It's been a couple weeks and I've been keeping busy. To start, last Tuesday I aquired a roommate, named Jamie. She's 24, from Minnesota, and it's nice to have some company in my room. She's not new, she's just been in a different room since the begining, and switched to be with me. She got along fine with her last roommate, but they just had different schedules, and her roommate wanted to live alone from the start, where I wanted some company- I guess time will tell if I can handle having a roommate.
A couple weeks ago, we had a couple days off for Purim. One day, 9 friends and I took a taxi to Tel Aviv for the aftrenoon. We started off in the market. It was an open market that old everything from dollarstore type goods, to meats, to grocerys, to movies... everything. It was very busy, you need to stick your elbows out a bit so you don't get pushed around. In tel Aviv we all bought ourselves cotumes for Purim, I got a bee costume. We then had some falafel, and proceeded to mall. I don't understand why, but anytime I go into a city with friends, we ewnd up at malls, which I don't enjoy. I did, however, randomly find a Toronto MapleLeafs sweatshirt meant for a ten year boy, with everything written in Hebrew, so I decided to show some Toronto pride, and buy it. It was crazy being in Tel Aviv for Purim because almost everybody walking down the streets were in costumes. I even saw people with business suits on, with a costume on top.
The next day, we went into Rehovot, and got some sushi. It's not like oging for sushi in Toronto. It took forever to come, and the wasabi, was barely wasabi. I could take half a chunk, and eat it on it's own.
In terms of a Purim celebration, on Friday the 13th, they turned the dining room into a club, I guess. On one side there was a DJ, and loud music, and all of the young people dancing. On the other side was where the older people were dancing. There was free cheese and crackers, as well as an open bar, since Purim is a holiday where you're supposed to get drunk enugh that you don't know good from bad... doens't the saying go something like that? There was a lot of beer spilled on me, it was very sweaty, and there were various levels of drama going on, but all in all it was a very fun night. The day after was Shabbat, also good however, and barely anyone was too be seen, since people were sleeping, and relaxing. However, that night, I cam down with a fever, and my throat was really hurtings me, so I didn't go to work or clss the next day. I had slept from 10pm, to 8, and went to the doctor. They gave me throat lozenges, even though I know it was beyond that, in fact the worst my throat has ever felt (and I've had my fair share of Broncitis, Laryngitis, strep throat, etc.) I then slept more, ate lunch, slept some more, and finally got out of my bed at 6. I've never slept so much in my life.
The next day I pushed myself to wake up for 6am for the day trip with the whole Ulpan. We started off at Atzlit(?) which was an illegal immigrent camp for the Jews when they started arriving into israel around the time that Israel became a state. They were stressing the point that Jews were coming from Europe, from the camps, and ghettos of the Holocaust, and when they came to Israel, expecting to be free, many were put into these camps. In all honesty, I still felt extremly sick, and I was very tired, so I don't remember most of what was being told to us in the tour, and I actually fell asleep for the 10 minute video they showed us.
Next we went on a hike on Mount Carmel. It was quite beautiful, I'll try and post photos in the next couple of days. From the mountain we had a view of the sea, and of other mountains, and caves, and green. In israel, the scenery is all green and brownish-orange. We even got to take our flashlights deeps into a cave, ot explore a bit. It was so loud and busy because there were also groups of high school kids touring around, and I ended up leading a whole bunch of people out of the cave since many people didn't have lunch.
Next we went to a Druze village. Druze is a belief that originated I think in Egypt. It started I think as a fusion of Jewish, and Ilslamic beliefs, but now it is its own thing. Druze people live in villages only of Druze people, and they can only marry inside of the religion, or they are kicked out of the community. Things I remember about the religion it they had 5 profits, and they belive that humans reincarnate, but they remain human, and of the same sex in each reincarnation. Our Druze guide. who was a secular man, says he is one of a small group of Druze people who remembers his former life. Apparently they all have 73 lives, and all of their 73 lives end together. The village was very hilly, it reminded me of the steep hills in San Fransisco, and the houses were some the most beautiful houses I've ever seen. After we got to walk around their small market, where I bought a backgammon, or sheshbesh board. Nothing is priced, you have to ask the price and bargain. And the woman was aying, :this is a spcial price, only for you", but of course they say that to everyone.
