Holidays in Jerusalem and Travels in the Golan

     Eventful. Interesting. Different. Good/politically correct words to describe my Rosh Hashanah holiday and preceding weekend. I’m not saying it wasn’t an awesome weekend with fun and interesting things, but it certainly had its strange and odd moments. As I describe most anything I’ve experienced thus far this semester, “It’s Israel”.

     Every Monday night, many OSP students walk over to שכונה ד' (Dalet Neighbourhood) to the home of the Beer Sheva (B7) chapter of the Jeff Seidel Group, a group led by the group’s namesake from his office in the Old City of Jerusalem (Jlem) for American and Western Jewish students who study in Israel to come and learn more about Judaism and Israeli Jews. And eat free food. That’s the more important thing. Always. So every Monday, we go to Alexander Yannai 22, eat food, and talk about Jew stuff. And a few weeks into the semester, we were told that Jeff Seidel was having a Shabbaton in רמת הגולן (The Golan Heights) the weekend before Rosh Hashanah for only ₪ 140 ($35). So I signed up and got excited. Then I was told about a place in the Old City of Jerusalem that I could spend the holiday itself. So I got double excited. And the night before the trip, I got drunk. Whoops…

The entrance to the Moshav's Guest Houses

Post-drinking relaxation.

View from right outside of my house.

The park between the Guest Houses and the Moshav.

More park.

Looking southwest towards the Kinneret

Wind Turbines across Road 98.

     That was basically a pretty accurate segway into the weekend. We left B7 at 0545 on Friday the 14^th after walking across campus to catch the minibus, and got to Katsrin, the capital of the Israeli Golan region at 0930. And where’s the best place to go with a hangover? Yep, a winery. And where’s the best place to go with a hangover and right after being at a winery? Yep, rafting. The Golan Heights Winery was cool and I actually learned a few things about wine. And the rafting was awesome. The water was freezing, which after spending a month and a half in the 100 degree B7 weather was a welcomed relief. Fun was had by all in the boat, even the guy who fell out halfway through and got picked up by a boat of random Israelis, I think. After rafting and lunch, we drove east to moshav Alonei HaBashan, the easternmost moshav in Israel. We found out how far east it was on Saturday when we hiked up the eastern hills about 700 meters and found ourselves faced with the UN Buffer Zone and the Syrian border. The views both into Syria and back into Israel were amazing, and made one of my friends say she wants to move to Israel. For the views, I’m just as tempted. Other than the hike, the day and a half at Alonei HaBashan was spent with both the B7 group, and a group of about 50 people from the Jeff Seidel group at Hebrew U in Jlem, as well as Jeff Seidel himself and his son. They were certainly an interesting duo, and I could write an entire post about them, or talk to someone for over an hour on them, but I won’t bore you more than I already have.

     So after the weekend in the Golan was over, everyone went back to their respective schools, except me. I took the bus back to Hebrew U and got a ride from Mt. Scopus into the Old City by JSeids. He dropped me off in the Armenian Quarter just inside the Jaffa Gate. I walked about 2 minutes into the city and arrived at my residence for the next 3 days, the Heritage House. Basically, the Heritage is two buildings (men’s house and women’s house) in the Old City for young Jewish people to experience life in the Old City when they are either travelling, backpacking, or on leave from the IDF. And the best part: it’s free. So I got to spend Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 5 minutes from the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, for free. I’d say that’s a pretty damn good deal. The house is run by Rabbi Ben Packer, who works at Aish HaTorah, an Orthodox Zionist yeshiva (school) located across from the Western Wall. So during the holiday, we went to Aish and had services overlooking הכותל המערבי (The Western Wall in Hebrew). After each service, we were brought to the Wall Plaza where Jeffy would split us up into groups and send us off to different houses in the Old City and we would eat meals with the families and experience the holiday as they did. I got to eat with an Orthodox family who came to the Old City from the US about 30 years ago. There were a bunch of people there, from a recent convert from Indiana to a group of El Salvadorians, one of which looked like she came right out of a Telenovela, to some students at Aish and at other Yeshivas in the Old City, to me. Another family I ate with was a mixed Israeli-British family, where the grandfather was right out of Manchester and the youngest kids only spoke Hebrew. That night was odd, not because of the family, but because of Crazy Mike, a well-known crazy religious convert who lives in the Old City and always comes for free meals, because he doesn’t have a job or much of a life outside of yelling at anyone for not being as crazy religious as he is, or for being Arab, which surprisingly hasn’t gotten him stabbed yet. And the third family was a modern Orthodox mixed American-Israeli family living about a block away from the wall, who were very friendly and very interested in my time at B7, and like most Israelis, their first question after I said I was in B7 for 6 months was “Why?”

