Sooo, good news! I lucked into my own room at one of the dorms literally right across the street from the Ben-Gurion University campus! And wow what a story it was just trying to land it. Also, it has become quite essential that I learn Hebrew...and to do so fast! However, I am getting better. I'm already ordering food on the menus and navigating my way around the country...which has been quite rewarding.
OK so here goes the whole story about finding housing: Since my acceptance in the Master of Arts Program in Middle East Studies (MAPMES from here on out), finding housing in Be'er Sheva, Israel has been somewhat of a challenge. I was first offered a space back in June in what are called the Mechinot Gimmel, or the "gimmel" dorms right across the campus. But I also found out at that time that I would have to share that room with someone else... and that there was no other university housing available. The rooms are definitely a lot smaller than a normal room, and I knew that if I had to share it, it would be a bit difficult to live...kinda cramped. Therefore, I opted to live off campus in a private apartment... an idea that I thought would be awesome, that is, until I got to Be'er Sheva...
Day 1: The morning commute in Jerusalem is a beehive of activity. People are going to work, opening shops, and going to school...something pretty cool to experience. The cool thing that happened during this time was that I mastered the Jerusalem city bus system as well as navigated the intercity lines and central bus station to get to Be'er Sheva on my own! The trip to Be'er Sheva from Jerusalem can only be done by bus (unless of course you own a car) and not by train, so learning how to navigate the bus lines (in ivrit!) was key. And I didn't mess it up either...yay! On my way to Be'er Sheva, I pop out a "teach yourself Hebrew without a teacher" book (cause I need to learn it quickly!) that I bought in Jerusalem a few days ago...and away I went! (I do have to admit, I was a little nervous when I was getting close to the city...what was I looking for? Where was I supposed to get off the bus? All these questions came up.) On the way there, a HUGE sign that said Ben Gurion University was right off the main street of town right in front of the University... yes a clue that I had made it! For the first time, I walked on campus and the first thing I saw was the quad....check out the picture above. I instantly fell in love with the campus! A waterfall running through it and everything!
While there, I met up with a GFC friend, Re'em Hekrish, who mentioned he might be interested in renting apartments with me. Of course I said yes...he's a student now at BGU after working in the U.S. and is Israeli (and of course speaks Hebrew). We went to the student union building and met with a "realtor," which was a person who mentioned listings of places. This wasn't too successful because alot of the places they had available were about a 20-minute walk from campus. We then decided to look at ads posted in the downstairs department of the student union. We made a few calls on some ads...but had little success. Re'em had to go to class, so it was then that I decided to do a walking tour of the local neighborhoods to see what was around. What I saw was quite interesting. The housing is diverse, with several different accommodations, some really nice, some not so good. There are two different neighborhoods near the campus that are pretty much students, and I probably walked about 15 km (12 ish miles) through them both looking for anything that said they might be renting or looking for roommates. Having some idea of what to look for the next day, I was quite happy having finally seen the university campus and the area... and headed back to Jerusalem.
Day 2: Much of the same, walking around neighborhoods...only this time, I was able to meet with the
Madrich (counselor, sort of like an RA in a college dorm) of the BGU Office of Overseas Programs (OSP), the bureau that deals with international students. His name is Dotan and quite a cool guy, however it looks like he might be leaving BGU since we now have a
madricha taking over. He showed me how to get plugged in with international student activities, gave me a schedule, and enlightened me to the fact I now have a BGU email! I apparently had been getting announcements from OSP for a few months... so now I will be able to meet students as well as other Israelis who are involved...many of them from the States. I also spoke with a housing coordinator in the OSP office who mentioned that there could be a very slim chance that there still might be room in the student dorms. Of course I said, put my name down and if you find out anything tomorrow, then let me know! From there, I met up with our MAPMES coordinator Hagit and then wandered the community to check out more housing options. From here, I also set up an appointment with our MAPMES liaison, Mickey to see if he could help me find an apartment. We were on schedule to meet the next morning back at BGU. That said, back to Jerusalem I went!
Day 3: Here comes the good part... I'm on the bus going back to Be'er Sheva when I get a phone call... It's Dana, our OSP housing coordinator saying that there is an open room in the Gimmel dorms...of course yes I'll snag it, I said. The room is fully furnished with all the utilities included...with internet and cable. All I gotta do is move in and buy bedding, etc.... the cool thing is that I move in Sunday!! I cancelled my meeting with Mickey, went to the OSP office to get further details, and ended up leaving Be'er Sheva 30 minutes after arriving since I no longer need to look around for a place to live! Yay, so that's the apartment hunt in detail! A situation that turned out to be quite nice, and now way less stressful, especially all I gotta do is move in! The picture of the dorms is on the right.
Amid all the craziness of finding housing, I have been staying with Lauren in Jerusalem in the meantime. It has been very nice visiting and hanging out with her, and we have gotten the chance to do some other fun things around the city. I got to visit the Western Wall last weekend during the Shabbat (sabbath) and we got to walk around Ben Yehuda St. and check out some of the clothes shops, boutiques and food places. It's been fun to also do some cooking with her in her Jerusalem apartment, as she has picked up a few new recipies of Israeli cuisine...of course I cooked some good stuff too to go with it! :) This Friday is Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement, and we will get the chance to go to a service at her school at Hebrew Union College.
I hope you enjoyed the read on the housing hunt! The adventures keep continuing after this weekend with a possible trip to Tel Aviv after this weekend to visit more friends from the U.S. that are here! I'll also include more pictures of Be'er Sheva and Ben-Gurion University soon as well as photos of the new apartment very soon!
Yalla bye! ;)
In fact, a lot of places around Israel have these makeshift built booths with palm branches on them where people eat meals, enjoy each other's company, and depending on the tradition, sometimes even sleep in it! The picture to the left is Meir and I standing under his sister's family sukkah. They are lit at night with hanging lamps or bulbs, and are enclosed on the sides. The first night of Sukkot usually involves a big dinner with lots of family, and that's exactly what we did! 
I met up with my friend Carly, who is a graduate student at Tel Aviv University, and Meir, one of our scouts from Greene Family Camp in 2006. Meir invited us to his family's house in the east part of Tel Aviv for some dinner and good times with the folks. As you can probably notice in the photo, we definitely ate our little hearts out on good hummus, chicken, this amazing salad, and of course wine and ...(oh my!) sunflower seeds. Yes indeed, for all of those who know me, I was very happy :)
