First Week of Classes February 28, 2008

So classes started this Sunday.  My first class, Arabic, was an absolute disaster.  I wasn’t officially registered for it, but I decided definitely not to take it.  My next class, Rapprochement and Coexistence was a little boring but still very interesting.  My classes Monday were really great as well.  First class of the morning was the Short Story of Shai Agnon.  The class is in Hebrew and it’s a bit challenging but really interesting.  My next class was a four hour class on the Emergence of the Israelite Monarchy.  It was somewhat review, but it’s only the first class, and the class is only once a week.  Next I had Belief and Ritual in Early Islam.  The class was really great.  Plus the professor is actually familiar with some professors from Cornell.  I then waited around on campus with some of my friends before the first meeting of the critical reading group for the honors program.  It was actually the worst meeting ever.  They wanted 20 people to coordinate their schedules to all meet at the same time.  So of course, we spent an hour arguing and getting no where.  Then the next day they sent out an email announcing a time which clearly didn’t work for me.  So when I went to speak to the director his solution is for me to meet separately with the discussion leader.  So basically I have to go out of my way in an awkward one-on-one situation and everyone else gets to listen to lectures together.

 

Tuesday was a really great day.  My first class was at 4:30pm.  So I had a really relaxing morning and was actually able to go grocery shopping for the first time in a while.    Wednesday was also pretty good.  I had my 8:30 class again.  Then I had a pretty long break during which I picked up my readers and sat outside doing some of my homework.  One really nice part about campus is that there are a lot of really gorgeous places to sit outside, which makes me miss Cornell just a tiny bit less.  Wednesday I also had the first meeting of my course on Iran.  It’s a three hour class but two of my friends are in it so it’s kind of fun.  Plus the professor is a really great lecturer. 

 

I’ll be in Jerusalem this weekend so I should be able to explore and relax.

Akko/Haifa February 23, 2008

This is kind of a long entry so please bear with it until the end. Or just look at the pictures, I’m okay with that.

This weekend, I went with five friends to visit Akko and Haifa. We all left Thursday evening after class. Half of us left on the 7:20pm bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, walked 10 minutes to the train station with our luggage, got on a 9:10 train to Acco, and finally arrived at our hostel at about 10:45pm. The owner waited up for us to check in and get settled. It was this really cute (somewhat dingy) family-run place. At that point the three of us were completely worn out, but we had to stay awake to explain to the rest of our group how to get to the room. Of course, they didn’t leave Jerusalem until about 10:30pm, so they didn’t get to the hostel until 1am or so. So we had to stay up, which meant not too much sleep for us since we needed to get up early to start touring. In the mean time, we went to this really cute coffee shop/hookah bar. It had a very Middle Eastern feel, with couches, Arabic TV, and everything else.

Friday morning we left the hostel at 9am, hoping to make a 9:30 train. Let me just say now, that did not happen. First we had to pay at the front desk for the night before (which we couldn’t do because the owner had to go visit people) and then Friday night. Then we decided to walk to the train station because my guidebook, which I love and follow word for word, said it was only 2.3km. Of course it didn’t give exact directions so we got them from the front desk. They were really great, except the guy we got them from forgot to mention one crucial turn. So we kept walking straight until we reached train tracks, which was almost helpful because we then just followed them to the station. We missed our train and then just hung out on the platform for half an hour until the next one.

We got into Haifa at 10:30 and our tour was supposed to start at 10:45. We got into the first taxis we saw, accepted their price without bargaining (an absolute no-no), and raced to the Bahai Gardens. The Gardens were absolutely beautiful. They took about 15 years to construct and cost $250 million. The shrine in the center of the gardens was built to house the founder of the Bahai faith about 100 years ago. That was also really gorgeous, but you aren’t permitted to take pictures inside.

Here are some pretty pictures:

They actually built the gardens right over a street.

Looking back up the mountain.

