Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I know it's close to the celebrating hour at home, so I hope everyone is having fun and enjoying good food, drink, and company.

December 31 was an excellent day here. We had class in the morning, and I found the topic to be quite fascinating. We talked about dispute resolution in Judaism, and we had an excellent speaker, Michael Tsur. He has negotiated many major deals, and he is also a hostage negotiator. Big time person here. Very cool.

After class, Michelle, Karina (two classmates), and I decided to head into the Old City for lunch and just general sightseeing. My understanding of the Old City is limited, but I believe it's basically what used to constitute historical Jerusalem. It is walled in (the walls might be temple walls, I can't believe I don't know at the moment), and one of the walls is the famous wailing wall (we are having some organized tours later, so I can tell you all much more about that then). The Old City is divided into four quarters: Christian, Muslim, Armenian, and Jewish. We wandered throughout the market, ate a fabulous lunch outside (delicious and cheap!), bought some baklava and bread, and just enjoyed the scenery. Old City is unlike any place I've ever been, and I'm not sure how to even describe it. There are tons and tons of little street shops, selling all sorts of things - food, fruit, juice, clothing, shoes, and even paint, as in like a mini Home Depot (very mini)! It is also filled with hugely important religious sites: the previously mentioned wailing wall, the Dome of the Rock (Mosque I think), and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Many if not all of the Stations of the Cross actually took place within the Old City, and you can trace the last steps of Jesus. Really, simply amazing. I can't wait to learn more about the entire place, and our upcoming tours should be amazingly helpful. I feel like an idiot for not knowing more, but I just didn't have enough personal time with the guidebook before we landed. Oh well, it was simply cool to just walk around and experience the place yesterday. Stay tuned for accurate information on Old City!

After we returned from the Old City, several of the American students and two of the Aussies met up and got ready to hit the town for New Year's Eve. As I mentioned in the last post, NYE is not a big deal here, so we weren't sure where we would wind up. In excellent news however, one of the Aussies studied at Hebrew University for a semester, and she became a fabulous tour guide. We had dinner at some burger joint, and it was honestly one of the best burgers I've ever had. Naomi, the Aussie, told us that a lot of the foreign Jews love that place, and it definitely had a younger, global crowd. After burgers, we hit up an American bar called Mike's Place, and that's where we spent the remainder of our evening. They played American classic rock music, and then the band played covers of American classic rock hits. We drank (well, diet coke for me), danced, laughed, and toasted in the New Year. A truly excellent night, but a late one, so many of us will be dragging through class today. Oh well, the evening was well worth it!

Today, I have class from 8:30 until 12:30, and then I think I will take a nap. I also hope to have my luggage, which will mean fresh clothes. I can honestly hardly wait. One of my classmates lent me a shirt (thanks, Michael - you're a rock star), so at least the t-shirt under the brown sweater is fresh. After napping, who knows what will happen - food will be on the agenda, and perhaps some more sightseeing as well.

This weekend, we are planning to get out of town (Jerusalem basically shuts down completely for Shabbat), and I think we are going to go to Mosada and the Dead Sea - I will provide more information on these places later.

The pictures: a tower on one of the walls surrounding the Old City, me in the market in Old City, the Dome of the Rock (Muslim), and a view from just inside (or outside? I was a bit confused) the Old City. If you click on the pictures, you should be able to see much larger versions. Also, soon you will see me in new clothes - how exciting! ;)

Okay, that's all for now - I have to head to class.

Lots of love and Happy 2008!

Who DOESN'T want to wear the same outfit 5 days in a row?

As you know from my last post, Lot Polish Airlines lost my luggage (and they lost Kari's and Bethany's as well). Kari's and Bethany's bags showed up today, December 31. Unfortunately however, my bag is still in Frankfurt! In good news, it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. I really don't fully understand what happened, why the bags were lost, why it took so long to send them on their way, etc. I'm frustrated with the entire situation, and it does not help that the airport lost luggage folks are not helpful or interested in being helpful, and it's VERY difficult to contact anyone at Lot. Lesson learned from this: do NOT fly Lot airlines. Stick with airlines that primarily speak English. :) Also, I often forget that the rest of the world does not embrace American efficiency. Frustrating in this situation, but fabulous in other situations. Thus, I cannot complain all that much.

Given the lost bag, I've been wearing the same clothes since the 28th. Yuck. I did of course go out and buy a few necessities such as undergarments, socks, etc. But the main outfit - sweater/fleece shirt, t-shirt, and pants - is the same. I may have to burn these clothes upon my return home. We'll see. Ick ick ick.

