Sunday, August 7
After Hebrew I was able to go and swim with Lauren. She has the same swimming background that I do and it was nice to swim with someone my level. Swimming has started to feel really great to do. I am glad I am getting in the habit of doing it again and hopefully will build up more strength to do it for longer in a couple of weeks.

Tonight was study and dinner night at Lauren’s and Karen’s since we cooked for them at our place last Sunday. We had a great pasta dinner and then studied for Hebrew intertwined with gossip and laughter. I really enjoy spending time with them and David was even invited to join us for dinner and then he spent time working on the internet while I studied with the girls.

Monday, August 8
Normal day of Hebrew and then off to workout! We had Lindy, Matt, Jordana, and Jordie over for snacks and a quick meeting about some possibilities for a vacation coming up on August 26, which is going to be much needed. Matt and David had gone to a travel agency and had some good ideas for us. It was fun hanging out at our apartment with people over and it is definitely a fun group. I cannot say that we have made a decision quite yet but I will let you know when we do.

David and I had a quick dinner after the meeting and then our friends David and Matt were having a good bye party for Matt’s fiancé who is returning to the States. It was really great hanging out with everyone in such a low key environment since the majority of the day we see each other during our breaks in Ulpan. There were plenty of people there to catch up with and hang out with.

Tuesday, August 9
Not such a fun day. Ulpan, work out and then study, study, study and practice for my presentation. We were able to go out with Luke and Jordana for a quick dessert later in the evening. We went to the waffle place that one of my rabbis, Rabbi Bruce Raff, took me to. It has incredible hand-made waffles with any topping you choose. David and I shared a waffle with half caramel sauce and half chocolate sauce. I think that even better than the waffles is the hot chocolate that they make from scratch as well. They heat up chocolate bars on the stove, warm the milk, and then combine! It makes for a really yummy treat! That was the fun part of the day.

Wednesday, August 10
Today, what a relief that my presentation and test is over! Yeah!! I was able to run across the street after class and grab a falafel and pita before the meeting I had to get back to school for. So many people have been eating these falafels from school and they have been raving about it so I had to try it out! Seeing that I do not digest fried foods all that well, I splurged and ate this amazing falafel pita! It was a great treat. I can only handle it about once a month and then I am done with them. I then headed over to the community service meeting we had at school. This was an informational meeting about the required community service we take part in during the school year. It was so interesting learning about all the different options we could partake in. I am very excited, yet torn, about which organization I might want to work with. We are required to do two to three hours of service a week on top of all of our homework and other activities. I am interested in finding an organization that will provide me with another community to spend time with and would love to schedule community service hours on Thursday afternoons when I do not have classes on Fridays and will not be worried, stressed, or nervous about tests and homework for the next day. That way I can just focus on helping the community I am working for!

I went and worked out after the meeting and we had to be back at school a couple of hours later for text study because it is a Wednesday and there is text study every Wednesday night during the year. I particularly liked this text study about the Second Temple period. We had a bit of a text study at school and then took buses to what is called Holy Land Hotel where we saw a model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period. (This period was after the Babylonian Exile in 600 B.C.E.) I thought that when we would get there the model would be tiny and ten feet in diameter. Boy was I wrong! This model was almost as big as an entire soccer field and the tallest building was about five feet in the air. It was incredible with tiny bricks and stones and trees and dirt. I wish I had my camera with me! I learned a lot about what the state looked like when the Temple was around and we were able to walk around with our tour guide while he explained where the City of David was, where Jesus was supposedly crucified, where Herodian’s palace was. It was a very neat experience for me and I will be taking visitors there when you all arrive!!