Canaanite Adaptation

Well, today marks the first week that I have been here in the land of Israel and already I have enough memories to fill a small booklet that you would find in a small bookstore in downtown Milwaukee. They say that the semester will go so fast and that December will be upon my doorstep before I even knew that I had a doorstep. Despite my earlier hesitations about how the semester will turn out, I am looking with full expectation at the future knowing that the Lord Jesus will cause my love to “abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that (I) may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Phil. 1:9-11)

It is important to adapt to the culture, climate, and lifestyle as quickly as possible, otherwise it will be really difficult, just like it is impossible for a chameleon to survive if he doesn’t change his color to fit his background. I think that coming over here initially, my heart and mind was still so connected to things back home that it was hard to readily accept all of the brand new Israeli things that I had to learn. It has taken a week just to make the switch.

The food over here is pretty good for the most part. I love eating pita bread, but don’t really prefer the humus. I have scrambled eggs every morning along with some yogurt and bread. The lunches and dinners are composed, some way or an other, of these three things: chicken, rice, and potatoes. So far, we have seen many different varieties of these, either combined together or prepared different. After dinner on Friday night (Shabbat), Kai and I had the privilege of skipping chapel and helping to wash dishes. It was very intense as we had to keep up with the dishes coming in and keep the kosher and non-kosher serving trays, washing trays, and dishes separate. All of the Heritage Dinners prepared me with the right skills to be able to work hard until 11:30pm.

Sleeping has been great, but for some unknown reason, I am able to get up much earlier over here. I sleep on top of my sheets because up until last night it doesn’t get below 80 degrees in my room. My roommate and I are getting along just fine. I have found that it helps to ask what the other person doesn’t like rather than just assume everything is fine.

My classes will have to be an adjustment for me, as we have lots of reading that can only be done in the library. I like the classes I am taking though; they are about things that I enjoy. It is fun to have classes with relatively all the same people, it reminds me back in elementary when everyone had class together.

Thank you for your prayers! More updates to come.