Hagiah Hazman L'tayel

Translation: The time has come to travel.

From Wednesday, November 30- December 3 I'll be away with my class. We'll be visiting Tsfat, Caesaria, Zippori and spending Shabbat in Haifa at the Leo Baeck Center.

Thus, no email, no vonage. Mom, Dad & Dave- I'll talk to you on Sunday.

To everyone else- have a wonderful middle/end of the week and weekend. Talk to you when I return!

Quick run of the numbers:
26- days til my brother gets here!
6- days til I give my d'var Torah
2- books I want to finish on the trip
3- nights in a hotel that HUC is paying for
75- days til my 24th birthday
91- the first "A" grade I ever recieved on a Hebrew test (yay me!)

Love to everyone reading...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Despite my earlier thoughts about being sad and lonely on Thanksgiving, I actually had a wonderful time. We had dinner at Rachel and Robyn's apartment with Rach and Robyn's friend Bryan, Joe, Neil, Jennifer, Rose, Mel, Elana and me! The food was homemade and wonderful, teh wine was a'flowing and the company and conversation made my night. We even played one of my favorite games, "pancakes or waffles?"Click on the link to see pictures from last night.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b33029f66594&sid=8AaNWTlq2bOXRQ

I'm so thankful that I have friends who are like family here. I can't imagine my life without them. Hope you and yours had a wonderful day!

In other exciting news: My brother comes a month from today and my parents a month from tomorrow! Let the countdown begin!

Back to the grind...love to all reading!

HUC FOOTBALL RULES!

Last night I went to my first HUC flag football game. It was freezing. But I had cold beer and a ski hat to keep me warm. We scored out first touchdown thanks to Mel, got our butts kicked by the 4th yr. team and had a blast. We celebrated at a bar on Azza where Rena's dad picked up the tab on the first round of celebratory drinks. Rock on Alan!

It's been a stressful week and I'm missing home already. I don't think I've ever not been with my family on Thanksgiving. Luckily I have not one, but two Thanksgiving dinners to attend. The first tonight at Rena's with her parents, sister and friend Evan, Deb and her dad, Edie and her dad and brother and some great friends. I'm making sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Should be good. Look for a thanksgiving post while you're eating your turkey tomorrow.

I'm thankful for everyone who reads this...Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my Mom's birthday. Some may argue, but I'll insist that she's the best Mom in the world. I'm very sad that I won't be able to celebrate with her in the states today, but we'll make up for it when we're all together in December.

It's been a long week. I have a ton of homework. Lets do the numbers:
1- day until Rena's parents come to visit.
8- pages of a History Paper that I need to write.
10- days that Lauren will be in Paris.
11- sources for my D'var Torah that I need to read.
12- days until we leave for our Haifa tiyul.
14- people coming for Shabbat dinner tonight.
15- miles I rode today.

Time to get to work. Lots of love to everyone reading!

A Retraction of Yesterday's Post

Check out this article from the NY Times today; a followup from yesterday's post.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/international/middleeast/14cnd-mideast.html?hp&ex=1132117200&en=ede523b157642943&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Well I guess if she's negotiating, she can have her own elliptical machine. Fiine.

History being made in the lobby of the hotel where I use the gym. Thats the cool part of living in this city. You never know who's going to show up or what's going to happen.

Love to all reading!

Thank you tax-paying Americans

Do you ever wonder what your tax dollars are doing over here in Israel? Well I'll tell you.

Condoleezza Rice, the US National Security Advisor is staying at the David Citadel Hotel, next door to HUC. One of the nicest hotels in the city. Also, coincidentally, where I am a gym member.

Due to Condi's visit, one of the mere three elliptical machines was removed from the gym and put into her suite for her personal, round-the-clock use.

The gym is also randomly closed down when she is interested in doing some weights.

For this service, the hotel is charging her AKA the US government AKA the taxpayers of America...drumroll please...

$100/hour.

Grand total for two day stay in Jerusalem: $5000.

In other news, I had to wait an hour to get on an ellipitcal machine. Hope Condi had as good of a workout as I did today...

Last London Post

FRIDAY- We woke up early to shower and grab some breakfast before taking the tube to where we were going to meet Rena's sister Sharon and her friend Ben. We got bloody lost on our way to the hotel (with our huge backpacks). Sharon and Ben arrived at the hotel after we did and there was lots of sister-ly hugging while Ben and I akwardly looked at each other. Actually, Ben was outside smoking and Sharon gave me a huge hug too.

