It really hasn't sunk in yet that the ulpan is over. It was an amazing five months. Things got a little crazy somtimes but there was no other place I would have rather been. I learned a lot, met a lot of great people. Thanks to everyone who made this experience what it was. It was definitely not what I expected it to be but I wouldn't change any of it.
I decided not to leave Israel right away, which says a lot how much I have enjoyed my time here so far. Here's the plan for the next couple of months...First I'm taking a quick trip to London with a friend from the ulpan. When he goes home to Brazil, I will come back to Israel. Then, Mom comes the next day to hang out and travel for a week. After that, I have some time to stay with friends and travel around Israel before I do Sar-El for three weeks. (Sar-El is a volunteer program on IDF bases.) Then Purim and packing up and heading back by the beginning of April.
Even though I am sad that the ulpan is over, I know there's a lot of people I will still see and there's a lot to look forward to in the next two months.
See you soon, Ramat Yohanan Ulpan 77
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tu B'Shevat, Evan, Preparing for the End
It's been a while and it feels like a lot has been going on. There was a couple times I meant to post something but just never got around to it.
So we had Tu B'Shevat...We took a trip to the Golan Heights. We went to Gamla, which is kind of like the Masada of the north. I really liked it there, there was a little bit of everything...history, nature, a cool memorial . Then we went to plant some trees with other olim hadashim (new immigrants to Israel). And then we went to Hamat Gader, a hot spring. I had never been to a real, working hot spring before but I was surprised at how huge it was and how it looked like a giant swimming pool. I imagined it to be more natural feeling.
Then I saw Evan in Tel Aviv. It was great to see him. It was fun to hear about his trip and the parts that he liked the best. It was a quick visit but i'm really glad he came to Israel and that we were able to meet up.
At the ulpan we have been wrapping things up. We had our last days of work and school. Started to pack and clean up our rooms. Prepare for the test. We've been going through all the motions of finishing the program but it didn't hit me until last night, at our final cemermony, that we are really leaving. I definitely have mixed feelings about it but it is definitely going to be sad to see everyone go their seperate ways.
So we had Tu B'Shevat...We took a trip to the Golan Heights. We went to Gamla, which is kind of like the Masada of the north. I really liked it there, there was a little bit of everything...history, nature, a cool memorial . Then we went to plant some trees with other olim hadashim (new immigrants to Israel). And then we went to Hamat Gader, a hot spring. I had never been to a real, working hot spring before but I was surprised at how huge it was and how it looked like a giant swimming pool. I imagined it to be more natural feeling.
Then I saw Evan in Tel Aviv. It was great to see him. It was fun to hear about his trip and the parts that he liked the best. It was a quick visit but i'm really glad he came to Israel and that we were able to meet up.
At the ulpan we have been wrapping things up. We had our last days of work and school. Started to pack and clean up our rooms. Prepare for the test. We've been going through all the motions of finishing the program but it didn't hit me until last night, at our final cemermony, that we are really leaving. I definitely have mixed feelings about it but it is definitely going to be sad to see everyone go their seperate ways.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Jerusalem
This week we went to Jerusalem. I don't know what my deal was that day but I really didn't pay a lot of attention to the tour guides. I feel kind of bad about it now, like I kind of wasted the opportunity to hear cool things.
On the way down we stopped at the IDF tank museum. We climbed up on the tanks. (That's about all I can give you about that.)
First stop in Jerusalem was, Jabal Mukabbir. It's high up so it's a nice look out point. From there we were able to see the dome of the rock and the old city, part of the Israeli West Bank barrier, the dead sea and into Jordan. The part I thought was most interesting was seeing the separation wall. Its one of those things that you know exists and you hear about but when you actually see it you think, "Oh shit, it's real."
After we took some pictures and talked a little bit about what we were looking at, we went to this "time elevator" ride/movie thing about the history of Jerusalem and walked around a little bit.
Then we went to the Kotel (Western Wall, Wailing Wall). We had some time to go to the wall, put in a note, pray, look around, do whatever you wanted to do there. That day there was going to be a ceremony for soldiers who had just finished basic training and were going into Golani, one of the more well known combat units in the IDF. We didn't see the actual ceremony but everything was set up, the new guns were lined up, all the soldiers and their families were there. It definitely added a different element to being at the wall, especially because soon that will be some of our guys from the ulpan.
Evan is in Israel on Birthright and was in Jerusalem the same day so we thought we might be able to see each other. Actually, I was arriving to the Kotel area, just as he was leaving that but we weren't able to meet up because of the schedules of our groups. Kind of weird (and a little frustrating) to be so close but not see each other. We'll catch up with each other when he is in Tel Aviv though.
