Christian girl, living in Jewish country, working in Arab school

Yesterday I got really discouraged, because when the regional inspector of English for the Ministry of Education came to speak to our group, we had to do introductions again. It may sound ridiculous, but every time we have to do these introductions I end up feeling worse and worse about myself. Let me say first of all that I am completely okay in myself, my undergraduate degree, and the experiences in life that I have had thus far. They just seem so irrelevant to the issue at hand. As Tiffany and I were walking back to our dorms I was trying to explain this to her and I started to cry. I had yet to have my one-on-one time with Zvi or Marion yet, and so I said that when we did talk I was going to ask them why they accepted me into the program. Again, this was not to be rude, improper, etc. It's just that if there were so many applicants, what in the world made them pick me? (Don't read into that statement - I'm talking about the lack of relevant experience and talent I bring to the table as far as teaching English as a second language goes.) Anyway, last night I finally got to talk to Bethany, and she was a wonderful encouragement (as always) and had a fabulous time with God where I realized (again) that He did bring me here, and it's way too early to begin to speculate as to why specifically, and that I just need to hold tight for a bit.



All of that was said to say this: I got to our room a bit early this morning, and Marion came over and sat down to talk with me. She asked me about which age group I thought I would prefer, and I told her that after thinking about the issue more yesterday, I decided that I'd be okay anywhere, just wherever they wanted to put me. I said that I had skills that would be helpful in different age groups to various extents, so I would just trust her judgment. She said that she and Zvi had been discussing the possibility of sending me to the Arab school in Jaffo - which is COMPLETELY amazing, because last week I told Mary and a few other people that my heart went out to the students of that school, and my first thought was that, if at all possible, that I'd like to go there. Marion was wonderful though, saying that she would understand if I wanted to have a more "Jewish experience" and that working in an Arab school might help in that regard. Anyway, I was so excited, thrilled, and completely in awe of God's sovereign providence that I could barely speak (and you all know how rare THAT is!). Then she said, "We think you would do well there because you have so much personality. That's why we brought you into the program - it came through to us clearly through your application and the interview that you had a lot of personality. And you're very warm, and you need both of those to make it at this school." So...without me even asking her, she answered the question I had decided the day before that I wanted to ask her. Amazing, huh?



So nothing is completely settled, there are kinks to work out and finalizations of plans to be made, but it looks as of right now that I'll be going to the Arab school. If I do end up there, it will make transportation quite challenging. Jaffo is actually not Tel Aviv, but it is at the same time - but regardless, it's at the very south of the municipality. Tel Aviv University is at the very north of the city. And Ulpan (Hebrew class) is in Central Tel Aviv. I'm going to look for an apartment sort of near Mary, because she lives in Central and I'd like to live near her anyway, and that should make it about an equal distance from school to University. We'll see.



Anyway, I'm going to go now. I'm very hungry and need to play with Daive some before I go back to the dorms. Love you all!