After we settled into the hotel we all ate lunch at Garfinkels and I finally got to eat the fish and chips that I had been waiting for. Yummm. We then made our way over to Dali Universe- the Salvador Dali museum. It was great until we all got a terriable case of exhaustion and needed a caffeine break. Thank goodness there was a Starbucks next door and we could all indulge in our drug of choice.

After Starbucks we went back to Harrods- to get a gift for Sharon and Rena's baby cousin and for general Harrods enjoyment. We bought 2 pound appples (no, not how much they weighed, but how much they cost!)

Now being the Rabbinical student that I am, I had made plans to go to services on Friday night. Except that I didn't really know where they were. So we got lost. Then I found out that we were in a different part of London and about an hour's tube ride from them. So I scracted services and we started searching for a place to eat dinner. Long story short, we got very lost (are you sensing a theme here?) but finally found a little Italian place to eat. Our waitress was Brazilian who spoke Hebrew in London. How cool is that?

We ended the night at a sports bar with a few drinks. Cab back to the hotel. Sleep.

SATURDAY- One thing that I so miss in Irsael is being able to sleep in. I rarely get to do it. But on Saturday we woke up just in time to get our complementary breakfast and then went back to sleep. Around noon we finally ventured out to walk around Notting Hill and find some food. After omlettes and coffee we walked through the huge outdoor markets and in and out of the little shops. Before we knew it, it was time to go. We had gotten tickets to another film from the London Film Festival- this time a French film. Well, it was all in French and terriably depressing. We left in need of a major pick-me-up.

Sharon suggested sushi and since she was buying dinner, how could we say no? After some logistical troubles (me leaving my bag at the movie theatre and us having to go back and get it AND getting lost on the way to the sushi place) we finally settled in for a great dinner. Sharon over-ordered for all of us and after a few glasses of the house wine we were all feeling a little better.

After dinner we returned to the sports pub from the previous night. Good times had by all.

SUNDAY- our last day in London and we wanted to make it count. After checking out of our rooms we headed over to Speakers Corner- something especially reccomended by my friend Matt when planning our trip. Speakers Corner is basically the best (and worst) of free speech. Anyone can get up on a chair or ladder (or soapbox) and talk about whatever they most. Most of the speakers are speaking about religious issues- you should believe, you shouldn't believe etc. One man was holding an Israeli flag- Rena and I both realized that we were both a little homesick and were ready to go home.

We made a quick stop at the British National Gallery so I could see one of the originial Suunflower paintings. A final coffee stop and it was time to get on the Heathrow Express (like the Hogwarts Express!) toward the airport. We had a final goodbye dinner with Ben and Sharon and then made our way to Terminal 4 to catch our 10 pm flight.

We arrived in Tel Aviv at 3:30am, were back in Jerusalem by 5am, and asleep by 5:05am. Ahhh vacation.

It's been almost three weeks since we returned from our London adventure. But due to the immence amounts of homework, classes and other random activities, it feels like a month ago already! It was fabulous- more than I could have expected from my first trip to Europe! Hope you enjoyed hearing about my trip! Love to all who are reading!

London Update 3- Celebrity Sighting!

For some reason, the last picture wouldn't post. So here it is again. Real, live, celebrities in their natural habitats. It was pretty cool. Read the last London post to understand the picture.

I'll Pencil you In

(From an actual call I received yesterday)

Hey Karen, It's "Someone you want to hang out with" Do you wanna get dinner sometime this week?

Thats great! Lets see....I can do...

Sunday- I have a voice lesson- I'm not back til 6.

Monday- I am studying for my Hebrew test

Tuesday- I have choir from 8-10.

Wednesday- I have a TV date that I just can't cancel

Thursday- Thursday I have a chavarim program at my house.

Friday before Shabbat? Sorry, I'm biking and volunteering.

Saturday night? Dinner and studying for my liturgy test on Sunday.

Maybe next week I'll have a free night. Or maybe not. In case I was worried about my social life-lets just say, it's going well. Maybe too well. Perhaps I'll also be getting a dual Masters in "No Free Time" and "I can't say no."

In other news I'm recovering from a stomach thing due to some bad soup and the effects of my first flu shot. While waiting for my shot I had a five year-old (the daughter of one of my classmates) tell me that it "doesn't hurt AT ALL."

