It seems like yesterday I got back to Jerusalem from Winter Break in Toronto. I opened my blog, created 4 posts with titles so that I would not forget what I wanted to write about, and then closed my computer and went back to fighting jetlag.
Now it's been almost 2 months since then and this will be the first blog I've posted since December. I guess that's just life. Blogging is serving as a great way to share my happenings with friends and family, record memories for the future, and serves as a great outlet for voicing opinions and thoughts. However, it is more important that I live - so that there's something to write about - then it is that I write. So I am not going to apologize to myself or you, the reader, for my long absences.
The first bit of this semester has been very busy and lacking in routine. I'm beginning to realize that the routine I've been waiting for this semester might not actually be coming. Within 2 weeks of returning to class, we had a week long colloquium on the topic of Jewish Peoplehood. It was a break in our routine and the first indication that our Year In Israel would be ending soon and we would be returning to North America. During that week we met with key faculty reps from the US campuses and had meetings to discuss next year. Discussing the future is the best way to make it sink in that it does exist and will happen.
Immediately following the colloquium, my parents arrived in Israel for a 17 day journey through the aretz. I will tell you more about this in another post, but simply it was wonderful to have them here and it only contributed to the lack of regular routine started the week before.
Now it's been a week and a half of trying to get back into a routine, but even that was not uneventful and it has ended with a 3 day break for Purim. Looking forward, we have a tiyul (trip) next week, then we have 3 weeks of class. Then a week and a bit break for Pesach, then Yom Ha'Shoah, Yom Ha'Zikaron, and Yom Ha'Atzmaut and Jessie & Aviv's wedding, within the 2 weeks following our return to class. Then the following week is our last week of class. We have a reading week, then an exam week, and then I go home. So how do I find routine in a schedule that is constantly being interrupted?
I'm going to stop searching for it. I bring order to the things that need it and leave the rest to fate. This semester, I've acknowledged that not scheduling time to talk with my friends overseas was equating to not talking. I have created routine in regularly scheduled skype calls. Likewise, not scheduling a time to write has resulted in not blogging. I decided back in December that I was going to have a blog day, now I'm going to put that in to action. It may not be the same day each week, but I am going to schedule a time to write once a week in order to give myself the time and opportunity to reflect.
The next few weeks are going to go fast, be jam packed, and probably a little scary as they all lead to a lot of change. Who's excited? Me!
My motto for the rest of my time in Israel is to take the path less travelled. I am making deliberate decisions to go where the most authentic experiences will be and always choosing to meet new people when a choice exists. It's working pretty well. Look forward to my post on Purim to learn more about what I mean.
