Hello all!
The past week or so has been a week of firsts for my stay in Jerusalem so far! On Monday the 19th was my first day of Ulpan (intensive Hebrew class that I have for four days each week, for four weeks before the actual semester starts). I am in level Bet (the second of four levels) and I think it's just about the right place for me. My Pitt Hebrew education taught me a decent amount of vocabulary, but not enough grammar! We are learning the future tense right now, which is actually pretty hard! I have two teachers, Inbal and Daphna, and their teaching styles are incredibly different (they switch off so that Inbal has Mondays and Wednesdays and Daphna has Tuesdays and Thursdays). It's going to take a little bit of getting used to. Two days, I have class for only two hours, one day for four hours and one day for SIX HOURS! Luckily on the six hour day we have what's called on our class schedule a 'tour' but really last week meant an hour-long song session with this crazy conductor/piano player lady who taught us songs from a song book. It was actually pretty hysterical, and something that would NEVER happen at a college in America!
January 20th was a day I have been looking forward to for just about 8 years--the inauguration of our new president! Some friends of mine and I went to a student center that's near our dorms to watch the inauguration with pretty much only Americans. Obama is fairly controversial to Israelis who care about American politics, so I would say it was about 96 or 97% Americans that were at the showing of the inauguration and a couple Israeli students/people who work for the student center. I was pretty excited about the inauguration and it was an absolutely incredible sight to see how many people were at the actual event to witness such a monumental moment for American history. It was bittersweet to be in Israel for the event; I have never felt prouder to be an American than I did when I was in a room with about 100 other American students studying in Israel and watching our first African-American president be inaugurated, but I wish I could have taken part in festivities and viewing parties with my friends in the States.
On Wednesday after class, some friends and I decided to go to the Old City for our first time in Jerusalem thus far. We took a bus right to the Jaffa Gate of the Old City and just wandered around for awhile in the Old City. We went to the Kotel (the Western/Wailing Wall-the last remaining wall of the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem), ate lunch, and did a little shopping. Later in the evening, we went to this pretty tourist-y light show/performance at the Tower of David in the Old City. It was a pretty well-done projection/light show projected over the ancient architecture of the Tower of David, which in theory is pretty cool, but it was a fairly hokey 'history of the Jewish people' themed light show with a little bit of goofiness. I'm glad we went, but I don't think I will do it again.
On Thursday night, we went out on the town on Ben Yehuda, after having some roommate bonding time (Aliza, Omer, and me) and cooking a yummy dinner of pasta and a salad of fresh produce from the grocery store right around the corner from our dorm.
Friday morning, my friends Amy, Aliza, Helene, and I went to the shuk pretty early in the morning to buy flowers and delicious Marzipan rugelach (the most wonderfully delicious chocolate-y gooey pastry!) to bring to Amy's family's house in Ramat Bet Shemesh (a town of mostly Americans who have moved to Israel, about 30 minutes northwest of Jerusalem) where we were spending Shabbat. We had such a lovely time with Amy's family, who were so kind and welcoming to us! For those of you who know me well, they also had 5 little kids! That thrilled me and was a much-needed refresher from hanging out with so many people my age! Haha
We came back after Shabbat was over and my camp friend Tovah and I met another camp friend out near her apartment on a shopping district/restaurant and cafe-filled street called Emek Refaim. It was really nice to see her and to catch up, and I'm so excited that our stays in Israel will be overlapping for the next couple of months!
Another exciting week ahead--more to come soon, hopefully. Thanks for reading!! :)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The adventures continue... first shabbat in Jerusalem!
Shavua Tov all!
Our first shabbat/motzei shabbat in Jerusalem was definitely an adventure! On Friday morning, Aliza and I leisurely woke up and rolled out of bed after spending a night on the town on Ben Yehuda street on Thursday night. I spent time in my favorite place from this summer, called Egon, which was so exciting! We made our way to the Machane Yehuda shuk (open-air marketplace) to buy some pre-shabbat food to have in the apartment. Also, the shuk is known for incredible produce and just a fun and exciting pre-shabbat in Israel atmosphere. We bought lots of fresh and yummy vegetables with plans to make a big salad sometime during shabbat, and some assorted other things (dried fruit, some cute scarves, and the most delicious rugelach in all the world--Marzipan!!) and mostly just stumbled around the shuk, taking it all in. I have been to the shuk before, but never on a Friday morning/afternoon. After the shuk, we needed some caffeine so we got our caffeine fix from Aroma (a Starbucks-y cafe with delicious coffee) and walked around for a little while. We came back to the dorm and put our groceries away and decided that we needed to do some cleaning. Since we moved in to an apartment that was already occupied last semester, we inherited a good amount of pots and pans and plates and silverware, and also a HUGE mess. Neither Aliza nor I is a neat freak, but the amount of dirt on the refrigerator and lining the refrigerator shelves was just disgusting, and we decided it must be taken care of! So we chatted and cleaned for a couple of hours, in preparations for Shabbat.
