"...And While the Sea is Boiling Hot and Whether Pigs have Wings."

    This is now part 3 three, but I had to finish the poem!!
    Most of you know that the cease-fire with Gaza ended a few days ago. For those of you didn't, there was a cease-fire with Gaza. Israel wanted them to stop shooting rockets into settlements so they stopped for about a year and it ended last week and it has gotten really bad. There have been attacks in Ashkelon, in Be'er Sheva a few hours ago, and Ashdod. All the places are south of me. Very south, beyond Jerusalem.
    I know my family is nervous about my safety, but honestly I feel that it's different when you are actually here. When I am in the US, it's hard for me to understand why you would live in a war zone and although Haifa is not a "war zone" per se, rockets are going off only a few hours away. That's like 9/11 everyday. Maybe not AS dramatic, but close. At home, it's hard to connect to a place that an ocean and thensome away. It's to foreign to feel any true emotion. I do feel bad for the soldiers who have to go and fight. But actually seeing these 18 year olds holding a gun. Or knowing that my friend's roommate's boyfriend is going to be stationed in Gaza is a bit nerve racking. As my friend in Israel says, everyone know someone. Despite this, I personally do not feel unsafe. I am not worrying about Haifa being hit at this moment. I might feel differently if the attacks were going on in, say, Akko, which only forty five minutes from here. It's hard to explain why it's different here. In my Psychology of Conflict class we talked about how we felt about our safety and I was trying to explain this and it did not come out well. (On a side note, my English has gotten so bad. I realized today that I was saying "um" in the places that Israelis say "um" and I can't think of the right words anymore). Another thing that is kind of unrelated is that to get anywhere you have to ride the bus. Everyone rides the buses. Public transporatation is used so much more here than in the United States. So when riding a bus in Jerusalem, you don't think about the "what ifs". Riding the bus is another part of your everyday life.
    I think that the point of this post to reassure my friends coming here. If Israel were that unsafe, they wouldn't let you come. The university does a good job in looking out for your safety. (Shaina, you can tell your mom that). But honestly the whole atmosphere is different in Israel than in the US.
    And another thing, the Boston Globe says that over 360 Palestinains have been killed. What they don't mention is that most of those are Hamas followers and terrorists themselves.

"...Of Ships and Shoes and Sealing Wax, of Cabbages and Kings..." (Part 2)

    The first day I was here, one of my friends told us a piece of advice that one of her friends told her. I think that it is something that all my friends who are going abroad for the Spring should abide by or at the very least just think about. She said: "Not everyday has to be a great experience. You are going to have bad days." It's not that this helped me, but when I had a bad day, I would look back on this phrase. Going into the program, I was terrified about basically everything. Cooking my food. Finding places to get food. Not knowing anyone in the country. My friend told us this the first day we were in Haifa and she was right. You have to accept that not everyday has to be a day where you have to do something amazing. There are going to be bad days where you wonder why you chose to go so far away from home. Or why you picked a country where you can barely ask where the bathroom is. Or just wish to go home because you are homesick. Of course I had all these thoughts, but I also had some experiences that I would never give up. I learned to cook my own food. I went to a different country by myself (ie no parents). I met people from all over the world: From Canada to Denmark to the Marshall Islands. These things that I have encountered and learned formed my amazing time here. I would never give up this experience. How often do you get to live in a different country/culture for three and half months?    
    The big change I have found in myself is that I am more confident about everything. I think that if you are in a place where few people speak your language, you have to gain the confidence to ask people what you want in a foreign language. I am more willing to go up to strangers and ask them stupid questions, like how to get a train ticket. I am also more confident in using my Hebrew. Sure my grammar and gender usage is probably wrong, but how else are you going to learn it if you don't השתמש עברית (use Hebrew)? I am also more talkative in class, but I think that's because my teacher wants us to think a certain way and for some of the topics that we talk about, I just can't imagine it. (For example suicide bombing, although for this topic I could try to see the other point of view). But besides the specific class that I'm talking about, I think that I'm more opinionated about certain topics. I feel that I can argue better against my brother, who has an argument for everything. I am also more confident in my cooking. The first week I was here I didn't know how to cook or even what to make. I think part of that, though, was because I was in Federman where the kitchen is the size of the closet at school. That's not an exaggeration. I am proud of myself for cooking dinner every night. I had real food and left overs. I am even willing to make dinner when I get home. (I say that now...)
    I have also learned many non-academic things. The main thing being how my mom goes to the grocery store everyday and spends so much money. I never understood this, but buying food for myself, I have found that I have to go everyday, because somethings just don't last that long or I just forget to buy it the day before. There is also easy access to food because the mini-mart and right across from the dorms. I have also learned that in order to learn your way around a place, you have to actually go out and explore. That seems so obvious, but the exploration is more than taking a bus down and walking around a mall for a few hours. It is walking around by looking at a map in order to figure out how the heck you ended up where you did and how the heck you are going to get back. You don't actually know a place until you have been there during both the day and the night. It looks different at different points in the day and in order to learn the city, you have to know both the nighttime and the daytime life of the city. I have also learned that I really like teaching English. As frustrating as it was to teach the letters for two months and get no where, I liked doing it. Maybe it will be something I look into as a career. I don't know what else I want to do...
    Now that I have been in Israel for three months, it is natural to open up my bag for the security guard when I enter a restaurant or to walk through a metal detector to go to the mall. Or to see blobs of green on the bus going home for the weekend. (That would be the Israeli soldiers). The one thing that I have gotten used that is a little bit scary is that the soldiers carry these huge guns. I don't know if they are loaded, I'm assuming not because they are in a public place and don't want it to go off by accident, but seeing these long black metal things is just part of the everyday life that Israelis do in order to survive. How often do you see a soldier in uniform carrying their gun? The scary thing about the whole thing is that most of these soldiers are younger than us. (For those of you who don't know, Israel has a draft for the army at the age of 18. Girls serve for two years and boys for three). Except some of the soldiers don't look older than twelve and seeing them hold guns is a bit frightening.
    I have ten days left in Israel...how does time go so fast? Ten days is the length of time of birthright and it seemed like a normal ten days, but I know that this coming week will just zoom by and before I know it, I'll be on a plane back home. Home.

"The Time Has Come," The Walrus Said. "To Talk of Many Things..." (Part 1)

With less than two weeks left, I feel that it is time for a reflection:
       I was so nervous about coming here because I felt that no one ever told me anything about living situations or about my classes or if I even got in. But I have learned that they really did do everything Israeli style. From little things such as emailing me about getting my stuff (ie transcript, health insurance) to bigger things like, well if I was accepted. I have learned to accept the Israeli style of things and I like the way it's done. No one worries about anything and the attitude is "when it gets done, it gets done." Israel is such a relaxed country. When you look around the streets, no one is rushing to get to work (or class). When you get to class, you get to class. If you're late, you're late. I like this not worrying about being late. I don't have to rush in the morning to get dressed or rush back from my food shopping spree. If I get to class a few minutes late, it's ok. 
    I really just love almost everything about Israeli culture. Everything about it is due to the relaxed atmosphere. There are no lines. Just clumps. Getting onto a bus requires pushing and cutting in line. Waiting in "line" at the supermarket requires cutting people so that you can get to the front. Buying something from the vending machine requires more cutting. Going through security requires elbowing and swimming toward the detectors. Basically, as long I say "Slichah" (excuse me, sorry) and push, I'm socially accepted.
    I also love how there is no time here. I mentioned class, but there is also the bus schedule. If the bus is supposed to show up at 7:30, it'll show up at 8. If the Madrichim are putting on an event, they'll say one time but mean another. All of my friends have assimilated into using Israeli time meaning that if we're going to have dinner or watch a movie, the time we start is usually an hour or two after what is said. Unlike when this happens back home, it's not annoying. It's part of what Israel is about.
    I think my favorite part about Israel, though is that the majority of the population is Jewish. Hebrew is used in the classroom as part of a lesson. In America if you used the Ethopian language of Amharic, for example, as part of a lesson (that wasn't related to Ethiopia), everyone would have confused looks on their faces. They would be thinking what are those random symbols on the board? Also, if you go to the Shuk on a Friday, it is more than likely that you will be thanked with a  "Shabbat Shalom". Everyone just assumes you're Jewish. It is nice being in a country where you can say the "CH" in Chanukkah or Chummus. I have gotten so used to saying "Chummus" (instead of the English pronunciation of "HA-mis") that when I realized that that's what I say, I decided that it sounds strange to my ears to say it the American way. It's just not right. Since it's Chanukkah now, there are chanukiot everywhere and each day a new "candle" is lit. Every bakery and supermarket sells Soufganiot (jelly doughnuts) and Livivot (latkes, potato pancakes). There are very few signs of Christmas around. There are a couple of small decorated trees in the windows, but that's about it. I haven't listened to the radio since September, but I'm pretty sure that Christmas music isn't playing 24/7. It's not that I'm against all the decorations, it's just that I like being in a country where my religion is celebrated. Where my religion is the national one.
    Since it is Christmas this week, my psychology class was moved a day forward. There are seven people in my class, five of whom are Jewish. A few weeks ago, one of the non-Jews asked my teacher if he could move the class from the 24th to an earlier time in the week. The reason she for this, she said, was because it was Christmas Eve and she wanted to go to mass. Understandable. However, all the Jews stood up and were like "What do you think we have to do on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur and pretty much anytime we want to celebrate a holiday?" We can't miss class, but we don't have a choice. The thing is, it's not that I didn't want the professor to not change the date, but it was the principle. I mean, you are coming to Israel knowing that it celebrates Jewish holidays. I wouldn't go to say India and expect a class to be changed because I have to celebrate a holiday. I would expect to miss class, or whatever my commitment was and find a way to celebrate. I don't know if this is something that I think is an automatic response because it's what I do anyway or if is something that most people would do.
    The difference that I find between Israelis and everyone is else, is that they are so OCD about only one thing. One of my roommates is obsessed with keeping things tidy, which isn't that hard and another one of my roommates is very anal about NOT washing dishes. She won't clean up after herself. I'm not sure why OCD hasn't said anything. I can't stand it. It's my turn to clean this week, but if the sink is piled with pots and dishes, it's not getting done. That is my one pet peeve. I cannot stand dishes piled in the sink. I can stand a few here and there, but when I have to wash out a plate and a fork because there are no clean plates, it's kind of ridiculous. This roommate is also OCD about the hot water. It can only be on at certain times which is why me and the other international roommates end up taking cold showers half the time.
Ok, enough ranting. More reflection later.
   

