And yet another pun in the title. This one is derived from the current weather conditions in Jerusalem and the content of a mass-text message (or SMS, as they say here) that the Rothberg International School sent out to all of its students today:
"Strong advisory by Israeli gov't and US State Dept to refrain from traveling to Egypt, Jordan or other countries in the Middle East due to current political unrest."
Other than that, things are quiet around here (at least, and relatively, for the moment). I added pasta with tomato sauce and wine-just-sort-of-thrown-on-top-of-it to my cooking repertoire last night. Tonight I might step it up a bit: tuna melt via sandwich-maker thing.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
"Did you mean to call her 'Linda?'"
Shabbat in Bet Shemesh was wonderful, as usual. Now I've got to figure out class/internship/ stuff.
But more importantly, my plans to go spend some time in Egypt/other countries in the region have perhaps have been...derailed. So, Europe, I guess I'll see you soon-ish?
But more importantly, my plans to go spend some time in Egypt/other countries in the region have perhaps have been...derailed. So, Europe, I guess I'll see you soon-ish?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Anavim anavim anavim
I'm procrastinating. (Grammar test tomorrow.)
Anyway, today in ulpan it was as though this person came and taught class for an hour. We had an Israeli theater professor instruct us in a selection of refined techniques employed in contemporary Israeli drama, such as repeating the Hebrew names of fruits in rapid succession. Best class ever.
Also, yesterday while in Jerusalem's Old City for the first time this stay (and after eating my first schawarma of the stay, as well (again, great country)), I went to a bookstore to purchase a new siddur. It was kind of like going to Olivander's but in a geekier, Jewish way.
And Adela cut class today.
Anyway, today in ulpan it was as though this person came and taught class for an hour. We had an Israeli theater professor instruct us in a selection of refined techniques employed in contemporary Israeli drama, such as repeating the Hebrew names of fruits in rapid succession. Best class ever.
Also, yesterday while in Jerusalem's Old City for the first time this stay (and after eating my first schawarma of the stay, as well (again, great country)), I went to a bookstore to purchase a new siddur. It was kind of like going to Olivander's but in a geekier, Jewish way.
And Adela cut class today.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Key roove
Just got back from checking out the "Hillel" at Hebrew University. It's a bit different from entities of the same name back in the States (I'm in Israel now, so I think I've earned the right to refer to the United States that way). And that's all I'm gunna say about that.
We're back in the apartment for the evening after a long day. It's a bit chilly outside, but I'm not complaining.
I'm in the process of selecting classes, which is quite a headache as this university doesn't exactly present its course offerings in a useful format: I've got two packets filled with random classes in different schools, along with a Hebrew registrar's website that's perhaps loosely organized. (Can't wait for fall 2011 classes to go up.)
And I got to see a certain, now Israeli, Hebrew monologue expert today.
We're back in the apartment for the evening after a long day. It's a bit chilly outside, but I'm not complaining.
I'm in the process of selecting classes, which is quite a headache as this university doesn't exactly present its course offerings in a useful format: I've got two packets filled with random classes in different schools, along with a Hebrew registrar's website that's perhaps loosely organized. (Can't wait for fall 2011 classes to go up.)
And I got to see a certain, now Israeli, Hebrew monologue expert today.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Kfar/Kvar Shabbat
As the struggle between Bezeq and our apartment continues (maybe---just maybe---it will be resolved in the morning), I'm now at a cafe with wireless Internet in the Kfar.
Last night, after venturing northward down a hill to a nearby synagogue, we hosted quite the potluck dinner in our kitchen area: There were 18 guests and three of us from the apartment.
Our main task had been to prepare an ample supply of schnitzel for the gathering, and I dare say that we were successful (three packs of chicken and two hours later), despite the occasional consequences of certain logistical setbacks that we may have incurred during the frying process.
The rest of Shabbat was very pleasant and quite restful. In the afternoon I made it two synagogues, one Ashkenazic and one Sephadic, for minchah and ma'ariv respectively, and lacking a proper havdalah candle, we improvised just a bit and did a havdalah of sorts a little while ago.
We have ulpan tomorrow (Sunday) morning. (Go Israel.) It'll probably remind me of this.
Last night, after venturing northward down a hill to a nearby synagogue, we hosted quite the potluck dinner in our kitchen area: There were 18 guests and three of us from the apartment.
Our main task had been to prepare an ample supply of schnitzel for the gathering, and I dare say that we were successful (three packs of chicken and two hours later), despite the occasional consequences of certain logistical setbacks that we may have incurred during the frying process.
The rest of Shabbat was very pleasant and quite restful. In the afternoon I made it two synagogues, one Ashkenazic and one Sephadic, for minchah and ma'ariv respectively, and lacking a proper havdalah candle, we improvised just a bit and did a havdalah of sorts a little while ago.
