I can't believe that it has already been a month here in Israel! It is still crazy to think that I am spending a year here. Sometimes I wake up and i still think that in 6 weeks I will right back in Maryland eating mexican food (as you can see I am a little mexican food deprived and it is always on my mind). I was so nervous this summer when ever I thought about Nativ and now I know I had nothing to worry about, except maybe the food...how often can I eat shnitzel and shwarma?? This first month on Nativ has defiantly been very busy and I cant wait till we can actually start the regular semester!
First few days....
As I waited in line to go through security I realized that I was about to go to another country for 9 months without my parents, or any real supervision. I mean yes we have the nativ staff, but we are pretty much college students able to do what we want when we want.
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| After we all got our bags at the airport in Israel! |
The flight was long and of coarse my TV was the only one on the entire plane that did not work. However, somehow i managed and made it to Israel full of excitement.
we split up into buses by our second semester track (kehila Ber Sheeva). On our way to our home away from home, Beit Nativ, we stopped at a lookout that overlooked all Jerusalem. It was truly beautiful. We got to see where we would be exploring for the next 5 months. Yossi Garr, our program director, then made a small speech and then said a prayer wishing all of us luck! After, exhausted we all piled back onto our buses and came to 8 Agron street.
624 was the room number I now share with 2 roommates. Unfortunately I am on the top bunk as is one other roommate but Its not that bad. My wall is covered of course with a bunch of pictures with all my friends and some family (don't worry mom and dad you are there too). We have a bathroom inside our room the size of a tea cup and we each have one tall mini closet thing with a small hanging part and 4 shelves. (i have a new best friend, her name is Avital and i love her so much. I don't know what i would do without her. shes my partner in crime and in shopping!) we have a small mini fridge which holds about 2 shock chocolate milks and a few yogurts yet. The eating situation has been a little hard because we have not gotten our stipend yet so we are living on cafeteria food, cereal, and instant noodles. one amazing thing about our rooms is that we have 2 windows that look out onto the busiest intersection in Jerusalem. When ever I forget I'm in Israel I can just look outside my window and i am thrown back into reality.HEBREW UNIVERSITY!
Ulpan and Jerusalem History are the 2 classes i have been taking for the past month. I have ulpan from 9 to 1:15. Then i eat a very yummy lunch at the Frank Sinatra Cafe on campus. They have the most amazing, addictive, juicy, crunchy shnitzel you will ever eat in your life. it is actually the best shnitzel i have ever had i cant even put it in words. we get one main dish, 2 sides, and a drink and dessert. It is a pretty good deal. The only downside is that the main dishes are usually different preparations of chicken and the sides are usually different preparations of potato...now don't get me wrong I LOVE POTATO AND CHICKEN but i can only eat it so often ha ha ha it is very funny when we joke about what kind of food we are getting for lunch when it is the same basic thing every day. But if we don't finish our food, the billion stray cats that hang around outside the cafe will finish it for you (our favorite one has only 1 eye and we named it gimpy). Every other day from 2 to 5 we had The History of Jerusalem class. 45 min lecture and then we toured around different places in Jerusalem.
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| During one of the History of Jerusalem classes |
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Middle Eastern Perspective
Continuity and Change in Modern Jewish History (we need to take a Jewish history class)
and
Issues in the Study of the Holocaust: Perspectives on Perpetrators, Victim, and Bystanders
and I still have ulpan 3 days a week.
I have my academic advisor on the 3rd or October so we will see what she says but for now i am super excited about these three classes (but mostly the business class)!!
Around J-Town:
We live in an amazing area. basically we are right in the middle of everything. to the south of us is Mamilla, a big new shopping and cafe plaza and a little passed that is the Old City. literally i am a 10 min walk to the Kotel. we even went there for Yom Kippur services. To the right of us a 15 min walk to the shok and Ben Yehuda street and to the left of us is Emek Refaim. we don't go there to much but i do go to Friday night services and a synagouge i like down there called Shirah Hadasha. it very USY ruach-y.
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| At CafeCafe eating some lunch..one of our favorite places to go to get the "on the go" special. This includes a 1/2 sandwhich,salad, and drink. |
Desert SURVIVAL...kind of :)
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| We were the only girls in the lead! |
3 days...the desert...no bathroom...and a lot of hiking was what my life was going to be from Sunday to Tuesday. unfortunately, the weather did not agree with that plan. it was to hot so all the trails got frozen, meaning that we could not hike at all. but don't worry, we still had some desert experience because Yossi came to the rescue. He found the one hiking spot we could go to and we also went to one of the biggest natural springs in Israel where we could go swimming. it was so fun and felt so good in the hot September heat. after we went to the camp site and set up our tents. most people either slept outside or had their heads in the tent and their bodies outside...that's what i did. later that night we went on a night hike with only the moonlight to guide us. it was so beautiful. the next day we woke up at the early early early hour of 4 and had shacharit and hallel. it was so cool seeing everyone in the middle of the desert with their lulavs and etrogim walking in a circle doing the blessings. to bad getting up so early was the easiest part of the day. I think nativ was punishing us because we could not do the normal 3 day hike because the short hike we went on was so INTENTS! it was legit rock climbing and very steep uphill and downhill. In the end, it felt really good to get to the top of the mountain and to finish the hike one of the first people.
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| Dana, Ash, and I before the first hike |
