My extremely long day continues (ok it was really multiple days but from 9/11-9/13 I had barely slept and it felt like one extremely long, tiring day)...
At baggage claim, I met up with Carolyn, her friend Sam who is the WUJS program in Tel Aviv, and a whole bunch of other WUJS Tel Aviv participants. At the currency exchange, Ethan, joined us after realizing we're all probably on the same program. Carolyn, Ethan, and I decided to venture to Jerusalem together on the Sherut (shared taxi/van service). We waited quite some time until they assigned us to a sherut. There were tons of Chassidim taking over all of the Sheruts who had apparently just returned from their annual Rosh Hashana pilgrimage to the Ukraine to visit the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.
We finally got on a sherut and as it turns out, we were the very last stop. It seemed to us that the driver went all over the city to make the stops in a very haphazard order, but what did we know? The driver did not like us because we had so much luggage and he even charged us extra for it. Had we arrived at the airport about 30 minutes later than we did, we might not have even received our luggage. During the ride, we heard on the radio (well someone translated for us) that a strike had just begun at the airport. Anyone who was arriving would not get their baggage. PHEW! We had just missed it, but people in our program who were arriving later were probably going to have some problems! Despite being extremely exhausted and really wanting get to our new home, we passed the time by getting to know each other. "Where are you from? "Where'd you go to school?" "How many times have you been to Israel?" Why did you choose to come on this program?" If the rest of our fellow WUJS participants turned out to be as awesome as Carolyn and Ethan, then I knew we'd have a great group.
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| Our Neighborhood Sign |
Once we arrived at Tsipora 5, I met Yonit, our program counselor and internship coordinator with whom I had exchanged many phone calls and emails prior to arriving. She told me to go to Apt 6 where I met Dafna and found out I could have my own room as one of the single rooms had not yet been claimed! In case you didn't know, the one thing I was not particularly looking forward to was that according to the program website, I would be sharing a room with someone. For someone who only shared an actual room for one year of my life (besides temporary situations like camp and previous Israel visits), this was going to be an adjustment. While walking around, I noticed the names listed on the door and discovered that I was in the wrong apartment. It said Rachel G, not Rachelle B. So I went back down to Yonit to find out what my correct apartment was. Yonit had mistakenly thought I was Rachel G because she thought I pronounced my name Rochelle (thanks mom). So down to Apt 3 I went. Luckily I wasn't the one who had initially brought up my luggage all those stairs. It turns out I was going to be sharing an apartment with Carolyn who had claimed the last remaining single room. I had to claim the huge double room and re-adjust to having thought I was getting a single room.
I met some other people: Denise (we go waayyy back to a blossoming facebook friendship from a week before), Avi, PJ, & Isaac. The four of them and the 3 of us who had just arrived (Carolyn, Ethan, & I) decided to take a walk around our neighborhood to find a place to eat lunch. We stumbled upon Ba-cafe (a cute name because our neighborhood is called Bak'a). Luckily they had a menu in English (as do most places) but Denise and PJ knew a good amount of Hebrew to help us get by. The food was delicious; I think we'll definitely come here often.
We returned to the apartment and I met another apartment-mate, Nicole, who had been napping when we first arrived. Soon after, our 4th apartment-mate Olivia arrived. Though our shared room was pretty huge we weren't thrilled with the fact that we got stuck with the double room instead of a single. We then found out that we could re-arrange the apartment so the common room (with couches) could become a single room and the double room could become a single room/common space. Olivia agreed to keep the big room and to share it with us periodically and we all agreed to respect her space as well. Then the ladies of Apt 3 became movers and moved all the furniture around! I attempted to get settled a bit, but unfortunately I had to sacrifice having a closet/dresser as the closet in the big double room was meant for 2 people. So I was gonna be living out of my suitcases until I could find some plastic drawers or something.
Anyway that night the entire group met up with each other. We met Nir who is our program coordinator, went over some logistics, and of course did some icebreakers to get to know each other. They even gave us pizza for dinner! I bonded with Suri who is also a social worker. Neither of our internships were finalized due to the difficulty in getting social service agencies that are willing to have us intern for only 4 months (not good for the clients to form a relationship with a social worker who then leaves them in a few months), so we were both in the same place. I will update you all more about the internship situation in future postings. We had some time to meet just as an apartment and discuss how each of us are as roommates and our expectations for each other. Olivia, Carolyn, and Nicole are GREAT! We really have a lot in common and seem to be a good match for living together. The night ended with us getting our Israel phones.
