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Today I made a significant achievement that sounds extremely simple- I walked somewhere in Jerusalem on my own, and got there successfully. Admittedly, all 3 times (one of them right after it got dark), they were places I'd basically been before, and all fairly short walks, but it's still a first for me here. I set off to have lunch with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zodiacmg in the sukkah at Pardes, where I met his chevrusa and another friend who's both a JTS grad and grew up fairly near my own hometown- and who just spent 2 years working there. It was surprisingly nice to talk to someone about local stuff- it made being so far away seem less drastic and more friendly. Meeting a few nice people who I didn't know before is also a good start towards building some social connections here. I know I'm supposed to be bonding with my class and all of that, but having other, outside connections is awfully good for me.
While I was there, a college friend whom I haven't seen in several years- nearly 3 years I think- took advantage of me being with someone who had their phone already in order to reach me, and we made plans to meet. She took me on a walk and tour of a nice chunk of town, and told me what streets meet with what others, etc. We also, of course, got to catch up on each other's lives in the last few years, including commiserating about our mutual senior thesis adviser- and the rather unfortunate theses and stress that resulted from that process.
Shortly after I got back, the roommates and I headed out for a class get-together that some of our classmates gave. I felt horridly awkward at first, but after a while I finally fell into some good conversations, and it turned out to be a rather nice time, if also a bit louder than ideal. Conveniently, my roommates were ready to leave right about when I was- it turned out very well. We came home and I had a few minutes to talk tojakal88 using the nifty device that produces an American number- having spoken to him, perhaps I'll manage to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour. Hopefully if I do so, I can actually get myself up and to shul for Hoshana Rabbah. And I even have shabbos/yontif meal plans now- even if I don't know entirely where I'm going to shul quite yet... I do hope that I can find a shul or two that actually suits me.
zodiacmg in the sukkah at Pardes, where I met his chevrusa and another friend who's both a JTS grad and grew up fairly near my own hometown- and who just spent 2 years working there. It was surprisingly nice to talk to someone about local stuff- it made being so far away seem less drastic and more friendly. Meeting a few nice people who I didn't know before is also a good start towards building some social connections here. I know I'm supposed to be bonding with my class and all of that, but having other, outside connections is awfully good for me. While I was there, a college friend whom I haven't seen in several years- nearly 3 years I think- took advantage of me being with someone who had their phone already in order to reach me, and we made plans to meet. She took me on a walk and tour of a nice chunk of town, and told me what streets meet with what others, etc. We also, of course, got to catch up on each other's lives in the last few years, including commiserating about our mutual senior thesis adviser- and the rather unfortunate theses and stress that resulted from that process.
Shortly after I got back, the roommates and I headed out for a class get-together that some of our classmates gave. I felt horridly awkward at first, but after a while I finally fell into some good conversations, and it turned out to be a rather nice time, if also a bit louder than ideal. Conveniently, my roommates were ready to leave right about when I was- it turned out very well. We came home and I had a few minutes to talk to
jakal88 using the nifty device that produces an American number- having spoken to him, perhaps I'll manage to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour. Hopefully if I do so, I can actually get myself up and to shul for Hoshana Rabbah. And I even have shabbos/yontif meal plans now- even if I don't know entirely where I'm going to shul quite yet... I do hope that I can find a shul or two that actually suits me.