So far...

Before I left for Israel I was in NYC and it was a gorgeous day.   Above is a picture of a little park in Downtown Manhattan...


Well....   Where do I begin?   I am looking at the only fresh water lake in all of Israel.   It's called the Kinneret.  Gorgeous.

I am going to be here till the end of the week and I am looking into moving here until I become a citizen.  That shouldn't take more than 3 months.  Besides the fact that it is so beautiful here, the reason for moving to a kibbutz for my first few months is that it is the right price/convenience.  I am hopefully going to rent a room here for about $750 Shekels a month.  Also, I should be able to get a job on the kibbutz while I am here as well.  This kibbutz's specialty is tourism.  They have a resort and restaurant where I could work while I am living here.  That would mean I wouldn't have to leave the kibbutz hardly at all, unless for fun.

After I become a citizen here then I will be eligible for significant benefits from the government.  The first will be to goto Kibbutz Ulpan, most likely on another kibbutz somewhere else in the country.  They are supposedly going to pay for room and board and language school for six months, and I will work part time on that kibbutz and goto language school part time.  After the language school is over I am going to go to a University here and finish a degree.  From what I have read the government will also sponsor me to get a degree here as well.  There are many Universities in Israel and many that I can get a degree studying in English.