Tears and digestion problems

Okay, I know it's been a long time, and if it were due to laziness on my part I would apologize. But it's not due to laziness. It's due to insanity. My time in Israel has been nothing short of complete insanity. As soon as I got out of the airport...well really, as soon as I got out of the taxi and the hotel for a good twenty-four hour period, things went quite horribly. The hotel I was supposed to stay at lost my reservation so I ended up staying at this creepy hotel in Bat Yam (just outside of Tel Aviv). It was just one thing after another. I had money in traveler's checks, but those are pretty much relics of the past, accepted nearly nowhere. The commission to cash the $400 in traveler's checks was $70. I had to take way too many taxis (though it was the first time I've ever hailed a cab...big event in my life). The hotel I spent the first night at kicked me out as soon as I got out of bed because the night worker failed to tell the day worker about Daive. It is no exaggeration to say that I spent the first 15 hours in the country either crying or sleeping. It was horrible.



BUT...things are beginning to look up. The food has been amazing. I made friends with one of the other interns named Mary who is absolutely incredible. She reminds me of my friend Brianna (who is also amazing). Anyway, her boyfriend is Jewish, and she's been living here because of him since December, so she's been a huge help as far as the inside Israel track goes. Last night I had schnitzel (sp?) and today I had schwarma. The food really is quite amazing, but between the stress, the traveling, and the foreign food, I'm struggling somewhat with my stomach. I went looking at apartments today also with Mary and her boyfriend, and found a few promising leads. I really have just been on this sort of freak out binge though, crying at least two or three times a day, always around poor Mary, and she's been wonderful throughout it all. After the latest freak out session though, I had to call the director of the program to make sure I had a dorm room secured for the next week or two, and he was likewise incredibly helpful. He told me that he had gotten word that my student loan had been approved, so now it was just a matter of when it would come in. And even though I brought with me what I thought would be more than an adequate amount of money, I'm finding that I just basically had no idea what to expect, and therefore was not even remotely adquately prepared.



The point of all this is to say that things are looking up. I think I've cried only three or four times today, and those weren't for extended times.