The Decision

    This weekend I went to Jerusalem as a "it's the last time" kind of thing. My friend and I were supposed to stay with a one of my friend's cousins, but that didn't work out so we ended up crashing at some friends of a friend's apartment at Hebrew University. Because I spent the weekend there, I got a taste of the University and I am happy that I chose Haifa. It's good to know that I made the right decision and that I chose correctly for me. The apartments are nice. The kitchen/common area is much nicer than where I live, but the rooms are small, although they have a lot of shelves and a big desk, and there are separate rooms for the toilets, sinks, and shower. The downside that I personally saw was that you are surrounded my Americans. All their roommates were American, all their neighbors are American and everyone speaks English. I like the fact that I have ONE American roommate, from Illinois, one Danish roommate, and three Israeli roommates. If I wanted to, I could use my Hebrew. I never see them so I don't usually talk to them period. Also, the program that they were in is really big and I think mostly, of not all, American. I like that my program is only a little bit over a hundred and that some of my friends are from different countries. I now have a reason to go visit Denmark and Hungary.
    My friend and I left Haifa in the early morning Friday and made good timing to Jerusalem. We managed not to get lost going from the bus station to Hebrew U. That night for Shabbat, the girls in the apartment had a potluck for their friends and I think I was connected to all of them somehow. Which was another reason I'm glad I didn't choose Hebrew U. Everyone knows each other. I like that going to Haifa will only be MY experience. I mean yes it would have been nice/helpful to have someone from umass here, but by being on my own, I feel that I got to experience everything more. I got to be who I wanted to be. No one knew anything about me and I could mold myself into the person that I wanted to be. One of the people that was there goes to Mt. Holyoke, a few know a bunch of people I know at Umass, one knows a friend of my brother's. The connections keep going and it was quite amusing. After everyone left we decided to go to sleep and instead of sleeping on the common area floor, someone picked the lock to one of the empty rooms and so there was a bed and our own room.
    Saturday, we slept late-ish according to normal people standards and walked to the Old City. It was about an hour walk there, even with us getting lost, which I thought was impressive. The girl that we were staying with did not give us the most, um, greatest directions so we had to ask a few times:
"How do we get to the old city?"
"Turn left at the end of this street. Keep walk straight and then ask someone else."
The best answer, if I've ever heard one. Because both of us were on a mission, we walked through the Arab shuk looking for scarves. (Yes, Leah. I got you one). For lunch, we stopped at the best pizza place in Israel. And although that's not saying much. I will go as far to compare it to New York pizza. It was so good. The best pizza (even though it was the second time) I've had in Israel...now for that burger that I've been craving for three months We then walked to the Kotel for one last looksee and then went back to the shuk to complete our mission. We walked through the Jewish quarter looking for the cardo and we got a little lost, but I found our way. We bought the necessary scarves for the appropriate people and started to head back. This time it took longer because we got lost. And that's not our fault. I mean we did head up the wrong street at first, but we were turning around on Jaffa Street looking at map, (Read: looking touristy), this guy asked us where we wanted to go and we told him Hebrew University. Basically his directions were to continue on Jaffa street go down some other streets, pass the Central Bus Station, and we'll be there. It didn't sound right to me because those weren't the street names that we had passed, but maybe it was a short-cut that he knew. Anyway, we were walking for a good 20 minutes and let's just say the more we walked, the more black we could see. Finally at one point, these two girls asked us where we were going and we said Hebrew University and both of them automatically said "Which one?" Well, we were baffled. There are two Hebrew Universities? They redirected us and told us not to walk into Me'ah Shearim. (A REALLY Orthodox community) We were very close as it was. Anyway, we made it back a little before dark, snacked, showered, and went out to dinner. Afterwards, we wandered Ben Yehuda street and I met up with my friend from Umass. She took me to this very cute quaint coffee shop and talked for a few hours. She couldn't believe that I'm leaving so soon and that we only got to see each other twice. She showed me which bus to take back and I got back safely. Although not without questioning my age. See, I bought a Cartisia Noar which is a child's ticket (which I recommend to all my friend's coming to Israel. Just make sure you wear pigtails). Or until the age of 17. Anyway, the bus driver, with good reason, asked my age. So I said "16...I mean 17". I figure my sister is 17 and everyone thinks she's older than me so why not. Besides, I think I can pass for 17 when I'm not dressed up and smile cutely. Neither of which I was so I actually looked my age. I got back to the university and went to bed.
    Sunday morning, we woke up early for college students and packed up our stuff. We took the bus to the old city and continued to walk to the Cardo so that my friend could get a necklace from Haddaya. I was so proud of myself. This whole weekend, I mangaed to navigate through the Old City. I actually kind of know my way around which I think is cool. I managed to get us from the university to the Old City and Back...and to the City again and then we took a side road towards the Jewish Quarter. We had perfect timing with the bus back. We got through security and everything by 11:58 and the bus left at 12 (which is 12:15 Israeli time).
    Once in Haifa and back in my dorm, I worked on my psych project and talked to my parents before going to the Hannukkah party. There were latkes and soufganiot (Jelly Doughnuts) which are way better here than they are in the US. Although the thing they sour cream is kind of gross. Because I don't think it's actually sour cream. We played a few games, sang some songs, decoreated cookies, made candles, and then I left to go to my friend's apartment to light Hanukkah candles. I had missed the lighting before because I was late to the party.
    Today was the second to last day of volunteering and since it was Hanukkah, we had a party. We sang the usual songs and blessings over the candels. We sang a few new Hebrew songs. (ie ones that I have never heard before) and the directors of the community center said a few words. The Elders (remember tha this is an Ethiopian community) blessed us, as per ritual, and thanked us profusely for tutoring. That was the only organized part about the whole party. The kids, whose parents came, ran all over the place. It was loud and noisy and basically unorganized. Here's a picture of everyone. Volunteers and Kids. You can't really see me, but I'm the third person in from the left in the second-ish row. As I said, it was so unorganized.

Random Weekend

 Random, but necessary stuff to say:
    - My psych of conflict class is a three hour "we can talk about whatever you want in class" In a three hour class, the teacher will give us a break after the halfway point. My teacher takes a break every half hour...and it's not because we look bored, but because he has to go to the bathroom. And every time he gets up to leave, we all have to hold in our giggling until he leaves the room. This wasn't a one time thing. It's been happening for a few weeks and each time it just gets funnier. I think we had like three breaks plus the big 15,20,30 minute break. It depends on the day how long it is.
    - We were filling out course evaluations for out teacher and this Ukrainian girl (who is the bluntest person I have ever met) just kept asking questions about the class for next semester and the lady who gave us the forms was just like "I don't know. You'll have to come to the International School Office"
    On a related note, we were filling out the evals for Rabbinic Lit. and the teacher stayed there!! Besides the fact that I was in front row and that he could probably read what I was writing, I hate filling out evaluations when teachers are right there!
    -There is a vending machine for hot drinks, which you might think is kind of gross. But it's not. It's 1.20 shekels. That's 25 cents for a small (really small) hot drink, usually hot chocolate. A cup drops down and your drink vends and you have a hot drink.
    So, we finally got a microwave in our apartment a few weeks ago, but the timer was broken so my roommate went to go get it fixed. Anyway, I was helping her carry it from her trunk to our room and we started talking about Chanukkah and I mentioned how I forgot to bring a Chanukiah (it's not a "Menorah" in Israel) and the next day, I see a present on the table for me. I open it up and it's a menorah, I mean Chanukiah. From the box/the bottom of the Chanukiah, she probably got it for free or had it lying around her house. Either way, it was the thought that counts and it is very pretty.
    This weekend was not as exciting at last week's trip to Jordan (I have more pictures, but it's too many to put into one album), but fun just the same. Thursday day just slipped through my hands. By the time I looked at my clock, it was 4:30 and I was like "WAIT it can't be. I haven't eaten lunch yet" At which point, my friend cam to borrow a laundry token from me and we ended up talking for an hour so by the time I lunch, it was actually an earlier dinner. Thursday night a bunch of us decided to go out for dinner because two friends of one of my friends came to visit (they are studying in Jordan and will be in Israel next semester). We went to Mercaz HaCarmel for dinner and I exactly knew where to get off the bus. It was exciting. Usually I have to wait until we pass the stop to realize that I was supposed to get off. We went to a Thai place called The Giraffe and it is run Israeli style. Before I get into that though, I want to mention something else. In the US, the waiters and cooks in Asian restaurants are all Asian. I think that the Head Cook was the only Asian and all the rest of the staff were Israeli. It's not just this restaurant either. I went to a sushi place at the beginning of the semester and the same type of staff was there too. It's just an interesting observation. Anyway, so the food in the restaurant is served whenever it's done. Which is good, except that some of us got our meals waaaay before others and the appetizer that we ordered came last. The other funny thing about being there was that a) my roommate was there with her parents and b) another big group (we were nine, them eleven) from the University came in literally two seconds after us. After eating dinner, we went ran into some other people from the university and went to for drinks with them. We were still nine people though because two others went home and it was only two that joined us.
    Friday, I worked on my Rabbinic Lit paper, which is comparing the two creation stories. It is really interesting to read the rabbinic commentary because half the things they comment on have nothing to do with the actual verse. And they comment on every single word. In the book I got out from the library (which I can kind of navigate now!!), has 200 pages on just the first two chapters of Genesis. Friday night, it was someone's birthday (he's like 30 or something, actually 25, but that's 30 here) so there was a Red and Black party here. Those are the colors of Georgia State where he goes/went. It was fun, but I didn't get to sleep until late or early depending on how you look at it.
    Saturday was a lazy day and Sunday was Food Shopping Day! So now I have food in my fridge, but yet there are still dishes in the sink...and there will be tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, and the after that, and the day after that...
   

