Tough Life, Part 1

I am offically back from vacation. I stayed in a fancy hotel, ate yummy israeli food, spent many an hour on the beautiful beaches and swam with dolphins. Tough life, I know.

It's getting late here, but tomorrow I promise to write all about my amazing four days in Eilat. And I'll be posting tons of vacation pictures.

But for now, i must unpack, get something to eat, and get some sleep in my own bed.

One last thing, whatever your faith or religion, please think/pray for the people in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Lousiana who have lost their houses, personal property and lives in the hurricane. I'm especially thinking of RK and HG tonight.

On a happier note, Mazel Tov to Deb Skolnick and Marshall Einhorn on the birth of their daughter! I saw a picture and she's adorable and only two days old!

Happy almost September from this side of the world~ Love to all who are reading...

Running on Empty

Recap of the last few days:

Wednesday:Wake up only a few hours after the Idan Raichel Project concert. Take a *ridiculously* hard ulpan final exam. Attend ulpan "party" complete with kitah skits. Immediately following the party we moved into the auditorium for our Fall Academic Orientation. An hour and a half later we break into kitot (classes) and meet with our respective Liturgy teachers. This semester I will be taking the following classes:
*Modern Hebrew
*Bible
*Rabbinics
*Liturgy
*History
*Cantilation
*Zimirot (Jewish music)
*Reform Liturgy Workshops (leading services, giving a d'var Torah, chanting Torah- hearing my classmates do the same)

As well as:
*Singing in the Hallel Choir
*Taking private voice lessons
*Volunteering at a local elementary school
*Attempting to continue the friendships I have created here
*Mooshing it as much as possible
*Going to the gym 3-5 times a week

Sounds crazy, yes? I know. Let the games begin.

Thursday:
Wake up early. Go to school for Disengagement Talk. Get on buses. Drive to a very cool cave to see stalagmites and stalactites. Get back on buses. Drive to the beach. Eat pizza. Play in the ocean. Build sandcastles. Read and tan at the same time. Yes this was a required school trip. Get back on the buses. Get back to J'lem at 7pm. Shower, eat dinner, walk to Jerusalem Artist/Craft Festival at Sultan's Pool. Bargin with guy for a drum. Walk away. Pretend not to want it. He gives me a better price. I buy it. Am super excited about my new drum (see picture!) Go to sleep exhausted.


Friday: Wake up early. Meet Rena and walk to Robert's apartment. Robert is one of our Rabbinic classmates- we took two of his adorable boys- Isaac (10) and Theo(5) to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo for a little Friday Fun. I had a great time and remembered what it was like to be five and ask lots of "why" questions: "Why are we going here?" "Why do the birds eat fruit?" "Why are the birds green?" And on and on and on. It was super cute and exactly what I needed after an academically stressful week. See adorable pictures of us. Get home around 4. Return kids to their rightful owners. Go home, shower, get ready for Shabbat. Shabbat it up. Go to sleep.

Today: Wake up early (Are you sensing a theme here?) Walk to Shira Chadasha (An amazing Modern Orthodox synagogue) for services. Eat lunch in the park. Sleep allll afternoon. Wake up in time to host Havdallah for some friends. Walk to Olive (one of our favoriate resturants) for a belated b-day dinner for the Renster. Get home. Blog for a while. Go to sleep!

Its been a crazy few days which means that its time for...VACATION! I'll be in Eilat starting tomorrow morning through Tuesday night. Probably won't be able to post anything until Wednesday morning at the earliest. So don't be worried. I'll be laying on the beach drinking something with an umbrella in it. You can think of me there. Can't wait!

Good luck to all those starting school this week...and love to all who are reading!

Birthdays, Take Two

Yesterday was Rena's golden birthday (she turned 23 on the 23rd) and we celebrated accordingly by seeing Idan Raichel perform in the golden city of Jerusalem.

For those who don't know, Idan Raichel is a musician who has brought African and Ethiopian music back to Israel. For those in the Jewish music scene, you may be familiar with his songs "Boi" and "Im Telech." If you're going to take my advice and buy the new Jason Mraz album, pick up Idan's album as well. It's amazing. And if you're afraid of the language barrier, the message is clear in any language and you'll be singing along in no time.

