apparently it rains in the desert...

Hi - Here's a picture of me, Becca, and our madricha looking especially attractive on our hike last weekend. We were feeling pretty lazy and decided to not do the hard part of Mount Shlomo, so Dana led us down the mountain, got us lost with no phone reception, and provided an all-around amazing adventure that involved climbing back up the mountain we had just climbed down. Dana is currently cooking me and Becca dinner, and I have a spare 15 minutes before dinner-time to write about what's going on.

That's not a shadow on half of the mountains. This is the _____ ( I was obv. not paying much attention) where rocks that are 50000000 million years old meet up with some rocks from... today. It was awesome hiking along the mountains, going back and forth from the light rocks to the dark rocks.

I'm currently feeling a bit overwhelmed by life. I have 5ish more weeks in Israel (the countdown has begun) and I'm not sure how I feel. Israel and Be'ersheva are home. My friends and madrichim are family. I have a new way of dress (and it's pretty comfy), a new diet (of weekly falafel b'pita and daily 1.5 shekel coffee), and a new schedule (where waking up at 7:30am everyday is OK). Am I ready to leave this? Am I ready to go back to the "empty nation" that I call "home"? I miss my family and friends. I miss Brandeis. I miss crazy Boston weather (not that I don't love the weather here). I (kinda) even miss Los Angeles. But won't I miss Israel even more?

While in Eilat, I found out that Los Angeles and Eilat are sister cities. When I think about having to leave Israel, I'm somewhat comforted knowing that I'll be back soon. I know how much some people hated hearing that I was planning on making Aliyah when I feasibly could do so. It's time to get used to the idea. I'm straddling two very different worlds between the States and Israel. It's true, I occassionally feel awkward in Israel, not knowing the language (at least, not knowing it well enough to know when my roommate's boyfriend is asking if I want anything from the merkolet), but don't I feel like the same pangs of an outsider in the States? I still haven't quite figured out myself.

You can't really tell from the picture, but these clouds had formed a big circle around downtown Be'ersheva. I thought it was pretty cool. Dinner's ready.

long time no... blog

i didn't have high expectations for my blog when i first set it up... i'm just not very good at keeping a "journal" type thing. but, it's november, and that's pretty worthy of an update on my life here in the holyland.

i'm beginning to freak out that i leave in less than 2 months. don't get me wrong - i miss all ya'll in the states HARBEH (a lot) but i'm not necessarily ready to leave my new home here in b7 (be'ersheva). israel feels just as home as the states, maybe even more... no worries though, when it's time, i'll get on the plane and come back to you guys...but only because i'll be back in israel soon enough

midterms have started and i'm super busy keeping up with readings and homework and writing papers and studying for tests. no worries though - i still make sure to have a *little* fun (like in the picture - rachel and i took some time off from hebrew homework to practice wearing our hair modestly) but i'm not on a *total* vacation as my mom likes to put it. i go to more class here than i will be next semester. i'm rocking 6 classes - 6!! (at the end of the add/drop period i decided to also take Representing "Home": America, Israel, and Jewish Identity - it's a literature class that i'm loving). instead of the internship, i'm tutoring high schoolers in english once (maybe twice) a week. and, i'm still doing my fellowship with Rabbi Eli and Chana. so basically, i'm busy. but i love it.

i went to 2 amazing concerts this last week - din din aviv at the dorms and shuti ha'navuah in b7's old city. din din aviv was fun - she sang some of the popular music that i hear on the radio. shuti ha'navuah was AMAZING and i'm kinda in love with them. super innovative, yet super nerdy. i need to steal their music from someone.

ma od? it rained for the first time since i've been here. for those of you not up to date on weather here in b7, i'm still wearing tank tops and flip flops everyday. yup, i know you all hate me. sometimes i wear a sweatshirt or scarf. but only because it's really cold in my classes and their fashionable. :) the 1 day of rain was preceded by a week of lighting storms that were SUPER cool to watch. i'd never seen lighting minus rain, so it was fun going power walking with rachel and every now and then seeing a burst of light. the rain was exciting too, but i like my sunny days.

i can't think of what else i wanted to write about in my blog.. but i'll leave you with some inspirational words from rabbi eli - (i'm probably getting this totally wrong)

the essence is in the name. egypt=mizra'im=constrained. america=am ri'ca= empty land. canada=can nee'dah=menstruating woman.

yallabye!

Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from the Deutsch Family...

Lots of interesting stuff to share with you guys. I'm running on very little sleep after a VERY busy day, but since I don't want to go to sleep with wet hair (I don't need to get even sicker), I figured I'd take a few minutes to share all this cool stuff. Also, please consider the fact that this are just my observations - I'm not taking any of this to be true - so please correct me or give me your own opinion:

1. you know the evolution vs. creation debate? ya, not necessarily 2 seperate things. On the 5th day G-d creates the fishes and animals and such. But the translation (according to the Tanach I was using earlier) says "Let the waters teem with teeming living creatures". The animals that G-d creates come from the waters, just as evolution (from what I remember from science class) says all living organisms evolved from the water.

2. some number stuff - the Jews walked for 40 years in the desert, Noah's Ark floated along for 40 nights, and every time Moses went up the mountain to chat with G-d, he was up there for 40 days at a time. Why? Because 40 days is how long it takes for a metamorphoses. And 3 days (seen in the Jonah story and the Akidah) represents the amount of time needed to make a decision.

3. The story of Jonah is read on Yom Kippur. What was Jonah swallowed by? Nope! Not a whale, but a FISH! A really big FISH! For those not up to date on the story, Jonah is told to make his prophecy to a group of people, and he's like "No Thanks, I'd rather not" and G-d is like "haha, that's what you think" and the story is spent with Jonah acting out against G-d trying to go against G-d, but fulfilling G-ds wishes "accidentally" (cuz, you know, G-d is like, totally in charge when it comes down to it). The story itself is written really crazy with all these parallels and when you're done reading it, you're like "so how am i supposed to believe that Jonah was actually hanging out in the belly of a fish for 3 days?" And "why are the animals repenting and wearing sackcloth and fasting with the people?" WELL, you know how G-d said Jonah was going to have to make a prophecy? He does! By writing this story! In the end he does his prophecy through his story that teaches us that we can't run from G-d, and that in the end, G-d can forgive us.

4. Did you ever thing about how much Pinnochio is like the story of creation / Jonah? Gepetto (G-d) creates Pinnochio (Adam) out of wood (something from the earth). Pinnochio is swallowed by the whale (FISH) (Jonah reference). Pinnochio is saved by Gepetto (G-d) and is turned into a real boy (given a soul). Cra-zy!

5. In the Tanach, right after the Shema comes the Ve'ahavta. So where does that second line come from? (You know, Baruch shem k'vod...) Moses stole that line from the angels! So, technically, when we say the Shema we're supposed to whisper the second line. Only on Yom Kippur, when we're allowed/supposed to act like the angels (a longer story) do we get to say the second line just as loud as the first!

6. Now, the best part. How do dinosaurs fit into the Tanach?? When you read the english translation it says something along the lines of "big creeping creatures" were created on the 5th (?) day. Apparently, the word (in transliteration) hit-ni'nim really means something more like LIZARDS. That means, giant lizards aka DINOSAURS were created on the 5th day. And I was trying to figure out how it works, like, when do the dinosaurs die and such (because they obv have to die before adam is created) and scholars translate a "day" to really be more like "millions of years", THEREFORE the dinosaurs could've been killed off sometime between the 5th and 6th day.

Wow I amuse myself to no end.....

Ulpan Final Tomorrow

so obviously i'm avoiding it and rather than study i'm playing with the internet :)

i sent out my weekly update yesterday but forgot to mention a very special person who has just entered my life... my new suitemate! and she's definitely special... in that clean-freak way.. she came to visit the apartment on sunday and i could immediately tell that she was judging it... BARUCH HASHEM i swept the floor earlier that day... she peeked here and there, looking in the fridge and the bathroom... i couldn't really "get" her in those few minutes, but i definitely knew something was up...

she started moving things in yesterday (monday) and was very concered with what was mine and what wasn't... she wanted to know what was mine so that she could throw EVERYTHING else away... everything... luckily i saved most of the pots and utensils... she also started planning out the new kitchen... as in where to put the microwave (because if we just put it on the table, it would get oil on it from the stove top... ??!?!?!)... i mean, i have no complaints about now being in possession of a microwave and sandwhich maker... but i'm almost afraid to use them!

