Well, so far I have finished one final, only four more to go! I have my written Hebrew final this Friday, my Palestinian History class has its final on Sunday, I have a final for Jewish Settlement in the Land of Israel on Monday, and last but not least, my Greco-Roman class take home final is due next Thursday (December 30). I also have to be completely moved out by December 30, so it is going to be a busy week and a half. I had my oral final in Hebrew today and I believe that it went well. Our dialogue was very very good thanks to my Israeli roommate patiently listening and correcting us. I later helped her with her English homework.
Anyway, I thought that maybe I should put some links up here for some of the songs that we have gone over in either Hebrew or other classes and other songs that are popular. Here they are:
For Chanukkah:
Songs we listened to in Hebrew
זה מן הסרט סלאח שבאתי (From the movie Sallah Shabati)
(From the movie Someone to Run With) זה מן הסרט מישהו לרוץ איתו
Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Chanukah, my Birthday, and Everything Inbetween
Well it's been awhile since I last posted. These past few weeks have been pretty hectic. I finished midterms, am starting finals (I have two this week for Hebrew) and am getting ready to say goodbye to Israel. But before I do, let me tell you what's happened.
First, I went to go see Harry Potter with my cousin. I personally loved the movie, though unfortunately, everyone in the theater talked the entire time. It was quite annoying but when we asked them to shut up, first politely and then not so nicely, they simply ignored us. The movie theater was decent (you have assigned seats once you buy your tickets) and the only real problem was the bathroom situation, which ran out of toilet paper sometime during intermission and they never bothered to replace it. That's that other thing about seeing movies in Israel, there's a break somewhere in the middle. Doesn't always make sense where they stop, but they do. The break was nowhere near 10 minutes though and my cousin barely made it back in time.
I also did a bit more shopping these past couple of weeks and spent way too much money. I went through the Armenian and Arab markets in the Old City again and bought some small trinkets. I also went to an amazing paper cut store near Ben Yehuda called Judaicut and bought a piece from them. I went to the Israel Museum again on a field trip and learned a bit more about Second Temple Judaism, especially burials and the Dead Sea Sect.
For my birthday, I went up to visit my cousin Sanda and she made me a Mexican feast (or at least as close as you can get in Israel). We had chili rellenos with mole, vegetarian tacos, rice, beans, horchata, tortilla soup, and more! It was amazing and delicious. I also received two nice hand-made cards, the first from my roommate, the second is from my cousin:
We also had our first instance of real rain in Jerusalem and I am happy it's over. The rain itself wasn't too bad, but it was ridiculously windy, making it impossible to use an umbrella. It was so strong that sometimes you got blown a bit off course. In Zichron Yaakov, the power went out the storm was so bad (it was out for well over six hours!) But the weather has improved again and I am just preparing for all my finals. Til next time!
First, I went to go see Harry Potter with my cousin. I personally loved the movie, though unfortunately, everyone in the theater talked the entire time. It was quite annoying but when we asked them to shut up, first politely and then not so nicely, they simply ignored us. The movie theater was decent (you have assigned seats once you buy your tickets) and the only real problem was the bathroom situation, which ran out of toilet paper sometime during intermission and they never bothered to replace it. That's that other thing about seeing movies in Israel, there's a break somewhere in the middle. Doesn't always make sense where they stop, but they do. The break was nowhere near 10 minutes though and my cousin barely made it back in time.
I also did a bit more shopping these past couple of weeks and spent way too much money. I went through the Armenian and Arab markets in the Old City again and bought some small trinkets. I also went to an amazing paper cut store near Ben Yehuda called Judaicut and bought a piece from them. I went to the Israel Museum again on a field trip and learned a bit more about Second Temple Judaism, especially burials and the Dead Sea Sect.
For my birthday, I went up to visit my cousin Sanda and she made me a Mexican feast (or at least as close as you can get in Israel). We had chili rellenos with mole, vegetarian tacos, rice, beans, horchata, tortilla soup, and more! It was amazing and delicious. I also received two nice hand-made cards, the first from my roommate, the second is from my cousin:
We also had our first instance of real rain in Jerusalem and I am happy it's over. The rain itself wasn't too bad, but it was ridiculously windy, making it impossible to use an umbrella. It was so strong that sometimes you got blown a bit off course. In Zichron Yaakov, the power went out the storm was so bad (it was out for well over six hours!) But the weather has improved again and I am just preparing for all my finals. Til next time!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Midterms and Thanksgiving!
The past couple of weeks have been very hectic for me, so I've been neglecting my blog, but here's a quick post to let ya'll know what I have been up to.
First, I have been swamped with midterms. For my Jewish Settlement in the Land of Israel class I had to write a 10 page paper on a topic of my choice. I decided to write about UN Resolution 181 which passed 11/29/1947 (Israelis call the day ט בנובמברכ(. My essay focused on why countries voted in favor of the partition plan. I had a variety of case studies—Sweden, Finland, the Soviet Union, and the United States—as well as more general observations. All of the research took up a lot of time.
