The Last Few Months

I know it's been ages and ages since I've posted. Sorry about that. I was uninspired for a while and unsure of what was worth writing about. I think I've finally accepted that it doesn't always need to be all that deep--and it may be better if it's not.

Since we last met, my parents came to visit for two weeks, which was a really nice time. They spent nearly a week with me in Jerusalem seeing some of the sites and experiencing some of my life here: my friends, the Yeshiva, and a Shabbat. Then we traveled around the country as far south as Eilat and as far north as Nahariya. We even went to Petra, which was phenomenal. I wouldn't exactly call the visit relaxing, but it was a great opportunity to see a little more of Jerusalem and of Israel. And, after four months, to see my parents.

My Hebrew, while still a struggle, has improved by leaps and bounds. Every time I'm feeling frustrated by how slow-going it is, I just remember what I started with (nothing, שום דבר in Hebrew), and I'm kind of amazed at myself. My spoken Hebrew is still a struggle, but my understanding is improving everyday and my translation skills have gotten good enough that I can begin to argue about how something should be read with classmates. It makes me very happy.

I remember the first day that I arrived here, I went to a coffee shop (called Coffeeshop) to start this blog. I was so uncomfortable just walking in, sure that someone might try to speak to me in Hebrew (not a bad instinct), and totally unsure of what I could possibly do in response (speak in English was the answer to that). The other day I walked into a Coffeeshop, got a table, decided what I wanted, and ordered without using any English. And when the Hebrew went over my head, I wasn't afraid to express that, either.

I have no intention of picking up and moving here, but I amazed at how far I've come in five months and how comfortable I've become in my life here. I'm happy to admit that, for the moment, this place is home.

THE PHILLIES WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!

There was a little delay on the mlb.com online video player, so when my best friend from high school called just after the Phillies won, the phone started ringing at the same moment that Lidge threw that final strike. I knew it was her--it could only have been--and so my greeting to her after not speaking for over a month was not "Hey!" but "Ahhhhh!"--but quietly, because it was 4 am and my roommates were sleeping.

I paid for the privilege to see it online; I stayed up most of the night (twice) to watch it, and then even more of the night talking to friends from Phildelphia and my entire family on the phone and online; I missed the first half of my ulpan today so I could get just a few hours of sleep. But it was all worth it, because I actually got to watch the Phillies win the World Series. Not quite as up-close-and-personally as my dad did, but it was the best I could do from Israel. And it was awesome.

Arbah Minim

This one's going to make more sense to those of you who are familiar with the lulav and the etrog, but I think it's kind of cool either way.

Last week, right before Sukkot, one of the teachers took a bunch of us to this shuk (outdoor market), which is one of many that are set up every year exclusively to sell the arbah minim (the four species in the lulav and etrog). There were maybe 20-30 vendors just selling those and the place was packed. You buy everything individually, and as I walked around I saw men (almost always men) at every stall checking each willow, myrtle, and palm branch to make sure he picked out the best, most kosher one to add to his lulav.

I didn't buy my willow that day, because the willow goes bad very quickly, and I wanted mine to look nice for the first day of Sukkot. When I went out just before Sukkot started to purchase it I wasn't sure where to go, but I had heard that people sell it all over the place. It ended up being kind of an adventure, because I didn't really know where I was going, but everyone I stopped on the street was very helpful and knew exactly where I should look.

It was kind of intimidating picking the whole thing out in those settings, but in the end my lulav looked fantastic, and it felt very personal to put the thing together myself.

And Then You Eat

Last week, stuck among the many holidays that have been going on lately, was a sad little holiday that is oft-forgotten and rarely celebrated: Yom Kippur. Actually, in point of fact, when I went to purchase some food on Wednesday for my pre-fast and break-fast meals, apparently the rest of Jerusalem had the same idea, because both the shuk and the supermarket were the busiest I've ever seen them. Leave it up to the Jews to buy food in droves right before a fast.

The week before was (as it traditionally is) Rosh Hashanah. While RH was very nice here, I can't really say it is so much different from RH in the States. It is little quieter, but basically you go to shul, you eat, you don't work. The end.

Yom Kippur, on the other hand, is a totally different story. It's not clear to me if it's by law or by tradition, but in Jerusalem, on Yom Kippur, the only vehicles on the streets all day are emergency vehicles. Instead, there was a constant parade of Yerushalmim riding their bikes and walking up and down the streets. It's really beautiful and amazing.

On Wednesday night, when I was walking home from Kol Nidre and Ma'ariv--the first service of Yom Kippur--I walked passed my yeshiva with some friends and we saw a big group of people outside singing. It turns out that about 50 Nativ-ers (which is a gap-year program for post-USY kids that is housed in the same complex in which I study) were sitting in the middle of the major intersection on which the Yeshiva is located singing various Jewish and Israeli songs. Apparently it was not an original idea, but it was very beautiful and very impressive. They were just sitting in the middle of the street singing, as dozens of Israelis and tourists came by to watch, take pictures, and singing along. And that was nothing like I've even seen back home.

Article About My Friend in JPost

There was a long article in The Jerusalem Post yesterday about my friend Jose's trouble getting citizenship here. It's a JPost article, so it's not especially well written, but I think it's pretty interesting. I believe Jose will be returning to the States soon because of all this, and I'm very sad to see him go. Take a look if you're interested.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017455463&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Chagim in the Air

Between Shabbat and the chagim (holidays), these few weeks have been and will be totally crazy: being in and out of class, and on and off computer usage basically every other day. Nonetheless, Rosh Hashanah was the last couple of days and it was really nice here. I'm not sure if it was so different from RH at home, though. We prayed, ate, prayed, ate, prayed, ate, prayed, ate, prayed, and ate. I don't think it's a coincidence that today is a minor fast day (with a major one coming up next week). And I don't really mind it, either. Anyway, the only noticeable difference between RH here and in the States that I spotted was that the streets are really, really quiet because everyone is off work and everyone closes up shop, whether you're going to synagogue or not. Between that and the beautiful fall weather we've been having, the long walks to the congregation I went to for most of the chag were really fantastic.

Also, I saw rain this weekend for the first time in almost three months, and you know what? It was great. I realized I missed rain pretty badly. After, the city cooled down almost instantaneously, and it's about time. Yay for fall!

The Blogger-cooler

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.