First full week in Jerusalem

Hello all,

So first of all, notice I added a falafel count to the right of the page. It was Mom's idea. How many falafels will Dina eat while in Israel? We'll find out. Low so far...only two. But give it time.

Secondly, it's FREEZING in Jerusalem today. It apparently even snowed for a minute. I didn't see it, but that's the word around town. I know I shouldn't complain to you in the New York area, as I've heard it's been one of the coldest winters in history there, but it's not supposed to be cold in Jerusalem! Now, I've kind of wanted to go out to get hot chocolate, but I need to shower in order to do that. As you may or may not know, in much of Israel, you need to turn on the boiler for hot water. Well, it's taking it's sweet time to heat up. So no shower yet, no hot chocolate yet. Why do I feel like I'm back in my cold New York bedroom?

Anyway, I figure I'll try to take some of this time to catch up on what I've missed. I left you off at the end of Sunday, the 18th.

Classes began Monday. I later learned we have two teachers. I don't quite know why. One seems more prominent, and so I know her better. She's really nice. Her name is Hodiya (hoe-dee-YA). She's one of those very good teachers who can be nice, control a class, and teach a lot at the same time. The other teacher is named Shifi (SHEE-fee), and she seems nice, though I think I prefer Hodiya. At first, I thought the class might be a tad too slow, but I think it's good now. We learn vocabulary, grammar, read little stories or other texts - exactly what Hebrew class has pretty much always been. There's no English in the class. All new words are explained in Hebrew, though occasionally when we think we know what it is but isn't sure, we'll confirm it in English. There's some homework, but it's really nothing too bad. And of course, since I'm not doing this for credit, I really just learn as much as I want to. Which is as much as I can, because I'd really like to improve my Hebrew.

Tuesday, of course, was inauguration day. We watched the coverage at Jeff Seidel's student center. I love the student center. They have all sorts of things going on there. Each Sunday night, they have a free dinner and a guest come in to talk about some subject on Judaism or Israel. That was what the Gaza talk was. After that, they have a learning program where they pair you up with a tutor and you learn pretty much whatever interests you in Judaism, but I'm not doing that program. I'm involved in so much here already, and I feel I've done enough of the Talmud studying for now at Heschel. Some of my friends are doing it, however. Anyway, also at the student center, there's free laundry, TVs, so they show all sorts of things we want to see like sports games and the Inauguration.
So I went over awfully early. My friend and I and one other person were the first to show up. Unfortunately, they already had Fox News on. (I later asked for it to be changed to MSNBC or CNN, and was basically told no, but they eventually gave in and we saw the inauguration itself on CNN.) But we watched, I realized I wasn't wearing my Obama shirt or sweatshirt, ran back to the dorm to put them on, came back, and we were still in the pretty boring coverage. As it got later, more people showed up (though I'd already secured the best seat), and I watched everything so excitedly!
Really, there are no words to speak. I was just in awe the whole time; I couldn't believe it was finally here. I'd worked so hard, and so many friends of mine had as well. While I was disappointed I couldn't be THERE, nothing could upset me while watching it on TV. Of course, we all talked, took note of the clothing and Bush's expressions, Cheney's chair, Aretha's amazingness, Hilary and Malia matching each other and the carpet, Carter passing the Clintons by, Bill's inability to hide his bitterness that it wasn't his wife's inauguration, Reverend Joseph Lowery's amazing rhyming, everyone leaving during Elizabeth Alexander's poem, etc. But we were silent during the Oaths and Obama's address, even while having our separate interpretations of what happened during Obama's oath (I loved one in particular, a friend of mine who merely took it as a dramatic pause). The address was simply incredible. I have nothing to say. I was just wide-eyed, open-mouthed in awe the whole time.
Unfortunately, everyone started getting up before we got to see Bush taken away by helicopter, so I missed that. But overall, it was just an amazing experience. How could it not be?

On Wednesday, a friend and I baked cookies with the student center to give to Israeli soldiers. It was very fun, and very yummy.

