And the journey begins!

I’ve officially been in North America for a week.  4 movies, 3 Friends episodes, 2.5 hours of sleep and a 2 hour layover in Heathrow Airport brought me from Israel to New Jersey for the first time in almost 2 years.   I want to say it’s been nice being home but in all honesty this doesn’t feel like home.  When I made Aliyah almost 3 years ago (March 27^th will be my Aliyanaversary) I went through a bit of a mourning process.  I disconnected myself from my former life and started over new.  Part of that process was saying goodbye to here.  And for that reason, it’s been great being here – seeing family and friends – but it’s just not home. 

My apartment in Jerusalem is home.  My friends and family in Israel are home.  Hebrew is home.  This feels like a familiar, comfortable visit.  And it’s a lovely visit.  But not home.  I love the fact that this is how I’m feeling because it just reinforces how settled I feel in Israel and that is a great feeling!  It means I’ve done something right.  I’ve created a life for myself - of course with the help of my support system which is amazing – and it is that new life to which I feel more connected.  I say that with a grain of salt because many of those components of that new life are in transition now – no more school, I quit my job and I’m not sure where exactly I’ll be living a month after I get back – but I feel like I have the tools to find my way when the time comes.

So what’s next?  Tomorrow night I start my next big adventure and fly out to Buenos Aires, Argentina! It’s taken some time to get here but I’m finally feeling excited!  All the pressures and stresses of the last couple of weeks have hit me hard and it’s been difficult to feel the excitement through the other less than positive feelings.  But there’s no time like the present to start getting emotionally ready (I have a 24 hour countdown until takeoff so now would be the time….).  Since I’ve been in the States, I’ve done just a little bit of shopping, limiting my purchases just to things I need for the trip (with the exception of one skirt which I found on sale for $5 so I wasn’t going to pass that up) and I’m pretty much all ready. 

There are a number of key differences in preparing for this trip in contrast to my previous trips.  Let’s start with the bag.  On my previous trips I had this great, compact traveling backpack but it held a total of only 40 liters.  A traveler with less to carry is a happy traveler, but 40 liters is really pushing the envelope.  That really doesn’t leave very much room for anything other than bare essentials, and I ended up carrying just a bit more in an overflow bag.  I would have been better off with a bag that was just a drop bigger and allowed me to keep everything all is one place.  This time I’ve borrowed an 80 liter bag from a friend (double the space!) and that really sets a different tone.  I’m able to bring more changes of clothing!  I have products that make me feel more human, and more like a woman (mousse for my hair, nailpolish, eyeliner…. Nothing too crazy but some touches of normalcy).  I remember traveling through New Zealand in 2008 and seeing these girls with huge packs and a whole slew of dresses and one-use articles of clothing.  I thought “what the hell do you need that stuff for?!” but I’m getting more in touch with that side of my traveling self.  And the space in my bag allows for that – within reason. 

My amazing friends at my (former) job chipped in to buy me a gift certificate to a travel store in Jerusalem, and with that I purchased Shoresh sandals!  Those, and my new Israeli passports make it official - I am Israeli! People will look at me when I wear those shoes and know that I have some connection to Israel (I wonder if that will be a good thing….).  Other amazing friends bought me other travel-helpful items like a Swiss army knife, a traveling back-scratcher (those of you who know me know how important that one is!), a carabiner and a packable plastic bag water bottle that I can already imagine will make certain instances that much more comfortable and easy.  I think my former experience will be a good tool that will help me on this new journey.  I can learn from past mistakes and successes and let that guide me.  I’m also older (and maybe wiser?  More mature? Jury is still out on those) this time around and I’m sure that will come into play somehow. 

This morning I finally made a tentative outline for my first month in Argentina and I feel great about it!  Of course it really is just a tentative plan but having that kind of intention will be comforting to me so that at the very least I have a point of reference when it comes to deciding what to do and where to go.  I was reminded this morning by a friend that in these circumstances, you kind of plan maybe 2-4 days in advance at each “Stop” and take it from there.  I forgot about that mindset, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind because it works well.  You want to be open to opportunities that will come your way but if you have certain time frames you need to keep in mind or “must-sees” on your list, you can keep focused while being flexible.  I emailed the Chabad House in Cordoba which is where I plan on spending Pesach, and I already heard back from them so that also gave me peace of mind as well.  Things are coming together and it is exciting! 

So I’ll arrive in Buenos Aires (BA) Wednesday morning please Gd and I’ll stay there through the weekend.  I’m hoping to have the occasional opportunity to keep this blog up to date and hopefully send some pictures, too!  I’ll do my best to keep the link posted on Facebook when there is something new, but if you are interested in being kept up to date, just click “follow” on the blog itself and you’ll receive an email with the content of the post each time I write something new.  I’m hoping to have fun and exciting experiences that will give me good fodder for writing material.  I won’t have constant data access and will be relying on wi-fi for the occasional connection, but feel free to be in touch by whatsapp or email and if possible I will be in touch in return.  I’m sure these next 3 months are going to fly by but it will be good for me to be kept in the know as well.

Next up, Argentina!  See ya then!