I'm being "adopted" by a host family for Rosh Hashanah this year! The High Holy Days have always been my favorite of the festivals - not just because of the food, but I really get a lot out of the self reflection. Yom Kippur services are actually at the top of my list, if you can believe that - though really, it would be accurate to say the Days of Awe are at the top of my list.
My adopted family is really nice and they're coming to pick me up in a few hours. I'll be staying at their home for the full three days and we'll be walking to synagogue together for services. I was really worried that I'd struggle to find a synagogue I was comfortable with for the holiday, so I'm super relieved this is not the case.
Also, I'm super excited to announce that my mobile phone has been successfully updated to Android 2.3.5 (no hacking necessary) and I have Hebrew support on my phone! I won't be using my phone during the holiday, but it was fund sending out Shana Tova greetings in Hebrew to a few friends this morning.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and I'll put together an update Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I hope.
16 September 2012
and then there were seven: last shabbat of 5772
I have begun the habit of inviting everyone over to kindle the candles each Shabbat and I've been surprised to get a few takers. Hardly anyone is observant in this group, so it's nice to share a little piece of Shabbat beauty with others. This Friday, I'd decided to add in an offer for a Shabbat meal since most of our group had chosen to visit Tel Aviv for the weekend. I should've realized a simple truth that my roommate Sarah so eloquently pointed out to me, "if you offer food, they will come" (I love how relevant A Field of Dreams is even now).
There ended up being seven of us left behind for the weekend, and I know this because all seven of us showed up for the Shabbat meal. It ended up being a pot luck of sorts, with me bringing stove top macaroni and cheese, others bringing salad, sliced watermelon, apples and honey, lemonade, potatoes, etc. It was quite the meal! We actually had so many people there that we couldn't possibly all gather in my humble apartment, so we set up our meal in the lobby of our floor - right in front of the elevators. We've been told on several occasions that Israelis are an innovative people, so I think we're doing our part to fit in.
We started the night with kindling the candles, saying kiddish, washing our hands, and saying the motzi, then we dug into our respective dishes with the enthusiasm one would expect from this group. Shabbat is my favorite part of the week, but I even surprised myself with my excitement over preparations - I can't explain how much it mean to me to gather together for the meal. We even swept up the lobby for the full presentation. In short, it was Shabbat as it was meant to be.
As a side note, the stove top macaroni and cheese was quite delicious - especially after we added all the good stuff like garlic, cumin, Moroccan paprika, and spicy (it has a name, but I can never remember it). Perhaps I'll start posting recipes here as well, as it's been pretty fun to experiment with our meals and what products are available to us here. So far, no meal has been boring. I even used the left over challah this morning to make challah french toast. It was surprisingly tasty substituting honey for the vanilla extract and the syrup.
There ended up being seven of us left behind for the weekend, and I know this because all seven of us showed up for the Shabbat meal. It ended up being a pot luck of sorts, with me bringing stove top macaroni and cheese, others bringing salad, sliced watermelon, apples and honey, lemonade, potatoes, etc. It was quite the meal! We actually had so many people there that we couldn't possibly all gather in my humble apartment, so we set up our meal in the lobby of our floor - right in front of the elevators. We've been told on several occasions that Israelis are an innovative people, so I think we're doing our part to fit in.
We started the night with kindling the candles, saying kiddish, washing our hands, and saying the motzi, then we dug into our respective dishes with the enthusiasm one would expect from this group. Shabbat is my favorite part of the week, but I even surprised myself with my excitement over preparations - I can't explain how much it mean to me to gather together for the meal. We even swept up the lobby for the full presentation. In short, it was Shabbat as it was meant to be.
As a side note, the stove top macaroni and cheese was quite delicious - especially after we added all the good stuff like garlic, cumin, Moroccan paprika, and spicy (it has a name, but I can never remember it). Perhaps I'll start posting recipes here as well, as it's been pretty fun to experiment with our meals and what products are available to us here. So far, no meal has been boring. I even used the left over challah this morning to make challah french toast. It was surprisingly tasty substituting honey for the vanilla extract and the syrup.
'sup on the way to ulpan
On Wednesday (12/9/12), we took the Metrodan bus line to our first day of Ulpan at Altchul. We've had a fair amount of time to get used to the bus system that is utilized pretty heavily in a surprisingly compact city. This time around, I was able to avoid the "standing room only" area of the bus by taking a seat at the back of the bus.
