It's 5AM at Home...

Hi again America,

We had a welcome activity at the beach a few days ago, here are some pictures!




Things are going great here. I am sorry if I have not talked to you at home yet, I am trying to get on the internet often at night, around dinner time for you all. So hopefully we will chat soon.

I got an internship with this guy named Jimmy (who I will meet on Sunday), who is in charge of the Coalition of Public Health in Haifa. I am going to be helping him with research regarding pollution and cancer in the Haifa area. He already sent me a bunch of stuff to read and hopefully I will learn a lot and be of some help to him!

Some cultural differences that will take getting used to:

NO DRIP COFFEE! This morning I asked for a coffee at the cafe and they all looked at me like I was nuts because I didn't want a latte or a cappucino, I just wanted coffee. Ha, thankfully there was an American working there so she understood and from now on I know to ask for Americano. She did make me a delicious cup with a heart drawn into foam on the top (apparently my coffee still needs foam on it).

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! Lots of busses, which makes me feel more environmentally conscious. They don't, however, recycle here very much. Maybe I can include that in my project!

CATS AS SQUIRRELS! Apparently here, cats take the place of squirrels. Which makes me sad to see so many sick ones running around and scrounging through trash cans. But I try to speak friendly cat hebrew to them, ha! It makes me more happy to know my cat Marceley is safe and taken care of at home.

Ok, time to go check out the gym.

Much love to you all,
Orli Shool (Hebrew-pronunciation!)

I Have Arrived!

Beautiful Haifa!
Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Well I made it! The travel process was not as smooth and enjoyable as I would have liked, but after a 6-hour delay in Tampa, I made it to the University of Haifa at around 8 PM on Friday night.

My room is nice enough. I have my own bathroom so I'm not complaining. No air conditioning though... well see how that ends up... There are 6 rooms in my apt., right now there is an Israeli student living in one of them, but she is moving out next week. The only other person living there so far is Gabbi, who is a Junior from BU. She's a lot of fun and I think it's pretty neat she chose to come here because she is not Jewish. But I guess a lot of the international students here are not, I've met kids from Germany, Hungary, Denmark, South Korea and of course the US. My buds from South Korea are so funny! I definitely haven't met everyone yet, but tomorrow I'm sure that will change.

Pictures of my room/apartment:


Today, we took a tour of the Bahai Gardens and an Arab market, where I bought a bunch of delicious fruit and pita.
Look what I found!!

Me with my roomie, Gabbi

The Gardens

World's Biggest Eggplant!

We had pizza for dinner and they showed us this ridiculous cult Israeli movie that was sort of Wet Hot American Summer like... Now I'm just catching up online and going to head to bed soon because early tomorrow morning is Orientation! I'm looking forward to getting more settled and knowing more about the school/program.

I love and miss you all so much! Leave comments if you can! Be back soon with more.

Orliiiiiiiiiiii

I Hate the 50 Pound Rule...

Hopefully I will have dirtied enough stuff in the wilderness so they won't be as heavy on the way back, although I'm sure that the cute local bags I buy might take up that extra room :)

Well, after hours of attempting to get my bags the right weight, I am done, all packed and ready to go. I'll be leaving for Israel from JFK Airport around 8 tomorrow night and get in at 1 in the afternoon on Friday. Hopefully no issues will arise and I will sit next to someone amusing on the plane who will play set with me the entire way there.

The key should be waiting for me in the dorm entrance, so no details on where exactly I'm living on campus yet...

Because many of you inquired and I will LOVE as many phone calls and letters as you would like to send, here is my information:

Orli Shull
C/O International School
University of Haifa
Haifa 31905
ISRAEL

Cell #: 054-260-4759

Wish me luck! Talk to you soon!

Almost Time!

Well, it's official! I leave for Israel on September 18th. Hopefully I will be able to update you all about my life in Haifa pretty often, so check when you can! I'll be getting to campus on the 19th, moving into the dorm and beginning classes on the 21st. I'm not sure which ones exactly I'm taking yet, but I pre-registered for Hebrew, Jewish Ethnic Groups in Israel and the Internship Program. I'm hoping to intern with some form of public health department in Haifa, which will be wonderful experience for my eventual Master in Public Health graduate schooling.

So, I would love you to leave comments and hear from everyone. I will have pictures and stories soon! Love you all and have a great year in the states.