Ulpan. Starts. Now. (9/26)

First of all, Happy Birthday to KEVIN!!! Even though you're back in the States and I haven't seen you now for over a year, I'm glad we can still keep in touch! Distance ain't gonna hurt nobody :)

This morning, we began our day with a fire drill from the building, at 8:30, and went over some emergency procedures. Important stuff, so I was happy to wake up early for it. We arrived to Beit Ar-El (our campus) for a 9am start to our classes. I was placed in Shlomit's class - she is completing her Master's Degree in Cognitive Science an Linguistics, and I was very impressed by her email from last week introducing herself to the 8 of us in the class; for an Israeli, her English was superb! I'm very excited to be learning with her. The 8 of us in the class include me, Ethan (who I call Eitan now, it just makes sense, and it's fun!), Abby, Isaac, Seth, Danit, Josh, and Ilyssa. We are intermediate. I think we have a fairly big range of abilities in this group but learning together will make it better and easier, utilizing each other for help, homework, questions, and more. I had a great time in the class; the lesson was fun and interactive and I learned some new words (always a plus). After ulpan was done at 12:30, a few of us went down the road to get some lunch - I tried the pizza place everyone's been raving about. As a picky NYer, I have to say it was pretty good - thin crust, nice spice in the sauce. I'll be going back again!

Upon entering our apartment building, I saw a sign saying "Take a fan if you don't have one already, from inside." Seriously? A fan? AMAZING!!! I got a fan :) And I also had the best 1 hour nap possible because of it.

I set my alarm with just enough time to meet Yonit in the moadon for my first 1 on 1 with her. Part of her job is to check in with each of us regarding our internship plans, apartment-mates, and how things are going in general. So it was nice to have even just 20 minutes to discuss these things with her. I even mentioned to her how well the ulpan class went this morning; Shlomit is a great teacher and I think the level at which I have been placed is a good match. I have to email Yonit to follow up on a few things we discussed, but we had a great talk.

I came up to my room and checked my email to see something from Yael, another instructor in the ulpan program. She says that our group of 8 has been split up into two groups, and along with Seth, Abby, and Josh, I will be in her class tomorrow. Shlomit's class will be the other remaining four. Bummer! I really wanted to stay in that class! Well I emailed Yael and Shlomit my concerns about being switched, and mentioned that I felt very comfortable in that level. I wasn't sure if Yael's class was at a higher level. Based on the students in her class, it would have been harder. But maybe those students are being switched around also. I think the ulpan staff is still trying to figure out where each of us stand, how to group us together, and make it work for all of us. By the end of the night, I got emails back from both Yael and Shlomit that explain everything will still be at the same level, we will just be split because the ulpan's policy is to not exceed 7 per class, and we are above that count. No big deal - I will go with the flow!

Tonight is a big exhibition of Ethiopian Jewry at the Jerusalem municipality sukkah, including food, crafts, artwork, and music! Rachelle and I walk to the bus around 6pm, arriving at the municipality around 7pm. We are still getting used to the bus routes here, so we weren't 100% sure which stop we'd get off at. Our bus turns onto Yafo Street, and we're pretty sure we should have gotten off at the last one. Whoops! We decide to get off at the next stop and just walk back. As we exit the bus, we see lights and hear some music, and realize that not only did we get on the right bus, but we got off at the perfect stop! We are right in front of the Jewish Agency, where this event is being held! What luck!

We walked in and around the giant sukkah (pics will be put up on Facebook soon) and explored the tables, music, crafts, and people. A group of WUJS people left a bit after we did, and Rachelle was planning on meeting up with them a little after 8 to see the live performance. I waited with her until they arrived, so they could enjoy the rest of their evening. I walked about 10 minutes to the Lion's Den, the same bar we ended up at last Sunday watching football. Some food and drink later (and a major Giant's loss, BOOOOOO), we head back on the bus to Tsipora 5. Night complete!