Later in the night, we had a nice big shabbat dinner planned for us by our madrichim (counselors, but used loosely to mean 'advisors', basically) at a nice big hotel near our dorms called the Regency Hotel. It was a huge and delicious buffet line and a pretty large amount of people from our program went to dinner, which was nice. I got to sit with some new people that I hadn't met yet, which was really nice. After dinner, some friends threw an oneg and a bunch of people crammed into their apartment and ate, drank, and really had a good time.
On Saturday morning, I had heard that a couple people were going to the Conservative shul right near our dorms (just about a 5-minute walk). Since I hadn't been feeling well on Friday night during services, I decided that I would go to services on Saturday morning, to start getting a feel for what shuls were around the dorms, to keep my options open for shabbatot to come. I met up with a group of people and we all walked over together, probably 10 or 12 in total, and I thoroughly enjoyed services at this Conservative shul right near our dorms. Nearly everyone in the congregation was from America, having made aliyah to Israel some years earlier (average age: approximately 65). After services, there was a nice kiddush where the people from the synagogue came and introduced themselves to us and played some Jewish geography (someone always knows someone who knows someone, etc!). One of the women asks if anyone in the group of us likes to sing. Not knowing where she was going to go next, I offered myself up--that I'm in an a cappella group and school and I like to sing. So this 60/65-year-old woman coerces me into coming back to the synagogue at 5:30 to meet her at the shul so that I can join their synagogue choir practice for the night. I tentatively agree, hoping that one of my brave friends will join me!
After we got back from synagogue, some friends and I decided to go to a Chabad-sponsored Shabbat lunch, which was pretty absurd and ridiculous, but pretty interesting and a diverse crowd. Something that was fun to see, but we all decided we probably wouldn't do again.
I convince Aliza to come with me come choir time, and we make our way to this couple's house near the synagogue. The following hour and a half was pretty much the most hilarious thing I've ever witnessed. This 60ish-year-old woman, Penina, was so intense and serious about her synagogue choir of which she was very obviously the self-proclaimed leader and musical director. My favorite moment of hers was when she was warming everyone up and instructing the choir in vocal techniques and pretty much yelled at this probably 80ish-year-old woman named Annette "keep your chin down for goodness sake, Annette! Don't lift your chin!" Annette looked fairly frightened, and lowered her chin at once...
Aliza and I decided that it was a hilarious experience and we probably would leave it at that. They were a pretty funny crowd but the music they sang was melodic and pretty, but fairly archaic liturgical music (literally a Renaissance version of Adon Olam) that is pretty boring to me.
Then later in the night after shabbat was over, I went to Emek Refaim (a pretty popular street with shops and bars and cafes) with some friends and we just drank coffee and ate delicious (and beuatifully prepared!!) french toast and chatted for awhile.
All in all, it was a pretty eventful couple of days--and absolutely memorable! See picture below (if I can get them to work!)
(the disgustingly dirty fridge shelves. The people who lived here before us just left things open and out until they rotted and melted and oozed everywhere. GROSS!)
Yay! Reunited at last! A fun, relaxed hookah bar where we spent much of our first night on Ben Yehuda.
(Doesn't that look scrumptious?! It was delicious, and just the perfect amount of richness for the 5 of us to share.)
Our first shabbat/motzei shabbat in Jerusalem was definitely an adventure! On Friday morning, Aliza and I leisurely woke up and rolled out of bed after spending a night on the town on Ben Yehuda street on Thursday night. I spent time in my favorite place from this summer, called Egon, which was so exciting! We made our way to the Machane Yehuda shuk (open-air marketplace) to buy some pre-shabbat food to have in the apartment. Also, the shuk is known for incredible produce and just a fun and exciting pre-shabbat in Israel atmosphere. We bought lots of fresh and yummy vegetables with plans to make a big salad sometime during shabbat, and some assorted other things (dried fruit, some cute scarves, and the most delicious rugelach in all the world--Marzipan!!) and mostly just stumbled around the shuk, taking it all in. I have been to the shuk before, but never on a Friday morning/afternoon. After the shuk, we needed some caffeine so we got our caffeine fix from Aroma (a Starbucks-y cafe with delicious coffee) and walked around for a little while. We came back to the dorm and put our groceries away and decided that we needed to do some cleaning. Since we moved in to an apartment that was already occupied last semester, we inherited a good amount of pots and pans and plates and silverware, and also a HUGE mess. Neither Aliza nor I is a neat freak, but the amount of dirt on the refrigerator and lining the refrigerator shelves was just disgusting, and we decided it must be taken care of! So we chatted and cleaned for a couple of hours, in preparations for Shabbat.