We wanted to go get lunch afterwards somewhere nearby, so we asked a security guard for directions. Again, we got directions part of the way there and then we just sort of had to figure out the rest. We ended up in the German Colony. We actually ate at a restaurant which was recommended by my guidebook. It was this cute outdoor cafe with amazing food, everyone actually agreed that they enjoyed it (which usually doesn’t happen). Of course our lunch took so long that we were again rushing to find cabs and get to the train station. We caught the last train north before the transportation system shut down for Shabbat. We made it back okay, walked back to the Old City, and went directly to the Market there. It was really fun, but quite a bit smellier than the Jerusalem market. There were a lot more fish stalls and a lot less ventilation.

After making sure we had enough food for Shabbat dinner, we all went back to the hostel to collapse. Half of us napped while other people hung out and went to find a synagogue in the new city of Akko. It was a really great nap. I neglected to mention before that one of my friends is the most ridiculous snorer. It actually would have been impressive if we all hadn’t been trying to sleep. So the nap was much-needed. After, we got up and joined a bunch of Young Judea year course kids who were staying in the hostel for dinner. They had their own catered meal, but it was nice to sit near them in the dining hall. Being with them did make me realize how much I’ve grown up from high school though. We found them all a little obnoxious. The real problem was that they were sleeping in the rooms to the right and left of us and the room above us. So we were surrounded by these people who were very loud, stayed up very late, and woke up very early.

Saturday morning we woke up at about 10am (after getting 11 hours of sleep) and started to pack up our stuff. We had to check out but we were able to leave all of our stuff in the hostel. The first thing we did was go up a ramp that was right behind the hostel. It led to the top of the wall and the ramparts where they put some cannons to replicate what it would have looked like when Napoleon tried to conquer the city. (He failed, for all of you keeping track.)

More pretty pictures:

A cemetery outside the walls.

Sitting on a cannon.

Even weeds in Israel are pretty.

The Al-Jazzer Mosque.

After a bit of exploration, we headed over to the tourist office to buy tickets to stuff in Akko. After a brief tourist informational video (which was kind of boring) we went to the citadel where the subterranean crusader city is located. It was kind of cool to see all the stuff, but we had more fun playing in the ruins than just looking. The exit is of course through the Turkish Bazaar. Though we didn’t buy any souvenirs, I did get some delicious fresh-squeezed orange juice. Afterwards we headed over to the art museum (nothing special but it was included in our ticket). Then we went to the Al-Jazzer Mosque. The mosque was absolutely beautiful. It is the third holiest mosque in Israel (although I can’t remember why). The mosque was followed by lunch in a sit-down falafel restaurant with probably the worst service I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, it was delicious and my falafel was incredibly fresh. After lunch we headed over to the Templar Tunnels. These were built by the crusaders to be used as sewers or as an escape during times of war. After the tunnels we walked out to the coast and walked along the walls near Akko’s lighthouse. It was a really beautiful view, and we had fun climbing around the crusader ruins.

Crusader City:

Notice I am short enough to still stand up straight.

Kefiyahs and Kippas on sale at the same stand.

Al-Jazzer Mosque:

Washing station.

Clock with daily prayer times.

Arabic: Women’s prayer section

Hebrew: No entrance to strangers (non-Muslims)

English: Don’t enter

Templar Tunnel:

From the Walls:

A jellyfish that died while we were watching it swim.

This camel was randomly tethered in someone’s backyard.

Children with toy M-16s…just what I want to see.

This clock tower has Arabic numbers on one side.

