Kfar Veradim

It has to be said that coming back to Israel after 9 years away felt a great deal like coming home to me, especially when I had people like Moti and Nurit (very good family friends) waiting for me here. I feel more at home here than in almost any other country I've visited since I left. Maybe it's the amazing people who are here and who I've met, maybe it's hearing hebrew and getting to practice that again, or maybe it's something as simple as finally getting real (and I mean REAL) hummus again. Even sitting in a 4 hour lecture in hebrew about wine presses of all things was a great experience; apparently the grape juice that was made by people stepping on grapes may have sat in the place where they were stepped on for a good three days before it flowed into other containers to finish the fermentation process...who knew?! I got to see Aharoni again which was fantastic also, and we talked for a good while about Africa. There's so much more I get to experience here now that I'm here as an adult not with my parents (no offense). I think Moti was right when in the ride to Kfar Veradim from the airport he told me "This will be great for you...you've SEEN Israel but now you really get to LIVE it." If what I had when I was younger was only seeing Israel, I can't even imagine what living it is going to be like.



I don't move in to Haifa until Sunday, at which point in time I'll not only get my schedule so I can find out what exactly I'm going to be DOING for the next four months, but also where I'm living, and what I'm taking. Hopefully, I'll be able to take Menachem's History of Jewish Thought class...must remember to ask him about it on Sunday. I saw the campus from about halfway down the hill that Haifa's built on and it looks amazing (see right). Tomorrow is a day touring Nazareth, Yodefat (EEEE!!!), Kfar Kana, Chebed Beza (a place Moti excavated last summer) and Akko with Moti and friends. Many many more details and photos to follow!

Tzetchem l'Shalom!