Day 12: Death By Dehydration... Shabbat Shalom!

After my jam packed time in Jerusalem I was very excited to have a day off where I could sleep in! I finally got over the lack of sleeping part of the jet lag, and now I decided it was time for my body to get over the "I can't sleep in for the life of me" part of jet lag. Unfortunately that is easier said than done so I ended up waking up around 7 in the morning... Now, the good thing about me is I'm very stubborn so I told myself I wasn't going to get out of bed, put on some music, and fell back asleep until 11! YAY for sleeping in! When I finally got out of bed I looked out and saw that it was a gorgeous day in Tel Aviv, and the day should not be wasted staying inside. I made some brunch, got myself organized, and decided I would walk to the beach. My Suite mate Mara decided that she wanted to join so we both packed our beach bags and headed out. I decided that I wanted to walk to the beach that was closest to our apartments (though it isn't the most popular beach), because I didn't want to deal with busses and it is free to walk :-). Even though the beach is "close-ish" it still took about 30-40 minutes to walk there and it was HOT HOT HOT and HUMID HUMID HUMID... Luckily I had my bottle of water... After about 40 minutes we finally reached our destination, and it was so worth the gross walk in the heat.

The beach was absolutely stunning; there were families, young children playing, people walking their dogs, and young adults gathering on shore with their friends. It was such a fun place to be on a Shabbat afternoon! My suite mate decided that she wanted to walk along the beach, so I took her stuff, made a place for myself, put on my ipod, and enjoyed the sun and open ocean! After listening to my music for a bit, I decided it was time to bust out the kindle and get some reading in. That lasted all of 10 minutes before I decided that nap time was much more important! After sleeping for a bit Mara came back from her walk and we decided it was time to go home.  I said my goodbyes to the beach and then we were off.

Now it is important to note that I didn't go into the water this trip to the beach, but was still soaking wet... Thank you humidity you are slowly killing me... As we began our trip back to our apartment I found that I was without water (since I had finished it on the beach), and stupidly, thinking that I would be fine, we continued walking. About 5 minutes later, as we were crossing the street, I had to turn back to the sidewalk because I was on the verge of passing out... I dropped to the sidewalk and praised God that Mara had an extra water bottle that she had forgot about. I was so dehydrated and losing so much water because of the humidity, I literally thought I was going to die. After sitting for a few minutes we decided to start walking again, and luckily there was a shaded bench near by because I was getting dizzy again... We both decided it would be beneficial to stop on the bench for an undisclosed amount of time and rest until I was feeling a bit better. As I was laying in the shade, trying really hard to get over the fact that I felt like I was going to pass out, I couldn't help but notice just how beautiful Ramat Aviv is (and it must be really beautiful if it still caught my eye amidst my dehydration attack)! I just sat there looking at the beautiful scenery around me, and fell more and more in love with this place and this country.

It's hard to say what my feelings will be months, and even years, from now, but if it wasn't for my amazing family and friends back home I would probably be at the immigrant office in Jerusalem making Aliyah (becoming a citizen) as soon as possible. Worry not family and friends, I am still coming home, but it is tempting sometimes :-) After I got back from the beach, and hydrated, I wrote my page long paper (entirely in Hebrew), made some dinner, and am now spending the remaining hours of being awake going between watching movies and watching the news on the huge protests happening all throughout Israel tonight. It is really a very exciting time to be here with what is going on politically, and I'm so excited to be in the middle of it. If I wasn't so gosh darn exhausted I would probably have taken a bus to the center of town to see the demonstrations, but I have class at 8 in the morning and need to get some sleep. Luckily, I don't think this will be the end of the demonstrations so I'm sure I'll catch the action soon :-)

Well that is all for today. From this week on my ulpan teacher will be conducting class only in Hebrew so that should be really interesting! I plan on going to Jaffa a few times, and finally checking out the street fair and Shuk Ha'pishpisheem (Flee Market). Those will be fun posts to read about :-)