Afterwards we had a bunch of time to kill before Shabbat ended. We decided to walk to a beach which the guidebook said was 100m away. Of course before we walked 100m along the coast, we reached a gated area. So we tried to walk around it. After seemingly getting lost we asked directions of a security guard and he said it was just another three minute walk to the beach. Of course, the beach turned out to be closed during the winter, so we sat down for a while before walking back to the old city. The day before, we had noticed a little bit of shoreline next to the walls. It said no swimming, but it did have a few nice picnic tables. We sat there and relaxed for about an hour until Shabbat ended. At that point we went back into the city for a quick dinner. Then we raced back to the hostel, quickly called a cab, ran into the train station and pushed our way onto a train that arrived about 2 minutes later. It was the first train running south after Shabbat ended and it was incredibly packed. It’s definitely an experience I would like to avoid. Three of us were forced to stand incredibly close to one another. This wouldn’t be so bad normally, but none of us had showered because the showers in the hostel were actually faucets coming out of the wall in a room with a toilet. So it was slightly unpleasant. After that experience we got to the bus station in Tel Aviv and booked it to our bus, which arrived about three minutes after we did. After a lot of pushing and shoving (which seems to be the Israeli way) we actually all managed to get on the bus and we were able to save seats for everyone. It was a fine ride, but I’m definitely glad to be home.

Snow Day…Again February 21, 2008

Sunday after the Market was really fun because my roommates and I went out for sushi in Jerusalem.  It was really great, plus it was some fun bonding time.  Monday was a regular day of class.  A bunch of us are interested in testing out of our current Hebrew level, so we tried to get more information on that.  After talking with three different people and getting all sorts of different information, I sort of have an idea of how things work, and I’m not too optimistic about the possibility of moving up.  I’ll try but we’ll see.

 

Tuesday we had another snow day, it’s getting kind of old.  At first we all got a text message saying class would start half an hour later.  So I got up, showered, and got dressed.  One of my friends called to find out if I was still going early for coffee.  I told her I was going to wait in case they canceled school all together.  At this point I looked out the window to see that it was snowing pretty hard, and I wasn’t looking forward to trudging through that for 20 minutes.  Then literally right when we hung up we got the text saying school was canceled.  I then went to sleep until 1:30pm (this after taking a 3 hour nap Monday afternoon). 

 

I really didn’t take advantage of Tuesday at all in terms of studying for the final that we have on Thursday.  I did however plan out a bunch of trips with my friends, both weekend trips in Israel and stuff for breaks.  I’m also starting a West Wing marathon with one of my friends (who had never watched before today).  So this should provide a good and constant procrastination device for the entire semester.  When I got back to my room a bunch of my roommates were around and we started getting nostalgic about old school Disney Channel movies.  Then of course, Daniel and I did the talking in West Wing quotes and laughing thing while everyone else stared and laughed awkwardly at us.  The crazy obsessiveness apparently is awkward and ridiculous in all countries.

 

Wednesday was our last regular day of ulpan.  Absolutely amazing.  We also were able to work out the whole test taking thing.  A bunch of us are going to take the test to move up a level and then immediately afterward we’ll take the final for our class.  We all got together for a horribly ineffective study session.  The time was mostly spent doing impressions of people in our class and laughing hysterically.  It’s possible I studied more than I would have on my own, even if it wasn’t the amount I should have studied.

 

However I can safely say that studying was not crucial for these tests.  I took both tests today with one of my friends in the class and we finished both before most people had even finished one.  Of course only time will tell whether this was a stupid idea or not.  The way we find out our grades is very old fashioned.  Everyone’s student number is posted in order on a board with their grades next to the number.  Then it’s a mad dash to look yours up without revealing your grade.  I’m off to go take a nap now.  But we’re going to Haifa and Acco this weekend so I should have a lot to report and lots of pretty pictures.