On Thursday, there was an "activities fair" after class where all of the campus clubs, etc. came. Hillel, the Student Center, various things. I signed up for a number of things, but I'll talk about them as they come along. Also on Thursday I thought there was a Freshman orientation. Unfortunately, it had been Tuesday. Guess I was too excited about the Inauguration to notice? I talked to the proper people and got the information and materials I needed, including a course pack, and I later chose my classes. I haven't registered yet, as I need to have a meeting with an advisor-type person, but she said it wasn't first come first served, so I'm not too worried about them filling up. Still, I have back-ups.
I plan to enroll in 4 classes, but only stay in 3 of them. We also have a required continuing Hebrew class. The reason for 4 classes is because one of the ones I'd like to take is very science-oriented, and I'm slightly worried I won't be able to follow it, in which case I'll drop it and take the other. But, if it works out, I'll definitely stick with it. The two definite classes are Foreign Policy of Israel and From Jewish Jesus to Christianity. The third class I'd like to take is called Introduction to Astrobiology: Appearance, Evolution, and Future of Life on Earth, A Planet in Environmental Turmoil. If that one doesn't work out, I will probably take The North American Jewish Community and its Continuity Challenge: Studies in Jewish Education. However, that requires an Internship. I believe the one I am planning on may count, but I need to be sure. (For those of you who don't know about it yet, I'll explain it a bit later.) If that doesn't work, I'll probably take Colloquial Arabic I, although I think that's unlikely.
Unfortunately, I can't link you to the precise course descriptions, but if you would like to read more about them, follow these steps:

Click here
Next to "Course Number" type the following numbers for each course:

• Foreign Policy of Israel - 48201
• From Jewish Jesus to Christianity - 48238
• Intro to Astrobiology - 48678
• Studies in Jewish Education - 48251
• Colloquial Arabic I - 48233

Click "Search"
Click "Catalogue View"
When you are finished reading, if you would like to see another course, click "Course Search Engine" and repeat above steps.

Ask me if you have any questions.

Side note- a maintenance person just came in about the shower. You see, there are two identical switches by the shower: one for the boiler, one for the room heater. I had thought the room heater one was the boiler one, so when I saw that on, I just left it, thinking someone else had turned it on and the shower would get hot soon. When I checked back later and it was still cold, I switched the other on, just in case. That was the right move. The water is lukewarm now, so it should soon be possible to take a shower. However, apparently the room heater switch was broken which is why it was on. So the maintenance guy is fixing it, and I think I'll soon have hot enough water for my shower. All good news :)

Anyway, earlier in the week some friends and I had discussed taking a weekend trip to Tzfat. First of all, weekends here are Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday. So weekend trips mean leaving Thursday after classes and staying for Shabbos. But while planning this trip, things seemed to continue to go wrong (including the big problem of the hostel being filled up), and by Thursday night, we'd decided to wait for another week. But that meant we had no plans for Shabbos. Well, as Thursday night is a big social night here, we went back to Ben Yehuda Street and, at about 2 AM, while eating some pizza, who should walk by but Jeff Seidel, proprietor of the lovely student center! Now, this is probably a lot funnier to people who know him, but the thing about Jeff Seidel is that he's always wherever you are. One of those people who you always bump into. He's also quite a character, and so we're always talking about him, and then he shows up. He is also known for setting people up for Shabbat meals. Here's a lovely example of him. But anyway, he walked by, asked if we were set up for Shabbos, and we said, actually, no! We discussed for a bit and he decided he'd send us to "Hippie Joe's" for dinner on Friday night. Of course, we were all very intrigued and could not wait to meet the mysterious Hippie Joe. But I'll explain that all in good time. He also told us a few possibilities for Lunch, including at Tsipora's house. Tsipora also works at the Student Center. She's really nice, and the baking was actually her activity and was done at her house.