So in honor of Rena's bday as well as the end of ulpan, many of my classmates and I went to see him perform at the Israel Museum (home of the infamous wine tatsting earlier this summer). It's quickly becoming one of my favorite places in the city. Maybe one day I'll actually see the art that's inside the building!

So the concert...The night air was cool, the stars bright and the smell of the rosemary was so potent- it changed the whole feel of the show and added this organic, earthy feel to it all. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to to smell rosemary and not think about last night. We also had chocolate mouse cake (big thanks to Lauren and Alon for getting it!). Did I mention we were in Jerusalem? It was basically a perfect night.

IR played for two hours with his amazing band- a drummer, bassist, 2 guitarists and 3 *fantastic* backup singers. I've never seen musicians who were so into the performance and looked like they were having fun while performing. The first pic is of the three backup singers- its hard to see them, but you get the idea. The second is of Idan himself- make sure to enlarge the picture so you can see how cute he is!

I've been in Israel for 51 days and have already been to 2 concerts- not bad! Idan also made up for the fact that I missed Dar Williams performing in KOP over the weekend. Not to mention that her new CD is coming out on September 13 and I will be missing her fall tour. :( But I've seen Dar 7 times and Idan once...and I still have 9 months to squeeze in some more shows.

At this moment I am offically done with ulpan! Yayyyy! I'll blog later about today's acedemic orientation and my break plans. But for now, I'm on CHOFSHI KAYITZ (Summer break) and I'm loving it! Love to all who are reading!

23/24

Birthdays are fun. The months of August and September are full of birthdays, it seems, and begining this month are Sheri and Lauren. Sheri celebrates her 23rd birthday tomorrow and Lauren celebrates her 24th birthday on Thursday. Sheri, Lauren and I met on our Israel trip when we were 16 and we all worked at camp together while we were in college. Sheri and I also went to Maryland together and Lauren and I lived together last year in New Jersey. They are two of my most amazing friends and I'm very sad that i won't be able to be with them on their respective days in their respective cities (Lauren- NJ, Sheri- FL)

The picture of us is from Rosh HaShanah last year. I miss them both. Yep, I miss them and have no idea when I'll see them next. Ah, the tough things about living thousands of miles away from where you used to.

Tomorrow is also the birthday of someone super-cool here...but I'll post more on that tomorrow.

Yom Huledet Sameach L'Chem! Happy Birthday Sher & Laur! Love you!

And love to all who are reading...

La la la la la la la Life is Wonderful

If you don't recognize the title of this post, stop reading, get in a car and don't stop driving until you have bought Jason Mraz's new album- Mr. A-Z. It's fabulous- my favorite songs are "Geek in the Pink" and "Clockwatching."

Why is life wonderful? Because today after a month of waiting and being very frustrated, our Globy (Vonage) was finally set up! Yay! What is vonage, you ask? Basically, I have received (bought) an American phone number that I can use through the internet to dial other US numbers- and you can call me too? How do you get the number? Send me an email and I will send it to you right away! mailto:krperolman@gmail.com

In honor of having a phone that works, I decided to rearrange the furnature in my room, put away my laundry, clean and take some pictures. So here they are! You can see my bed, desk, mirpeset (porch) and hammock (it's really Lauren's hammock, but I get to lay on it too) and the front of our door. The little sign says "Four (we are apartment #4)- Welcome to the apartment of Pack and Perolman" We made it ourselves!

Lauren is away for Shabbat but will be back in time for Havdallah- we are hosting our kitah (class) for dessert and Havdallah on Saturday night- it should be a good time! I'm eating Shabbat dinner at Elana and Claire's apartment and am making a tofu/brown rice/vegetable/ cheese dish.

Last wonderful thing: VACATION! During our week off from school I'm going to be driving down to Eilat with three of my closest friends for some R & R in the sun (and NO hebrew!) I'm really looking forward to getting away for a few days and mentally resting and preparing myself for the semester. I haven't been to Eilat since I was on my NFTY-in-Israel trip when I was 16. the best part is that when we come back I'll still have four days to get ready for school- buy more school supplies, get some new clothes etc.

I'll end with the words of Mr. Mraz: "La la la la la la life is wonderful, La la la la la la life goes full circle." Ahavah l'kol anashim mi korim (Love to all who are reading...)

