We went for a three day trip to Eilat. The first day was very busy. We watched "The West Wing" on the way down. We got to our hotel and decided to spend the first day sitting by the pool, going in and reading in our chairs. We had dinner at a place called Ginger an Asian Indonesian fusion restaurant. Very tasty food. We went to sleep early because we had a big day ahead of us.
Day 2:
We woke up at 6:00 to have breakfast in order to be ready for the 6:30 AM pickup. Off to Petra. Petra is located in Jordan. While Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, we were still a little bit nervous. They take you through passport control and have you walk through a no man's land to get to Jordan. 1 Jordanian Dinar = $1.5 USD. Nonsense. We took a 2 hour ride to Petra. Along the way our guide told us that there were 6 million people in Jordan, 2 million in Aman. UNREAL!! Petra is hidden among the mountains. We got to Petra and took a 1 Kilometer walk to the main attraction the Hizna. Along the walk, you see idols carved into the walls, and a water system that allowed the Nabateans, a Pagan civilization which became powerful by controlling trade routes through the middle east, to have water throughout the dry season (all year long basically). The ceramic pipes and dams the Nabateans built were sensitive to water pressure which had the propensity to break the ceramic pipes. They also built their treasury (Hizna) away from the wind. The Hizna is carved from the sandstone, right into the mountain. It was later found to be the burial site for rich Nabateans. Their are other caves and tombs, but the Hizna is the biggest and most well preserved. It was amazing.
Day 3:
We got up and went to the underwater observatory to see the sharks get fed and to watch them feed the anacondas. 1) Sharks in the wild eat once a week. Sharks there get fed 2x a day, so they are not usually hungry. We missed that. 2) They have 1 snake. We did not stay to see that. 3) some things are more interesting as a kid. This is one of them. But we spent the rest of the day by and in the pool and went home later that night.
Conclusion: Eilat is relatively boring. It is nofesh (vacation for the soul) Petra was amazing. One of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Eilat and bathing suits.
It has been a long time since I last blogged. The reason is because I had promised our loyal blog readers that I wouldn't blog again until Yuval did. Well, I am happy to say that this will be a joint blog post.
Yuval will blog about our trip to Eilat and Petra, and I will now tell you a story about how I just bought 2 bathing suits. Now, it seems to me that my bathing suits have shrunk (or something...) and I needed ones with a little more coverage. There are a few bathing suit stores, right next to each other near our house. We went into one the other day, and it was the smelliest store I have ever stepped foot into, so we left promptly. We went to go try another store this afternoon, after a lunch of pizza bagels at a cafe we basically go to every day. --At the cafe, I poured an entire ice coffee on Yuval, but he recovered-- Back to the bathing suit story. So, we went into a smallish store, that looked like a tornado had ripped through it and immediately the owner starts handing me styles that he thinks will look good on me. I really did not even have a chance to look at the racks, because he was just handing me bathing suits that were basically Kineret's size. I decide to go with the flow (I know, a big feat) and try on the tops he had handed me. The first two were itty bitty. Then the 3rd, I thought looked OK, so I called to Yuval to come and see. Now, Yuval opens the curtain only so his head can pop through and the guy who owns the store is looking over Yuval and starts going on and on about how perfect the bathing suit is. Now, this guy was very nice. He wanted to help me find a bathing suit that looked good on me and he wanted to sell me something. So, again I decide to go with the flow and let this guy tell me what he thinks. Finally I pick 2 bathing suits and the best part is--he makes them especially for me. So, I picked out the styles of the tops and the bottoms that I wanted and the color that I wanted, and he is making them for me to pick up tomorrow! And then he gave me a pair of flip flops. What a day. Now, for Yuval...
Well, I have to write about quite a few things. Let's start off with the day that Safta, Eytan and Niva went to the Opera. So, we met them afterwards so that we could have dinner together. We all ordered and Safta asked for her soup very warm "burning not she said". "I understand what you mean" the waiter said. As I assured him that he did not understand he left. He brought back soup which was steaming, but not scalding, which was sent back. As we ate Safta asked how our food was. We all told her it was very tasty. When she got her soup back she said "Now it is warm enough. So what do I add for taste?" That was an interesting start to the dinner. Then we asked how the opera was, and that we had not ever been to the opera. Two days later,we were going the following week.