     The whole experience of spending the High Holidays in the Old City was a very moving one and a really different and interesting experience. And the Jeff Seidel trip was plain interesting. But it also made me want to switch hikes, and hike the Golan trail over this upcoming Sukkot break (27 Sept to 7 Oct).

Jaffa Gate of the Old City

Entrance to the House.

Holiday schedule.

I was only able to snap this pic because it was Rosh Hashanah
and you're not supposed to use electronics. Oh well.

Favourite name of a restaurant. This one was right by the Kotel.

The House is on this street. This was taken by the Cardo.

Right down the street from the Heritage House.

I Hope That's Just a Car Alarm...

     Today was number 2. But it wasn't any easier. They said afterwards that it was a false, nothing to worry about. But can you not? It's a rocket for heaven's sake. Flying at you aiming to kill you. And when you hear that siren, you have 1 minute. 1 minute to stop what you're doing. 1 minute to run to a shelter. 1 minute to get in a building, or into a low lying area. 1 minute to live.

     Today was number 2. Number 1 came at 2:00 AM on Saturday night. For some reason or another, I was awake. And sitting next to an open window. I heard it. And I did what any sane individual would do when hearing a rocket siren for the first time. Freak out. And I forgot my keys and was locked in the apartment, had to run back, got them, then couldn't calm my hands enough to open the door. I got the door open and ran downstairs. Luckily there's a shelter at the bottom of the stairs. And I ran in there an stayed for about 5 minutes with some of the Germans from my class. And we left. And everything was alright. We didn't know what was going on, but we were alright. It was only around 2:45 that the story broke. 1 rocket had fallen in the desert surrounding Beer Sheva. But in Netivot, about halfway between Beer Sheva and Gaza, a house was struck. Luckily the man living there woke up halfway through the alarm and was able to move to the bathroom just in time to save his life. Talk about a close call.

     Today was number 2. September 11th. Not a good coincidence. I was sitting on my friend's balcony having a beer with him and another friend. And we finished our discussion on how surprised we were that there weren't any more rocket attacks recently, given the retaliation attacks from the IDF and IAF. And the discussion had moved to hilarious YouTube videos about learning a new language, when the alarms went off. We dropped everything except our beers and ran. Out of his apartment and down to the fourth floor, where there's supposed to be a shelter. But there are illegal tenants living in the shelters in his apartment. So nobody can get in there. NOT cool. But we stayed in the east-side stairwell for a minute or two, complained about the shelters, and went back upstairs to the balcony. My friend posed a good question afterwards, "At what point does this not make your heart stop when that siren starts going off?" I hope not soon.

     That leaves me with the question of why the hell am I writing this post at 6 AM the morning of my Ulpan exam. Around 5:15, I was deep in the middle of a decent dream, when I thought I heard sirens in my dream. I ignored them at first, but a few seconds later panicked, woke up, and ran for the stairwell. After 5 minutes of nobody else being out there, I realised that I didn't actually hear anything. Which is a relief. And also not a relief. A relief in the sense of there was no reason to run, but at least I know I'm ready. Not a relief in the sense of is this going to happen every night a rocket comes? It's approaching the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, in Israel, and everyone prepares by donating a little extra to charity. Though, I think the Gazans could do with a bit less donating of their time and rockets this holiday season. שנה טובה...

It's Really Been One Month?!

     I mentioned in a previous post about how far behind I was on the blog. I don't even think it's worth mentioning how far behind I am now... However, for the 10 of you reading this, here we go again:

     The last time I wrote a post, I had been here for just over a week and a half, and I was still on the "Holy shit, I'm in Israel" high that study abroad students get when they travel to their destinations. Well, after being here just shy of a month, I can tell you with certainty that there is a balance. For everything. And at that point, I was still at the "I love everything, even if it's not the best" side of the scale. I was told by Dickinson's Global Ed (Study Abroad) Office that I would go through a few mood swings throughout the semester, usually starting a bit past the 1 month mark. They lied. It was week 3. At some point in that week, the balance tipped. Hard. And I may have written something a bit too extreme about the dorms. Even though some of it was true. And I may have sulked in my empty apartment for a few days and found reasons to hate most of everything. But I've been working hard these past few days trying to balance everything and find the middle ground. And I think it's working. And I hope it stays that way for a while. Let me try to bypass the boring, emotional crap and tell you what's been happening out here in באר שבע.

