On completion of my first week of Graduate School...

For those of you who missed the memo, I am back in Israel, this time studying for a Masters degree called Community Leadership & Philanthropy, basically a degree in Non-Profit Management. I have decided to start a new blog but will be going a little out of order in updating you on my experiences over the past 3 weeks here in Israel. Yes, there is a lot that has happened but I believe as I did come here to earn my Graduate degree from Hebrew University, it is important to begin with stories from my first week of classes.

Often when I talk with people about the crazy things that happen in this country I begin by saying, "Only in Israel..." On my last adventure here my friends and I kept a mental list of the unreal experience, stories, words, people and situations we would encounter on a regular basis. I have decided to try and approach my blog from this angle and after my first week of school I think I have been able to take this saying to a new level, "Only at Hebrew University, in the Rothberg International School..." This is what I experienced my first week of classes:

• Hearing the call to prayer up to 3 times during the school day
• Seeing a monk in the hallway
• Classes filled with Muslims, Christians and Jews
• Students from Israel, the US, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, England, Germany, Korea, Australia and the list continues...
• Multiple pregnant women, both religious and not
• 25% of my Hebrew Ulpan class is of Korean decent and
• Unbelievable views from every direction you look including East Jerusalem, the Security Fence, the Dead Sea and Jordan. (The picture is from an outdoor amphitheater on campus which has a view looking East of Jerusalem.) 

Overall the first week went well. In my program there are about 15 other people starting with me. We have most of our classes together. It is a pretty diverse group ranging from people who are 23 to 45+, a lot of people have made aliyah in the past few years. Most of the students are from America but we have 2 South Americans as well. It should be a much different, more intimate experience than I had as an undergraduate. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone else in the program and our professors.