Yom Hazikarom and Yom Ha'atzmaut were both amazing days. We went to a memorial service in Rabin Square. The square was filled with thousands of people. The MC read poems of fallen soldiers. Famous artists such as Idan Raichel sang songs, some were self written, others which were written by fallen soldiers. In between these poems and songs were short movies, with interview of parents, friends and families of fallen soldiers. Some of the stories have stuck with me. ONe father of 2 was called back for reserve duty. He was a ground soldier commander. One day a grenade was thrown into the bunker he was in. He immediately jumped on it in order to save his soldiers. Between 5-10 were saved. This hero's son, who was 4 at the time was teased by his classmates who told him that if his father was really a hero, he would not have died, he would have survived. The second story was about a boy who as a kid said he would not serve as a field soldier because he did not want to fight. As a soldier, he decided to serve as a ground soldier. His father told him that his son said "I am going to fight for peace". In the middle of his service, his great grandmother passed away. His father suggested that he come home to be with the family. His son said that if he left the base, someone else would have to fill in his spot, so he did not return home. He was killed two days later. The family sat Shiva in the middle of their Shiva. We hear these stories in the states, but to see these interviews reminds you that these soldiers are just kids. They are just children. So when we hear that women and children were killed on the Palestinian side, we MUST remember that these soldiers are kids. One of the most amazing parts of Yom Hazikaron is that every store closes. Walking to Rabin square, we wanted to get a bottle of water, but EVERY store was closed, even though this could have been one of their busiest days. We were inspired by the respect shown. Also, the whole country stood still as a a siren sounded.
Yom Ha'atzmaut. What a celebration. A great ceremony on TV which took place in Jerusalem. Then we went back to Rabin Square for singing and dancing. First there were speeches by government officials and the mayor of Tel Aviv. Next, a group called Groovatron (like Givatron, but not as good) sang. They took perfectly amazing Israeli songs and killed them. Then they stabbed them repeatedly to make sure that you would never want to hear them again. But the ceremony was filled with other musicians and fireworks and ice cream. One of us, even had two ice creams (not Sarah). We left to find the place that Niva said had Israeli dancing at around 11:00. We had been at Rabin Square for 2 hours. WE got lost and nobody knew where we really were supposed to go. So, we decided to go home. But we did so via Rabin Square, were Anat Saroof was singing. 3 Hours of Shira Be'tziboor with dancing b'ma'agalim. We were exhausted at the end but what a day. Kids running around the streets with shaving cream, spraying shops, cars that did not belong to them and random strangers. I took pictures of one girl defacing a car. He mother asked me why I was shooting photos of her. I explained not wanting her to be offended, that was taking pictures for my mother. She said I should send it to the Tel Aviv newspaper. Not exactly what I thought she would say.
The opera was great. The main tenor had an amazing voice. Still don't like sopranos. We saw Tosca. The average age in the theater was about 2000 years old. We thought the first act was a little too long, but it was overall (to be read in a Borat voice) VERY NICE!!
Yuval will blog about our trip to Eilat and Petra, and I will now tell you a story about how I just bought 2 bathing suits. Now, it seems to me that my bathing suits have shrunk (or something...) and I needed ones with a little more coverage. There are a few bathing suit stores, right next to each other near our house. We went into one the other day, and it was the smelliest store I have ever stepped foot into, so we left promptly. We went to go try another store this afternoon, after a lunch of pizza bagels at a cafe we basically go to every day. --At the cafe, I poured an entire ice coffee on Yuval, but he recovered-- Back to the bathing suit story. So, we went into a smallish store, that looked like a tornado had ripped through it and immediately the owner starts handing me styles that he thinks will look good on me. I really did not even have a chance to look at the racks, because he was just handing me bathing suits that were basically Kineret's size. I decide to go with the flow (I know, a big feat) and try on the tops he had handed me. The first two were itty bitty. Then the 3rd, I thought looked OK, so I called to Yuval to come and see. Now, Yuval opens the curtain only so his head can pop through and the guy who owns the store is looking over Yuval and starts going on and on about how perfect the bathing suit is. Now, this guy was very nice. He wanted to help me find a bathing suit that looked good on me and he wanted to sell me something. So, again I decide to go with the flow and let this guy tell me what he thinks. Finally I pick 2 bathing suits and the best part is--he makes them especially for me. So, I picked out the styles of the tops and the bottoms that I wanted and the color that I wanted, and he is making them for me to pick up tomorrow! And then he gave me a pair of flip flops. What a day. Now, for Yuval...
