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!