The first week back hasn't given any of us much room to breathe. Our classes in Arabic and Hebrew hit the ground running from the very first day and have not relented. Over the break, Tyler, Huoshin, and David took an extra Hebrew Ulpan and have moved up a level ahead of the rest of us.
That has left Dustin, Ryan, Dominique, Titus, and myself as the five remaining Master's students left together in our class. It's a solid core group, but the pressure to move up the rungs of the ladder is intensifying.
We were greeted our first day back with Varda, our Hebrew teacher from the previous semester. She liked us so much that she requested to teach level Bet (B) so she could have us again. I've already noticed that I understand nearly everything she says when she speaks in Hebrew and now that we're out of level Aleph (A), everything is in Hebrew. Lucky me, I guess.
Arabic is different. Despite Dr. Hakim being the most profoundly intelligent and interesting professor that I've ever had, he is an unforgiving terror in Arabic. There has been no time to review what we learned over the past four months. For we have to continue moving forward so that we can translate Arabic sources to use for our papers. This means lots of yelling on his part and lots of fear-induced fingernail chewing and hair-pulling on our part.
He handed our tests back this past Wednesday. Titus and myself managed to skirt by with an A. We both made a 90 on the exam, but when Hakim spoke to me after class, he made it abundantly clear that a 90 means 10% of everything I do is wrong, which is entirely unacceptable.
Personally, I find it a bit unreasonable, if not altogether humorous, that perfection is expected of us in the classroom when it's not even expected from God. I'm still trying to work that one out.
Perhaps the most powerful force on all of our minds are our papers.With papers still due from the previous semester, there seems to be a sense of urgency to work hard for the next few months on progressing toward our degrees. This, in essence, means that we technically are taking eight classes at the moment. The work from last semester hasn't gone away. It's merely been piled on.
Some people are handling the stress of the workload in a highly structured and methodical manner (Tyler and Ryan comes to mind). Some are going about it haphazardly, chaotically bouncing from one task to the other, but no less focused on the task at hand (Huoshin). Others seem to be doing their best just to keep their head above water (Dustin and myself).
The glimmer of hope in all of this is threefold as I see it:
1. We've done this once before, so we know what to expect this time around.
2. We're all in the same boat together.
3. Our seminars for this semester are actually pertinent to our lives and to what is happening around the world.
The three seminars that I selected were Iran: Between Islam and the West, Islam and the West: A Clash of Civilizations?, and Economics and Demographics of the Middle East.
And all three of my professors are absolutely outstanding. Dr. Menashri teaches the Iran class and is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on that country. He was also the professor that sat at the table with Dustin and I all those months ago during the Master's luncheon.
Dr. Shavit is teaching the Islam and the West course, which has been a dream come true. In fact, this one class is essentially the entire reason for why I came. It's an International Relations course on steroids. Already, we've read Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington, two of the 20th century's most influential minds on "neoconservatism." It's a class where debate will surely abide. On the list of topics to discuss will be 9/11, Al-Qaeda, Neoconservatism, the Bush Administration, and the Obama Administration.
Jackpot!
And the Economics class is finally a more scientific and analytical study that has immediate bearing on the current shape of the Middle East. The first day of class, Dr. Rivlin started writing production functions. I could have leapt through the roof. Grab a sledgehammer and start knocking down the Ivory Tower, boys and girls! Finally we have a seminar that is practical! And he is a Brit to boot, which shined through in his dry, self-deprecating humor.
All in all, the first week (shavu'a echad) has been a far smoother transition than even I anticipated. It was good to be home, but it's good to be back.
More updates to come soon.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
There And Back
Hello everyone!
After nearly a month long sanity break spent in the States recharging my batteries, I am now back in Tel Aviv for the second semester. I was thrilled to be home and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with everyone, friends and family alike.
The very first few hours after debarking the plane in Atlanta did more to re-energize me from the first six months abroad than any other single event. Breakfast at the OK Cafe with the rents, Mahal, Aunt Jeanie, Miss Vicki, and Stanley Williams was a pure joy and helped transition me back to an American state of mind.
Stanley was a particular delight. Her presence served as a physical reminder of the importance of family, both immediate and distant, past and present. She really helped cement the importance of my grandmother, who passed years before my birth, on the lives of my father, uncle, aunt, cousins, and myself despite the 'Cuz Crew' and myself never having had the opportunity to meet her. And her curiosity and incisive wit reminded me that some traits are simply too genetically ingrained to be dismissed.
Being back with my friends and my girlfriend granted an opportunity to catch up with the people I care about the most and the people that ultimately keep me going. I spent two hours having the most fulfilling conversation I've ever had with my cousin Brad. To my chagrin and utter amusement, I found Cody and Mitch, unperturbed and laid back as ever, literally sitting in the exact positions I had left them some six months previously. Arthur and Andrew maintained their dependable stoicism and snark respectively. Jeff, through his self-deprecation and devastatingly humorous cynicism, reminded me why we had been lifelong friends. James, as usual, kept me firmly on the balls of my feet with well-timed humor and consequence-free quips aimed at anything and everything.
