Ok, so the first week of classes is over and i'm here to report what i am studying! normally in israel people take classes sunday-thursday instead of monday-friday because of shabbat. however, for us overseas students, we are only in class monday-thursday- odd but amazing as this means i have long weekends every single weekend. perfect for travels and beaching galore!
i'm continuing with my hebrew studies EVERY day 830-10 - yes 830 am. what? i havent willingly taken an 830 class since i was a freshman- yes there are have the occasional ELS or religion classes i had to take earlyearly but i HAD to but i did not expect the same in the fake world of abroad classes. but yes, even in the midst of palm trees and sandy beaches, there is class at 830. aside from hebrew i am taking 4 other courses....again i expected to take 4 classes TOTAL meaning hebrew +3 but nonono again fake abroad world has failed me. no more complaints i'm taking some sweet classes, and they are:
1. Islam, Politics, and Terror in the Middle East: yes terror. this class looks at the emergence of radical islamic movements as political forces in the middle east such has hamas, hizballah, iranian revolutionary regime, and al-qaida. we will be focusing on the conflict in israel but also the larger arab-israeli conflict in the middle east and what an islamic government looks like. my teacher told us "his favorite" was hamas as if hamas was a flavor of ice cream but he also has been specifically studying iran for many years which is very relevant right now so should be an interesting class. of course, taking this class while living in israel is a very different thing than taking it at home. we arent removed from the conflict here- of course, being here, i dont feel that i'm in the midst of a war or that i am in danger but there is not the same sense of separation found in an american classroom while studying hamas or discussing the future with iran
2. 20th Century Israeli Art: Art. So i'm not gonna lie, I'm taking this class because it completes my art distribution at Tufts..shameful i know. but i am not ashamed! and i'm actually happy to be taking the course. my teacher is this really cute israeli woman but she has a british accent so i think she lived out west. she very passionate and very commited to us learning art terms and understand the emergence of israeli art.
3. Israel and the Environment: Again, I'm taking this class because it completes my natural science distribution at tufts and after a very difficult semester with bio sophomore year, i vow to never take science at tufts again! so ya my teacher is this chill guy who made studied abroad at tel aviv when he was my age and has now made aliyah. hes really cool and israel actually has a very interesting environment situation (or lack there of as he says) - for a place as small as jersey israel's environment is very diverse and o ya theres no water here. lots to learn. we also take this sweet field trip which consists of going to the west bank (for real) and getting to see some hot springs or rocks or something idk i stopped listening after west bank...cause i really want to go.
4. Israeli Politics: yes, politics. This was my i'm a big girl/dork class. so tufts is a biggg politics and international relations school. i'd never dream of taking politics there because i'd feel SO dumb, seriously. so i've decided to take the opportunity here, where basically school doesnt matter, and take a politics class. good news, israel is a little baby state so even though theres a lot to learn, theres only a very short lived political system to learn about.
so thats what my semester looks like. i'm pretty excited although as we all keep saying "it feels weird to be doing school here". it just doesnt feel real. i've also never taken a pass/fail class and since tufts only accepts not grades from tel aviv, all my classes are pass/fail. very different academic semester than what i'm used to...and the library closes at 730pm. interesting.
on another note, our trip to eilat has been booked! just 6 of us will be taking a little girls weekend away the second weekend of march. eilat is gorgeous beaching and weather is consistently in the 90s. so pleased. of course we wont just be tanning though- eilat is a very short ride away from Jordan so we'll be doing a day trip to Petra one of our days down there.
also, its Purim!!! exciting weekend ahead- essentially a second halloween! hag sameach!
xoxo
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
hoi poloi
so hoi poloi is the only phrase i can dig up from my 2 years of taking ancient greek but in good news i have 5 weeks to brush up on these phrases before I GO TO GREECE FOR SPRING BREAK! yay! today i booked my 8/9 day trip to greece! Our spring break is officially from march 26th-april 11th (soo long) but of course the beginning of this is passover so I will be in israel (with my mommy!) for the seder and beginning of the holiday. On April 3rd i will depart to Athens with three others girls who all go to michigan and are also chios. We will spend two days in Athens (including Easter..might get tricky with tourist things but also very excited to see greek orthodox celebration of Easter- its going to be so cool to be there at that time) Then on April 5th we will fly over to Crete for three days of hiking and exploring. Then we will take a ferry from Crete to Santorini for a day of relaxation and cotinued exploration and finally on the 9th we will return to Athens for one more day (probs more tourist things because Easter will be over) and then earlyyy on the 11th, we will return to Tel Aviv. We are also planning to do a daytrip to Delphi during our first two days in Athens!
Of course, having studied latin for 8 years and greek for 2 i'm really excited to get to greece to see so much of what i have studied in classics classes. and greece was always one of the top three places i planned to visit while in israel (top 3: egypt, turkey, and greece- so just one more to go after this!) sadly, its not the best weather to be in greece but i am happy to have a vacation focused on seeing the history, hiking, and exploring rather than just beaching (we certainly arent lacking beaches in tel aviv so no need to fly and live in the euro for a week just to beach). besides classics, i'm super excited for the food!!!
our trip to eilat is also in the works for the weekend of Emma's birthday and of course Egypt will be coming soon!
so excited!