Lilah Tov!!
Jordana Simone

Day 10-11: You Don't Know True Love Until You've Been To Jerusalem

Ever since arriving in Israel there has been one thing on my mind: Getting home to Jerusalem. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Tel aviv. The city is so vibrant, energetic, full of life, and exciting, but even in the middle of all the action, my heart has always been, and alway will be, B'Yerushalayim (In Jerusalem). My friend Susanna and I decided we would go to the Holy City Thursday after my Ulpan, and I honestly don't know how I stayed focused for 5 hours of Hebrew while I was so excited about my upcoming trip. Anyways, Ulpan came and went (with some more compliments from my teacher, and a perfect homework grade minus any red comment marks), and finally it was time to leave! I went back home and realized I didn't quite know how to get to the Tachana Markazit (Central Bus Station) from my dorm. Again, with my fantastic sense of directions, I decided to walk away from the university in hopes of catching a bus that would take me down to the station. Well, leave it to me, I walk in the wrong direction, don't find a bus, am on a time frame, and end up having to spend 60 Shekel on a cab... NO BUENO. I made it to the Tachana Markazit just in time, and luckily Susanna held a Sherut (shared taxi) spot for me. Finally, we were off!

After about 40 minutes or so in the Sherut I could start seeing signs for Jerusalem, and my heart was racing with excitement. Another few minutes and I saw the big Bruchim Habayim (Welcome) sign that indicates we were entering Jerusalem. I WAS HOME, and it felt so amazing. We were now driving through streets that I knew, and places no longer looked foreign to me. I recognized streets, places, shops, restaurants, and it felt so familiar and wonderful. There were many things that were different however. When I lived in Jerusalem two years ago many of the streets were torn up to build tracks for trains, and bridges for cars, and the city was in a bit of disarray. Now, however, the scene was so different. The bridges were finished, the tracks were done, and every so often we would see a train (one that mostly resembled the monorail at Disneyland) run across town. It was magical, and Jerusalem looked gorgeous and new while still maintaining its ancient feel.

After we dropped off our bags at Susanna's friends apartment (where we stayed the night), we walked to the famous Ben Yahuda street to do some shopping. It was midday but the heat was so different than in Tel Aviv. In Tel Aviv the heat and humidity could choke a horse, but in Jerusalem it was dry, warm, and wonderful! Though it was on the hotter side of warm, there was a cool breeze that swept the city, and it made the day so profoundly beautiful. We spent some time walking around Ben Yahuda street, watching all of the birthright groups and tour groups stroll by, and then we decided to do some shopping! I didn't end up buying anything but it was so nice going into all the stores I used to frequent when I lived there. Around 4:30 or so we both were a little hungry so we decided to stop for a bagel, sit outside, and enjoy the splendor of the day. After another hour and a half of walking around Kikar Tzion (Tzion Square) and Ben Yahuda, we made our way near the Old City. Outside of the Old City is the big Mamilla Mall so we decided to go there first, just to see if there was anything we HAD to buy :-). After an hour or so there, we finally made it to my absolute favorite place in the whole entire world: Jerusalem's Old City.

Nothing can describe my elation when I stepped foot inside Jaffa Gate and entered Il-Ballad Il-Adeemeh (The Old City). A flood of emotions came to me; I was excited, happy, overwhelmed, and more. For those of you who have never been to the old city, there really is no way to describe it in a way that will do it's amazingness justice. As you walk through the stone streets you see a mix of all of the big religions (Jews, Christians, Muslims- both secular and religious) filling the streets; walking side by side one another. You will see the Lubuvitch and Haradeim (Ultra Orthodox) flocking to the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel (Western Wall), the Muslims walking the streets, stopping in shops, and going on their way to Al-Aqsa  Mosque to pray (especially now during the moth of Ramadan), and the Christian monks, nuns, and pilgrims on their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Jesus was said to have been buried. The streets are crowded and noisy with children running around, shop owners beckoning in foreign customers (that they will most likely rip off), tourists running around trying to find various places within the walls of the Old City, and just the general chaos of a crowded market place that spans an entire city. As you are walking around you will see the Arab run shops where the owners are sitting outside drinking coffee, smoking hookah, or playing a game of backgammon while they wait for people to enter their shops. You hear a various mix of Israeli and Arabic music coming from each and every shop, house, caffe, and restaurant in the city, and it is loud, crowded, busy, and glorious beyond all description.