     I left you with my story leading up to around the middle (האמצע של אוגוסט) of August. Since then, I've done more things than you can shake a cactus at. But who wants to shake a cactus? Although, I do know someone who loves Sabra (Hi Chloe). Anyway, in the week of my last post, I joined an organisation for American students studying abroad in Israel called the Jeff Seidel Organisation. It's a group found at Universities across Israel where American students can hang out at a house (Alexander Yannai 22) and hang out with fellow Murican-speakers and learn about Jewish culture here in the holy land. It meets every Monday and has other lectures and meetings throughout the semester. But the best part is the scholarship. Cause, who doesn't love free money? Jeff Seidel has 3 different scholarships, the largest being $300, to any student who comes to all of his events while in Israel. So that's where you'll find me on Monday nights. Also, the group has trips for University students to different places during the semester. Which is where you'll find me come the 13^th and 14^th of September, when I hop on the 5AM northbound bus (that'll be interesting) to רמת הגולן (the Golan Heights) for a Kayaking Trip down the Jordan River (more like a creek, or crick for Carlislians).

     Speaking of places that aren't באר שבע, on Friday the 17^th, the group took a bus an hour to the northwest to the Dunes at Nitzanim. Which, I discovered, isn't the best thing to do hungover at 630 AM. But, as I was re-told today, your bed will always be there, adventure and new experiences won't. So I dragged my ass out of bed and went for a hike. Walking on sand barefoot is a challenge. Walking on sand wearing hiking boots going up and down dunes, absolute hell. Did I mention I was hungover? After hiking for about 30 minutes, our guide had us stop and rest under a tree. And he explained to us about naturalised trees. Which was strange, until he told us that we were sitting under a fig tree brought to the area by Bedouin tribes in the late 19^th century. We all grabbed at least one (I took 3. Walking makes me hungry) and enjoyed some fresh figs. Then we made the final 15 minute trek across two more giant dunes, rolled down the sand, and were looking out at the Mediterranean. The approach to the sea reminded me of Petra, waking through the canyon and seeing the Treasury building emerge from between the rocks, we walked between two dunes and the blue sea emerged and spread across the horizon. The best part of it was, I've never been in the Mediterranean Sea before. Even when I was in Israel back in 2008, and stayed in a תל אביב hotel on the beach, I never stepped foot in those waters. So it was a special trip. Until I left my shoes in the parking lot. That was a bitch. And that may have been the start of my bad mood. But I'm not 100%.

The start of those miserably gorgeous dunes.

If you look closely in the center, you can see אשקלון (Ashkelon) in the background.

The sea is taunting us...

So much sand...

It's getting closer

Fig break

Thar she blows, or waves. Sea what I did there?

That hat and that shirt...

Such a good reward

Contemplative and sweaty

Contemplative and sweaty, portrait style

When I got back that weekend, I had Shabbat dinner in Shoshana's room with her, Chloe, Ilana, and Shoshana's Austrian roommate Cherry. And the next morning, I barely woke up in time (1130) to walk over to Rakefet's (one of the Jeff Seidel women) apartment for Shabbat Lunch. Both meals were delicious and a good break from eating out. You see, Ben Gurion doesn't have any meal plan whatsoever, so Dickinson credited my account with some amount of money, and that's basically my meal plan: don't run out of the credit by the end of the semester. And I've been enjoying the freedom to eat anywhere. Much better than 4 options in Carlisle.

More about Ulpan (אולפן): Remember how I said I switched down from High Advanced to Low Advanced (מדלת לגימל)? Best decision of Israel, besides every other awesome decision, but hey… It's not really what I was expecting, but I'm still learning a lot. I was really hoping to learn more practical Hebrew first, like ordering in restaurants, or shopping, or telling the bus driver that you want ₪50 worth of rides without having to say it in broken Hebrish and have him yell at me then not even bother to try. That would have been helpful. But I guess the routine of reading and translating a story from 20 years ago, writing dialogues, answering questions, then taking a test, is helping … maybe? Although I had a great "a-ha" moment this weekend in Jerusalem (which I'll mention in another post) when everyone else at the table ordered dinner in English, and when I ordered in Hebrew, the waitress was so shocked, she gave me an extra coke for free J So I’m getting there, and one of these days I’ll be able to write one of these posts entirely בעברית without using Google Translate, just to mess with all of you.