Of course, having studied latin for 8 years and greek for 2 i'm really excited to get to greece to see so much of what i have studied in classics classes. and greece was always one of the top three places i planned to visit while in israel (top 3: egypt, turkey, and greece- so just one more to go after this!) sadly, its not the best weather to be in greece but i am happy to have a vacation focused on seeing the history, hiking, and exploring rather than just beaching (we certainly arent lacking beaches in tel aviv so no need to fly and live in the euro for a week just to beach). besides classics, i'm super excited for the food!!!
our trip to eilat is also in the works for the weekend of Emma's birthday and of course Egypt will be coming soon!
so excited!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Pictures from Turkey! (see post below for actual words)
amazing pistachio crusted lamb chops at mikla!
no shoes and modest skirts provided by the blue mosque
no shoes and modest skirts provided by the blue mosque
inside the blue mosque
view of the bosphorus bridge from rummeli fortress - i'm in europe and you can see asia!
the whole group of us (16) before our private boat tour
the whole group of us (16) before our private boat tour
I would make the title of this blog something cute in turkish but i learned no turkish in istanbul :(
Soooooooooo I went to Istanbul, Turkey!!!!!! It was the first trip i've taken since being here and i'd say it was a success! Where to begin: we took our final tests in ulpan and headed to the airport. We (8 of us..and 5 more came later) flew turkish air and the plane was nearly empty...i guess flying from israel to turkey isnt that popular. the only people on the plane were in fact americans on my program- turned out going to turkey this weekend was THE thing to do. We landed around 630ish turkish time and scampered to the carlton hotel- an alleged 4star hotel that looked glamarous in pictures and not so glamarous upon arrival: tiny room, closet shower, no drawers, two outlets, crap hairdryer, turkish only speaking concierege. that night our concierge suggested/made our reservation at a restaurant called hamdi (we did learn that "reservation" was a favored word of our concierge). we arrived at hamdi and had a table all set for us full of delicious salads and dips (very israel..but the hummus was bad). after a difficult convo with the waiter we were brought giant platers of "mixed meat" kebab (this turned out to be lamb, beef, and chicken). the lamb in turkey was AMAZING and they are in love with pistachios so we had lots of delicious meat mixed with pistachios. soso yummy. that night we tried and failed to go out due to lack of english communication with cab drivers and our lack of knowledge about where all the hot spots were.
no matter: we woke up the next morning and hired a private boat to take us on a bosphorus cruise. 16 of us boarded the boat and jetted off into the sea. our "captains" were a little quiet so we didnt know much about what we were seeing but we were sure we were seeing both asia and europe (the point of the cruise is to claim that uve been in asia and europe at the same time) and we did our best with a variety of guidebooks to understand what we were seeing. during our stop in europe we went to the fortress of rumelli - an ancientttttttt (constantine) fortress that is huge and beautiful - we climbed manyyyyyyy manyyyyyyyy stairs and had gorgeous views of the bosphorus and the asian side of istanbul. next we continued cruising and stopped in asia (people were realllly amped to be in asia..until i reminded them that israel is in asia soo thats where we live...) "in asia" we visited a beautiful mosque but there was a funeral being held and things got awkward quickly so we boarded our boat and headed back to sea. after docking we had a little cab mishap but ended up at a cute little lunch place for more salad and more meat. mmm meat good.
after lunch, WE WENT TO THE TURKISH BATHS!! capitalization doesnt do it justice! so turkey is famous for their ancient and luxurious baths. we went to cemberlitas - so first we went into separate womens area. in the locker room we changed into just black undies and a towel. we then went down into this huge room with a giant stone that was reallllly hot and steamy. we all laid on the stone until a scary turkish woman in a black bikini motioned at us to come. then she ripped away our towels and gave us our own little area on the stone. then we got washed and scrubbed! she used some hard scrubby thing and then dead skin just starting accumulating- she washed it off then put soap alllll over. then she lead me into a little room and bathed me like a puppy..legit there were buckets of water poured on my head and shampoo was in my hair. then we went into the hot tub room AND since we splurged on the "luxurious package" we then all got oil massages! my skin still feels like a babys bottom- it was the most luxurious thing ive ever experienced and soo authentic! so many turks were there as if it was a daily routine to hang out on the hot stone and drink pommegrenate juice!! what a life
after the baths, we were all exhausted and in a very zen state so we went for a little dinner nearby. our second night out we actually made it to a club that was extremelyyyyyyy posh and way too fancy for us! they were too cool to dance there so i disliked.
day 2: we started the day at 9 with a half day walking tour...our tour guide had the best accent EVER and kept referring to us as "the 11 group". we were actually late to the tour because we couldnt find where it started and people were not helpful. so i cant really say where we started but it had to do with ancient things from egypt? unclear. next we went to the blue mosque! we had to take off our shoes and carry them in a bag- those of us in leggings (not jeans) had to put on skirts provided by the mosque. the inside was beautiful- not as blue as i expected but HUGE and very detailed. next we went to the hagia sophia. this was the most interesting place to me as a visible intersection between christianity and islam is seen. the building was originally a church but through crusades eventually became a muslim building- dispute over the building occured and in the early 1900s it was declared a museum rather than a religiously affiliated building. mosaics and paintings of christ and the virgin mary are seen right next to huge paintings of the names of muslim leaders and imams. very cool. next we took a bus to this turkish rug place- essentially the tour company and the rug place have a deal where teh tour comes to the rug palce and they try to seduce u into buying a turkish rug..they are $$$ but we enjoyed learning about how they are made and learning some tricks of the turkish rug trade.