For the rest of that week, I still felt sick. When my throat got a bit better, I started noticing a pain in my ear, that tylenol was not healing. I went back to the doctor to complain about my EAR, and they look in my THROAT, give me a look as if I was lying about the pain, and just told me to continue taking the throat lozenges. This was all comign from the nurse, who are Israeli, so of course their natural reactionis to tell you to suck up the pain.. For last week when I was sick, everybody was getting sick. You started to be able to recognize that people were coming somewhere becuase you could tell who each individual cough was coming from. We all were sleeping a lot, watched a lot of movies, and went to pick oranges. One day when we were at our place in the orange fields, under the big trees, we heard and saw a swarm of bees, and ran away. We also spotted some avacados in the trees we were sitting under, so we started throwing sticks 20-30 feet in the air to knock them down.
The past Friday, I went to Jerusalem to visit my relatives, Varda and Shlomo. On the way to Jerusalem, waiting for the bus, I was with someone on the Ulpan Raphael. He speaks Hungarian, and knew no Hebrew or English before coming here, so it was one of the first times I was able to hold conversations with him. While we were waitin for the bus, a crazy man with a kippah sat down right beside us (most chairs were empty, but he sat RIGHT beside us) and started rattling on in Hebrew. The hwole time Raphael and I were trying so hard not to laugh, and jsut nodded and agreed.
In Jerusalem, we visited the Western Wall since I didn't really get much out of the 5 minute visit we had to the wall on my frist tour. I got to put a note into the wall. We also toured around parts of the old city that I didn't see before, including a painting of a street in the old city in the time of the Romans, as well as a recriation of the Menora from the time of the Temple. Unfortuntely, it was a friday evening, so everything was closed, otherwise we would have gone to the market. We then drove past the house that my Grandfather lived in when he lived in Israel. I was then cooked a great dinner, with a bit of everything. All the home cooked meals I'm going to recieve in Israel are going to be a luxury. After dinner, I sat and read for a while, which was the most relaxation I've had since I've arrived.
Next morning, I had the best breakfast: a few pieces of toast, a few kinds of cheeses, jam, olives, and tomatoes. Varda, Shlomo and I then drove to Jaffa, to go on a tour, with their group of 30 friends or so, all over the age of 65. It wasn't so much a walking tour, more like a an informative tour, so I was listening to stories about when Napoleon conquered Jaffa, and such. It was all in Hebrew, so anytime I zoned out, then zoned back in, it was hard to understand. We were walking along the water, and it was a clear sunny day, so it was nice. We then drove over to Tel Aviv- although I think it's Tel Aviv-Jaffa, kind of the same city, and went to the pier/market place. Before we were able to drive over to the pier though, the group was arguing for 20 minutes about where we'd park, and what route we'd take. Of course, everone thought they were right, so it just didn't end. The cities were beautiful, and the stories we were told on the tour were interesting, so in all it was a very nice trip. The whole time I was being spoken to in Hebrew, and probably 90-95% of the time I was talking back in Hebrew. I was impressed with myself, but by the end of the weekend my head was hurting.
Yesterday was also a very nice day, so we bought food for lunch, and went to have a picnic, instead of eating in the dining room. There, people were climbing trees, playing chess, and I played some seshbesh.
Thats all of the evenful things that have happened in the past few weeks. Tomorrow in class we are cooking, so we can learn kitchen words. We'll be making israeli salads, fruit salads, dips, and shaksuhka, which I know involves eggs, but I'm ont sure what else. I hope its successful, and I guess I'll be able to add it to my list of things I can make. A very small list. I'll try to write again sooner than 2 weeks. Hope everybosy is well, and I miss you all.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
March 7
Day's here all kind of blend together, so I'm not sure if anything I will type on this post is in any sort of order. During the days I'm still working cleaning the toilets. For one ady I had a friend doing it with me since he didn't ahev a job yet. Herky, frmo New York, jsut came to the Ulpan last friay, a few weeks into the Ulpan, but he's settling in alright. He's rooming with the crazy Russian Anton. I don't think I've written about Anton yet. Basically for the first week he was evry quiet, kept to himself, and avoided being social. We all assumed he didn't know any English and then one night he got drunk, and just went crazy. It turns out he understands english very wello, but he just have a sorted past. He said he was in the navy when he was 14, and was in it for 8 years. We think he may have been addicted to drugs for a while, and now he's here. He's a nice guys, but when he drinks, he goes crazy, and runs around ni his boxers, with his covers on his head yelling random things. He'll probably be kicked out soon since he's never been to class, and he hasn't been assigned a job/done anything sine he's gotten here. Even though he's crazy, we're all such a family here that when he leaves it will be sad.