I was seated between two boys, who were riveted to the conversations I had with my fellow ITF members - I'm assuming it's because native English speakers are a bit of a novelty here. A cool moment happened when my friend Josh boarded the bus. By way of greeting, I said, "'sup, Josh?" Immediately following my greeting, I overheard the boy next to me (who had to be between 11 and 13) say under his breath, "'sup"- I knew we had unwittingly taught this kid how to greet his friends with the very informal version of "what's up?"
I've decided to be proud of the accomplishment, since it means students like him will be more eager to learn English in the classroom. Maybe. I'm most proud of myself, however, for curbing my desire to explain to the boy why I used such an abbreviated slang form of greeting. In the end, it really doesn't matter where the word comes from, just that he and his friends are probably using 'sup as we speak. Not sure if that's the instrument of change we really wanted to be, but there it is.
The Ulpan itself ended up being more of an assessment day, which is to be expected. I was placed in the beginner class, though they added a note that I know most of the alphabet. I've been working on my Hebrew study books and I hope to surprise my Ulpan instructors with my increased knowledge. As much as I'm familiar with block, I knew little of script at the time of the assessment - at the moment I now know double what I did then. I really want to take that course by storm! We also did some basic learning about Rosh Hashanah greetings (which I already knew).
Perhaps next time, I'll tell the story of how we got our רב-קו (rav-kav or bus passes). It was a bit on the amusing side :)
I was seated between two boys, who were riveted to the conversations I had with my fellow ITF members - I'm assuming it's because native English speakers are a bit of a novelty here. A cool moment happened when my friend Josh boarded the bus. By way of greeting, I said, "'sup, Josh?" Immediately following my greeting, I overheard the boy next to me (who had to be between 11 and 13) say under his breath, "'sup"- I knew we had unwittingly taught this kid how to greet his friends with the very informal version of "what's up?"
I've decided to be proud of the accomplishment, since it means students like him will be more eager to learn English in the classroom. Maybe. I'm most proud of myself, however, for curbing my desire to explain to the boy why I used such an abbreviated slang form of greeting. In the end, it really doesn't matter where the word comes from, just that he and his friends are probably using 'sup as we speak. Not sure if that's the instrument of change we really wanted to be, but there it is.
The Ulpan itself ended up being more of an assessment day, which is to be expected. I was placed in the beginner class, though they added a note that I know most of the alphabet. I've been working on my Hebrew study books and I hope to surprise my Ulpan instructors with my increased knowledge. As much as I'm familiar with block, I knew little of script at the time of the assessment - at the moment I now know double what I did then. I really want to take that course by storm! We also did some basic learning about Rosh Hashanah greetings (which I already knew).
Perhaps next time, I'll tell the story of how we got our רב-קו (rav-kav or bus passes). It was a bit on the amusing side :)
15 September 2012
your people shall be my people
I first set foot on Israeli soil mid-March 2012, during my birthright trip (taglit). It shocked me before I left for Israel how I could possibly love a place I'd never experienced in actuality, but I managed to surprise myself further when I stepped off that plane: it was a homecoming. The sense of belonging struck me again and again with each location visited. But I feared the feeling was somehow tied up into the magic of birthright and would vanish with the jet fuel.
Six months later, I was exhausted beyond anything I've ever felt in memory from the long trip from Phoenix to New York, then New York to Tel Aviv five days later. But that fatigue couldn't hold back my smile as I walked through Ben Gurion Airport, looking for the rest of my group. That feeling of belonging was just as strong as before, and I was more than ready to take on the newest challenges on my list:
Six months later, I was exhausted beyond anything I've ever felt in memory from the long trip from Phoenix to New York, then New York to Tel Aviv five days later. But that fatigue couldn't hold back my smile as I walked through Ben Gurion Airport, looking for the rest of my group. That feeling of belonging was just as strong as before, and I was more than ready to take on the newest challenges on my list:
- Learn to read and speak Hebrew - as fluently as possible!!!
- Get my bearings in a town I've never experienced - that largely doesn't speak English
- Teach Israeli children to speak and read English as a Foreign Language
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