Coming back from doing laundry last night, Dustin and I ran into one of our teachers, Hava, as she was coming back from errands. I had no idea that Hava actually lived in a house just a block away from our dorms. She was nice enough to invite Dustin and I inside and offer us fruit and water. We spent the better part of two hours discussing our experience, the class, Hava's family, and Israel. It was fantastic and felt like a great way to wind down the seven weeks of the Ulpan.
After seven weeks in Israel, it feels as if I've already spent a lifetime over here. This is not a negative response but rather a positive one. There have been many moments during my time here that I've felt as if I've been here my entire life. It's a strange phenomenon to behold and one that at times has left me feeling uneasy as I attempt to hold on to bits and pieces of home.
Needless to say, I've gotten a few questions about the other folks in the program and their thoughts on things. I'm not the only one here with a blog. There are several others who have been keeping a journal of their time in Israel. Dustin has been keeping one over at dustincarmack.blogspot.com and has plenty of corn-fed, redneck, inbred insights on things.
In fact, I want to provide an all-too brief rundown of the friends and folks I interact with on a daily basis:
Ignoring my slightly homosexual posture in this photo and Dustin's somewhat freakish pedophile-smile he has going on, this is Delta Charlie. He slays deer, eats meat, played college football for Truman State, votes Republican, and worked for the Heritage Foundation. He's also a favorite practice dummy for Splinter during Krav Maga sessions.
Ignore the Harry Potter scar on his forehead. He came like that.
Chris during Dominique's "surprise birthday party." He's working with Save A Child's Heart, going to medical school, and hails from the beaches of San Diego. Few people have the ability to interject a cutting one liner like Chris. He is also an extremely deep thinker and can insert religious, political, and social philosophy into a conversation smoother than anyone else I've ever met.
He's also the only person I know to have slept on the roof of a five story dorm for two weeks straight. In fact, he's the only person I know capable of actually pulling it off.
He's insane ( <-- Ron Paul fan).
We approve.
Ryan, one of my three roommates, is the glue that keeps us all together. The kid is as solid a person as one will ever find. He is a deep-thinking Christian originally from Iowa, but most recently from Seattle. I'm extremely fortunate to have Ryan around.
He's in the MAMEH program with Dustin and I. And there have been more than a few times where he has been the only person around to keep me grounded and focused.
He's a machine. Pure and simple.
Stefan is quite possibly the only living Frenchman alive who wouldn't immediately surrender in a fight. Then again, he is half-Irish so that probably explains it. Always smiling and up for a good time, Stefan is around for one year and is working on getting into law school. He wants to be an international lawyer.
And like me, he also wants to be Jack Bauer.
He's also a better dresser than Cody which is flat-out impressive.
The only socialist I will ever call my friend is Dominique Talbot aka The Dominator aka The Quebec Cowboy. He's a phenomenal roommate and cook (alongside Ryan). I was utterly shocked to find that I would be living with a French-Canadian. It has turned out to be one of the best things to happen over here.
Dom has a great sense of humor and an impeccable drive to succeed. He's also very competitive which makes things pretty entertaining. I've pointed out that his competitive nature exhibits a capitalist streak in him. He gets a good laugh out of that.
Dom is also in the Master's program and wants to be a journalist.
There are many others here. And I will eventually introduce them as time goes by. However, night is falling and I've got to start preparing for Thursday's exam.
Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, begins this Friday. I plan to post about it before I leave for the Golan Heights next week. After this weekend, posts will be infrequent. We're planning on hiking and camping through the Golan and spending time diving down in the Sinai for most of the month-long break.
We're going to need it.
The hard part hasn't even begun.
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