Shalom LeKulam!
It's definitely been an academic week, with the end of Ulpan/Ulpan final, and the beginning of class. But never fear, there's been plenty of fun in between.
Wednesday was the last day of class, and they had this weird "end of Ulpan" concert, that was actually a high school band playing Alladin, Fiddler on the Roof, and various other random music. Basically, it allowed me to leave early, because instead of having the concert in the auditorium down the hall, they had us all crowd in the elevator lobby of the floor. It pretty much made no sense, and there wasn't a lot of room, so I went back home. After a pretty decent amount of procrastination I finally studied for my Ulpan final, and luckily despite my extreme lack of desire for studying, I got my best grade of the semester on the final, which is good since it counts for 35% of my grade.
After the final, I went out with my roommate Jessica to Ben Yehuda to celebrate being done with Ulpan. We went back to Luigi's, the Italian restaurant I had gone to with my friend a couple weeks before. I was really proud of myself, because it was the first time I went downtown without someone who really knew their way around, and I was able to, pretty quickly, find the restaurant. Now, anyone who has ever had me drive them or direct them somewhere knows my directions are not the best, but the Saturday night before one of my friends had tried to explain to me the layout of the area, so I was able to find it on my own. I was proud.
Anyway, lunch was fabulous and we got a special deal for the "business lunch", so we could get a salad, an entree, and a drink for 45 shekel, which is about $12-$13. Then Jessica and I went shopping along Ben Yehuda. We found a really pretty skirt store, and I'm thinking it might need to be a stop made for Passover clothes. I also bought a really pretty Chamsa necklace made by Adaya, an Israeli jewelry artist that uses beads. We also bought these really good roasted peanuts.
After we came back, I packed my bags, and got ready for my weekend away. We took a cab, then a bus, then a train, and then another cab, and finally made it to our hostel in Akko near the Old City gates. Akko is a city in the northwest part of Israel, along the coast of the Mediteranean, approximately an hour south of the Israel-Lebanon border and half an hour north of Haifa.
The hostel was, shall we say, sketchy. We were a group of six in a six person room...without a key. So, basically we had to carry our valuables with us, which was fine because I obviously didn't bring much that was valuable. I had brought a towel and shampoo and stuff intending on showering, but since the shower was bathroom (ie the bathroom was a room with a toilet and a nozel above the floor with the ever-famous Israeli squeegy to move the water into the drain in the ground), we passed on the showering until we got home Saturday night (we smelled awesome, let me tell you). Also staying in the hostel was a very large group of Young Judea Year Course students, whose rooms literally surrounded us (there were 10 of them on the right, a bunch on the left, and more stampeding upstairs) that for some reason had the ability to be loud at ALL hours of the day and night. Between that, and my friend who snored, squeeked, and made other various wierd noises in his sleep, I didn't sleep much that weekend, but we still got to enjoy much of the city and surrounding area.
After we got there, we went to a really cool local Turkish coffee and hookah bar, and I enjoyed my fabulous Turkish coffee while we waited for the rest of our group to get there (a few people had to stay in Jerusalem later, but some of us didn't want to have to travel so late at night, and had no reason to stay, so we went up earlier).
Me and Aynsley at the Turkish Coffee Bar
We woke up early the next morning to take a train back to Haifa to go on a tour of the Bahai Gardens. In case Israel being central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam was not enough, apparently Haifa is the world center of the Bahai faith. The founder of Bahai is buried in Haifa, and these gorgeous gardens cascade down the Carmel mountains to the Bahai Temple. I'd seen it from far away before during a lunch stop over in Haifa when I came with my dad, but never up close, and I'm really glad I got a chance to see it, even though we weren't staying in Haifa.
The Bahai Gardens
View of Haifa from the top of the Bahai Gardens
Bahai Gardens
Bahai Gardens and Bahai Temple
Amanda and I at the Bahai Temple
After the tour of the gardens, we had lunch at a restaurant in Haifa's German colony. We also went into a couple of shops, and I bought a really pretty Israeli dreidel with pomegranates that I'm very excited about.
Me and my fruit shake at lunch in Haifa
We caught the last train before shabbos back to Akko, and then went to the shuk to buy some last minute things for shabbos dinner. After a much-needed nap, we had a nice shabbos dinner in the hostel, and then hung out before going to bed.
The next day we spent exploring the Old City of Akko. We saw the Crusader ruins and the Knights' tunnels and halls, an art museum with works from a local artist, tunnels used by the Templars, the lighthouse and port of Akko, and the Al Jazaar Mosque (the third holiest mosque in Israel). After a LOT of walking around and touring the city, we waited on the beach until shabbos ended, had some dinner of pita and various Middle Eastern pita-dipping things (I had Lebana cheese and zatar), and I even got a can of Diet Coke written in Arabic which I was very excited about and am keeping to put with my Hebrew coke bottle collection at home.
Me, Sarah, and Dana with the cannon by the Old City wall
The Entrance to the Al Jazaar Mosque
We had another long journey back to Jerusalem, and then had a nice night in since we didn't get back until very late, and today was the first day of classes.
My first day of classes was reasonably uneventful. I had Theories of International Relations of the Middle East at 9am, which I really enjoyed, but because it is on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings, it really messes us traveling, so I am going to sit in on another class this week to see what I think about it and consider switching so I'm actually able to see the country. After a four hour break (including a much needed grocery store trip), I had Arabic, which, despite my excitement about going back to studying Arabic after seeing all of the Arabic signs in Akko, I was severely disappointed. I really didn't like the book they used, the teacher was mediocre at best, and it was wierd because of the class had been here last semester and so they were exactly where they were supposed to be, where I was behind in some ways and ahead in others. My last class was Rapprochment and Coexistence, which is basically a class on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The teacher seems really good and is an organized lecturer, which is good because I have him from 4:30-6:15 Sunday-Weds (I also have Israeli Foreign Policy with him).
After class, I went out with my friend Amanda to an AMAZING sushi restaurant downtown. We ordered a bunch of really cool things and split it all, and while it was on the pricey side for what we've been paying for food here, it was VERY reasonable for sushi in US terms and was amazingly delicious. It's definatly not an every day place, but I am going to have to go back there in the near future.
Monday was a pretty long day, with Hebrew at 8:30 in the morning and then no class again until 4:30. After Hebrew I came home and took a nice nap, then walked back in the POURING rain, and had to sit at campus for 4 hours soaking wet which was not fun. I had Israeli Foreign Policy with the professor who teaches Rapprochement and Coexistence, and he said that you aren't allowed to take both classes. Basically I had a freak out, and spent some time sending emails to advisors at Hebrew U and GW and trying to figure out what to do. I've since slightly figured out what to do, almost, so hopefully it'll all be worked out. After sitting around the building for a couple hours, I had a meeting for the Middle East honors program, in which they attempted to get 25 people and a teacher to figure out a time that they can all meet every week - def doesn't work. Basically it was a disaster, and there was this one girl who was totally obnoxious and trying to get us to meet at 6:30 on Thursday nights, which is the equivalent of a Friday night class in the US...basically, not happening. Also, it was supposed to be groups of 10, not the whole program, so we were all saying they should put it back like that. I came home late and was exausted, so just had a relaxing night at home.
Today was another day of classes, and I had my second Hebrew teacher at 10:30. Then I had another break again until 4:30, and had my second Rapprochement and Coexistence class. I was supposed to meet up with my Beit Midrash partner today because I couldn't meet yesterday because of the meeting, but we ended up rescheduling for Thursday afternoon in between classes.
Anyway, off I go...more updates later!
Lehitraot,
Leah
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