American in Israel: Living Abroad

February 23, 2013

A reflection on a change of mindset. The mind is a powerful thing and can make all the difference. (edited life update I emailed to a friend recently):

After a roller coaster of a winter, I am cruising into spring with my head held high.

Months ago, I arrived in Israel with the mindset to LIVE ISRAEL. Thinking back to Year Course, I arrived this time determined to live my Fulbright year much UNlike Year Course: not with Americans, and definitely not in English. I wanted to live in ISRAEL, with the whole shabang.

I dove in and immersed myself in the culture, the language and the people. For the first few months, my core group of friends were primarily Israelis, I went to Hebrew Class twice a week for 3 hours each, and I tried very hard to let the culture seep into my skin - pushing and honking and talking back, as well as making tea and hosting almost every weekend. At all of this I succeeded - I speak Hebrew well enough now, I love my friends and I know more about Israeli culture than I thought I would ever know. 

But this all came with a cost. For many weeks and even months I had the constant feeling of being an outsider. I constantly struggled with following Hebrew conversations. I had no comfort blanket of Americans to go home to and talk about the nonsense and ballagan that is Israel. I had no shoulder to cry on when dealing with language barriers and no friend who truly understood what it meant to live in a country with no family members, and no one to whom I would say "I love you."

So it got to the point where I knew I needed a safety net. One night, I called up the 2 other American girls at my university and as we walked along the cliff, I immediately felt a calming come over my body. I’ve since learned to be OK with speaking English and being friends with non-Israelis in Israel. I now know that a balance is so necessary, and although I'm proud of myself for the determination I had when I arrived here, I would never ever go to a new country with that mindset again. It's taxing emotionally and physically, and a support system of familiarity is necessary for me. 

Advice to anyone going abroad - it's not cheating to have a little bit of home with you while you are away, and I would even say it's a strategic thing to do :)

Photo Update!

Hello lovely people! I will soon write a new blog post explaining my research lab work and the experiences I've had in the field the past few weeks. But for now, I've elected some picture to tell my dialogue from the past month or so...

I spent my 24th birthday with my mom and our close friends Lisa and Bria in the Old City in Jerusalem.

My mom gifted me The Lorax in Hebrew (Lorax was my camp name at USC Troy Camp)

I decided that just because I turned 24 doesn't mean I can't still wear my onsie pajamas.

I went to Italy with Mom, Lisa, and Bria and we had the times of our lives.
It was one of the most rejuvenating and needed vacations I've ever had. Thanks mom!

Mom and I at the famous Spanish Steps - one of the many famous tourist sites we visited in Rome.

I spend many hours taking water samples and wearing cool things like waders.

I spent more than 15 hours water sampling the day before a final exam (so I studied Hydrology right next to a river, hehe).

I decided that I'm somehow going to run a half marathon in March.

I visited the West Bank many times, mostly research but also for pleasure and curiosity.

At one of my water sampling sites, I hopefully inspired some passerbys to grow up and study waster quality. (after the interaction, I was told by my Palestinian research partner that the boys said they were going to go home and have a party because they met an American)

*On my 24th birthday (January 21, 2013) I decided to choose one photo per day for one year so that when I turn 25 I will have a visual representation of my 24 year old experience, inspiring memories and experiences of the past. Exhibited here are a few selections from those photos thus far in the year.