It's now been about a month sine I've been here, which is really crazy. I think everybody is starting to feel a little too cooped inside. We are close to Rehovot, which is a good sized town, but it costs money to get in and out of there most of the time. Yesterday though no one had class or work in the afternoon so everyone tried to get on the one free bus gonig into Rehovot. The bus maybe fits 20 people at most. Probably 20 people from the ulpan were waiting for the bus, and kibbutz teenagers, and adults, and the kibbutzniks told some of us ulpanists to get off the bus so they could fit. They don't really see us as equal sine we don't live here all year round, which I can understrand. But at the same time we work, we pay to be here, and we put in our share, so it can get kind of obnoxious.
Sometimes fun things will come up. The other night a few friends and I went to a birthady BBQ of a friend of ours on the kibbutz, and they fed us meat, beer and hummus, and this dip that was kind of like hummus but a lot better. Usually most nights/free time in general, we like to hang around in people's rooms and listen to music, and sometimes dance. One night me and my Montreal friend, Blake were left alone in a room with speakers, and we both just started dancing. We were dancing in the halls, where we realized the video cameras probably saw everything. A girl in the Ulpan's sister was in town and she saw us doing this and probably thought we were crazy. There might be some truth to her thinking we're crazy though, since we probably are all a bit crazy as a result of being cooped up on our isolated community.
It is finally warm again, and after 3 weeks of cold, I think I heard we're having a bit of a heat wave. Yesterday after work, me, 3 of my ulpan friends were driven to a beach just 20 minutes away by our kibbutz friend Offer. We got to swim and lay down on the beach and relax. The beach was quite the sight, there were cars parked on it, people driving around on 4 wheelers, and when we first arrived there was a car stuck in the water being pushed out. Offer told us this is common to see at a beach, people like showing off there cars. What was also different about the beach was the fact that it was pretty much all young people, and you didn't see old men with their big bellies hanging over their speedos like you normally see at a beach.
Last night I got to have a nice home cooked shabbat meal with a family on the kibbutz... family of Dina's old friend Avidan. It was very nice. She was born in Canada, and moved to Israel after she did the same Ulpan I did, many years ago. I took it easy after that, and didn't go to the club since I've been a bit sick for a few days. It was nice to have a relaxing night.
It's now been about a month sine I've been here, which is really crazy. I think everybody is starting to feel a little too cooped inside. We are close to Rehovot, which is a good sized town, but it costs money to get in and out of there most of the time. Yesterday though no one had class or work in the afternoon so everyone tried to get on the one free bus gonig into Rehovot. The bus maybe fits 20 people at most. Probably 20 people from the ulpan were waiting for the bus, and kibbutz teenagers, and adults, and the kibbutzniks told some of us ulpanists to get off the bus so they could fit. They don't really see us as equal sine we don't live here all year round, which I can understrand. But at the same time we work, we pay to be here, and we put in our share, so it can get kind of obnoxious.
Sometimes fun things will come up. The other night a few friends and I went to a birthady BBQ of a friend of ours on the kibbutz, and they fed us meat, beer and hummus, and this dip that was kind of like hummus but a lot better. Usually most nights/free time in general, we like to hang around in people's rooms and listen to music, and sometimes dance. One night me and my Montreal friend, Blake were left alone in a room with speakers, and we both just started dancing. We were dancing in the halls, where we realized the video cameras probably saw everything. A girl in the Ulpan's sister was in town and she saw us doing this and probably thought we were crazy. There might be some truth to her thinking we're crazy though, since we probably are all a bit crazy as a result of being cooped up on our isolated community.
It is finally warm again, and after 3 weeks of cold, I think I heard we're having a bit of a heat wave. Yesterday after work, me, 3 of my ulpan friends were driven to a beach just 20 minutes away by our kibbutz friend Offer. We got to swim and lay down on the beach and relax. The beach was quite the sight, there were cars parked on it, people driving around on 4 wheelers, and when we first arrived there was a car stuck in the water being pushed out. Offer told us this is common to see at a beach, people like showing off there cars. What was also different about the beach was the fact that it was pretty much all young people, and you didn't see old men with their big bellies hanging over their speedos like you normally see at a beach.
Last night I got to have a nice home cooked shabbat meal with a family on the kibbutz... family of Dina's old friend Avidan. It was very nice. She was born in Canada, and moved to Israel after she did the same Ulpan I did, many years ago. I took it easy after that, and didn't go to the club since I've been a bit sick for a few days. It was nice to have a relaxing night.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Feb. 20
Again, I apologize for spelling errors; i really can barely read what I'm typing. Also, since I always spread out my posts, they may be all over the place, but I guess that's how time feels here anyways.
