Around the Bend

So as not to bore you with the lame details of learning Hebrew 24/7 I am going to shortly just describe some changes that occurred in the latter half of Ulpan. Week 3 kicked off with a blast since we started to intensify everything. Verb forms, grammar, tenses everything just seemed to be picking up and unless you held on to the reins you would get thrown off. I definitely buckled down hard so my free time seemed to slowly dissipate right before my eyes. Luckily, things were easier outside of the school setting since the Nativ kids were gone and I no longer had to travel downtown as much. I had found a couple groups of friends that I had routines with for food, hanging out, and studying. I got settled into my new environment that made me feel comfortable and as if I had a place to call my own again.

I met a remarkable woman this week at school that I would like to tell a little about since I feel as though she has already made an impression upon me and it was a phenomenal one. There is a girl that sits in class next to Michal Kogan(new found friend that is best friends with a lot of my friends) by the name of Tamar Rohatiner. Her name alone began our friendship because of course I had to lead with the joke of “What’s your name… Tamar(means a date as in the fruit in Hebrew)… Not yet I just met you” Right off the bat she rolled with the punches and got a couple in herself. We starting talking and lo and behold she not only shared thousands of interests with me but also that she lives in Beverlywood, CA which is what a total of 6 mins away from my house. It was crazy that I had never met her before since she went to Shalhevet for high school and NYU for College both of which I have been to and have friends in. It seemed as though G-d had brought us both here to specifically meet. From that moment on it we became friends and it has been great. I know that I will be seeing a lot of her when we are both back in LA.

As if clockwork(done by the big guy himself) Shabbat came rolling around again on Friday evening. I had at first planned to make my way down south to the Negev but unfortunately it was not a good time to go to Yerucham since my host family was really busy and I really wanted to see them. So instead I got the invitation by Adam to join the gang for a nice Shabbat dinner at the Cfar. Of course I would not decline since I have become close with them and they are great people to spend time with. When I got to their apartment OF COURSE they were not even close to ready with anything(so typical) so adam and I decided to just sit and talk giving them some time. Eventually everyone arrived(Jason Rich, Aviva Kushner, Talia Gilboa, Michal Kogan, Sarah Kamenir, Adam Weiner, and Danielle Natelson) and we davened together which was beautiful, then enjoyed a lovely Shabbat dinner with food and friends. Surprisingly we even got a little singing in afterwards which was so cute. It seemed like the perfect way to celebrate the holy day with good people. The next day I made the trek downtown to go to shul which is not a very easy thing to do but I will only be here in Israel for so long. Once again the cycle of the week came to a close and now I start the final chapter of my month of Ulpan.