Settling In

I find myself continuing to use this language "settling in" though I realize that my idea of "settling in" on an adventure like this is not so much settling into a place but rather settling into myself.  The yoga teacher who taught my first yoga class here said something along the lines of "the external is always changing, but the internal remains strong, in tact."  Today, a different yoga teacher said something like "it is not the destination that matters, but the quality of the journey."  So I am taking these pieces of wisdom; knowing and trusting that yes, the external is quite literally changing all of the time, but that I have a strong inner core that I can count on.  So too, each day, each moment is rich with experience and emotions (both the inner and outer worlds)  So I try to be present to all of that and not worry so much about where I will live in 2 weeks or what my activities will be for the following day, or am I exploring enough or am I learning enough.  As I remain open to each moment, each and all of these opportunities present themselves to me.  Here are some examples (for my own benefit, as reminders and for your interest).  On my first day in Jaffa I was walking down the street and a woman started talking to me in Hebrew.  I replied "Ani lo m'daberet ivrit"  she quickly switched to English and asked me where I was from and what I was doing here.  In the moment contact improvization was on my mind so that is what I mentioned.  I asked her if there was any around the area and she told me about a dance studio about 10 minutes walk away.  I went to the studio the following day and it has yoga/pilates/contact/this thing called "gaga dance" that I am excited to try.  I bought an unlimited months pass.  This morning I went to yoga, and this afternoon Pilates. Yay!!  I celebrated Shabbat with a mutual friend of Ellie's on a roof in North Tel Aviv, sitting on a couch eating salatim and making kiddush.  I met a friend of his who lives in Jerusalem and told me about some narrative therapy happening there!!  On Shabbes day I walked an hour back and forth along the boardwalk of the mediterranean.  The sound of Kadima (beach paddle game) and the smell of BBQ accompanied me. Last night I went out to dinner with an Israeli who I met on the plane.  We went to the old city of Jaffa and had fresh whole fish with tons of salatim then explored art galleries housed in old industrial buildings.  In fact, before we went, I said to myself that I would love to hear some music and see some art.  We go to the pier and jazz is playing and art is being exhibited.

So all of these wonderful things are happening and still I sit with the question of why am I really here? I think I need to just keep sitting with that question and continue to let the answer unfold.  It is NOT a comfortable place to live.

Much love to everyone.  Thank you ALL for your support leading up to this journey.

Stay in touch.

B'ahava,

shoshi