ech om'rim and first Shabbas!

ech om'rim and ma ze...how do you say and what is....very useful terms for trying to learn hebrew.
It is Saturday night, after Shabbas has ended, Allie and Abe both just caught the bus and train back to Jerusalem and Haifa respectively, and I am sitting on the steps outside the cafe to get internet, will get my own by the end of the week. Anyway, on Wednesday we went bowling and it was funny because it was like night/club type bowling at 11am. After bowling I hung around on campus and met lots of new people, yayy!! Wednesday night I made my first and only terrible purchase of 6 Goldstar beers, which are like local cheap beers, for 66 sheks (about 16.50), won't do that again, it’s way cheaper elsewhere. Anyway, then we went out to a dance club called Apartment 98 where my roommate Shirley’s cousin works. We got on the list, but you are supposed to be 24ish to get in. Since the drinking age is 18 there are some clubs that say you have to be 23/24 to get in so that they don’t have a lot of younger kids mixed with the older crowd…makes sense. So after dira 98 we went to Friends, which is Estelle’s uncle’s bar. Both places were very cool, although I have to get used to the excessive cigarette smoking everywhereeee. On Thursday, Estelle and I went to shuk h’karmel, the carmel market, in the city. The shuk is amazinggg, everything is SO cheap. I bought three clementines, two apples, and a green pepper for 1 USD. We got other things for our apartment too. Oh, and cheaper alcohol.
Allie came Thursday evening and it turns out she used to go to Friends all the time last year when she lived in Tel Aviv. We decided to go back again that night with some friends and we met her friend Dvir there. When we were leaving Friends we went next door and had amazing gourmet grilled cheese things on a croissant, it made me miss late night back at BC! Friday Allie and I went back to the shuk to get things to make for Shabbat dinner with Abe, our friend that we met on Birthright. There was an artists market next to the shuk which was awesome, I can’t wait to go back, it is there every Tuesday and Friday. The shuk was a little busier than usual because everyone was getting things for Shabbas since many places close Friday evening and a lot of people don’t go out much on the "day of rest". We met Abe back at my apartment and we made…well, mostly Allie made…a wonderful pasta and veggie dish with delicious fresh challah and pastries. It was SO nice for the three of us to actually be together again. Although Shabbat here is a little more calm than the other days, I want to visit Allie in Jerusalem for Shabbat to get a feel for “real” Shabbat. I think it is very refreshing and important a lot of weeks to have an actual day of rest, I could really get used to it.
Today Abe, Allie, and I went on quite the adventure to find the beach for the first time. We walked to the end of the street because you can see the water but there was an air force base between us and the beach. We could see people walking around and flying kites but we couldn't figure out how to get there...such a tease. Once we had enough walking we put our blanket down on the grassy area in the middle of the street for a little while (see pics). It was warm and sunny, but I will have to figure out the best way to get to the beach soon!
Sidenote: I just witnessed my first Israeli car accident, pretty hard rear ender but nothing too serious. They are crazy drivers here. Never cross the street while the walk sign is red, even the Israeli's, as impatient as they are, wait EVERY time for the green walk sign. I was told only Americans cross when it is red because the Israeli's all know they will get hit.
So Ulpan starts tomorrow bright and early, I am in level 1B. The levels went A, AA, AB, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 4A, 6A, 8A, so I think 1B is not so bad for me! We will see when it actually starts but I am happy with my placement so far. I have learned a lot already, but I am learning so many new sayings and vocab words that I don’t remember them all. When Allie, Abe and I were playing cards we were saying the numbers in Hebrew so I can get faster with my numbers and not have to count up from 4 or 6 anymore, haha. I ask sooo many questions to my sister or my roommates or anyone really, I cannot wait until I know more Hebrew! That’s it for now, I will learn to make my posts more concise given time.

and of course, Happy 21st Weener!!! and Happy Birthday Aunt Becca as well!!!

Pictures thus far...
http://picasaweb.google.com/SpivackL/IsraelWeekOne?feat=directlink

starting to get settled...

