Hello, friends.

It's a rainy day in Yerushalayim. I am spending Shabbat with my brother. Last night was Thanksgiving, and I was excited to actually be able to celebrate it (since for some bizarre reason, Israelis don't typically celebrate Thanksgiving :-P). I went with the big bro to a T-giving celebration of the rabbi folk, and it was so much fun. The food was amazing (especially after endless cafeteria food!) and the company was great. There was even a precious little six month old baby for me to play with! So all in all...pretty wonderful night.

So, now I'll tell a random story about why Israel is such a kooky place. First of all, as I've mentioned before, the drivers here are completely nuts. They have no qualms about not slowing down for people in crosswalks, and they regularly pass cars they think are going too slowly by going into the opposite lane. About a week ago, my roommate and I were approaching the bus stop as we saw the bus we needed drive away from the stop. We were disappointed, naturally, since they typically come every 15-20 minutes. When we reached the bus stop, though, we were pleased because another bus came in just a few minutes. We hopped on. After a little bit, we noticed that we'd caught up to the first bus. Apparently, our bus driver decided that the first bus was going too slowly, so this huge bus goes into the other lane to pass the first bus. (This is not the first time that I've been on a bus that has passed another bus...it makes you feel like they're racing! I'm not such a big fan.) Anyway, because our bus passed the first bus, we made it home sooner than we would have if we hadn't missed the first bus. Kind of hurts your brain a bit, doesn't it?

That's all for now...Shabbat Shalom, everyone!

It's my BIRTHDAY!

Dear friends,
I had such a lovely birthday today, thanks largely in part to all of you--my incredibly thoughtful, caring friends. I felt so loved with your messages, birthday cards, and even phone calls. I am so thankful for all of you.

My day started off on a sad note, because one of my wonderful roommates, Emily, had to leave to head back home (I miss you already!). My day picked up with class though; they were amazing today because my favorite teacher, Rabbi Marcus, returned from a two-week trip to the US, and a new teacher I hadn't had before, Rabbi Kelleman, arrived. He is a fantastic teacher, and I'm so glad to get to have him for the next couple of weeks.

I came back from class to find that my sweet roommates had decorated my room with signs and balloons.

Then, big brother took me out for a delicious sushi dinner. Such a lovely day. A great start to my 23rd year. :-)

Dear friends,
I really enjoyed your comments. Samuel, rest assured, your posting that it's almost time for me to wake up did NOT in fact wake me up. Have no fear. :-) Mandy, I love that 50 degrees is warm for you and 60 degrees is chilly for me. I guess that's what happens when you live in Illinois versus Israel. And Amy, I'm sorry that I'm making you look up words...but I'm glad you're managing to follow along!

I had a very lovely Shabbat. My entire class (about 20 students) piled into two sheiruts (which is sort of a combination of a cab and a bus. They each fit about 10 people. It was an interesting ride to Ramat Bet Shemesh. Travelling anywhere in Israel is always an interesting experience...I usually end up feeling a bit sick and hoping that I'll make it to my next destination (the drivers here are terrifying!). Fortunately, we made it to Ramat Bet Shemesh completely intact (if a bit nauseous), and it was beautiful. Jerusalem is mountainous and very beautiful, but it's a city and there are buildings everywhere. In Ramat Bet Shemesh, you could see beautiful mountains that aren't covered with buildings...just natural beauty. I stayed with three of my friends from my class. We stayed in the house of a family that wasn't even there...they just left their keys. I was pretty amazed that there are people willing to do that sort of thing. The house was beautiful...completely different than the Jerusalem apartments I'm used to seeing. It was huge and lovely; in Yerushalayim, the apartments I've seen generally look like they're falling apart (and they often are...) Most excitingly, I got to sleep in a REAL BED! My mattress at school is about 3 inches thick and rests upon a plywood board for support. (Doesn't that sound comfy??) So you can imagine how thrilled I was to see thick, plush mattresses...it was a very cozy night.

Besides a cozy bed, the Shabbaton was wonderful. My rabbi's wife was lovely, and since she's from Memphis, we bonded over being from the South. Since I've been in Israel, I've never identified with the South more! Most of the Americans here are from New York, and even though I've always imagined myself a partial New Yorker, I now realize that I am NOT a New Yorker....I am much more a Southern girl. (I actually had someone tell me that I have a southern accent...I wanted to tell her that she doesn't know what a southern accent sounds like!)

My favorite part of the Shabbaton was shel shiddus, the third meal of Shabbat, right before the sun sets and Shabbat ends. The rabbi left, so all the women could sing (Orthodox women are not supposed to sing in front of men, as men are not allowed to hear the singing of any women other than their wives). All of you know how incredibly happy it makes me to sing. I loved every moment of it. It really was a beautiful, moving end to Shabbat.

Last night, my roommate and I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy that she downloaded from itunes. I'd seen it before, but I can't tell you how exciting it was to watch TV! I didn't bring any DVDs at all, so I haven't seen movies or TV since I've gotten here. Even though I love all of the learning I've been doing, it was such a relief to just watch television after the emotional and spirtual intensity of Shabbat. Gummy worms and Grey's...a marvelous end to the weekend. I really can't get used to classes on Sundays, though! Waking up this morning and getting out of bed was rough...8:30 classes on Sunday mornings are really not that fun, but fortunately the rabbi is great, and I'm learning a lot.

Hope all is well with you, my friends.

Shabbat Shalom, everybody! I'm looking forward to this Shabbos. It's a Shabbaton at the house of one of my rabbi's, for my mechina class. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh, somewhere in Jerusalem. There are about 20 of us going...we won't all be staying at his house, of course, but it should be a lot of fun.

It's been raining the past couple of days, but today is beautiful, sunshine and a cool breeze. It's a bit cool for me...its about 60 degrees...but it's incredibly lovely weather.

