Summer Session = DONE!

So now that our summer session has come to a close, I thought it a good time to write a new post, something I haven't done in the last month and a half throughout the entirety of our summer session. This 6-week mini semester was comprised of a 4 day per week Ulpan (of which I was placed into Kitah Gimel, which is the 3rd highest class out of 4), a one afternoon per week Torah Cantillation class (which I passed out of), and a 1 day per week Biblical History class. I feel now, after 6 weeks, much more comfortable with my Hebrew, and even got a pedicure the other day from a lady who only spoke hebrew - and we had a conversation for a long time! The picture to the right is of our Kitah Gimel class on our last day with our teacher Zohara - she is FABULOUS!!! And, I got an A (or a pass, because all of our classes are just pass/fail... but an A is good!)

The Biblical History class has been a whole other story. What I thought would be a very fascinating and interesting class in which we would learn about Israel using the text in the Bible, turned into an Introduction to Archaeology in Israel class... something in which I have absolutely no interest. We had 3 lecture classes and 3 tiyul (field trip) classes, where we traveled to the City of David, Lachish, Gat, Meggido, Mt. Carmel Caves and Caesaria. Our Final Exam for that class is next week, so we'll see what happens!

Lots of other fun things happened during the last 6 weeks while they weren't keeping us busy at school (though that was most of our time). We have been bike riding two mornings a week around Jerusalem with a group of anywhere between 8-12 other people. We are training for the 5-day, 50km per day, ride March 14-18, 2010. This ride is called the Ride for Reform and it raises money for the Israeli Movement of Progressive Judaism (IMPJ). You will all be getting information on it when we officially start fundraising :-). The picture on the left above is from last week's ride when we reached the top of Yad Kennedy (the memorial for President Kennedy at the top of a mountain - go us!).

Our class attended services at different progressive (Reform in Israel) synagogues during this summer session, including a Shabbat at Har El and a shabbat at Kol Haneshama. The picture on the right is a photo of our class at Har El before services.

The Jerusalem Wine Festival occurs every summer at the Israel Museum outside in their sculpture garden. We went on the last night this year and sampled wine from approximately 30 different winereries, and left with 3 bottles of wine we LOVED - it was a truly spectacular event, spent with our classmates on a beautiful Jerusalem evening.

We've gone twice this summer to a special community in Tel Aviv for Kabbalat Shabbat. This "congregation" meets every Friday during the summer on the namal (pier) in Tel Aviv. There, 500ish people from all different backgrounds gather to sing, dance, and pray together to bring in Shabbat as the sun sets over the Mediterranean Sea. The picture to the left is of Yoni, Me, Eric, Hannah and Andrew as we were getting ready for services there.

Yoni and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary on August 17th! He planned a whole surprise day for me around Jerusalem, beginning with brunch at the Manta Ray (a beautiful restaurant right on the water in Tel Aviv), spa time including a massage at a spa in Zichron Ya'akov, and dinner at a fabulous sushi restaurant on the namal (pier) at sunset in Caesaria. Overall, it was a spectacular day and was so nice to be together outside of Jerusalem for a change!

Other than that, we've been celebrating birthdays, having fun evening programs (a talent show, etc. - sort of like camp), seen a couple movies (Harry Potter 6 and "On the way to the wedding, we stopped in Vegas" - also known a The Hangover) and just getting to know Jerusalem. We've formed a nice group of friends and spend most of our time with a small group of people, most of whom are coming back to LA with us next year. Oh, forgot to mention - WE'RE COMING TO LA NEXT YEAR!!! That was an exciting day! The picture to the right was the moment after we found out that we were all going to Los Angeles for the rest of our schooling (Rachel, Jon, Yoni, Me, Andrew and Hannah).

Today starts our Summer vacation (a whole 10 DAYS!). We're leaving Sunday with Hannah and Andrew (pictured above) to a 2-cabin little place that we rented for 3 nights - each with a private Jacuzzi and shared pool - so excited! Then a few more days of vacation before our Fall Semester begins with two intensive days of learning about the High Holy Days and a 3-day tiyul (field trip) to the North). Will write more when we return!