Well, I have to write about quite a few things. Let's start off with the day that Safta, Eytan and Niva went to the Opera. So, we met them afterwards so that we could have dinner together. We all ordered and Safta asked for her soup very warm "burning not she said". "I understand what you mean" the waiter said. As I assured him that he did not understand he left. He brought back soup which was steaming, but not scalding, which was sent back. As we ate Safta asked how our food was. We all told her it was very tasty. When she got her soup back she said "Now it is warm enough. So what do I add for taste?" That was an interesting start to the dinner. Then we asked how the opera was, and that we had not ever been to the opera. Two days later,we were going the following week.
Yom Hazikarom and Yom Ha'atzmaut were both amazing days. We went to a memorial service in Rabin Square. The square was filled with thousands of people. The MC read poems of fallen soldiers. Famous artists such as Idan Raichel sang songs, some were self written, others which were written by fallen soldiers. In between these poems and songs were short movies, with interview of parents, friends and families of fallen soldiers. Some of the stories have stuck with me. ONe father of 2 was called back for reserve duty. He was a ground soldier commander. One day a grenade was thrown into the bunker he was in. He immediately jumped on it in order to save his soldiers. Between 5-10 were saved. This hero's son, who was 4 at the time was teased by his classmates who told him that if his father was really a hero, he would not have died, he would have survived. The second story was about a boy who as a kid said he would not serve as a field soldier because he did not want to fight. As a soldier, he decided to serve as a ground soldier. His father told him that his son said "I am going to fight for peace". In the middle of his service, his great grandmother passed away. His father suggested that he come home to be with the family. His son said that if he left the base, someone else would have to fill in his spot, so he did not return home. He was killed two days later. The family sat Shiva in the middle of their Shiva. We hear these stories in the states, but to see these interviews reminds you that these soldiers are just kids. They are just children. So when we hear that women and children were killed on the Palestinian side, we MUST remember that these soldiers are kids. One of the most amazing parts of Yom Hazikaron is that every store closes. Walking to Rabin square, we wanted to get a bottle of water, but EVERY store was closed, even though this could have been one of their busiest days. We were inspired by the respect shown. Also, the whole country stood still as a a siren sounded.
Yom Ha'atzmaut. What a celebration. A great ceremony on TV which took place in Jerusalem. Then we went back to Rabin Square for singing and dancing. First there were speeches by government officials and the mayor of Tel Aviv. Next, a group called Groovatron (like Givatron, but not as good) sang. They took perfectly amazing Israeli songs and killed them. Then they stabbed them repeatedly to make sure that you would never want to hear them again. But the ceremony was filled with other musicians and fireworks and ice cream. One of us, even had two ice creams (not Sarah). We left to find the place that Niva said had Israeli dancing at around 11:00. We had been at Rabin Square for 2 hours. WE got lost and nobody knew where we really were supposed to go. So, we decided to go home. But we did so via Rabin Square, were Anat Saroof was singing. 3 Hours of Shira Be'tziboor with dancing b'ma'agalim. We were exhausted at the end but what a day. Kids running around the streets with shaving cream, spraying shops, cars that did not belong to them and random strangers. I took pictures of one girl defacing a car. He mother asked me why I was shooting photos of her. I explained not wanting her to be offended, that was taking pictures for my mother. She said I should send it to the Tel Aviv newspaper. Not exactly what I thought she would say.
The opera was great. The main tenor had an amazing voice. Still don't like sopranos. We saw Tosca. The average age in the theater was about 2000 years old. We thought the first act was a little too long, but it was overall (to be read in a Borat voice) VERY NICE!!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
CRAZY
I promise not to post anymore about the negative things here, at least until Yuval posts a funny post. So, I have a cold, ok no big deal. I spent a couple of hours in bed this afternoon reading/napping, while Yuval made some fruit salad and cabbage salad. It is now 9:30pm and we were cleaning the floor before getting ready to go out to eat something. I am changing my clothes in our bedroom when someone starts pounding on our door. Well, we have a new neighbor who is an older man, I would say in his 60's, who told us he just made aliyah after being a lawyer in Canada for the past 25 years. He was forced to retire after his 2nd bypass surgery. Now, we open the door and he starts screaming. No introduction, just full on screaming, asking us if we are doing construction in our apartment. Now, I have been on and off sleeping for the past few hours, so if there was banging in our apartment, I didn't notice! He wouldn't even let Yuval get one word in. 2 minutes into his tirade, our other neighbor (there are 3 apartments on our floor), opens his door to see what all the ruckus is about. I am standing behind Yuval and the other neighbor is looking at me like, "is this guy insane?" Well, clearly! Anyway, so the guy continues to scream that we have been banging for 1.5 hours, and the other neighbor starts to try and diffuse the situation, saying he heard nothing, we are good neighbors, blah blah blah. Yuval did not get excited and did not yell back at this lunatic, and the guy basically yelled himself out and slammed his door. We were all left standing there in total shock. Now, this guy had knocked on our door politely a few days before to introduce himself and tell us that he had just made aliyah and that there were obstacles at every corner. If you act like a lunatic, like he did, EVERYTHING will be hard. Especially in this country, where people love to yell at each other. It also seemed clear, that he has some serious anger problems, and no wonder that he was forced to retire from his stressful lawyer job because of heart problems. This totally freaked me out, because this guy is clearly unstable. Our other neighbor said that he would talk to the landlord--but I don't really know what that will do, because this guy is just a lunatic. Anyway, hopefully, he will move out soon-these apartments are short-term, so if he is making aliyah, he's probably not staying here forever.
