Sorry

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Hey guys sorry it has been so long since I have written. I have been busy and havent gotten around to writing but I had some free time before I go to bed.

So its already November, wow.On one hand its hard to believe Ive been here for so long and on the other hand its hard to believe i have so much time left. I will be flying home at 1am on December 21st and should be in boston at around 2:30 pm.

So, I have been here for roughly 13 weeks. Throughout that time I have gone through a lot of emotions. At the beginning I absolutley adored Israel and loved every minute I was here. Now, the program hasnt been everything we had hoped and the city has lost its glow. Now, for those of you who know me may think I am whining, I assure you I am not. The program is run by Idiots who have ruined this experience for most of the people on the trip. I have non-jewish friends and friends who had not been to Israel who have a horrible view of the country and its people. The administrators have basically taken our money and run. They are never available to talk and when you accidently catch them in the office they are quick to brush you off and not help. They fired the one good worker 2 months into our trip. Somthing that we had to find out via facebook, and they still have not explained what happened. Also, I was promised to be able to live with Israelis. I did, for the first 2 months. As you all know I had an awesome roomate who took me places, helped me assimlate to Israel, and introduced me to other Israelis with whom I spend time with without him. He was assigned to another apartament within the building and we still hang out. Now, I expected to have the apartament to myself for a month until Israelis would come back for the start of their semester. Unfortunatley, me along with 5 or 6 other americans we are living alone. Now dont get me wrong. An apartament to myself is a nice luxury. However, in America I would love this, in a foreign country it is nice to have someone to help you out. Now on to beer sheva. it is a nothing town during the summer. There is nothing. Some people may say, "oh lee there must be somthing." No. There are 5 bars a couple clubs and other than a few falafel places maybe 2 or 3 decent restaurants. After going to each place a thousand and one times they got a little old. This place is litteraly the ghetto of israel. I understand it is one of the most populated cities in israel. However it is populated by ethiopian immigrants and students. When there are no students here the city is like a gohst town. When I traveld around Israels normal cities like haifa, jerusalem, tel aviv, Eilat, Akko, people would ask me what I was doing in beer sheva. Not tourists, Israelis. Recently the administration was scared because 2 people transfered and more people were shortening their year stay to a semester. Therefore they had a meeting to discuss the problems. Where they yelled at us about not communicating well and not having a strong enough presence on campus. Needless to say it was not productive.

OK If you are still reading I am sorry for ranting but i needed to say it and the complaining is over. Not everything is bad here. Ive made a lot of great friends who i will definatley visit and keep in touch with. A lot of Israelis have been really nice and I have a few really good clases. My Terrorism and Guerilla warfare class, Faith and Reason in Jewish Philosophy, and enviormental policy in Israel all have amazing professor and the classes are interesting. It is surprising becuase I was least excited about philiosophy and enviormentalism and they are 2 and 3 on my list of favorite classes.

I know all of you know about the red sox world series. You know I was sad i couldnt watch, so i decided to pay 25 dollars so i could watch the playoffs online. The games usually began around 2:30 and ended around 6:30 so I was pretty tired for a couple weeks. Unfortunatley only 1 person joined me. She is a cleveland fan and I credit her for turning the soc season around because she watched game 5 of the ALCS and that was the beginning of the run.

This isnt about Israel but a few weeks ago a couple friends and I visited the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan!!! I know what you are all thinking. but it was great. I always felt safe. The people were very nice. We only were there for a weekend so we visited the old city of Petra. It was a gorgeous 2 days of "hiking" I rode a camel which was an experience. I am glad I went because there is so much propoganda in western culture about middle eastern countries, but Jordan was amazing and I will definatley go again my life. The most surprising part of the trip was that the Jordanian Dinar is actually stronger than the American dollar. Actually 1.5 times.

I am also excited because I am going to a concert in Tel Aviv with my old roomate on the 22nd. I know you all are going to realize somthing soon so i will give you a second......yes it is thansgiving. However, im in israel and figured I should do what makes me happy and I am very excited for the concert. It is a show by Infected Mushroom. I know the name is weird but its a great Israeli and now international sort of techno/rock band. It will be great.

Finally, Israel, despite its ups and downs, has been a great experience. I really live on my own. Grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and balancing work and fun. Ive met great people, and Ive dont a lot of traveling. I also learned how to make the best of a situation which hasnt been all that I have hoped. I cant wait to see you all!

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