Julianna Spurlock - Footprints & Falafel: My Life in the Holy Land

This is a work of non-fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors excellent memory or are absolutely true-to-life. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is completely intentional.

Text copyright 2013 by Julianna Spurlock.

Cover photographs copyright 2010-2011 by Julianna

ISBN: 9781619276963

Spurlock/Zeev Kousnetsov.

Cover design copyright 2013 by Alyssa Goch

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by BookBaby.

To my beloved family.

To my esteemed grandfather.

But most of all,

to Joshua,

the love of my life.

In 2010, I embarked on what turned out to be the trip of a lifetime. I spent a few glorious months in the Holy Land Israel. While there, I blogged and journaled, I took pictures, I collected souvenirs and paraphernalia, I wrote notes to remember things. As is common after a particularly momentous journey in ones life, I felt the overwhelming desire to share my story.

So Im sharing it with you.

Come to Israel with me.

J.S.

October 2013

We all know that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Such is also the case with a journey of a little over 5,000 miles.

During the first few weeks of July, I busied myself with taking said step.

For some reason, I decided to start a travel blog. On July 4, I wrote my first post, outlining my hopes for a trip to Israel sometime in the near future. I can be a little shy, so I didnt really broadcast my online presence until much later; however, I faithfully published my thoughts, actions, and plans onto the yellow notebook paper of my WordPress theme, imagining that people from the four corners of the world were potentially enjoying my words.

During the first week of my blogs existence, I got continued hits and referrals from various alcohol/drug rehab sites, for no reason whatsoever. To this day, I still havent figured out how the connection was formed, but at the time, I was simply happy that people were being directed to read my travel musings.

As for the trip itself, I hoped to spend a few months in Israel in a total immersion program to learn the Hebrew language. My goal, of course, was to come back virtually fluent. Probably a long shotbut if you dont aim high, you will forever banish yourself to the wasteland of mediocrity.

Why Hebrew, you ask? Well, let me explain. Trust me Ive given it a good deal of thought. In my opinion, Hebrew is the language of G-ds soul. That may sound a little pithy or new-age, but hear me out. Obviously, G-d has a special attachment to the Hebrew language, since He chose to have the entire Old Testament written in Hebrew. I think Hebrew is G-ds native language.

Whenever I heard or read Hebrew, I wasnt usually able to understand it. Not then, at least. Because of that, I got that feeling like when my dad leans over and whispers something in my ear, but I cant quite hear him. My heart beats faster, I lean closer to listen again, and I desire to know what hes saying - I feel special, because hes talking especially to me, but also just a little confused, because I didnt hear what he said.

So it was with Hebrew. No matter the words - they could be directions to the nearest bus stop - it was my Fathers Voice. More than anything, I desired to hear and understand what He said. Like my own fathers whisper, my Heavenly Fathers Voice drew me ever closer, and I felt so special, because He was talking to me. Back in July, it felt like He was speaking too softly, and I couldnt understand or hear Him fully. But in time, His words began to reach my innermost being, and I am now able to shma - hear and obey.

But Im getting ahead of myself. Ive taken you to the end of the story before weve even begun! It all started in late May, early June, 2010. I was on Facebook, wasting time (as everyone with a Facebook account is prone to do), when a friend from Wisconsin popped up to chat. Having met her a year prior to that, and not having communicated much since that time, you can imagine my surprise. We had a nice little conversation, and she mentioned her plans to head off to Israel and spend a few months there, learning Hebrew in ulpan. Ulpan is the Hebrew term for schools that teach you the language. The moment I read that comment, a whole new world of possibilities opened before me, and I knew, in a momentary flash of pure, excited desire and uncanny forethought, that I needed to go, too.

So I said, Can I come, too!?

I was half kidding, half serious. Her immediate, affirmative response surprised me. She said she was looking for someone to come with her, and I saw how perfectly G-d had orchestrated our random conversation.

It was also very obvious to me that my parents would never agree to the whole idea. But I thought Id ask anyway, because Ive been told it doesnt hurt.

Before I had finished my first sentence about going to Israel, my parents were nodding and giving the plan their stamp of approval.

This is the perfect time in your life to do something like that, sweetie! my mom enthused.

I was dumbfounded, to be sure, but I certainly wasnt going to second-guess their decision. I told my Wisconsin friend that I had acquired the green light, only to have her respond that things had fallen through, and she wouldnt be able to make the trip herself for another year or two.

I think thats what they call death of a vision. But I bounced back, remarkably quickly, due to the fact that I realized I could just as easily go myself, without my Wisconsin friend. To that end, I started my research.

Initially, I was under the mistaken impression that there were a handful of ulpanim (plural of ulpan) scattered throughout the country.

Not so.

Rather, there appear to be hundreds, with special concentration around large cities like Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. I wanted to be as close to the City of Gold as possible; I had heard good things about praying at The Wall.

To that end, I started researching ulpanim in Jerusalem. Weeding through all the possibilities proved to be quite the challenge. One of the biggest problems I encountered was the fact that many websites were inHebrew, and since I didnt know the language yet, I found it difficult to glean any information from them.

After extensive research on helpful sites and advice from several wise advisors, I narrowed my choices down to Ulpan Milah and Ulpan Morasha. Both came well-recommended, and I decided it would all depend on the starting dates of their respective semesters. I had a very specific window of time in which I could travel, and the schools schedule needed to fit into mine - not vice versa.

The reason for this specific window was my sisters wedding. Earlier in the year, my older sister, Morgan, had gotten herself engaged to a fine young man by the name of Gregory. They were planning their wedding for the beginning of March, so I had to be home before then.

An important ingredient in this recipe was the travel companion. A young woman probably shouldnt be traveling alone in a foreign country especially the Middle East, and also especially if her hair is blonde. Therefore, I started a passive search for someone to accompany me.

The search started with my divulging my tentative travel plans to my friend, Danielle. Actually, at this point, I still wasnt quite sure about going to Israel, so my mother started the conversation. That happened quite frequently, toward the beginning of this adventure. Its because I dont like to mention things unless Im sure about them. I dont like to be wrong.