PlayStation 3 and Herzl

Jen and I were at Blockbuster yesterday, picking up another DVD for Band of Brothers and I saw that there was a PlayStation 3 for sale for the whopping price of NIS 4040 - that's $962! I looked on Amazon.com and discovered that the PS3 is for sale there for a mere $599. I guess if someone really wants their PS3 now, they'll pay the NIS 4040 for it.

Jen's sick so we didn't tour today - we even had reservations for the Palmach museum in Tel Aviv this morning.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Mt. Hertzl, Israel's main military cemetery. We thought we could go to the Herzl Museum there but one needs reservations so all we could do was walk around the memorials. However, there was the rehearsal and setup for a large military ceremony going on so we couldn't access the entire site. We did get to see Theodor Herzl's grave.

Herzl's Grave, with IDF soldiers marching in the background

Also at Mt. Herzl is a very large memorial to those killed by terrorism. I was struck by how many names appear after the year 2000...

Tourists R Us

I finally started feeling better and since we have the week off - it was time to start seeing more of the country! We took a tour of the Knesset (parliament house) on Sunday; here's a photo of the large menorah in front of Knesset.


On Monday we took a day-long tour which took us to Masada and the Dead Sea (including the Ein Gedi Spa and their famous mud baths). It was a fantastic day and we had a lot of fun.

We were picked up in Jerusalem by a small tour bus that was totally filled with people. Our fellow tourists were Americans, Brazilians, Argentinians, and Brits. The tour guide provided an ongoing monologue during the tour, speaking both in English and Spanish. She pointed out interesting sites along the way, including the caves at Qumran.

Our Cable Car

We first stopped at Masada and took the cable car up to the site. While at the site we had a great, thorough tour and explored most of the mountain and that which has been discovered and recreated.

Towers and Rooms at Masada

We cable-car-ed back down and headed for the Ein Gedi Spa, where we had two hours to have lunch and hang out. The weather was nice yesterday but not hot enough to make us want to dive right into the pools at Ein Gedi. We had our lunch and then suited up for the mud bath.

The Dead Sea, from Masada

The black mud of the Dead Sea is contained in two large vats and basically, you walk up to the vat and start smearing mud all over yourself until you cover everything you want to. Then, you let the mud dry for 15-20 minutes (thus there are lots of people standing around, caked with mud) and then rinse it off in Dead Sea water (which smells like sulfur and is more than 10 times saltier than the ocean.) You have to keep your mouth and eyes closed during the rinsing process lest too much nasty water be absorbed.

Salt, salt, and more salt on the beach.

After rinsing, we went to go float in the Dead Sea. We were really surprised by the buoyancy. It was difficult to maneuver in the water because your feet would always want to float up to the surface. We floated for a while and then went back to the spa and changed. Jen was smart enough to take a second shower in the locker room where as I only rinsed once in fresh water. I was sticky, smelly, and salty the whole way home.

Once I got home, I took another shower in the evening and even after my shower this morning, my hands still smell like the Dead Sea. We're still planning more travels over the next few days although Jen might be coming down with something...

Spring Break, Whew! But, I'm Sick

Yesterday (Thursday) was my last day of Hebrew class until mid-April, which means it's Spring Break (or in this case, Passover Break). We have the week before Passover off, the week of Passover off, and then the Post-Passover recovery day off and then we return to class.

Unfortunately, I have had a bad cough since Monday and so missed three days of class this week. I did attend class yesterday because we had our "final" exam and I know that I did not do very well because, as I think I've mentioned before, the other students are far more knowledgeable than I and so the class moves along at a brisk pace. Nonetheless, the class isn't graded and it's just for my preparation before I start at AJU in the fall.

I did see a doctor this morning who gave me antibiotics and a Robitussin-type syrup. There was no fee for the visit and no fee for the medications; it's all covered. The medical system here is amazing - every citizen is required to be part of one of four health plans offered by insurers and no one is excluded through inability to pay. Jen and I paid $365 (or $1/day) each for a year's worth of top-notch coverage here, the county with the highest ratio of physicians to population.

My doctor this morning did not speak much English but I was able to communicate most of my symptoms to her in Hebrew. I did have to have her repeat questions for me slowly but that worked. The doctor asked me if I had a fever but I told her I had no idea because I don't have a thermometer. Nonetheless, she didn't take my temperature. She said I'd be better in a few days and sent me off.