Eilat of Fun in Jordan

    Thursday morning, I woke up a few extra minutes early to finish packing for the weekend. What I don't understand is that no matter what time I get up, it still takes me until the hour (8 or 10 depending on the day) to get dressed. So I had to stuff last minute food and toiletries into my suitcase. I carried my suitcase to class, actually some nice Israeli did, I put in a locker, and went to class. I have no idea what we talked about because the whole class I was like "I'm going to Jordan...wait I need to pay attention...But I'm going to Jordan". Nevertheless, I made it through class and left 15 minutes early to catch the bus down to Hof HaCarmel. We weren't doing anything important anyway, unless you count two lies and a truth necessary to the learning process. Leaving at noon on a Thursday is just not a good idea. It's when everyone goes home for the weekend so we stopped at pretty much every stop. Luckily, we had a few minutes to spare before we took our first bus to Tel Aviv and so gathered some pastries at the pastry shop at the bus station. The ride to Tel Aviv was one full of giggles. This should not be surprising as we were six girls. There has to be giggling. It was only an hour and a half ride there and we had an hour before our next bus to Eilat so we bought tickets and ate lunch. I had falafel. It was seven shekels for a take-as-much-as-you-want buffet. That's different than an all-you-can-eat. I "stole" extra falafel and fries for everyone. We then hurried to the bus for a six hour ride South. Past Jerusalem. Past Masada. Past Ramon Crater. Past the Negev. We literally went from tip to tip in a day.
    Once in Eilat, we had to find our hostel, so creatively named, Eilat Youth Hostel. Not knowing where we were, we asked our safe person (aka random guy with a kippah) for directions and he told us where to go. We eventually got to the hostel, unpacked, and went to sleep...after talking for an two hours. Friday morning the four of us (two went diving with dolphins at an earlier time) got up at 830 went to a delicious breakfast of eggs, bread, tuna, veggies, and random other food. In Israel, no one eats fruit in the morning. It's just an odd concept. Instead they have peppers and carrots and cucumbers. To me, that's a salad, which I like to have in the afternoon. After breakfast, we packed up for the day and walked around North Beach for the morning. If you want to call it a beach with the amount of sand there is. It was like being on a Tropical Island, though. There are stands that line the beach. Funky music playing. Men in bathing suits that should never be worn. The only difference is that Eilat is one of the cheapest places to buy almost anything. After lunch a lunch of PB and Pita (and buying a skirt), we caught up with the other girls and went on a glass-bottomed boat tour. It was a preview of what we were going to see the next day. We saw the borders of Egypt and Jordan and corals and dolphins. There were a few, um, interesting people on board and I don't think the bar was to blame.
    Anyway, by the time we got back on land, the sun was setting, ie Shabbat was starting, but we had to make one more stop before out hotel. Ice Cream. One of my friends is worse than my mom when it comes to ice cream. And that's saying something. At the hostel, we napped, showered, dressed, and went to the Red Sea Star restaurant. We had reservations at 7. That was a joke. There were ten people there. We were six of them. The restaurant itself was under water, which was cool, but there were very few fish. And no I didn't have fish for dinner. It was the experience that counted. And it was definitely an experience. When paying the bill, we had too much money. This phenomenon always happens. Everyone pays the bill maybe a few shekels (or dollars) over but despite that, there is always a big tip left. As compromise, we took the extra money and bought cookies with it for dessert.
    After talking and giggling for an hour, we set the alarm for 6:15 and went to sleep only to wake up to "Holy Crap! It's 6:30!" We sat up from bed, rushed with getting dressed and packing, grabbed breakfast from the fridge and waited outside in front of the hostel for the next ten minutes. Because we had time to spare, I started eating my yogurt, which a) I stole from breakfast the previous day and b) wasn't actually yogurt. It was Levan which is a cheese type yogurt. But basically it tasted gross and as I was saying how bad it was it slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground. Right side up. This was just the beginning of things to come and it was only 7am. The jeep eventually came and the six of us climbed in. There were two other people in the Jeep. One of which everyone somehow knew. She knew two of the kids on our program and I "knew" her because of Hebrew School. I didn't actually remember her, but we figured out that we both went to Prozdor. It was a seven minute ride to the border and by the time we got there, our hair which we had so neatly combed earlier was now a mess. It was a windowless jeep. We got to the border and waited for an hour for it to open (at 8am) and once it did we made our way to Jordan.
    Not without troubles, of course. I never got my Student Visa so they yelled at me to get one. They asked me why I didn't have one and there's no good reason but they kept asking me and I was just like "I don't know". Anway, it was a big ordeal. We eventually made it onto the tour bus with Ali (pronounced with stress on the A), our tour guide. We got a short tour of Aqaba, which was like 10 seconds from the border. It is physically a big town, but the concentrated area is only a few square miles and I swear that we were in the middle of nowhere until we got to Petra. Once in Petra, we walked towards the treasury learning about the rock formations and the Nabateans. When we got the the treasury, there were little kids asking us if we wanted to by postcards (1 for 1 dinar, about $1.50) or if we wanted a camel/donkey/horse ride. "It's either me or my camel...or both." "No women, you cry. No camel, you die. Which is it?" After trying to avoid the heckling, we made it to the end of one of the ancient town and ate lunch. It was included in the price of the tour so it was almost like it was free. And it was a GOOD lunch of real hummus (aka not the cheap stuff that is still good, but not as good) and pita and rice and israeli-style salads. But they had gross desserts. The tour guide let us walk back by ourselves so we booked it back up the mountain so that we could have time to shop. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. At the Indiana Jones Shop (It's not actually random. One of the scenes from The Last Crusade was filmed in Petra) One of my friends bought sand art that had camels on it. It was pretty cool and just as she and another girl were talking about getting it back to America, it slipped out of her hand and she dropped it. My reaction "At least when I drop things, they're not valuable" the owner of the stand was very nice though and gave her another one. No sooner after we had bough some magnets (3 for 5 dinars), another one of my friends dropped her magnet and it broke. It's expected to be cheap because, well, Jordan is a poor country, but we hadn't even left the stand. Again, the owner was very nice and let her take another magnet. He'll remember us as the those American girls who broke everything. Before destroying anymore property, we got onto the bus for our ride back with a short stop for the best baklava I have ever had. We got back to Israel around 730 and went through security and routine questioning and a hard time about my student visa. I was given exactly one month to get it. Perfect. I leave in exactly a month from the stamped date.

pictures will be up next post. I have real work for the rest of the semester. I actually have to write two papers...the first two of the semester. Here's a picture of the six of us, as a preview.

Pilgrims Meet the Hippies Meet Menachem Begin

    What's Thanksgiving without a Thanksgiving dinner? Therefore it was only natural to have a big feast. And boy was it a feast. My stomach agreed.
    Because I only had one class, until noon, I helped my friend get everything ready. She doesn't live on campus so I had to go to Mercaz HaCarmel...by myself. That was a big feat. It was the first time traveling anywhere in Haifa alone. I didn't get lost and I got off at the right stops and even used some of my hebrew.
    Once at my friend's apartment, I helped her figure out stuff about the turkey. How do you cut off the neck? Do you cut off the tail? Did I get all the organs out? Which way does the turkey cook? Not having ever cooked a turkey, I had to look all of it up online. Once we figured out all the answers, we put it in the oven to cook for the next four hours. We had no thermometer that says when the turkey is ready nor did we have a turkey baster but it managed to come out fantastic, if I do say so myself. And we managed to almost drop it only twice. Along with turkey we had the usual thanksgiving delicacies: stuffing, sweet potato stuff with marshmallows on top, cranberry sauce, a fruit relish and then of course everything that everyone else brought. It was so good and so filling. There was also dessert. I think by the end everyone was about to explode from the food.
    Friday was a day filled with laziness and reading. I went to Friday night services and then had dinner with a friend. There was no potluck because it was moved to Saturday so that we could have more time to cook and dress up like hippies. It was a '60s themed potluck. With Jimi Hemndrix (spelling intended) and Janice Joplin and Bob Dylan playing, we chilled with our groovy delicacies of Kool-Aide Electric Acid (Sprite) and Magic Brownies, which was actually challah french toast and bananas dipped in chocolate. There were only a few people there but it was nice because everyone had a place to sit, enough food, and we could have one big conversation.
    Today, I went to Jerusalem. The only reason I went again was for class. But our professor didn't come and four people out of the twelve in our class showed up. It was a international school wide trip so there were other people. Once in Jerusalem, we walked through the Armenian quarter and then through the room where the Last Supper was held. It has been turned into a mosque since then so there's not much to see there except some Romaneesque arches. We then made our way to the Jewish Quarter and to the Kotel. After putting a note in the Wall, me and the three other people from my class walked to the Begin Center. This is why I was surprised that our professor didn't show up. Menachem Begin's (pronounced BAY-gin) relationship to his mentor Jabotinsky is analogous to our professor's obsession with Begin. So I thought that our teacher would want to come and guide us through his life. Instead we joined a tour group and "learned" about his life. I say "learned" because besides the fact that we learned everything already in class, they just threw information at us and it was hard to absorb all of it. It was a good museum and if you're in Jerusalem you should go, but not if you've spent the past two and a half months talking about him. The good thing about going to the museum was that we had an hour afterwards to kill before catching up with the rest of the group so the Madrich that we were with gave us a small tour of the Cable Car used in the war with Jordan. Jordan forbade the entrance of food and water to Israel so the Israelis built a cable with a car so that it could bring food over. Food was transfered by night and the cable was brought down in the day so that the Jordanians wouldn't be able to see it. It wasn't until like twenty years later that the public was informed of this cable. As a plus, a meeting with the Khzakastan Parliament was going on in the Mount Zion Hotel (right next to the cable) so we got a sneak peek of them. We then caught up with the group went to Machanai Yehuda for some shopping and food and made our way back to university.

