Living in Israel

As some of you may have heard, this afternoon there was a terrorist attack in Jerusalem next to the Central Bus Station, a place I have stood many more times than I can count. 20 people were injured, and one was killed. Last night at about midnight, we heard a siren in the mechina and we all hurried to the bomb shelter that we have inside of the boys' bathroom. There were a few katushot (small bombs) in cities close to the mechina, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, and others. It's scary to be in a place where it is possible for things like this to even happen-at home, I would never imagine something like this happening. Although it is terrible, it is giving me insight into what life can be like for Israeli families. Last night when we were in the bomb shelter, everybody was very relaxed about it and even took it as a joke. I asked around to see if maybe the reason people were so relaxed was because they were so used to it. For many people, it was there first time hearing a siren and going to a bomb shelter, but somebody else told me that he went to a bomb shelter every day for a month and a half.

I know that we are very safe at the mechina-it is unlikely that anything will hit us in the first place, and even if something came close, we are well protected in the rooms and hallways until we can make it to the shelter. However, there is fear that these attacks will continue, in which case I will continue to be scared to ride on buses (basically my only form of transportation here) or even go on runs outside of the mechina, because the bomb shelters will be far away. I remember talking to my Israeli family about 6 years ago, when the attacks were more common, and they told me that they did not let the attacks impact their life-it is not healthy to live in fear 24/7. This is something that all Israelis must deal with; even if there are not attacks in their neighborhood, the country is so small that everybody knows people around the country, so an attack in a place that is far away still has a high probabilty of affecting you.

After the initial stress this afternoon, when we all crouded around the TV and watched what was happening in Jerusalem, everything went back to normal. We continued to stay updated on the news, but other than that, we are going back to our normal schedule-leaving for Survival Week on Saturday (I think...they still haven't told us when!) My bag is packed so that I can leave in 15 seconds when I hear the whistle. Ahh!

Right now, we are in the middle of "Education Week," and all of our lessons are about education, which is one of the most interesting topics in my opinion! We have learned about problems in education in Israel, education for tourists, education in sports, education in agriculture, religious education, technological education, and much more. It's been inspiring me to think more strongly about having a career in education in the future.