And that, my friends, was my first day in Israel. The next posts will try to summarize what has been going on since then. Thanks for reading! I look forward to your comments!
This post (and the following one) will be dedicated to giving you a glimpse of my first day in Israel. First I need to back up to the weeks leading up to my departure...
Some highlights of the insanity, or as we say in Israel- BALAGAN (chaos), included packing all of my belongings in the basement of my apartment in Brooklyn (thanks to roommies Juliana and Miriam for allowing me to use the basement as a storage facility) only to discover that the box spring for my bed would not fit down the stairs. The new roommate agreed to use my box spring while I was gone to save me the trouble of having to sell it or store it elsewhere, but when I was away in Florida visiting my brother, she called to say she wasn't going to use it anymore. It was frustrating at first but I worked it out via phone. Shout-out to Sharon for buying it off of me. It was a pleasure doing business with you!
The whole process of packing up my life and putting it in a basement while also taking back my ENTIRE wardrobe to NJ was much more difficult than I thought it could be. I somehow thought I would be able to carry all of my clothing and miscellaneous crap in 2 suitcases and take the subway and train back to NJ. WRONG! The day before I intended to move out, I realized this was not going to be possible because I had way more than 2 suitcases. Unfortunately, car services were waayy too expensive for someone who just quit her job and will be regularly spending money but receiving no income for the next 6 months. On the day I intended to move out, I called both of my parents and cried to them "I don't know what to do!" Luckily, my dad offered to "rescue" me, drove out to Brooklyn, and brought me (and my stuff) back to NJ. This was after he already came out to Brooklyn to visit for a day like 10 days before. Thanks Dad!
Another crisis (one of my recent Hebrew vocabulary words: mashber משבר) occurred a day after I moved myself and my clothing back to NJ. I suddenly realized I did not have my passport with me. Yes, I was traveling to Israel in 9 days and was going to be in Florida for 5 of those 9. I frantically called my roommates, one of which went down to the basement and found the passport (I knew exactly which container to check). Thanks Juliana! I went back to Brooklyn the next day en route to the Newark airport for my Florida vacation. Juliana had offered to overnight the passport to me, but I did not want to risk relying on the US postal service.
So now fast forward to Saturday September 11th. I had barely unpacked my suitcases from my Brooklyn to NJ move, and definitely hadn't begun narrowing down my wardrobe to re-pack for Israel. "Why not?" you ask? Because I absolutely hate packing and love procrastinating. Despite my mother's warning, "You'd better not come crying to me when you haven't packed and it's time to leave and then you miss your plane," I still waited till the very last minute to get my act together. I will put the blame on the fact I was busy with services and dinners on Rosh Hashana as well as the fact that my entire winter wardrobe was at my friend Fallon's house who had been kind enough to schlep my clothes home for me last time she visited me in Brooklyn. I got it back in time to pack, though. Thanks, Fallon!
So that morning, my mom and I went to Shabbat services. My Rabbi said a special prayer for me, specifically for one who is performing the mitzvah (good deed) of traveling to Israel. I also had the honor of chanting the haftorah (the book of prophets). After schmoozing and receiving everyone's well wishes, we finally went home so I could pack. The process wasn't too stressful, but as expected, I was up super late and got up super early to tie up loose ends.
I tried to sleep on the drive to the airport, but I was too excited, nervous, and worried about potential extra charges for my heavy luggage. At the airport, I waited in line for check-in while my mom parked the car. Awkwardly lugging my 2 suitcases through the line, I couldn't quite manage it all. My larger suitcase tipped over and took me down with it. A little embarrassed, I picked myself right up, laughed a bit, and acted as if nothing had happened. Then my fears about overweight luggage were confirmed. I think one weighed 54 and one was 57. I did some maneuvering which included relinquishing some items and giving them to my mom to take home. I can live without an extra book and another pair of jeans right? Little did I know, some jeans of mine would rip a few days after getting to Israel...oh well, guess I need to go shopping. Now one bag was way under 50 and the other was way over, but I couldn't really fit more in the lighter bag and one was still going to be overweight, so it was fine. Continental is now $50 richer thanks to me.