Saying Goodbye (snif, snif)

Since I arrived in Jerusalem on July 5, 2005, and for the months preceeding my arrival, four amazing individuals have worked to make my transition smooth and my first days less scary- the amazing, fabulous, wonderful student Interns. HUC hires current students to act as "Interns" for the summer and live with us here in Jerusalem. They've done such tasks as give directions at all hours of the day and night, answer questions as mundane as "Where can I get good falafel?" listen to us whine about hebrew homework, planned numerous social events (including the infamous Pub Crawl) and overall have been great resources and friends to us.

On Monday, we had a send-off for the interns in the backyard of HUC. Baked goods were provided and Rollin and I entertained the group with a song we had written for the occasion."Summer Interns" proved to be a huge hit!



Adam, Dara, Talia and Ross (see the picture above) have been crosses between an older brother or sister/ that cool young Rabbi/ mentor/ friends- basically everything you would want in a student intern. I've really enjoyed getting to know them this summer- AND of course now I'm thinking how much fun it would be to be an intern in the future after my 4th year :)

While I love all four, I'm especially sad to see Dara and Adam go- Adam is going to be a 4th year Rabbinical student in LA and although we knew each other before this summer, I feel like we really became friends. Dara is going to be a 5th year in New York and will be a Rabbi at a congregation in NY after she is ordained- so I know that I'll get to see her when I get back to the big apple.

Talia and Ross are staying (although they won't be interns anymore!) in Israel this year- Ross as a 4th year Cantorial student and Talia as a 2nd year in the Israeli Rabbinic Program. It'll be nice to see them in the halls at school and at all the social/Shabbat events this year.

So I guess this is really the end...of the summer at least. One more week of ulpan, a week of vacation and I'll be officially starting my first year as a Rabbinical student here in Jerusalem. I guess everyone is starting school now too- Dara in NY, Adam in LA, Mom in Columbia, my brother Dave in Towson, Rosner in Philly, Barb in College Park, Ali in St. Louis and all of us in Jerusalem. And although the heat isn't ending here, the summer is, I can feel it. I can't help but think of that Dar Williams song "the end of the summer" during this time of year.

and i had a dream that blows the autumn through my head. it felt like
the first day of school but i was going to the moon
instead...i knew that i would crash, but i didn't want to tell them...it's
the end of the summer, when you send your children to the moon.

Lots of posts to come- love to all who are reading (and if you love it, feel free to leave a comment!)

Reflections on Tisha B'Av

In my last post I promised to expound on my Tisha B'Av experience here in Jerusalem. And I'm not one to go back on my promises. So here we go:

In short: Tisha B'Av is the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av- on this day, numerous terriable things have happened to the Jewish people throughout history including the destruction of the first and second Temples. It is customary to fast from food and other pleasures on this day and truly lament over these trageties. The book of Eicha (Lamentations) is also read.

After chanting Eicha at HUC, a bunch of us walked into the Old City. (the Jewish quarter of the old city of Jerusalem) The Old City has many remains from the Second Temple period including the Kotel, a wall from the Second Temple area. The Kotel is one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem- many people who live here visit the Kotel weekly or daily and most tourists visit is as well. I remember seeing pictures of my parents from their honeymoon near the Kotel and I have a small collection of photos of me near it as well. It is also a custom to slip notes into the cracks in the wall.

It was very crowded walking through the Old City especially as we got closer to the Kotel. Remember how I said that one is supposed to lament on this day? Well people were literally lamenting- crying, sitting on the ground reading from Lamentations or Psalms, women and children sleeping on the Jerusalem stone. It was like nothing I have ever seen. Most of the resturants and shops that would have been open on Saturday night were closed in respect of the day.

Since we were warned about being in over-crowded places, we only stayed for about 30 minutes- absorbing the atmosphere and seeing all the people- so many Jews all remembering the same events at the same time in the same place. We mourned the destruction of the Temple at the foot of the Temple's ruins- the same ruins that I pass every week on my way to the shuk, the same ruins I can see from the window of the sanctuary at HUC- It was truly overwhelming.

I had never thought about my personal Tisha B'Av observances, but as with so many things, this is my year to think about them! I chose to fast because I love to eat, and not eating certainly makes me help differ this day from all the others. I broke the fast with Lauren, David and Julia at our weekly Sunday night dinner and I realized that part of remembering what was destroyed is the opportunity to rebuild. Ourselves, our communities, our relationships with other people and other parts of our lives that might have been somehow destroyed over the past year. I thought a lot on this day- it was exactly what I needed after a very social four days with Jess and friends.

