Deeds (Yedidya) is a good friend from Ein Prat last year. One thing I love about Deeds is conversations with him get really deep really fast. No sooner were our salads delivered than we were catching each other up on our existential angst. The hard part about new programs is doing a whole lot of introductions and going a while before it feels like someone really knows you. It was great to have this time with Deeds to be totally myself and get some good advice.
One of the things Deeds told me was to remember that while there's a lot of good in immersing myself in Israeli culture and learning Hebrew and building a community for myself here, there's also a lot of good in who I am already and the values and culture I have, and not to sacrifice all of it to be "Israeli." I think Deeds is very wise.
I also started Hebrew this week! I'm going twice a week to a private tutor who is awesome. She knows a lot about the origin of words and the way the language really works under the hood, which makes it a lot easier for me to grasp the mechanics. I really, really love studying Hebrew. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I remember from working with Erela last year, I thought I'd only remember the first chapter but I actually was pretty competent through reviewing the first 8! So that's great.
Meanwhile, my advisor approved my idea about doing a super physical semester. It looks like my learning plan is going to be something like...
-3 hours Hebrew tutoring, 4 hours Hebrew homework/review/drills (7 hours)
-1 hour meeting with tutor about sexuality in the talmud/zohar/modern Jewish thinking/ 4 hours reading (5 hours)
-3 hours Beit Midrash (talmud study)
-4 hours volunteering on a farm in Jerusalem hills doing grunt work
-1 hour meeting with this personal trainer/dancer/choreographer/yoga instructor/philosopher about body work and body image and things like that and
-X (5? 7?) hours implementing their advice doing... whatever it is she recommends I do
I have no idea what that's going to end up looking like but I'm excited about it. I will keep you all posted.
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| Shai's shirt at dinner tonight... You had me at Shalom :) |
Very often lately I just have these moments of overwhelming gratitude. I mean... who gets to pack up and live in their dream city and just focus for a year on improving themselves and growing and having enriching experiences? It really does feel like a dream. An outrageously fabulous dream.
The other day I ran down Azza street and past the Knesset and it was sunset and it was all lit up. A Jewish parliament in a Jewish state! I'm such a sap, haha, I got a little emotional about it...or maybe I was just winded. Anyway, then I ran up Ramban street and past the Great Synagogue on King George and I noticed this inscription...
And of course I found it very moving, especially after just running past the Knesset.
The other night I had this conversation in an outdoor bar in Jerusalem:
Him: When I went to Poland in high school... I couldn't get in touch with that feeling of mourning. I didn't feel grief. All I felt was anger, I was so angry and I wanted some kind of revenge. But you know what the best revenge is, right?
Me: Smoking hookah with me in Jerusalem, in our very own country? :)
Him: Well yes, and also I felt it strongly when I was in the army.
I was going to go out tonight, but there are water problems in my building and the water is temporarily shut off, so I can't shower, and you cannot go out without showering after a day in Israel in the summer. So I'm finally getting a chance to do my Hebrew homework and have a rest. AND, our neighbor took me and Rebecca around to show us how to turn our water on and off at the valve, so that was interesting. Never a dull moment.
Tomorrow I'm going to Petach Tikvah to have Shabbat dinner at Matat's house! I'm looking forward to it :D.
Also, get ready for a puppet show Shai and I are putting on for the other fellows about the 1956 Sinai Campaign. It's going to be epic.
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