As the weather here got colder, my life went through several drastic changes as well.

I spent my first three months on Year Course in Jerusalem, staying in a multi-million-dollar hostel with 150 other Year Coursers, taking classes during the day and going out at night. There was so much excitement and so many things to do that I could rarely even find time to sleep, and my body and wallet were both about to burst.

Two weeks ago, I woke up in the familiar, comfortable confines of the Judaean Youth Hostel in Givat Masua for the last time as a resident. After a long day of packing, goodbyes and traveling, I went to sleep in the hostel’s polar opposite, the Mamsheet Camel Ranch, a Bedouin hospitality center in the middle of the Negev desert. Though it was only a two-hour drive from my old home to my new one, I was soon thinking, “Is this the same country?”

As I slowly got used to living at the ranch, the answer proved to be yes, but in a completely different context. The Israeli Jews here communicate the same way, raising their voices during what seems to be a petty argument, then immediately laughing and hugging each other. I still rarely understand what’s going on when people around me are talking, but now most conversations are in Arabic, not Hebrew. So many people still wear FOX sweatshirts, and the drink of choice at just about any time of the day is Nescafé.

Instead of simply jumping on the 13 or 20 bus straight from the hostel to go out with friends or get a good meal, transportation has become quite an ordeal. I have to get a ride to Dimona, the closest town to the ranch, and wait for a 40-minute bus to Be’er Sheva. From there, it’s probably another two hours to get to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

I see almost as many tour buses here as I did in the capital, but here tourists are not on those buses to see ancient holy sites; they’re here to go on a ride with camels, drink coffee and tea and eat shawarma, getting the complete Bedouin experience from genuine descendants of the Arab nomads who used to wander the Holy Land. When these unsuspecting people hear my American accent, it amuses me almost as much as it confuses them.

Since I moved to the desert, I’ve been asked, “Do you have any Bedouin blood?” And my boss was asked if he employed any English-speaking Bedouins. Day-to-day life is extremely different. Instead of waking up and going to class, I wake up and spend my day leading camels on tiyulim (trips) near the ranch, setting up meals, serving food and cleaning up trash. My free-time activities now include hilarious language-barrier-affected conversations with Bedouins and watching countless movies with my one friend living at Mamshit with me.

Although I will be isolated from the rest of the program for the next three months, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot and it will be an unforgettable experience. How many people can say they spent three months living with Bedouins and camels in the middle of nowhere?

Ben Degani is from Dallas, Texas, and will be attending the University of Texas next year. He enjoys hanging out with friends, playing ultimate Frisbee and listening to music.