in the last 24 hours she has washed the floors, bleached the kitchen sink and whole bathroom, scrubbed the refrigerator, and thrown out everything i didn't claim... and that's just in the common area... who knows what else she did in her own room or while i was gone.... did i mention that as soon as she entered the apartment she put on those yellow rubber gloves?? and, when i got back from Torah study tonight, i came back to find my toothbrush/toothpaste/floss/eyeliners all in their own separate plastic bags next to the sink.

of course, since i'm a horrible person, i made sure not to clean up the 2 foot prints i left when i got out of the shower.... it's going to be a *FUN* semester :) :)

Dance Party

It's nice to finally be spending a weekend here in Be'ersheva!! After class and leftover pizza lunch, Rachel and I hit up the pool for some swimming/tanning/relaxing. Got some AMAZING falafel with her and Becca at this little place on the other side of campus. We caught the guy right before he closed and he took out a table and chairs for us and made us food. 14 Shek for falafel and a drink. Such a fantastic deal, and it was definitely the best falafel I've had so far in Israel. We watched some Sex and the City and when Scott and Amanda joined us we put together a dance party. Made drinks, turned off the lights, and danced like crazy people. Between me and Becca we had enough amazing music to put-together a really fun dance mix. Eventually we were also joined by Alex and Brodie. Such a fantastic (and tipsy) night. This morning Dotan (my madrich) woke me up to ask if I could go get Alex's phone from outside. Normally I would've not been ok with that, but Rachel called 5 minutes later to wake me up and get my ass to the pool. Quick trip to the merkolet (small, but decent, market in my dorm) to get food for shabbos dinner. Pool for a few hours where I got burneddddddddd. Still fun. 20 minutes in the sun. Jump in the pool. Swim. Lay out next to the pool. Back in the pool. Out in the sun. Repeat. I definitely kept re-applying sunscreen, but apparently not enough. Just finished making a salad and some guacomole for shabbos dinner. Found some frozen borekas in my freezer that I need to cook at Rachel's place. After Shabbos we're going to try and go to a dance bar. Sweeeeet. Tomorrow I *need* to do laundry. Or I could just hippy it. Hmm.

Yallabye.

the email i sent everyone earlier, cut and pasted

Things are really getting busy here in Be'ersheva. It's so shocking that I've already been here almost a month. It definitely FLEW by. At the same time it feels like I've been here forever, but I think that's just because I'm so used to living here. Here goes on my account of the last week:

Monday: Ulpan. Weekly lecture by Rabbi Eli, entitled "Conscious Living." In summary, everyone has a potential in their life; a personal, independent potential. No one can dictate what that potential is other than yourself. The lecture topic led a few of my fellow fellowship-ers to question Eli on their potential as Jews, asking if because they were less religious, were they also less Jewish? Eli did a good job of really emphasizing that it doesn't matter how Jewish you are, as long as you are fulfilling your own personal potential. After Eli's lecture, I went to a school sponsored lecture on the History of Female Rabbinic Ordination by a woman named Elisa Klapheck. The lecture was really more about this woman, Fraulein Rabbiner Jonas, who was the first ordinated Rabbi in the early 20th century. She was a German woman who wrote a thesis on whether it was possible for a woman to be a rabbi, and she used all the sources, such as Talmud/Gemorrah/Bible/etc to prove her case. When the Nazi's came, she was taken to Auschwitz where she continued giving sermons within the camp. *VERY* interesting story, and her biography (by Elisa Klapheck) is available - it's entitled "Fraulein Rabbiner Jonas" If you buy it, save it for me so I can read it too!!!

Tuesday: Ulpan. I met with Shlomo (the head of the Overseas Program here) about the semester/my courses/etc. Decided to sign up for Politics and Public Policy of Israel as my 4th class, and I'm going to look in on the other classes the first week to see if there's a different one I'd like to take, since we have a "shopping period." It also looks like Shlomo might have found me an internship with an art history professor which is SUPER exciting. I haven't been able to meet with him yet because he keeps cancelling on me, but hopefully tomorrow? Ended the day with by far the best movie ever - Casablan. An Israeli musical from the 70's. But seriously, this is a MUST SEE, if you can find it. If you can, my birthday is May 11, but Hanukkah is sooner.

