I don't even know where to begin! These past few days have been so crazy. If I learned one thing when I studied in Australia, it was to let go of any expectations that I might have. That has helped me immensely in coping with the culture shock and chaos that has occurred. The flight ride over was long but tolerable. There ended up being eight of us fellows on our connecting flight from Toronto to Canada - so that definitely made it fun. Once we arrived, Eli, Mike, Lera, and I met up with Nicole at the arrivals part of the airport. Lera and Mike got a ride to the hotel, while Eli, Nicole and I took a taxi. Mike's dad was generous enough to get us a room at the Tel Aviv Sheraton for the first night. He is a preferred member so we had access to the lounge with food and drinks. It was a very nice hotel and right on the water - so, of course, the first thing we did was go to the beach! We went out for a drink and walked around at night, which was relaxing. The atmosphere is great at night in Tel Aviv, so we will definitely be going back. We attempted to figure out cell phones the next morning but that was an epic fail since you need an Israeli ID in order to get one. We took a giant bus/taxi made for probably 20 people to Netanya because we had so many bags. Five people with about fifteen to twenty bags total.

Once we got to our apartments in Netanya, we met some of the other fellows while waiting for Eliran. He is our program director and Moran is our Madricha. Nicole and I had requested to live together and Eli and Mike had done the same. We also requested to live next door to each other because we thought it would be fun. However, in doing so, we were placed in the second apartment building. Let me paint you a picture of our living situation. 30 fellows total. 26 fellows in one building. 4 fellows (us) in a building down the street. Our two rooms have had multiple problems thus far. The main problem being bugs - I actually slept on the couch of someone's apartment in the other building because I cannot sleep with bugs. I showered with three of them and that was enough for me! They are supposed to fumigate our apartment today, so hopefully they actually come. Our 'apartment' consists of one room (basically a studio apartment) with two twin size beds, a 'kitchenette (same room as the beds),' and a bathroom. We have one dressed and one table with two plastic chairs. Our 'kitchenette' consists of a fridge and counter stovetop. We do not have a microwave, toaster, or oven. I do not know how I am going to cook with only a stove.

I will say though, I am not nearly as upset about all of this as I would have been before my Australia experience. I came prepared, knowing well that things do not go as planned and other countries have different ways of life. I am staying positive and remembering that this is all an experience, so I'm taking it as just that. It is a little upsetting that we are separated from the rest of the group - although it's only a short walk away. My main concern is that they will go out or make plans and honestly just forget about us. Everyone feels bad for us though so I don't think they will. Also, Moran was saying that it might be nice a few months down the road to have a little more peace and quiet. I tend to agree, since I like my privacy. It will all work out in the end.

Oh, and there are some great things about our apartments though. We are right in the middle of everything. I can walk outside my building and take about 10 steps to the nearest place to get shawarma/falafel. We are about a 10 minute walk to the mall, which we already went to in order to get our phones figured out. Also, we are about a 7-minute walk to the beach, the Mediterranean. It is paradise. We went late last night and it was absolutely beautiful and a really fun night!

Onto today! We went to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials. Let me tell you, buying food when you don't know what you are buying is very difficult. The labels are all in Hebrew, to be expected. They have deals that you can get if you're a member, but we haven't figured that out yet. Everything is expensive and I'm not sure how I am going to get by on 900 shekels a month (about $225). Usually I don't spend that much but I feel like it is inevitable here. Also, their grocery stores are rather tiny with a lot of people! It's chaotic and definitely a process, but it's kind of fun just walking around and seeing the types of foods they have (or whatever I think it might be, since I really have no idea). I intend on finding a shuk (market) nearby to see if the prices are better. All I can say is that buying groceries and cooking is going to be hard with the limited money and limited cooking appliances. I wanted to try to buy a microwave but they are about $75 and that's just too expensive. I will figure it out though, that's for sure! Lots of fruits and veggies.

We are meeting up in about an hour to take a walking tour of Netanya to get to know the area. Our last stop is the beach so we are all just going to stay for the rest of the day and hang out there. So far, so good. We might have a meeting later tonight and orientation tomorrow. Real life begins!