More to come later tonight (my time)...

Shabbat Shalom

שבת שלום
Shabbat Shalom!

My first shabbat in Jerusalem was great. Friday during the day Rachel and I explored the old city. We went to the Kotel and wandered around the Jewish quarter and then found our way to the Arab market! It was alot of fun! We got some good deals. I got this amazing tapestry for my wall! It was originally going to be 275 shekels but I got it down to 130!!! Then we came back and got ready for Shabbat! We went to this shul called Kol Hanishma which is a progressive synagogue. It was a really really nice service. Then we headed back (it was in the German colony which is about a 10 min cab ride) to the regency hotel where the OSA had a dinner for us! It was sooo nice and yummy. Rachel and i actually sat with some Asian students... it was quit interesting to find out why of all places they would come to Israel to study... then we went back the the dorm and hung out with people on our floor and talked the night away! it was very nice and relaxing... now i am sitting at aroma because we still don't have Internet!!!! later tonight I'm going to go to the mall to finish getting stuff we still need for the kitchen!
L'heit!

First night out

So after recovering from an exhausting first day, yesterday (Tuesday) we went out. And by "we" I mean me, Rachel,Becca, Sarah our amazingly awesome 3rd roommate! We first went to the grocery store which was just awesome and stocked up on food and wine! Its so nice not being limited to the kosher section cause the whole store is kosher!!! Then we went out to Ben Yehudah st to find something to eat and drink. We went to burgers bar which has the most amazing hamburgers and garlic mayo sauce. We then went on to mikes place which was quit interesting... lets just say that we didn't pay for most of our drinks...
And that was about it until the fiasco i had with contacts later that night...
I am in ulpan now (intensive Hebrew class) and its fun! i am learning a shit load of Hebrew!
that's about it for now...

I'm HERE

Hey! I'm finally here in Israel!!!! The plane ride was actually really great! El Al wasn't that crowded so i got to share a middle seat and wasn't squished as much. My apartment/dorm is amazing! I have to most amazing views of Jerusalem! The apartment is brand new we are the first students to live there. Today we start ulpan! The Internet is not set up yet in my dorm and probably wont be for about another 2-3 weeks hopefully sooner! But I do have access on the campus buildings and will bring my laptop to check email and up date photos! Yesterday we went shopping for EVERYTHING! There wasnt anything in the apt not even tolit paper! I got a good nitghts sleep and hope to go into the city tonight!

Some info on Mt. Scopus

In one week I will be on my way to Jerusalem. Here is an interesting article I found on YNET http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3349288,00.html about the Mt. Scopus campus where I will be living!

So close but so far...

So I still have 13 more days until I leave for Israel!!! I feel like everyone else has already left or is leaving tomorrow! :( boo! I'm getting so anxious. At least today I got my plane tickets... Yes actual real plane tickets like the old school kind...