Israel 2010-2011: I Can See the Palestinian Territories from My House!

Hi All!

I know, it's been a while! Ulpan (intensive Hebrew class) started this week, and I have been in class pretty much all day learning Hebrew. Unfortunately, it's all been grammar thus far, which really makes us sound ridiculous when speaking to Israelis, who tell us we sound like academics. Of course, it has given me an opportunity to meet lots of people (mostly Americans), so this is good!

As the title of this post suggests, my dorm/campus is extremely close to the West Bank. In fact, from my Ulpan class, I can see "The Wall" - not the Western Wall, but rather the other now-infamous border between Israel and the West Bank. Or Yehuda-Shomron, or the Palestinian Territories, or the Occupied Territories. This all depends on who in Israel you speak to. You know what they say: For every two Israelis there are at least three opinions!

I went to the Israel Museum this week - what a great place! It's a huge museum that was just redone and reopened this summer. It has everything in it from Jewish ritual objects from all over the world, to traditional Jewish garments from all over the world, and even four replica synagogues from all corners of the earth. Also on the museum grounds is the Shrine of the Book, the building that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I realize that I have not uploaded any pictures of my dorm yet, so I will do that here. Unfortunately it is almost 10pm here, so I cannot take pictures of my view from the window right now, but I will be sure to do so when it's light out (and when I remember)!! I will also be sure to take pictures of the Boyar Building (the one building that all of my classes are in; also known as the Rothberg International School) and the rest of the beautiful Har Tzofim (Mount Scopus) Hebrew U campus.

A thought that struck me today when I was at the Kotel: there was a big gathering of young soldiers in the Israeli Army at the Wall. They were combat soldiers of some sort (they all had guns), and it struck me that as a young person, I thought back on my Grade 12 year. For me, I was deciding where I wanted to go to school and what I wanted to study. In Israel, however, the mentality is very different. Instead, students in Grade 12 here decide what part of the army they want to get in to. This sharp contrast really stood out at me today.

That's all for now from Israel! Hopefully I will be able to post more frequently now that I have more of a schedule!

Peace, love, shwarma!

Dale =)