The Dawn of Yet Another Great Adventure!

Dear everyone,

I'm glad to see that you're back for more! Haha, back by popular demand is the second series of blog entries for yet another amazing adventure, this time to the Holy Land! Instead of the crazy adventures around Europe, it is definitely true that in just a few short days, I will embark on a 10-month expedition as a graduate student studying in Israel at Ben Gurion University of the Negev going for my Master's Degree in Middle East Studies. The cool thing about this adventure that is definitely different fron Europe is that it comes with a boost to my journalism career. I will also get a chance to work as a producer and/or as a production intern at NBC News in Tel Aviv! It is so far looking to be quite exciting! I promise to keep you all updated on how this turns out!

The preparations for this trip have definitely been exciting. I am just a day away from taking off out of Sacramento, CA, where I have been for the past few weeks visiting friends and family, and I am off to New York City to visit a long-time friend and to stay with her for the night on a layover before taking off for the Middle East. From New York, I travel to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, where I will stay in Jerusalem for a few days during Israel's High Holidays, and from there, I will get the chance to meet up with Ben Gurion University's MAPMES coordinator (Master of Arts Program in Middle East Studies ... - get used to this abbreviation, cause it will be used a lot from here on out! This is my program name...) to look for a suitable apartment to live for these next few months. Currently, I'm looking for places in the Shechuna (the word for 'neighborhood,' in hebrew) Dalet (referred to the 4th neighborhood, or district, in Hebrew) or Shechuna Gimmel (the 5th district) neighborhoods hear the BGU campus, which are supposed to be packed full of students with nearby shopping malls, pubs and of course dance clubs and social places to hang out and to meet other students from all around the world.

Again, I'm definintely glad you are tagging along with me and checking in on my blog in this new adventure. Please keep in touch with me and let me know what you think by either commenting on the various entries or sending me emails. My email address is: jrfranci@gmail.com. You can also call me now via a number based in Sacramento, CA and I can talk to you over the web! My new phone number is (916) 273-3352. I leave tomorrow for New York, then on to Tel Aviv Sept 13 landing on Sept 14.

Bon Voyage! :)