then our tour ended and we went to the grand bazaar (the enormous market in istanbul) there are over 4,000 shops in the bazaar and it is crazy overwhelming! bargain bargain bargain. everything u read about the bazaar says never accept a price higher than 50% of the original offer. bargaining is hard stuff but i had lots of success (one failed bargain of mine was for a shot glass and eventually he took it out of my hand and wouldnt let me buy it) i bought a few things including a small ceramic bowl that says istanbul in it and a small lamp - there were soo many lamps that were so colorful and beautiful we had to get them. i also got one more thing but i cant talk about it because its a gift for someone! and its awesome!
next we went to lunch (apparently since salad bars arent meat/kebabs turkey hates them and we got a beautiful salad bar for 5.50 lira...thats like 3 dolllars) next we rounded out the day by going to the topekai palace which was gorgeous and had so many ancient pieces like swords, armor, caftans, baby craddles, etc. then emma and i went off to the galata tower, an ancient tower (with multiple purposes) that has a beautiful 360 view of istanbul. sadly, it was hazy but we still got some gorgeous pictures
that night we went out to celebrate our friends 21st bday dinner at a restaurant called mikla. it was a very highly rated restaurant at the tippy top of a gorgeous hotel in istanbul- the view is amazing and the food was delicious!!! most of ordered pistachio crusted lamb chops and there was hot chocolate lava cake for desert! after that, we went out to celebrate alex's bday and again found ourselves at a wayyy to posh club (tables were 4000 lira!) but we still made the most of it and had a great time.
well thats about it on the turkey update!!! flew back on sunday and am so happy to be back "home". being in turkey i realized how spoiled we are here in israel that everyone speaks english and that israel is so warm and welcoming to its guests. it was a very different way of life to not wear our chamsa necklaces and jewish star rings, to not tell people we came from israel, and to not speak hebrew. of course, we knew that israel and turkey dont have a loving relationship but being there it was so clear that jewish people really arent any interest to turkish people and israel isnt a place they care about or care for. so i'm happy happy to be back.
other updates: we started classes today- i'm signed up for too many so once i solidify my schedule i'll update you on what i'm learning. i'm also in the works of planning a weekend to eilat/petra (beach vacation slash day trip to jordan) and also my spring break trip to greece! very exciting!
pictures from turkey coming next!
xoxoxo
no matter: we woke up the next morning and hired a private boat to take us on a bosphorus cruise. 16 of us boarded the boat and jetted off into the sea. our "captains" were a little quiet so we didnt know much about what we were seeing but we were sure we were seeing both asia and europe (the point of the cruise is to claim that uve been in asia and europe at the same time) and we did our best with a variety of guidebooks to understand what we were seeing. during our stop in europe we went to the fortress of rumelli - an ancientttttttt (constantine) fortress that is huge and beautiful - we climbed manyyyyyyy manyyyyyyyy stairs and had gorgeous views of the bosphorus and the asian side of istanbul. next we continued cruising and stopped in asia (people were realllly amped to be in asia..until i reminded them that israel is in asia soo thats where we live...) "in asia" we visited a beautiful mosque but there was a funeral being held and things got awkward quickly so we boarded our boat and headed back to sea. after docking we had a little cab mishap but ended up at a cute little lunch place for more salad and more meat. mmm meat good.
after lunch, WE WENT TO THE TURKISH BATHS!! capitalization doesnt do it justice! so turkey is famous for their ancient and luxurious baths. we went to cemberlitas - so first we went into separate womens area. in the locker room we changed into just black undies and a towel. we then went down into this huge room with a giant stone that was reallllly hot and steamy. we all laid on the stone until a scary turkish woman in a black bikini motioned at us to come. then she ripped away our towels and gave us our own little area on the stone. then we got washed and scrubbed! she used some hard scrubby thing and then dead skin just starting accumulating- she washed it off then put soap alllll over. then she lead me into a little room and bathed me like a puppy..legit there were buckets of water poured on my head and shampoo was in my hair. then we went into the hot tub room AND since we splurged on the "luxurious package" we then all got oil massages! my skin still feels like a babys bottom- it was the most luxurious thing ive ever experienced and soo authentic! so many turks were there as if it was a daily routine to hang out on the hot stone and drink pommegrenate juice!! what a life
after the baths, we were all exhausted and in a very zen state so we went for a little dinner nearby. our second night out we actually made it to a club that was extremelyyyyyyy posh and way too fancy for us! they were too cool to dance there so i disliked.
day 2: we started the day at 9 with a half day walking tour...our tour guide had the best accent EVER and kept referring to us as "the 11 group". we were actually late to the tour because we couldnt find where it started and people were not helpful. so i cant really say where we started but it had to do with ancient things from egypt? unclear. next we went to the blue mosque! we had to take off our shoes and carry them in a bag- those of us in leggings (not jeans) had to put on skirts provided by the mosque. the inside was beautiful- not as blue as i expected but HUGE and very detailed. next we went to the hagia sophia. this was the most interesting place to me as a visible intersection between christianity and islam is seen. the building was originally a church but through crusades eventually became a muslim building- dispute over the building occured and in the early 1900s it was declared a museum rather than a religiously affiliated building. mosaics and paintings of christ and the virgin mary are seen right next to huge paintings of the names of muslim leaders and imams. very cool. next we took a bus to this turkish rug place- essentially the tour company and the rug place have a deal where teh tour comes to the rug palce and they try to seduce u into buying a turkish rug..they are $$$ but we enjoyed learning about how they are made and learning some tricks of the turkish rug trade.
