Bauhaus in Pictures

I’ve decided to put pictures in this time, first of all because it’s much easier to show, rather than tell about, Bauhaus architecture, and also because when I try to email pictures home, my mail account screams at me and takes forever. There are also some cool Spider-man and rooftop photos.

As yesterday was Friday, which is the equivalent of Saturday, I decided to sacrifice my precious sleeping privileges and take a tour, under the auspices of the Bauhaus Center of Tel Aviv. This style of architecture, technically known as the “International Style” is incredibly prolific here, because the city was built in a culture and time when the architecture and ideology were quite popular. (A side-note: I’m being spoiled. I haven’t had real week-ends since … tenth grade, and the concept of not having to do anything is mindblowing.) In fact, Tel Aviv is known as “the White City” – pity there’s no resemblance to Minas Tirith – and as the Bauhaus Capital of the world. In 2003 it was designated a UNESCO heritage site. But what exactly is Bauhaus?

Entropy

Yesterday was interesting. I acquired both a bicycle and a roommate – two items that shall drastically change my life, albeit in different ways. After all, the two are slightly different: a bicycle is a machine; a roommate is a person. I paid for the bike; the roommate was free. The bike is of local manufacture (I think); the roommate is Belgienne.

Before I elaborate on either of these, I’d like to draw your attention to the sidebar (assuming you’re viewing my blogsite and not my Facebook feed. If you’re on Facebook, click on the “Imported From” link to get to my site. Ahem. Sidebar. Under “currently…” there are a few links. These are just five random stories from my RSS feeds that I thought share-worthy. I’ll be changing these fairly often – possibly every day – so enjoy. And check out the xkcd that makes a not-so-subtle tribute to Firefly.

First Impressions

Yesyesyesyes my luggage is here! Thank God! And thank you to all of you who have prayed for its arrival. I’ve had the feeling for quite awhile that I am here by the grace of God alone. So many answered prayers: essays in the middle of midterms, admission, finances, loans, tickets, luggage … and that list will probably grow over the semester.

Some notes from the last few days:

30 July 2007

Stuck in NYC.
Jamaica Center – Archer Ave. Bus Q5 to Target.

After realizing that my luggage was not going to make it in time, I had a bit of an adventure riding the bus through Queens in search of a Target, where I purchased two shirts, a pair of jeans, and a few other necessities. I guess I’d always thought of New York City as a glass-skyscraper, high-stress, busy-people-in-suits kind of place. I guess Manhattan is like that – maybe – but the Jamaica area is most definitely not. I may have more to say about this later.

31 July 2007

Well, I’m finally here. And I don’t know how I feel about it. Maybe slightly lost.

Fortunately most people I’ve run into speak a little English. And there are a lot of American students here, though I haven’t met any yet. In fact, there are some partying/hanging out (rev: actually just partying) on the floor below mine. I suppose I’m at a slight social disadvantage, not having come on the group flight and also having arrived a day late. Not to mention that I’ll be wearing the same three T-shirts for a few days.

My dorm room has a tiny kitchen with two gas burners, a tiny wet bathroom, a bedroom with two beds (with foam matresses), two chairs, two desks, and some shelving, and a balconyish area with a refrigerator and windows with no glass, but slats that you can flip open or closed. No air conditioning, so keeping the windows open for airflow is important. I also don’t have a roommate yet, which from my point of view is a good thing. This is where I go off on my little loner spiel.

The hallways are almost open hallways, with concrete blocks staggered to let the air in. Kind of like Lovett’s hallways, except that these dorms, two streets away from the university, don’t look like a toaster. Otherwise, it’s very humid right now, but not too hot, and there’s usually a breeze. More like Malaysia than Houston. We had wet bathrooms in Malaysia, too.

Other than that, need to get my mobile tomorrow. And find some people to hang out with. But shop for things like food first.