Wednesday: Ulpan. I met with Rose Weinberg, the Israeli representative for Brandeis. She took me out to lunch (and said it was on Brandeis's money - even better!) and we talked about how I'm doing/whether I'm happy or not (I am!). She knows Mom's cousin Yosi Aronson because they lived in the same building - YAY JEWISH GEOGRAPHY! The OSP group went on a tour of Be'ersheva. The city is actually HUGE and some areas are really really REALLY nice. I took lots of pictures. I also found the Negev Art Museum and I'm hoping to go soon! After the tour we walked around, went to a street festival, and got ice cream. It may sound weird, but I got poppy-seed ice cream (it looked like cookies and cream) and it was actually *really* delicious.

Thursday: Ulpan. Bus with my friend Rachel to Jerusalem. The group was going to Jerusalm on Friday but we went a day earlier to visit with her friend in the city and go out. On the way to Jerusalem (actually, right outside of Jerusalem) our bus broke down. We had to jump on another bus headed to the central bus station. On our bus was a group of Americans involved with Otzma. One of the girls just graduated from Brandeis and was headed to Lauren Apfelbaum-Miller's place (for those of you out of the loop, I worked at Phonathon with Lauren). Israel is just super cool. Rachel's friend is renting/house-sitting in the German colony which is really nice. The friend and roommate were super cool and we had fun going out to dinner and the bar.

Friday: Taxi-ed to Yad Vashem to meet up with my group. The museum was re-done a year or 2 ago, and it's much more powerful now. Our tour guide was very good, but unfortunately we didn't have too much personal time to go through the exhibits at our own pace. After the museum we went to Armon Hanaziv (I think that's where Mika had her Bat-Mitzvah?) to eat lunch. Then we went to the Old City where we walked around and saw the basics like the Cardo. After a brief visit at the Kotel, a few of us went to the Armenian Quarter to shop/explore. I bought a really beautiful tapestry for my room for cheap from a guy and his uncle who were SO nice and SO funny. I got my haggle on and got the price down from 400 NIS to 100. Not too shabby. Later in the afternoon we met up with Rabbi Eli who showed us where we were staying - the Heritage House (free, Jewish hostel in the Old City). Really nice for what it was, and of course, the men have their own "House" down the street. We showered, hung around, and then went to the Kotel for Shabbos. Not that great on the women's side so a few of us tried to join in on the men's side (from the other side of the fence). For dinner we were separated into small groups and taken to the homes of Jewish families in the Old City. 2 other OSP kids and I went to the Klein family for dinner. A really nice couple with a cute little boy who was asleep on the couch the whole time. The husband is American and the wife is Swedish and she looked about half his age. They did something I haven't seen yet in the more religious group which is after the husband blessed the son and wife, the wife then blessed the son and the husband! WHOA! And THEN, right before the meal, the husband spontaneously started talking to his wife, having a somewhat personal moment, where he told her, in his very breathy quiet voice, that if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't breathe, and that he is so thankful for her, etc etc. And then she did the same back. Random, but really nice. Ate some really good food, of course. Passed out once I got back to the hostel.

Saturday: Woke up early (the Hostel kicks everyone out to pray at 10:3am) and went back to the Kotel. I was able to spend a little bit more time. Lunch at Eli's place in Jerusalem. Lots of fun. Siesta time back at the hostel where I got to take a nap before a lecture by one of the most famous Rabbi's in the Old City right now, Rabbi Aba Wallens-something? *GREAT* lecture on Tradition vs. Self Realization. He talked about how there are Jews who are Jews because that's what tradition taught them, and there are Jews who find Judaism for themselves, and that, to be a successful Jew, you need to have both. Really fascinating and thought-provoking, and true. It's really not enough to say you celebrate Shabbat or wear Tefillin because that's what your father did, and his father before him. Finished off Shabbos with dinner at Eli's and Havdallah. Hung out in the Old City while we waited for our Sherut (shared taxi) back to Be'ersheva. After this trip, I really feel like I know the Old City like the back of my hand. It's a complete maze, but I know a large portion of it now.