On top of writing a 10 page paper, I got sick for a few days. I had a low grade fever and felt absolutely miserable, especially since I had a Hebrew midterm that week as well. I got better in time to take my midterm, but I made some pretty stupid mistakes on the test.
I've also had midterms in my two other classes as well. For my Palestinian History class we had our test in class—thirty multiple choice questions. It was fairly simple and I did well. For my Greco Roman history class my midterm was a take home exam with three three-page essays. It's due today and I just recently finished going over all my essays for the last time. I wrote about the problem with studying Second Temple Judaism, the uses of Hellenism by the Hasmonean Dynasty and Herod, and lastly, I compared to scholarly articles. Sounds boring right? Well it was rather tedious and I am happy to be done.
Unfortunately, I have another 10 page paper to do for my internship for UCLA this week and then I'm free (mostly) until finals. So what else I have been up?
Well, I went to Sanda's last weekend for Thanksgiving and all of us girls (Sanda, Stefanie, and I) had a spa day on Friday. We went to an amazing place near Safed and all got massages. It was my first time and I absolutely loved it. (I will post pictures sometime soon). On Thursday, I had a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner, complete with tofurky and pumpkin cheesecake. Friday I had a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and stuffing, etc.
Then, a few days ago, Rothberg in their infinite wisdom decided that Rachel and I needed more roommates and three new people moved in. They are all Israeli, two boys and one girl. So far they all seem to be pretty nice, but I haven't had much time to talk to them yet. We all seem to have different schedules, so I've only talked to Anat, the girl, who is also majoring in history. I helped her a little bit with one of her assignments, though she had to translate everything I said into Hebrew. Eventually, I might ask them to help me with some of my Hebrew homework, though I usually do okay. At least they brought a lot of kitchen supplies. We now have a microwave, toaster oven, cappuccino machine, and coffeemaker. We also have new rugs, tablecloths, and bathmats. They brought some pictures as well but so far they haven't hung anything up but I'm hoping they do so our apartment won't be quite so barren.
Anyway, that's been my last few weeks in a nutshell. This Friday I'm heading to Tel Aviv to check out Nachalat Binyamin (נחלת בנימין) an artists' market. I went once before and had a great time. I'm hoping that they have more stuff because it's Chanukah. (Here's the website: http://www.nachalatbinyamin.com/en-Default.aspx) Then, I am taking the train up to visit Sanda. And that's it. I will try and post more pictures soon!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Pictures from Sanda's
This past Shabbat I went to visit my cousin Sanda in Zichron Yaakov (or Zikrhon Yaaqov as they spell it on the signs). On Friday, we went to the beach and I took quite a few pictures. Here they are:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Dead Sea Again
After hiking up and down Masada, our group went to the Dead Sea. We went to a different part, past Ein Gedi. The beach was free and nice; however, the mud still cost money, though this place had buckets that you could buy instead of the packets they sell everywhere in Israel.
Since I was not feeling that well still, I decided not to go in the water and instead I took pictures for people and talked more to the people in my group, many of whom I don't see very often. I actually talked a lot to one of our Madrachim, Sima.She told us that she used to be an Ahava girl in the U.S. (New York specifically). Ahava sells Dead Sea products and they send young Israeli women to various malls across the United States to sell their products. I'm sure that you have seen them somewhere in California, I know there used to a booth of some sort in Parkway Plaza, but I'm not positive it was Ahava. Anyway, she showed us her sales pitch, but she was more interested in talking to people than selling the product and she did not do as well as some of her coworkers. Also, though she liked New York, it was too much for her (she spent a good deal of time in Manhattan).
Most of the people I talked to ended up being from the West Coast (there are quite a few of us, at least 20 University of California students and about five others from Washington and Oregon). We told Sima about the West Coast because she'd never been and tried to explain what Mexican food was (a running theme around here).
Anyway, we were only at the Dead Sea for about an hour and most people just floated for a little while and then got out to eat some of the snacks they provided. Then, we took the bus back to the dorms (another 2 hours) and I for one went to sleep.
Here's some pictures of some of the people on the trip:
Since I was not feeling that well still, I decided not to go in the water and instead I took pictures for people and talked more to the people in my group, many of whom I don't see very often. I actually talked a lot to one of our Madrachim, Sima.She told us that she used to be an Ahava girl in the U.S. (New York specifically). Ahava sells Dead Sea products and they send young Israeli women to various malls across the United States to sell their products. I'm sure that you have seen them somewhere in California, I know there used to a booth of some sort in Parkway Plaza, but I'm not positive it was Ahava. Anyway, she showed us her sales pitch, but she was more interested in talking to people than selling the product and she did not do as well as some of her coworkers. Also, though she liked New York, it was too much for her (she spent a good deal of time in Manhattan).
Most of the people I talked to ended up being from the West Coast (there are quite a few of us, at least 20 University of California students and about five others from Washington and Oregon). We told Sima about the West Coast because she'd never been and tried to explain what Mexican food was (a running theme around here).