The Simple Things

    Compared to last weekend's trip to Ramon Crater (pics here), this weekend was pretty boring. Although it was nice to relaxing.

    After a hard week of presentations and tests, I had no food left in my fridge and so a few of us made our way down to Horev's SuperSol. We stopped at the pharmacy in the mall and I needed tissues so I bought the best tissues ever...princess ones! They're the travel kind so there are like packages in a pack. It's awesome!
    And then started the Movie Hours: Pick a Chick Flick. My friend and I, after being stressed all week, decided that we wanted to watch a movie and so we watched A Walk to Remember. A good sappy movie with Mandy Moore. Friday, I woke up really late and decided that instead of sleeping the day away, I should get up and do something productive. The result: watching Pride and Prejudice...the 5 hour version. The one with Colin Firth. I had never watched any version or read the book and surprisingly (to me) it kept my attention and was interesting. We stopped for lunch and random phone calls in between and by the time we finished it was 7pm. After a dinner of chicken and veggies and my apple crisp as dessert, we watched two more movies: What's up Doc? (with G-pa's favorite actress, Barbra Streisand...right?) and Clue, which was kinda stupid. All of us then decided to actually use our brains before going to sleep. (Although to be fair we did because we had to put the subtitles on because the volume wasn't loud enough so we had to read those) So I ended up reading some Chick-Lit. I finally found the fiction section in the library so I took out a bunch of books.
    Thus ended the Movie Day. Saturday, it rained and what better thing is there to do than to watch a movie. Just kidding. My friend and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. It took longer to find all the ingredients than it took to make the actual cookies. I have the basic ingredients like flour, sugar, and chocolate (of course), but I didn't have the other stuff...mainly an oven. My friend did so we used hers, but we also had to find vanilla (didn't), baking soda (kinda), and more chocolate chips (of course we found those!) along with eggs and measuring cups. The oven, the toaster oven that we used, only fit ten cookies so it took a while to bake. Not wanting to stay on campus Saturday night, a few of us went bowling (בולינג) at the Haifa Mall. I started off okay and by the second game, I was beyond awful with a score of 19. My first game was 33 and my second 63. So I did improve...kinda.
    In other news, today I volunteered at the school. The girl I'm working with actually kinda learned her letters so we were somewhat productive. What I don't understand though is why even after three weeks they don't know their letters. What are they doing in school that is preventing them from learning English? The Madricha who runs the volunteering told us that all the younger kids (ie those not in high school) are all below their grade level for English. I'm tired of doing the letters and I'm sure she gets bored of it. We actually went on to words today. But even that is hard because she doesn't know many/any words. Not body parts, only some colors and few other random words. I wonder if the Israeli education system is bad all subjects or just this?
    Anyway, my roommates and I have a microwave...this calls for some microwave popcorn and some hot tea to warm me up from my cold showers, but that's a whole other story.
   

The desert did not desert the dessert

I don't think I've talked about Israeli drivers yet. So here are the rules of the road:
1. Green means keep going and red means you can go if there are no other cars
2. You can drive in whatever lane you want, that includes the middle
3. You can immediately switch lanes without warning, that includes going from the far left to the far right to switch lanes.
4. If you almost crash, which happens often, you can get out of the car and start yelling at each other in the middle of the road
5. There's no speed limit
6. If you do crash, then you can still yell at each other in the middle of the road
7. If you're a pedestrian, red means don't cross and green means cross. This is the one rule that they do follow. There is a fine if you don't. But none of the Americans follow this rule because if the light is red and there are no cars coming, why not cross?
8. check the horn because although it's not often used, a foreigner will always use it due to the way Israelis drive.
9. remember...you can always just stop in the middle of the road and do whatever you need to do

    We left for the Negev/Ramon Crater early Friday morning when no college student back home has gone to sleep (5:30 am). We made it to Be'ersheva in five hours where we stopped at a shuk for breakfast, but not before getting into an accident. The bus driver and the car driver started yelling at each other from their cars and then we pulled over and there was a whole debacle, but I think that it was the car's fault. Everytime I'm on a bus, I see a car almost hit the bus so it was bound to happen, but it was totally the car's fault. Anyway, we also passed Be'ersheva University so now I know where my brother was for a year...the middle of nowhere. After getting food at the shuk, we went to Ben Gurion's grave and home. It was nothing too exciting. David Ben Gurion, a prime minister of Israel and one of the original pioneers, lived in a simple but nice home. His grave site overlook was gorgeous and peaceful. We drove to Advat and after lunch, we learned about the history of the Spice Path and the Nabaeteens. There was a bunch of old ruins which was interesting to see and our tour guide told us their story. Finally, we made it to Ramon Crater and we walked up to an overlook and managed to fit forty people on a small platform. By sunset, we headed off to the Bedouin tent and made a dinner of pita, meat, and various salads. After a shortened Kab. Shab. (Kabblat Shabbat), we ate. And for dessert we had s'mores, but one of the madrichim forgot to bring the chocolate bars so we used chocolate spread which was just as good. We were also served Bedouin tea, but it was too sweet for me.
    The next morning we awoke at a more reasonable time and had breakfast. I think that I had too much coffee (only a cup, a literal cup) because I had so much energy for the rest of the day, but that was a good thing. We hiked from 9 in the morning until 430 in the afternoon. We walked in and along the crater. It's not actually a crater because no foreign body hit it. I think that it used to be a mountain and it was eroded so now there's a big whole in the ground. We took breaks during the hike, but not a lot which was good because hiking with forty people is only fun when we don't stop every five minutes. We also climbed the mountain (I want to say Har Hebron, but I think that's wrong) at the end of the trail and you could see everything! It was gorgeous especially since the sun was beginning to set. I tried to take panaromic pictures of the view. Oh, and the climb up was at a 100% slant. It was a straight line up. But that's because we were all racing each other (only 15 people did this everyone else stayed at the bottom) and the path kinda ended, or so we though, and we made up our own path. Going down was easier because this time the tour guide was in front of us and showed is the path. It was a tiring, but really fun weekend. This week is full of stupid presentations and tests. Ick.

Pictures will be in the next blog. Or when I have time. Or when I want to procrastinate. One of those.

