Where Have I Been?

I suppose I should begin at the beginning. Or at least at the start of the questions. All of a sudden I feel like there is so much that I want to share, to tell, to put down so that I can see it and know that it all really happened.

I started going through some old pictures today. Pictures I want to scan in and use for my sagas. I can be so very nostalgic sometimes. My belly flutters, my eyes sting a little, my heart is tight and I feel anxious.

Jen asked if I had ever been out of the country and when. Does Canada count? If so, then I have been there many times. I grew up in western New York so when I travel there from here in Michigan, I often drive through Canada.

But I have been further away from America than that. I actually lived in Israel for three and a half months. When I was going to college, I happened to be flipping through the coursebook and noticed that they do a study abroad program in which you can trasfer credits from whatever classes you take. "Wouldn't it be amazing to study in Israel?" I thought to myself.

So I did. I saved up, I got financial aid, I chose my classes, I got a roommate, vaccinations, my passport, and flight tickets and off I went.

I lived in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. It was the most amazing time of my life. The first few weeks I felt as though I was just on this amazing adventure and I loved the city and the culture and everything about being there, but also missed the US and my boyfriend. I thought that it was a great place to be and to visit, but I would never consider living in Israel an option. After about a month of being there, I wondered how I would ever be able to leave.



You can see the school in the bottom left just above the dirt ball field. It wasn't a big campus, but it was beautiful, it was home.