9-29-13

Today was my first day of Ulpan at Ulpan Gordon. I joined halfway through the class. It was challenging because the teacher spoke only in Hebrew. It was from 8:15-12. I sat next to someone from Providence, RI, small world. We studied the future tense. I'm going to try the class again tomorrow.

After Ulpan, I went back home to be there for the internet to be installed. Now we have fast internet, yay.

9-28-13

I went on a tiyul in the North with Amir. We had lots of fun. We went on a hike. It was a lot more challenging than expected, but we found our way through the trail and had to get a ride back to the car afterwards. It was a very rocky hike, but with some beautiful views and some water. We swam in the small pool. It was cool and refreshing. After the hike we stayed at a campsite in Almagor. The site had an exquisite view of the Kineret and Tiberia. We were not fully prepared with food so ended up eating snacks instead. Everything was closed due to Shabbat.

The next day we went swimming in the Kineret. The water was lovely. Afterwards we went to Aroma for lunch and ate a big salad and sandwich. Taim. Tasty.

9-25-13

I went on a tiyul to Jerusalem yesterday. It was really fun. I met a lot of interesting people. We learned about the 1947-48 Independence war. First we went to Castel. Next we went to Kiryat Anavim Cemetary. After we went bike riding on Burma road. Burma road was significant in the time of the war of Independence because people used it to bring supplies into Jerusalem. It was a bumpy road and a couple of people fell and got scratches. There were some beautiful views of Jerusalem. It was really hot, but fun. Afterwards we heard stories from Harold Katz, who was on a ship that made aliya. He was a very inspiring speaker. He talked about his life and what it means to be Jewish. It got me thinking about my own Jewish identity.

We came back to Tel Aviv. Then, Amir and I went to eat salad at a cafe there. Later we did improv. I participated in some of the games and had a good time.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

Hagim

It's time for the hagim in Israel. Yesterday went to a sukkah, but it was empty. What happened to the event? We went to a bar called Alma where they only played reggatone. It was okay, but I got kind of bored by the reggatone. After at around 1am we went to another salsa club which was much more fun. I really like salsa dancing.

I plan on going to ulpan soon to learn more Hebrew. I'm still at an alef level, but slowly picking up new words everyday as I try to read the news. This is going to be my focus for the next 5 months 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Right now I'm on vacation, but soon I'll be more busy with Ulpan and Berlitz. I'm working at Berlitz again teaching English. I'm excited to get started with it. Things are slowly coming together for me with ulpan, and then a job. I need to keep busy.

 I'm happy in Israel. It was a soft landing here thanks to Amir. I'm still adjusting, but it's a lot easier than I expected. Everyone speaks Hebrew around me and sometimes I feel a little lost. I need to push myself to speak more even if I make mistakes. I love it here! I feel more Israeli everyday. Once I master the language I'll feel much better.

Also, I need a good book to read. Any suggestions?