Back in Action February 17, 2008

I’m finally beginning to feel better thanks in large part the antibiotics I got on Thursday. Friday night my roommates hosted a potluck Shabbat dinner. Since it was in our apartment I went (even if the food was a bit much for me). We had a group of ten people and it was a lot of fun. One problem is that we all always end up talking about ulpan. Part of it is that it’s a large part of our lives and we don’t do anything else. The other part is that it’s still the only shared experience we really have. Of course, most of the classes and teachers are so amusing, there are also just a lot of anecdotes to share. On Saturday I started my homework from the week, which turned out to actually be a lot. That and more movies and naps kept me busy for the rest of the day. Saturday night I went out to a restaurant with two of my roommates and one of our other friends. It was a really cute place and the wait staff were super nice. One thing we’ve begun to notice about Israel is the style of restaurant. In the U.S. you have fast food, bad table service places (think Chili’s or TGI Friday’s), a little bit classier restaurants, and then actual nice places. In Jerusalem, all table service restaurants are pretty nice, but really not that expensive in comparison to the U.S. Most of the places are also really small, so if we sometimes go places with a group of 8, we either have to wait a while or squish around a smaller table.

Anyway, today was my first day back in class. It wasn’t really that bad. Four of us had been absent on Thursday for a test and all needed to do a makeup. Our teacher allowed us to do it in class. So we used a leisurely hour for the test and then for some socializing. The only problem was when we returned to class they had learned an entirely new concept which we will now have to learn at home for tomorrow. We had another speaker today, this time on Ethiopian Jewry. It was actually a very interesting lecture. The speaker had come to Israel in 1984 with “Operation Moses,” and told us a little about the experience. Unfortunately, because it was at the end of the day, there wasn’t time to ask all of the questions that we had.

After class, we always all wait for each other and then walk back to the dorms together. And when we met up one of my friends had a package for me with her. (The mail system here is less than secure, it’s a very trusting country with some things.) So it was a nice treat to get a little Valentine’s day package (thanks Granddad). Afterwards we all went to the bank to get some money before going to Mahane Yehuda in the afternoon. One little thing about Israeli banks is that if you get out over 200 shekels it gives you 200 shekel bills, the equivalent of $55 US. Store owners and cab drivers get so annoyed when you try to pay using them, so it’s always a little argument. Mahane Yehuda was really fun. I enjoyed going today as opposed to Friday morning when it’s crazy busy with people shopping for Shabbat. I still can’t get over how cheap the produce is, and it’s really difficult not to just buy everything.

Next Sunday we start classes and I think I’ve finally figured out what I’ll be taking: The Emergence of the Israelite Monarchy; Islamic Revival and Revolution: Iran, Shiite Islam, and Society; and The Middle East: Rapprochement and Coexistence. I’ll also be taking Hebrew, or if I pass out of my level, Belief and Ritual in Early Islam and Early Settlements in Israel (from World War I on).

Just a note, I’ve been updating my google map.
Click here to see it. Be sure to zoom in using the satellite view.

And now for some pictures from the market:

One of many signs posted around Mea Shearim with this weeks Parsha and Candle Lighting time.

A Little Bit of the Flu February 15, 2008

Unfortunately I haven’t really done anything worth writing about in a while.  I just wanted to clarify that I hadn’t forgotten.  Instead, I’ve been really sick since Monday afternoon.  Which means I didn’t go to class for most of the week (which wasn’t horrible).  On the other hand, I’ve watched so many movies I’m beating even my own records.  Hopefully I’ll be recovered enough by the end of the weekend to go back to class on Sunday.  After all, there are only 5 days of ulpan left.

Being Sick is So Not Fun February 11, 2008

As the title of this entry indicates, I’ve caught some sort of horrible cough already. So while staying in my room trying to infect as few people as possible, I decided to do a little updating.

The end of last week wasn’t terribly exciting. As I mentioned before, we had our class on Friday. Of course by that point everyone was completely worn out from five previous days of class. We were all just a little crazy in class, and kept cracking up in laughter. This is partially because our 2 teachers both seem to be obsessed with one student in our class who is from Italy. Anytime we have a discussion about anything, they turn to him and ask if that’s how things are in Napoli. Instead of giving a real answer, he just makes a little grunt (as though he’s decided to pay attention and is asking what is said), sits still for a minute (thinking), and then says “yes, yes.” This literally happens about once every 10 minutes in class. Of course, all of the Americans in the class had just discussed this phenomena during one of the breaks. So from then on, the comments were even more amusing and all of us were bursting out into laughter (instead of just smiling to ourselves). We also had our first quiz, which was sobering, though not bad at all.

