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
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