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.
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.
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