Chandler, Schriver, Katie, Caroline, and Allison reminded me why we had self-dubbed ourselves 'The Family' throughout the duration of the visit. Because we behave like one--an extremely dysfunctional one in need of serious and routine counseling.
And regardless of whatever changes have taken place in all or none of us over the past six months, the fact is that there is nothing in the world I appreciate more than my friends.
And perhaps the most memorable event of the trip was February 6th, when members from both sides of the family were able to come to Mom and Dad's house for a meal and a rare get-together. Evan and Hillary made their way down from Marietta. Squealer came all the way from South Carolina. Brad rolled in from just down the road in Auburn and wasn't even late to boot. Aunt Joy and Uncle David came in from Wetumpka. Aunt Jeanie drove down from Atlanta. Grandmother, Scratchy, and Aunt Dorenda rounded out the gathering alongside Allison, who had spent the previous six months putting up with me from the opposite side of the planet.
Nothing else needs to be said about that Saturday. It was awesome and will go down as one of the best days in recent memory.
The trip home was more than a much needed respite from the academic grind and the intensity of every day life in Israel, it was a sober reminder of why I am over here in the first place. In an unraveling era of uncertainty and one looming crisis after another, the role that the Middle East is playing and will play on the future of America cannot be understated.
I was humbled to find so many people following my exploits and journey over here. It is no small thing to hear and see first hand the level of interest in this region and in this tiny but peculiarly special nation of Israel.
In the coming months, I anticipate many challenges, trials, and days of immeasurable stress, but I also anticipate a greater acuity with regard to the issues in this region, a tightening of the bonds holding our group together, and an incomparable experience that will carry all of us above and beyond our grandest expectations.
The second chapter of the story starts now.
Fried Camel is officially back in session.
After nearly a month long sanity break spent in the States recharging my batteries, I am now back in Tel Aviv for the second semester. I was thrilled to be home and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with everyone, friends and family alike.
The very first few hours after debarking the plane in Atlanta did more to re-energize me from the first six months abroad than any other single event. Breakfast at the OK Cafe with the rents, Mahal, Aunt Jeanie, Miss Vicki, and Stanley Williams was a pure joy and helped transition me back to an American state of mind.
Stanley was a particular delight. Her presence served as a physical reminder of the importance of family, both immediate and distant, past and present. She really helped cement the importance of my grandmother, who passed years before my birth, on the lives of my father, uncle, aunt, cousins, and myself despite the 'Cuz Crew' and myself never having had the opportunity to meet her. And her curiosity and incisive wit reminded me that some traits are simply too genetically ingrained to be dismissed.
Being back with my friends and my girlfriend granted an opportunity to catch up with the people I care about the most and the people that ultimately keep me going. I spent two hours having the most fulfilling conversation I've ever had with my cousin Brad. To my chagrin and utter amusement, I found Cody and Mitch, unperturbed and laid back as ever, literally sitting in the exact positions I had left them some six months previously. Arthur and Andrew maintained their dependable stoicism and snark respectively. Jeff, through his self-deprecation and devastatingly humorous cynicism, reminded me why we had been lifelong friends. James, as usual, kept me firmly on the balls of my feet with well-timed humor and consequence-free quips aimed at anything and everything.
Chandler, Schriver, Katie, Caroline, and Allison reminded me why we had self-dubbed ourselves 'The Family' throughout the duration of the visit. Because we behave like one--an extremely dysfunctional one in need of serious and routine counseling.
And regardless of whatever changes have taken place in all or none of us over the past six months, the fact is that there is nothing in the world I appreciate more than my friends.
And perhaps the most memorable event of the trip was February 6th, when members from both sides of the family were able to come to Mom and Dad's house for a meal and a rare get-together. Evan and Hillary made their way down from Marietta. Squealer came all the way from South Carolina. Brad rolled in from just down the road in Auburn and wasn't even late to boot. Aunt Joy and Uncle David came in from Wetumpka. Aunt Jeanie drove down from Atlanta. Grandmother, Scratchy, and Aunt Dorenda rounded out the gathering alongside Allison, who had spent the previous six months putting up with me from the opposite side of the planet.
Nothing else needs to be said about that Saturday. It was awesome and will go down as one of the best days in recent memory.
The trip home was more than a much needed respite from the academic grind and the intensity of every day life in Israel, it was a sober reminder of why I am over here in the first place. In an unraveling era of uncertainty and one looming crisis after another, the role that the Middle East is playing and will play on the future of America cannot be understated.
I was humbled to find so many people following my exploits and journey over here. It is no small thing to hear and see first hand the level of interest in this region and in this tiny but peculiarly special nation of Israel.
In the coming months, I anticipate many challenges, trials, and days of immeasurable stress, but I also anticipate a greater acuity with regard to the issues in this region, a tightening of the bonds holding our group together, and an incomparable experience that will carry all of us above and beyond our grandest expectations.
The second chapter of the story starts now.
Fried Camel is officially back in session.
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