My, this is quite the exciting post, isn't it? So far I've told you what I'm doing this weekend and talked about the weather. I apologize for being a bit dull. I'd love to share more, but I need to go do errands before I leave for Shabbat.

Miss you guys! Lots of love! :-)

Hello, my dear friends. This having my computer thing is quite a pleasure.

So it's Monday, which means I have morning classes and then I'm finished for the day...no ulpan (Hebrew class) or evening classes! Today I went shopping with some lovely new friends. Of the group, I was the only American, which really made my day. Two are from England and one from South Africa. They all have amazing accents, and it's just such a pleasure for me to get to know people from all over the place. And there are so many amazing women here at Neve that I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to get to know.

Right now, I'm sitting in a coffee shop preparing to go for dinner and then to the kotel with my roommates. I haven't been to the kotel at night since I've been in Israel, and I really think the kotel at night is much more peaceful and special.

Life continues to be good. I've had some excellent classes in the past couple of days. One of them was about the mitzvot, particularly kashruth (keeping kosher), and it resonated quite a bit with me. The very simplified gist is that what we put into our bodies affects us spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc., and I thought that was a pretty interesting thought. We also talked about elevating the physical to the spiritual, an idea I also really like. The concept that we can make any moment holy by simply stopping and thanking Gd before we say, take a bite of an apple, is pretty inspiring stuff.

A computer returns home

Hooray! My computer is back and sitting safely on my lap as I steal wireless internet from unsuspecting Har Nof residents from a children's playground a block from campus. Yes, you heard right--there is no wireless internet on Neve's campus. What, are these people living in the dark ages? A bit, but fortunately, not all Har Nof-ians protect their wireless internet, so I can find spots around the neighborhood--yay!

So now that I actually have my computer, I can actually write updates. First I will share the Computer Saga of 2008. Two days after arriving in Israel, my lovely, brand-new laptop stopped recognizing internet connections. I bought an applecare warranty, so no big deal, right? Um, not exactly. There are no apple stores in the middle east. At all. There is one, apple-authorized store near Tel Aviv, but not actually in Tel Aviv, thus making it virtually impossible to actually access. My AMAZING big brother thus decided that he would rent a car and drive me to the store an hour away in a totally sketchy part of Israel. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with driving in Israel, you should know that it is not like driving in a normal, civilized city in the United States. No, driving in Israel is pretty much petrifying. My very brave brother took on this task and got us safely to the not-apple store, where they agreed to fix my computer and honor my warranty--but it would take two weeks for them to do this task. Ugh.

So I "patiently" waited my two weeks without my computer, missing my cute little white laptop terribly. (Her name is Bella, by the way). Finally, on Sunday, I received the much anticipated call--Bella was healed! Unfortunately, picking Bella up from the "doctor" would not be such a feasible task. The store gave me the name of a delivery service, which I called. And called. And called. For a good two days. No one ever picked up. Awesome.

In swoops Super Big Brother. He had someone at his school (who actually speaks the language here) get a delivery company to agree to pick it up for me and bring it to me here in Jerusalem. Excellent. Simple enough. They were supposed to pick it up and deliver it Thursday. Thursday comes and goes--no computer. This morning (Friday) I get a call that wakes me from my slumber (we have no classes on Friday--we have them on Sunday instead!) Of course, the delivery guy doesn't speak English, so I have no idea what he was saying. Fortunately, my amazing roommate Emily helped me out...she speaks Hebrew very well. I gave her the phone (she was sleeping too) and she found out that the guy was here! So to make a short story very long, I got my computer back today. Hallelujah!

Now that I've gone on and on (and on) about computer drama, I can start telling you about life in Yerushalayim. I've been at Neve for over two weeks now. I have two roommates, Emily and Sammie, both from New York and both recent graduates of college. There is a wide span of ages here, women from 19 to in their 30s, though most are around my age or a little younger. Living in Har Nof, an ultra-religious neighborhood of Jerusalem, is quite interesting. Really a cultural experience in many ways. Women here must dress modestly, with skirts that cover their knees, collars that go up to their necks and sleeves that cover at least their elbows. Women also cover their hair once they get married, either with a wig or a scarf of some sort, known as a tichel. Men tend to dress mostly in black, and they wear these big black hats. My school, all women, doesn't allow men on campus (except the rabbis of course and the husbands of the house mothers, who live in apartments at the bottom of the dorms). So big brother Philip cannot visit me in my dorm. That's ok, though, because I'm learning the bus system and making my way around Jerusalem quite expertly (by quite expertly, I mean that I have yet to get too terribly lost). I like going down to Ben Yehuda street, a very popular spot for nightlife, mainly because there is a great coffeeshop with an internet connection and an AMAZING gelato place. What more could one ask for? (Here in Har Nof there is an awesome frozen yogurt place where they actually make you frozen yogurt out of whatever fruit you choose--it's fun!)

My classes are also incredibly interesting. I have about 6-8 hours of class a day. I have four hours of morning classes, optional afternoon classes, and two hours of evening classes each day. Since the school is Orthodox, all of the rabbis have pretty extreme views. Some of the rabbis rub me the wrong way and I don't agree with most of what they say, but most of the rabbis are excellent teachers with a lot to offer, even if I don't agree with absolutely everything that they say. I'm right now in the most beginner level of classes, but I think I may check out some of the higher level classes just to see what those are like and if I might want to switch up. We shall see!

There is so much to share, but I think I may stop here for now. Now that my computer is back, I promise to update my blog much more extensively whenever I can. Since there isn't internet on campus, I can't check my emails every single day, but I will be checking as often as I can. I love to hear from you guys, so email me and tell me how you are.

Lots of love!
Rach