I hate it when they're right

    The most awful non-required class I ever took was "Immigration to Israel" taught by a teacher who a) could barely speak English so b) couldn't pronounce her students' names even though she was their advisor and c) made groups of three write a ten page paper and present it and didn't even pay attention to the presentation. Although that turned out to be a good thing. So in this miserable seventy five minute class we talked about, well, immigration to Israel from the early 1900s to today. The two things that stuck out in my mind besides the monotonous teacher was that there was a huge Russian immigration and a big Ethiopian immigration. I don't know why I remember that but I do.
    Now fast forward a year (aka now). I am volunteering to tutor some Ethiopian kids in English. On the way home the Madricha who organizes the volunteering started talking about the Ethiopian immigration and though her explanation was helpful, I'm glad (it hurts to say this), I'm glad I took that stupid class. There were also several times in the past months that she has talked about thr Russian population here. My professor was Russian so I knew a bit more about that.
    Monday was the first day that we taught English. Everyone has their own kid (or two). They range from age 11 to 17. Most of the younger kids know very little English. Me and my luck got a girl who doesn't really know the alphabet. Even from just an hour of tutoring, you can realize how hard English is. I had to explain what vowels were and which letters they were. Try explaining that in a different language, or even in English. I think we spent most of the time spelling soccer. She spelled it logically (SIKR) it's just that We write out the vowels in English. Since this girl knows no English I spoke in Hebrew for an hour and I have to say that I am proud of myself for doing so.
    Also on Monday was HaZikaron Yitzchak Rabin--Yitzcahk Rabin Memorial Day. (Yitzchak Rabin was the Prime Minister of Israel and was assassinated 13 years ago). There was a service that might have been interesting if it was in English, although those who are fluent said it was boring anyway. My friends and I picked out words that we knew.
    On Sunday, after watching two movies the day before (The Bookdock Saints--hilarious, and the new James Bond Movie--I think it's better if you see the first one), a few of us decided to go the Shuk to get some fresh veggies and fruits. We made our way down to the Arab shuk, which we forgot was closed, and instead of getting veggies and fruits, we went to one of the best Hummus places in Haifa, possibly all of Israel. After lunch, we walked to Hadar, the Jewish shuk that we usually go to, and got a few fruits and veggies. Today my friend and I made our way back down to the Shuk to get the rest of our groceries. After my 8am class, I didn't have class again until 415 and had a whole day to waste so to the Shuk it was. This time we were more successful. After some of the "Best Falafel in Haifa" (there are two falafel places that are the best in Haifa right across from eachother. You can literally have both feet in each store), we went to the spice store, the fruit store that has more variety than any fruit stand I have ever seen, the Hummus store (yes, there's a whole store for hummus), and the deli where they cut meat like an artist. It was a very successful trip.
    Class update: Hebrew-- we're learning about Nifal, which is the passive voice (I was doing, I was cleaning, etc.) and we learned how to conjugate verbal nouns which I didn't understand until she said that it was a gerund so now I get it. Not class related, but when people speak hebrew to me, I'm not translating word for word. It's just there, like in English. And I'm getting so much better with numbers. When people tell me a price, I know what it is without going through the whole 1-10 thing. Except I still get mixed up between the 20s and the teens. Oh well, I'm getting better!
                        Rab. Lit.-- on monday we talked more about the Shema and the two different schools of thought on what the Mishnah means by "one long and one short" (Mom, I'll email you what he said, 'cause it's too long to write here)
                        Psych of Conflict--we don't do anything in that class. It is so israeli. The teacher comes late. We take a break every hour. Sometimes for 5 mins, sometimes 10, sometimes 20. Our teacher told us to write a 10 page paper. No directions. No due date. No nothing. We talk about what we want. Menachem Begin in jail. The conflict in the middle east. Whatever we want.
                    Psych Seminar--the shortest class, but the most boring. we have to give a 10 minute presentation on our topic, which we haven't chosen yet and might not be approved but we have to research it anway.
    Anyway, some friends from umass are going to be Haifa on Thursday and Friday so hopefully I will be able to see them! And Friday and Saturday I'm going to the Negev...Hot by day, Freezing by night.

Obamanation-- It ain't no abomination

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    You get two in a row!
    Hillary Clinton must be so mad. To explain: She's orginally from Illinois but moved to New York just be a senator. If she has stayed in her home state to run for senate, Obama wouldn't have been elected as a senator and Clinton might have been in Obama's place. But alas, that's not how it worked out. Sucks to be her.
    This was a monumental election not because Obama will be the first Black president sworn in. Not because it was my first presidential election that I could vote in. But because for the first time in eight years a Democrat will be president (and will be the majority) meaning that I will remember the history as it happens. I mean the only thing I remember about Clinton is the whole Monica Lewinsky fiasco and learning what impeachment was. I'm not saying that Bush isn't an important president but I am sure that the American people are glad that his term is up. I heard he was rated as the worst president in American history, even worse than Nixon. Now that says something.
     Last semester I took a class called “Ghosts That Haunt Us”. (All Umass people should take it if you can). The class was about racism in the Americas. I wish I could take this class again and see what people would say about the election. With Obama as president, I think it shows how far we have come as a country. If Obama had been born a few years earlier, he wouldn’t have even been able to choose where he wanted to sit on a bus or vote and now look at America! The 2008 election shows that maybe racial tension in America has loosened. I think that this election showed not only how stupid McCain was in picking his VP candidate, but also how much more accepting America has become. However, I think that we shouldn't get caulky with this "First". It is a great feat that Americans have overcome but racism still exists and I think that yes this shows how far we've come but it also shows how far we have to go. I mean it's exciting that Obama is "The First Black President" but really his color has (or should have) nothing to do with being president, but unfortunatley the media will portray him based on his race.
    I am now fearful of Sarah Palin. I read an article saying that if Palin lost the election there was no way she was going to fade back into the background and I think this is correct. It said that she might run for Senate and eventually President. I think she is a dangerous woman and I am glad that as of now she does not have a lot of power. She's the mayor of Wasilla. A place no one even heard of until she was chosen as John McCain's VP choice.
    Last night/early this morning at two in the morning there was an election party. It was actually a good time to be up because I got to talk to a lot of people that I don’t normally talk to during the day because of the time difference. In the Moadon, where the party took place, there was a lecturer, whose only purpose was to explain to the Israeli Political Science majors how a US election works. We had our own pseudo-election and Obama won so we knew it would be a good night/morning. Keep in mind that it was only somewhat biased because there were Israelis and non-American international students. Still, twenty percent voted for McCain. We watched Fox News only because other than BBC, which probably wouldn’t cover the election, it is the only News channel in English. It was really exciting to be there as history made way. For both parties it was a monumental election. Sarah Palin would have been the first female vice president. With two cups of coffee, I was able to make it to six in the morning, and shortly after going outside to see the sunrise, the California votes came in. Obama is officially the president for the next four years. With the winner decided, I took a nap before my 8am class.

Ahhh...history. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Yitzchak-O-Lantern

    I'm not going to report about class, because frankly, that's just boring to read about. So I'm skipping from Monday to Thursday. Thursday night, my friend Hannah was in a very generous mood and made Tacos for six of us. Usually when we have dinner together, we either make dinner for ourselves and eat together or we all bring something over and contribute to a larger dinner, but this was just a free for all. After dinner, we met up with with some other people, making us a group of 13, and made our way to the Boardwalk at Hof HaCarmel, the beach. We ended up at a hookah bar where one half smoked hookah and the other half had ice cream. Yes, I know. Very Eclectic. It was a relaxing atmosphere, though. The restaurant was very open and you could see the stars and hear the waves crashing against the shore. It was very sukkah-like. Afterwards, half the group left, and the rest of us went to Mercaz Carmel (Carmel Center) where we played some pool. I am proud to say that as bad as I am at pool, I was one of the better players in my group. (We got two tables and split into 2 on 2). We left the pool bar at around one in the morning...an early night for Israelis, whose night starts at the time and caught the last bus back to the university.
    Friday, we had no class, so we went to the mall. (Don't worry, dad, the only things I bought were soap, potatoes, and grapes---hey, you want me to be clean, dontchya?) Some of the people I went with wanted to get a piercing. One, a nose ring, and the other two their cartilage. (Don't worry, mom, I didn't get anymore holes). After eating lunch, we split up so some of us could go shopping for food and others for clothes. I got back to my apartment and there was an Israeli there! Her name is Sandra (sounds like Mantra) and is super nice. My other roommate had a friend over from BenGurion University so all of us talked for awhile getting to know each other. After services and a Shabbat potluck, we had to celebrate Halloween. Basically the whole international school wound up at one apartment and luckily, unlike America, it is still relatively warm so the group could spill outside. Around two in the morning, a bunch of us decided that we were starving and we went to my friends apartment to eat. At 2:30 we decided that it was time for bed.
    On Saturday I was hoping to sleep late, which I did, but not considering the time I went to bed. My two friends, who had left the party earlier than I, were making French Toast and how could I resist French Toast, Challah French Toast at that. I didn't do much this weekend. On Sunday, we were supposed to watch Walk on Water, but the Madricha broke the DVD so we ended up watching a movie called The Band. It was soooo bad. At the start of the movie there were like twenty people and everyone just kept trickling out so by the end there were only five people. I left after twenty minutes and ended up talking to the Madricha and some other people about Arab-Israeli realtions. We talked for the length of the movie. So here's my perspective:

In the US, Haifa is known as the only city in Israel that has Jews and Arabs living together. Which is true, but it's not what the US makes it out to be. In the US I feel like it's made to be a society that people co-exist and live in peace and harmony. They work and live together and there are not many problems. Haifa is a place where everyone mingles and the only way you can tell the difference between one another is the way each dresses. But that's not how it is at all. It is Jews and Arabs living together relatively peaceful, but it's separated. Jews live in one area and the Arabs another. Individually, Arabs and Jews are friendly, but not when looked at as a whole. Basically, Haifa is not what it is made out to be in the US.

On Monday after Hebrew and a discussion of the Shema in Rabbincal Literature, I went to volunteer at community center where we will be teaching English to Ethiopian children, ages 9 to 17. I can tell that my hebrew is going to get a lot better by just talking to the girls I have. They speak NO English. But I managed to figure out how old they are, what grade they are in, and how many brothers/sisters they have. That's really as far as we got because the rest of the time we played ice-breaker games. Tonight, I am staying up to watch the election. That's at 2am and I have class at 8am, but I can go to sleep afterwards 'cause I don't have class again until 4:15.

Maybe the winner will be declared early...cough Ohio cough Florida cough.

I Understood What You Said!

    Nothing exciting has been going on because well, class has started. Sigh. We have our first quiz in Hebrew this week so that means I actually have to do homework this week.