Friday, a couple of my friends decided that, instead of Tzfat, we'd take a day trip in Jerusalem. We went to a place called Ein Kerem, which is known for its artists and as the birthplace of John the Baptist. Therefore, a bunch of churches are around there, and we decided to go check it out.
Now, to take the bus there would mean multiple buses and would take a long time. We did not have a lot of time, as we had to get back to our dorms to get ready for Shabbos and down to the Old City before Shabbos began at around 4:30. So we needed to take a cab, even though it's quite far and therefore somewhat expensive. 70 Shkalim would be considered a good price, with 100 being reasonable but pricey. We wanted to aim for 70, so when we got a taxi, my friend low-balled it at 55, assuming it would get up to around 70. (In Israel, haggling is the culture, especially with taxis.) Shockingly, the driver accepted the 55, so we got there very cheap.
Anyway, we turned up in Ein Kerem. We didn't know our way around, and the maps weren't detailed enough to help in the very small streets. So, we kind of wandered in the general direction of a church we saw and, in a roundabout way, eventually made it. It was nice, and we met a Franciscan Brother there, dressed in brown robes, who told us about it as well as how to get to the other churches. However, it seemed to be a very roundabout way, so we tried going our own way, just sort of taking a road that seemed to head in the general direction of two other churches.
We ended up finding something, but we couldn't tell what it was. It seemed to be a church that was turned into a mosque, but we weren't quite sure. There was something called "Mary's Spring" or something, leading us to believe church, but there also seemed to be a crescent at the top, leading us to believe mosque. Either way, we couldn't go inside and it was quite small, so we moved on fairly quickly.
There were signs and we decided to head for a Russian Orthodox Church because the Brother had told us that the Church of Visitation was closed until 2:30. We trekked for quite a while and made it eventually. We saw a little chapel with a gift shop, kept walking around, only to later be yelled at in Russian by a nun. We asked if she knew Hebrew or English and made it clear we didn't know Russian. Apparently, we weren't supposed to be there, though there were no signs. She spoke a little English, telling us to leave, but kept yelling in Russian. We went back the way we came, but the nun followed us and prompted us to go a different way. It took a while and a bunch of Russian, but we eventually got out. Of course, the nun left us on an empty-looking gravel path seeming to be in the middle of nowhere. But we had no choice but to walk along it. Eventually, we came to Hebrew University dorms and a Hadassah Hospital - apparently, students working at the hospital had dorms right there. Luckily, the Brother had mentioned the Hadassah hospital and talked about a dirt path from the parking lot which we were to follow. So we knew we were somewhat going in the right direction. We found the path, followed it, eventually got to the Church of Visitation which was, indeed, closed for lunch from 11:45 until 2:30. Now I ask you, what kind of a church closes for lunch for nearly 3 hours?! But we had to leave Ein Kerem by 2:30 in order to have time to get ready for Shabbos, so we couldn't wait there. We ended up going back to the main street in Ein Kerem and had a very good lunch of salads and sandwiches at a little cafe type place. Meanwhile, I had called Tsipora and set up lunch at her house for my friends and me on Saturday.

I apologize for the lack of pictures in Ein Kerem. I forgot my camera, and my friend has yet to put up his. When he does, I will post them here.

We got a taxi back to the dorms (this time for an understandable 70 Shkalim), and who do we meet by the gate of the dorm complex (known as the Student Village, or Kfar HaStudentim, and I will from hereon in refer to it as the Kfar, as everyone does)? None other than, you guessed it, Jeff Seidel, talking to people about their plans for Shabbos. He asks if we're all ready for Hippie Joe's, tells us we're invited over to his house for "l'chaims" (pre-meal drinks on Shabbos) at 4:30, and makes sure everything is cool. I took a quick shower before meeting my friends to head down to the Old City before Shabbos in order to get to Jeff Seidel's house for the l'chaims.

And I will leave you with this, in suspense for Hippie Joe and this past week, as I go to take a shower. I think I've written quite a lot for today, though if I feel like it, I may add some more later.