Shabbat was very pleasant. Cornell has a coordinator in Israel who happens to live about a 15 minute walk from campus. She is also the coordinator for Washington University. So some of the students from both schools went to her house for dinner. No matter how awkward these sorts of things are, the real food makes everything worthwhile. However, the dinner lasted four hours. At that point we were all sort of making eye contact with each other, silently prodding each other to announce that we were going home.

Saturday was incredibly relaxing. I was able to sleep until 2pm (which was amazing). I sort of puttered around our apartment for the rest of the day, cleaning my room and tidying up the whole place. Almost all of my friends were away for Shabbat, but it was nice to just be able to relax by myself. As soon as I sat down to homework though, I decided to take a little break and find out if people were home. They were, so I went to go hang out at their apartment. Then all of a sudden, we decided were going out. (This is sort of how plans happen. One person floats an idea, it snowballs, and suddenly we’re getting three cabs to go down to the city center.) We found some really great places which actually had pretty sizable Israeli populations. (We keep getting stuck in an American bubble). We got home pretty late, and of course, I still hadn’t done my homework for Sunday, so I had to get up early to do it.

Part of the ulpan program seems to be exposing us to Israeli culture. We’ve already had a lecture about the Hebrew alphabet and on Sunday we had a lecture on Israeli currency and the people on the bills. Not terribly thrilling but better than an hour of class. Today we had an hour of song time singing “classic” Israeli songs.

Last night a couple of my friends and I went to Ben Yehuda for shopping and dinner. Though I practiced excellent self-control, I couldn’t help buying 2 pairs of shoes (they were on sale, so it’s okay). After, we went out to dinner at this really excellent Italian restaurant. I got an interesting soup made of carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins; definitely worth trying to make myself when I have a real kitchen again.

Today was the first day of ulpan where some of us really started to feel bored in class. The students are all really great and the teachers are interesting, so the time usually passes pretty quickly. Hopefully today’s slowness is only temporary. On the other hand, we have less than 2 weeks of ulpan left, which is kind of crazy to think about.

Also today, my friend picked up my ring from Hadaya that I ordered last week. I’m already completely obsessed with it. It’s engraved in Hebrew with the words: “What will be will be, I will change, I will fulfill my dreams.”

First Visit to the Old City February 6, 2008

After class today I went to the Old City for the first time this trip.  We first spent a lot of time in the market that runs through the Christian and Muslim quarters.  It’s crazy how many things there are to buy, and haggling really becomes a sport.  A little less fun are the shop owners who start throwing you compliments in order to attract your business.  Though we promised ourselves we’d only spend 2 hours in the Old City, we spent that long just in the market.  After asking directions to the Jewish quarter, we made our way to the store Hadaya.  It is a beautiful jewelry store which engraves a verse or saying on jewelry (or really anything else in Hebrew that you want).  Everyone stopped to shop, consider, look through their book of suggested quotations, and finally buy. 

 

After finally finishing the shopping for the day, we headed through the Jewish quarter and to the Kotel.  It was, as always, an amazing experience.  I’m posting some pictures here of the view and everything else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                 

 

                                      

 

Ulpan and Academics February 5, 2008

On Sunday I had my first day of ulpan in the fifth level. The morning started off smoothly, but by the afternoon I really had absolutely no idea what was going on. I went again to go speak with the woman in charge of placement. I tried to switch back down but she was incredibly hesitant, reminding me that I had been bored in the fourth level. In the end, I got her to move me to the other class in the fourth level, arguing that with different students and teachers it really would be a different experience. She finally agreed but harshly told me that was the last switch she was making. I started the new class on Monday and while it wasn’t overly stimulating, it wasn’t boring either. Two of my friends are also in the class with me, so we were able to sit together and chat during down times.