then our tour ended and we went to the grand bazaar (the enormous market in istanbul) there are over 4,000 shops in the bazaar and it is crazy overwhelming! bargain bargain bargain. everything u read about the bazaar says never accept a price higher than 50% of the original offer. bargaining is hard stuff but i had lots of success (one failed bargain of mine was for a shot glass and eventually he took it out of my hand and wouldnt let me buy it) i bought a few things including a small ceramic bowl that says istanbul in it and a small lamp - there were soo many lamps that were so colorful and beautiful we had to get them. i also got one more thing but i cant talk about it because its a gift for someone! and its awesome!
next we went to lunch (apparently since salad bars arent meat/kebabs turkey hates them and we got a beautiful salad bar for 5.50 lira...thats like 3 dolllars) next we rounded out the day by going to the topekai palace which was gorgeous and had so many ancient pieces like swords, armor, caftans, baby craddles, etc. then emma and i went off to the galata tower, an ancient tower (with multiple purposes) that has a beautiful 360 view of istanbul. sadly, it was hazy but we still got some gorgeous pictures
that night we went out to celebrate our friends 21st bday dinner at a restaurant called mikla. it was a very highly rated restaurant at the tippy top of a gorgeous hotel in istanbul- the view is amazing and the food was delicious!!! most of ordered pistachio crusted lamb chops and there was hot chocolate lava cake for desert! after that, we went out to celebrate alex's bday and again found ourselves at a wayyy to posh club (tables were 4000 lira!) but we still made the most of it and had a great time.
well thats about it on the turkey update!!! flew back on sunday and am so happy to be back "home". being in turkey i realized how spoiled we are here in israel that everyone speaks english and that israel is so warm and welcoming to its guests. it was a very different way of life to not wear our chamsa necklaces and jewish star rings, to not tell people we came from israel, and to not speak hebrew. of course, we knew that israel and turkey dont have a loving relationship but being there it was so clear that jewish people really arent any interest to turkish people and israel isnt a place they care about or care for. so i'm happy happy to be back.
other updates: we started classes today- i'm signed up for too many so once i solidify my schedule i'll update you on what i'm learning. i'm also in the works of planning a weekend to eilat/petra (beach vacation slash day trip to jordan) and also my spring break trip to greece! very exciting!
pictures from turkey coming next!
xoxoxo
Some Pictures From My Birthday!
me and daddy at dinner
me with the birthday cake
girls at dinner at coffee bar
me with my table of goodies!
arielle and i at dinner on my actual bday!
me with the birthday cake
girls at dinner at coffee barme with my table of goodies!arielle and i at dinner on my actual bday!Thursday, February 18, 2010
Yom Huledet Sheli
Shalom! I'm about to head off to the airport to go to Istanbul but I wanted to give a quick update about the past week!
So daddy traub was here and i spent lots of time in jerusalem with him and arielle. Sunday, emma and i went down to jerusalem after ulpan and explored the old city. After that we had a lovely valentines day date with daddy, arielle, and ethan. on monday arielle and dad came to tel aviv for lunch and i showed off my beautiful apartment. we had dinner in jerusalem - basically i've spent A LOT of time on buses between jerusalem and tel aviv this week.
Tuesday, daddy arrived in tel aviv and we hung out at his hotel. then the bday celebrations began! I have been pretty unsure about what turning 21 in a country with an 18 year old drinking age would be like but it was amazing birthday! tuesday night (the 16th) dad took me and 11 girlfriends out to dinner in tel aviv. after we went over to a club in the nemal-we hung out at our table and got ready for the night! At midnight i was surrounded by friends and cheersing with champange to an amazing year- it was perfect! i danced (and yes drank) the night away and had an AMAZING time!
the 17th (my actual bday) was a rough day - i was guilted into going to hebrew class because my teacher baked me a cake. unfortunately i was feeling the pain from the night before and couldnt eat my cake. then i took a longgggggggggg nap until i got a phone call from my mommy! (also, my mom had balloons, flowers, strawberries, chocolate, and champange delivered to my dorm! so cute) Dad, arielle, ethan, and i went out to a calmer dinner and had delicious foodies! i got some amazing gifts from everyone and having my daddy here was very special!
then i had to say goodbye to my daddy :( but now i'm off to turkey!!!!!!
cant wait to give updates on istanbul! im so fascinated to go - this is the first muslim country i will ever be in and of course the turkish baths are calling my name!
pictures to come upon return! xoxoxo
So daddy traub was here and i spent lots of time in jerusalem with him and arielle. Sunday, emma and i went down to jerusalem after ulpan and explored the old city. After that we had a lovely valentines day date with daddy, arielle, and ethan. on monday arielle and dad came to tel aviv for lunch and i showed off my beautiful apartment. we had dinner in jerusalem - basically i've spent A LOT of time on buses between jerusalem and tel aviv this week.