    Since I only had about ten minutes worth of Hebrew homework, my friend and I decided to go shopping at the mall (don't worry dad, I didn't buy that much clothing). The mall we went to has the best name in the world, HaGrand Kenyon. "Kenyon" means mall which is why the name is so awesome. When Americans say the name of the mall they say "The Grand Canyon" and the Israelis don't get it.
    We took the 37 to Horev where we needed to switch buses. So I needed to ask for a transfer ticket (Caritisia Ma'avar, in case you're wondering, Mom) and did so by using my nifty Hebrew skills. This was just the beginning of the Hebrew I was going to use. When we got to Horev, we couldn't find the stop where the 23 would pick us up and take us to the mall, so I asked some people. The first lady didn't speak English so I went to my default, an Israeli soldier. It took three people to tell us where the bus stop was. Once at the Grand Kenyon, we walked through various stores and salespeople would ask us in Hebrew if we needed help, and I would either say "lo" or ask if they spoke English because there is no way I can say "do you have sweaters?" in Hebrew. Most of them spoke English so it was no problem, but at one store I wanted to ask if there was a discount, but the lady didn't speak any English. Most people who say they don't speak English can actually form a sentence or few to say so, but this lady was just like "no English". She got someone from another store to translate for her. The answer to my question was yes, so me and my friend each got an Israeli skirt for 5 dollars. Then in Hebrew she started telling us, or I guess me because my friend doesn't speak any Hebrew, how today was the last day of the sale. And that everything in the store was half off. She said she was sorry for not speaking English. She was Russian not Isreali. For some reason though, it took her a long time to say just that and yes, I'm sure that's what she was saying. But it was exciting that I could understand what she was saying. We also went into Tower Records and the guy asked if we needed help and then I got really excited when I saw that they sold posters. My walls are white and have nothing on them so I bought a Green Day poster and my room now looks a little more homey, with just that one poster. Anyway, I asked how much it was, in Hebrew, and he answered, and I understood and then he asked me something else and that was the end of my Hebrew, but he was like "Oh, you speak English too." He must not be a Native Israeli. All the Madrichim make fun of us Americans for our accent when trying to speak Hebrew. I say Americans and not another nationality because some of the Danes, French, and Brazilians, can pull off the "r" sound.
    Today I felt very Israeli (read: pushy). For homework in my psych seminar, we had to email the professor our homework and tell him who we were. So I received an email back saying that I (still) wasn't on the roster and to figure everything out by the end of this week because Thursday is Final Registration. Today, I finally got a chance to go see the director of the International School and told her my problem:

me: Hi. I sent you an email about this at the beginning of semester. I'm Jill...Weiner. I wanted to know if I was in the honors psych program because my teacher says I'm not on the roster, but it's ok if I'm in the class as long as I'm in the program.

her: you sent me an email?

me: yea, at the beginning of the semester.

her: Ok, hold on a second.

she leaves for five minutes while I awkwardly stand in her tiny office.

her: Are you in Psych of Conflict?

me: yea

her: Unfortunately, we can't let you into the program. You have only taken 4 psych classes and you need 6.

me: Even if I understand everything that's going on?

her: We say 6 classes because we want it to maintain an honors level

me: Because when I went to the class, I understood what was going on and I learned some of the stuff last year.

her: Wait, you went to the class?

me: yea, I didn't know if I was in the program or not so I just went.

her: ok, hold on.

she leaves and comes back.

her: It's going to be a while. Why don't you sit outside.

me: Ok. Oh, I also took 5 classes. I took a class over the summer

her: we don't have that. So can you send the transcript when you get a chance.

me: yea

So I wait for like ten minutes and then go back into her office.

her: We're going to make an exception for you.

me: thanks

her: I want to let you know that if you weren't in the class it would have been much more difficult to be in the program. Because you have taken five psych classes, we're going to make an exception.

me: thanks so much!

Personally, I think she let me in because she didn't remember the email I sent her, the conflict class that I'm taking counts as a 6th class, and the psych department is run by someone else. I'm glad I was persistent.

The Month in Review

    Ok, so I have been here for a month. I can't believe that time went so quickly and now the real hard stuff starts...that thing called, ummm, oh yea class. Anyway, I have gotten used to a few things since I've been here:

1. Cooking meals--not ramen noodles and macaroni, but Real Food, like pasta and chicken and, well, a lot of hummus and pita but that's only because it a hundred times better here than in the states. I have to enjoy it while I can.

2. Israelis-- this is in two categories
    a. Israeli time-- Class is supposed to start fifteen minutes after the hour and end 3 hours later, but not in Israeli time. Class starts around when it's supposed to (usually 5 or 10 minutes) and then we get a break after an hour and a half. And there's no set time for break. The first class, we had like half an hour and then last time it was twenty minutes. Class lets out like fifteen minutes before it's supposed to. So instead of a three hour class, we have a two hour class. And if people come in a few minutes later, the teachers don't really care. They know that's how Israel time work. I have noticed that when I say "Be there in literally a minute" It's actually another five minutes before I get there whereas before Israel it was a minute or two.
    b. Israeli manners-- or lack thereof. I have become a little but more pushy when comes to lines and crowds. When coming back from Jerusalem, there was a clump of people, lines don't exist here, waiting to go through security. In the US it would have easily been a half hour wait. I was through in less than ten minutes. But at least I say "Slicha" (excuse me) and mean it.

3. The cats--ok, not really. But I've learned how to get rid of them. All you have to do is stomp really loudly and the piddle away pathetically meowing.

4. Hebrew-- I have gotten used to the fact that I can only understand half of what is being said, but hey, it's better than nothing. At least, I can understand what the lifeguard is saying. Two of my friends moved into the "no swimming zone" because of the current and they couldn't understand what the lifeguard was saying and they were too far away for us to scream. (The only reason it "no swimming" is because the life guard can't see you, which doesn't make sense given the situation, but whatevs.)

5. Laundry-- Instead of quarters, or half shekels as the case might be, we have to use a token that looks like wavy Lays potato chips. There are like six different places where you can put the detergent. It may not necessarily help the clothes, but you can try. I still have no idea how to work the driers. I think you put how long you want it to dry/cool for and the temp. Except it's in Celsius and even if I did know what temperature it's at in Fahrenheit, I still wouldn't be able to convert it.

6. Taking the buses everywhere--If I want to go grocery shopping where things aren't over priced, I have to leave campus. If I want to go out for dinner, I have to leave campus. If I want to go the beach, I have to leave campus. If I want to go anywhere at all, I have to leave campus. Are we seeing a pattern? At least at Umass, I can walk to the center get what I need and walk back, but here even if I wanted to walk, there would be no way that I could carry everything back up the hill without either breaking my back or my backpack.

7. Jews--duh! It's so nice knowing that mostly everyone is Jewish. In Jerusalem, random people would say Shabbat Shalom to us, but I think that's probably because we were dressed in appropriate clothing. But even in the SuperSol (the grocery store, like Market Basket or Big Y) the cashiers would say Shana Tova (Happy New Year). [And speaking of grocery stores, here you have to bag your own stuff, which I guess is fine, but if you have a cart you don't bring it through the line with you. You just put your stuff on the counter and leave the carriage and someone picks it up. It's so weird.]

8. I was going to say warm weather and sunshine all the time, but it poured today. Not a summer shower of fifteen minutes. Nope. It drizzled this morning, but it was only enough to get the ground moist, but tonight after class it downpoured like there was no tomorrow for a good three hours. Israel needs the rain because there has been a drought for four years and even the Dead Sea is drying up. But the storm was accompanied by lightning and thunder that crackled like a fire being put out. Getting back to my room was an adventure. I had to go down one flight of stairs and then some to get to my room. I got wetter than I do when I shower. My hair was dripping and I could squeeze a good glass of water out of my clothes. To make matters worse, my key had fallen off my keychain. On the way down a heard a cling, but I just thought it was my keychain because it always does that, but when I got to my room, no key. We keep the apartment itself unlocked so I was inside, but then I had to go all the way back and find my key, which I did, but got even wetter. So I was sitting on my bed waiting for the storm to settle down before doing homework, checking email, etc. when a voice came out of nowhere. Apparently there is a loudspeaker in every apartment. I mean there's a bomb shelter so I guess it makes sense, but still, I was freaked especially since it was in Hebrew. Me and my roommate waited for the English to come on. It was just an announcement to not use the elevators because they were flooding. There are a lot of stairs and no doorsnhere so if there is water, it's going to flow downward and collect at the bottom of the staircases and the elevator lobbies.

To totally chance the subject:
For Simchat Torah, literally "Happy Torah", in which we celebrate the finish of reading all five books, my friend said that some family friends invited her to a synagogue and with nothing else to do, a bunch of us decided to go with her. It turned out that it was the same place I went to for Yom Kippur, but it was better because we could eat and the singing was even more amazing. We got there after the evening service and just in time for the dancing. While dancing, we met a few girls around our age and they invited us to a dinner downstairs afterward. Not wanting to turn down the opportunity of free food, we obliged. After challah, gefilte fish, schnitzel, entertainment, pot roast, and sherbet, our stomachs were stuffed, but satisfied. We walked back to campus to go to a birthday party of one of the people that was with us. I didn't stay too long because my eyes were closing as we were walking back, but for the time I was there, it was fun. We managed to fit 18 people in the room that is probably the size of my Orchard Hill dorm.
    Anyway, the next day after doing homework all day (read: procrastinating for most of the day and then doing HW), we went to a celebration at night to the same place. Where the guys who sang the night before were singing again, but this time they had mics and background instrumental noise so it was even better. Plus there was free food.