Jen and I hope to spend next week (our totally free week) touring around the country, visiting so many places that we've never seen. I just hope I'm better by the end of Shabbat! Then, of course, a week from Sunday is my trip to Ukraine.

Shabbat Shalom!

School Switcheroo

As it turns out, I won't be attending the UJ after all. The UJ has merged with BBI (Braindeis-Bardin Institute) to become AJU (the American Jewish University) so I will be attending AJU in the fall.

I doubt the change will affect me in any way, except the acronym "AJU" is not nearly as cool as "UJ" and thus the school sweatshirts won't be as awesome but change is good and everyone is sure to get used to it. For the full story, read the article in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.

Weather Forecast

Today's weather forecast summary for the entire country from the official Israel Meteorological Sevrice for tonight and tomorrow is... "An additional slight rise in temperatures drops." Huh? What? Any enlightenment would be appreciated!

Snow, Sleet, Hail, and Many Random Thoughts on This Cold (Nearly) Spring Day

As Jen mentioned earlier, today is been a wacky weather day. It started with rain, turned into sleet, and then snow. Then it rained for a while, hailed (with impressive amounts of lightening), and now it's raining. Here are some photos...

At some points during the day, it was really coming down!

The view from my Hebrew class. I can now finally say that I walked twenty minutes uphill in the snow to Hebrew school! Once the snow began accumulating on the sidewalk, it became very slippery! When I arrived at class, I was the only one there until 20 minutes after class was supposed to start when a fellow student arrived and told me that yesterday, our teacher told the class that class would start an hour later this morning due to the anticipated bad weather. Unfortunately, I wasn't in class yesterday because we went on a fantastic tour of the Supreme Court here in Jerusalem. Thus, I didn't know about the change. Nonetheless, only eleven out of about 25 students showed up. It was a good day in class because each of us were able to participate a lot more. And, we watched a movie in Hebrew, which seems to be our Thursday (end of the week) tradition.

On Sunday, I will be giving my 5-minute presentation to my class in Hebrew. I'll be talking about my rapidly approaching trip to the Ukraine for Passover. I have a note card filled with essential vocabulary words for my talk that I'm sure I'll forget when I'm in front of the class.

Speaking of speaking, I did give my sermon at the synagogue last Sunday morning and it went over quite well. Only one person complained that I didn't talk loud enough; someone else told me that the person who complained would've complained if I used a bullhorn. I'm going to try to sign up to do one every other week or so. It is very good practice and I enjoyed the research and thinking that went into the development of my sermon.

The small hail collected on the windowsill. Hail does not make a good snowball.

Last night I went to a meeting about the Passover trip to the Ukraine and we were told many interesting things and given lots of great ideas for engaging youths as well as adults in the Passover events. But, the most interesting thing I heard was that in the Ukraine, those celebrating Passover absolutely love the song "Go Down Moses," which is not part of the liturgy at all, but they will all expect us to sing it so it has been added to my iPod for practice!

Now, as I finish this post, the precipitation has again turned to sleet. I'm glad I'm not going anywhere tonight. Poor Steve, Eve and Aviva, who have to shlep over here in the snow/rain/sleet/hail for movie night!

Snowing in Jerusalem!

Last weekend we had perfect weather in Jerusalem. It felt so much like summer that we went on a long walk, had a picnic in the park, and played frisbee with friends. It was warm, but not too warm since there was a perfect breeze.

Today, on the other hand, it is freezing! Literally! It's snowing!! During the Hanukkah break it had snowed once but we missed it because we were out of the country. This time, we just keep staring at it. Being from California and not being ski bunnies, we have both rarely seen real snow fall.

So we both sat on the couch this morning and stared out our bay-like window to watch the small, white flakes being twirled upon the wind. It was nice and cozy and comfortable inside, until Matt kept opening the windows to either take pictures and/or to stick his arm out to catch some snow. Needless to say, it's a bit chillier inside now and we have several small puddles forming near every window he opened in exploration.

Matt then had to head out into the snow (he's such a dedicated Ulpan goer, not even snow will stop him!). He has about a 20 minute walk to class, so he should definitely get his fill of snow falling on him by then...lol.