Tuesday, daddy arrived in tel aviv and we hung out at his hotel. then the bday celebrations began! I have been pretty unsure about what turning 21 in a country with an 18 year old drinking age would be like but it was amazing birthday! tuesday night (the 16th) dad took me and 11 girlfriends out to dinner in tel aviv. after we went over to a club in the nemal-we hung out at our table and got ready for the night! At midnight i was surrounded by friends and cheersing with champange to an amazing year- it was perfect! i danced (and yes drank) the night away and had an AMAZING time!
the 17th (my actual bday) was a rough day - i was guilted into going to hebrew class because my teacher baked me a cake. unfortunately i was feeling the pain from the night before and couldnt eat my cake. then i took a longgggggggggg nap until i got a phone call from my mommy! (also, my mom had balloons, flowers, strawberries, chocolate, and champange delivered to my dorm! so cute) Dad, arielle, ethan, and i went out to a calmer dinner and had delicious foodies! i got some amazing gifts from everyone and having my daddy here was very special!
then i had to say goodbye to my daddy :( but now i'm off to turkey!!!!!!
cant wait to give updates on istanbul! im so fascinated to go - this is the first muslim country i will ever be in and of course the turkish baths are calling my name!
pictures to come upon return! xoxoxo
Saturday, February 13, 2010
my boyfriend's dad is a cabbie?
Not gonna lie- this update was probably going to be reallllllly boring- beach, daddy arrives, and sister cooks (again)..thankfully, i took a cab home from the central bus station and spiced things up - more on that later.
Soooo on Thursday we finally had the MOST beautiful day since i've been here. temp was in the 70s..maybe even low 80s for a little bit. Now, many of my programmates (stole that term from jaclyn) have been to the beach numerous times since our arrival. but siiiiiiiiiince it really hasnt been beach weather i've been less than thrilled by the idea of sitting in sand in sweats just for the sake of being on the beach in january so i have withheld. BUT on thursday there was only one thing on the brain...BEACH!!!!!!!! after ulpan, i rushed home and was in a bathing suit before emma even got home. we "took the bus" (loose term as we potentially did it wrong but thats ok) and met up with a small group at frischmens beach...technically the beach goes from one end of tel aviv to the other but there are different names...to be confusing/idk. so we sat/tanned and played some amazing 90s pop songs - people kept asking us if we thought it was summer or winter..aka why are you a crazy american who sits on the beach in february...but there were israelis on the beach too so i still felt local. heres my beach...in feb:
xoxoxo
Soooo on Thursday we finally had the MOST beautiful day since i've been here. temp was in the 70s..maybe even low 80s for a little bit. Now, many of my programmates (stole that term from jaclyn) have been to the beach numerous times since our arrival. but siiiiiiiiiince it really hasnt been beach weather i've been less than thrilled by the idea of sitting in sand in sweats just for the sake of being on the beach in january so i have withheld. BUT on thursday there was only one thing on the brain...BEACH!!!!!!!! after ulpan, i rushed home and was in a bathing suit before emma even got home. we "took the bus" (loose term as we potentially did it wrong but thats ok) and met up with a small group at frischmens beach...technically the beach goes from one end of tel aviv to the other but there are different names...to be confusing/idk. so we sat/tanned and played some amazing 90s pop songs - people kept asking us if we thought it was summer or winter..aka why are you a crazy american who sits on the beach in february...but there were israelis on the beach too so i still felt local. heres my beach...in feb:
ok that was a mean thing to blog about considering i know all of you back home are knee deep in snow and even my friends in italia experienced some flakage this past week. but i do know one connecticut resident that is not buried in snow and that is MY DADDY!!!!!! daddy traub arrived yesterday (friday) just before shabbat (as he planned it..) and we all went to arielle's apartment in jerusalem. arielle had made another amazing meal of salmon and yummy salads and CHALLAH and i ate tooo much. we played a game of trivial pursuit and to the shock of everyone Team ETHAN/DANA beat Team Daddy/Arielle!!!!!!!!!! success!
This morning we went to services at Ethan's school where Ethan gave his d'var torah (the sermon that a rabbi gives about the torah portion that was read that week). Ethan discussed the place of politics in the synagogue and a rabbi's role in discussing politics from the pulpit which was very well received. After services, arielle and ethan hosted 9 members of Ethans class for shabbat lunch- arielle made two quiches and tons of other stuff (CHALLAH) and there was bagels and lox! yum!!!! i even had my almost first legal drink of mimosa's (just practicing!) here's arielle/ethan's shabbat lunch table:
xoxoxo
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Some Tamonot
Just wanted to share some more pictures with all of you!
This is me and rachel and maya- two girls from my ulpan class
A group of us getting ready for the night- i'll be travelling to turkey with most of these girls
just guns chillin
gorgeous view of the western wall and the dome of the rock at night
the five tufts students studying abroad at tel aviv this semester - Emma, Sam, Matt, Amy, and me!
This is me and rachel and maya- two girls from my ulpan class
A group of us getting ready for the night- i'll be travelling to turkey with most of these girlsjust guns chillin
gorgeous view of the western wall and the dome of the rock at night
the five tufts students studying abroad at tel aviv this semester - Emma, Sam, Matt, Amy, and me!Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Shulha vihasida (the fox and the stork)
What do parents say when their kids ask where babies come from? Thats the first question i got asked in ulpan on sunday morning...panic spread across the room: we cant even use the past tense and we are going to learn terms for making babies!?! Finally someone came forward with "the stork" which lead us to a story in our workbook about a stork and a fox. Odd i know. but true, i am in kindergarten hebrew where we must use stories with talking animals to engage us. success- its my new favorite story!