Since my last post, I'm still working and studying most days. My hebrew is getting better. I try to speak Hebrew with my Israeli friends, but it's hard to understand what they say to me becuae they have their own slang, and speak very fast. Work can also be confusing too because I have told the woman I work for to speak to me in Hebrew, and she does. This means though that she'll tell me to do something, and I won't end up doing it since I dind't hear her telling me. She doesn't get angry with me, although maybe sometimes she gets impatient. Thats the attitude of the Israelis I've encountered; they're friendly, and personable, but they're stern, and they know what and how they want things done.
On Monday we did a day trip to Jerusalem. It was a cold, but fun day. The drive up was green mountains, and valleys. We started out at Yad Vashem- the Holocoast memorial, museum. Our tour guide walked us through it, telling us about certain stories, and letting us explore on our own also. Many people left crying. It was the type of museum that plays to your emotions, and the exhibits were very symbolic. After we climber Mount Herzel. It was quite pretty, it had a lot of tree, and flowers, as well as memorials. Our tour guide brought his guitar and sang us a few Hebrew songs, it was kind of cheesy, but fun. We then walked around the old city of Jerusalem. I have a bunch of pictures, but I'm not sure how soon I can get them up. We were high up walking along the streets, along parts of the wall. For people who were scared of heights, it wasn't a good time, ubt for me, I got to see the view from above.
We then went to the Western Wall. The girls side of the wall is so small compared to the guys side. There were lots of religious people. I went up and leaned against the wall, since thats what it seemed like everyone else was doing. It was strange to be there, in this place that has such a rich, and interesting history. Some people told me they cried when they went to the wall. When we left the wall we had to walk backwards, so our backs didn't face the wall. On the way in, everything seemed liked it was on rewind with people going backwards.
We then went to see this cheesy 30 minute movie about the history of Jerusalem. It was one of those movies where your seats move, like you're on a roller coaster. It was awful, and they were trying to fit to much history into it, so it wasn't really my favorite thing. However they did have a coffee vending machine, with real(er) coffee then the nescafe stuff I've been drinking.
We were then given a bit of free time to walk down one of the main roads. Most people just went to eat shawerma. I roamed around with friends, and bought myself a small hand drum. It's low quality, but it does what I need it to do. I had the oppertunity to bargin down from the original price he gave me, since it would have been way overpriced. One of the oddest things I saw in Jerusalem was on this street. There were three religious men dancing in the middle of the street to techno music, trying to sell CD's or something. We danced for a few seconds too. One of them black- he had the greatest pay-ot(i don't know how to spell that) I've ever seen.
Since Jerusalem, it's jsut mostly hanging around with friends. It might get boring at some point, but for now everyone here seems to ahving a good time, and getting close. Yesterday I spent close to an hour teaching my friend from France, Stephen, some English. He speaks Hebrew, but since two thirds of the people in the program don't speak Hebrew at all, the common language is mostly English. Also, the people who do "know" Hebrew, like me, still can't really hold a convarsation in Hebrew, so I think he was feeling a bit lonely. We had a good time though. I spoke English very slowly to him, he'd write some notes down. We were laughing a lot though since if he didn't understand what IU was saying in English, I tried looking it up in the Hebrew dictionary, and at that point, he wouldn't necessarily understand. Yaakov from hina is doing quite well in Hebrew and English. He came here knowing pretty much nothing, and now he can at least have simple conversations.
Thats all I can think of for now. This weekend, I think I'm staying in the Kibbutz, but you never know. Things are very spontanious here. Anyways, I hope everyone is safe, and healthy at home, and write me letters!
Elana Cipin
Ulpan, Kibbutz Na'an
Israel
76829
I hope that's the right order...
Since my last post, I'm still working and studying most days. My hebrew is getting better. I try to speak Hebrew with my Israeli friends, but it's hard to understand what they say to me becuae they have their own slang, and speak very fast. Work can also be confusing too because I have told the woman I work for to speak to me in Hebrew, and she does. This means though that she'll tell me to do something, and I won't end up doing it since I dind't hear her telling me. She doesn't get angry with me, although maybe sometimes she gets impatient. Thats the attitude of the Israelis I've encountered; they're friendly, and personable, but they're stern, and they know what and how they want things done.
On Monday we did a day trip to Jerusalem. It was a cold, but fun day. The drive up was green mountains, and valleys. We started out at Yad Vashem- the Holocoast memorial, museum. Our tour guide walked us through it, telling us about certain stories, and letting us explore on our own also. Many people left crying. It was the type of museum that plays to your emotions, and the exhibits were very symbolic. After we climber Mount Herzel. It was quite pretty, it had a lot of tree, and flowers, as well as memorials. Our tour guide brought his guitar and sang us a few Hebrew songs, it was kind of cheesy, but fun. We then walked around the old city of Jerusalem. I have a bunch of pictures, but I'm not sure how soon I can get them up. We were high up walking along the streets, along parts of the wall. For people who were scared of heights, it wasn't a good time, ubt for me, I got to see the view from above.