On Sunday I was also finally able to go real grocery shopping. I got cook ware, plates, and utensils, so I can really make my own meals now. I also got a ton of fruits and vegetables, even at the grocery store they’re really cheap. I had a Jaffa orange and it was so incredibly flavorful. I really won’t be able to handle it when I have to go back to eating fruits and veggies in the US.

In the last hour of class on Monday we took a tour around the campus in Hebrew. The guide told us a little bit of the history of the University, while showing us different beautiful views. My friends and I went back today to take some pictures of the gorgeous vistas.

This is me at the amphitheater on campus. If you look in the background, the closer village is an Arab village while the farther one is Maale Adumim (Jewish). Just behind that is a range of mountains, and behind that is a skinny dark spot, which is the Dead Sea.

Here are some views from the top of the main building on campus. From the first picture you can clearly see the Dome of the Rock as well as the walls surrounding the old city of Jerusalem. The entire city of Jerusalem was visible from the top, but it was completely impossible to capture in a picture. So I’ve included some way zoomed in pictures of specific sites.

The 2 black domes are the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Dome of the Rock

After class on Monday we had an academic orientation. We were given a packet with all of the courses as well as instructions on how to register. Of course, the biggest problem was that they had canceled many classes. Since we all need to have each class approved by our home schools before taking them, people were not very happy. I’m also in the Honors Program for Middle East Studies. As a part of the program we have to take 2 honors seminars. There were originally four offered, but now there are only three, and two of them are at really inconvenient times. It looks like I might finally have some sort of schedule worked out, but we’ll see what my advisor here thinks. And regarding my advisor, as soon as the meeting was over, they had three hundred people rush down to one small easel to try and look up their advisor on the list. At least once we found our advisors we were already signed up for appointments, mine is on Thursday at 4:30. Which would usually mean that I couldn’t leave campus early to go on a trip, but because of the snow, they’re adding a full day of class on Friday!

After picking up what I hope is my last book to buy for ulpan, I was able to finally go home for the day. I actually made dinner for the second night in the row. Well, I didn’t really make dinner, I just warmed up vegetarian schnitzel in a frying pan, but it was more real than ordering out every night. I also had a pomello, which is this amazing fruit which you can find in the US, but they’re never that good. Pomellos are crosses between lemons, oranges, and grapefruits. They have really thick skins that basically have to be cut off, and the stuff encasing the slices is so thick you have to peel it off before just eating the fruit. But when you finally get there, it’s really amazing, I would definitely encourage trying it.

Today we had class as usual, and then an internship orientation. The orientation was interesting, and they have a couple of programs that I’m really interested in. Two of them are just think tanks. The other is with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. They said it was really competitive so we’ll have to see, but I’m very excited to start getting into the application process.

Tonight we continued on the eternal college-student hunt for free food. It was an interesting dinner, but a little bit too much of the indoctrination.  It’s weird to be preached to by a woman who is saying that women didn’t use to have intellect, but now they do.  That was just odd, and very off-putting.  On the other hand, the food was free, and much better than any of us could have made for ourselves.

Weekend in Tel Aviv February 2, 2008

We had another snow day on Thursday, so my friends and I left at 11am and went to Tel Aviv. We were able to get a Nesher Sherut (a shared taxi) from the gate of the dorms directly to the apartment where we were staying. Nine of us went to Tel Aviv, but only 8 of us stayed in the apartment. The apartment belongs to the grandparents of one of my friends, but they were in the states so were able to stay by ourselves. The apartment is decorated in an awesome 70s theme, and I’m including some pictures because some of it was just so awesome.

   

After dumping our stuff and airing out the apartment, we took taxis down to the . We went to this really cute place for lunch called Roladin, which has a bakery and a small cafe. Almost everyone got Roquefort and pear sandwiches (which seems to be a big combo here). I got this amazing salad which was absolutely enormous. We ordered a babka-like cake for the table which was also delicious. After, we walked around Tel Aviv, ending up on the beach. Even though it was chilly, it was really fun to be able to walk along the beach and play in the sand.