So on sunday i thought id have a lazy day but then a group of girls decided to go to the shuk at jaffa..and by a group i mean 15! o my. israelis on bus 25 that day dont need movies like mean girls and clueless to let them know whats up with american girls today...they got the whole picture from us. oy! but finally we made it to jaffa and explored the shuk that had some gorgeous jewls, scarves, rugs, etc. I didnt buy anything but i must challah (i forgot bout those) to all my friends who used their bargaining skills with the shuk men. Turns out its shuk 101 to get prices to go from 200 to 100 before "walking away" and ending up with 30 sheckels as a final price. tov.
After the shuk, emma and i took the bus to rabin square to meet Amit for dinner. Amit is a junior at tufts also studying in tel aviv for the semester but he is originally from israel and therefore is enrolled directly at tau not in our program for "special overseas people". Amit took us for koobe! I had never heard of it before but turns out its an israeli staple so we were really glad to try it. Koobe is meatballs in dough served in soup with a side of rice..and by side i mean whole plate for each person! It was very different from anything id had before but SOOO delicious!
Monday: day trip to jerusalem with the program! SLASH birthright.
We boarded buses early in the morning and "went" to jerusalem..i use the term loosely because this 45 minute ride took us basically two and a half hours between random stops at gas stations, traffic, and an unclear bus switch. Finally we made it to our first viewpoint in yemin moshe..where i had been with arielle just 48 hours ago..i felt so local! Then we went to a "time elevator" where we watched a movie and our chairs moved "through time" and we "experienced" israeli history from jesus to the 6 days war. it rained on us..so essentially it was a disney ride for history.
Then we went to ben yehuda street for free time and lunch! I took the girls to this falafel place i had been to on birthright that was delicious! again, i felt local. then we walked around and look at lots of judaica, jewls, tshirts, etc and got froyo. After that, we got to the old city! we took a tour of the ruins of the second temple and then went to the western wall for some freetime there. we then went through the jewish quarter and ended at the tower of david with the "light spectacular". maybe it was the freezing cold or extreme exhaustion but we didnt really get it..i wouldnt put it on your list of to dos. We boarded are bus again and headed for "dinner at a kibbutz"...turns out it was the most amazing kibbutz ever and we had the best feast i've had since i got here! delicious israeli salads, hummus, brisket, chicken, rice, soup, dessert! yumyumyum!!
lots of more excitement on the way! highlights include a visit from HARRY TRAUB aka my daddy this friday! plus the most exciting day of my year/life- my 21st birthday next wednesday! and then a little scamper over to turkey next thursday! and then finally starting classes!
Pictures below:
1. GORGEOUS sunset at jaffa
2. koobe dinner with amit
3. view of jerusalem from viewpoint- gold thing the middle is dome of the rock
4. falafel on ben yehuda
5. me, emma, leah, dana, yael, and halley at the kotel
So on sunday i thought id have a lazy day but then a group of girls decided to go to the shuk at jaffa..and by a group i mean 15! o my. israelis on bus 25 that day dont need movies like mean girls and clueless to let them know whats up with american girls today...they got the whole picture from us. oy! but finally we made it to jaffa and explored the shuk that had some gorgeous jewls, scarves, rugs, etc. I didnt buy anything but i must challah (i forgot bout those) to all my friends who used their bargaining skills with the shuk men. Turns out its shuk 101 to get prices to go from 200 to 100 before "walking away" and ending up with 30 sheckels as a final price. tov.
After the shuk, emma and i took the bus to rabin square to meet Amit for dinner. Amit is a junior at tufts also studying in tel aviv for the semester but he is originally from israel and therefore is enrolled directly at tau not in our program for "special overseas people". Amit took us for koobe! I had never heard of it before but turns out its an israeli staple so we were really glad to try it. Koobe is meatballs in dough served in soup with a side of rice..and by side i mean whole plate for each person! It was very different from anything id had before but SOOO delicious!
Monday: day trip to jerusalem with the program! SLASH birthright.
We boarded buses early in the morning and "went" to jerusalem..i use the term loosely because this 45 minute ride took us basically two and a half hours between random stops at gas stations, traffic, and an unclear bus switch. Finally we made it to our first viewpoint in yemin moshe..where i had been with arielle just 48 hours ago..i felt so local! Then we went to a "time elevator" where we watched a movie and our chairs moved "through time" and we "experienced" israeli history from jesus to the 6 days war. it rained on us..so essentially it was a disney ride for history.
Then we went to ben yehuda street for free time and lunch! I took the girls to this falafel place i had been to on birthright that was delicious! again, i felt local. then we walked around and look at lots of judaica, jewls, tshirts, etc and got froyo. After that, we got to the old city! we took a tour of the ruins of the second temple and then went to the western wall for some freetime there. we then went through the jewish quarter and ended at the tower of david with the "light spectacular". maybe it was the freezing cold or extreme exhaustion but we didnt really get it..i wouldnt put it on your list of to dos. We boarded are bus again and headed for "dinner at a kibbutz"...turns out it was the most amazing kibbutz ever and we had the best feast i've had since i got here! delicious israeli salads, hummus, brisket, chicken, rice, soup, dessert! yumyumyum!!
lots of more excitement on the way! highlights include a visit from HARRY TRAUB aka my daddy this friday! plus the most exciting day of my year/life- my 21st birthday next wednesday! and then a little scamper over to turkey next thursday! and then finally starting classes!