Love,
Sarah
Love,
Sarah
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Yom HaZikaron
Last night we went to a ceremony in Rabin Square in remembrance of all of Israel's fallen soldiers. On the way there, at 8pm, there was a siren that was heard throughout the country, and on the street everyone stopped, the cars, the buses, the people walking. Many who were in their cars got out of the car and stood. It was as if the city held its breath for the one minute of the siren. It made me think about the difficulty of life here. That teenagers from every generation die, every generation. There is no break. By the time we got there, there were no chairs left--and thousands of people standing in the square. The program started 15 minutes late, and it was a mix of poems, songs (sung by Noa, Idan Raichel and some other famous Israeli artists) and videos which told the stories of soldiers who had died. They interviewed the families of these soldiers and it was incredibly emotional. The pain in the square was so palpable it was unbearable. The ceremony was a little over 2 hours long and after hearing so many horrific stories, and watching so many mothers crying over their children, I think I just shut down. My hebrew became non existant, and all I can think is that it was self-preservation. I really just couldn't take any more. All in all, it was definitely a worthwhile experience, albeit especially painful.
Tonight is the beginning of Yom HaAtzmaut, which is Israeli independence day. It is a total switch. The mourning ends and the celebration begins. Last night, I said to Yuval that I needed a day in between to get into the mood to celebrate. I can't imagine what it is like for people who today visit their loved ones grave and then tonight are expected to dance in the streets.
That is the big activity for the week. Oze is coming to stay with us tonight, along with one of the boys who he is hiking with; we are very excited for that! Tomorrow we will go to a bbq in the park.
It has been really hard to transition back into life here. I can't seem to find the patience to accept almost any difficulty. I am really trying hard to act like a normal person, but the lifestyle here is just so not for me. Anyway, I will keep trying.
Love,
Sarah
Tonight is the beginning of Yom HaAtzmaut, which is Israeli independence day. It is a total switch. The mourning ends and the celebration begins. Last night, I said to Yuval that I needed a day in between to get into the mood to celebrate. I can't imagine what it is like for people who today visit their loved ones grave and then tonight are expected to dance in the streets.
That is the big activity for the week. Oze is coming to stay with us tonight, along with one of the boys who he is hiking with; we are very excited for that! Tomorrow we will go to a bbq in the park.
It has been really hard to transition back into life here. I can't seem to find the patience to accept almost any difficulty. I am really trying hard to act like a normal person, but the lifestyle here is just so not for me. Anyway, I will keep trying.
Love,
Sarah
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Back.
We are back in Israel after a much needed and enjoyed trip home to the US. While we were home I had the chance to think about what this blog really is/should be and I realized that I have not been writing what I really want to write. So, this post is just a disclaimer. I am using this blog, not only as a way to keep everyone up to date with what we are doing here in Israel, but also as an online journal. I like the idea of having a record of how I really felt during this time, and so far I have really been censoring myself. I want to say that I do not mean to offend anyone by anything I write, and this disclaimer only applies to Sarah's posts. I knew that this experience would be difficult, but it is more difficult than I had originally imagined, and from now on, you will be hearing my honest and frank view of the world around me.
