Month: September 2020

Today was just a nice, relaxing day. I spent the morning cleaning my apartment, which is becoming my routine on Fridays, and doing laundry. Then, my neighbor Dikla came over, and we had a heart-to-heart, which was really lovely. After that, I took a nap in my hammock. I think more hammock-naps may be in…

I’ve been teaching online for a week, and I’m exhausted. I want to be honest– I’m shooting for 314 good days. And I think I’ll make it happen. But, there are definitely times within those days that are exhausting, frustrating, upsetting, disappointing. Teaching on Zoom is a wild ride– I contact my students, send them…

L’Shanah Tovah! It’s Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar. Judaism operates on the lunar calendar, so all our holidays begin at night. This is kind of an excellent advantage– you can spend the whole day cooking! Food is absolutely central to Jewish tradition, so the…

COVID has spiked here in Israel. They’ve decided to close schools early, and I have a day off while mine figures out curriculum and Zoom. What do you do with a day off before a lockdown? You go where you’ve been wanting to go most– Tel Aviv. And I hopped on a bus this morning…

We made it to school today! A little bit about my school: I and two of my roommates are placed at Aljanah Junior High School in Rahat. Our students are aged 12-14, speak many different levels of English, and are all amazing. They are excited to learn, and even more excited to get to know…

On Shabbat, everything is closed, so yesterday was mostly uneventful. I did hang my hammock outside and watch Netflix though, which was lovely. Today, on the other hand, was a wild ride– it was my first trip to the grocery store! One thing it’s pretty important to know about Israel, especially Old City districts like…

Shabbat Shalom, everyone! Today was our first Shabbat out of quarantine, and it was so lovely. I started the day with a walk with no real strong intentions, although I wanted to get something to bring with us tonight when we spent Shabbat dinner with my roommate Hannah’s boyfriend Alon, at his apartment. Here is…

Quarantine is over! I am free, and I got an Ice Aroma to celebrate. Let me explain about Ice Aroma. First– if you ask for iced coffee in Israel, you are asking for the equivalent of a coffee cappuccino. If you want iced coffee like in the states, you can ask for cafe cos— cold…

I know, I know, it’s been a while. To be fair, the days have mostly run together and been the same. No major inciting discussions, no groundbreaking revelations in my Ulpan class. But, there have been some exciting developments, so I’ll run through some highlights. We tried to order takeout! It didn’t pan out, exactly,…