Jet lagged…still

Today was the end of the “week” at Pardes. I had 2 days of real class and one day of orientation. I will write a post about that tomorrow.

I’m still jet-lagged. I wake up at 6ish and when I get home at 5 all I can think about is going to bed. I have to keep myself busy to stay awake. Writing this, at 9 PM, is keeping me awake.I don’t know if it’s jet lag, the heat, or me just having fatigue issues right now, but I’m wiped.

A list of what Israel currently means to me:

dirty feet

heat, but dry so kind of tolerable but not really

that “personality” that is cowing for little midwestern me

meat in one restaurant, dairy in the other

****

I’m fascinated by the amount of religious people I see in the German Colony where I’m living. It so interesting to try to “code” them. I saw a girl with 3 –the typical 3/4 length sleeve shirt under a sleeveless dress, but apparently, her dress was not long enough, so instead of putting a pair of leggings on, she added another skirt. Interesting…It’s just a rich diversity of visual religious expression.

The neighborhood I’m in is funky/trendy. I like that. Architecturally, as I said, it’s all about the Jerusalem stone. But, what I notice, that is so different from Switzerland and the U.S. (my two cultural points of reference) is the “messiness” of the property–for lack of a better word. I know it’s desert, but still…I don’t dislike it, I just think it’s different.