a half hours later, we get a phone call. It was the internet technician, telling us in broken English how he was running a bit late and should be there sometime before 3pm. Although quite disappointed as we were all eager to skype our families for Christmas, we waited. And waited. Finally he arrived! In no time at all, he set up our modem for us. Complete with one internet cord. We asked what about the wifi that we had thought we ordered. Apparently that is something completely separate. In fact, our internet cord wouldn't even work until we called this number to turn it on for us.

So I called the number to at least get our internet cord working so perhaps we could take turns skyping with that for a bit. After being on hold for most of the afternoon (and having to run to the convenience store twice to put more minutes on my phone), we got our internet cord working. Now to order the wireless was a completely different matter. I was on the hold even longer and transferred approximately 6 times (not even an exaggeration), since none of the customer service reps spoke English and could understand what I wanted. Finally, we got through, and they made an appointment to come set up wireless in our apartment a little over a week later. So that's how I spent my Christmas.

Academically speaking, we finished our class on the Persian Period archaeology of the area and moved onward to Hellenistic archaeology, which is the last course in our history classes! I was quite eager to start this one, since it's basically what one of my undergraduate BA's is in. It's quite different than the way that I was used to studying archaeology. In undergrad, we usually learned about specific sites and applied the characteristics of that site to the greater history of Greece and Rome. Here it's kind of the opposite, which is interesting and not what I'm used to. Additionally, I'm also used to a great deal of memorization when it comes to my classes, since at Michigan, we would be required to memorize and be able to recognize certain features of sites for our exams and plans and be able to locate it, date it, and explain its importance. Here at TAU, we just write a short paper. Quite different.

On New Year's Eve, some of the boys in my program had a big party at their new apartment. One of our friends is Russian, and he made this thing called plov, which is a meat and rice dish, which was absolutely delicious! We had a pretty great time (not too great though that we wouldn't be able to make it to class the next day though). It's also interesting how New Year's really isn't celebrated here. There was no Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. No ball drop. No obnoxious party favors at stores. Nothing really. New Year's Day in Israel is an optional holiday, but in Tel Aviv apparently some 40% of people take the day off of work.

Apartment-wise, our new furniture FINALLY came in! So we each have our own beds now and closets! It's simply wonderful to not have to rife around in my suitcase for a clothes or to have to share my bed anymore! We also have a washer and dryer now! It's my first time not having to pay for laundry since I lived at home! I'm sure it will be great, but we haven't set it up yet, since it's really heavy and wrapped in a box. I'm pretty confident that we'll be able to figure it out though.

Other news - my cousin Anna is in Jerusalem for the next 2 weeks or so for a class trip! Tonight hopefully I'm grabbing a sherut from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to see her and exchange belated Christmas presents. It's so strange the way that members of my family keep finding their way over here. About two years ago, my cousin Adam was here for a few weeks in January, then I came the following summer for two months to dig, then I moved here this year, and now Anna is visiting. So wonderful! Also one of my best friends from home Breanna and her mom will be coming for a week at the end of February! I'm really excited for their visit, simply so that I can show them Israel.

Israel is one of those countries that I feel that most people don't care to visit. What with terror attacks and it's proximity to "dangerous" countries in the Middle East, I feel like very few people come here unless they are Jewish. That's why I'm so excited to show my guests otherwise and to demonstrate that this really is a lovely country with such a rich history! I'm also excited for the opportunity to show them some of the historical sites and be able to explain a bit about some of my biblical historical passions!

Some of the things I love about my life in Israel right now are the really close friendships that I've developed with the other students in my program! We actually are like a big family and care very deeply for one another. I love the random moments when we realize that we communicate over facebook much more so than regular friends (due to us all not wanting to waste minutes on our pay-as-you-go phones). I love how when one of us is sick and misses class how the the rest the class is so willing to share their notes and to help catch them up. I love how after class some days, we all run to the mall to grab a falafel. Or the way we talk about archaeology kind of all the time.

I am in love with the location of my paper. It's so great being able to shop at the Shuk for all my produce. Lately I've been craving fresh fruit, and the shuk is right there! Right now my roommates and I are on a huge melon kick. So delicious! There is also a bakery, and I'm in love with their fresh bread loaves! We only tried it out this week because we needed some bread, and we got this kind that has tons of seeds in the crust, and it's so good! I like eating it with peanut butter. Another one of our favorite treats right now are these small baked cookies that have different fillings in them such as strawberry or fig or chocolate. Also very delicious.I love being able to see the Sea from my bedroom window. I love watching the sunset over the Mediterranean. I love watching the waves. It kind of reminds me of home, since I pretty much grew up on the beach of Lake Michigan and spent all my summers there.

I love waking up to this in the morning!

It was quite window on this morning; there are lots of people surfing!

I also love the long bus ride to school. Rather than simply rolling out of bed and staggering across the street to campus, we have to wake up early and make it to the bus stop by 9am, so that we can catch the bus. We're the first stop, so we luckily always get a seat. I like listening to my iPod and just looking out the window the whole 45-60-minute journey to school on the bus. It's still hard for me to wrap around my mind that this is my city now. It feels like I've lived in Tel Aviv forever (and it has been 3 months now), but then I remind myself that I have at least 7 months left here! Hopefully my Hebrew gets a little better during that time.

I also am growing to love the Middle Eastern fashion. In Tel Aviv, women wear lots of leggings or jeggings and boots and scarves. This is really perfect for me, since I actually hate wearing real pants, so getting away with wearing leggings everyday and dressing it up slightly with a scarf is simply fantastic. Unfortunately, this had developed into a slight scarf addiction, and now I've accumulated quite a lot. Also I've finally purchased harem pants!!! So stereotypical Middle Eastern, and I love them. Most comfortable pair of pants ever.

Okay, obviously this isn't me, but I do feel a lot like Princess Jasmine in them (sans the belly shirt, of course).

And lastly, I know I've raved about this before, but I absolutely love my coursework. In undergrad I also loved what I was studying...most of the time. I would go to class mostly prepared (unless it was a language class, then fear of appearing unprepared would cause me to over-prepare), here it's so easy for me to complete the required readings, usually the optional readings, and every time a professor mentions a book or an article if we'd like further information, I always jot it down. Additionally, since I hope to one day also be a professor and plan to teach later as a graduate student, I sometimes find myself subconsciously planning lessons and tagging articles for my future students to read someday! It's really been a great confirmation of my passions, and this is what I want to do in the future! At Michigan, I was incredibly lucky to have such great professors and mentors who helped guide me at Michigan and guide me to here. I've also been so lucky to expand that network of mentors to include many professors here who are also deeply interested and invested into my future in academia and in their field!

I know I keep promising to take pictures of my apartment and post them, but I still haven't done that, and our apartment is actually kind of messy right now, so hopefully we'll have cleaned by my next update, and I'll have pictures.

Hopefully my next update will come soon, but I can't make any promises since we have a few papers due as the semester winds down. I also have a gameboy emulator on my computer now, so my nights have been filled with lots of Pokemon playing. Grad school....