Hey all, quick update of today.
We had orientation today. It was a little disorganized with a lot of down time (no complaints)...such is Israel. I am currently at an Aroma cafe with my roommates (all three this time). We still don't have internet in our apt...although we're working on it (we're too cheap to just buy a router so we're exploring options). We're going to the supermarket soon then we have a security meeting at 9:30. I think we're going to go out tonight with a bunch of people in our program, maybe into the city. I'm in Ramat Aviv...its a little bit outside of the city but within walking distance to the beach! yay! We're going bowling at 10am tomorrow, and it includes lunch (too good to pass up). Then we are free until Sunday when Ulpan starts. We took our test for Ulpan levels today, I could do the first two pages and a little bit more (toda raba morah Gil). Hopefully I'll be above beginner, haha, we'll see in the next few days. I'll write more serious details when i have time, right now I have to go buy groceriesss!
-Lauren

Arrived Safely!

I wrote this first part last night but I don't have internet in my apt yet....
I’m here!! The past “27” hours but really 20 hours have been pretty good. My Aunt Becca met Kevin and me at the airport and brought us sandwiches, chips, and brownies. After a teary good bye I eventually got myself together and went through security. Apparently my husky dog stuffed animal and tear soaked pillow looked suspicious because the airline chose me for random search. Besides the regular security search, I had to stand in a glass box while they said all these things in code, eventually they let me out the other side of the box and I was on my way. I was lucky enough to have a window seat on both flights with no one sitting next to me on either! I had extra leg room on the flight to London as well. Besides the delay leaving London the flights were fine, watched Friends, Flight of the Concords, and Man on Wire, in between trying to sleep as much as I could.
Allie saved my life by meeting me at the airport. We took a train to Tel Aviv U, couldn’t get a hold of the person I was supposed to call, found our way to the dorms (via a free bus ride around campus so we didn’t have to walk up 120 stairs with my two suitcases), and checked me in. Room/Apt D45. The apartment isn’t so bad, Allie says it’s better than hers (eeek). There are two rooms with two of us in each, a room with a toilet, one with two sinks, a shower, a “dining room” and a “kitchen.” Pics to come. None of my roommates were in the room although some of their bags were already here so Allie and I went to the supermarket to get some crucial things like toilet paper, PB, bread, goldfish pretzel things, etc. Allie and I parted ways and I came back to unpack. A little while later two of my roommates came, Julie and Estelle. Julie is from Indiana and Estelle is from Vancouver. They both speak wayyy better Hebrew than I do (not hard to do) and my third roommate is Israeli (although she may live in America? She’s still not here). I just got back from the coffee shop “Greg” right on the corner for some free wi-fi and coffee/tea with Julie and Estelle tonight. Tomorrow we have orientation and our Ulpan (language school) starts on Sunday. The week here goes Sunday-Thursday, Fri and Sat are the weekend. Time for bed, more Israeli travels soon to come.
-Lauren

final preparations

So, I figured I should finally give this thing a try...
First, I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow! A year and a half of waiting and it's finally here, weird. I'm not really nervous yet, I think mostly because it hasn't hit me, but I am very excited! I have been slowly but surely getting all my things ready and I am pretty much done. Two suitcases (both under 23 kg) a back pack and a purse.
The past month has been wonderful, I saw pretty much everyone I was hoping to, including Kasey, Katie, and Bryan who I haven't seen in a while. Goodbye's were sad with home (except Erin cause we never actually said bye), school, and work friends. I thought I would be able to make it back to BC one more time but I couldn't quite fit it in, bummer. Grammy and Bubba's goodbyes were tough as well. Thankfully I don't really have to say much of a goodbye to Mom and Dani since they will be joining Allie and me in Israel very shortly (still don't know when, could be as early as next week!).
Anyway, I just finished writing down all the phone numbers and information that I need for my flights, train ride, check-in at school, and other odds and ends. In a little bit Kevin and I are going to stop by his house and I'll get to say goodbye to his family. He's going to stay here tonight and be so kind and drive me to the JFK airport tomorrow :). That will be one more tough goodbye. Allie is going to try and meet me at the airport on Monday when I arrive which would be awesome.
That's all for now, next time will be from Israel!

-Lauren