Saturday, June 29, 2013

And the old shall dream dreams and the youth shall see visions

It has been a truly incredible Shabbat and the happiest I have felt since coming to Israel. Shabbat began when my classmates and I went to services at Kehillat Har-El, a Reform congregation. It was great to recognize tunes and easily follow along in the prayer book! When the Rabbi addressed the congregation, I was very proud of my Hebrew skills - she spoke so clearly that, while I didn't know every word, I was able to understand the gist and her main points. As a wild coincidence, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the URJ, was in attendance and spoke to the congregation. As he spoke about the power of Reform Judaism and its future, I felt truly inspired. What was wonderful was that as excited as I was, my classmates were equally happy and thrilled!



Shabbat morning began with a visit to Liz, finishing her Taglit trip! It was so great to see a friend I have known for so long and someone who knows me so well! 


The visits continued when I headed to Kibbutz Ma'ale Hachamish to visit Emily, who I was thrilled to see. It was so strange to see one of my BTY kids in Israel, but so wonderful! I am so excited for her to have an amazing summer here! 


After havdallah, with our largest group yet (!), we went to jambe bar for hanging out and music. The owner was nice enough to give my friend Laura and I drum each!




Thursday, June 27, 2013

Hebrew success!!!

On Wednesday, Allie and I went to the post office. It was perfect timing because we had just learned in class lots of new words to use! We made a pact that we would only speak Hebrew when we went to buy stamps to send postcards and letters to Hebrew. The first obstacle we were presented with was knowing where to go; when you walked in there were two rooms and we had to ask the security guard where to go to buy stamps. I asked "anachnu tzrichim bulim, smoalo or yamin (we need stamps, left or right?)". The biggest obstacle we had was figuring out which stamps we needed to buy to sent to America because all the labels were in Hebrew. Allie impressively found one that said "chutz la aretz" meaning outside of the land. We purchased our stamps, dropped our mail in the box and celebrated our success with iced coffee!


Handy Post Office words:

Bul - stamp
Doar - mail/post
ch'vilah - package 
may'ahtafah - envelope
tivat doar - mailbox 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Make you banana pancakes, pretend like its the weekend....

Today our schedule at school was reversed. Instead of school from 8:30 - 1, we had class from 1 - 5:30. After sleeping in an extra hour, Allie and Jade hosted myself and another girl from school for a breakfast study party!

Delicious banana chocolate chip pancakes!

After school, my classmates and I headed to dinner at Sushi Rechavya. Yum!


Trip to the Muslim Quarter

Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to go to the Muslim Quarter of the old city. I will share some highlights from my trip - I had a great time and learned a lot! 

our Israeli intern, Udi, showed us around the Muslim Quarter. Here we are infront of the Damascus gate, which leads to that part of the old city. One thing I learned was that language is a powerful political statment in the Muslim Quarter. We were very careful to speak in English.

After walking through the bustling marketplace, our first stop was a tahini factory:

                                                                                  
lots of varieties!   
                                                      
                                                                     the sesame seeds are ground by stone

On top of the roof of an Austrian Hotel

amazing view!
                     

Jade, Allie and I!


          


the view at sunset was amazing!






Monday, June 24, 2013

aww shuk's!



 Today after school. I headed with two friends, Allie and Jade to Machne Yehuda, the giant shuk (market) so we could get fruit, veggies and other staple items. It was perfect to go on a Monday because it was not crowded (if you go on Thursday or Friday it is crazy busy as people get ready for Shabbat).

I was so excited to get vegetables! everything at the shuk is fresh and the price can't be beat.




where I got zucchini, mushroom, onion and cucumber

I was confused why my potatoes weren't brown until I remembered that I am no longer near Idaho! 

I was most excited about buying (and trying) loose leaf tea! 

so many to choose from - can't wait to try more!


       
peach tea
I bought chai and peach - both smelled great! 

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Shabbat Shalom!

After returning from Tel Aviv, I joined friends from school for Shabbat. We attended services at  Shira Chadasha, a eqalitarian modern orthodox community. I thoroughly enjoyed the service and am excited to go there again! 

Artwork outside of Shira Chadasha

After serices we had a breakfast for dinner Shabbat at Allie and Jade's apartment with both American (frenh toast, potatoes) and Israeli (Shakshuka) dishes!

Preulpan girls: Jade, Allie, Me, Simone and Sara!













Week two adventures!

my daily life continues to be a fun mix of school, studying and hanging out with friends!


One day after class, I went with classmates to Kadosh - everything on the menu sounded great, but being a Seattle girl, had to try the salmon bruscetta!

Another day, I was lucky enough to hang out with Rachel one last time before she left Israel! Ice cream and shopping is always a great combination!

Thursday and Friday, I had an awesome adventure with Lauren! After taking the bus to Rehovot we hung out thursday and then went to Tel Aviv Friday. In the morning we had delicious breakfast at Benedict and then went to the street fair and shuk! 

                                         
                Breakfast at Benedict!           Salmon eggs benedict, iced coffee, Israeli salad and bread!

                                                                                         


Week one of pre-ulpan!

In Israel, our school week runs from Sunday - Thursday. Our preulpan is each of those days from 8:30 - 1, with two breaks in between. Class moves quickly - we have  quiz every Tuesday and a test every Thursday!


The beautiful courtyard at school, right outside our classroom!

In addition to studying, I also spent time hanging out with new friends from school and exploring after class. Here are some highlights:

Trying Yemenite food for the first time with friends from school. This was rolled bread pastry with dipping sauces and an egg. 

                                   
Two of my favorite photos from the Jerusalem light festival in the old city!





Welcome to my blog!

Hey family and friends! I have decided to start this blog as a way to capture the highlights of my year in Israel! I originally was not going to blog, but I gave in to peer pressure when my classmates convinced me otherwise. Because of that my first post will be a bit longer; in the future, they will be shorter highlights! 


When I first arrived in Israel, I was picked up at the airport by two of my best friends, Lauren and Shir who I know from camp. We went straight from the airport to Japanika, a Sushi restaurant in Rehovot where Lauren lives. 

The next day, after spending the day in Rehovot, I moved to Jerusalem to get settled in my apartment! My apartment is in Musrara, an neighborhood I have come to love. It is about 10 - 12 minutes from school and there is a great mix of people living there. It is in between the Damascus gate which leads to the Christian Quarter of the old city and Me'ah Shaarim, a very orthodox neighborhood. 



I spent my first week getting settled and exploring. I tried new restaurants and practiced my Hebrew. Thursday we had orientation for our preulpan and Friday I ventured with Jade, a classmate and friend from URJ Kutz Camp and Bess, our summer intern to Tel Aviv for gay pride. 


many join in the "parade"


found an old friend at the festivities! 



After the celebration and parade (BTW, in Israel a parade seems to consist of tons of people who all walk in the street together and make room for the occasional float), we took a sheirut (shared taxi) back to Jerusalem, where I hosted Shabbat for classmates at my apartment! 

(Salad I made for Shabbat: the ingredients were fresh from the Jerusalem Shuk!).

My first week concluded by having Havdallah with classmates in a park overlooking the old city. It was particularly symbolic as the next day marked the start of our pre-ulpan!