In an actual travel update, here you go, in detail:

We started our travels with a canceled flight out of MSP. Fortunately I checked flight status from home, and when I discovered the flight was canceled, Sarah and I dashed off to the airport to figure out what I would do. United was quite helpful and signed me up for another flight that was to leave in 1/2 hour. I promptly called Kari and told her to get to the airport quickly so they could make the same flight. I then dashed off to security, where I was immediately pulled aside for special screening. I cannot imagine that the misspelled name on my boarding pass helped that situation, but I got through okay, boarded the plane, and waited...and waited and waited. It turns out that all flights into Chicago were stopped for a bit due to the snow storm. Fortunately, this allowed Kari and Bethany to catch up with me, and they boarded the plane right before we took off. All seemed good - we were together and were on our way to Chicago with plenty of time to catch our flight to Warsaw.

After an uneventful flight, we landed in Chicago and made our way to the Lot check in area. We waited in line, and when we stepped up to the desk, they asked for our luggage tags...I had no luggage tag. It seems the United people took mine when I checked in, and I didn't notice because I've NEVER needed one before (even for my other international flights). She then proceeded to tell me that my bag might not make it to Warsaw (so prophetic). She also harassed Bethany about her passport, and I'm still not sure what that was about. Being concerned about what might happen to my luggage, I called United Airlines, and they provided me with my luggage tag number. I promptly provided this number to the desk clerk from Lot, and she said no problem, everything should be fine. At that point, I felt relieved...so naive! ;)

Looking back, it's hard not to wonder if she had something to do with the fact that all of our bags didn't leave Chicago...I hate to think that someone would be that vindictive, but I'm just not sure how that would happen, since the other folks from Chicago had their bags in Tel Aviv. Anyway, the flight to Warsaw was just fine, though I was really bored (the movies were terrible - The Santa Clause 3 and High School Musical. And some really random tv. Again, just say no to Lot Polish Airlines).

We landed in Warsaw at about 9:30 am their time, and a very nice man that Bethany met on the plane got us a cab and took us into the Old Town area (he even paid for the cab!). We then walked around Warsaw, enjoying breakfast, a coffee, and later dinner, mostly to avoid the cold (who knew it was so cold in Poland - not the girl in the brown pants, fleece sweater, and t-shirt, that's for sure!). Old Town was quite neat - lots of little restaurants, a town square, shops, horse carriages, a music grinder, tons of Christmas decorations, etc. We also toured the King's Palace (the names could be all messed up for Warsaw - it was sort of a blur). The Palace was interesting because it was basically completely rebuilt in the 1950s, as Warsaw was leveled during WWII. That sort of killed some of the charm for me. Also, having seen Versailles, this palace seemed...puny I guess. Additionally, we saw what we think is a monument for the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Uprising (check out your War and Holocaust history, peeps! Polish Jews suffered horrifically during the War, and their population was almost completely decimated).

Toward the end of the day, we were all exhausted and cold, so we decided to do some shopping in the City Center. Unfortunately for gimpy, that involved a LONG walk on cobblestone streets. We finally made it to the stores, and I just didn't have the energy to participate in the shopping. We decided to find a place for me to sit down, and the best we could find was the bench outside the dressing room at some department store. K and B then left all their stuff with me and hit the stores. I tried to read, but I kept nodding off, and then when I would jolt awake, I felt terrified that they were going to kick me out of the store, as I must have looked like a homeless person - sleeping, surrounded by bags, disheveled, etc. Finally, the girls returned and I got to give up the hobo gig.

After dinner, we headed to the airport, where we promptly made little beds and fell asleep. We had been awake for a LONG time at that point. I never thought I would be one of those people, the people that make beds out of chairs, sleep on the floor, etc., but there I was, out cold. We woke up to find ourselves surrounded by a bunch of annoying travelers, some a big group of Americans. I suddenly felt like an old, wizened traveler, someone that gets annoyed by loud, obnoxious travelers. It was quite funny, considering we probably WERE those people in Chicago. It's funny what a few hours and no sleep can do.

Overall, Warsaw seemed like a neat city - lots of history, decent people, lively, and a cool place to explore. I've heard that Krakow is amazing however, so if I ever make it back to Poland, I think that's where I will go.

The flight to Tel Aviv was just fine, but as you all know, it did not end well due to the missing luggage. After we filed our reports, we proceeded to catch a sherout, or a shuttle, to Jerusalem. That went just fine, and we met a very nice young woman who is eventually moving to America. Upon arrival at Hebrew University, we asked about checking into our rooms, and the front desk clerk almost laughed and said we couldn't check in until 12:00. It was about 6:30 or 7:00 am at that time. Having no idea what to do at that point, we enjoyed a breakfast of gummi bears and once again made little beds in the lobby and fell asleep. The female staff at Maiersdorf did not like this at all, and they kept yelling at us. At that point, I probably could have physically harmed them, but I don't think that Israeli jail is a good idea. Finally, some other students from the group arrived, including the Professor and the administrator, so we had a little tour of the campus and got our IDs, etc. It was during this time that we went to the campus bookstore to purchase the above mentioned necessities as well. Finally finally finally, we got to our rooms and I got to shower. It was a fantastic shower, even if it was cold.

