The
first time I remember learning anything about Israel in school was second
grade. A section of the curriculum had been set aside for “world studies,”
focusing on four countries on four different continents and learning a bit about
their history and language: Israel, Kenya, Japan, and France. As part of the
lesson, we watched a Sesame Street
special about Big Bird travelling the globe. One of those stops happened to be
Israel. There are only a few bits of information I can honestly say I remember
from that class, besides the image of Big Bird wearing a yarmulke, and those
are:
Flag:
blue and white, Star of David
Language:
Hebrew
Religion:
Judaism
Location:
Middle East
Food:
kosher
Textbook,
simple, and as I learned later on, very over-generalized. Like any country,
Israel is far more complicated than a second grader’s color book map could
possibly depict.
Nationality:
Israeli(s)
Ethnic
Groups: Hebrew (official), Arabic (official in specific regions), English
(foreign affairs)
Geographic
Coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E
Religions:
Jewish 75%, Muslim 16.9%, Christian 2%, Druze 1.7%, other 3.8%
Government:
parliamentary democracy
All
great and wonderful, probably helpful on an eighth grade report or the
background section of a research paper, but when all is said and done this
probably makes up about .0001% of what makes Israel, well, Israel.
So where
else could a little girl from a Connecticut suburb look for information on this
mysterious country afar?
Music
and books.
I have
never been a churchgoer, but as a lifetime chorister, booklover, and member of
a mostly Christian family, place names such as “Israel,” “Jerusalem,”
“Bethlehem,” “Nazareth,” and the “Red Sea” became household items. I still have
all my melodies and harmonies from dozens of Christmas carols and hymns memorized,
even though I haven’t sung in a choral setting in two years. Through school,
choir, and my own curiosity, I collected religious, cultural and political
history, piecing together a quilt that might someday show me an image of this region
and this country that had intrigued me for so long. Once I got to high school and
I had a little more say and resources in my education, my learning only swelled.
Now here
I am, nearly twelve years after that Sesame
Street special, a college kid studying in Washington, D.C. about
international relations and the Middle East. And I find myself about to embark on
an Alternative Break trip to a country I had only dreamed of seeing in real
life.
You
could say I’m excited.
Perhaps
a little nervous…
Most of
it won’t kick in till we land (a habit I’ve acquired from over a decade of stage
fright suppression), but just this week I’ve caught my mind subconsciously
wandering down corridors I didn’t know I’d built. Regardless of rationality,
I’ve asked myself questions such as:
What
if my host family only speaks Hebrew?
What
if I do something I didn’t know was offensive?
Do
I know the address for the nearest embassy by heart?
Will
I look too “American”?
Will
my body freak out if I don’t have caffeine every morning?!?!?
Maybe
some of these questions have answers; maybe some of them are better left for
“figuring it out.” Either way, I am confident in my trip leaders, Heidi and
Annelise, and the rest of this diverse, talented, and passionate group of
students. I can’t wait to meet up with everyone again next week at the airport!
During
the trip I will be keeping a running journal on my experiences and observations
while in Israel. I hope to share as many entries as possible here!
This blog post was written by Lucette Moran.
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