Why yes, the corner of my room does have a section of the Mediterranean painted on it.
It is a lazy Saturday afternoon, of the very best kind. The heat of the day stifles movement and energy. A cold cup of coffee sits to my right and a good book is on my left. This morning, I cleaned my room, so a little order has been restored to my life. It has been two weeks since I stepped foot back in this land. There have been some rough moments, but those have been by far the rarer kind. More often than not, I find myself surprised by how much I am enjoying this new adventure. So what exactly am I doing?
Officially, my position at JUC is Administrative Assistant to the President with Special Duties and Responsibilities Related to but not limited to the Short-Term Studies Programs. A.A.P.S.D.R.R.S.T.S.P for short. Since abbreviating things like that leads to so many more questions, I usually tell people that I am the on-campus Short-Term Studies Coordinator for JUC. Ok, so now that titles are done with, what does an average day look like?
The bells of the neighboring church usually pull me from my slumber at 6am every morning. After an attempt to punch ‘snooze’ on the church bells, I roll out of bed and find the showers. Then I go searching for food in the dining hall. The students are served the usual three meals a day. As I live on campus, I can join them whenever I like, but I also have a key to the main kitchen. Occasionally 6:30 sees me using the industrial-sized kitchen to cook myself a simple little omelet. At 8 I open my office and turn on the computer. There are usually a dozen emails from our stateside office that I try to answer as quickly as possible.
Can you see the bell tower that wakes me up each morn?
My inbox often functions as my to-do list for each morning. Most of these emails are related to upcoming 3-week study tours that I am putting together. The first study group that I will see lands in the middle of October. Then we’ll have several more in January, one each in February, March, and April. At this moment, I am confirming reservations for hotels, buses, and the sites that the students will visit. While I am finalizing this next half year of programming, I will also be making first reservations at different places for 2012. Many hotels are fully booked 18 months in advance. Even if I finish up with the immediate concerns, I can always dive deep into the future for upcoming trips.
So that is most mornings. I try to get most of those details worked out before lunch. Once noon hits, I lock up the office and join the students in the dining room for lunch. We have an Arab cooked named Suleiman who takes care of breakfast and lunch. Today he made a great garlic buttery chicken thing. Soon I shall be fat. At 1pm I head to the main office where I get to run the front desk. This means I get to answer the phone, play with the copy machine, talk with students passing by, sell things out of our bookstore, and whatever else comes up. During these afternoon hours, I also look after my semester duties. I am responsible for the work-study program and the community volunteering projects that our semester students participate in. Each semester we have a group of 40-60 students who live on campus in the dorms. Many of these students are taking a study abroad semester as part of their undergrad studies back in the states. A few of the students are here for the two-year programs. There are two students from Oregon here this fall, so sometimes we get together and reminisce about things we miss from home.
Somewhere between 5-6pm, we close up the office and join the students for dinner. The evening hours find me rather lazy and unadventurous. Usually you’ll find me joining a game of Settlers of Cataan or a movie or a stroll into the new city.
First Shabbat in Jerusalem is always a perfect excuse for an evening BBQ in the garden.
In the cool of the evening Dr. Wright kicks off the semester by bringing the Psalms to life with short but powerful observations, connecting the written word to the land which we stand upon.
In all, I am really enjoying this new role in Jerusalem. Being a student was great, but this is something different…sometimes better, sometimes harder. I am sad to be away from home, but I am glad to be here too. Such are the paradoxes of life…