Overall, I enjoyed my first Jewish observance and am very excited to literally "live" the Jewish calendar- next up...Rosh HaShanah which won't come until the first week in October. Can't wait for some special people to celebrate Chanukah with me when they come to visit!

A preview of my next post: saying goodbye to the interns (and the summer), vacation plans and living the news of the disengagement. Don't worry, I'm being very safe and having a great time. Love to all who are reading...

She came, she saw, she conquored/Tisha B'Av

Many of you know that my great friend Jess came to visit this past weekend. She is my first friend to come visit me here in the Promised land (hopefully not the last!) and is certainly one of my closest friends in the States, so it was a real treat having her here.

A quick run-down on her visit:

Thursday: Jess gets in around 4pm. We hug, catch up etc. Rena comes over and the three of us go out to one of my favorite resturants, Olive, which is on Emek Refaim. After dinner we come back to the apartment and get ready to go across the street to Filter (literally it is a bar across the street). Jess gets to meet almost all of my close friends here in Jerusalem over a Carlsberg or Tuberg. Jess had a Jack and Coke which she fought about with the meltzar (waiter) for 15 minutes before getting a shot glass and bottle of coke. We also had this amazing chocolate cake with hot fudge.

Friday: We get up early to hit the shuk before it gets too crowded. Along with Lauren, we buy food for Shabbat dinner and the weekend. We get home, put everything away and crash for a few minutes because of the heat/exhaustion. Jess relaxes while Lauren and I cook Shabbat dinner- stuffed peppers and Lauren's special salad. At 5:30, Rena, Michael, Jen, Rachel, Lauren, Lauren's boyfriend Alon, Jess and I lit Shabbat candles and headed off to Kol HaNishama for services. Came back for dinner- the peppers were a hit! After dinner we went over to our friend Rose's apartment for a little party she was throwing. (Rose's best friend is getting married this weekend to a guy who she was set up with by ROSE! However, since she is in Israel, she wasn't able to be at the wedding. Therefore, we had a "Mazel Tov Meg" party in honor of her friend.)

Saturday: Services at HUC and a chill lunch followed by a very chill afternoon of sleeping, eating etc. Saturday night was a little strange because it began Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av. Many terriable things have happened to the Jewish people on this day throughout history including the destruction of the First and Second Temples as well as the explusion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and parts of the Holocaust were thought to have taken place on this date as well.

Jess and I walked to school and participated in the Tisha B'Av service. I had been practicing for a week to be able to chant a section of Eicha, the book of the Bible know as Lamentations. The troupe (melody used to chant Eicha) is mournful and beautiful and I was very proud of myself for doing it. In general, I have a hard time chanting, and this was certainly the challenge of the week. After the service at HUC, Jess and I walked into the Old City with many of our classmates to see the Kotel (a section of the remaining wall that was once part of the Second Temple area.) I'll write more on that in a separate post, but it was powerful, amazing and something I know that I will never forget.

Sunday: Jess slept in while I went to ulpan and a special text study on the rituals of Tisha B'Av. We also had mincha (the afternoon prayer service) as a class community. Then I came home, watched Jess pack up and helped her take her suitcase to the cab.

Jess' visit. Short. Sweet. Not long enough. I guess this is how these visits are going to be. I loved seeing a familiar face (or at least someone I've known longer than 6 weeks) and I can't wait for her to come back in January and visit again!

I have a study session at Julia's house and then a good-bye party for Adam, one of our summer interns who is going back to LA on Tuesday. I promise to write more about being at the Kotel last night and the impending disengagement from Gaza soon. Life is about to get interesting here. Do I feel safe? Absolutly. I can't imagine anywhere else in the world I would rather be right now. With that said, as news appears on your televisions, radios and computer screens, please stay in touch- mailto:krperolman@gmail.com and I'll be posting on this topic more as it comes up.

Love to all who are reading...