We have ulpan tomorrow (Sunday) morning. (Go Israel.) It'll probably remind me of this.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Sorry, Sherman
Well, ulpan (intensive Hebrew learning fun-ness) is in full swing, and by that I mean that I've managed to sit through it for two days so far. It's...ulpan.
On the Internet front, still no Internet connection in the apartment. The lovely folks at Bezeq (an Israeli Internet company) are being less than available, but hopefully that'll be resolved shortly.
At the moment, my apartment-mates (I'd say suite-mates, but we have a stove-top so I feel that it's really more of an apartment, and suite-mates in my mind is still a term applied to those that dwelt within the confines of Ziv 130-203 in fall 2010) and I are planning a Shabbat dinner for tomorrow night, which now is up to about 15 people---it'll be a bit overwhelming to fry that much chicken, but it should be most delicious and delightful.
And I've discovered the Frank Sinatra Cafe; life has renewed meaning---sorry, Sherman; but we are officially on a break.
On the Internet front, still no Internet connection in the apartment. The lovely folks at Bezeq (an Israeli Internet company) are being less than available, but hopefully that'll be resolved shortly.
At the moment, my apartment-mates (I'd say suite-mates, but we have a stove-top so I feel that it's really more of an apartment, and suite-mates in my mind is still a term applied to those that dwelt within the confines of Ziv 130-203 in fall 2010) and I are planning a Shabbat dinner for tomorrow night, which now is up to about 15 people---it'll be a bit overwhelming to fry that much chicken, but it should be most delicious and delightful.
And I've discovered the Frank Sinatra Cafe; life has renewed meaning---sorry, Sherman; but we are officially on a break.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Jerusalem
Yesterday's registration for ulpan was a bit of a bureaucratic pain (at one point I had to fill out the same form twice so that I could keep a copy for myself, and, of course, the form was basically a contact information sheet), but I survived and eventually moved into my apartment in building 4 of Kfar HaStudentim (The Student Village). The Kfar is just outside the main university campus.
My room is also the miklat, the shelter to which we're supposed to go in case the politics in the region get a bit rough. So I have a few extra square feet and a pretty solid second door.
All five of us have now moved into the apartment (along with the apartment's other residents and Hebrew word of the day, n'malim), and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. There's still no Internet in there, so at the moment I'm sitting at a cafe in an academic building on the Hebrew University campus in order to get a connection. Hopefully, we'll get some Internet setup in the next few days or so.
Last night, I had the fortune of witnessing the crux of the yeshiva gap-year experience in an area of downtown Jerusalem that may be known to some as "crack square," though I'm told that Thursday night there will be an even more fantastic view into the structure of that intensive year of Torah study.
We've got some orientation stuff later, and ulpan starts tomorrow morning. Oh, and apparently the Israeli government decided to make itself fall apart a bit.
My room is also the miklat, the shelter to which we're supposed to go in case the politics in the region get a bit rough. So I have a few extra square feet and a pretty solid second door.
All five of us have now moved into the apartment (along with the apartment's other residents and Hebrew word of the day, n'malim), and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. There's still no Internet in there, so at the moment I'm sitting at a cafe in an academic building on the Hebrew University campus in order to get a connection. Hopefully, we'll get some Internet setup in the next few days or so.
Last night, I had the fortune of witnessing the crux of the yeshiva gap-year experience in an area of downtown Jerusalem that may be known to some as "crack square," though I'm told that Thursday night there will be an even more fantastic view into the structure of that intensive year of Torah study.
We've got some orientation stuff later, and ulpan starts tomorrow morning. Oh, and apparently the Israeli government decided to make itself fall apart a bit.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Shabbat rocks
It turns out that Percocet does a great job alleviating the pain of a kidney stone exiting the kidney and traveling through the ureter---lucky me! (This post's title is a pun. Get it?)
That minor setback became fully and rather throbbingly obvious to me during services this morning. But despite that (and the accompanying need to drink disgusting amounts of water), Shabbat with the Bet Shemesh Buechlers was delightful and very, very delicious.
After Shabbat, I also got my uncle Jeffery and cousin Shirel to laugh at the "shtuyot" of the Modern Family pilot episode. And thanks to my youngest cousin, Talielle, I'm now all-too-well acquainted with this fun little website that you should totally check out.
That minor setback became fully and rather throbbingly obvious to me during services this morning. But despite that (and the accompanying need to drink disgusting amounts of water), Shabbat with the Bet Shemesh Buechlers was delightful and very, very delicious.
