My End Game

The start of a post that I have not finished. I needed to post something after two weeks of nothing.

I am reminded of the song ‘Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent, because as the last days, hours and minutes of my semester abroad come winding down I am trying to measure what I gained by coming abroad. I can come at this from an educational point of view; I learned more about Middle Eastern politics, issues concerning Jewish education and the diaspora, Israeli environmental policy and renewable energies as well as improved my Hebrew. However, my classes are probably an afterthought and an excuse for a five month vacation that is the study abroad experience. Next I could look at this from the perspective of a traveler. I have traveled four different countries (Egypt, Jordan, Czech Republic, Hungary) in the past five months (though not nearly as much as other people) and thoroughly explored one, Israel, from top to bottom. I have gained a new appreciation for traveling and hope to visit Turkey and Greece before coming back to the States on June 8th. But traveling was only one of the elements that made these past five months so enjoyable and fun. If I look at the time spent in Israel from a social angle I could probably list you dozens of bars, nightclubs, coffee shops and restaurants in addition to being able to write a thesis on the intricacies of falafel and shawarma.