From there we went into these tunnels under the Kotel. (This is the part I wish i was paying more attention to.) We walked down along the wall but underground. The wall actual continues several stories below what is now ground level. Down there is supposed to be where the most holy spot is, that we can get to. One pretty cool thing that the tour guide pointed out is that the Jewish world in the diaspora prays towards Israel, if you are in Israel you pray toward Jerusalem, if you are in Jerusalem you pray toward the Kotel, if you are at the Kotel you pray toward the place that we were standing.
We finished the day walking around on Ben Yehuda Street.
It was a pretty long day, we saw/did a lot of things.
It was fun, but next time I'll pay better attention
On the way down we stopped at the IDF tank museum. We climbed up on the tanks. (That's about all I can give you about that.)
First stop in Jerusalem was, Jabal Mukabbir. It's high up so it's a nice look out point. From there we were able to see the dome of the rock and the old city, part of the Israeli West Bank barrier, the dead sea and into Jordan. The part I thought was most interesting was seeing the separation wall. Its one of those things that you know exists and you hear about but when you actually see it you think, "Oh shit, it's real."
 |
| You can see the separation wall on the right side of the photo. |
After we took some pictures and talked a little bit about what we were looking at, we went to this "time elevator" ride/movie thing about the history of Jerusalem and walked around a little bit.
Then we went to the Kotel (Western Wall, Wailing Wall). We had some time to go to the wall, put in a note, pray, look around, do whatever you wanted to do there. That day there was going to be a ceremony for soldiers who had just finished basic training and were going into Golani, one of the more well known combat units in the IDF. We didn't see the actual ceremony but everything was set up, the new guns were lined up, all the soldiers and their families were there. It definitely added a different element to being at the wall, especially because soon that will be some of our guys from the ulpan.
Evan is in Israel on Birthright and was in Jerusalem the same day so we thought we might be able to see each other. Actually, I was arriving to the Kotel area, just as he was leaving that but we weren't able to meet up because of the schedules of our groups. Kind of weird (and a little frustrating) to be so close but not see each other. We'll catch up with each other when he is in Tel Aviv though.
From there we went into these tunnels under the Kotel. (This is the part I wish i was paying more attention to.) We walked down along the wall but underground. The wall actual continues several stories below what is now ground level. Down there is supposed to be where the most holy spot is, that we can get to. One pretty cool thing that the tour guide pointed out is that the Jewish world in the diaspora prays towards Israel, if you are in Israel you pray toward Jerusalem, if you are in Jerusalem you pray toward the Kotel, if you are at the Kotel you pray toward the place that we were standing.
We finished the day walking around on Ben Yehuda Street.
It was a pretty long day, we saw/did a lot of things.
It was fun, but next time I'll pay better attention
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Final Test Part I: Oral Test
This morning we had the oral part of the test for the end of the ulpan. We have been preparing for it for weeks, so of course I have been obsessing and worrying about it for about that long. We wrote stories to tell and practiced the questions that they might ask. The silly thing is that while I am nervous and going over my story a million times, this doesn't mean anything. It's not even like I am an olim (someone who moved here), so it's not so so important that I know Hebrew well. But still, I can't help getting worked up.
So, it's test morning and I'm all good until the women giving the test shows up. Now my heart starts racing. The first girl to finish, came running out, jumped on my teacher and was so excited. I think that made me more nervous. Finally its my turn. I walk into the office and it's hot! In case you weren't sweating before, now you will be. They start asking questions. It's going ok but I need to ask them to repeat something. I start to tell my story but I messed up some places, need to go back and say one line again. I leave feeling like eh, it's ok but I could have done better. I had that feeling in my stomach after a test where you start to prepare for the worst and are scared to know the score.
In a couple minutes though that wore off and i had so much energy. Like bouncing off the walls, running around in circles, talking really fast... Six months without a test (probably the longest of my life), I kind of forgot what it does to your head.
This afternoon we got our scores. I'm relieved that it's over and want to forget the story and never think about it again. But now I feel like i have no excuse not to speak Hebrew more...which is good, maybe that's what i needed to get me talking.
Part II: Written Test in two weeks...
So, it's test morning and I'm all good until the women giving the test shows up. Now my heart starts racing. The first girl to finish, came running out, jumped on my teacher and was so excited. I think that made me more nervous. Finally its my turn. I walk into the office and it's hot! In case you weren't sweating before, now you will be. They start asking questions. It's going ok but I need to ask them to repeat something. I start to tell my story but I messed up some places, need to go back and say one line again. I leave feeling like eh, it's ok but I could have done better. I had that feeling in my stomach after a test where you start to prepare for the worst and are scared to know the score.
In a couple minutes though that wore off and i had so much energy. Like bouncing off the walls, running around in circles, talking really fast... Six months without a test (probably the longest of my life), I kind of forgot what it does to your head.
This afternoon we got our scores. I'm relieved that it's over and want to forget the story and never think about it again. But now I feel like i have no excuse not to speak Hebrew more...which is good, maybe that's what i needed to get me talking.
Part II: Written Test in two weeks...
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