21 Things I've Learned in 21 Years (Or the last three months)

In no particular order, categorical or otherwise, here are 21 things I've learned:

1. Sometimes it's okay to say, "I can't be here." People are bound to forgive you, and you're doing a good job taking care of yourself.

2. External phone chargers are the best thing on earth. Why didn't you own one before January?

3. It's okay to not educate some days. It's okay to not talk about things that you usually love talking about.

4. Walking out of a room when you feel broken and overwhelmed is not rude or selfish; it's self care.

5. Trusting people is hard but necessary especially when the people you usually talk to are at least an ocean and a 7 hour time difference away from you.

6. You will learn to cook. Slowly. But somedays you will say, hell, I'm making breakfast and dinner today; I'm going to pay for the darn 22 shekel (about $6.50) salad for lunch.

7. If you attend enough Jewish events, you can get a lot of free meals.

8. Anti-itch cream and lactaid are hard to find in Israel(although there is a lot of great goat and sheep cheese). Bring some with you next time. Also ziplock bags(although, if you're looking for those, you can find them in the shuk, supposedly).

9. Public transportation is not nearly as scary as you think it is. Also, smartphones help.

10. You should have listened many years ago when some of your role models told you that tomorrow is a latter day.

11. You will meet people who make your intellectual heart sing. Musicians, talmud scholars, etc. Listen to them and learn from them.

12. Don't be ashamed of taking medicine. Your body needs it.

13. Sweet potatoes are delicious. Why did you choose to stop eating them so many years ago?

14. Don't try to speak another language while you're exhausted. You will not be successful. Instead, you will be standing in the middle of Super Pharm(the Walgreens/CVS of Israel) crying because you can't remember the word for eyeliner.

15. Wine is a great host/hostess gift. Keep a few decent bottles around for that purpose.

16. Sometimes you will be acutely aware of your gender. Acknowledge that, let yourself feel it and move on.

17. Sharing your food will help you connect to people. Also hungry college students seem to like dried pineapple, so keep some of that in your bag.

18. While food does bring people together, so does dietary restrictions. Go figure.

19. Some people will be assholes to you when you talk about being sick. Well meaning assholes are still assholes. You can walk away from them.

20. Throw away the empty Gatorade bottles on your floor. Otherwise, you will in fact trip over them in the middle of the night and end up with bruises on both knees.

21. You are always learning and growing. It's about the journey, not the destination.