The first thing Susanna and I wanted to do was go to our hookah bar. This was a place we were at almost every day two years ago, and we made it a kind of home base. We loved the Palestinians who owned the bar, would practice our Arabic with them, and they would take my ipod, play my Arabic music, and we would sing, dance around, drink, and have the time of our lives. To my ultimate horror, our beloved bar had closed down a few months ago; my sadness was pretty severe. After we mourned for a few minutes we continued on our way through the Old City. One of the things I wanted to do was look at hostels incase I ever came back by myself and needed a place to stay for a few nights. Susanna knew of a few so we decided to walk around looking for them. Most of them were very nice, but one was out of this world extraordinary. It is called Citadel Youth Hostel and it looks like an underground cave that was converted into living quarters; simply stunning.

The best part about this Hostel, however, is that you can sleep on the roof. Now this might sound strange, but when you see this roof there is no wonder why people spend money to sleep on it. From the top of the hostel you can see the entire Old City in all of it's splendor and glory. You have a million dollar view for only a few shekels a night.

After hostel hunting there was one more place I had to go. The Kotel (Western Wall). There is no way you can go to the Old City and not see this historic and amazing place. We get to the Kotel around 10:30 or so and it is still packed with people. All of the Ultra Orthodox are walking to the wall to pray, tourists are flooding to put notes in the wall, and it is within the holy 9 day period before Tisha Ba'av (the day commemorating the destruction of both of our temples) so it was extra packed with people praying and visiting. You can't describe the felling you have at the wall, and it is hard to understand if you are not Jewish. It is hard to listen to people who say there is no God when you go to a place like the Kotel; standing so small in front of this big wall you can feel God all around you. You see people praying, crying, laughing, and you feel spirituality everywhere. It is such an overwhelming feeling being at the wall, and it makes you feel so special to be connected to something so holy; to come from a people and culture so deeply rooted in history and spirituality. I have always felt so special being Jewish, and more overall being Semitic, and every time I am somewhere like Jerusalem, or the old city, or the wall, it just reaffirms how lucky I am to come from such a rich and profound culture and history.

After the Kotel we spent a little more time walking around the Old City until  fatigue was starting to set in. We decided we should go get some food, and then go to another hookah bar in Jerusalem. Even if we didn't get to enjoy our special hookah bar, we weren't going to pass up the opportunity to go all together :-). We ate some good food, found another hookah spot, and spent the last hour or so of our time out enjoying the night, smoking some hookah, and taking in our day. Then we were off. I said my goodbyes to downtown and the Old City, and we walked back to Susanna's friend's apartment. It was a magical day, and I was so happy to be back. After a pretty good night sleep, Susanna and I got up today, had some coffee, walked around Jerusalem a little more, and then it was back to Tel Aviv. My time in Jerusalem was short but so filled with everything I wanted to do. Now that I know exactly what busses and Sheruts to take, I will have no problem getting back very frequently over the next year and a half. This trip reaffirmed that my heart is and always will be in this city, and it is a love affair that will be around forever (Inshallah v' Baruch Hashem). Now that I am home I am completely worn out so I will be using this Shabbat to rest and go to the beach!!! I also have to write my first page long composition entirely in Hebrew so that will take some work to do :-)

Stay tuned for my Shabbat update tomorrow!
Erev Tov ya Habibkum,
Jordana Simone

Day 9: If You Want To Save The Middle East, Raise Your Hand!