Sarah
Sarah
Monday, March 30, 2009
Jerusalem and Soccer
So, we have had an exciting week. On Wednesday we went and spent a wonderful day in Jerusalem. We woke up early and took a bus to the bus to Jerusalem. We started driving (it was 9am) and we were out of the bus station by 10 minutes and we were stuck in completely stopped traffic! Now, I thought, "well, this isn't good", but I assumed that it would only be part of the way to Jerusalem. Boy, was I wrong. There was terrible traffic the ENTIRE way. I'm not a fan of bus travel to begin with--but this was torture. We finally got there, and we had to be at the Kotel for our tour of the Tunnels at 10:35. We arrived at the bus station at 10:20, hopped into a cab and we made it to the Kotel in time. The tour was really interesting--both Yuval and I had done it before, but that didn't matter it was still great. The tour ends in the Muslim quarter, so we walked back with 2 guards, and I was happy to be back in the Kotel plaza. After this, we were hungry and looked for something to eat. We ended up in the Cardo, had some terrible pizza, and terrible falafel. Really the worst of both we have had in Israel. I did have a good ice cream though. We then made our way through the cardo and a shuk to the Jaffa gate where Midgal David (the tower of david) stands. It was a fort built in the 2nd century BCE. Inside there is a museum which explains the history of Jerusalem from biblical times to today. The museum is very well done and the citadel itself, impressive. We spent about 2.5 hours exploring the museum and then we went to meet my friend Hollie, from genesis. She is studying at a Yeshiva in a neighborhood called Katamon in Jerusalem, we took a cab to meet her. It was so much fun to talk with her after not seeing each other for a long time. After some more delicious ice cream, we took a cab back to Migdal David for the highlight of the night. We stopped for a little dinner, only Yuval ate, I was stuffed from my meals of ice cream..and then we went to Migdal David for an amazing light and sound show. They project a movie type thing onto the walls of the citadel, and the technology is amazing. It is difficult to explain, but if you have the chance to go, go! After the show, we were exhausted and went back to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem to catch a bus back to Tel Aviv. This time it took barely 40 minutes.
We then spent the rest of the week in Tel Aviv, going to school, etc. Unfortunately, Yuval caught a cold, and has been fighting it, so we have been taking it easy. We went to Haifa for Shabbat, because it was Netta's birthday, and then after Shabbat was the event Yuval has been waiting for. The Israel-Greece World Cup Qualifying game. We had gotten tickets the previous week, bought Israel team jerseys and were ready to go to Ramat Gan to watch the game. After figuring out exactly how to get to the stadium on Shabbat when the buses do not run, we were there 2 hours early. Part of the reason we got there so early was that many cabs didn't want to drive us there because they thought it would be so congested. When we finally found a cab to take us, it was a mere 10 minute drive from the train station, no traffic at all. The best part of the game for me was the beginning when everyone was singing and cheering. After that, the game was pretty boring. The hardest part about Israel for me is dealing with the people here. It just seems like rudeness/meanness is the default behavior. At the game, the people in our section spent most of the time screaming at each other to sit down. Now, in my mind, these people paid money to go to a sporting event, which is supposed to be a fun activity, but they chose to spend it red in the face screaming at the people around them. It is hard for me to understand.
This weekend Yuval developed a cold, but he is getting better. We are beyond excited to come home, and will try to be better at blogging more often.
Love,
Sarah
We then spent the rest of the week in Tel Aviv, going to school, etc. Unfortunately, Yuval caught a cold, and has been fighting it, so we have been taking it easy. We went to Haifa for Shabbat, because it was Netta's birthday, and then after Shabbat was the event Yuval has been waiting for. The Israel-Greece World Cup Qualifying game. We had gotten tickets the previous week, bought Israel team jerseys and were ready to go to Ramat Gan to watch the game. After figuring out exactly how to get to the stadium on Shabbat when the buses do not run, we were there 2 hours early. Part of the reason we got there so early was that many cabs didn't want to drive us there because they thought it would be so congested. When we finally found a cab to take us, it was a mere 10 minute drive from the train station, no traffic at all. The best part of the game for me was the beginning when everyone was singing and cheering. After that, the game was pretty boring. The hardest part about Israel for me is dealing with the people here. It just seems like rudeness/meanness is the default behavior. At the game, the people in our section spent most of the time screaming at each other to sit down. Now, in my mind, these people paid money to go to a sporting event, which is supposed to be a fun activity, but they chose to spend it red in the face screaming at the people around them. It is hard for me to understand.
This weekend Yuval developed a cold, but he is getting better. We are beyond excited to come home, and will try to be better at blogging more often.
