There is a lot to update here. The past (almost) week has been busy and a lot of fun. I’ve really been enjoying myself. Right now, there is a major storm in Israel with high winds and rain. It seems that winter has finally arrived (very late and after a long drought) and did so almost over night.
Tuesday
Tuesday I woke up in Jerusalem and then got on a bus to Be’er Sheva. (I feel like I did something in the morning that I cannot currently remember.) While waiting for the bus , I met some Israeli kids who started asking me about American movies. It was pretty amusing. After getting to Be’er Sheva, I met my friend Ella (from Denver and on the Overseas Program at BGU) and we caught up. I went to a class with her on collective memory and then we went to dinner at a new shwarma/falafel place nearby. After dinner, we went to a Chanukah Party held by the Overseas Student Program where we lit candles, sang songs, ate food, played dreidle, etc. After the party I moved my bags into a room in the dorms that they had arranged for me and then went to meet Na’ama who was a counselor on my USY program when I was in Israel in 2005. We had 5.5 years of catching up to do.
Wednesday
My 23rd Birthday! It was a good one. In the morning, I went and saw Ora, my Hebrew teacher from my time at BGU. I then went to a class with Ella on Talmud stories in which we discussed Chanukah. Then, we went to lunch at Lemongrass, a Kosher Chinese food restaurant on campus. After lunch, I checked a few emails and then in the afternoon we explored the Old City of Be’er Sheva and went grocery shopping. We made latkes (from scratch) and had them with animal shaped shnitzel for dinner. It was not fancy, but was great fun – especially when this nice lady argued with the person at the checkout to give us a sale price on the shnitzel. It was a good dinner next to the menorah for the last night of Chanukah. After dinner, I walked to the BIG and ONE Plaza, malls in Be’er Sheva to explore and then came back to meet Ella. We had pie and then went out to some of the pubs around campus for a little while.
Thursday
Thursday morning Ella and I went to the Beduin Shuk where we explored everything we didn’t need. When she left for class, I walked over to the regular shuk and explored there as well as the Canyon HaNegev (The Negev Mall – Be’er Sheva’s big indoor mall). I then met Ella for lunch and we got bagel toast. After lunch, I explored the university – they made several changes. I went back to the Old City and went to The Negev Museum, which I figured was about the desert. Indeed, that was not the case. Rather it was a small art museum, but the people were extraordinarilly nice. I got frozen yogurt at Glida Be’er Sheva and headed back to the university. I left Ella and went with Inbal, who was the dorms counselor when Iwas at Ben-Gurion. She now works for Ayalim and I went with her as she showed a potential donor some of the villages in Be’er Sheva. I saw areas of the city I never knew existed. She then bought a sofa chair from some guy on the side of the street (pretty awesome) and we went to Ashalim, where she lives in a student village in the middle of the desert. We made dinner, she showed me around, and I met some pretty cool people.
Friday
We woke up pretty early and explored a bit more. Inbal then brought me to the bus station in Be’er Sheva and I fought the madness of tons of soldiers to force my way onto a bus to Jerusalem. On the way back to Be’er Sheva, we passed several Beduin villages and I saw horses, camels, donkeys, and sheep. Once in Jerusalem, I made my way to French Hill and the Romms where I relaxed, tried to catch up on email, and helped get ready for Shabbat (including making challah!). We went to some great Kabbalat Shabbat services, came back to a good dinner, talked, and went to bed.
Saturday
We went to services in the morning and then returned to the apartment for lunch. There is always so much food! After lunch, we chatted, I read The Jerusalem Post, and took a nap. When Shabbat was over, the computers came out for a bit and I tried to make some plans for Tel-Aviv. We then picked up Dvora and Yair from his parents house. I went along for the ride and had never realized how large Jerusalem really was. My experiences seem to have always been limited to a few areas of the city. When we got back, the table was set for a big dinner and apparently it was to celebrate my birthday all together! They had even made a cake! I was surprised and very happy. We talked for a while and went to bed.