Being a good friend

Today I had the great opportunity to visit one of Jerusalem's premiere health facilities: Merkaz Wolfson. My friend Rena's eye was swollen. Very swollen. She's not sure what bit her, but something did, and it caused her eye to swell up like a balloon. The picture is us in the waiting room. The nice doctor who spoke English told her that she had been bitten by something and to take an antihistamine to help the swelling go down. Make sure you click on the picture to see the extent of the swelling. It's huge.

Going to Wolfon was a a great way for me to learn what to do and where to go in case I get sick. Rena's already promised to be my "dr. buddy" when I need to go. After our medical adventure we went downstairs to the Pharmacy so Rena could fill her prescription. The pharmacy is one store in a mall-like area that also has a "Mister Zol" grocery store! It's the biggest grocery store I've seen since I've been here- I bought milk and a new toothbrush. Obviously I was very excited. I almost bought a whole salmon, but decided not to go overboard.

Tonight our class went to see a model of Jerusalem from the Second Temple time period (the turn of the millennium-when "BCE" became "CE"). Tomorrow we'll go into the Old City to see what is left from that time. It should be a fun day aside from the fact that it will begin at 8am and end around 4pm. More history another time.

In other exciting news, we are having a man from "SuperGas" come to the apartment tomorrow to check our gas lines (which hasn't been checked for 6 years...eek) and assuming all is well, installing a new gas tank. Yay!

Jess comes tomorrow and the days to follow should be filled of friends, food and catching up. Can't wait.

One last thing- check out my new profile picture- its from a songsession that I led a few Shabbatot ago. (photo credit- Rose Kowel!) Love to all who are reading...

Oh Israel, how funny you are

There should be a manual for people who move to Jerusalem. The first page should say, "DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE. SOMETHING WILL BREAK/NOT WORK/FRUSTRATE YOU/ CAUSE YOU TO SPEND HOURS ON THE PHONE LISTENING TO A HEBREW AUTOMATED MENU.

Sorry for the rant, its been a couple of rough days.

Sunday: Lauren and I begin to cook dinner for our amazing friends David and Julia. We begin to boil water for pasta when we realize that we are out of cooking gas. We then walk to Joe & Neil's apartment where we cook dinner and run back to our apartment with a hot pot of pasta. The pasta got rave reviews.

Monday: Come home from class to see a blinking red light on our cable modem. We can't connect to the internet no matter how many times we unpluged/repluged everything in or shut down and restarted our computers. It wouldn't work. We call the above mentioned computer-guru and general awesome SO (significant other of a student) David to try and help us. He helps us reconfigure our router. Nothing changes.

Later Monday night (11pm) Lauren and I get home and call Netvision, our internet provider. It turns out that the reason our internet wouldn't work was because we had an outstanding bill which we did not know about. We pay the bill- 284 shekels (>$50) and they promise to turn the internet back on in 30 minutes. We find out later that the account is still in the name of the girl who lived here 2 years ago. For a small fee of 50 shekels, they'll change the name on the account. We tell them that when we have intenet we'll be willing to think about giving them more money.

30 minutes later: No internet. Cranky and tired we go to bed.

Tuesday (Today): We wake up, still no internet. However, the flashing red light is now green. Yet, no connection, no email, no world news, nothing. Before class I call Netvision again (8:15am) to figure out the problem. They can't help. They suggest that they call me back at 4pm. I go to class annoyed.

Tuesday afternoon: Get back from class, mess with the computer for a while. Call David, and he makes it work! Finally! Blessed email, itunes music store and NYTimes.com

Tuesday afternoon (later): Netvision calls to find out "if I can surf"- this is how Israeli's talk about internet connections- I tell them that I have been surfing for an hour.

Tuesday night: Lauren calls "SuperGas" to find out about getting more gas delivered before the large Shabbat dinner we are having on Friday night. She calls again. She calls again. She finally gets through only to be told to call back at 8am tomorrow morning.

Tuesday night (now): Lauren and I complain about the fact that our Vonage, which we ordered almost three weeks ago still isn't installed.

Thus, the last 3 days of my life. Sorry if I've been MIA, I'm back now.

Hebrew test tomorrow, tiyul tomorrow night, tiyual all day Thursday.

Jess comes Thursday night through Sunday afternoon. Can't wait to see her!

For laughs, here is a picture of me with a mullet from David and Matt's party on Monday night. Laila Tov (Goodnight) and Love to all who are reading...

