on deportation, maturation, and one woman's quest for a decent burrito

hello hello

 

here is the update from haifa...

 

real classes still havent started, ive been auditing overseas classes for the last 2 weeks. me auditing classes, especially when the classrooms are wireless, is a huge joke. when classes are 3 hours long, and i have the attention span of a goldfish (which, thanks to snapple fun facts, i learned is 6 seconds), lets just say not much learning gets done... but lots of gmail chatting and internet (un)productivity. oh well.

 

classes start for real on sunday/monday. it is exciting slash terrifying. at this juncture, i am still not exactly sure what my schedule will be, as the arabic class i want is at the same time as my one and only overseas class...and the backup time for arabic is at the same time as another class i need... i have a meeting at 2 with the matronly coordinator of the overseas program, whom i LOVE, and hopefully she will help me sort this out. though it is a little nerve wracking, and utterly ridiculous, that it is now october 26th and i dont know what my schedule is for fall 2006. ha.

 

moreover, i have to register for spring 2007 back at gw next week, which is crazy. but i guess helping me keep things in perspective... i have no concept of time (aka i'll reference something as "a few days ago" and later be reminded that that event actually took place in march...of 2004...oops), but keeping in touch with friends, faculty, and responsibilities back at gw is allowing me to retain perspective that i will be home in less than three months.  which is good, because i miss important things like the aforementioned friends, my family, mexican food, cvs, mexican food, starbucks, dc, cosi, mexican food, tater tots, etc. im doing my best to make the most of my time here, and im really excited to actually start classes and make more israeli friends outside the confines of my suitemates (who are GREAT), and the gay 'raelis that are dating all of my friends.

 

other exciting/terrifying news: looking into potential thesis research topics, most of which are getting dutifully shot down by my advisor/obsession, yaron. i also decided recently that i don't at all hate amy o, the girl from my ulpan who is also into arabic-hebrewy stuff and is a dancer, in fact, i love her. and her boyfriend. they are great. usually people whose voicemails say "hello! thank you so VERY much for calling, i hope youre having a WONDERFUL day and that all your wishes and desires come true!" are people i want to punch in the face, and she used to be, but ive learned to appreciate her all-consuming love for life, and i find the two of them to be delightful and encouraging. who woulda thought, right? don't tell my hardass friends from ulpan, theyd never let me live it down.

 

the current piece of exciting news is that im going to jerusalem this afternoon to have dinner with emily and her parents (who i havent seen in over a year! and i LOVE! and are cardinals fans to rival my fairweather love for the tigers), and then coffee/dessert/SHABBAT with HIRSH!!! the rabbi from avi chai, the fellowship i did last year!  i am SO excited to see him and spend shabbat with him and some of the other israeli avi chai staff who i spent time with while i was living in jerusalem. lots of free food with lots of people i love!  saturday may involve a last-ditch attempt to get tan again before classes start by spending saturday (and maybe sunday, unless i have class) in tel aviv, at the beach w/ austen (and maybe nils, though the two of them together is not really a combination that flies so well, and has been the source of a fair amount of homodrama), and HOPEFULLY finding MEXICAN FOOD, as, according to my extensive internet search, there are apparently at least 2 mexican restaurants in tel aviv.  cross your fingers for me...

 

the final piece of news is that because i was sick on my break and was unable to leave the country, i realized this mornign that my visa expires on november 4th...which means i need to eitehr get my ass to the consulate (project for tel aviv??) or, the option i was hoping to do, get my ass out of the country for a brief trip next weekend (ha!) so i can renew my 3-month tourist visa. the best part is that i dont actually have any of this stamped on my passport, an dim not entirely sure israel has any way of tracking me down, but im nto sure i want to mess around with the israeli government when it comes to matters like this... so if you talk to me this week or next, please remind me to get that taken care of so i dont get deported/excommunicated/incarcerated/beaten up by gruff soldiers/yelled at by purple-haired women.

 

ok. time to go eat my 29393rd icecream bar of the week, and pack for jerusalem before my meeting to (hopefullyyyy) figure out classes once and for all.

 

peace out friends

-am