First Few Days

Hi everyone,

I've been here for 5 days. My sleeping schedule is VERY off and I'm writing this at 3:30am.  I've adopted a weird sleeping pattern where I go to bed around 10pm, and then wake up anywhere between 1:30am-4am and then return back to sleep around 6am until I need to wake up for the day.  I need to figure out how to fix it, tips welcome.

The first few days have been overwhelming, I'm trying to adjust to the time change, and figure out where everything is. I got my phone and internet taken care right away of though, and that was a huge relief. I sat in on classes on Thursday, though my official classes start tomorrow for the program I'm in, Mechina (the beginner program).  The week works differently here than in America, and we have off Friday and Saturday for Shabbat (Shabbat runs Friday at sunset to Saturday evening), instead of having Saturday and Sunday off.  I think it will take some used to going to class on Sundays.

For Shabbat this week, I was in Jerusalem and I stayed with a family in the neighborhood of Maalot Dafna.  I ate in Arzei Habirah on Friday night and then on Saturday in Ramat Eshkol.   My geography isn't so great yet of Jerusalem, but these neighborhoods are close together and further into the center of Jerusalem.  I woke up at 5am on Shabbat morning and I heard chanting and thought I'd gone insane. I later realized it was a Muslim call to prayer, which I heard periodically throughout the rest of the day ( I think they have a call to prayer 5 times a day)?

Shabbat was really interesting because in the neighborhoods I was in, everyone was celebrating it.  People were literally standing in the streets chatting, because they knew no one would drive by (on Shabbat, observant Jews don't drive). It is a very cool atmosphere.

Below are some photos I've taken since being here:

http://insightsfromisrael.shutterfly.com/pictures/8