After Shabbat, I also got my uncle Jeffery and cousin Shirel to laugh at the "shtuyot" of the Modern Family pilot episode. And thanks to my youngest cousin, Talielle, I'm now all-too-well acquainted with this fun little website that you should totally check out.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Checkpoints and weddings
The checkpoint was really not an important part of my day at all---I passed through it with my uncle this evening on the way to visit my cousin Aviel, who is studying at Yeshivat Har Etzion in the Gush Etzion block in the West Bank. I just thought it might be nice to mention checkpoints in the title to add an aura of ironic juxtaposition (and, consequently, a conjunction).
Anyway, this morning I walked around Bet Shemesh a bit and then ate the last one and a half of the, yes, three turkey sandwiches that my father insisted I take with me on the airplane. (I don't think it spoiled; so far so good, anyhow.)
And this evening, after some deliciously oily fresh falafel, my cousin Deena and I eventually spent time at a wedding to which we may or may not have been invited. Colloquially, some might say we "crashed" the wedding, though that sounds quite a bit more violent than what we actually did.
Later in the evening, we perhaps discovered that there is a new law in Israel that prohibits stores from selling alcohol after 11 p.m. We also perhaps discovered that such a law can be overridden if the alcohol is consumed within the establishment or makolet, as the case may be.
On a separate note, I found out that last night there was a Maccabeats concert in Jerusalem. I heard about it too late to actually attend, but I hope that all those who went, as well as anyone who clicked that first hyperlink, enjoy reliving that Chanukah delight as it's on constant replay in their heads over the next few days.
Anyway, this morning I walked around Bet Shemesh a bit and then ate the last one and a half of the, yes, three turkey sandwiches that my father insisted I take with me on the airplane. (I don't think it spoiled; so far so good, anyhow.)
And this evening, after some deliciously oily fresh falafel, my cousin Deena and I eventually spent time at a wedding to which we may or may not have been invited. Colloquially, some might say we "crashed" the wedding, though that sounds quite a bit more violent than what we actually did.
Later in the evening, we perhaps discovered that there is a new law in Israel that prohibits stores from selling alcohol after 11 p.m. We also perhaps discovered that such a law can be overridden if the alcohol is consumed within the establishment or makolet, as the case may be.
On a separate note, I found out that last night there was a Maccabeats concert in Jerusalem. I heard about it too late to actually attend, but I hope that all those who went, as well as anyone who clicked that first hyperlink, enjoy reliving that Chanukah delight as it's on constant replay in their heads over the next few days.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Day one in Israel
After a very snowy hour on the tarmac, the kind folks at the John F. Kennedy International Airport de-iced our (I suppose then-iced over) Boeing 747, and we were cleared for immediate takeoff---just ahead of what was apparently quite a little bit of snow, or, as the Israeli steward on board announced it, "ay beeg eh snowstorrm."
Quite the pleasant flight overall. I mean, it's hard to complain after having an aisle seat next to what appeared to be the only empty seat on the airplane. Needless to say (but not to write), my restless legs were pleased.
I'm now in Bet Shemesh with the Israeli segment of the Buechler family, as well as the one traveling New Jersey representative, who already wants me to go wedding crashing tonight.
By the way, in case you were wondering, there's a Brookstone at JFK's third terminal. And you can buy remote control helicopters there. Just saying.
Quite the pleasant flight overall. I mean, it's hard to complain after having an aisle seat next to what appeared to be the only empty seat on the airplane. Needless to say (but not to write), my restless legs were pleased.
I'm now in Bet Shemesh with the Israeli segment of the Buechler family, as well as the one traveling New Jersey representative, who already wants me to go wedding crashing tonight.
By the way, in case you were wondering, there's a Brookstone at JFK's third terminal. And you can buy remote control helicopters there. Just saying.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Flight day
Well, tonight's the night!
I'm not exactly packed yet---the floor of my room resembles somewhat of a waffle shirt convention, but so long as the snow holds off a few more hours and the third stone in my right kidney lacks any ureteral aspirations, I'll be getting on a 9 p.m. flight to Tel Aviv.
On the weather front, it's really quite the shame that I'll be missing this little bit of precipitation, followed by the nighttime lows of delightfully frigid Waltham. I guess I'll just have to settle for a sunny 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Beit Shemesh.
I'm not exactly packed yet---the floor of my room resembles somewhat of a waffle shirt convention, but so long as the snow holds off a few more hours and the third stone in my right kidney lacks any ureteral aspirations, I'll be getting on a 9 p.m. flight to Tel Aviv.
On the weather front, it's really quite the shame that I'll be missing this little bit of precipitation, followed by the nighttime lows of delightfully frigid Waltham. I guess I'll just have to settle for a sunny 70 degrees Fahrenheit in Beit Shemesh.
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