Sunday: Ulpan. Hung around doing nothing since I had spend a good deal of money over the weekend. Rather than go out with the group, a few of us stayed behind. One girl and I made a rice with beans/peppers/other assorted random vegetables that came out tasting really good and CHEAP! haha). After, I exposed a few of the other kids to the wonders of the documentary THE ARISTOCRATS! I gave them the disclaimer that it's really really really REALLY offensive, but for the most part they loved it as much as me. (Only one guy couldn't handle it and left)

I'm not up to date on what's going on politically in Israel, but just to show that you never know what's going to happen in Israel, I have two examples from the weekend. Thursday ( I believe ) the beach I went to in Ashkelon the previous weekend was hit by a rocket from Gaza. Thursday night while I was on Ben Yehuda street, the police had to block off a street so that they could safely blow up a bag that had been left behind the street. The area blocked off was the street right in front of the hostel that I stayed at when I was in Jerusalem 2 weekends ago.

Yallabye

courses!

ok, so i have to start thinking about what courses i'm going to take this fall and i need some help. originally, on the bgu website, the course guide offered about 30 or 40 courses for the semester. we've been offered 9 courses to choose from. i guess they're trying to make it easier for us to choose?? actually, i'm kinda upset since there were some really interesting courses that i wanted to take that i no longer can. but, anyways, here's what i'm thinking:
1. Archaeology and the History of Israel
2. Visual Culture in Ancient and Medieval Judaism
3. Faith and Reason in Jewish Philosophy
4. this is where i need help. should i take:
a. Critical Decisions in the History of the State of Israel
b. Terrorism and Guerilla Warfare in the International Arena and the Middle East
c. Medical Ethics in teh Jewish and Israeli Legal Systems
d. Environmental and Natural Resources Policy in Israel and the Middle East
e. Politics and Public Policy in Israel
Thanks for your help!!!!

too tired to write an email to everyone so thought i'd just do a quick update on the last few days on here... yesterday i woke up at 6:30am to drive up north (not *that* north) to an ecological farm. while i don't believe in waking college students up that early for any reason, it was a fun day. at the ecological farm we learned what they're trying to do as an ecological farm. basically they're trying to be as self-sufficient as possible while living as close to the land as they can. all their buildings are built out of natural materials ( like, mud bricks) and they use recylable goods (plastic bottles/bags/etc) as insulation for their buildings. we got a tour of the farm and vegetables. because the vegetables are grown without pesticides or crap like that we could eat the vegetables right off the vine, so to speak. got to try some really good peppers and tomatoes. also learned how to make mud bricks out of dirt/clay/water/hay. ended up with mud all over my face/clothing. SUPER fun. made our own pita and our own spices to go with and also made some incense. totally awesome farm.

after the farm we went to ashkelon to go to the beach there. AMAZING. the sand was soooo clean (someone was shocked to see glass shards and i was like - what? you think a few pieces of glass are bad?) and the water was totally warm and clear. i could see the ground under me while i was in the water!! the tide was super strong and eventually i got out and layed out on the beach in the sun and listened to the ipod. so relaxing and wonderful.

today was mostly uneventful. did homework outside on the grass. went to the gym. potluck dinner upstairs followed by some music/guitar playing/eukulele. then some project runway. now i can't stop coughing. LAMEEEEE

tomorrow should be eventful and email worthy since i have both academic orientation and volunteer orientation.

lailah tov

So, you know that roommate I never saw or talked to?? Well, it turns out that she's moving out... tomorrow morning... and it looks like she's taking all those beautiful pots and pans with her... DAMN IT! Apparently I have to go shopping tomorrow to buy myself those basics... a plate... a pot... a frying pan... what a bummer

Funny enough, the conversation we just had, where I asked if she was moving out and she said she was going home tomorrow morning... that was our longest conversation in the 2.5 weeks i've been here...

I Can Do Laundry!!

