I had no idea how excited I would be when I stepped off the KLM flight to Tel Aviv. I was practically jumping out of my skin as I walked on from the plane to the baggage area. The advertisements were the same as last year, and the moment I saw the first Israeli citizen sign, memories just flowed back instantly.
After getting through passport control, the baggage claim, and customs, I was greeted by a very happy (although tired) Ted (head of instructors), and then walked to where Amanda (year two instructor) was sitting. Noa (CEO), who was coming to pick us up and drive us back to Jerusalem, joined shortly. She gave us chocolate while we waited for Woody (year two instructor), which was a great pick me up. After Woody arrived, we drove to the Hebrew University campus in Jerusalem, where we'll be staying for the next week or so. We're moving on July 1st to some other apartments, I guess because it's cheaper to split the time like this? Who knows!
In any case, we got to our rooms at 5:30am here. We made up our beds and crashed shortly there after.
I foolishly assumed I could get up for breakfast, which was going to be at 9am. I woke up at 1:30pm, which was just fine by me, and after a shower went to the little restaurant on campus with David and the Y2 instructors. The meal was cheap by US standards, only 25 NIS. (The rule of thumb is to divide by 4, so 25/4 = ~$6) But, with a small stipend, I like to spend as little as I can from day to day, so hopefully the 25 NIS meals can be minimized. Besides, six shekel falafel is where it's at!!!
Following lunch, the Y1 instructors (minus Anna, who is arriving tonight) met with Ted for our first little year meeting. Froy gave me the MOST AWESOME BAG EVER!!! Good story behind it as well. :-)
After this meeting, everyone went to the MEET office for an intro session. On the way, we saw the Old City for the first time, which got me even MORE excited than before. I can't wait to go exploring in it again, hopefully tomorrow after a training meeting. But, that was not for this evening. Instead, we got to see the MEET office, including the new annex with additional computing space. Also, many familiar faces abounded, included Rafat, Yohanan, Areej, and Mustafa, along with a few new ones, Shira, and Sigal. Like the ads in the airport, and the old city's walls, seeing everyone excited me even MORE!!! AH! I'm just about to explode, for real!!!
I felt everything was more organized this year, and want to commend the staff on attending to my complaints from last year. We received a list of divisions of job duties for the staff members, as well as maps of the city. And most importantly, we got expo markers!! It's this really silly thing, but it totally irked me last year, when I was trying to teach, but didn't have markers or erasers. Hurray to Jon and Ted for lobbying for us!
After the intro, we went to Azkadinya, a restaurant in East Jerusalem which has become the de facto MEET kickoff dinner location. Rafat led us on a really “scenic” route, but the multiple u-turns were a good way to introduce the newbies to the MEET way of life... As for Azkadinya, it was delicious, and it was also great to catch up with some of the staff. Abeer even came, though I didn't get much of a chance to speak with her as she was sitting at the other end of the table. Sadface.
Other than that, nothing too exciting. Tomorrow, the real work begins!
Also, I'm going to be uploading all/most of my pictures to Picasa. I'll put up links for those interested.
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