Best Shabbat Ever

After a crazy week of ulpan, classes, studying, Thursday's tiyul (trip) around Jerusalem, Thursday evening's Beit Cafe and Friday's trip to Tel Aviv, I was in serious need of Shabbat- 25 hours to rest, relax and reflect. I also needed to catch up on my sleep and healthy eating habits (I mean I think that rugalah (a chocolate pastry dessert) is appropriate breakfast food or lunch food...)

I got back from Tel Aviv around 3:30pm on Friday which gave me just enough time to clean my room & apartment, shower, call the states for a pre-Shabbat chat with my Mom, get dressed and walk to Joe & Neil's for candlelighting. Rachel, Jen, Joe, Neil, Claire, Elana and I then walked to one of my favorite synagogues, Kol Hanishama. KN is one of Israel's "Progressive" (Reform) Synagogues. It's off Emek Refamin in Baka which is about a 20 minute walk from Rechavia where most of us live.

Not only are the services at Kol Hanishama amazing, but I love the Rabbi. His name is Levi Weiman Kelman and he is the brother of Na'amah Kelman who is the director of our Year-In-Israel program at HUC. He leads with such passion and helps everyone person feel the Shabbat spirit. He's always encouraging everyone to take a "nishama amukah- a deep breath" which helps everyone connect to the prayers and the experience in general.

I also love KN because you're bound to run into someone you know. Sitting in the row ahead of me was one of my former youth-groupers from Temple Micah in Washington DC- Arielle Mishkin! (Her dad is Doug Mishkin for those in the Jewish music scene) She was a freshman when I was her advisor and she's about to be a SENIOR- Am I getting old or what? I also saw a handful of my classmates who I always love seeing outside of school.

After services we walked back to Joe & Neil's for a chill Shabbat dinner complete with one of Joe's famous cold soups- this week he made potato and leek soup which was *amazing*. Claire, Elana and Rena came over for dessert, wine and singing which always go well together! Full of wine and rugalach, I had one of the best night's sleep that I can remember.

Saturday morning a group of us went to services at HUC beacaue three of the Cantorial students were singing- Tiffani, Rollin and Raina were simply amazing and I was so inspired by them. They are the first of the class to lead services and I was so impressed by their pose and presence. I can't wait until its my turn!

After a long nap this afternoon, I went back to Joe & Neil's for Havdallah (the ceremony that separates Shabbat from the week) (yes I know I spend a lot of time at their apartment- they are super-cool guys) (yes I know I also sleep a lot) (It's my one day to sleep, ok?)

Now it's a little after midnight and I need to start my Hebrew homework for tomorrow- I also have to finish my third L of water for the day! All in all, the perfect Shabbat. Can't wait for next Shabbat when Jess will be here!

Have a wonderful Sunday and week- love to all who are reading!

Pictures, take two

I don't know why these pictures didn't post on Friday, but here they are again. The sign from Meah Sharim, Jen, Julia and I modeling our matching sunglasses in Tel Aviv, me performing at the HUC Beit Cafe and me on our class trip with Jerusalem in the background. Enjoy!

Where each day is a week and each hour is a day

Recently I told a group of friends that I updated my blog "almost daily- three or four times a week." And we all know that is not the truth. So my sincerest apologies and from this post forward I will try and update more often-

This week has flown by so I'll try and give a general update and of course, some new pictures.

Wednesday was my second Hebrew test, so I spend a majority of Sunday-Tuesday studying for it. It's hard to believe that ulpan is half over already! This Wednesday all the classes came together for group singing. Yes, we actually sat together and sang Hebrew songs- it was very campish cute. I'm giving an oral presentation in my class next week which I'll be working hard on PLUS another test.

Tuesday after class one of our professors, Rabbi David Wilfond, also know as "Gingi" took a group of us on a tour of Meah Sharim. (Gingi means redhead in Hebrew and Rabbi Wilfond's nicname. Meah Sharim is the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem) I remember walking through Meah Sharim when I was on the NFTY in Israel trip when I was 16, but its much different seeing it as an adult. When you enter the neighboord the first thing you see is a large sign requesting that all who walk through it are modestly dressed. For girls this means a long skirt and long sleeves (did I mention that its 100+ degrees in Jerusalem?). One of the purposes of the "tour" was to see various stores and shops- including places to buy Judaica, books and clothes. I can't speak for the entire group, but for me being there only made me feel more secure in my decision to be at HUC. It's so interesting and exciting living in a city of so many Jews who practice their religion in so many ways.

