I meant to post this a while ago when I actually got home
from Israel but of course, life happened and I was only home for 36 hours
before being back with no internet for 4 days at a conference. But now I’m home
sweet home in Denver and have been asked about a thousand times how my time
abroad was so I’ve done a lot of reflecting. Here goes...
I can’t believe it but suddenly my experience abroad is
over. No two ways about it, it’s just done. I’m home, well I was home and then
I was off again, but I’ll never be able to go back to my abroad experience. Of
course I’ll be in Israel again, and I might even go to school in Israel again
but my experience won’t be the same because I’m not the same. When I saw some
of my friends from home, I was told that I looked like I had lost weight (not
true, but flattering) and that I looked taller (also probably not true, but who
knows). Basically I just looked different after my 5-month adventure in the
Holy Land. I know I changed while I was abroad. I’ve always been a social
person but that was with my friends, now I’ll go to a new place and talk to
people, chat with the person sitting next to me on the plane or bus, approach
strangers in the hotel lobby that are probably here for the same conference I
am, things I would have never done five months ago. Of course in the states
it’s a lot easier since I can just ask questions or start conversations in
English, but I can say now that there’s no greater compliment than to be told,
by an Israeli, that I don’t sound super American when I speak Hebrew and that
if my Hebrew got more fluid and natural, I could pass (momentarily) as an
Israeli.
I had said during the balagan (what we called Operation
Pillar of Defense) that I didn't want the war to define my experience in Israel. I didn't want that to be the only thing I remembered and talked about and told other people. But now that I've had the "Study abroad was an amazing experience" conversation about fifty million times, I'm realizing that the balagan was a unique and defining part of my time in Israel, whether I wanted it to or not. Out of all my other DU friends who went abroad, none of them lived in a war zone, very few of them had the same kind of life affirming experience that I went through. Because of the balagan, I am even more sure about what I want to do with my life. Because of the balagan I was able to experience something that you can't possibly understand until you've been through it. Because of the balagan I was able to see two sides of Israel, the side that could be a whole lot more accepting of their neighbors, and the side that can stay strong no matter what is thrown their way. Whether I liked it at the time or not, I lived through a war. Yeah it was only a week, and I still don't like calling it a war, but it was what it was and even though this is odd to say, I'm glad I went through it.
Now this is for all of my wonderful sophomore friends that I
doubt read this blog: Get excited to go abroad. No matter where you go, you
will be able to have an amazing experience that, as cliché as it sounds, will
be life changing. Whether you go to a DU partner program that has 10 other
Pioneers, or are in some remote village at a home stay with no other Americans
let alone people you know, you’ll meet people that will challenge you in ways
you never could have anticipated. You’ll meet people who are smarter than you
that will teach you a great deal, you’ll even meet people who aren’t as smart
as you that will benefit from what you can pass on to them. You’ll see things
and places you would have never imagined, get to know foreign cities perhaps
better than you know your home town. There will be hard times where you really want some good old American food or you hate your classes but even though it's called "study abroad", don't stress too much about your studies. Live, experience life in a foreign country, take advantage of the time you have there because before you know it, it'll be over and you'll be back home instantly missing the place you just left. So get excited. My adventure might be over, but adventure is still out there.
