thanksgiving peace

I had really been feeling homesick the last few days, as the holidays are upon us. I speak with my parents on the phone regularly (anyone else who wants my # email me and I'll send it to you), but its especially hard not being with loved ones during traditional celebrations, such as Thanksgiving. There are a handful of American students here however, and I imagined someone must be doing something to celebrate the 'exclusively' American holiday, so I asked around. My friend Marina was planning on heading down to Sede Boqer (about 40 minutes south of Beer Sheva in the Negev Desert) to spend Thanksgiving with another American student couple (from Ohio)... and she invited me to join her! Although nothing beats my MOM's cooking, we went to an amazing Thanksgiving potluck meal, hosted by the BGU student council, complete with a TURKEY and stuffing!

Sede Boqer is home to one of the BGU satellite campuses, and is the location of Ben Gurion's grave. The campus is fairly new -- in comparison to the BGU main campus where I attend, much smaller, but an incredibly tranquil desert setting with desert plants, mountains, trails, and a canyon (similar to the Grand Canyon). The desert breeze and quiet community brought me the peace I was seeking in recent days, and most importantly, the familiar feeling of home (I often compare Southern Israel to the Phoenix area)... to cure my homesickness as much as it could! For just 12 shekels, I can take the bus to Sede Boqer anytime I need a little desert peace.

I am now back in Beer Sheva, and intend to spend the remainder of the "holiday" weekend here at home studying and getting settled into my new apartment (complete with pirated internet connection). I can now watch many news broadcasts such as AlJazeera in English, from my laptop... sitting on my "patio" just like I used to do from my deck in San Diego. I even have a nice little view from here... not QUITE like I had in San Diego, but every little bit of familiarity helps when you're homesick.