Today was a wonderful, wonderful day from start to finish. First of all, last night was my first night sleeping all the way through the night, and I finally feel like my body is getting back on track. In the morning I headed off to my daily 5 hour intensive Ulpan, and it was a great session. As we were getting our homework back my teacher made a comment about one of my sentences (I had made a very common mistake), and after she corrected me she handed back my homework, told me that I was an excellent student, and exclaimed that my homework was "Yafeh Meod"(excellent, very good, etc.). I was, of course, very happy after she said this; it is always nice to be recognized for working hard! I do need to practice my speaking a lot more though. When I read a paragraph I can understand almost everything; when someone speaks to me, however, it is a different story... Firstly, Israelis speak a hundred words a minute so it is extremely hard to keep up. Second, there are 3 different words in Hebrew for what one word would be in English, so keeping those straight are hard enough. Lastly, sentence structure is completely different in Hebrew; the noun comes before the adjective, the preposition comes before the noun, etc. It is very hard to keep all of this straight when someone is talking to you! But, I am certain that with enough practice I will be ok.

After Ulpan I had a little time for lunch and then it was off to the meet and greet for my Master's program. It was so great meeting all the people who I will be studying with, but what was really exciting was hearing about all of the amazing things we will be doing. Not only will I be studying all things on the Middle East from diplomacy, to history, to conflict, etc., but I will be taking 2 languages classes, and partaking in various study trips to places like Petra, Jordan, Um-Al Fahem, the Israeli-Syrian border, and one long study tour out of the country (place not know yet but they think maybe Georgia). Along with all of the amazing things I will get to study, I will also have the opportunity to hold various internships in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and work on my Thesis out of the country (I will probably be in Jordan if my thesis idea stays the same as it is now, but who knows what will happen 15 months down the road
:-p). It all comes down to the fact that I am exactly where I should be at a very exciting time in the Middle East. With the dawn of the Arab Springs, the uprisings in many of the countries, the shifts in power and politics all over the Middle East, it is a changing society that hasn't been seen in the region in over a century; and I am right in the middle of it all! There is no more exciting place to be than somewhere rooted in so much history on the verge of so much change and revolution. I have no doubt that this will truly be a year filled with amazing discoveries and adventures.

After the meet and greet I had some down time at home where I cooked some food, did my homework, listened to my new Arabic CD's (I'm getting so fast at memorizing the songs now. I'm down to about 2 weeks to get a whole CD down in Arabic!!!), and took a little rest. Once night fell I FINALLY got to meet up with my friend Susanna who I went to school with in Jerusalem 2 years ago. It was so amazing seeing her again, and it was like no time had passed. We are going to Jerusalem tomorrow and spent the night talking about our upcoming trip, my school, and her new job in Tel Aviv! Another reason this year will be amazing is because I have a partner in crime to travel around with (both in Israel and abroad), and when we both have a little time off from our crazy lives, we will get to do a lot of great things!

Well that pretty much sums up today. I have such butterflies in my stomach because I am going back to Jerusalem tomorrow; back to where I lived, back to what is familiar to me. I can't wait to be in my Old City, see the Kotel, shop in the shook, visit my Arab friends right inside Jaffa Gate, and walk around Ben Yehudah street. I'm going home!!! Stay tuned to read all about my little mini trip :-)

Lilah Tov <3,
Jordana Simone

Day 8: Are You Sure You Are In The Right Place?

Firstly, many of my family members have requested to see what my hair looks like in this Tel Aviv humidity... Well here you go! It's quite...BIG!

I will never have to worry about having a flat hair day; granted I will NEVER be able to straighten my hair here, but I think I'll manage :-)