Love,
Sarah
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
רק בישראל
A lot has happened since my last post. I finally recovered completely from the worst ear infection EVER. A warning: try never to get an ear infection as an adult. It sucks. Now, that I am better, we have been venturing out of the house to do a little more Tel Aviv exploring. This past weekend was the first weekend we have stayed in Tel Aviv, and we had a visitor! Yuval's first cousin Ian! Ian is here on the Schecter Neshama program, and he came to us for his first free weekend. Now, Ian got here last Thursday around 5pm, Yuval had class so I went to pick him up at the train station. I took the bus there--because that is how we get around and waited. Yuval had spoken to one of the counselors in Hebrew a few days earlier, and the main rule seemed to be "don't take him to crowded places." Now, we were unsure how to interpret this rule, especially regarding taking the bus. So, I went to pick Ian up unclear on how we would get home. I got there early and waited until he called, at first I was running around the parking lot trying to find where they were, and after 10 minutes of looking like a crazy American, I found him. He was with a group of Schecter kids, and a counselor who looked about my age. She looked at me and handed me a paper which was completely in hebrew and told me to give it to my parents! She then told me she had to watch us get into a cab and drive away, and that is what we did. I showed Ian around our neighborhood--we walked along the tayelet, and met Yuval for dinner, at a cafe around the corner from our apartment that has the best hamburgers ever.
The next day we took Ian to the shuk and the artists fair on Nachalat Binyamin, and I got a pair of earrings that I have been pining over for the last 3 weeks. March Madness began that night, so we spent the evening watching the basketball and having a n extremely mediocre shabbat dinner. We are going to have to practice a little more working with our little toaster/convection oven.
Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we went to the beach. We met up with two kids from Yuval's school, (ben from brandeis and david from canada), we had a really nice time. The beach was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, it was a great day.
Sunday morning, we got into a cab to take Ian back to his group, and me to Ulpan. This was the first Ulpan class that I was bored in. Sometimes in classes, activities work and sometimes they don't, this time the activities the teacher prepared just didn't work. As I continue with the ulpan there are things that are very frustrating. The first is that there are a number of people in the class who seem to not care at all. This is confusing to me, because they are all paying out of pocket for this class, and if they don't want to be there, then what are they doing?? The other issue is that there are numerous Russian women in the class, who have been in Israel for a number of years, and they also seem afraid to participate. Now, this wouldn't be a problem if most of the class didn't revolve around group work. But, it does. So, its frustrating when I do the work and then the people I am paired up with expect me to do their work also.
Yesterday was a very interesting day. We woke up and went out to buy tickets to the Israel-Greece Soccer game this weekend. Yuval is extremely excited about this...I'm sure it will be fun. We then had to go fix Yuval's phone. Now, Yuval thought he knew where it was. He didn't. We ended up walking 439457469843740 miles until finally finding it. I was cranky from that.
Anyway, this was much longer than I expected. We are very very very very excited to be coming home next week!!
Love,
Sarah
ps. I wanted to tell everyone how grateful I am to Yuval for cleaning the floors in our apartment for me whenever I ask.
The next day we took Ian to the shuk and the artists fair on Nachalat Binyamin, and I got a pair of earrings that I have been pining over for the last 3 weeks. March Madness began that night, so we spent the evening watching the basketball and having a n extremely mediocre shabbat dinner. We are going to have to practice a little more working with our little toaster/convection oven.
Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we went to the beach. We met up with two kids from Yuval's school, (ben from brandeis and david from canada), we had a really nice time. The beach was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, it was a great day.
Sunday morning, we got into a cab to take Ian back to his group, and me to Ulpan. This was the first Ulpan class that I was bored in. Sometimes in classes, activities work and sometimes they don't, this time the activities the teacher prepared just didn't work. As I continue with the ulpan there are things that are very frustrating. The first is that there are a number of people in the class who seem to not care at all. This is confusing to me, because they are all paying out of pocket for this class, and if they don't want to be there, then what are they doing?? The other issue is that there are numerous Russian women in the class, who have been in Israel for a number of years, and they also seem afraid to participate. Now, this wouldn't be a problem if most of the class didn't revolve around group work. But, it does. So, its frustrating when I do the work and then the people I am paired up with expect me to do their work also.
Yesterday was a very interesting day. We woke up and went out to buy tickets to the Israel-Greece Soccer game this weekend. Yuval is extremely excited about this...I'm sure it will be fun. We then had to go fix Yuval's phone. Now, Yuval thought he knew where it was. He didn't. We ended up walking 439457469843740 miles until finally finding it. I was cranky from that.
Anyway, this was much longer than I expected. We are very very very very excited to be coming home next week!!
Love,
Sarah
ps. I wanted to tell everyone how grateful I am to Yuval for cleaning the floors in our apartment for me whenever I ask.
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