In terms of ulpan, we're actually finishing the first half of the book. I think that the book is just badly organized and doesn't give clear explanations. I am amazed how Roni's very focused on little things that will help us decipher Hebrew when we encounter new words such as recognizing verbs as nouns (like I'm going "running"). All that will help me when I prepare for my reading proficiency exam in graduate school. I learn new random things in class from Roni like the Japanese don't have a word for "joke" because they don't know how to joke! I do actually feel good and am glad that we're moving along. Bet isn't hard as everyone says, maybe it's just Hebrew U is very intense. We also did a couple more presentations. The most interesting one was about Marshall Islands- yes, we actually have a student from Marshall Islands. So we asked more questions about it. My class is actually pretty diverse- 2 from France, 1 from Switzerland, 1 from UK, 1 from Germany, 1 from Marshall Islands, 1 from Greece, 1 from Sweden, and everyone else is from the US.
I am doing well in Hebrew, I think. Lilach, my roommate, is a big help. The other night, she seriously stood besides me while I finished up my Hebrew homework! She helped me to get it done quicker by translating some of the phrases/words I didn't know. We converse both in Hebrew and English and I learn to pronounce words a little better. When I asked her if she ever learned how to read/write in cursive, she didn't know what I meant until I showed her a list of all the states in cursive (doodling in class...). She couldn't believe it! Not that I care for cursive but it can make writing go a little faster with practice. We got into a conversation last night about how American Jews perceive themselves and how its divided by denominations like Orthodox and Reform/secular Jews face tensions because of different observance levels. She asked if American Jews cared about marrying someone who isn't from their background like a Sephardi marrying an Ashkenazi. I told her no, because 95% of American Jews is Ashkenazi so no one really thinks of it.
On Sunday after class, I just went for a walk down to Horev Center. It was a little too late to go to the beach and it was pretty cool out. When I came back, the program was showing the movie "The Syrian Bride." It's quite good and humorous and I recommend it.
Monday, I went to the beach for the last time even though I kind of had enough and I knew it wouldn't be quite warm down there. I was right- it wasn't. I did finish my homework there and took a walk along the shores, and then I packed up. I stopped by the Haifa Mall just for a bit while waiting for 46 to come along. I'm amazed how Israeli malls can be "all-in-one" like just about every one of them has a supermarket, big pharmacy, and some kind of a home depot. It reminds me of why and how much I like farmers market and more local stores because at least you're getting real customer service and interacting with people. When I came back, I went to a lecture on Israel and Feminism. I had expected that she'd talk about feminism in Israel in sense of cultural and social norms. I wanted to know what Israeli women think and view their roles in modern Israel. Instead, the lecturer gave a laundry list of women who contributed to Zionism and the State of Israel. I got a little research idea when she talked about Russian Jewish women contributing something during the Russian Revolution. I began wondering about Russian Jewish women- both observant and secular- and how they contributed and defined the women's movement in the Soviet Union in its early days (I did a paper on Soviet women in the gulags and how they were disillusioned by Stalin's propaganda by being arrested and sent to camps where the camps attempted to humilate them as women by stripping them of their female identities).
Tuesday, I did my laundry and packed. I was actually down to my last pair of underwear! It felt very strange to pack everything- I did a very good job of packing only the most necessary things. I had a few things that I never used/worn that I just put to the bottom of my suitcase. I was kind of sad that I brought only the basic stuff- no frills but I just hate overpacking.
Around 6 or so, I went to Mor's to see Or, Mor, and their parents for the last time. Hadar cooked me a sampling of her usual Iraqi food. We talked about Obama and Israeli politics and current events over tea. I am finding it interesting that the older Israelis are very staunch Republicans- in a sense they'd vote for McCain while the younger Israelis are more apathetic. I'm going to keep surveying in the next two weeks. Hadar thought that the Israeli government should give in Hamas' demand of releasing 1,000 prisoners that the IDF captured during the second intifada to get Schalit back. I also talked to them about getting an Israeli cellphone but found out that they're definitely not cheaper here (despite being very widely used). Hadar thought that my new phone probably cost about 1,000 shekelim ($330)- yikes!
On the bus ride home, Sylvia found me. It was pretty funny so we chatted on the way back. The ride seemed so short! When we came home, we found that our fridge was broken. Fortunately, I was leaving so I didn't care about the food so I told them that it's fine to throw out anything. In the meantime, I finished up packing and sorted out clothes I'd need in the next day.
Wednesday, I decided to sleep in a little given that I was up a little too late packing and was getting tired. So I came to class and Roni was giving last minute lessons on another future verb tense. Then we did the program evaluation together as a class and in Hebrew. Roni wrote down everything. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who actually liked the computer drills! People did complain a bit about the homework not being productive. I suggested that she assign more readings in the future rather than just grammar drills. After our break, we had a class party. That was cool and we finally did our final exam. I didn't think it was too difficult and was comparable to the midterm. I understood the entire text section so I'm sure I got everything right there. Oh well, I am hoping to get a B or better.
After class, it was finally time to finish up cleaning my room and say good-bye. Sylvia was the only one home so I said good bye to her. She wanted to help me carry my bags to the bus stop. I looked at her, a petite who's at least a head shorter than me, and declined her offer but if she really wanted to try... then fine. She attempted to pick up my smaller duffel and she could barely pick it up. I teased her if she even been in the army! I knew she didn't do the tough physical work.
For a send-off party, the program had the Druze over to make their special snack treat- yogurt and toppings wrapped in huge pita. Then I caught the 2 PM bus and took an uneventful ride to Jerusalem.
As I watched Haifa go by, I thought how fast those 3 1/2 weeks went by. It wasn't really all that terrible. I appreciated that I was able to speak Hebrew more easily with confidence and to ask for proper pronounication without embarassment. I found the Russian market, enjoyed the beach, and had gorgeous view all the time. The only real drawback was the location of the university and in relation to the public transportation system that makes going places take longer than in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. I would rate this program as "good" and for those very concerned with improving their conversational Hebrew skills (as I was). But not the program to do if people want to focus more on reading and less speaking. So I would do another month ulpan with Haifa but not my top choice. I also realized how much easier it was to reach anywhere in the North, including Tiberias, than from Jerusalem.
Anyway... off to Jerusalem!
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