Orientation

I stayed up until 1 AM on Sunday talking and so was in no shape to write anything. But it’s going to get very busy very quickly. Tuesday, after class, I go on the field trip to Acco. And homework starts in earnest. So let me try a quick update now. And I really hope to have a bit of time for other things too.

So on Sunday, I registered. It was a most of the day affair. I continued to meet people—lots of very interesting people. My apartment is now full. In addition to Hadas and Monique, there are Fabienne, a lovely, tiny, energetic woman from just outside Paris; Joysa, who is studying for the reconstructionist rabbinate; and Laura, serious and studious, from the Netherlands.

In the “it’s a small world department, part 1,” I met Emma, who just graduated from Caltech in physics. She’s here because her boyfriend is Israeli. And yes, she does know Vera. And “iasw” part 2, the head of the program got up to talk at our orientation meeting and looked very familiar—not that I had met him, but he reminded me of someone in the clear, direct, and kind way that he spoke. He mentioned that he was from Berkeley and then, about the third time he introduced a speaker, it dawned on me that he could have been Stu Kelman’s brother. I went to introduce myself afterwards and in playing Jewish geography, it turns out that Irene Resnikoff, who is one of the authors of First Hebrew Primer, is his sister and, while Stu is not his brother, they are very close friends.

Tour of campus after that. I think I will not get a gym membership. Yeah, the number of steps between my dorm room and classroom—it’s enough. I hadn’t appreciated that, in fact, Mt. Carmel is, well, a mountain, which means up and down (repeat as needed). The tour of the city, for example, included a tram ride in a station that was on about a 30 degree angle. The train station was a set of steps and landings. I think I will not get down to the city that often—it’s actually a long way and a very long bus ride.