Pictures below:
1. GORGEOUS sunset at jaffa
2. koobe dinner with amit
3. view of jerusalem from viewpoint- gold thing the middle is dome of the rock
4. falafel on ben yehuda
5. me, emma, leah, dana, yael, and halley at the kotel
Saturday, February 6, 2010
ma koreh sweetheart
SHALOM! I dont have too much time but I just wanted to give a quick update about my 24 hour stay in Jerusalem! On Friday (AFTER I BOOKED MY TRIP TO TURKEY!!!) I took the bus all by my lonesome down to Jerusalem. It was so quick and easy and then I hopped in a cab to the old city. Of course, I had been to the old city when I went on my brithright trip but we only stayed in the jewish quarter so I've been really excited about getting to see the other places within the city. I walked throughout the muslim quarter (and by walked throughout i mean i got lost and tried to blend in by looking at different items to buy...) Eventually a "nice stranger" asked me where I wanted to go and directed me to the jewish quarter. I went to this jewlery store called hadaya. Hadaya makes gorgeous one of a kind pieces with hebrew engravings. I got a silver ring with an engraving on the outside that says "btzelem elohim" which means "in the image of Gd" - The quote comes from genesis and marks when Gd created man "in his likeness". And on the inside it says my name in hebrew.
After that I met Arielle, Ethan, and Ethans friends at the shuk. Their shuk was amazing -so much more extensive than the one in tel aviv. After that, Arielle and I went to her apartment to prepare shabbat dinner! Her apartment is so cute and very homey! We made salmon, salad, quinoa salad, challah, and dessert! Very impressed with my sister, per usual. Two cantorial students plus a boyfriend came for shabbat dinner and we ended the night with scrabble.
This morning we took a walking tour of yemen moshe which was very interesting and definitely a unqiue place i wouldnt have gotten to. From the top of the hills you can see the walls dividing east jerusalem and the west bank..and in the distance you can see the mountains of jordan.
After the tour we took a walk through the old city and had delicious falafel in the muslim quarter. We went to the church of the holy sepulcre and also went to a few of the stations of the cross (the path that jesus took before the crucifixion.) The church was gorgeousssssssssssssssssssssss! I'll add more pictures soon!
Also, I have lots of pictures on facebook so if anyone wants the link to them, let me know.
Below are two pics: one of the kotel and the dome of the rock. and the other of arielle and i with the old city walls in the background.
xoxoo
After that I met Arielle, Ethan, and Ethans friends at the shuk. Their shuk was amazing -so much more extensive than the one in tel aviv. After that, Arielle and I went to her apartment to prepare shabbat dinner! Her apartment is so cute and very homey! We made salmon, salad, quinoa salad, challah, and dessert! Very impressed with my sister, per usual. Two cantorial students plus a boyfriend came for shabbat dinner and we ended the night with scrabble.
This morning we took a walking tour of yemen moshe which was very interesting and definitely a unqiue place i wouldnt have gotten to. From the top of the hills you can see the walls dividing east jerusalem and the west bank..and in the distance you can see the mountains of jordan.
After the tour we took a walk through the old city and had delicious falafel in the muslim quarter. We went to the church of the holy sepulcre and also went to a few of the stations of the cross (the path that jesus took before the crucifixion.) The church was gorgeousssssssssssssssssssssss! I'll add more pictures soon!
Also, I have lots of pictures on facebook so if anyone wants the link to them, let me know.
Below are two pics: one of the kotel and the dome of the rock. and the other of arielle and i with the old city walls in the background.
xoxoo
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
yashar yashar and the coming of the messiah
So i met the MESSIAH....but more on that later.
Ok so I wanted to just fill in some gaps on some thangs that people ask me about. So israel potentially isnt the safest place per se. But really, being here, security really isnt on my brain. A few things that are different here than at home: 1. there are security guards everywhere...supermarkets, malls, stores, shuks, pharmacies, school gates, restaurants, clubs, everywhereeeee. Mostly, security entails opening your purse before you enter any of these places- at first I had to stop and be reminded to do it and now its like second nature to walk up to a building and open my purse for the security guard. 2. Guns everywhere is norm. Many soldiers have their weapons even when they are home so seeing soldiers in the mall or street with guns (like legit big guns) is totally normal. Certainly thats a big change of scenery from home but again, its something i think very little about.
Other: THE MALL: so turns out Ramat Aviv, which is the suburb of Tel Aviv where I live, is a nice/wealthy suburb. Our mall is also really nice. its about a block away from school and has tons of great shops and more importantly, great food! Highlights include froyo and falafel!
So this week: After exploring jaffa (the old city) on saturday, Emma and I had dinner with Arielle and Ethan at this asian noodle place in tel aviv. It was sooo delicious! and so much fun to see my sister- I still can't get over that we are here together. Its definitely a unique part of abroad to be able to run to a quick chinese dinner with your sister before she goes to a show with her boyfriend.
Tuesday: Emma and I finally went to the shuk with a few girls from our program. The shuk hakarmel is the shuk that is right in tel aviv and is there everyday. Tuesdays they have a special section with jewlery and crafts and also tons of stands of fruits, veggies, spices, baked goods, meats, clothing, and accessories! The shuk was pretty much the first destination everyone on our program went to so it was exciting to finally get there!