Today was a fantastic day in Ulpan. We did a bit more review and have now started reading and comprehension on various texts. When we tried this reading the first day of Ulpan (just 3 days ago) I felt so completely lost. Today, however, I understood almost everything I read, and was able to answer all of the questions. While I will get into what we read soon, because it is so interesting, I have to mention something that was said to me during one of our breaks. After getting my daily iced coffee (I'm already so addicted), I decided to head back to the classroom a bit early to catch up on some emails and do a little self review. I find that I like coming into class a bit early from break because the room is empty and I can just sit back and enjoy the stunning view and a little peace and quiet before the rush of Ulpan starts back up. Anyways, another one of the foreign students decided she would come back too (she is from Poland, but lives in Germany), and we started talking a bit. She asked me "are you sure you are in the right level, you seem to know everything so well", and all I could think was "YAY!". I had felt a little bad because usually I am so quick with languages, and I felt, vocabulary wise, I was a bit behind, but I guess what I was feeling and how I was performing were a bit different. I thank Arabic so much for the fact that I feel so comfortable with grammar; if only speaking Hebrew were as easy as being able to write it and recognize verb forms... I'm really really good at that, however, speaking is a different story. I assured her I was very comfortable in this level, and we got to talking about the other languages she speaks, and the other language I am learning. Overall it was a great compliment that turned into a great conversation, and it help me with my confidence that if I work hard, study, and practice (which shouldn't be hard I mean I live in a Hebrew speaking country), then I will get the hang of the language in no time! I"m a little worried about studying Hebrew simultaneously with Arabic, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes!

Now, about what we read in class today. It was a subject on Judaica that I had NO idea about, and was so fascinated by. It absolutely increased my excitement at the fact that I will be spending the next year and a half studying the fascinating Middle East. We read about something that is found in every Bayit Knesset (Synagogue) called a Gneezah. Basically, whenever a Jew would write something they would start by writing the name of God, and in Jewish custom, you really aren't allowed to throw anything away that has the name of God written on it. Because of this, every piece of paper containing God's name would be placed in the Gneezah until it was full, at which point all of the papers would be collected and a Jewish burial would be performed. Anyways, two women were traveling in Egypt when they came across people in tents selling ancient items. The two women bought some fairly ancient looking pieces of paper and brought them back home to a very knowledgable professor on the Middle East. He saw these papers and immediately travelled to Egypt to collect the rest of them. He now has 13 volumes dedicated to all of the papers he recovered in Egypt that were from a Gneezah in a Synagogue in Cairo from the years (900-1200 A.D.). Among these papers were questions written to the Rabbi in Cairo from Jews all over the Middle East; they found papers from Jews in Syria, Russia, Egypt, Spain, Israel, and Morocco, all written in Arabic, Hebrew, and Yiddish. AMAZING!

This whole region is so much apart of my history, and hearing about this sparked an interest in learning more about the fascinating history of the Jewish people in what is now called "the Arab Middle East". See, it's not so crazy that I am obsessed with everything Middle East, from the places to the languages! I've never felt so strongly about the fact that this is exactly where I need to be, and exactly where I should be. I have so many amazing things to see and to learn, and everyday brings new information that could lead to new adventures and travels! Who knows :-), I'm saying skies the limit, and letting each day unfold without a set plan (life is so much more exciting when you just let it take you where it wants to take you, instead of trying to bend it to your will); who knows what will unfold!!!

Tomorrow I meet everyone who is in my Master's program, and I am so excited to meet the people who I will be surrounded by for the next 12-15 months. After that it is off to the place that holds my heart completely; Jerusalem! I am going with my friend Susanna (who I just found out got a job in Israel and will be moving here permanently! YAY), and we are going to re-live the days we spent in the old city when we both lived there two years ago.

Stay tuned for many more updates :-),
Jordana Simone

Day 7: Oh My God I'm Soooooo Drunk Right Now... (tales of sad, sad undergrads)

I can't believe how much has changed in my one year being out of college. I remember the days where all that really mattered was "let's get hammered", or "let's go find where the hot guys are", and so on. I guess I never realized how far behind me that kind of lifestyle was until coming here to Israel. It is a bit tough right now because my Master's program is the only one that requires the intensive summer language course, and because of this there are a ton of graduate students who won't be here until October. The few of us graduates who are here are swimming in a pool of sex crazed, party obsessed undergraduates... FUN...

