So I realized this week that the new TV season is starting, and since none of the typical online TV sites work in Israel, I'm probably going to miss most of my shows this season. That's very weird to me--especially because I don't actually really miss them. I didn't even realize the season was starting until some friends mentioned downloading new episodes.
I also realized that I missed the Emmy's this weekend. The Emmy's! More importantly, the E! pre-show. I'm pretty I mostly paid for cable the last two years just so I could watch E! award show pre-shows. And the thing is, I'm not really upset about it. It's just not part of my life here like it was back at home, and like it will be when I return. In the meantime, you guys will just have to be my eyes and ears and keep me posted when something dramatic happens in the TV season. Let's just call this my virtual Water Cooler.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
A Picture of Laziness
It's been a really long week, and I've decided to prove that to you by posting a photo of my class schedule, instead of actually sitting down and writing 300 words about it. Sorry it's a little out of focus, but I'm no good with cameras (no snide comments about my choice of profession, please). Worth noting that this month I'm not taking Talmud, because I have Hebrew from 8-12:30 everyday. Also, the classes that are 3 hours long are typically half spent in class and half in chevruta, or study buddies. Also, despite not knowing Hebrew, basically no text that I've worked with this week has been in translation. I'm also posting a few photos of the Yeshiva campus. I then want you to spend 10 hours a day staring at them, so you can imagine what my life will be like here. Honestly, it's pretty freaking exciting.
The theater in the middle of "campus."
The Old Beit Midrash.
The current Beit Midrash.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Gotta Go Back, Back, Back to School Again...
So I am, officially, a student once again. And I couldn't be more excited about it! Classes for the year program began yesterday and now here I am, walking around campus with books in my arms and a backpack on my back, picking classes, forming study groups, and taking notes. I knew I missed all of that, but I don't think I realized how much.
On the other hand, the fact that there are absolutely no expectations or requirements makes this experience totally different from any other educational experience to date. For instance, in college, speaking up in class or not was always such drama for me because on the one hand it was so painful and on the other participation was often required for grades and to keep up with the competition. Here, if I stay quiet no one will care, and if I have something to say, I'm not so worried about whether people think I'm stupid--honestly, I am right now about most of the stuff I'm studying. I'm actually pretty excited about started as a blank slate, and pretty psyched about everything I've learned so far.
So I’ve hit the ground running with my incredibly long days and I’m already trying desperately to keep up with everything. In most classes, there isn’t really homework, but the reality is that this is weighty stuff and repetition and review will be necessary if I plan to retain anything. That doesn’t actually mean that I will in fact find the time for such things, but I’m going to try. At the moment my brain hurts and for some reason it’s telling me you [all] might actually be interested in this, so tomorrow I’ll grace you with specifics about class schedules and timing and stuff. I’ll probably realize a week or two when I’ve actually gotten some sleep that it's not actually interesting to anyone but me, but by then it will surely be too late and you [all?] will already have stopped reading. (By then again, there may be some pictures as well, and you like those, right?)
…Whoa, whoa, I gotta go, back to school…again!
On the other hand, the fact that there are absolutely no expectations or requirements makes this experience totally different from any other educational experience to date. For instance, in college, speaking up in class or not was always such drama for me because on the one hand it was so painful and on the other participation was often required for grades and to keep up with the competition. Here, if I stay quiet no one will care, and if I have something to say, I'm not so worried about whether people think I'm stupid--honestly, I am right now about most of the stuff I'm studying. I'm actually pretty excited about started as a blank slate, and pretty psyched about everything I've learned so far.
So I’ve hit the ground running with my incredibly long days and I’m already trying desperately to keep up with everything. In most classes, there isn’t really homework, but the reality is that this is weighty stuff and repetition and review will be necessary if I plan to retain anything. That doesn’t actually mean that I will in fact find the time for such things, but I’m going to try. At the moment my brain hurts and for some reason it’s telling me you [all] might actually be interested in this, so tomorrow I’ll grace you with specifics about class schedules and timing and stuff. I’ll probably realize a week or two when I’ve actually gotten some sleep that it's not actually interesting to anyone but me, but by then it will surely be too late and you [all?] will already have stopped reading. (By then again, there may be some pictures as well, and you like those, right?)