All is well here in the Promised Land- remember you can always send me email and tell me about YOUR lives (I'm pretty sure the world hasn't stopped turning since I left) mailto:krperolman@gmail.com. Also, feel free to leave comments (which I read!)

Until next time...Love to all who are reading...

Yizkor L'Yitzchak

Today, November 4, 2005 marks ten years since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. Last night I attended a memorial concert at the Jerusalem Theatre and it was a fascinating lesson in how Israelis deal with grief and memory.

The Jerusalem symphony orchestra performed an original piece entitled "In Memory of Yitzchak." It featured four singers and two choirs. During two places, snippets of his various speeches were projected over the music.

Though his words are 11 years old, they couldn't be truer:

We are in the midst of building the peace. The job is difficult, complex,
trying. Mistakes could topple the whole structure and bring disaster upon us
and so we are determined to do the job well despite the tow of murdering
terrorism, despite the fanatical and evil enemies of peace. We will pursue
the course of peace with determination and fortitude. We will not let up. We
will not give in. Peace will triumph over all its enemies, because the
alternative is grimmer for all of us, for our children after us. The L-rd
will give strength to His people. The L-rd will bless His people with
peace. - Yitzchak Rabin.

Ya'aseh Shalom. Na'aseh Shalom. Bo na'aseh shalom. Kein Yihei Ratzon.

London- Wednesday/Thursday

Sorry its taken me so long to continue the London posts, but better late than never. So...where were we?

Wednesday we got up a little bit later and after breakfast at the hostel, made our way over to Buckingham Palace. We walked through the Queen's park, and stood with the rest of the tourists. And to be honest, despite all the hype, Buckingham Palace just looked like a building. We saw the famous guards and even how the royalty get from place to place!

Next we went to Westminster Abbey and saw where lots and lots and lots of important dead people are burried. Kinda cool, kinda creepy.

While looking for a left-handed store Rena (hey, no one's perfect) we found a "Fresh and Wild"- the UK branch of Whole Foods. We got soup and bread and sat at the back of the store and ate our lunch. Not only was the soup super yummy (me-pumpkin, rena-tomato) but it was really nice to be somewhere that felt like home. Living near a Whole Foods in the states last year spoiled me and truthfully, I can't wait to be there again...

After lunch we finally found the left-handed store. I never knew that stores like this existed before. They sell special pens and can openers and knives. Kinda bizzare,but Rena loved it.

We moved on to the Tower of London where lots and lots and lots of important people were detained, tortured and beheaded. Funnn. Next we took the tube to London Bridge- see pic below! We got there as the sun was setting and the air getting cold. We took a few pictures, debated about singing the song and finally moved on.

For our evening activity we ate at Wagamamas, a highly-reccomended Asian noodle resturant in London. My friend Matt (Soffer) told me that we had to eat there. So we did. The noodles were pretty good and the atmosphere reminded me of Noodles and Company (for my MD friends!).

Another Soffer reccomendation was seeing the comedy troup at The Comedy Store. The Comedy Store is where Whose Line Is It Anyway? originated. Although I couldn't understand half of what they were saying, I still thought it was great. Rena was a great sport.


Thursday was our last day of traveling before Rena's sister Sharon and Sharon's friend Ben joined us. After four days of non-stop traveling, we were in need of a little break. We slept late and headed over to Leichester Square to try and get tickets for the London Film Fesival. We got tix for "Elizabethtown," Cameron Crowe's new flic staring Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom.

When planning our trip we gave the whole day to the British Museum. It's a HUGE place- and would probably take a whole day or maybe two to get through. We saw the highlights and spent some time in the beautiful library and education center. I also picked out a couple gifts. After a mid-day Starbucks break, we headed back to the Museum for part two. My favorite exhibit was the "Tree of Life"- a tree made of dis-armed weapons. It was incredible, really.

With a few hours to kill before the movie, Rena and I decided to see what was playing at the regular movie theatre and guess what was? CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY- a movie we had both been dying to see. So we pulled a double header, ate popcorn and candy for dinner and had a grand ole time.

I loved both movies- I heard that Elizabethtowb didn't get great reviews in the states, but I thought it was pretty good. One of the highlights was that Cameron Crowe, Kirsten Dunst and Susan Sarrandon were at the premiere! It was hard to get good pictures from where we were sitting, but I managed to get a couple. It was my first big celebrity sighting!

After the movie we made out way back to the hostel, packed and got ready for our early-ish morning. A final post on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to come!

Thanks for reading! Lots of Love to all...