Traveling About the Holy Land

    The day after Yom Kippur, I began my week and a half vacation from classes. For the weekend, I went to Jerusalem. The moment I stepped off the bus from Haifa, I knew that I was in Jerusalem. Not because of the Dome of the Rock. I couldn't see that. Too many buildings. But I suddenly could understand what people were saying. Everyone was speaking in English...American English at that...with no accent. It felt like I was back in the US and with the exception of mobs of Black Hats, it was. I got on a bus in Jerusalem with no idea where I was going. I had directions to  "get off right after the gas station", but the buses don't stop at every stop if there is no one there and I couldn't just press the button until I found the gas station. The person across from me was speaking in English and Hebrew so it was good bet that she knew her way around J'lem so she told me where to get off. The buses in Israel all have air conditioning. Not only because it's hot, but because on Friday afternoons everyone thinks that they will never be able to eat again and so the shuks are crowded and everyone squishes onto the bus. I eventually found my friends in the German Colony and we put our stuff in the apartment, where we were staying. My friend's cousin had recently bought an empty apartment across from her own so that her mother could move in, but she hasn't yet and so the apartment was bare.
    The family we were with is originally from New York so they all spoke English. As a matter of fact, the part where they live basically is New York. Everyone speaks English and jaywalks, which is illegal in Israeil. For lunch, she took the four of us to a a really good falafel place. After picking out dessert and doing last minute shopping, my friend from the plane and I got ready to go to Kabblat Shabbat at a synagogue where her mom's friend works. Somehow everyone knew that they were supposed to harmonize so it sounded amazing. We got back to the apartment and were fed a delicious dinner of chicken and noodles and other yummy delights. It was like being at home for a few hours.
    On Saturday, we went to the Kotel (Western Wall). Being there was great, but. There was only one guy in our group (he loved the shopping part oh so very much) so he went to go do Shacharit (morning service) which is all fine and dandy, but us three girls had to go to the women's side---obviously. Honestly, to me it felt like I was in jail trying to peek in/over hear the Torah service. When the Torah was raised I couldn't see it. The only reason I knew was because I could just make out the prayer. I stood because it's the Torah, you're supposed to stand. But I felt very segregated and the whole Mechitza thing always turns me off from Orthodox Judaism.
    After an hour, we met up again and walked around the Arab and Christian quarters. In the Arab quarter there were lots of pretty scarves and bags and handmade jewelry. There were also tons of candy stores. We ended up eating lunch on the border of the Arab and Christian quarter. My friend's cousin made us a lunch of schnitzel and tabouli salad and cucumbers, oh and hummus too of course. After lunch we walked around the Christian quarter a little more then went back for some R 'n' R, 'cause we haven't had enough of it during our week off. After showering and Shabbas, we went to Ben-Yehuda Street, where we ate pizza at The Big Apple. After dinner we walked around looking for good things to buy. Ironically, only the boy was successful, probably becaue he knew exactly what he wanted and we didn't. Ben-Yehuda is a popular place to go after Shabbat. There were lots of Orthodoxy roaming the street and it was kind of like Boston with people playing music and magicians and of course the sketchy homeless people haggling you for money. After dinner and walking around, we decided to go to a bar, called Zumi's. It was a very chill and relaxing place, I definitely recommend it to anyone who comes to Jerusalem.
    The next day, Sunday, was a regular normal work day for people so when we got up there was traffic and people in the streets. We went out for delicious breakfast of omelets so we got a late start. We went back to the Old City so that I could my souvenir at Hadaya (a famous jewelry store that only Americans know about) and re-visit the Kotel. I wanted to put a note in the wall and I couldn't do that the day before because there is no writing on Shabbat. We then went to walk around the New City and got a little lost finding the King David Hotel. Once we found it, we walked around the lobby and it was beautiful and I think that if I'm a billionaire, I still won't be able to afford it. We then walked back to the German colony and while everyone was napping, I went to visit my friend who worked at Umass last year. She lives/works off the main street that we were off of so don't worry mom, I wasn't roaming the streets of Israel by myself. It was good seeing a familiar face. We went to Aroma, which is the Starbucks of Israel, only better. I got shocolat cham, which translates to Hot Chocolate, but this is hot milk and melted Israeli chocolate that you have to mix yourself. It is so good and I will be drinking it again.
    For dinner, we met up with a friend of someone in the group. The person we met up with, I actually knew from hebrew school and from Umass. She goes to Hebrew U and unlike us has class so she left right after dinner. We went to a movie theater a whole three minutes from the place we were staying. We saw the new Brad Pitt movie, I think it's called Burn Before Reading or something like that. It was ok. Again, it was the experience that mattered in this case, not the actual movie. Unlike American theaters, Israeli movies have intermission which is good when you really need to pee and the seats are assigned when you buy the ticket and they are comfortable. I heard that Israelis like to talk through movies because they just have to read the subtitles, but it was quiet. In Israeli standards.
    We left Jerusalem after a big "free" breakfast of bagels at Tal's Bagels (transliterated exactly like that in Hebrew). We went with my friend's cousin's daughter who offered to pay if we helped her move stuff into the unfurnished apartment so we agreed. We left Jerusalem behind with it's people hustling around to get ready for Sukkot. It was really cool to be there then. In Jerusalem, apartments are built so that the patios aren't all on top of each other. This is so the Sukkah can be built and you can see the stars. There is also a law in Jerusalem that you cannot build a permanent building and they define this as a place to eat and sleep, which is what you do in a sukkah so they get around the this by saying that you can't have a permanent building up for more than seven days. Once in Haifa, we slept and packed for our trip to Masada. Well, not exactly sleep.
    On Wednesday we had to be at the bus at 6am sharp so we all had to get up well before that. It rained, I mean poured, that day. The second time that it has rained so it was exciting to see, but it was also the second time that it rained while we were leaving for a trip. Although, I thought that it was ironic that it rained the day after the beginning of Sukkot. We only left half an hour late, which is not bad at all and after sleeping for two hours we were already in Jerusalem and it was only another hour and a half from there. By the time we were at Masada, it was sunny-ish, hot, and humid. The weather was actually perfect for climbing, not too hot and there was wind. We took the ten-minute Roman path up and the snake path down. The tour guide told us to be careful going down because you can fall a few thousand feet before hitting the ground. Once on the path, I realized how many more difficult/steep paths that I have actually been on. After Masada, we went on an hour hike through a small nature preserve. This was just the preclude to the next day's hike. The path was a stream so those of us who were wearing sneakers got a little damp. As the sun began to set, we made our way to the Dead Sea where we had to pay to change so a bunch of other people and I just put our feet in. For the night, we drove to a Bedouin tent in the middle of nowhere, literally. After a dinner of hotdogs and hummus and pita, we made s'mores. Because not everyone on the trip is from the US, not everyone knew what s'mores were or how to make it so we had to teach them. The marshmallows were strawberry flavored and kind of gross, but with both Israeli chocolate and chocolate cracker-cookies it tasted just fine.
    The next morning, we woke up at 6:30 and the sun was so bright that it looked like it was the middle of the day. We did our seven hour hike in Ein Gedi and it was sweaty and wet. What would you do: wear flip-flops in the water and then walk on rock with them for twenty minutes before reaching water again and risk slipping or just suck it up and get your shoes wet? I decided to get my shoes wet after tripping over rocks. I had hiked through ice cold snow in wet shoes. I could do warm water. Besides the sun was hot enough to dry them off pretty quickly. There was a lot of down time at the pools/waterfalls so that's why it took so long, but it was fun. We got back to Haifa at around 9pm and after eating dinner and interneting, I went to sleep.
    With an empty fridge, my friend and I went to a shuk in Hadar. I had only been there once and she had never been there. I am proud to say that we didn't get lost! And the bus systems here are confusing...
   

Israel Strikes Back: The Yom Kippur Version

    More like the teachers strike back. On Tuesday evening, when all universities were closed for the holiday, we got an email saying that the teachers all over the universities are on strike. I'm not sure for what because it was in Hebrew, but apparently this means that the Israelis, who were supposed to start November 2nd, do not have a start day for classes. I've talked to a few Israelis who are already in the dorms because of summer classes and they said they didn't care. They had plenty of stuff to do. Anyway, this strike means that a lot of the University's facilities are going to be closed, ie the library, the gym, the cafeterias. They say that it's not worth it to keep these things open for less than 150 students. The gym and the cafeterias, I can understand, but the Library? That's an essential learning place! It's the only place we'll be able to find research materials and print paper. (Ok, ok so we can both those things with the computer lab, but still, it's nice to have a hard cover book in front of you when you are learning about Menachem Begin)
    In addition to the strike, there was a riot in Akko on Yom Kippur. An Arab was driving through a pre-dominantly Jewish area and since most Jews in Israel do not drive on the holiest day of the year, this act was not welcomed. As a consequence, the driver got stoned and there was a rumor that he was killed eventhough he wasn't. As a result, dozens of vehicles and stores were smashed. As of now, Israeli officials are deciding what to do next.