This week we also broke into our committees. Each committee is responsible for a different part of student life including sports, Community services, Social, Chavarim (friends), Social Action, Tefilot (religious services) and a handful of others. If you can believe it, I'm on the Chavarim committee- we are responsible for recognizing birthdays and anniversaries, visting people who are, G-d forbid, in the hospital or emergency room and helping to keep morale up. Personally I am spearheading the "random acts of kindness/warm fuzzy" projects- I'm hoping to create lots of opportunities for students to recognize other students through notes in our student mailboxes, e-cards and singing telegrams. Well, not the last one, but you get the idea.

Thursday evening was the Beit Cafe (literally- Coffeehouse). It was held in the backyard of school and several students performed including me! I wrote a song (my first!) about HUC, living in Israel and some of the funny things that have happened so far- I was really nervous to play a song that I had written in front of so many people, but I somehow found my courage and did great! I got lots of laughs and a couple of people have asked if I'm going to write another song for the next Beit Cafe. We'll see. It was one of those perfect cool Jerusalem nights with friends. Afterwards, several of us went to one of our favorite bars, Filter (Feelteer in Hebrew!) to celebrate the end of another week.

Today (Friday) 40 of us woke up early and went to Tel Aviv for a day of shopping in the Artists Market and in the downtown area of the city. Tel Aviv is only 45 minutes from Jerusalem, but depending on traffic it can take up to an hour (think Baltimore to Washington). I got to hang out with a bunch of my school friends including my friend Matt's finace Jen. Matt, Jen and I all worked at Camp Harlam together in 2002 and 2003. She's only here for the week after staffing the NFTY in Israel trip and will be returning to New York next week. Luckily, she's coming back in January for the semester! This picture is myself with Jen and our friend Julia in our new matching sunglasses.

Today is August 5 which means that I've lived in Jerusalem for one month. I feel like I've been here for 5 minutes and 5 months all at the same time. It's crazy. Hopefully you've enjoyed reading about this first month- I know I've enjoyed living it!

There are so many exciting things coming up including:
-a visit from Jess Firshein who is working for Ben-Gurion University and in the country for work
-Chanting Lamentations on Tisha B'Av
-Vongae getting set up (hopefully this week...)
-Getting an email from YOU? (hint, hint)

Happy belated birthday to Miss Sara Gertler- hope you had a great day!

Love to all who are reading...be back on Sunday with another update and pictures. Have a wonderful weekend!

If you just can't get enough

I forgot to include this in my last post, but PerolmanInThePromisedLand has recently been accepted onto http://www.jewishblogging.com- a central site for all Jews who love to blog. You can search for blogs on specific subjects (Israel, different movements etc.) or just read what the site features. Either way, enjoy!

The 3 L Challenge

In an attempt to improve our health, hydration and overall well-being, Lauren and I are taking on a challenge- To consume 3 liters (96 oz) of water each and every day. Lauren will be participating with the help of her new camel backpack (it has a water-filled pouch inside the backpack and a tube that lets one drink while walking.) I will be using good-'ole Nalgene bottles of various colors (see below.)



Luckily, the 12-16 hour days, plethora of salty foods and 100-degree temperatures will only help us as we strive for high grades in ulpan and a high level of water-consumption. (Yes, this is how over-achievers handle dehydration...we create competition, friendly competition, but competition nonetheless.)

Are you up for the challenge? From what I've heard, the east coast has been hit with record highs this summer and it's only August 1... Team Karen is already at 2 1/2 liters and its only 3pm!

In other news I'm going to eat my first "fantasy waffle" at Cafe Atara tonight with Rachel. The waffle has three kinds of ice cream, fruit salad, whipped cream, chocolate fudge sauce and nuts. I'm super excited. Until then I have flashcards to make, Eicha to learn (Lamentations- a book of the Bible read on Tisha B'Av- the Jewish day of mourning commemorating several terrible things that have happened to the Jewish people-more on that as it approaches), and grammar to learn.

I miss everyone back in my various homes...but think of you with every sip of water I take. And from now on, I'll be thinking of you a lot. Love to all who are reading...