Day One!

Hi everyone,

So this morning Yoni dropped me off at campus and I got all settled in to my apartment.  There were two girls from Denmark who are leaving next week and 1 Israeli guy who is staying in the apartment and then we will get 3 more roommates, all of which I am thinking are Israeli.  I moved in while the Israeli was gone so I think he might be surprised to find me here because they were not told I was coming today, it should be interesting!

My room is actually really nice and I think that it will work out great, it overlooks a courtyard which is nice.  I already have met TONS of people and we walked around all day together.  Campus is AMAAAAAZING, and the dorms are only about a 10 minute walk away.  On campus there is an amazing area that kind of reminds me of a secret garden with paths that wind around and with all kinds of water streams and plants.

 Here is a flower that I found... 

This was my salad from the first dinner here, its a blurry picture but it was AMAAAZING and super fresh!

Israel has such pretty colored money... 

 This is what I see from my dorm but I am on the 4th floor so I can overlook it better, this was from the ground. 

 From campus this is one view...

This is an amazing area that overlooks Israel and has some very special meaning.  Many famous people were present at the opening of this area including Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein.

On our campus tour my new friends Shiri and Dana and I were joined by a man from Switzerland, a man from France, and a women from Austria.  They aren't staying the semester, only for ulpan (hebrew school) but it was a cool experience talking to them and I will see them around the next 3 weeks.

Security is probably the biggest difference between here and the U of M.  Campus and the Dorm areas are located in different areas and both are built so that you have to go through certain gates to get in.  You must show I.D. to enter both areas and before entering campus you go through a metal detector and they look in your bags.  Also guns are everywhere you go, its a little strange but you get used to it quickly.

Lastly I had the most hilarious moment when I first arrived.  So for those of you who know Israel, you know that there are cats EVERYWHERE!!! There are at least 20 around the dorms, kind of like our squirrels in MN.  Anyways I left my apartment and locked it up and I turn around and there is a cat, which really startled me, but then it proceeded to follow me onto the elevator and ride down with me haha... it was so bizzare.  People leave milk and bread outside of their apartments and the doors to our buildings are always propped open and the cats just wander around. It is so odd...

 

Cats 

Anyways I am going to go have dinner with some friends and then I will probably hang out in the apartment for the night!  Everyone is still so sleepy.