Looks like a good day to snuggle up in blankets and stay at home, which is exactly my day's plan. :)

In Memory

This morning, I noticed the remnants of the memorial event that Eve discusses in her post. I too was surprised by the candles and memorial photos from the fifth year anniversary of the March 9, 2002 bombing which took 11 lives and injured 54 people. It was important to be taken aback by what I saw and to think about the tragedy which occurred right along my normal daily route.

"Club Med" and More

A four-day weekend followed by a three-day week of classes; what could be better?!

The fun began last Thursday with a dawn to dusk fast called the Fast of Esther in honor of Esther's fast from the Bible's Book of Esther, which tells the story of the holiday of Purim. Due to the fast, Thursday was a light study day at the Hebrew Ulpan - two-thirds of the morning was spent watching a movie in Hebrew (without subtitles) about a pop star who gets hooked on drugs. My teacher asked me several times (as the class' lowest common denominator) if I understood. Of course I understood, I could tell what was going on but I couldn't follow the conversation. After that, I went to the Yeshiva for afternoon learning about Purim and fast days. Then, I came home and spent my afternoon online until the fast ended. After dinner, we had friends over for movie night; we watched The Departed.

On Friday, we relaxed and read because we were invited to a wonderful Shabbat dinner at our friend Nancy's apartment so we had no preparation to do ourselves, which was wonderful. Nancy is an immigrant from California who we met at our synagogue here in Jerusalem. It was very exciting to be eating Shabbat dinner in a "real" house with "real" dishes and "real" flatware! We're so used to plastic at our fellow students' homes. It was a real treat and we enjoyed talking to adults. Our rabbi asked where we went on Friday night and when I told him, he actually said, "Score!" Indeed!

Saturday was a Shabbat with wonderful weather. Saturday night we prepared for our trip to the Mediterranean.

On Sunday morning we walked to the bus station and took an intercity bus to the Tel Aviv bus station, said to be the world's largest. From there, we went to the Independence Hall Museum to see where the State of Israel was proclaimed in 1948 and from there, we went a few buildings down the street to the Hagana Museum.

Then it was time for the beach. The weather was amazing, the water was nice and so very clear. We had our picnic lunch that we'd brought and waded into the water. We read for a while on the beach and it was so relaxing. After the beach, we stumbled upon the Etzel Museum before closing and they played the English version of the movie there for us.

We took the bus home and had a few hours of rest before a wild and crazy Purim evening service at the synagogue. The synagogue was incredibly full - more so than the High Holidays. Many were in costume but Jen and I simply wore fun hats - we didn't know how much people would get involved. It was a fun service and afterwards we went out with some friends. On Monday morning was the Yeshiva's Purim service followed by two Purim Shpiels (Plays), one written and performed by the faculty and the other written and performed by the students. Both were absolutely hilarious; I was crying from so much laughter.

On Monday night, we hit the streets of Jerusalem with friends for the city's official block party on Hillel Street. Anna was apparently there at the same time as we were but we didn't see her there but she has photos on her blog.

Then it was Tuesday and back to Hebrew but now it's Wednesday so there's only one more day of Hebrew left in the week! Thursday is a special day for my class because we're being promoted to Hebrew Gimel - the third level. While most of the students are at Gimel level, I'm still just trying to keep my head above water in Bet - the second level. Nonetheless, I'm still understanding what's going on so my teacher says I should remain in her class and not drop down a level.

And then it will be Shabbat and another weekend again, so very soon!

Oh, I almost forgot, I'm giving my first mini-sermon at the morning service next Sunday at my synagogue about next week's weekly Torah reading (in English, of course). I'm very excited.

Shepherds For Hire

Last week, Jen and I went on a field trip with the Yeshiva to Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel. It's a beautiful location, near Tel Aviv, and has a landscape filled with Biblical-era plants and cultural artifacts. There are also goats and sheep there and we had the exciting opportunity to play shepherds! It was fortunate that amongst the students is a student who was a professional shepherd previously. He trained his team on sheep and goat herding and they got to work attempting to move a small flock from one point to another. They were quite successful and when it was our team's turn, we followed their example and were equally, if not more so, successful. It was the highlight of the trip.