Anyway, we were only at the Dead Sea for about an hour and most people just floated for a little while and then got out to eat some of the snacks they provided. Then, we took the bus back to the dorms (another 2 hours) and I for one went to sleep.
Here's some pictures of some of the people on the trip:
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| My friend Julie |
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| In order: Becka, Jacob, can't tell, Phoebe, and Paul |
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| Sierra and her roommate with Julie |
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Masada
Yesterday, a group of us went to Masada, with Rothberg. It was a lot of fun. My school offers a variety of activities for students (pre-paid with our tuition). I went on a night hike in the Judean Desert a week ago and yesterday morning a group of about 40 of us hiked Masada to see the sunrise.
We left at 2:30 in the morning from Jerusalem. The bus ride was long (a little over two hours) and unfortunately I got a bit sick. Next time I'll remember to take motion sickness pills. When we got to the Roman Trail (the thankfully shorter trail) we hiked up as a group, in about 15 minutes. It was a short but steep walk and everyone was out of breath when we reached the top.
Then, we watched the sun rise before starting our tour. We split up into two groups and I have no idea if the other group saw the same things we did. First, we went to the bathhouse that King Herod built. Apparently Herod, who is best known for rebuilding the Second Temple, built Masada as a retreat in case of a siege or revolt. He created a luxurious bathhouse and archaeologists found evidence of both figs and grapes. The bathhouse itself had multiple parts, including a gymnasium and a room similar to a sauna. (The floor was built on top of beams, and wood was burned beneath, keeping the floor warm. Cold water was then thrown on top of the floor, to create steam).
After Herod's death, Masada was inhabited by a radical group of Jews (known as the Zealots or Sicarii) during the war against the Romans. The Sicarii on Masada were commanded by Elazar ben Ya'ir. In 72 CE, two years after the destruction of the Second Temple, a Roman General named Silva lay siege to Masada.
He and his men, possibly with the help of Jewish slaves, built the Roman ramp to reach the Jews.
The Jews, observing this work, knew that soon the Romans would reach them. They had enough food for a long siege; however, they could not fight a legion (10,000) of Roman soldiers. So, Elazar ben Ya'ir, their leader, decided upon a different course of action. According to Josephus, Elazar gathered all the Jews and gave a speech, calling for the Jews to kill themselves before being taken by the Romans. Almost everyone agreed. Women killed their children, men their wives, until only ten men remained. These ten men wrote down their names on clay tablets (later found by archaeologists) and drew lots to determine who would kill whom. The last man committed suicide.
The account of the siege of Masada was related to Josephus by two women who survived the suicide by hiding inside a cistern along with five children. Josephus' account is the only account of the events on Masada that survives today.
Anyway, after that rather depressing history, here are some pictures of Masada:
We left at 2:30 in the morning from Jerusalem. The bus ride was long (a little over two hours) and unfortunately I got a bit sick. Next time I'll remember to take motion sickness pills. When we got to the Roman Trail (the thankfully shorter trail) we hiked up as a group, in about 15 minutes. It was a short but steep walk and everyone was out of breath when we reached the top.
Then, we watched the sun rise before starting our tour. We split up into two groups and I have no idea if the other group saw the same things we did. First, we went to the bathhouse that King Herod built. Apparently Herod, who is best known for rebuilding the Second Temple, built Masada as a retreat in case of a siege or revolt. He created a luxurious bathhouse and archaeologists found evidence of both figs and grapes. The bathhouse itself had multiple parts, including a gymnasium and a room similar to a sauna. (The floor was built on top of beams, and wood was burned beneath, keeping the floor warm. Cold water was then thrown on top of the floor, to create steam).
After Herod's death, Masada was inhabited by a radical group of Jews (known as the Zealots or Sicarii) during the war against the Romans. The Sicarii on Masada were commanded by Elazar ben Ya'ir. In 72 CE, two years after the destruction of the Second Temple, a Roman General named Silva lay siege to Masada.
He and his men, possibly with the help of Jewish slaves, built the Roman ramp to reach the Jews.
The Jews, observing this work, knew that soon the Romans would reach them. They had enough food for a long siege; however, they could not fight a legion (10,000) of Roman soldiers. So, Elazar ben Ya'ir, their leader, decided upon a different course of action. According to Josephus, Elazar gathered all the Jews and gave a speech, calling for the Jews to kill themselves before being taken by the Romans. Almost everyone agreed. Women killed their children, men their wives, until only ten men remained. These ten men wrote down their names on clay tablets (later found by archaeologists) and drew lots to determine who would kill whom. The last man committed suicide.
The account of the siege of Masada was related to Josephus by two women who survived the suicide by hiding inside a cistern along with five children. Josephus' account is the only account of the events on Masada that survives today.
Anyway, after that rather depressing history, here are some pictures of Masada:
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| The bathhouse |
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| The synagogue |
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