After a lovely Dunkin Donuts lunch with my mommy, we parted ways so I could go through security and make it to the gate on time. I know this was really hard for her, but I promised her the next 6 months would go by quickly and G-d willing she would be able to come to Israel at the end of my program. I was nervous to go through security because one of my carry-on bags contained about 7 pairs of shoes and probably looked extremely suspicious. Luckily there was no problem, even after the special security check at the actual gate (because El Al usually questions passengers for like 10 minutes as a safety precaution, the other airlines have an extra security check at the gate for flights to Israel). I used my Blackberry for the last time before I would suspend my account to contact Carolyn, a fellow WUJS participant who responded to my email asking if anyone from the program was arriving in Israel around the same time. Turns out Carolyn was on my flight. We met up briefly on the plane and planned to head to Jerusalem together once we arrived. I had an empty seat next to me on the flight, watched a bunch of movies and tv shows, and unfortunately only slept for a few hours on and off. I got off the plane and began the long trek through the airport to passport control and then baggage claim. Outside, I saw the beautiful garden that spells out the hebrew phrase for Welcome Home. I wish I had a good picture of it to share, but my attempts at capturing this sight through the window were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, seeing this, I immediately knew I had made the right decision and that I was right where I was supposed to be.
...to be continued in another post...
Well here it is everyone- the much awaited blog documenting my adventures in Israel over the next (almost) 6 months. I apologize for not starting this sooner but I wanted to get settled a bit, get my bearings, and figure out what I thought would be the best way to keep everyone up-to-date on my life here in Israel. Also, I didn't want to start the blog until I thought of a cute/creative name for it. So let me explain the name of my blog, Rachelle Chaya in Israel רחל חיה בישראל. Most of you know that my name is Rachelle Anna. My Hebrew name is Rachel Chaya רחל חיה which are the Hebrew names of my great grandmothers on my mother's side, Rose (whose name we later found out was actually Rachel) and Anna. I found it fitting to include my Hebrew middle name, Chaya חיה , in the title of my blog because Chaya is also the present tense feminine singular form of the verb lichyot לחיות, to live, be alive, exist. Though this is not the verb we commonly use in Hebrew to describe where one lives or resides (lagoor לגור), I find that the verb lichyot more appropriately describes what it is I will be doing here in Israel. I am not just residing here; I am really living here. This isn't just a brief vacation where I will constantly feel like a tourist; I am here for almost 6 months, living, working/interning, learning and speaking the language, shopping at the grocery stores and malls, using public transportation, and truly immersing myself into Israeli culture and day-to-day life. Or at least that's the plan.
Though most of you already heard my reasons for embarking on this journey, I wanted to briefly explain to all of you why I felt the need to pick up my life in New York, quit my job, move out of my apartment, and come to Israel for 6 months. Israel has always been a special place for me. I was lucky enough to spend 6 weeks here when I was 16 through Young Judaea's Machon in Israel program. Being an active member of Young Judaea, I considered myself a Zionist and always felt connected to Israel both before and after I was able to visit. As I was approaching the college application process, I wanted to take the next step and spend a year in Israel on Young Judaea's Yearcourse program, however my parents would not let me due to safety concerns and probably a bunch of other reasons. Then when I was in college, I wanted to study abroad in Israel. Again, my parents would not let me due to safety concerns. I don't mean for this to be a place where I express how bitter I am that my parents wouldn't let me do those things because the truth is, had I been able to take advantage of either of those opportunities, I may not have had the same experiences that I had since then such as going to Cornell & NYU, meeting the people with whom I've made lasting friendships, studying psychology and social work, living in NYC, or even being in Israel today (you get the picture).
In July 2009, I took advantage of a wonderful opportunity to return to Israel through Livnot U'Lehibanot's Galilee Fellowship. I spent an amazing 2 weeks in Tsfat (a northern city in Israel) doing community service, hiking through beautiful and historically significant land, and reinforcing my connection to both Israel and Judaism. I never dreamed that after waiting 9 years to return to Israel, I'd be able to go a second time in less than a year. In April 2010, I participated in a trip sponsored by the World Zionist Organization- A Journey through Herzl's Footsteps. We followed the footsteps of Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, through various cities in Europe and of course ended in Israel. I had another amazing experience and yearned for more time in the wonderful place we refer to as the Holy Land.
The final push came at the end of this summer when I was reminded of how precious life really is. Not so thrilled with my job and upset over a recent dating situation that ended badly, something happened that put everything into perspective. A family friend passed away unexpectedly. This situation hit me hard for many reasons; it was a tragic situation and it reminded me of the loss of both my aunt and uncle when I was in high school. I realized that each of us has no way of knowing how long we have on this earth nor how long the people in our lives will be around. I decided for myself that I did not want to have any regrets in life, miss out on opportunities, nor remain stuck in situations that made me unhappy. I decided to celebrate the fact that I am alive and make my dream to spend an extended period of time in Israel a reality.
So here I am, Rachelle Chaya in Israel--רחל חיה בישראל--Rachelle LIVING in Israel!
