Welcome to the Holy Land

I arrived in Israel just over one week ago, and not much has changed since I left in 2008. I spent twelve miserable hours on an El Al flight from JFK sitting next to a Russian couple who, even by the most liberal mindset, was crazy. The woman apparently took one too many sleeping pills that had an adverse affect on her. She was a mess. Not the hot kind. Popping out of her already too small top and too tight low rider jeans, she spent the majority of the flight winning and finding new ways to use the side of the plane next to her window seat to prop her legs up.

After finally landing, de-planing, getting my luggage, and going through customs, I forewent my usual train and bus trek and instead opted for a cab. Thirty minutes later I was throwing my bags on the floor of my fourth floor walkup apartment. Despite being drained of all life and going through serious caffeine withdrawal, I made my way to the supermarket and pharmacy to pick up some necessities before unpacking and unwinding.

I am finally adjusted to the time zone and more-or-less settled in. I am still sans coffee pot, but at least I finally having a working cell phone and a mountain bike with an awesome bell and basket!

Tomorrow will be spent at the Foreign Office in Jerusalem and touring around the Old City, and Tuesday begins another fun week of classes and studying. Two-hundred pages of reading per class, with six classes in one semester, makes for an interesting amount of sleep and downtime...