Tel Aviv and more.....
Mood:  lazy
Yesterday was a fun experience for all. About 30-35 HUC students decided to take a day trip to Tel Aviv to go to the beach. I realized on the way there that I have never actually seen the Mediterranean Sea and I was very excited to get to swim in it. The beach was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great time laying out and swimming. While in the sea, I saw my first real live jellyfish (well besides the ones at the Newport Aquarium)!!!! They were so cool! Although other people kept trying to touch the top of it without getting stung, I decided to just admire them from a distance...we all know what happened to Dory in "Finding Nemo"!!!!!
My friend Adam also got some funny pictures of two very....frisky...dogs on the beach. We were all laughing at them and it was really funny to joke about. I, regretfully, didn't bring my camera to the beach, but I will soon have other people's photos to post.
Last night a bunch of us went over to dinner at our friends' Adam and Noah's house and it was lovely. Then we went to Moment Cafe (which we have determined is our favorite hang-out spot)for some drinks and dessert.
This morning Leah and I got a new 25 inch TV delivered (at least our landlord is good for something!) and finished our hebrew placement exams.
Later tonight begins the official orientation portion of the program. Tonight is all the getting to know you games that most people fear with intense passion, but I sort of enjoy them....I know, I'm a big geek!!!!! So I'll keep everyone updated on what is going on during orientation.

Alas, my computer is not yet fixed (it turns out I didnt have a virus after all) and I need to call the computer company tonight to try another tactic....it's very upsetting!!!!! What's really hard though is that the hours when the company is open in the US is like nighttime here in Israel so I have to work around two different schedules...oh well, this needs to get done.

Okay, I'm off to work on my hebrew workbook a little before I go home and attempt to deal with my MACHSHEV (hebrew: computer). Have a great day!!!!!

My first week in Israel
Mood:  accident prone
Okay, so I have never actually blogged before, but I figured since I am in Israel, and sooooo many of you are reading my webpage...why not start!?!?!?!
First and foremost, I want to let everyone know that when you wake up this morning and hear the news on TV that there was a bomb in Tel Aviv....don't worry!!! I am fine and as far as I know all of my classmates and friends are fine too. It's sad to me that I have only been here a week and already there is a reason for me to tell everyone that I am ok and that I have not been a victim of terrorism, because someone else has been. Sigh.......

On a not so serious and funnier note, I myself have been a little accident-prone lately. On the way to meet up with some friends, I slipped on the steps in or apt. building and fell down and got a big-ass bruise on my arm. It doesn't really hurt anymore, but it looks real nasty! :(
Yesterday, almost everyone of my friends and I went to services here at HUC in the morning and all was going well and normally until a women was called up to bless the Torah and fell off the side of the bimah (stage)!!!! It was awful. No one knew what to do and then people started to help her and they took her to the emergency room and we heard she was okay. I have never seen anything like that happen before at all!!!! But we rabbinical students thought maybe it was our first great lesson in how to lead services: what to do during an emergency and how to handle unexpected situations. Either that or marry a jewish doctor to sit in the front row when things take a turn for the worse....you take your pick!
I also attempted to do laundry today in our crazy washing machine and didn't get the hose all the way in the sink, so water ended up everywhere!!!!! Luckily, a squeegee came to the rescue just in time!!!!
Hopefully, all the accidents around me will be ending soon! Okay, well this blog is long enough, so I should probably attempt to go do my hebrew placement test and meet up with some classmates to hang out later. I'll try to post regularly, but until my computer gets fixed....who knows! Have a great day everyone!!!!