Yes, Tif, here is your update :)

Today is the third day of my two and a half week long vacation after just three days of classes.

Okay, yes, I do have class on Sunday, but instead of sitting through my Guerrilla Warfare and Global Terrorism seminar, I'll be flying the skies toward Istanbul, Turkey.

I'd been mostly bedridden the past two days sick with my third case of strep throat this year, and I was starting to get severe cabin fever.

Another month, another trip to the emergency room. But don't be alarmed. The only reason why it's the emergency room is because the normal hospital hours are impossible to catch especially during high holidays season. The emergency room of Terem hospital in Jerusalem does not evoke in me any horror stories like American emergency rooms. It's actually quite pleasant. And both times I've been there, the emergency room looked hardly like an emergency room as there were barely any people waiting, and the service was quick and effective.

So after three days of extra strength Tylenol, antibiotics, two liters of clementine juice I thought suspiciously looked too tropical to be orange juice, one ramen split over three meals, and two haphazardly delirium-induced peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I feel like myself again.

Yesterday was the end of Yom Kippur, and I walked to the Old City to visit the Kotel. It was really beautiful with everyone wearing white. Some people were fully decked out in white garments down to their toes. I kid you not, I noticed several people wearing white crocs.

I didn't take any photos because I thought the scene would be better appreciated that way.

Then, I walked back towards the Muslim Quarter towards Al-Quds University where I saw another hip-hop performance by G-Town where this time, most of the crowd were young Palestinians.

There was also an art gallery exhibition, in the basement of the building, which I thought was the most interesting art gallery venue I'd been to since the architecture of thousands of years ago eerily housed pieces of modern art.

It's been a quiet week. And I have yet to write those scholarship essays.

I'm adding a few pictures that I didn't think were important enough to go up on my Egypt and Jordan traveling post, but take a look at them:


We perched ourselves on a bridge over the Nile in Cairo one night to witness midnight traffic. It's pretty mind-blowing, huh?


Our extremely uncomfortable toilet in Petra to match our hobbit hole room. There was no physical way to sit on that...the right way.

Could you imagine this in the States?



A special thanks to my friends who called or who listened and as always gave the kind of advice only true friends could give.