     So, for now, I’m doing alright. Cause, how can I complain? I’m in Israel. For 5 months! And I’m in the process of planning a trip to Europe either in October or January. I will leave you with something I got from one of the Jeff Seidel meetings that I now carry around with me in my wallet, behind my “Frequent Customer Card” from the Schnitzel place behind campus:

“To realise the value of ONE YEAR

Ask a student who has failed his exam.

To realise the value of ONE MONTH

Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realise the value of ONE WEEK

As the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realise the value of ONE DAY

Ask a daily wage labourer who has 5 kids to feed.

To realise the value of ONE HOUR

Ask those waiting for a loved one in surgery.

To realise the value of ONE MINUTE

Ask the person who missed the train.

To realise the value of ONE SECOND

Ask the person who has survived a car accident.

To realise the value of ONE MILLISECOND

Ask the silver medallist from the Olympics.

Pictures

Regardless of the fact that my camera hasn't worked when I really wanted it to, I now have a Flickr account where all of my pictures will be posted as I take them. Have fun!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swiftdo/

Making up for Forgotten Posts

God I am way too far behind on this blog… So since I keep forgetting to update this, I’m going to attempt to summarise everything that has happened in the past weeks. I won’t get to everything, but I’ll try.

Routines. Once I get settled down somewhere, I always have some sort of strange, unpredictable routine. Which is basically the opposite of what a routine should be, but then, when do I ever do something normal and by-the-book? Occasionally, but that’s beside the point. Basically, it comes down to this: Wake up around 8, screw around, get dressed, spend a few minutes checking the good old-fashioned $1300 computer, then leave for class at 830. Walk my convoluted back-way through campus to Building 90 and somehow get to class on time. Sit in class from 9-1230, with a 30 minute break to have my breakfast of champions: קרואסון שוקולד and Pepsi (I really need to learn to drink coffee, but it still tastes nasty to me). Then go back to the room, make myself some strange thing that constitutes a lunch. But after that, it’s basically a free-for-all. Some days there are group programs or lectures or don’t-do-this speeches, some days I spend all afternoon watching Dexter (up to Season 5). That’s not to say I just sit in my apartment every day. Some days I’ll make a run down to שופרסל or מחסני השוק, the two grocery stores close-by. Others I’ll spend a few hours at the pool, which is right across שד' בן גוריון and is gorgeous. But for right now, every afternoon is just a relaxing way to spend the hours I’m not in אולפן.

And now for a paragraph about my 3 ½ hours of misery, torture, and learning to distinguish whether the Germans are speaking Hebrew or German or Gerbrew. I started אולפן in כיתה ד', the high advanced class. But that just wasn’t working (thanks Vlad), so I moved down to כיתה ג'. Such a better class, considering I can actually understand 95% of what my teacher, אילנה, says. It’s sort of similar to a 3 hour class with Nitsa without any English, for the most part. And I’m definitely improving my Hebrew, just not at the pace I hoped. We still have to spend time waiting for one of the Germans, Nikolaus, to understand anything, but he’s an older man so I forgive him, sometimes. But I’m working on it, and one of these days I’ll be able to go to the grocery store or basically anywhere in באר שבע and not get yelled at for not understanding anything the checkout girl says.

Now about באר שבע the city. I’ve talked to many Israelis who live in תל אביב or ירושלים who feel sorry for me that I have to spend so much time here. And I can honestly see why they would think so. תל אביב has everything and everyone anywhere and anytime, ירושלים is one of the holiest cities with amazing history and always something new to learn. And באר שבע is an industrial city, with a lot of construction and not-so-nice areas and שכונות. And the same thing can be said by people who drive the New Jersey Turnpike through Northern New Jersey. But you don’t see Hoboken, Weehawken, Metuchen, or Short Hills from the Turnpike. And most people see באר שבע from a bus or train window, and only see the part of the city visible from the highway or rails, which is the worst view wherever in the world you go. So I challenge anyone who gives באר שבע a hard time to get off the bus, get off the main highways, and go exploring. Because hidden away are some pretty amazing restaurants, fun nightlife (Hi Mom), and some interesting people that might not be as welcoming to outsiders at first, but like all צברים have a nice and friendly side hidden away. I’m not saying that the nightlife holds a candle to that of תל אביב, or that the city is as breathtakingly gorgeous and historic as ירושלים, but באר שבע has a different character than other cities. It’s a special character. An acquired taste, but a good taste, like coffee (regardless of the fact that I refuse to drink it) or גולדסטאר (Hi Mom). And besides, האוניברסותה is on summer break, so there’s over 25,000 residents of the city missing. I’m confident that once the Israeli students return, the atmosphere will change for the better. And if it’s not up to any par, the train to תל אביב is 30 NIS and only 1 hour long. But I’m here to stay… for 5 months (relax Mom), so I’ll keep you updated. ליהנות!

