Toto, I don't think we're in Arad anymore...

I have officially moved and settled into my third and final trimester of Year Course where I will live in the Baka neighborhood of Jerusalem for the next 3 months.

A quick reflection on my time in Arad:

Many participants couldn't stand what they thought to be the isolation and monotony of living in Arad. I very often also refered to where I lived "middle-of-nowhere-desert", but despite any disparaging comments I may have made about Arad I absolutely loved living there. The way life is lived there is so different than anything I'm used to. Growing up in New York City I'm used to the hustle and bustle on the street. I'm used to walking quickly and purposefully from place to place. I'm not used to recognizing people on the street and stopping to say hello, or crossing the street and having to stop for a car being driven by someone I know. I'm not used to a city without a single traffic light. I'm disoriented when I walk up the biggest street in the city and passing less than half a dozen cars.

I found Arad peaceful. It was very much what you made of it. Arad didn't have the luxuries of the cultural life available in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. And so we had an informal "Girls Night" once a week, hosted at a different apartment each time. We planned Garin Tzedek nights for the entire section. I ran Sports Night with the Sudanese kids and taught English classes two other nights. Some nights we would all go hang out at Muza or Kadim (the two local restaurant/bars). Some nights there were activities planned by the madrichim like paintball or a movie. But more importantly than the ways we found to occupy ourselves was the atmosphere within which we did them. Everything was laid back and relaxed. No one rushed anywhere (which meant that YCers did not show up until at least 20 minutes after the requested time). For some, this manifested itself as laziness, for others it allowed for personal reflection. One of my favorite things was walking a few blocks from my house into the desert and just sitting.

Long story short, I loved living in Arad. But three months was the perfect amount of time. I would never live there permanently and was excited to make the move back to a city.

Now I'm in Jerusalem where they speak more in English than Hebrew, where there are at least 2 cafes and 3 falafel stores on every block and where every American kid coming to study for the year lives. Looking back at this past week since we've moved to Jerusalem I'd say that most of us have probably eaten out more than in our own apartments just because of the sheer novelty of all these possibilities. I'm also feeling this compulsion to go out and experience the city and that sitting in my apartment would be a waste of an evening.

I'm really looking forward to these last three months and love that I'm ending my year here in Jerusalem.