I don't want anyone to think that I am just coming to Israel to post on this silly blog, but since I have some time to kill while waiting for the water in my room to heat up, I thought I would just give some first impressions of the Yeshiva that I am at (first impressions are, I believe, the most important).

First of all, this Yeshiva is quite remote. I took the bus to Efrat with all of my bags (too many, actually), and got dropped off at what I thought was the Yeshiva in the middle of town, only to find out that it was a different one, and the one I am at is about 1 mile away (which wasn't a very fun mile, what with all 100 pounds of stuff on my back). The Yeshiva is on the top of a hill, with views of all of the surrounding valleys and hills, which include some lush farm land, as well as the major West Bank highway. The view is gorgeous---it's a mix of gold, green, and greys that are especially breathtaking around sunset. The buildings themselves are quite interesting: the main "Beit Midrash" (house of study) is made of the golden brick that Jerusalem is famous for, but the majority of the buildings are basically trailers. My room is basically half of a trailer, with it's own little bathroom. One thing that startled me when I walked into the trailer was how spotlessly clean it was; the outside suggested shabbiness, but the inside is almost immaculate. The only thing that could remotely be described as "not clean" is the mattress...which, compared to the mattresses at AEPi, is pretty much new.

More important than the physical makeup, though, is the people. There was a very aplogetic guy who is in charge and greeted me named Mikey Sunshine (*actual* name). Him, along with most other people, have been very welcoming, and suprisingly diverse, at least with regard to nationality. There are Americans, Israelis, Brits, Austrailians, Canadians, and New Zealanders---pretty much every English speaking country where Jews live.

Other than that....there's not too much to say yet. Don't get used to these frequent posts, as I don't plan on doing them so often in the future. Just wanted to let you know that I am here and that it seems like a decent place.

Question of the day: What is more satisfying: physical pleasures, or immaterial ones?

Best,

Michael