July 23 - 05

Hi Everybody!
I always laugh when I write "hi everybody."
Okay, what to say, now that I have had my sleep? I went for a walk last evening, not leaving the Lutheran Hospital compound. Sri was off at someone's house and I was able to stretch out and have some time alone. I watched the BBC for a bit, too, before crashing hard at 20:30. I didn't have a clock in my room and woke up when it was very dark. I laid in bed for what seemed close to an hour and a half trying to get back to sleep; it finally came and I slept until 8:00.
After breakfast, we walked across the street to Sri's office. Sri is the Jerusalem Representative for MCC, and also my primary authority-type, go-to-guy for MCC related things. His office overlooks the Golden-roofed Dome of the Rock. I have seen it in pictures, but now can say I've laid my eyes upon it.
We took a bus and a sheroot (hebrew, for shared taxi - basically a van that waits until it fills with people before going) to get to Tel Aviv. Today is Sabbath, so the streets were very literally empty. The ride to Tel Aviv took no more than 40 minutes.
We walked from the Central Bus Station to Zochrot's office, but were an hour and a half early to meet some of the staff, so Sri and I shared a bottle of Guava drink in an open store with a patio. It was hot in Tel Aviv, probably thirty degrees, or so.
At 13:00 we met three members of Zochrot and toured the office. Then we all went for lunch. I had a veggie quiche and a salad. I noticed the director of Zochrot had a ham sandwich. I found that interesting! Talk about blowing stereotypes, eh?
The folks at Zochrot are so warm and kind and seem really pleased to have me here. They have a very relaxed manner and are wanting me to get settled in to life in Tel Aviv before worrying about too much with Zochrot. We talked about the gradual inclusion of me and how we'd work it all out. I am so excited and feel no more pressure. I made myself rather paranoid that they'd want me to be an expert in Internet building and fundraising, etc. That paranoia was completely unfounded and I was very encouraged by them. They will teach me what tasks they have in mind for me and I am glad to learn!
Then we went and visited my apartment! Oh, Man, I can hardly believe how wonderful it is. Even Geoff, my fresh-air junkie brother, would be deeply satisfied. There are huge windows that open right up: two in the living room and one in the bedroom. There is a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a bedroom. There is also free roof access, which Talia (Zochrot) says is beautiful at night because of all the lights in Tel Aviv. I was so encouraged and excited to start life there. I will be in Bethlehem tomorrow (Sunday) until Monday evening and will get more orientation by Sri, here in Jerusalem, Tuesday and Wednesday. I will go and move into my place on Thursday. Sri has been really friendly, encouraging and helpful. He will even go with me to grocery shop on Thursday and probably help haul my bags up the six flights of stairs to my apartment. I am on the final floor before the roof and have view, since on the side of the windows, there is no other building right beside! I am so grateful to Sri and Talia, who found me the place. They said they looked a lot and there were a lot of total dives. This one is close to the grocery store, close to a laundrymat and close to the "cinemateque"; in fact, this is the name of this particular area of the city. I have a home phone already hooked up and will give out that number when I get it. I'll check into it, it might be cheaper for me to buy phone cards to call home. We'll see.
We retraced our sheroot and bus steps back to Sri's neighbourhood, buying some fresh figs on the way. They are in season right now.
Have a great weekend; I'll write again, soon.
Love Darren