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Interesting Finds

Kampai: A sushi restaurant located in קניון הביג. I went there with a fellow student, Sam, and had Bamba Sushi. Let me tell you, I’ll run for most anything with peanut butter, but Sushi coated with a Peanut Butter tempura? YES. Definitely the best sushi I’ve ever had (not saying much, but hey, it was really good). And for only about 40 NIS, not horribly overpriced either. We sat at the bar, and the atmosphere there was young, fun and exciting. We did a few shots with the whole bar, preceded by the lead bartender ringing a gong and cheers of לחיים! And that dessert, (in a George Takei voice) oh my. It was a plate with 3 סופגניות, which were filled with liquid chocolate, and 3 hot dipping sauces, toffee, milk chocolate, and white chocolate with mint, with a giant scoop of ice cream on the side. Indescribably good. Definitely worth going to.

The Green Falafel: A tiny hole-in-the-wall פלאפל stand on ר' טשרניחובסקי which has been in business since 1950. And the taste is just as good now as then. Fresh פלאפל with fresh hot פיתה ו חומוס and any topping you could ask for, for only 13 NIS. So good. We found it by accident, after getting lost looking for 3 other restaurants, and it was definitely worth it.

Another Desert Border, or Two

[was supposed to be posted on Saturday night]

     Trying to determine if the fence you're walking along is the Kibbutz fence or the fence separating Israel from Jordan isn't how most people spend their weekends. Realising that the fence is the latter, then running back to the Kibbutz fence to watch the sunrise hoping that either nation's army doesn't shoot/arrest you, is how I spend my Saturday mornings. At least when I'm at Kibbutz Lotan.

     The OSP office thought that a good way for us to spend our first weekend in Israel is to go on vacation. Someone in that office knows how lazy college students work. Spending the first 1/2 of a nice hot day on the beach at Eilat was definitely a nice break from flying, bus rides, paperwork, and Ulpan (something I'll cover next time). The Red Sea/Gulf of Aqaba water is crystal clear, allowing you, when standing on the floating dock, to see straight down 20 feet to the gorgeous coral reefs. And the beach is owned by a bar, but that's not that important, right? (Hi mom) The landscape around the beach is so non-threatening that you forget that you're in Israel, across the water from Jordan, 3 Km north of the Egyptian border, and 15 Km northwest of Saudi Arabia. You also forget that Israel has issued stern travel warnings against travelling to the Sinai, and that terrorists just murdered 12 Egyptian policemen, took their convoy and tried to enter Israel. (Hi mom) But hey, I'm at the beach. Forget all that. Wait, we're leaving? Why? A kibbutz? Away from the water? Oh boy...

   Arriving at Kibbutz Lotan, I woke up. Having slept through both the bus ride, and the explanation of what we're doing here, all I knew is that we're at this Kibbutz, in the middle of the Arava Desert, right on the Jordanian Border, for the next 2 days. What I didn't know is how gorgeous the views were. What I also didn't know was that I wasn't supposed to sleep through the next group activity. But, hey. I'm not perfect. Nor am I ever opposed to sleep. But enough about my laziness, more about the Kibbutz. Lotan is an ecological, sustainable Kibbutz, with never-ending research being worked on by students from across Israel, the Middle East and the world. It also has a tour guide named Mike. Who is obsessed with composting toilets. And saying pee-pee and shit. Interesting. Also, the Kibbutz is situated directly on the Israeli-Jordanian border, something I learned back in 2008 from Kol Am's (my congregation) tour guide David Schoneveld, who lives on Lotan, but never realised how it was literally on the border. It's a small world/country after all.

Spending Shabbat on the Kibbutz held a multitude of emotions for me. For one, it's my first weekend here, and man am I happy to be here. I woke up early (must be jet lag, because once the semester starts, if that happens, something's wrong), and watched my first sunrise. As in, I've never seen one before ever, and watching the sun rise over the indescribable Jordanian Mountains was more than inspiring, it was friggin awesome (Frickin, for my Mainer friends [Hi Cassidy]). There were also some not as upbeat emotions. למשל, waking up and smelling the composting toilets all across the Kibbutz, which when combined with the desert heat (well over 100 in the shade) made me wonder if all Kibbutzim smelled this terrible. But I realised that Israel is a country comparable to New Jersey, and if I think that, then if Camden smells, then everywhere in NJ smells, and we all know that's not entirely true. But to put it in a few words, I'm really glad I put up with a 11 hour flight surrounded by crying babies, strange Haredim, and mean Israelis who didn't say a word to me the whole flight, and then suffering through jet lag in 110 degree heat, because, holy sh...land, I'm in Israel.