We then went to the Western Wall. The girls side of the wall is so small compared to the guys side. There were lots of religious people. I went up and leaned against the wall, since thats what it seemed like everyone else was doing. It was strange to be there, in this place that has such a rich, and interesting history. Some people told me they cried when they went to the wall. When we left the wall we had to walk backwards, so our backs didn't face the wall. On the way in, everything seemed liked it was on rewind with people going backwards.
We then went to see this cheesy 30 minute movie about the history of Jerusalem. It was one of those movies where your seats move, like you're on a roller coaster. It was awful, and they were trying to fit to much history into it, so it wasn't really my favorite thing. However they did have a coffee vending machine, with real(er) coffee then the nescafe stuff I've been drinking.
We were then given a bit of free time to walk down one of the main roads. Most people just went to eat shawerma. I roamed around with friends, and bought myself a small hand drum. It's low quality, but it does what I need it to do. I had the oppertunity to bargin down from the original price he gave me, since it would have been way overpriced. One of the oddest things I saw in Jerusalem was on this street. There were three religious men dancing in the middle of the street to techno music, trying to sell CD's or something. We danced for a few seconds too. One of them black- he had the greatest pay-ot(i don't know how to spell that) I've ever seen.
Since Jerusalem, it's jsut mostly hanging around with friends. It might get boring at some point, but for now everyone here seems to ahving a good time, and getting close. Yesterday I spent close to an hour teaching my friend from France, Stephen, some English. He speaks Hebrew, but since two thirds of the people in the program don't speak Hebrew at all, the common language is mostly English. Also, the people who do "know" Hebrew, like me, still can't really hold a convarsation in Hebrew, so I think he was feeling a bit lonely. We had a good time though. I spoke English very slowly to him, he'd write some notes down. We were laughing a lot though since if he didn't understand what IU was saying in English, I tried looking it up in the Hebrew dictionary, and at that point, he wouldn't necessarily understand. Yaakov from hina is doing quite well in Hebrew and English. He came here knowing pretty much nothing, and now he can at least have simple conversations.
Thats all I can think of for now. This weekend, I think I'm staying in the Kibbutz, but you never know. Things are very spontanious here. Anyways, I hope everyone is safe, and healthy at home, and write me letters!
Elana Cipin
Ulpan, Kibbutz Na'an
Israel
76829
I hope that's the right order...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Feb. 11
I started class and work on sunday. In the morning, I worked with Mazel. What we do is clean the Ulpan kitchen, porch, common room and the building that we live in. I literally washed everyone on the programs dish and every surface of the kitchen counter. What I learned from this experience is that we are all extremely messy. Also, I clean our toilets. It's kind of gross in the guy's washroom, but the work is not that ahrd, and I finish at around 11:45. Then that same day I had class from 4:00 until 6:30. The teacher spoke in Heberew the entire time, and I understood most of it. I really didn't think I knew as much Hebrew as I do. My only issue is speaking it, since at USDS they never erally encouraged us to speak. The class is a strange dynamic with some people who can speak, but not read or write. People who can't speak but understand. People who are basically fluent in Hebrew already. It's an interesting way to learn.
At night we had a bonfire, and roasted hotdogs.
Monday we just had class in the morning, and took a tour of the kibbutz grounds. They have some building that has drums, and we were told that furtheer into the program we can ask to use to instruments. After class, me and a few friends went to the nearby town Rehovot. The bus to get there was crazy. They arrive right on time to pick you up, load and elave in a minute, and when we arrived to Rehovot, they were rushing us off. Looking around the town, and on the route there, everything looks so different. There's palm tree's, and I saw camels also. At night, we had another bonfire. I'm guessing we'll have a lot of fires because the weather is cool at night.
Tuesday was a day off because of the elections. Most of Israel shuts down, to go and vote, aor jsut take the day as a vacation. It was cold and rainy though. I just slept in, did homework, and hung around with friends. New people also came, adding a Brazilian, and also Yakov: the first Chineese jew I have met. He speaks almost no English, and neither does the Brazilian, so it's funny to watch them try to understand each other in English. At night we wentto get fries at the pub, and play some pool. Unfortuneatly I'm awful at pool, so I lost. We have made friends with the guy who drives around the kibbutz patrolling at night, so he gave us a ride from the pub to our building since it was absolutely pouring rain. I don't like when it's cold and rainy here, but the Israelis like it because they need the water.