*                             *                                *

    Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement, began Wednesday night and ended Thursday night. Kol Nidre, the first of many services, began at 5 (that's 5:30 Israeli time). A friend and I cooked dinner for these two Danish boys who were so grateful because it was their first real meal since Rosh Hashannah. After eating dinner at 3:30, we met up with basically the rest of the students from the International program half an hour to a new up and coming synagogue, which is barely "up" and unlikely to be "coming" in the following months. Kol Nidre, at least for me, is supposed to be a beautiful welcoming of Yom Kippur and admitting to ourselves thee sins that we committed the previous year. It reminds me a lot of the welcoming the Shabbas Bride, only prettier. The rabbi who sang Kol Nidre, literally "all vows", was an old Charedi Orthodox guy from a shtetl in Russia. He had to be by the "yisroiel". Anyway, he sounded like a tea kettle that was almost ready for tea. Y'know the squeaky annoying high-pitch right before it actually beings to whistle? That times ten. In addition, he would add "ay ay ay" and to make it interesting "doy doy doy" and even "blee blee blee" at one point (there's no di di di here) in the middle of a word. And if he didn't feel like saying part of a prayer he wouldn't. Like in Aveinu Malkenu, we read random parts of a line outloud. And it wasn't the mumbling in an undertone. He was legit chanting.
    In addition to being an Orthodox shul with separation of the men and women (which was fine because it's an Orthodox temple), there were not enough prayer books for the women, and there weren't enough seats for anyone. All the non-Jews who went to experience Kol Nidre, were turned off completely. The good thing, though, was that the service was only an hour and a half instead of three. That meant we got back a little after seven and didn't know what to do with ourselves. One of the Israelis told us that we should go down to Horev because everyone hangs out there, but it was an hour walk down (the reason we didn't go the Conservative synagogue there) and with the dry air I was already thirsty, despite the numerous gallons of water I had earlier.
    Thursday morning, seven of us walked down to a synagogue in Denya, the one we should have gone to. The moment we saw the Beit-Kenesset, all of us were grateful that we could not only hear singing, but harmonizing and real stain-glassed windows! This service, although still Orthodox was so much better. The cantor and his son harmonized beautifully together and between this, the fasting, and overlooking the mountains and beach, it was almost as if you could feel G-d in the synagogue writing our names down in the Book of Life. (Ok, so I had a spiritual moment)
    This time we were smart and borrowed some Machzors (prayer books) from the synagogue in the dorms, but these books are falling apart and are at least a few decades old so either some of the prayers weren't in the book or they would be in a different order than the newer books. Also, they were obviously alllll in Hebrew so it eventually became a blur of letters especially when I lost my place, which was frequent. What I am still trying to figure out is how we ended the first service so early. The Torah service was at 10:15/10:30, like at home, but we ended a little before 1:30 with Yizkor and everything. There was no talking of sermon which cuts half an hour, but still my temple is rarely done at 2 on Yom Kippur.
    Not wanting to walk back after Musaf (the end of the morning service), the seven of us hung out for three hours. It actually wasn't that bad. By the time we figured out where we wanted to sit (sun or shade, grass or concrete), it was actually only two hours. When on a walk, we found a park three minutes from the temple so we plopped ourselves down on the grass. Then during Mincha, the afternoon service, someone else led and let's just say that my slow motion playback on my computer goes faster than that. It got exciting/scary when some lady fainted, but she's ok, don't worry. As soon as she blacked out someone shouted "Is there a doctor?" and as my friend said "do you really need to ask if there's a doctor in a house full of Jews...we can get her a lawyer too if she wants." We were surprised that no one jumped the Mechitza to help her and instead everyone magically had food in their hands and began giving it to her. 5:30, almost two hours after it began, Mincha still wasn't close to being over and the fast was supposed to be over at 6:01 so we left because we had to walk back up to campus and knew that by the time we got back, it would be time to eat. The best food is always after you haven't eaten for twenty-six hours.

I have more to write about, I just don't want to make this post longer than it is so I'll post more later with pictures.

And the Wicked Child said "What does Rosh Hashanah mean to You"

   
    Over the weekend we went to Golan Heights and being on a trip with Jews we of course had to eat every hour. It took us about two hours to get there, but once we were there we went on a hike through the mountains. We stopped at two waterfalls which were so cold. I only went swimming in one of the waterfalls because I didn't want to hike too long being wet. We then went to Avital and Tal overlooks where we got to see Syria and our tour guide explained how Israel got the land in 1967. For the night we went to a religious Moshav and made dinner, had Shabbat services, and hung out before going to sleep in the tent. The next morning, we went on a five hour hike down (and back up) more mountains and more waterfalls. At the end of the trail, which happened to be behind the Golan winery, was an ice cream truck and, well, the dude manning the truck made a ton of money. After we got back, there was an Israeli movie, Bonjour Monseiur Shlomi, which was really good especially since there was food type substances.    
    This week we had no classes, hence procrastination of homework. For Rosh HaShanah, I went to my cousin's house near Tel Aviv. I never met her before, but my mom and she had talked over the summer a few times. For dinner Monday night, we went to her husband's house for dinner where none of the family memebers spoke any English, but I could understand about half of what everyone was saying. Tuesday was just a hang out day so I read my book for most of the day and I went home on Wednesday.
    At first, I wasn't really sure what to make of my experience. It felt like I was doing something wrong. Usually, I go to services and then we have a big lunch at home and see relatives on both days. But we didn't do that. When I think about it, Rosh HaShanah isn't just about going to services and eating (although it is a lot of eating). Maybe it's just about contemplating about the pros and cons of the previous year and deciding how you can make yourself a better person for the next year. Maybe it is welcoming whatever may come and forgetting about the bad things that happened. Or maybe it's just a day of reflection. Like on the last day of school when you think about the first day and all the days that accumulated to form the experience of the last day, maybe Rosh HaShanah is just a day where you think about your year and all the events that build up to determine the day of reflection and that in turn determines the occurrences of the next year. I am still not sure of what to make of my absence from services, but I did do some reflection and I think that really is part of what the holiday is about. (I can't put into words what I am/was feeling and I'm just blabbering trying to make sense)
    Anyway, so when I got back to Haifa on Wednesday, I just hung out, but on Thursday, me and a friend went hiking. Except that we got lost. There is a national park literally two minutes from the University so we found the trail and walked down and halfway down decided it would be awesome if we could make it to the bottom and as a motivator didn't want to walk up. (As a reference, it's a 25 minute bus ride down the hill). We ended up at a cow stable and found where the trail broke off and then continued to the bottom. We then walked for about an hour to the Haifa Mall (where all the buses are) and found out that we originally ended up in Tirat Carmel. Once at the mall, we took a taxi back and then I showered and went to dinner with some other friends. Today I had another hard day of going to the beach. The water was really warm because unlike the Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea is above 50 degrees. The beach itself was really nice. The sand was perfect and there were these really big wooden umbrella type things for shade, which was good for us fair-skinned people. After getting back to Haifa, it was almost time for shabbat so I showered and went to services and then went to a potluck dinner. Now I'm going to bed to get ready for another day at the beach. (Don't worry mom, I put sunscreen on and didn't get burned too badly)

Shabbat Shalom!

I've put pictures up!

Mash-a-wah?

Things I didn't realize or know would happen in Israel:
1. Massachusetts is harder to pronounce than I thought. Every non-American who asks me where I'm from says "Masheeshutets? Say that again." I just tell them I'm from Boston.

2. There are a lot of non-Jews in the program. I mean I knew that there were going to be people who aren't Jewish, but I would say almost 40% of the international students aren't Jewish.
 
3. The majority of people are Jewish. I like that. In class we we're talking about Menachem Begin and there was no mispronunciation or any questions of who he was. I was ready to raise my hand and talk about what he did, but then I remembered that almost everyone in my class is Jewish and knows who he is.

4. There is a food court in the Rosh Binyan (Main Building), which is not at all like the ones in America. This food court has McDonald's (of course) but they have salads and the food isn't as gross. Also, this McDonald's has a separate section for the ice cream, which I thought was pretty cool. There's also a chinese food place and a coffee place. The two coolest thing about this court is that there is a separate place to eat milk and meat and that it's kosher. One of my friends eats only kosher food and had only had McDonalds the last time he came here a few years ago so he was really excited that he could have McDonald's.

5. The bus is so confusing. It's only easy when I have people who know where they're going but the bus stops are not at the same place (like not directly across the street) going or coming back.

6. Cats...lots of stray cats. There are about 7 or 8 that roam through the dorms' courtyards. It's a little bit weird, but they're not vicious cats.


    Classes started this week and they were all really interesting. We had the Hebrew placement test on Monday and were placed in a level by the afternoon. I got into a higher level which is still puzzling to me. I always think that I know less Hebrew than I do. I really like my teacher and my class. Mina, the professor, speaks slow enough so that I can understand and my class is probably the most diverse class anyone will see in a Hebrew class. There are only five or six people from the US and the rest are from Poland, South Korea, France, and the Marshall Islands. Having a diverse class really livens things up and makes the class itself interesting. I never really thought about this, but when I write down the definition of a word I do it in English, but the people from Poland, South Korea, and France write the definition in their native language. There's no reason why they shouldn't I just really never thought about that, probably because both are foreign languages to me. I can already tell that I'm learning a lot. On Tuesday when we started, I had a little trouble understanding what she was saying, but today, Thursday, I can understand a lot more. I don't know if that's because I'm being exposed to Hebrew 24/7 or if I'm actually learning more vocab. Sometimes, I come out of Hebrew class and think a little bit in Hebrew and will write some of my assignments down in Hebrew. For example "read book" or "write answers to questions". They are pretty simple things that I learned years ago, but I think because I'm in Israel and my brain is in Hebrew mode for two hours that I am able to do this. In addition to Hebrew, I'm also taking Psychology of Conflict, which is about understanding others' habits before understanding why they react to a situation. Psychology Seminar, where we are going to learn about different aspects of psychology. And Media in War and Crisis which is taught by an old Jewish lady from New York. At least I assume she's from NY given her accent. The class itself is about analyzing the media in times of crisis.
    Because my dorm in Federman was almost unbearable, I made up an excuse to move out. I told the Madrichim that the mold was really bothering me. As this is a great possibility, they believed me and today they gave me a room. Today after paying, I went to the guard to get a key and he gave it to me and let me go. I walked around for almost an hour looking for the stupid dorm number. The room numbers in the Talia Dorms make absolutely no sense. Finally, after asking a few people who had no idea where it was, I was close to giving up. My last chance was to ask the House Mother, Michal. So I found her and asked if she could tell me where my room number was. She told me that I wasn't even supposed to find it by myself and said that someone would be with me in a minute, meaning ten in Israeli terms, to help me find the room. By the time I got to my dorm and brought everything from one room to another (four or five trips back and forth), it was almost 400. I got out of class at 115. But I am now unpacked and ready for the weekend trip to Golan.