E. T. Phone Home

Okay, this is probably going to sound weird to a lot of people, but if you know me then you should be used to my strange analogies by now. I realized the other day that I'm like E. T. Aside from the obvious difference (he got stuck on Earth by accident, while I came to Israel by choice), our experiences are pretty similar (although I don't plan to almost die before I go home, so no worries). When E. T. first found himself stranded on Earth, everything was strange to him. He didn't know what to do or where to go. But as time went on he found a place for himself, he grew to be really close to Elliott, and he had fun trying new things. The whole time, though, he knew that he had to get home.

I realized how similar that experience is to mine here when the phrase "E. T. phone home" randomly popped into my head the other day, as phrases often do. At first I was kind of miserable here, but I've since recognized that it's possible to be in a new place and to be slightly uncomfortable with all the unfamiliar things, as long as you try to find new and exciting and interesting things everywhere. So I'm doing my best to enjoy each day and just to have a good experience, while at the same time missing home more than I would have thought possible. Little things make me sad, like listening to a song I heard a lot as a kid or thinking about all the little mundane things I do at home, like waking up in my own bed and picking berries in the back yard. I even got really sad a couple days after I got here because I noticed that a Target bag I brought with me was returnable at participating stores, and I realized that all of the participating stores were miles and miles away from me (I guess it's maybe a little pathetic to be sad to be far from any Targets, but what can you do). I've been thinking lately that this whole thing would have been easier if I went to college far from home, because then maybe I would have already gotten over the extreme homesickness aspect of it all.

But I'll be home sooner than I originally planned, since I've finally decided just to stay here in Haifa for one session of Ulpan (three more weeks -- actually more like 18 days by now, it's crazy how time has gone by already), and then to come home sometime around August 9 or 10. Staying here for two sessions would give me practically no time at all between school here and Smith, and I've realized that the last thing I want is to have to rush from place to place and never get a chance to rest. It's still pretty overwhelming for me to be here, and aside from the fact that it will just be nice to have some more downtime at home, I think maybe this whole experience might be able to mean more to me if I have a few weeks to process it before I rush back to hectic college life. So the decision is made, although I still need to withdraw from session two and change my flight.

Anyway, I had a nice weekend in Mevasseret. I proved that I can transport myself around a foreign country by managing to get from Haifa to Tel Aviv and back again on the train. I met Avigail, who is adorable and fresh back from her trip to become an American citizen. And yesterday Michal and I went to walk around Ein Karem, which is a really old city/town near Jerusalem where I guess John the Baptist was supposedly born, although admittedly I don't know who he is. I didn't bring my camera but I really should have, because after we escaped from the parking garage (we accidentally took the wrong stairs and ended up locked out of the garage, so we had to climb a fence to get out) we just walked along these really pretty, winding streets lined with gorgeous stone houses and gardens, and neat looking churches. And pretty much everywhere around that area you can see views out into the hills, which are so rocky and full of strange trees and way different than anything I'm used to. It's pretty cool to see.

Being here has made me think a lot about why someone would choose to pick up and move to another country. Obviously tons of people in Israel are from other places, and a lot of them came not because they had to leave their old homes but because they chose to. Some students in the Ulpan are here because they need to learn Hebrew before moving here. I actually met a medical student from Germany who told me that she wants to come and work here because every time she comes here she feels like she's coming home, and she doesn't feel that in Germany. If anything, being here has made me realize how connected I feel not just to Northampton, but to the US in general. I know that no matter where I go in the US, it will still feel like home even though it will be different from where I live. I can't imagine deciding to leave and go somewhere else. It's good to explore other places, and I'm glad I came out here because I'm realizing how little I really knew about other parts of the world. But in the end, I'll be really glad to go home.