Today there was more class, and again, I'm feeling confident in my udnerstanding of Hebrew. My Hebrew will get better when I'm here though, when my English will probably suffer. The English I speak here is different since I have to speak with people who have english as their second language.
At night we had a bonfire, and roasted hotdogs.
Monday we just had class in the morning, and took a tour of the kibbutz grounds. They have some building that has drums, and we were told that furtheer into the program we can ask to use to instruments. After class, me and a few friends went to the nearby town Rehovot. The bus to get there was crazy. They arrive right on time to pick you up, load and elave in a minute, and when we arrived to Rehovot, they were rushing us off. Looking around the town, and on the route there, everything looks so different. There's palm tree's, and I saw camels also. At night, we had another bonfire. I'm guessing we'll have a lot of fires because the weather is cool at night.
Tuesday was a day off because of the elections. Most of Israel shuts down, to go and vote, aor jsut take the day as a vacation. It was cold and rainy though. I just slept in, did homework, and hung around with friends. New people also came, adding a Brazilian, and also Yakov: the first Chineese jew I have met. He speaks almost no English, and neither does the Brazilian, so it's funny to watch them try to understand each other in English. At night we wentto get fries at the pub, and play some pool. Unfortuneatly I'm awful at pool, so I lost. We have made friends with the guy who drives around the kibbutz patrolling at night, so he gave us a ride from the pub to our building since it was absolutely pouring rain. I don't like when it's cold and rainy here, but the Israelis like it because they need the water.
Today there was more class, and again, I'm feeling confident in my udnerstanding of Hebrew. My Hebrew will get better when I'm here though, when my English will probably suffer. The English I speak here is different since I have to speak with people who have english as their second language.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Winter on the Beach in Tel Aviv-
I went to Tel Aviv for an afternoon/evening with my friends Mate, David, and Gabriel We walked on the beach, then got lost walking around. By dinner time, we were hungry, but all the restaurant were closed because it shabbat. Last night I went with 3 friends to the club on the Kibbutz. People from all over Israel go. IIn one room they had more American style music, and in another room they had live Israeli singers who were singing typical Hebrew songs. My friend from the Kibbutz told me that some of the songs were songs they al know from the army, and some were just theme songs from children shows. My friends and I didn't dance in the middle of the crowd, we were all just off to the side dancing with each other. My Venezuelen friend David was trying to teach me to salsa dance, but I wasn't really good.
Friday, February 6, 2009
First couple of days
To start off, if my spelling is bad, it's because not only am I a terrible speller, but the computre is fuzzy, and it is hard to make out words. I got to Israel on Wednesday with no problems at the airport. The plane ride was very crazy. All of the religious families were pacing, and hanging out in theaisles, there were 20 minute lines for the bathrooms because the religous kids would just run out of nowhere to use the toilet without waiting in line.
For the first couple nights I did have a roomate, a fellow Canadian, but as of an hour ago, she's onw gone. She said the program wasn't for her, even though the program doesn't start until Sunday. She was just very quiet, I guess, and everyone else here is very outgoing. Athough I would usually be happy about the idea of having my own room, I think I'm going to see if there is another room I can go to. Otherwise it will be very lonely.
The weather here is great. Sunny, clear skies, and during the day it has been around 20-25 degrees. At night it does get chilly though, I'm cold when I'm under my covers. We don't actually start the prograsm until sunday. There are 2 levels of Hebrew classes, and I am in the more advanced one. Although it's kind of funny becuase there are a few peolple on the program who can speak Hebrew very well, better than me, but they don't know the alphabet, or how to write. My class is a lot smaller than the lower level class, so it's going to be very intimate. We'll all be very close to the front, and we'll have no choice but to pay attention, or they might get mad. In terms of work, I just found out what my firset job will be. I'll be working with a woman named Mazel (yes, like mazel tov). I don't really know what that entails, but Ilan, the Ulpan coordinater describes her as the mother of the Ulpan. I guess she's kind of like the nanny? What I've seen her do is set up our meals, and take out the trash, and organize the closet with all of the sheets. SO ya, I have absolutely no idea what I'll be doing with her.
The schedule is very confusing. There are a couple days where we work in the morning, and then learn in the afternoon/evening. There are also days when we only have class in the morning, with the days ending at 1. There may also be a day where just do our jobs all day. Then friday is a half day, and always ends at lunch because of Shabbt. So out weekends are half day friday, and then saturday.
