Outings and Oopses

After our day of logistics our program hosted an Israeli dinner and dancing. The falafels were delicious and we had time to get to know each other while we ate. Then a dance instructor from the city joined us and taught us some Israeli folk dancing, which was fun. He followed it with other music such as the Macarena, the Electric Slide, etc. and several others I didn't know, but was able to follow along.

Some of the students here for the August Ulpan were also here for the July Ulpan, and they are mixed in with us new students. It's nice to have some people here who are relatively new, but more knowledgable than us. I went out with a group of July-ers and Israelis after the dancing to an Irish pub, which I don't think any of us newcomers could have found on our own. It was great fun! Apparently there was a promotion going on, so I am not sure what aspects were normal for this pub and which were part of the promotion, but we were greeted at the door with Jegermeister, tables had gummy worms on them (instead of chips, like you'd find at a Mexican restaurant), and servers handed out candy necklaces and glow bracelets to us as we danced on the dance floor which was magicalized by a fog machine and bright colored lights shining through the mist. Very fun. :-) One of the Israeli girls recommended a popular Israeli beer, so I went with it and it was quite good. I commented to the guy that had invited me that everyone was super inviting and friendly, and he was explaining the cultural reason for it, but it was hard to have a somewhat intellectual conversation over the music, so I may ask him again for his perspective on reasons behind the perceived cultural difference.

We got back to campus pretty late, but as class did not start yesterday until 9:30am, none of us were too concerned. Turns out I should have been a little more than I was. I woke up an hour before my alarm was to go off at 7am, but fell back asleep pretty quickly, only to wake and hit the snooze button on my alarm...well, what I thought was the snooze button. Turns out I turned off the alarm, and while I had woken up early, I must not have been too wide awake because I slept for another three hours! I rushed to class, to arrive on the first break of the day. The professor was not in the classroom, so I went ahead and copied everything from the board to my notebook and caught my breath. She was very kind to me when everyone returned from break and we went on with class. *insert huge eye-roll at myself*

Class was good; we were each placed according to our Hebrew placement exam and interview, but were only told which classroom to go to, so no one knows what level we are in (A July Ulpan student told me he didn't know last month until the first test, where his level was written at the top of the page). I am already challenged in the class, and am a little concerned it will be too high for me, while my classmate sitting to my right was breezing through. They give us a couple of days and then reorganize if anyone is in the wrong class, so I'm not worried.

After class we had a tour of Haifa, and our tour guide hit the nail on the head when she said it seems much bigger in person than on a map. At our quizzical looks she explained it is because of the topography. Oh! I felt much better to hear that there was a reason for the mismatch in my mind. The city is not really that wide or long, but it is spread over hills and valleys, so it is difficult to get one's bearings.

We visited the Shuk (an inexpensive fruit and veggie market, mmmm), the Baha'i Gardens, and a few other places--of course stopping for falafel on the way back. Back at the dorms I busted out my homework (Create 10 questions based on the paragraph we'd read during class, and the corresponding answers, rewrite some things we'd practiced during class, practice reading aloud, look up some Hebrew words for American foods, etc.) and then joined the bonfire that our activities coordinators sponsored for us. The Americans taught those from other countries how to make S'mores and we chatted some more.

On the walk back, I learned some Slovak from a couple of my new friends and then we head to bed. Now I am ON TIME to my class this morning. I am updating while I sit outside the classroom, but I better head in now. So, more later. :-)

Oh, and by the way, I added some pictures to older posts, and have some of my dorm which I will add soon. :-)