Later in the night, we had a nice big shabbat dinner planned for us by our madrichim (counselors, but used loosely to mean 'advisors', basically) at a nice big hotel near our dorms called the Regency Hotel. It was a huge and delicious buffet line and a pretty large amount of people from our program went to dinner, which was nice. I got to sit with some new people that I hadn't met yet, which was really nice. After dinner, some friends threw an oneg and a bunch of people crammed into their apartment and ate, drank, and really had a good time.
On Saturday morning, I had heard that a couple people were going to the Conservative shul right near our dorms (just about a 5-minute walk). Since I hadn't been feeling well on Friday night during services, I decided that I would go to services on Saturday morning, to start getting a feel for what shuls were around the dorms, to keep my options open for shabbatot to come. I met up with a group of people and we all walked over together, probably 10 or 12 in total, and I thoroughly enjoyed services at this Conservative shul right near our dorms. Nearly everyone in the congregation was from America, having made aliyah to Israel some years earlier (average age: approximately 65). After services, there was a nice kiddush where the people from the synagogue came and introduced themselves to us and played some Jewish geography (someone always knows someone who knows someone, etc!). One of the women asks if anyone in the group of us likes to sing. Not knowing where she was going to go next, I offered myself up--that I'm in an a cappella group and school and I like to sing. So this 60/65-year-old woman coerces me into coming back to the synagogue at 5:30 to meet her at the shul so that I can join their synagogue choir practice for the night. I tentatively agree, hoping that one of my brave friends will join me!
After we got back from synagogue, some friends and I decided to go to a Chabad-sponsored Shabbat lunch, which was pretty absurd and ridiculous, but pretty interesting and a diverse crowd. Something that was fun to see, but we all decided we probably wouldn't do again.
I convince Aliza to come with me come choir time, and we make our way to this couple's house near the synagogue. The following hour and a half was pretty much the most hilarious thing I've ever witnessed. This 60ish-year-old woman, Penina, was so intense and serious about her synagogue choir of which she was very obviously the self-proclaimed leader and musical director. My favorite moment of hers was when she was warming everyone up and instructing the choir in vocal techniques and pretty much yelled at this probably 80ish-year-old woman named Annette "keep your chin down for goodness sake, Annette! Don't lift your chin!" Annette looked fairly frightened, and lowered her chin at once...
Aliza and I decided that it was a hilarious experience and we probably would leave it at that. They were a pretty funny crowd but the music they sang was melodic and pretty, but fairly archaic liturgical music (literally a Renaissance version of Adon Olam) that is pretty boring to me.
Then later in the night after shabbat was over, I went to Emek Refaim (a pretty popular street with shops and bars and cafes) with some friends and we just drank coffee and ate delicious (and beuatifully prepared!!) french toast and chatted for awhile.
All in all, it was a pretty eventful couple of days--and absolutely memorable! See picture below (if I can get them to work!)
(the disgustingly dirty fridge shelves. The people who lived here before us just left things open and out until they rotted and melted and oozed everywhere. GROSS!)
Yay! Reunited at last! A fun, relaxed hookah bar where we spent much of our first night on Ben Yehuda.
(Doesn't that look scrumptious?! It was delicious, and just the perfect amount of richness for the 5 of us to share.)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Landed
Hello all!
After miserable 10 hours of switched seats, being sandwiched between a chasidic, shomer negiah man and a very grumpy and unfriendly Israeli man and in front of a five-year-old whose legs are juuuust long enough to kick the back of the person's airplane seat, I arrived safely to Tel Aviv! Although the program has been incredibly unorganized and my camp friends and I who have been at camp as campers and then counselors could absolutely run it more efficiently, we somehow made it to the dorms successfully.
I live in a 5-person suite of singles with a shared kitchenette, living space, two toilets, a sink space (like for brushing teeth), and a shower. I came to Israel knowing one suitemate, Aliza-another American who I have a mutual friend with, so the three others were a mystery. We met one of our suitemates, an Israeli man named Sasha nearly right away. Aliza and I were incredibly put off by him at first, but Omer tells us he's just fairly socially awkward, especially in new situation. Omer, our other Israeli suitemate, was so welcoming and kind to us on our first night here. We sat down and had tea with him for quite awhile last night and really had a nice chat. The third unknown suitemate is an American girl named Casey who is spending the year in Israel and on her between-semesters break and will be back when actual classes start (we have four weeks of intensive Hebrew study called Ulpan before our actual semester).
So far, I have met so many nice and wonderful people in my group (not too many people I knew before the semester, but lots of friends of friends, which is nice) and cannot wait to meet more! I bought groceries for the first time in Israel, which made me feel like I was actually living here and not visiting, and walked to the school building from my dorm (quite a hike! might Since I'm still buying essentials (like a bedspread and eggs and toiletries) I don't 100% feel as though I'm not a tourist, although I hope this will change soon.