The people on the Ulpan come from all over. There are around 25 people here so far, but I feel like more people are on their way since the program is supposed to be 35 people. People come from Canada, US, Holland, Hungary, Russia, Chile, Peurto Rico, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, France, Uzbekastan, and Turkmenestan. So the lanuages are English, Russian, and Spanish. The dynamic is very interesting. Most people know very very simple English, so you have to speak slowly, and simply. There is a guy at the Kibbutz who did an Ulpan before us, and he said people usually just go into cliques based on the Language you speak.
Last night we went to the pub on the Kibbutz, and I had fun talking to an Israeli girl my age, I tried speaking my broken Hebrew to her, and she was speaking English very well to me. She likes Briteny Spears and Hannah Montana, and American things like that.
Thats all I have for now. We might go into Tel Aviv today, but we'll see. Theres not really much to do since we're not working or learning. But so far all is well, and I'm having a good time and have made friends.
For the first couple nights I did have a roomate, a fellow Canadian, but as of an hour ago, she's onw gone. She said the program wasn't for her, even though the program doesn't start until Sunday. She was just very quiet, I guess, and everyone else here is very outgoing. Athough I would usually be happy about the idea of having my own room, I think I'm going to see if there is another room I can go to. Otherwise it will be very lonely.
The weather here is great. Sunny, clear skies, and during the day it has been around 20-25 degrees. At night it does get chilly though, I'm cold when I'm under my covers. We don't actually start the prograsm until sunday. There are 2 levels of Hebrew classes, and I am in the more advanced one. Although it's kind of funny becuase there are a few peolple on the program who can speak Hebrew very well, better than me, but they don't know the alphabet, or how to write. My class is a lot smaller than the lower level class, so it's going to be very intimate. We'll all be very close to the front, and we'll have no choice but to pay attention, or they might get mad. In terms of work, I just found out what my firset job will be. I'll be working with a woman named Mazel (yes, like mazel tov). I don't really know what that entails, but Ilan, the Ulpan coordinater describes her as the mother of the Ulpan. I guess she's kind of like the nanny? What I've seen her do is set up our meals, and take out the trash, and organize the closet with all of the sheets. SO ya, I have absolutely no idea what I'll be doing with her.
The schedule is very confusing. There are a couple days where we work in the morning, and then learn in the afternoon/evening. There are also days when we only have class in the morning, with the days ending at 1. There may also be a day where just do our jobs all day. Then friday is a half day, and always ends at lunch because of Shabbt. So out weekends are half day friday, and then saturday.
The people on the Ulpan come from all over. There are around 25 people here so far, but I feel like more people are on their way since the program is supposed to be 35 people. People come from Canada, US, Holland, Hungary, Russia, Chile, Peurto Rico, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, France, Uzbekastan, and Turkmenestan. So the lanuages are English, Russian, and Spanish. The dynamic is very interesting. Most people know very very simple English, so you have to speak slowly, and simply. There is a guy at the Kibbutz who did an Ulpan before us, and he said people usually just go into cliques based on the Language you speak.
Last night we went to the pub on the Kibbutz, and I had fun talking to an Israeli girl my age, I tried speaking my broken Hebrew to her, and she was speaking English very well to me. She likes Briteny Spears and Hannah Montana, and American things like that.
Thats all I have for now. We might go into Tel Aviv today, but we'll see. Theres not really much to do since we're not working or learning. But so far all is well, and I'm having a good time and have made friends.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Extended Stay in London
Hello everybody! It's Tuesday, and I'm still in London, even though I was supposed to leave yesterday. Isn't it funny how snow always manages to follow Canadians? Yesterday, my flight to Tel Aviv was supposed to leave in the morning, but we woke up to a snowy London. It was snowing all day, a total of 7 inches, but in London that is the most snow they've had since 1991, and they weren't prepared for that. All trains to the airport were canceled, and 850 flights to/from Heathrow were canceled. So I'm now leaving Wednesday (crossing my fingers, since it might snow again!)
Anyways, here in London I've done all sorts of fun touristy things. First day, Cam and I walked around exploring London. We saw Big Ben, parliment, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Picadilly circus and Trafulgar square (huge square with all sorts of large fountains, and where- had it been nicer weather- there would have been lots and lots of pigeons. Of course we also managed to have fish & chips, tea & biscuits, Indian food for dinner and had beer at the local pub just a block away.
Saturday Michael and I explored the National gallery where we saw classical art, which was mostly baby Jesus and Mary. We also saw the Natural History museum where we saw massive and expensive rocks, monkeys, birds, cool things like that. We also went into China Town, and since it was Chineese New Year there was music playing, and we saw people in various dragon costumes dancing. The dragons were kissing eachother a bit, and also climbing up in doorways "eating" (or knocking down) lettuce that was tied on a string. We then ate dragon's beard candy. Made of real dragon, of course.
