It’s been more than a month since I landed at Ben Gurion airport. Since then, my school started, I found an apartment, opened a bank account, got my insurance, voted at Czech embassy (for the first time, I voted abroad), floated at the Dead Sea and failed one Hebrew test. Overall, it’s been amazing month. Not really amazing in that ‘I partied every night and met thousand new people’ way but in ‘I feel really good’ way. It wasn’t easy getting settled here and I am, in fact, not completely settled yet. I still need to register for a real estate tax which applies also for rentals and which I am not completely sure how to do. But other than that, everything seems to be going quite well. I still watch to many TV shows and read books that are not even remotely relevant to my classes. I am still too lazy to do my homework. I still am late for most of my classes. Life here is mostly the same as in Prague.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But then, it’s not. On an individual, personal scale, I feel that my life is not that different. But when I take the bus in the morning to go to school I see an unbelievable variety of people. All skin and hair colours you can imagine (I was surprised how many Asian people live here). I heard people talking in languages I could not locate. And this applies to my whole life here. I met a guy studying to be a Catholic priest and women who are rabbis. The most stylish person in my class is a Muslim woman with four kids who spends most of her mornings learning Hebrew. I talked with a guy who is a Jew and keeps kosher but did not get circumcised.
What else can happen only in Jerusalem? Hearing imam calling for a prayer during my Hebrew class and church bells ringing in my neighbourhood. Watching Jews praying by the Western Wall on Friday evening. Meeting dressed up people carrying cakes and meals heading for a Shabbat dinners. Seeing people playing with their children and relaxing during Shabbat. Going to Zara and shopping alongside religious Jewish girls in their midi navy skirts and blue shirts nad Muslim girls in their head scarfs and long coats. Going to the market to get my pita and vegetables. Jerusalem is truly a very special place.