A funny story (which Aliza will probably kill me for writing!)--Aliza's mother gave her some shekels she had at home before Aliza left for Israel. We went to a restaurant called Burger's Bar--a delicious and pretty well-known Israeli hamburger and chicken sandwich restaurant--and we still hadn't had time in the day to exchange the American money we had been traveling with. But Aliza had the shekels from her mom! So we order our food and eat outside (apparently at Burger's Bar, you are supposed to pay AFTER you eat? We decided that would NEVERRRR happen in America!) and go back inside to pay, and Aliza hands the burger man her money. He makes a point to not only laugh directly in her face at the bill she hands him, but calls out from behind the kitchen counter another man to see what she has given him. Aliza's mom, so well-intentioned, had given her a 'Golda shekel'--money that the burger man said hasn't been used in Israel for nearly 10 years! They had a good laugh, and Aliza turned about as red as the ketchup on her hamburger. I think it's a pretty good indication of how we feel about now--most Israelis we've seen the past couple of days have gone out of their way to laugh at how tourist-y and American we look! Oh well, I'm sure once our Hebrew starts improving and we start to get the hang of things, that will change!
That's about it for now--hopefully more, I will have lots more interesting things to say than I do now! I hope all is well with everyone. And if you'd like to call me sometime, my number (from the US) is 011-972-52-613-6643 and if you're in Israel, my number is 052-613-6643. Please come visit if you're in Jerusalem! I can't say with confidence that I'll be able to show you around just yet, but if you come, we can absolutely get lost together! :)
After miserable 10 hours of switched seats, being sandwiched between a chasidic, shomer negiah man and a very grumpy and unfriendly Israeli man and in front of a five-year-old whose legs are juuuust long enough to kick the back of the person's airplane seat, I arrived safely to Tel Aviv! Although the program has been incredibly unorganized and my camp friends and I who have been at camp as campers and then counselors could absolutely run it more efficiently, we somehow made it to the dorms successfully.
I live in a 5-person suite of singles with a shared kitchenette, living space, two toilets, a sink space (like for brushing teeth), and a shower. I came to Israel knowing one suitemate, Aliza-another American who I have a mutual friend with, so the three others were a mystery. We met one of our suitemates, an Israeli man named Sasha nearly right away. Aliza and I were incredibly put off by him at first, but Omer tells us he's just fairly socially awkward, especially in new situation. Omer, our other Israeli suitemate, was so welcoming and kind to us on our first night here. We sat down and had tea with him for quite awhile last night and really had a nice chat. The third unknown suitemate is an American girl named Casey who is spending the year in Israel and on her between-semesters break and will be back when actual classes start (we have four weeks of intensive Hebrew study called Ulpan before our actual semester).
So far, I have met so many nice and wonderful people in my group (not too many people I knew before the semester, but lots of friends of friends, which is nice) and cannot wait to meet more! I bought groceries for the first time in Israel, which made me feel like I was actually living here and not visiting, and walked to the school building from my dorm (quite a hike! might Since I'm still buying essentials (like a bedspread and eggs and toiletries) I don't 100% feel as though I'm not a tourist, although I hope this will change soon.
A funny story (which Aliza will probably kill me for writing!)--Aliza's mother gave her some shekels she had at home before Aliza left for Israel. We went to a restaurant called Burger's Bar--a delicious and pretty well-known Israeli hamburger and chicken sandwich restaurant--and we still hadn't had time in the day to exchange the American money we had been traveling with. But Aliza had the shekels from her mom! So we order our food and eat outside (apparently at Burger's Bar, you are supposed to pay AFTER you eat? We decided that would NEVERRRR happen in America!) and go back inside to pay, and Aliza hands the burger man her money. He makes a point to not only laugh directly in her face at the bill she hands him, but calls out from behind the kitchen counter another man to see what she has given him. Aliza's mom, so well-intentioned, had given her a 'Golda shekel'--money that the burger man said hasn't been used in Israel for nearly 10 years! They had a good laugh, and Aliza turned about as red as the ketchup on her hamburger. I think it's a pretty good indication of how we feel about now--most Israelis we've seen the past couple of days have gone out of their way to laugh at how tourist-y and American we look! Oh well, I'm sure once our Hebrew starts improving and we start to get the hang of things, that will change!
That's about it for now--hopefully more, I will have lots more interesting things to say than I do now! I hope all is well with everyone. And if you'd like to call me sometime, my number (from the US) is 011-972-52-613-6643 and if you're in Israel, my number is 052-613-6643. Please come visit if you're in Jerusalem! I can't say with confidence that I'll be able to show you around just yet, but if you come, we can absolutely get lost together! :)
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