Sunday we went to the British Museum where we saw interesting Greek, Egyptian, Assyrian, and other exhibits (mummies, carvings, rosetta stone, etc.) Cam and I then went to Camden market, which is I guess considered the market where all of the cool kids go. It was almost like Kensington market, but a whole lot bigger, and more like an actual market. When we were leaving, thats when the snow started. From Michael's flat, we witnessnesed some young hooligans getting arrested by the cops. The teenagers here have absolutely NO respect for the cops. They were yelling, swearing, and pushing them, and when the cop cars drove off, the kids who weren't arrested were smacking, and kicking the cars as they drove off.
Monday, after not being able to get to the airport, it was still snowing, and so we walked around the city. Of course we can handle it, we're Canadians, but no one here knows how to deal with it. There were pleanty of snowmen, and people throwing snowballs at people they didn't know. Even the night before, when it had started snowing, kids were so excited by the dusting of snow on the street, that they were making snow angels in the middle of the road, and scrapping off snow from cars to toss snow in their friends faces... also saw kids throwing snow in the face of a homeless man, which wasn't very nice. We got to explore Carnaby street which was the place to be in the swinging sixties.
With my extra day here we were able to walk along the river, and see the Tower of London, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and and interesting mix of modern buildings, beside old looking buildings.
Basically: I saw a lot. I walked a lot. My feet are sore. I had a great time here. Michael was a great host, Cameron was good company, but I am ready to leave and finally get to Israel. Potentially that will be tomorrow, I'm crossing my fingers! I will try to post pictures soon. I can try to post them on the blog, but if that doesn't work very well, then I may have to post the bulk of them on facebook. So family who doesn't have me on facebook, or doens't have facebook, we'll try to figure out a way around this issue. I miss everyone already.
Love, Elana
Anyways, here in London I've done all sorts of fun touristy things. First day, Cam and I walked around exploring London. We saw Big Ben, parliment, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Picadilly circus and Trafulgar square (huge square with all sorts of large fountains, and where- had it been nicer weather- there would have been lots and lots of pigeons. Of course we also managed to have fish & chips, tea & biscuits, Indian food for dinner and had beer at the local pub just a block away.
Saturday Michael and I explored the National gallery where we saw classical art, which was mostly baby Jesus and Mary. We also saw the Natural History museum where we saw massive and expensive rocks, monkeys, birds, cool things like that. We also went into China Town, and since it was Chineese New Year there was music playing, and we saw people in various dragon costumes dancing. The dragons were kissing eachother a bit, and also climbing up in doorways "eating" (or knocking down) lettuce that was tied on a string. We then ate dragon's beard candy. Made of real dragon, of course.
Sunday we went to the British Museum where we saw interesting Greek, Egyptian, Assyrian, and other exhibits (mummies, carvings, rosetta stone, etc.) Cam and I then went to Camden market, which is I guess considered the market where all of the cool kids go. It was almost like Kensington market, but a whole lot bigger, and more like an actual market. When we were leaving, thats when the snow started. From Michael's flat, we witnessnesed some young hooligans getting arrested by the cops. The teenagers here have absolutely NO respect for the cops. They were yelling, swearing, and pushing them, and when the cop cars drove off, the kids who weren't arrested were smacking, and kicking the cars as they drove off.
Monday, after not being able to get to the airport, it was still snowing, and so we walked around the city. Of course we can handle it, we're Canadians, but no one here knows how to deal with it. There were pleanty of snowmen, and people throwing snowballs at people they didn't know. Even the night before, when it had started snowing, kids were so excited by the dusting of snow on the street, that they were making snow angels in the middle of the road, and scrapping off snow from cars to toss snow in their friends faces... also saw kids throwing snow in the face of a homeless man, which wasn't very nice. We got to explore Carnaby street which was the place to be in the swinging sixties.
With my extra day here we were able to walk along the river, and see the Tower of London, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and and interesting mix of modern buildings, beside old looking buildings.
Basically: I saw a lot. I walked a lot. My feet are sore. I had a great time here. Michael was a great host, Cameron was good company, but I am ready to leave and finally get to Israel. Potentially that will be tomorrow, I'm crossing my fingers! I will try to post pictures soon. I can try to post them on the blog, but if that doesn't work very well, then I may have to post the bulk of them on facebook. So family who doesn't have me on facebook, or doens't have facebook, we'll try to figure out a way around this issue. I miss everyone already.
Love, Elana
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