Signing off from Israel!

So my time in Israel is rapidly coming to an end. Tomorrow is our exam, and after that, I will be doing one last tourist thing (a tour of the Western Wall tunnels) and then heading to Tel Aviv to hopefully catch my flight home. We have to check out of our Jerusalem hotel by noon tomorrow, but my flight doesn't leave until 6 am on Friday morning, so I have some time to kill. Most of the flights in and out of here depart and arrive at odd times - super early in the morning or super late at night. A bit frustrating, but not much I can do about that. Anyway, I think several of us will probably have dinner in Tel Aviv and then maybe just head to the airport to wait. Otherwise, several others are getting a hotel room in Tel Aviv, and if we get tired and want to chill somewhere, we might go there for bit. Regardless, I have to be at the airport by 3 am because of potential security issues. Tomorrow might be a difficult day, as I will be anxious to start my journeys home but I will just have to wait. Patience, right? :)

I plan to write a more reflective, detailed summary of my trip in its entirety when I get home, as I think I need some time and distance to gauge what I think and how I feel about this experience. I've had a lot of fun, but I find it to be a very tiring place as well. I want to examine this with fresh eyes, so some time and space is necessary. Stay tuned for that blog - I'm sure you can hardly wait! ;)

Back to my adventures, last night I decided to join a few people for one last dinner out in Jerusalem. I was feeling tired, but I decided I should go because I figured I would stay in tonight to study, rest, pack, etc. A few people turned into 12, and things got a bit chaotic. 12 people means 3 cabs, etc. Good thing Daniel was on top of things; he told all of the cab drivers exactly where to bring us. On the way to the restaurant, we passed through West Jerusalem, and that was interesting to see. West Jerusalem is mainly occupied by Jews, while East Jerusalem is mainly Arab. The difference in wealth was immediately obvious. West Jerusalem seems cleaner, neater, brighter, and just a bit newer or something. We also passed the King David Hotel, where President Bush is staying, and that was interesting to see. The entire outside is covered by tents, and someone said this could be to prevent sniper attacks. I'm not sure if that is true, but it made sense to me. Anyway, the difference between West and East Jerusalem is stark, and a bit sad.

Speaking of West and East Jerusalem, yesterday there was a big protest in the Old City because it's been suggested that Israel cede East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. This idea is not popular with many Israelis, as Jerusalem truly is the heart of Israel, but the issue is currently being discussed. The protesters tried to form a circle around the entire Old City, which would be quite the feat. I'm not sure if they succeeded, but we did see a good number of people participating. Such a protest has been done before, but instead it was a peace protest - the organizers called it the Jerusalem Hug or something similar. I guess there is a video on Youtube if anyone is interested in seeing the Jerusalem Hug - just search for that and it should pop up. Yesterday's protest didn't cause any problems for us, and it was interesting to see.

As most of you know, President Bush arrives (arrived) here today. During class, we heard several rounds of helicopters, and I'm guessing one set was probably him. I guess he's only going to travel by road here when he's traveling very short distances. Otherwise, he will be using helicopters. This is a very good thing, as traffic is already bad here, and they've already had to close several roads, making it even worse. It's also interesting to see American flags on the roads now - they popped up late last week in anticipation of his visit, and before that, I hadn't really seen any. Additionally, there are now guards posted on the ramparts of the Old City, as well as at all the gates and at various places throughout the Old City. I cannot even imagine attempting to secure the Old City - there are tons of little shops, streets, houses, and nooks and crannies to deal with, but I guess they probably know what they are doing. I'm not even sure Bush will be in the Old City, but I suppose they have to be on high alert everywhere.

Okay, back to last night's dinner now, for real this time. We ate at a restaurant in West Jerusalem called Caffit. It wasn't a big place, so fitting 12 people in without a reservation was interesting. They tried to split us into two groups of 10 and 2, but we managed to fit 12 of us at the table. To me, the restaurant was nothing special - it sort of reminded me of a typical American restaurant. I ordered salmon, diet coke, and some apple pie for dessert - all just fine, but again, nothing special. Oh, another side note, sometimes diet cokes are very expensive here, just like in Europe. Last night, I got a little glass bottle for 12 shekels, more than $3! On campus, I get a much better deal, but it's still expensive. Funny what a girl will do for her diet coke! ;) Anyway, Caffit was not my favorite place, but the company was good and I left full. Can't complain too much.

This morning, we had our last class and a mini-review session, which really wasn't a review session at all. Basically, they asked if we had any questions, some people asked some, and we were finished. This was a good thing, as many of us were ready to be done with class, period. Today's speaker, Marc Gopin again, just sort of rambled on, and at one point, we were all thinking, is he talking to hear himself speak, because we don't know what he is talking about...A couple of hours of this might be okay, but he was a bit like that yesterday too. In his defense, he does have bronchitis, so perhaps that's why he lacked focus. Basically, the point is that I was ready to be done with class. 4+ hours a day sitting in tiny desk chairs, the kind we had in elementary school, all one connected piece of furniture, gets old.

Anyway, we finished class, and the plan for the rest of the day is to nap, study, pack, grab dinner, and just relax. Should be a nice evening. The weather is still a bit gloomy, even a bit foggy, so it's a good day for such a plan (the ground was still wet this morning, making for another treacherous journey to and around campus - I must look like an 80 year old walking around gingerly. Funny.) Speaking of today's plan, I think it's time for the nap phase. I already watched a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls on the Hallmark channel, which they oddly have here, and I think this entry is long enough already. ;) Odds are very good that this will be my last blog from Israel, so don't worry if I don't write for a few days. I've really enjoyed the blogging process, as it allowed me to process my thoughts and feelings about what I've been seeing, and I think it will be an excellent record of my trip. I hope everyone at home enjoyed reading what I had to say as well. Love to all, and I hope to see you soon!

Pictures:
1 -3) All views from on campus, near the building where we often had class. Note today's gloomy weather.
4) View of a part of the Old City walls
5) An old fortress in Warsaw - I know it's odd that I switched back to that city, but I had a few more pics I wanted to share.
6) Part of a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and I think to probably WWII Polish troops in general
7) Warsaw homes.