The city of Jerusalem is absolutely beautiful. My room overlooks it, and tonight I watched the sunset over the city. I can see the Dome of the Rock within the Old City from here, and I catch my breath each time I look out. Amazing. Remind me to write about cab drivers and drivers in general here - absolutely insane!

Later Sunday evening, a group of us went to Ben Yehuda Street (seems like the happening street in town - for food, shopping, bars, etc.) to eat, and we had a nice time. Israel is expensive though, and that meal cost quite a bit. I am blowing through the shekels, and that is not good. Not much I can do about it now, so I'm going to just enjoy each day.

Okay, I have more to share, but I need to go now as some of us are getting ready to celebrate New Year's at an American restaurant we found (NYE is not big here, as this isn't the Jewish new year, and I'm not sure what it represents for Muslims). I hope you are all well, and I will write more soon.

Love and happy new year!

PS: The picture on the left is of Old Town in Warsaw, and the picture on the right is sad Lisa upon arrival to Maiersdorf with no luggage and no room. :) More pics to follow soon.

Made it!

Well, I'm typing this while sitting in the coffee shop of Hebrew University, and I'm looking out at the city of Jerusalem. It's beautiful! Getting here was quite the adventure, as my first flight was canceled, Kari and Bethany barely made the replacement flight, we spent 11 hours in Warsaw, our luggage is now lost (as in not in Israel at the moment), and Bethany lost her ipod and a bunch of other things too (we're not sure if they were stolen or if they fell out of her bag at some point), and I can't check into my my room until 12:00 here, so another 3 hours (we landed in Jerusalem at 4 am or so). I'm unbelievably tired, but despite all the chaos, I find myself in fairly decent spirits. I'm excited to begin this adventure, even if it means I'll be wearing the same clothes for days on end! ;)

Anyway, I have much, much more to share from my days of travel adventure, but I'm too tired to write anything decent at the moment. Stay tuned for a real update, with pictures and everything. :)

Love to all!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Well, I'm all packed and ready to go (thank goodness for Kami and Sarah!). My flight leaves tomorrow at 1:45 or so, and I'll be traveling for a LONG time before I arrive in Jerusalem. I'm not very religious, but please do send positive thoughts my way the next few days. Thanks much!

If all goes well, the next post will be live from Jerusalem!

Love to all!

Israel Here I Come!

On December 28, I will be leaving the good ol' USA to explore a completely foreign place (to me): Jerusalem, Israel. I'm going for a J-term class at Hamline University School of Law, and I will be gone until January 11. It will be odd to miss holiday break at home and especially odd to celebrate New Year's abroad, but I'm quite excited for the trip regardless. I don't think it's set in that I'm really leaving on Friday however. I haven't really begun to pack, I haven't looked at my course materials, and I haven't even glanced at my Lonely Planet travel guide. Yikes! I guess it will all come together in the end; it always does. Plus, I'm lucky to know Jill, who's been to Israel several times. I'm sure she will provide some much needed guidance (Jill, you must do that!). :)

I plan to bring my laptop on the trip, and as a result I hope to update this blog regularly. I found that I didn't do a good job documenting my European travels, and now when I look back at pics I kind of wonder why I thought certain things were important, etc. Hopefully the blog will allow me to do a better job chronicling my adventures; we'll see.

First request to anyone reading this: please do not send me text messages from December 28 - Jan 11, as each message will cost me 50 cents! Clearly, I cannot maintain my text whore ways at that price! I could block all texts, but I want to be able to use texts in case of an emergency. So, help your friend out and contact me via email during that time. I very much appreciate it.

That's all for tonight - not too shabby for my first official blog post. Stay tuned for more (hopefully) exciting updates, particularly from Israel!

PS: Merry Christmas!

Christmas Greetings - myspace blog post

Christmas greetings to all,

Long time no write, I know. Finals kept me extraordinarily busy, and I just didn't find the time to blog. However, now that I'm getting ready to head off to Israel, I decided it was time to create a real blog, one that everyone, not just my myspace friends, can access. I hope to chronicle my travels, and then just life in general, and I hope you all enjoy reading it. Check it out at: Schmiddy's Thoughts on Life

Thanks, and love to all!

LMS

Gut Check - myspace blog post

One of my biggest challenges in life is to trust myself. Trust my heart, trust my gut, trust my brain. I often think I'm doing what is right, staying true to myself, etc., and then a bit of doubt creeps in. I start worrying about what everyone else will think, and I feel myself waver. I don't want to do that anymore. I know me, I know myself, I know my core. I want to remain true to myself, and I want to care less about what world thinks. It's my life, and I have to feel comfortable in it. So, I'm going to continue on in my journey, doing the best I can. Not easy, I know, but at least I recognize the struggle.

Peace out y'all.