  

It started to drizzle, so we walked towards what I recognized as an indoor shopping center. There, we regrouped and decided we would go shopping. (A side note, it takes forever to make decisions with 8 people.) We then walked to Dizengoff Center, which is an enormous mall built in the shape of a spiral. You start at the top or bottom and just walk around the edge to reach every store. After an hour or so, three of us went back to the apartment to buy food for Shabbat and dinner for ourselves. Shopping was a real adventure. We received excellent directions to a supermarket right across the street, only to find the entire store had been gutted and the lights left on. So we asked around and found out that there was a super market about 1/3 mile up the road. After shopping (which also takes forever when 8 people’s interests are involved), we discovered the amazing delivery service which exists in most Israel supermarkets. It was only 5 shekels (only about $1.40) to have 300 shekels worth of groceries delivered. After quickly getting slices of pizza we lay down for a while, completely exhausted.

Then it was time to take another cab back to the city to meet up with the rest of the group to explore Tel Aviv nightlife. First we had a bit of a debacle because we couldn’t locate any of the places we had looked up in the guidebook. We walked a lot, and finally found a few places that were open. Of course, what we didn’t realize, was that in Tel Aviv, people don’t really go out until about 1am. None of us could even fathom staying up that late. We went back to the apartment and went to bed.

The next morning, one group got up at 8:30 to go to Yaffo and see the city and Arab flea market. The granddaughter of the apartment owners and I stayed back to sleep in because we had already been. We got up at 10:30, readied the apartment for Shabbat, and went out to meet everyone else. After a crazy taxi ride back to the city, we stopped for schwarma, which is delicious if i don’t think about it too much. Everyone else was still in Yaffo, so we walked around the center going into some of the stores, which were crazily hectic and a little intense for us. We didn’t get to meet up with the rest of the group, but everyone sort of split up to go to the Carmel Market and the crafts fair on Nahalat Binyamin. The crafts fair was really cool, there was definitely a lot of stuff we were tempted to buy, but we stopped ourselves at the last minute. The market was very similar to the market in Jerusalem, except much more crowded. They also had a lot of clothing for sale, and they even had a home security system for 50 shekels. We all met up to go home outside of the entrances to the market and crafts fair. There are a lot of street performers around at that time, some good, some not so good. There were also religious Jews, asking men if they wanted to put on tefillin, in many ways it was very similar to major cities in the US.

 

Friday afternoon I got picked up by a family friend to go their house for Shabbat. It was really nice to have a home-cooked meal (instead of something simply cobbled together) and to sleep in a real bed (instead of the pretend beds we have in the dorms). It was really great being able to spend time with them. The wife is Israeli and the husband is American, so I was able to speak in both Hebrew and English, with a great interpreter. Again they were very shocked with my Hebrew skills, which is kind of news to me. I mean, I know I’ve been thinking in my head that I want to improve, but I haven’t actually spoken to anyone Israel in over a year. But it was nice to sit and be able to speak without feeling judged if I slipped up a bit.

Sunset from the Balcony

After a relaxed day, they dropped me back off at the apartment. We waited just a bit while closing up the apartment, then the taxi came for us. The taxi drove back incredibly fast. We all noticed it. Many people were carsick and nauseous. It was absolutely crazy. Once back in the apartment I found out that some of my roommates had cleaned over the weekend, which was really nice. We also got a wireless router. Unfortunately, because my room is the bomb shelter, I don’t really get reception. I can use the wireless in the common rooms, but I’ll probably have to buy a really long ethernet cord to go from the router to my room. All in all it was a really nice, relaxing weekend. It’s hard to believe I’ll actually have to go to class tomorrow morning. I also really have to buy groceries. That will definitely be my first priority after class.