Monday: I had a regular day of ulpan and then David met me for lunch at HUC and we were supposed to hear Danny Siegal, an American social action genius, but I felt myself crashing from exhaustion and not enough sleep. David decided to stay and listen to Danny and I came home and took an hour nap which was much needed. After Danny’s talk, David and I took a cab to Kanion Malkah (Malkah Mall) to do some shopping. We were able to buy a printer and a comfortable that fit our bed and was the right size, ask David about that one! We bought some stuff for the kitchen and bathroom and best yet we got a cute little door sign to hang on the front of our door that says in English, welcome to the home of David and Julia! It is so cute. From there, we hurried home so that I could get ready to swim at the YMCA with our upstairs flat mate Rose. We had a great swim and David went out with the HUC boys for MEAT NIGHT! After swimming Rose and I decided to have dinner at a restaurant that I had not eaten at yet called Paradiso and it was cheap and healthy and really yummy! Then I met up with David after we had both eaten and I studied for my Hebrew test and we went to bed.

Tuesday: After ulpan David, Jordana (my power-walking buddy, married to a Scotish man named Luke, is returning to LA, and had the same GRE tutor as I did to prepare for the HUC application), and I went power walking around the city for an hour. It was a great walk, quite a bit hot, and it definitely kicked our butts! From there I came home to study for my test that was today (Wed, confusing a little bit? Sorry!) and then got ready to go out. David and I met up with a lot of the HUC crowd at a place called Beit Ticho for jazz music, salads (salads in Israel are much different from the States-there is hardly any lettuce, but lots of cheese, olive oil, tomatoes, and eggplant), and wine. We really had a great time relaxing and spending time with some of the friends we have made.

Today, Wednesday: Today I had my second test in ulpan. I will report on it when I get it back as to not jinx my success (hopefully!) After ulpan the HUC students had a meeting to decide what committees we wanted to be on for the HUC community. Some of these committees were tzedakah, students would work to raise money through fundraising to donate to social action organizations, sports, students will plan sports events to play in and go see in Israel, and the one committee I joined is the “Chaverim,” “Friends.” We are in charge of doing something special for birthdays and anniversaries for people in our community and more importantly, I am one of the people in charge of finding doctor buddies for people who get sick and need some company, matzo ball hotline, where we will make soup, freeze it, and then bring it to those that are sick and lonely, and responding to tragedies that might happen in the community. I am really excited about the people in our group and the actual groups’ purpose!
Then I went to the YMCA with Rose (our upstairs flat mate) and we did the circuit training. This was very much like the Curves program in the States where you do a machine or cardio for fifteen seconds and switch off and going around in circles. I really enjoyed it and we had an Australian physical trainer watching us and telling us how to do the machines correctly. At the end of our work out she opted to help us by leading us in an ab workout and stretching routine. It was very cool! From there, David and I got ready to go to HUC’s Wednesday night text study where we look at texts from the Bible and interpretations that we will be eventually visiting and discussing on Thursdays during our field trips. After text study, David and I finally went on a date. We have not been out just the two of us since we have been here and it was very nice. We went to a place called Little Italy, obviously Italian food. It was not that great but I was very proud of myself because I spoke to the waitress all in Hebrew and she spoke back to me in Hebrew instead of English. That is usually a sign that my Hebrew is good enough for her to continue with it! I was very proud.

Off to bed for tomorrow is a long field trip day!