So, I think I’ve been living in Jerusalem for about four months now. . I realize I have yet to send an e-mail, but hey- better late than never, right? I suppose I'll start from the beginning. The move went well, it probably couldn't have gone better really. We arrived at about 5am on the 21st of August- so nervous to actually see our apartment, where it was actually located, and what it would be like. I was shocked at how nice it actually was, even nicer than all the online pictures-possibly a first. The apartment manager is an American who made Aliyah a few years ago, he’s wonderful to deal with, and they had re-done all the floors and parts of the apartment that weren't even mentioned in the ads, or e-mails- unexpected. The location is pretty much in the center of everything we could possibly want. Its about 8 minutes walking to Emek Refaim (a real nice street/neighborhood filled with shops, places to eat, salons, grocery stores, galleries, etc.) 15 minutes walking to the Old city, and about a 15 minute walk to downtown Jerusalem/Ben Yehuda. The apartment is close to a few major hotels, so sometimes if we needed things the first few weeks, we shadily called their front desks and asked questions for bus lines as if we were staying there, and it worked out great. The room situation is a bit silly. My one flatmate Gina has the one real room, which is pretty huge, and the other, Marcy has a little cubicle type room, and I live on what used to be the porch that was closed-in to be a room. It has pluses and downsides. Its kind of cool because one whole wall is windows from like 2ft up and to the ceiling, so if I slide them open its like a deck, but its also a bit annoying because… I live on a deck. Since there’s no real wall, I can hear EVERYTHING outside on the streets, loud Israelis, full arguments and conversations (in essence, also arguments), garbage men, construction drilling, and nearest to my heart, my lovely upstairs neighbor Burt… a golden retriever who I have formed a heated love/hate relationship with. That basically sums up the move in… in the end, we love the place and I have become immune to the noise outside my porch window.

Stay tuned.