Vacation Visit

            I would say it’s been a busy week, but I suppose it really hasn’t. The workload this week was excessive compared to the rest of the semester, but unremarkable compared to Harvard. Still, perception is influential, and I feel like I’ve been rushing around and need to rest.

            I know; I just had a vacation. But vacations, especially during study abroad, are generally opportunities to do all the things you don’t have time to do normally. Most of the week’s excitement (and pictures) came from my parents’ visit. Since we’ve been to Israel before and visited the main sites, it wasn’t a mad rush to do everything, which was nice, but we still did some exploring.

            However, while last week was great, nothing seemed to go as planned. We started off on a trip to Hezekiah’s tunnel, but it was closed, probably due to Passover, so we ended up heading to Caesarea instead. The next day we headed up north to do some hiking, but it was raining, more than it has in months, so we ended up going to Nazareth and Tiberius instead.

            It was quite an adventure trying to navigate Israel, driving pouring rain without knowing exactly where we were going, from time to time passing through third-world traffic in small towns, and spontaneously stopping for tourist attractions that popped up on the GPS. For instance, we had no idea that Maimonides’ tomb was in Tiberius, but we can now say we’ve visited it. That’s how a lot of things operate here – there aren’t any strict schedules or detailed plans; you just kind of run with it.

            I also got to use my Hebrew and Arabic skills quite a bit this past week. I’ve noticed before that Jerusalem can be a hard place to learn Hebrew, because if it’s clear you’re not fluent, people will immediately start to speak to you in English. However, apparently this rule does not apply when your parents are visiting; all of a sudden, all sorts of things needed to be translated. It was satisfying to be able to use my language skills.  

            I also enjoyed giving my parents a tour (a very quick, rainy tour) of campus, showing them where my classes are, and welcoming them into my dorm.  I wasn’t in my dorm room very much this past week, though. For most of my parents’ visit we stayed with a couple of friends – along with their three-year-old and 8-month-old, who added a whole new level of chaos to life, but were adorable.

            It was a good break, if a rather turbulent one, and I’m very thankful for the time I’ve had with my parents – I usually don’t see them at all during the semester – but now it’s time to return to work. For reasons unknown, Hebrew University holds their midterms week directly after Passover Break, which means that since I’ve returned to school I’ve had two midterms and a presentation to deal with.

            As far as I know, I did fine, and it wasn’t overly stressful, but this week has been one major thing after another, and I’m very much looking forward to sitting down this weekend and giving my mind a chance to process everything: events and discussion from my parents’ visit, random other topics that I’m pondering, what I’m learning in classes, and the slightly frightening fact that in two months I’ll be halfway through my college career.

            At the moment, I’m being productive, but I’m doing them largely without analysis; I’m just doing what needs to be done. Before I can jumpstart my brain again and get it working on interesting problems, I have to let it catch up to what I’ve already done; until then my more abstract cognition is kind of at a standstill. The good news, though, is that the weekend starts tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully I’ll have the time to stop and think. Maybe I can find some philosophical musings to add into next week’s post.

Pics: Thank you to both of my parents for taking quite a few of these photos.

This is a roman Aqueduct at Caesarea. My dad and I clambered onto it in the rain; my mom stayed in the car.

 These are more ruins at Caesarea. It was pretty chilly.

Caesarea turned out to be gorgeous in the rain. I never knew orange and blue could look so breathtaking together.

 This is the amazing sky that accompanied the erratic weather (first it was sleeting, then sunny, then raining, then hailing, then sunny, then sleeting... all in one day.)

This is the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth; they have paintings of Mary donated from countries around the world.

This is the restaurant the night before they left - we were surprised this selfie turned out successful, but we wanted a picture of the three of us.