Meeting Mandy

Once in Israel (again, after no movies but the blue screen and blinking plane) I stood in a long line, the only single person trying to get into the country. The only thing that made the time passable was the presence in the line next to me of the entire Australian Water Polo team. Now I can see why Sarit spent so much time down there.

I caught a sheirut into Jerusalem, and aside from being totally incapable of directing the driver to the apartment (as I'd never seen it) everything was fine. Once there I lugged my 120 pounds of stuff up to apartment four, then back down again, as I was in the wrong building. Once I'd found the right place, I piled up the bags in the corner, and hurriedly tried to establish an internet connection so that I could call home like the dutiful boy that I am. After half an hour I realized my incompetence and gave up, and took a 30 minute nap before my meeting with the landlady.

She arrived at 9:30, and taught me how to shower, turn on the stove, and sweep the floor. I don't know if she thinks that I'm seven or that only Rina knows how to do these things, but my time would have been much better spent napping. Maybe she recognized my frustration, becuase she then sped through a list of vital phone numbers, what they are for, and the time frame for calling them in about 30 seconds, and then left to show me how to kick the gas cylinders to see how much remains. After giving me some general directions to local stores and the bus to Hebrew U, she left. Then I did.

After a long and tedious (the uniform limestone bricks might be novel and pretty, but I found myself missing the craptacular facades of Bathurst) bus-ride to school, I disembarked at what was clearly the wrong stop, and spent the next twenty minutes trying to find an entrance to campus. I then spent the next thirty minutes trying to locate my program's office, which was hard as nobody had ever heard of it (which makes sense, there being only fifteen people in it). I found it, and then came the Meeting with Mandy. Many is the administrator with whom I have been corresponding for the last five months in preparation for the program. Our first face-to-face meeting was, however, somewhat underwhelming. We met, made small talk, discussed the program, and set up health insurance. Wheee! I don't know what I was expecting - maybe some balloon animals or a flaming tiger dancing on chopsticks - but it was just a regular meeting. Maybe in Israel you need to supply your own petting zoo at these things.

After our meeting I spent two hours navigating the bureaucracy of Hebrew U to get my student card and register for Ulpan, then rushed off to get my cellphone (my first ever! I'm finally a teenager!) and set up the apartment before I passed out from sleep deprivation. After doing what I could to make the apartment feel more like a home than a dorm or a cell, I made a quick dinner (thank you to the Chais for the delicious sardines, which really made me feel loved and at home) and passed out. I figured it was probably a good idea to get some sleep before school began the next day. If only my mommy were here to lay out my clothes and take my picture.