I suppose the fact that apart from this past weekend I've felt there's been minimal to write about indicates that I'm settling in. Apparently I've acclimated to the kittens rummaging through garbage outside my building; perhaps the luster of the falafel joint down the street has diminished some. But hey, I almost made it through a whole picture book in Hebrew at a used book store (although to be fair it helped some that I was familiar with the story – Bambi)! Time does go by fast; it's amazing that Ulpan is in it's last week and in only a few days I'll be leaving on my trip to the Greek Islands and Istanbul which I planned what seems like so long ago.

Anyway, I am enjoying myself. Jerusalem is a great town, full of just about anything one could imagine. The downtown area is a bit far from the dorms I'm staying in, but it's well worth the 20-minutes-ish-depending-on-traffic bus-ride. Looking out the window from the gym across the street from my dorm I can see the whole city: A bustling, alive, eclectic jewel surrounding the near-ancient (who's defining 'ancient' anyway?) Old City, outlined in aging but assuredly strong walls, dotted with the beautiful gold Dome of the Rock in the middle. It's pretty amazing.

I'm doing my best to keep on top of my sports teams back home. Shout out to my parents for turning their webcam onto the TV in our living room and allowing me to watch games via skype on my computer across the world. It's a surprisingly clear picture. I set an alarm everyday at around 4:30 AM to catch the last inning or so of the Tigers games (if they start at 7 PM EDT [2 AM here]). Loving the Michigan football team. And I'm just as big a Lions fan as ever, despite the continued futility (but this one's our year! The prospect of infinite improvement awaits, and all we have to do is win one game. Beat that, every other team). On Sunday nights, we are able to go down the street to this place called the Student Center and watch their big-screen TV with their satellite. Too bad the Lions don't get much national exposure... And I was also fortunate to watch the last two rounds of the US Open, really terrific tennis. Vamos JMDP!

This past weekend was Rosh HaShana, the Jewish new year, and I just happened to be in Israel, so I reaped the benefits of having a day off from Ulpan on Sunday. Naturally I decided to travel a bit and see the country. On Thursday, shortly after class ended, I took a bus to Tel Aviv and met up with Ronen, who's old kibbutz I went to a couple weeks ago, at around 4 PM. We walked around for a bit, chatted it up, and I dropped my stuff off at his place. He went to work at around 7:15 at the Jazz Bar he manages, and I bought the travel towel I've been meaning to buy at the mall. Went back to his place and took a beautiful nap until around 11:15 before heading to his bar, where I was planning to meet my friend Nir and see the concert which was going on there. Plus, since it's his place, we didn't have to pay. It was a fun night, and I felt energized for a while thanks to my superb planning. The next morning Ronen headed up North after a mere 3-ish hours of sleep (he returned to his place at around 6:45 AM and fell to sleep on his bed with his shoes still on; I didn't ask), and I chilled on the beach and finished my book (Kerouac's On The Road [one of my new favorites, I think]), before embarking to Nahariyya, the most Northwestern point of the country, where my friend Gal lives and had invited me for Friday night holiday dinner.

Shortly after arriving and eating a bit, we met up with his cousin/friend Tom and went to the sea. Tom's sister had recommended a spot on the shore which, unlike most of the others, was not infested with uncomfortable stones but rather with smooth sand. She was right. I had a jackpot day at the beach. The water was the perfect temperature, and the waves were huge, but there was no current. We sat and ate grapes, played the guitar and joked around. It was great. Oh, and the best part, I think, was the skinny dipping. (Ask me if I'm kidding). After we'd dried off and gotten most of the sand off our bodies, we went to the border with Lebanon, about a 5 minute drive from where we were. We were actually closer to Beirut at that point than we were to Jerusalem. There was a big gate with an Israeli flag insignia guarded by some Israeli soldiers just on the other side. We were closer to the Israeli Naval ship we'd seen while swimming, and could now see the border demarcated in the water. This particular border was actually the exact spot where the two soldiers who were kidnapped by Hamas (which started the 2nd Lebanon War in 2006) were returned, dead. I found out that the third soldier who they took, who is known to be still alive and, although certainly traumatized emotionally, apparently thought to be moving toward a lucrative celebrity future, went to school with Gal and Tom. I then realized that we were in the city upon which, only one week before, two rockets were fired from Lebanon. It was another strong example of the ubiquitous and almost necessary lack of concern Israelis have over a constant potential threat. One just doesn't really feel the danger here, and, in reality, there's not much more, if any, than one could find in New York City; it's just so compact that the threat is a bit more constant. Plus, the publicity such things get make it seem more dangerous than it actually is. In either case, very interesting to see ancient and contemporary history and it's effects living side-by-side. Overall, don't worry about me, mommy.

