Its slowly sinking in that I actually live here...

Warning. This post is being written under the influence of seudah slishit/havdallah wine.

Wow. I have so much to update on I hope I can remember it all! I started summer school this past week. Summer session includes each week: 15 hours of ulpan, 3 hours of biblical history, 1 hour of cantillation, 1.5 hours of t'fillah, 3-5 hours of field trips, and 2 hours of Education. Besides Education which starts Monday, I've started all my classes. Ulpan is interesting. Rather than having the 4-5 normal levels (alef, bet, gimel, dalet, and hey which are the first five letters of the hebrew alphabet), since we have such small classes we are divided into Level 1 (Alef and Bet), Level 2 (High Bet and Gimel),and Level 3 (Dalet and Hey). I am in level 1, which is great for me. I know all the grammar taught (thanks Dorice!), most of the vocab, but can't do conversation to save my life. But my comprehension skills are quickly growing, so yay!  I like ulpan a lot, but 15 hours a week is a bit intense.

Cantillation is learning how to chant Torah. So those of you have had the experience of hearing me sing, or try to do anything musical, will understand how the class and I do not get along. Luckily its only a 6 week class and I'm already done with class one. Education starts this week, which I am super excited about, since thats what I am going to school for! Biblical History is interesting and I like a lot, since history I find very fascinating and easy to learn since its just memorization. We also go on biblical history field trips every week. Last week we went to the Haas Promenade, where we had a view of most of the city, and Ramet Rahel, which is a site of an archealogical dig which found many buildings and pots and such.

School and homework are definitely keeping me busy, but  I have managed to find free time to meet up with friends and hang out. Last Sunday a group of 13 of us went to go see the final Harry Potter. Now seeing a movie in Israel is quite different than seeing a movie in the states. First off, there are assigned seats, so you get to the theatre early so you can all get seats together. We all ended up in the first row, but it was fine since unlike American theatres, the screen is set up higher and much farther back. Also, in Israel movies there is intermission. Yes, like during a play. Exactly halfway through the movie (and no, they don't try to make it at a convenient time) the movie just stops and there is a short (3-4 minute) intermission. Then, as suddenly as the movie stopped, it starts again and everyone scrambles for their seats.

Yesterday most my classmates and I went to spend the day and Shabbat in Tel Aviv, which is a beach city about 45 minutes--hour from Jerusalem. I spent the morning on the beach and playing in the Mediterranean which was AMAZING. Afterwards, a few of us went to lunch/brunch at a superb place called Benedicts and then walked around an art fair. We then headed over to the Mamal Port and ditched the heat in an a/c'ed coffee shop for a while. We then walked over for Kabbalat Services which were held on Mamal Port overlooking the water. It was absolutely amazing. There was so much ruach (spirit) during the service and everyone was so happy to be there. They also sang "What a wonderful world"(which might be my favorite song ever) in Hebrew. And yes, I cried.  It also just amazing me how no matter what kind of mood I am in or how I am feeling, how Friday night services  always calm me down and cheer me up. Afterwards I grabbed dinner with a few friends, then waited for a very long time for our bus, which we later realized was at Mamal Port... only in Jaffo which is 30-45 minutes away from Tel Aviv. So we got back to Jerusalem much later than expected, but it was totally worth it.

This evening, a couple of my classmates invited everyone over for Seudah Slishit (the required third meal during Shabbat day). We alll noshed on leftovers and had a major jam session and sang songs. It was so much fun and just a great way to bring about the end of Shabbat. Later we all met up at a park near my apartment and had a beautiful havdallah with classmates and alumni/random people we picked up along the way.  Then 2 classmates and I walked around the neighborhood of Yemin Moshe. Yemin Moishe is the first Jewish neighborhood built in modern day Jerusalem outside of the Old City. Its all residential and walking, there are no streets or cars. It is absolutely gorgeous and had many small parks. I am so excited to go back and explore and see all the other wonders it has to offer. Even better, its just 2 blocks from my neightborhood.

On a very different side note, several people have asked me about care packages and what I need. While just an email or blog comment would be great, if people do want to send me packages things I would love include:
Kraft Mac and Cheese
Relish (they don't sell it here and my tuna and egg salads are getting lonely!)
Burts Bee's chapstick
Magazines (surprise surprise they are all in hebrew here)
Anything else you might want to send me.

Again all packages and mail go to:
Becka Ross
c/o Hebrew Union College
13 King David Street
Jerusalem, 94101
Israel