It happened... I finally ran out of clothing and *needed* to do laundry asap today. Went to a lecture/discussion thingy at the Student Center led by Eli titled "Judaism on Joy and Depression." I also found out more on the fellowship that I'm hoping to do. A lot of me is doing it for the money, but I'm also really interested, and I wouldn't mind having activities to do to keep me busy. Plus, free food. :) When I got back from Eli's discussion group I decided that it was "that time" and scoped out the laundry facilities. Luckily, Hannah and Scott were already there and Scott, being the Laundry God that he is, explained to me the difficult and confusing process. Here it is for everyone else:
1. Put in 2 NIS
2. Swipe the student card
3. Press the yellow button
4. Press either of the top 2 buttons on the other machine
5. Take the cup now filled with laundry detergent
6. Repeat steps 1-3
7. Press the bottom button on the other machine
8. Take the cup now filled with fabric softener
9. Put clothing into laundry machine
10. Pour the detergent into slots A & B ( like, half in each)
11. Pour the fabric softener into slot C
12. Go back to the machine and put in 7 NIS
13. Swipe card
14. Press the # button of your washing machine

Needless to say, I almost needed to write down those instructions, but luckily I got through it ok. Drying was easier, partially because my 2 loads of washing fit in the 1 dryer. I'm really excited to have clean clothing again!

I Can Cook!

We're having a potluck dinner in half an hour and I think I might have gone overboard. Signed up to make a main dish and ended up with all that food. Spanish rice, beans, ghetto-fabulous quesadillas, veggies, and chips/salsa. Went to both the grocery store and shuk to get my ingredients. The grocery store was mostly unexciting minus the fact that they actually had salsa. The Shuk was much more exciting. Not gonna lie, it was partially because all the guys kept hitting on me, haha. O well. Everything at the shuk was super inexpensive. For example, I wanted to buy 2 stalks of scallions and the guy didn't want any money for them! I was like "of course i'm gonna pay you mr. dudeman" and he was like "no, no, no" so I handed him 2 NIS and he gave me 1.5 NIS back. O well. I also bought eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, plums, nectarines, onion, peppers, and who knows what else. O, I bought some really good Bedoin style pita bread. It was the closest thing I could find to a tortilla (without actually making them myself) so I used that stuff to make my quesadillas. The don't even taste that bad! They totally look legit, I swear. I'm really excited to have the eggplants because tomorrow night I can use my leftover tomato sauce and make something fun with my eggplants and peppers. YAY COOKING!! The only problem with my newfound love for cooking is that I haven't started my homework and it's 7:30 pm and the potluck is at 8. And who knows how long that will go. O well. The plan right now is to bring my homework with me to dinner to try and do with Rachel while we eat. If not, I eat fast, so I can be done quick enough to come back to my room and do it after dinner. I really hope I get some leftovers from all my cooking!!

After class on Thursday, Rachel, Hannah, Amanda and I bussed up to Jerusalem. The bus took about 2 hours but luckily I was able to sleep for most of it. Lots of soldiers were going home or to base. Once in Jerusalem, we tried to get a cab to Ben Yehuda Street but the cabbie wanted 40NIS (not ok) so when we said No Thanks he said we could go f ourselves. Lovely. Walking was better anyways because we walked through a market on our way and were able to pick up 5 rugelach for 4NIS (very ok). In Jerusalem we stuck mainly to Ben Yehuda Street and its surrounding area since we didn't want to pay for cabs or ride any busses. Turned out to be a good idea since some poor Italian tourist got stabbed in the back in the Old City that day. After we walked around a little bit we realized we should probably find a place to stay. Luckily, across the street from where we were then standing was the Jerusalem Hostel. 64 NIS/ night which was totally ok. There weren't any rooms left so we stayed in the dorm-style room. We grabbed the last 4 of 5 beds. For dinner we went to a spaghetti place that Rachel really liked (when she was at the Hebrew U ulpan). On Ben Yehuda street that night there was an artist festival or something so there were a lot of street performers. Some guys were breakdancing. Some guys were dressed up as giraffes and standing on stilts. Totally cool. After shopping around a little bit we went to Rachel's favorite bar, Zolli's. Super chill bar with awesome bartenders. One was an Israeli with an Australian accent. Super hott combination. We were joined by Rachel's friend Moriah, and had a really good time at the bar. After the bar we went to Holy Bagels (haha) and I found the Jerusalem Coffee Bean!! The next morning we shopped some more (I picked up some tank tops and some Israeli pants).