Of course the biggest highlight of the shuk was THE MESSIAH!!!!!! When exiting the shuk we came across this man with longlong hair and weird beard thing with long robes and a lovely book with hebrew in it. He was sitting cross legged on the ground answering questions for people slash "communicating with Gd"...and he had a nice poster that said he was the messiah...of course, the sign was in hebrew and since i was so proud to discover that i knew it said messiah i screamed "omg its says hes the messiah!"...awk. so ya, i guess its time to leave israel now that i've been a part of this historical experience.
Alright- so long blog. but just had a few things i wanted to update! Couple of pictures below:
1. THE MESSIAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Pomegranate from the Shuk
3. Array of candy at the Shuk
4. Scene from the Shuk
5. Picture from the separated beach at tel aviv indicating which days are for men and which days are for women.
Ok so I wanted to just fill in some gaps on some thangs that people ask me about. So israel potentially isnt the safest place per se. But really, being here, security really isnt on my brain. A few things that are different here than at home: 1. there are security guards everywhere...supermarkets, malls, stores, shuks, pharmacies, school gates, restaurants, clubs, everywhereeeee. Mostly, security entails opening your purse before you enter any of these places- at first I had to stop and be reminded to do it and now its like second nature to walk up to a building and open my purse for the security guard. 2. Guns everywhere is norm. Many soldiers have their weapons even when they are home so seeing soldiers in the mall or street with guns (like legit big guns) is totally normal. Certainly thats a big change of scenery from home but again, its something i think very little about.
Other: THE MALL: so turns out Ramat Aviv, which is the suburb of Tel Aviv where I live, is a nice/wealthy suburb. Our mall is also really nice. its about a block away from school and has tons of great shops and more importantly, great food! Highlights include froyo and falafel!
So this week: After exploring jaffa (the old city) on saturday, Emma and I had dinner with Arielle and Ethan at this asian noodle place in tel aviv. It was sooo delicious! and so much fun to see my sister- I still can't get over that we are here together. Its definitely a unique part of abroad to be able to run to a quick chinese dinner with your sister before she goes to a show with her boyfriend.
Tuesday: Emma and I finally went to the shuk with a few girls from our program. The shuk hakarmel is the shuk that is right in tel aviv and is there everyday. Tuesdays they have a special section with jewlery and crafts and also tons of stands of fruits, veggies, spices, baked goods, meats, clothing, and accessories! The shuk was pretty much the first destination everyone on our program went to so it was exciting to finally get there!
Of course the biggest highlight of the shuk was THE MESSIAH!!!!!! When exiting the shuk we came across this man with longlong hair and weird beard thing with long robes and a lovely book with hebrew in it. He was sitting cross legged on the ground answering questions for people slash "communicating with Gd"...and he had a nice poster that said he was the messiah...of course, the sign was in hebrew and since i was so proud to discover that i knew it said messiah i screamed "omg its says hes the messiah!"...awk. so ya, i guess its time to leave israel now that i've been a part of this historical experience.
Alright- so long blog. but just had a few things i wanted to update! Couple of pictures below:
1. THE MESSIAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. Pomegranate from the Shuk
3. Array of candy at the Shuk
4. Scene from the Shuk
5. Picture from the separated beach at tel aviv indicating which days are for men and which days are for women.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Ani Ohevet Salat Yisraeli
Shalom! Ani Ohevet Salat Yisraeli = I love israeli salad! I'm not sure I've talked enough about food in this blog and I feel thats pretty important. Of course, I've had falafel - not tons..very important to only eat the best of the best..I read there are amazing falafel stands outside the entrance to the dome of the rock so I'm holding out for when I'm in jlem. So israeli salad = cucumber, tomato, onion. Thats it. beautiful. Israelis LOVE freshfresh veggie salads. With any meal you order, you always get 10 dishes of hummus, cucumbers, beets, tahina, corn, etcetc! Its delicious- you could live off the salads here! I certainly am having the opposite experience of many of the european abroad friends when it comes to food.
So this week- we spent shabbat exploring a different area of ramat aviv and had a casual dinner with emma and our suitemate mandy at this cute cafe called cafe hillel. Then saturday i went with a group of friends to tel aviv jaffa...the oldold city of tel aviv. i had been to jaffa on birthright so it felt exciting to finally feel like i knew a place. we went to this delicious restaurant with lots of falafel, israeli salads, and other yummies. Then we walked around and did a bit of shopping at the booths set up. My favorite thing at jaffa was the wishing bridge which was also my favorite thing during birthright. Its a gorgeous bridge with all the zodiac signs on it. "Legend has it" that if you face the face the sea while touching your zodiac sign and make a wish, the wish will come true. beautiful beautiful beautiful.
Sunday meant back to ulpan where i found out I got an A on my first exam! very pleased since the jump from C to E was a big one!
Nightlife: So i havent really mentioned the activities of the PM. the nightlife here is pretty amazing. We go out alot at the nemal (the port) but also throughout the city of tel aviv. israeli men at bars are pretty forward and often tell you they have loved you from the moment they saw you...flattering yet potentially creepy. Its very fun dancing the night away with a group of girls and just getting to meet lots of new people/israelis while we are out.
more updates to come!!
xoxoxo
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