That night we had Rosh HaShana dinner at Gal's place, which is located right on the coast. Some of his family friends came and it was overall a really nice time, not much different, if at all, from the dinner that I've done with members of my extended family at home for my entire life. The food might have been better, though. :) Afterward, we met up again with Tom, and another friend, Guy, and we all went to a dance bar and had a great time partying and chatting and meeting people and whatnot. I consequently woke up the next day quite late, and not long after, Gal drove me south to Haifa, before continuing to see his girlfriend in Tel Aviv.

I met my friend Maya in Haifa, and she showed me around the third largest city in the country, behind Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It's rather mountainous, and Maya explained to me that there's a pretty clear socioeconomic disparity between those who live high up and those who live below. We saw the port which has been crucial to trade for hundreds of years and the amazingly beautiful Gardens of the Bahaii - a monotheistic religion which focuses on spirituality, beauty, and harmony (which was certainly evident), although we could only go down two of the stairwells to observe, as seeing the rest of the way, which leads to a temple at the bottom, requires paying for an organized tour. That night, we went to go see Tarantino's new flick, Inglorious Basterds. It was great, I think. I experienced one problem, quite large though: large portions of the movie were in French or German, and the subtitles were, naturally, in Hebrew. I couldn't do it. So Maya, so nicely, did her best to translate the subtitles and whisper them in my ear. At one point in the film a woman was translating a man's German into French. Maya was simultaneously translating the Hebrew subtitles into English. Four languages at once. My head started to hurt. Needless to say, it wasn't the ideal conditions for seeing a movie. The next day we ate at the beach with Maya's older sister, Gal, and she and I had a comfortably heated political discussion, but it didn't prevent me from enjoying the hummus and smooth breeze coming from the sea. I departed on the train at around 5:20 PM with lots to think about, feeling good about where I'm at and wondering where I'm going.

Anecdotes

The other night, Friday, I was hanging around with some friends in one of their apartments and we were playing Catchphrase. For those who don't know, it's a little mechanism that displays a word, and the person holding said mechanism is meant to describe the word without using the word itself. Kind of like Taboo, except no forbidden words.

Anyway, there were two hilarious occurrences, both involving Manuel, the 25-year-old German with a rather heavy stereotypical accent, almost like Schwarzenegger (who I know is actually Austrian). First: The topic I believe was grab bag. Manuel had been struggling comprehending various American phrases and people, and this time was no different, as he cycled through endless words/phrases he was unable to describe, until the buzzer sounded, indicating time had run out. As it did, he inquired, "Who is Ferris Wheel?"

Second: Again Manuel was passed the mechanism, and this time he came upon a word he knew. He gestured toward a friend to his left, named Shalom, with his elbow. "When we were swimming, I gave you the elbow.... The elbow." He went on to continue his motion and repeat the phrase "the elbow" (again, in his heavy accent) until time expired, at which point the flustered German announced, "the Uppercut!"

On the same night, another funny occurrence happened which no one but me seemed to notice, again involving our German friend. He had introduced himself to Ross, someone on our program, and wondered how old he was. Upon hearing he was 21, Manuel replied that Ross looks older than he is. Manuel then requested that Ross guess how old he is. After Ross' underestimation of the 25-year-old, Manuel pointed out that looking younger than you are, as he does, is much better than looking older than you are, which only seconds before he had told Ross. On top of it all, Ross quickly agreed, seemingly unaware with the rest of the group that he had just been majorly zinged.

Finally: Today, Tuesday, I went to the Shuk with my friend Daniel. While there, Daniel beckoned me to come glance at someone he thought he'd recognized. Sure enough, right in front of me, was one of my true loves, none other than Natalie Portman. She seemed to be with her parents and sister/friend and brother/friend/boyfriend, and not many around her seemed to realize who she was. I wanted to get a photo with her, but after trailing her for a few seconds I had lost the power in my legs and was unable to procure a sound from my voice box. As I watched my love slip away, I was able to snap a paparazzi/stalker-esque photo. Natalie, if you read this, please give me a second chance...