For starters - I've been putting in 25-30 hours (ok an average of 26 as so not to appear to be a minimalist) at my internship. I have been creating the communications materials for the international nutrition conference being held in Tel Aviv in June. This is really exciting for me because I have been able to let loose creatively. I have designed two posters, a banner, a magnet, and the folder for their materials. As anyone who has ever been in a grad school group project with me knows - I love making the communications materials.
After work, I usually walk around downtown - exploring and such. Most days I end up at the Shuk. I like buying my produce there. I buy carrots, onions, peppers, apples, dried strawberries, bananas, pita, (on Shabbats, we buy challah!), and tonight we're having artichoke! (Sarah buys eggplant like it's going out of style). We are eating really healthfully here. Which makes up for the fact that I felt terribly guilty eating a pastry for breakfast while sitting at my desk in the nutrition department.
On Tuesdays, we have a meeting with NotRabbi Pesach. Pesach is this religious/knowledgeable gentleman that Career Israel has wrangled up to talk to us about religious happenings. I made the mistake of calling him Rabbi – he is a scribe…so now we refer to him as NotRabbi. Tuesdays are nice time to see the other Jeru kids (who decide to go, it’s optional, of course). NRP also provides dinner (so at the very least we are fed one day a week). Sometimes he’s very ethereal and mystical (for instance, this past Tuesday he used the word synesthesia...most times he paints us a very nice picture, touching on main points of the holidays)
This particular Tuesday, our apartment got two new additions. Members from a different MASA program (OTZMA) moved in. OTZMA is a 10 month MASA program, and they are beginning their final 3 months – which is the internship leg of their program. Laura is from Weston and went to school at ::mumble::FSU::grumble::... and Gaby is from Boston and went to Goucher(in Baltimore, for those of you – like me – who have a hard time with school geography when they don’t have a D1 football team). They are awesome and energetic girls. I'm excited to have more people to go out with in Jeru.
On Wednesday, we had a MASA program in Tel Aviv for Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was a Seder - some of it was even in Spanish. Afterwards, a bunch of us walked home from the hotel. It took maybe 35-40 minutes. Sarah and I had our hiking bags because we were spending the night in TA, and we joked that we can't get enough of our bags. Though, she got Aaron to carry her bag back to Beit Leni. psh. On Thursday, Nina, Sarah, and I went to the beach early in the morning to get a (for the lack of better term) "good" spot for the siren. We walked along the beach/busy street (not quite a highway). The wind/waves were going pretty strong. At 9:59, all the cars came to a stop, and the drivers got out of their cars. At 10:00, the siren went off. For a full minute everything froze. Even the birds were quiet. It seemed as if the wind died down, too. It was quite the experience.
On Friday, Sarah and I went to the Shuk (ma nishtana, right?) to prepare for the Sabbath. She bought two loaves of challah, and we got the normal groceries. Then we went back to the Kfar (student village, in case you're not up to snuff on our lingo). After a quick snack, we decided to do some exploring. (No time like the present). We took a walk and kept taking random turns in our surrounding neighborhood. (In the hopes we would find something that would be opened on Saturday...) We saw some great views of ::cough:: Jordan and East Jerusalem. Don't worry, we didn't go touch the Separation Wall, like I dared us to. After our walk, we met up with some boys from the Israel Government Fellows (MASA) program, so we hung out with them outside Burgers Bar in front of the Kfar. It was like eating lunch at the Rat. We saw everybody we know walk by. Friday night, I went to conservative Shul with the new roomies. Afterward, we were going to go to the 'Hillel', but it was super crowded, so some of us came back to the apt and made a delicious dinner.
Saturday might have been my favorite. Sarah made French toast for the whole apartment!! So delicious. Then we went exploring again. We are branching out of our little bubble. We walked across the light rail into the French Hill neighborhood. After a quick iced coffee break, we got our books and read outside. The weather was magnificent. Finally, Laura and Gaby's guests - Ellie and Robin - made us dinner/dessert to say thanks for letting them stay the weekend. Delicious pasta with veggies and a bread pudding - which was made in the toaster over - impressive AND delicious.
I have been keeping very busy - truly experiencing Israel - branching out from just hanging out with Americans, meeting new people, making new friends. I am having an amazing time here in Israel, and I am so glad I decided to come on this program.
When in Rome...
(yes, go on...)
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