Also, I love the desert. And if I ever figure out how to do it, I'll put up some of my pictures from this whole experience. One of these days...

First Impressions

[was supposed to be posted Thursday night/Friday morning]

ברוכים הבאים לישראל

This is going to be an interesting year. My first weekend in Ben Gurion University and I've spent less than a day here. But from the 12 hours on campus, I've made some interesting finds. My dorm complex, Me'onot Gimel (G Dorms), seems like a small prison. Every building is made from thick concrete, the apartments themselves are small and have tiny windows, and the bed is smaller than my crib as a baby. But they're cool in a strange Israeli way. But the food. Oh the food. If I could make a list of reasons for choosing Israel over other places, food would definitely be number 1. Just walking around campus by the few restaurants makes my day. And after going to the grocery, I want all Middle Eastern food. Now.

Now more about the campus. As I mentioned, the buildings are all made of concrete, which gives the campus an initial prison-like feel, but they are strangely appealing with the landscaping and the design of the campus. The campus itself takes up a few city blocks, and it's surrounded by a fence, which can only be entered at one of a few gates. Here's one thing that Americans find odd about Israel: everytime you go into a public building or place, you must go through a metal detector and show your bags to the security guard. For those from Europe and the States, this seems weird and a bit invasive. But when you think about where Israel is and what the nation as a whole has to deal with on a day-by-day basis, you come to understand it, and eventually find it normal. It might take me a few days to remember, but I think I'll get it down soon. So once you're inside, the campus is bustling with students during daylight hours, some sitting on the grass studying or chatting, or in one of the many cafes and eateries. The oddest thing for me, coming from small, expensive Dickinson, is that there is no meal plan and no cafeteria on campus. There are plenty of restaurants and coffee shops, but I can't just use my student card like at the Quarry or SNAR. But the choices are awesome; falafel stands, coffee shops, Glida Beer Sheva (ice cream and pizza, awesome combo), Cafe Aromah (chain cafe, an Israeli Panera, but better), and a strange Chinese/Asian buffet in the Beit HaStudent (Student Union Building). About the other buildings, there are enough classrooms and labs for the 30,000+ students here (most of whom I haven't seen because finals are this week, and most of them are home already) and the campus is big, but not big enough that one can't take more than 10-12 minutes to cross campus by foot. While I haven't explored much of the immediate surroundings outside of campus yet, it looks like it will be interesting to discover what lies beyond the walls.

So after doing a few things on campus, the group of us (about 20 in total, so far) walked a few blocks down Sderot (Avenue) David Ben-Gurion to שופרסל (which I haven't yet learned the proper pronunciation for), the neighbourhood grocery store chain. Walking in, it reminds me of a brighter/cleaner ShopRite-type store. With the amount of Hebrew I've learned in Nitsa's & Sally's classes, I'm able to navigate the aisles and find what I'm looking for pretty much without help from the Madrichim (counselors). But checkout is a different story. We used Dora's (one of the Madrichim) שופרסל card to get discounts, but the checkout girl either couldn't read the number, or just wanted to give the Americans a hard time (the latter more likely then not), and it turned into a Hebrew yelling match between the madrichim and the checkout girl, who kept trying to ask us things in Hebrew, which we responded with random grunts, and for those of us with some Hebrew experience, an "אני לא יודע" or two or twenty. Then Dora tried to get me the form so I could get my own card, and I needed my passport number (which I didn't have at the time), and that turned into another arguement, which I ducked away from. I did eventually get a temporary shoppers card, which I'll probably use a lot throughout the semester. I walked away, for a little over 100₪, with water for the weekend, a bottle of soda, some yogurt, a few packs of Bamba's (I'm in Israel, how couldn't I get some of these. If you don't know what they are, look them up), and some plastic utensils. Not bad, Doug.

So now, I'm getting ready for bed and writing this on my laptop without internet (I need to pay and can't until I get back on Sunday) with growing anticipation about this weekend's trip to Eilat and Kibbutz Lotan in far southern Israel. Hopefully by the time I get back, I'll have internet and be able to post more often, but for now, I hope you'll read this soon. As we say here in the Holyland, להתראות (see you soon) for now, and Swift travels.