When I got back, I had just enough time to shower and read before watching A Mighty Wind with some of the other kids on the Me'onot (dorms) grassy area and then get ready for Shabbos dinner at Eli's apartment. Eli is the Chabad-esque guy for Ben Gurion. He had us over for both Shabbos Dinner and Lunch with his wife and 2 daughters. His daughters are SO cute. Eli isn't too preachy which is nice, and he also plans a lot of activities around Israel for us, so that should be fun. There's a weekend trip up to the Old City soon that I'm going to join. Hopefully we're also going paintballing soon too.

I'm currently finishing up my homework and then I have to find some dinner. Tomorrow I have class (I'm still not quite used to the different week here) and after class a few of us are going to the shuk (market). Tomorrow afternoon I have to make a main dish of some sort for the potluck we're having. I still haven't decided what to make, but I was thinking about making some Mexican food or something. Yum.

i've officially started classes... well, the one class... mmm, Hebrew 3 hours a day... yum... i'm in class 8:30 - 12:30 Sunday - Thursday with a half hour break 10:30-11:00... it's not too shabby especially since my professor is super awesome... i'm actually learning... at least i think i am... it could just be that since i don't have any other classes to worry about at the moment i'm not letting hebrew take the backseat to everything else and my life currently revolves around it... after class i come home (haha, i called my silly little apartment home) (it *is* nice though) and make some lunch (today was instant couscous!) (don't judge me - it was a dollar at the dorm's supermarket and i wasn't up for making something real)... after lunch i whip out the homework and get to work... after homework i take a nap... after my nap i get to work studying all those words i wrote down during the 3 hours of class... today i wrote down 64 new words/verbs... i haven't yet learned them all, but when i get back from this bbq tonight i'll get to work learning the rest... i knew that the whole study abroad thing in israel was exactly what i needed to *actually* learn hebrew... it might also help that hebrew is the only thing i hear... some people speak english, but it's rare to hear people conversing in it... most people only speak english when they realize we can't speak hebrew (yet)

i'm off to the bbq...

i'm, like, totally in israel

crazyyyyy
i'm, like, totally in israel
and it's, like, totally awesome
arrived after what seemed a million hours, but i'm at the university, unpacked in my room, safe and sound :) i've got my cell phone (and even though it costs $34608234208208 dollars a minute to talk, let me know if you want my digits). the room is pretty tiny, but the closet is pretty big so at least all my stuff is neatly put away. it's also pretty bare so i'm hoping to pick up some stuff to decorate it with asap. i had my first falafel (of the trip) for lunch, and shockingly, not that good. but apparently be'er sheva is the best place in israel to get falafel, so i'll try again soon.
when i received my school id (of course a pretty gross picture, but it's 90 something degrees so i guess i can't expect any better) i got a nice little present of a red (!!!) bgu blanket and little purse thing (i love that israeli guys carry purses. it adds so much to the hottness). i've tried talking in a little bit of hebrew, but it's SO hard, so hopefully as i get more assimilated, i'll get more used to talking. i understand most of what people say to me, i just can't really answer back.
15:26 = 3:26, right? and dinner is at 6... so maybe i'll go take a nap... :)

Israel vs. Lebanon

argh - why is all the fighting going on? why does everyone have to hate israel?? i still want to study abroad at ben gurion, but with the situation my only very few/occassional freak-outs about going abroad are getting a bit more frequent. and now i have to deal with everyone else freaking out too. i've already got people asking if i'm still going/what i'm going to do. i don't know what i'm going to do. while i don't want to just forget about israel and go anyways / regardless, i'm also not dumb enough to just ignore the fact that there is a significant threat there right now. and mika is still there. i know her trip is safe and that she's having the time of her life regardless of the situation, but i'm still worried about her. oy. why can't we all just get along???

on the plus side, i'm in nyc with cc. it's pretty awesome. and we happened to find the coca cola company. and obv. it was the highlight of my LIFE.

whoa?

so... this is my first post... testing 123?

i'm at work (yay work!) and it's officially less than 3 weeks until i leave for israel (yay israel!)

i'll figure this whole blog thing out later