I was waiting in line today for my mid morning iced coffee when I literally had to back up due to the smell coming off of the girl in front of me ... She was literally sweating alcohol; she smelled like a cross between a cheap bar and a frat house. As one of her friends came up to her she hungoverly welcomed him with "Oh my God I'm still drunk right now..."

It's hard to believe there was ever a time when that way of life was appealing to me. I mean don't get me wrong, I love going out, staying out until unGodly hours of the morning, taking my 1-2 shots and getting a bit tipsy, but to do that every night, and to have that be the only experience here in Israel, seems like such a shame and a waste. 

But enough of that! Today was the second day of Ulpan and I am really getting much more comfortable with the language. Granted I am still getting a bit mixed up with Arabic, but when it comes to grammar my knowledge of Arabic is really helping me a lot. My teacher is incredible. Her name is Eti and even though she is a pretty typical Israeli woman, she always has a smile on her face, and there is a warmth about her that makes everyone feel so comfortable (even though she is tough)! We are finally done with our review of basic grammar so starting tomorrow we will be getting into the core of conversational Hebrew. YAY! 

Aside from that, I spent time really walking the campus today. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The campus itself looks like a breed between the desert, the coast, and the tropics, and through the trees and the flowers you can see the big city. It is breathtaking!!! As if I didn't feel lucky enough to be in Israel, I get to work and study surrounded by pure beauty. 

After class I decided to brave the heat and humidity and walk to the store to pick up some more grocery's to sustain me for the rest of the week and weekend. Well... this was good and bad for a couple of reasons. First, the store is about 2 blocks away and it is about 80 + degrees outside with 70%+ humidity. This wouldn't be so bad except that I had the bright idea of buying huge water bottles that I then had to lug up the hill, in the heat and humidity, for two blocks, along with schlepping my other groceries... But hey, who needs to buy a gym membership here; I simultaneously got my weight lifting, cardio, and Bikram hot yoga in on one trip to the store. I might not be able to walk tomorrow, or lift my arms, but so what! The good news is I didn't have to ask anyone to speak English at the market, and I understood what they were asking me both at the check out line, and when I was searching for things in the lanes. 

As for the rest of the week, tomorrow is a pretty standard day (might make it to the beach), on Wednesday we have a meet and greet with the rest of the people in my Master's program (including the professors and advisors), and then Thursday it is off to Jerusalem!!!!! Many things to look forward to in the next few days!

Stay tuned ;-),

Jordana Simone 

Day 6: Do You Speak Jewish?? Ulpan + Beach = TOV MEOD!!!

Well school is officially back in session! Today was my first day of Ulpan, and I absolutely LOVED it! At first I was really nervous that I wouldn't remember any of the Hebrew I had learned over the years, and I have Arabic so fresh in my mind that I was concerned I would get confused, but after a 5 hour review things came back to me nicely. I can still read and write very well, but I have a long way to go with vocabulary. The verb conjugations are very similar to Arabic so I'm not too worried, I just have to watch out that I don't get confused and mix up the languages. I wish there was something like "spanglish" in the Middle East... I would call it "Arabrew"; I figure if Spanish and English can mix to make Spanglish, there is no reason Arabic and Hebrew shouldn't be able to do the same! That would make my life so much easier :-). I'm becoming more comfortable using Hebrew when I'm out in public, and I'm really forcing myself to speak to people, as much as I can, in said language. I have a long way to go, but I feel that I will be ok after the 8 week intensive course. It's funny how when I talk to people back home I have to watch myself because I want to say things like "Tov Meod", instead of "YAY", or "Wow that is so great", or I want to say "Gam Ani" instead of me too, etc.... My poor American friends are going to think I'm nuts, and won't be able to understand a thing I'm saying!

As excited as I am to be conversational in Hebrew, this week has solidified the fact that Arabic is truly the language love of my life. Hebrew is amazing, and I'm so excited to be able to speak and understand, but I'm counting down the days until Arabic classes start. I'm going to Jerusalem on Thursday to walk around the Arab quarter of the old city just so I can keep practicing! I have already met students in my Master's program that are talking about taking trips to the Sinai in Egypt, Petra, Amman, and Aquaba in Jordan, and even Beirut, Lebanon, so I will have many people to travel around the Arab Middle East with! Luckily I'm starting to get pretty dark, so I'll fit right in with my look and my Arabic accent.

