So, up until recently my decision to extend my stay in Israel came very easily, with little complications. For the first time it gets more difficult...
Two weeks ago I slipped on a stone staircase in northern Israel and broke my arm, got a temporary cast and came back to Jerusalem to have surgery at Hadassah Ein Kerem (the largest and reputedly most advanced hospital in Israel). I am fine now, I just have a bandage that I'll have for another week and then I'll get the stitches removed and start 6 weeks of physical therapy.
Throughout everything (including 4 nights in the hospital) I witnessed so much kindness from my friends here at my school Neve. Two friends changed their weekend plans very last minute to stay with me at the hospital before the surgery, and two friends stayed with me the nights after the surgery. They slept in chairs by my bed. It was unbelievable, especially considering I'd only known them for between 1 and 2 months. My house mother was at the hospital during the surgery, calling my parents to give them updates. I don't know what I would have done without all of them, really. I would have been so incredibly lonely and scared. I'd never been hospitalized in my life before, at least not that I can remember. And to be somewhere I don't speak the primary language...
I always used to pride myself on being independent. Now, I've had to relearn how to ask for help. It's been a very humbling experience. I am so grateful for all the support from everyone around me here.
If staying in Israel had been too easy I wouldn't have appreciated it nearly enough. I really believe that this happened in part to make me appreciate my time here even more, to feel like I earned it.
Anyways.... everything else here has been amazing. I love my friends and my classes and Israel. I am learning and growing as a person every day.
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