Pure Joy.

This is me and my co-worker-turned-dear-friend, Elizabeth, after a cake fight. At Penn State Hillel's end of the year picnic, Elizabeth and the students surprised me with a little farewell party. I'm completely overwhelmed with all of this love, and completely grateful to have been a part of something that's so hard to say goodbye to...

FAQs

Ever since I made the decision to go to Israel, I've received a lot of questions (which for the most part, I actually love answering). I decided to answer some of them on here:

"What exactly are you doing?"

I'll be studying at an egalitarian yeshiva (a Jewish educational center that focuses on traditional Jewish texts) for 10 months. The school is called Pardes. Basically, I will be studying Torah and other Jewish texts with people from all over the world (mostly North Americans). I will also be exploring my new home of Jerusalem, volunteering, traveling, and eating gallons of hummus.

"Whoa. So that's like, pretty Jewish."

.... Yes, I suppose it is.

"Do you get a degree?"

No. There is an emphasis in Judaism to "study for the sake of studying itself." Also, Torah study is a very different kind of learning that cannot be measured with a degree. So, I will not have a physical piece of recognition, but I anticipate that this year of learning (for the sake of learning itself) will be hugely beneficial, both professionally and (especially) personally.

"What inspired you to do this?"

This is a great question, because most people that know me know I do very practical things. I would say that quitting my job to move halfway around the world to "study" for a year is a bit impractical. I'm going to answer this question in a later blog post... oh, the suspense.

"How is your Hebrew?"

Currently, I can ask people how they are, where they're from, and how old they are. I can also insult people by calling them fat, ugly, and stupid. So, yea, I'd say my Hebrew is probably "strong" to "very strong."

"So what are your plans after the program?"

I don't know. Stop asking me. Haha, but seriously... stop asking me.

And some of my favorite comments (fyi: these are real)...

At the dentist:

Me (the hypochondriac): "I'm going to Israel for a year, so I won't be able to come in for a cleaning. Do you have any tips to keep my teeth healthy while I'm away?"

Dental Hygienist: "Make sure you bring a few tooth brushes and lots of toothpaste."

Me: .... umm.... they have oral hygiene products in Israel. (They also have electricity, believe it or not).

"Be careful. I heard they don't treat their women well."

Hm. I'm pretty sure you're thinking of just about every other country in the middle east except Israel. Next question.

At a dinner party:

A random gentleman at my table: "So you are going to Israel?"

Me: "Yes, I'll be studying at a Jewish studies institute in Jerusalem."

Gentleman: "You know, my granddaughter, she actually communicates with the dead. She spoke with my father recently, and you know what he told her, that he learned in the afterlife? Are you ready for this? Religion... doesn't.... matter."

Thank you, stranger, for your completely unsolicited advice from your late father.

As time goes on, I'll be posting more FAQs and comedic comments.

About this Blog

This is my first foray into blogging.

Ok, ok, I'm lying. I had a "live-journal" in junior high school. I used it to share the really important details of my life, for example: expressing my outrage when they canceled "taco-bar tuesday," describing the *killer* formation of the new marching band routine, or chronicling all of the super-hilarious inside jokes that my friends and I had (you just had to be there). And we can't forget about the entries where I waxed poetic about the boys in my life, cleverly using Good Charlotte song lyrics to tell the cyber-world how I was really feeling.

Much to the chagrin of my 4 loyal live-journal followers, this blog will be a bit different.

I am blessed to have some really exciting things coming up in these next few months. I want to use this blog as a way to share my journey with my family and friends. While I will keep my deepest, darkest secrets for my actual journal, I'd like to paint a real and honest picture for my family and friends of what I am experiencing in the homeland. This will be challenging, as I know I'm writing to a diverse audience (hopefully I won't bore my friends, embarrass my parents, or give too much information to stalkers).

And why start the blog 3 months before I leave? Well, while my trip is the inspiration for starting the blog, I don't want it to be everything. The journey has already started.

Whatever brings you here, please enjoy my blog. I hope to update it as often as possible, with stories, pictures, poems, ideas, quotes, Jew-y anecdotes, rants, raves, recipes, things that inspire me, things that might inspire you, and maybe, just maybe, an occasional Good Charlotte song lyric.