After Ulpan, my friend Dana and I decided to hope on a bus and go to the beach. We found the beach a whole lot easier than we found our way to Jaffa! We had a great time just relaxing in the sun, and enjoying the warm, clear Mediterranean waters. I will be going to the beach quite often. Once the sun was starting to set, we decided we might as well eat out since we were surrounded by rows and rows of cafes. We found a very cute little place near the beach and had a delicious pasta dinner. I guess a perk of not eating a lot, and buying food in Tel Aviv (which is pretty expensive), is that at least I can get a few meals out of it :-)

After that I came back home, did some work, and now it is time to relax! I'm so excited that I am tired, and hoping that means I'll get a good night sleep. The last two days another symptom of jet lag surfaced; I can now fall asleep at night but I wake up at 5am... I can't win! Aside from all of that, things in Tel Aviv are amazing. This city is so exciting, fun, active, and young! Every other person has a dog (which makes me so happy), there are shopping districts, beaches, clubs, bars, parks, and everything you need to have an amazing, active living experience. Really the only thing that is a bitch is the awful humidity. I will never have to do Bikram yoga again, since every time I step out of my door I get slapped the face with 80% humidity. I have never had to change clothes more in my life, and I won't even get started on my hair... Let's just say Jew afro describes it adequately!

Well until tomorrow, Lilah Tov!
Jordana Simone

Day 5: Uh Oh, I wrote to Glenn Beck! Shabbat Shalom :-)

Well this has truly been a quiet and relaxing first Shabbat in Israel. Though I didn't do much worthy of blogging, I promised myself that, as long as I had internet availability (i.e. am not traveling or in some obscure part of the Middle East) I would blog everyday.

The fabulous thing about Shabbat in Israel is that, even in a busy, secular city like Tel Aviv, things are so quiet. Busses don't run, there aren't many cars on the street, and sidewalks are empty; it is very peaceful and serene. Of course the quiet in Tel Aviv could most likely be attributed to the fact that everyone is either at Synagogue or the beach, but I really enjoyed the peace and quiet while I was resting in my room. Though I won't be making a habit of staying in on the weekends (or really any day for that matter), my body was very happy to get rest. I am finally feeling a little more back on track, even though now I'm having a new jet lag problem; I can get to bed, but I wake up at 5 in the morning... oy vey! Luckily tomorrow I start my Ulpan (intensive Hebrew course) at 8:30 in the morning, so at least if I wake up early I won't be too mad. After Ulpan it's off to the beautiful Tel Aviv beaches for the first time since I've been back. I can't wait to get into that warm Mediterranean water, and further work on my "I want to look much less American" tan!

 Aside from that, the only other thing to note is that I finally wrote to the company putting on Glenn Beck's "Restoring Courage" rally that is taking place in Jerusalem next month. I want tickets very badly, and as an American living in Israel, hope they won't be too hard to find. I know most of you will read this and think "Oh my God, Glenn Beck... How can you stand that man, and blah blah". To you I say this: Anyone who wants to come and bring people to Israel, to throw a rally in support of this amazing land, is worth going to see. I may not agree with him on everything political, but then again I don't really agree with anyone on "everything" when it comes to politics, but his love for Israel is strong and unwavering, and he is doing a great service to this country by bringing both people and awareness to this wonderful, amazing, fantastic, and beautiful country. And hey, if I hope to start out by being a Fox News correspondent in the Middle East (sorry mom, but Fox News is the highest rated cable news station that reaches the most people... O and I'm a Moderate Republican), then it couldn't help to try and make contacts at the event! Mom try not to be too upset, at least there are a few things politically we agree on :-) even if they are very few!

Stay tuned for an extensive post tomorrow :-)

Lilah Tov (goodnight),
Jordana Simone