…Whoa, whoa, I gotta go, back to school…again!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Right To My Door
So, this is awesome: It took me two years and a move to another country, but I finally joined a CSA, which I’m super excited about. CSA, for those unworldly people who don’t know, stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Which basically means for not a huge amount of money some farmers (well, probably not the farmers themselves, but nonetheless) deliver a box a vegetables to your house every week. You don’t really know what will be in it each week. This week, for instance, we got: broccoli, lettuce, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash, tons of eggplant, mint, oregano, and chives.
Not knowing what’s going to be there I think makes it kind of even more awesome, because then you have to cook to the vegetables. That meant that my roommate Paul and I spent Thursday night pouring over cookbooks and recipes trying to take into consideration what would be good with meat (meaning no dairy), good for vegetarians, and good as a meal. It was a pleasure, and we ended up making all kinds of dishes we’d never made before. (It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Paul used to do this stuff professionally, but whatever.) One week in, and, as expected, I’m loving my CSA (which is, by the way, organic and socially-conscious, in case there are people out there who care about that sort of thing).
On the subject of food delivery, we also have a juice man. How awesome is that? For a few dollars every week we have two liters of fresh juice delivered to our door. I don’t actually love juice, so it kind of might be better in theory than in practice, but in theory it is awesome! I’m thinking maybe we’ll make the juice into popsicles, because those would be oh so very tasty. And parve.
Not knowing what’s going to be there I think makes it kind of even more awesome, because then you have to cook to the vegetables. That meant that my roommate Paul and I spent Thursday night pouring over cookbooks and recipes trying to take into consideration what would be good with meat (meaning no dairy), good for vegetarians, and good as a meal. It was a pleasure, and we ended up making all kinds of dishes we’d never made before. (It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Paul used to do this stuff professionally, but whatever.) One week in, and, as expected, I’m loving my CSA (which is, by the way, organic and socially-conscious, in case there are people out there who care about that sort of thing).
On the subject of food delivery, we also have a juice man. How awesome is that? For a few dollars every week we have two liters of fresh juice delivered to our door. I don’t actually love juice, so it kind of might be better in theory than in practice, but in theory it is awesome! I’m thinking maybe we’ll make the juice into popsicles, because those would be oh so very tasty. And parve.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Logistics
Aaand I'm back! Don't have internet in the apartment yet, so fewer opportunities to blog. But I'll keep trying to stay on top of it, especially since orientation starts tomorrow and classes start on Monday, which will be huge time consumption. It's going to be a hell of a year, with an 9am-6:15pm class schedule most days. And for the next month, I will be taking ulpan (Hebrew class) in the mornings instead of classes at the Yeshiva, which means I'll be starting each day an hour earlier even than that. And I can't wait for everything to get started.
This Hebrew class especially is going to be great. It's four hours per day with students and a teacher who are really serious about it. My class over the summer was nice but I hope, and suspect, that this one will actually put me on the path to being able to communicate. I never expected to become fluent this year, but I would like to be able to get around the city and country better than I can now. Each day I learn a tiny bit, but this Hebrew class should help a lot to move forward more quickly.
I know that's not much interesting information, but I sense I might be repeating that a lot over the next few weeks, so I figured I'd just put it out there. I've been been thinking often that I should write about food, as food is awesome, and it's such a big part of our lives here, so look out for some food-related blogging this week.
This Hebrew class especially is going to be great. It's four hours per day with students and a teacher who are really serious about it. My class over the summer was nice but I hope, and suspect, that this one will actually put me on the path to being able to communicate. I never expected to become fluent this year, but I would like to be able to get around the city and country better than I can now. Each day I learn a tiny bit, but this Hebrew class should help a lot to move forward more quickly.
I know that's not much interesting information, but I sense I might be repeating that a lot over the next few weeks, so I figured I'd just put it out there. I've been been thinking often that I should write about food, as food is awesome, and it's such a big part of our lives here, so look out for some food-related blogging this week.